Despite All Might's best efforts to calm him down, it was several minutes before Izuku was coherent enough to speak without breaking into fresh rounds of sobs.
"I'm...I'm sorry for crying so much, it's just...you don't know how long I've been waiting for someone to say that to me."
All Might's smile softened somewhat.
"I know kid. Hell, I know better than most what it's like to suffer through that. But that time is over now. I have deemed you worthy to inherit my power. My Quirk is yours, if you want it."
That was what shook Izuku fully from his stupor. He wasn't sure exactly what he had though All Might would tell him after stating that he could become a hero. A long lost secret of heroism? A mantra to say to himself while he trained to make him stronger? The brand of All Might's lucky underpants?
But the idea that Izuku could inherit the hero's Quirk was insane. It was unbelievable. It was impossible.
"Wha….What do you mean?
All Might smiled indulgently. "Young Midoriya, do you know what my Quirk is?"
Izuku started to answer, then hesitated.
The obvious answer was that it was a strength enhancing Quirk, but on a scale the world had never seen before. That was the most popular online theory, if you discounted the crackpot theories like him being a secret telekinetic and trying to fool the villains by fooling the public. But because it was so obvious a choice, everyone believed that.
He'd been asked in multiple interviews about the nature of his Quirk, but he'd never given anything resembling a real answer. If it were something so simple, then would All Might have really bothered to hide it? There had to be something more.
Izuku racked his brain, but he couldn't come up with anything else it could be. No other kind of Quirk fit with the abilities All Might demonstrated on a near daily basis. The only other option was that it was a type of Quirk that no one had documented yet.
If that was the case, Izuku knew he had no chance of guessing it. Quirks were so unique to the individual and so varied that he would have better chances trying to guess the number of sand grains in a desert.
"It...it's some kind of strength enhancing Quirk, right?"
All Might hummed at that. "You're half right, but that also means that you're half wrong. And it's a very important half."
All Might held his arms out in front of him, as though he was a preacher delivering a sermon.
"You see, my Quirk isn't just mine. It is like a sacred torch that was passed down to me. It's a power that grows with the user, each person cultivating it before giving it to the next. And now, it's your turn." At this, he held out a hand to Izuku though there was nothing in his palm to take.
"This...this is…" Izuku was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the idea. It was so antithetical to everything he knew about the way Quirks worked. He'd read countless textbooks and articles about Quirks in an attempt to understand his own unseen ability and hopefully unlock its power. There had been so many theories, many of them contradictory, but they had all agreed on at least one thing. Quirks were an individual ability, and one biologically bound to the person who was born with it. Certain facets could be inherited by a person's children, though mutations did occur, but even inherited Quirks were unique to the person who used them.
This flew in the face of everything the world knew, or believed it knew, about Quirks. If people found out about this, it would change the way they thought about the world, about each other. It might even…
"Stop nerding out!"
The call shocked Izuku from his muttering as effectively as a gunshot.
"Look, you're just gonna have to accept that I can pass my power onto you. Otherwise we're never going to get anywhere with this. And we still have a lot to cover if you want to learn about the power you're going to inherit."
Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but when All Might held out his palm once more, Izuku could swear that a faint golden glow emanated from the palm. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. There was nothing there, but Izuku could feel something. There was power in that palm, of that Izuku was certain. And it was at that moment that he knew All Might was telling the truth.
"The true name of this Quirk is One For All." As he spoke a hint of the commanding presence of his muscular form slipped into his voice. It was deeper than it had any right to be and it carried a force that Izuku couldn't even begin to describe.
"One For All…" He echoed softly. He stumbled a little over the foreign sounding name, but something about it...felt good to say.
"That's right. A chain of power that reaches back generations, every user devoted to fighting for the greater good, to saving those in peril. That is the truth behind my power, the power that lets me save so many people. That is One For All."
"That's...that's incredible." In the face of such conviction, such dedication to heroism, Izuku felt his own resolve begin to waver. "But, why would you give it to me? I don't...I don't think I could live up to it."
The hero seemed to deflate a little before he spoke, but he pressed on anyways.
"I was there you know, when you saved that boy. Just another bystander, unwilling to put my life on the line for what I believed in. But you… you weren't. In that moment I knew you had moved without thinking, that something inside of you called out to save him and you acted on impulse. That, my boy, is the mark of a true hero. And that is how I know you will do this power proud."
HIs heart swelled. This wasn't just acknowledgement, or acceptance.
All Might was saying that he had faith in Izuku.
That he believed in him.
"I...I'll do it!" Izuku said, trying to put as much certainty as he possessed into those words.
A hand came to rest on his shoulder, a light yet reassuring touch.
"I'm glad to see you're so motivated, because you'll need it. You wish to enter UA, correct?"
Izuku nodded. "Of course. It's the best hero school. And your alma mater!"
"I suspected as much. You've chosen a hard road for yourself Young Midoriya, one that will require you to work like you've never worked before. But, if you listen to my instructions and follow your training to the letter, we'll turn you from Zero-"
He reached out and lifted Izuku's arm into a classic flexing pose. It was only slightly bigger than All Might's own skeletal limb, and the bicep sagged slightly instead of flexing. Izuku blushed, but All Might pushed past it.
"To Hero!" He exclaimed, shifting into his muscular form and flexing. Even though he was careful to keep his strength under control, a few small cracks appeared in the pavement beneath him.
It was an impressive display, though it was somewhat ruined when he deflated in a puff of steam a moment later, blood erupting from his mouth as he coughed deeply.
"Huh?" Izuku said, the display of infirmity derailing his thoughts.
"You need training my boy!" All Might said, sound surprisingly enthusiastic given the amount of blood he'd just lost.
"Within One For All lies the power of all it's previous wielders. If you were to inherit it as you are now, your body wouldn't be able to handle it. Best case scenario, you'd blow your limbs off the first time you even thought of using its power."
Izuku swallowed nervously.
"Relax!" All Might chuckled, grinning down at the green haired boy. "We should have just enough time to whip you into shape before the entrance exam. We might even be able to get in some community service while doing it!"
His smile faded a bit as he stared at Izuku again. "Make no mistake, Young Midoriya, this will be the training of your life. You won't have the time to take it easy for even a second. Are you prepared for that?"
Izuku nodded immediately. Training personally with All Might? It was practically a dream come true. He couldn't wait to get home and tell….
Katsuki. Who'd stuck with him through thick and thin, who'd fought off bullies countless times for him. Who idolized All Might at least as much as he did. Who had gotten hurt because of his mistake.
"A-All Might, sir?"
"Don't call me sir, makes me feel old!" All Might said jokingly. "What is it?"
"Can...Can Kacchan train with me?"
"Kacchan?"
"He's...He's my friend. He was the one who was getting attacked by the villain." Izuku swallowed, but pushed through his nerves. Sure, he was asking for a favor from the world's greatest hero right after the man had offered his power to Izuku, but he couldn't back down now. Katsuki deserved a chance too, and Izuku was going to get it for him, or die trying.
"He's training to be a hero too, but the only place where he can work out is the Lair." All Might frowned in confusion at the name, and Izuku realized he had no idea what that was. "It...it's the place where we hang out after school. It's basically just a clearing in the woods with some big rocks in it. He uses them to train but… He would do a lot better if he had a real gym."
Izuku shuffled his feet nervously. He was trying to be as clear and precise as he could, but there was something about All Might's stare that made him nervous. He'd never really talked about Katsuki's situation with other people. Most of them would simply dismiss his words outright, and the rest would listen right up until he said the word "Villain". He could only pray that All Might would be different.
"He's tried to get into a few, but they won't let him have a membership, because they think he's dangerous or something."
All Might frowned, and Izuku hurried to correct his statement before the hero got the wrong idea.
"He's not dangerous! I swear! It's just… when we were little kids, he was showing his Quirk off for us, and me and a couple other kids got hurt. It was a complete accident, and Kacchan felt terrible about it but... no one would listen. They had already decided he was going to be a villain after just one mistake."
Izuku hung his head. "He's not though. He's gonna be a hero, a great one! So I just…" He looked at All Might once more, unable to read any expression on the hero's face. "He's been my only friend for years now. I wanna help him like he's helped me."
At that, All Might's face softened. "You have a kind heart, Young Midoriya. Under different circumstances, I expect you would have a great many friends, the kind who would stick with you through thick and thin, and aid you in the toughest of training."
Izuku felt his heart begin to swell. He'd done it! He'd-
"Unfortunately, your friend will not be able to train with you. The workout I am going to be giving you will be for you, and you alone. The training as well. If your friend aids you, you may not be ready in time for the entrance exam."
Izuku deflated at his words. He should have known. It was too much to ask of the hero so suddenly. Maybe if he'd waited, or tried a different way of asking, he could have-
"That said…" All Might cut his thoughts off before they could spiral too far out of control. "I won't leave the boy high and dry. I owe him that much at least, since the villian who attacked him escaped from my custody."
Izuku winced, remembering his own part in letting the villain get away.
"Instead, I'll give you this." All Might reached into his back pocket and extracted a card from his wallet. It was a plain business card, the name 'Sweat and Tears' written in simple black text. On the back was a phone number and an address near the edge of Mustafu.
"When I was recovering from my injury, this was the gym that I attended. It's small, but the staff are extremely competent, and specialize in discretion. No one will bother him over a label from childhood, particularly if he comes with a recommendation from myself. Your friend will be mostly on his own for the training, but if he makes the best of his time, I have no doubt that he will reach his goal in time."
Izuku's legs felt like jelly as he slowly slid to the ground, relief flooding through him. This was all that he could have ever hoped for. Sure, he and Katsuki wouldn't get to really train together, but that was a small price to pay.
They were on the path that they had dreamt of since they were children.
They were going to be heroes!
Katsuki hissed as an envelope bounced off of his head.
He wasn't hissing from pain, his mother had tossed it underhand after all, but rather from surprise. He had been completely absorbed in his textbook, and was vastly irritated at being interrupted.
"The fuck was that you old hag?" He called after the retreating form of his mother.
"It's called a letter. They're like text messages, but they don't even need cell service!"
"I was asking why the hell you threw it at my face!" Katuski growled.
"I called your name, but you weren't paying attention." His mother said, leaning back into the room as she spoke. "Sides, with how jumpy little Izu looked while he was dropping it off, I figured it was important, and you'd want it right away." With that, she flounced off.
Katuski picked up the letter and turned it over in his hands. Why the hell would Izuku send him a letter? Sure, he was still a bit pissed at his friend for his antics the other day, and would probably have ended up biting his head off if he had come over in person, but Izuku could have texted him.
He felt the letter curiously. There didn't seem to be very much inside, just a couple pieces of paper.
Shrugging, he tore the envelope open in one swift motion. A simple business card for some place Katsuki had never heard of fell out, followed by a carefully folded scrap of notebook paper.
The message on the paper was short and to the point, which was pretty unlike Izuku. Katsuki had no doubt that he had spent several hours agonizing over the words, trying to get them to sound the way he wanted.
Kacchan-
I'm going to be taking the Hero Course Exam this year, and I've found someone who's going to train me so that i can make it.
He knows some people who own a gym, one where you can train. Really train, not just lift a few rocks in the woods.
Meet me at the starting line.
Izuku
Katsuki stared at the letter for a long time, reading it over and over again as he struggled to process its contents.
When he finally did move, it was one, simple motion. He curled his first around the note, crumpling it into a ball in his hand. Then, the paper began to burn as sparks from his palm ignited it. The wisps of smoke curled around his face as he grinned broadly.
"Bring it on you damn nerd. I'll see you there!"
He rose to his feet, textbook completely forgotten. After all, he had training to do.
All Might hadn't been kidding. The months that followed were absolute hell for Izuku. He spent practically every day training his muscles until they refused to move. Then he studied until he could swear the knowledge was running out of his ears.
It was hard, brutal work, but Izuku faced it head on. He needed to challenge himself, to push his limits as far as they would go and then go beyond. That was the only way he would be worthy of All Might's power. That was the only way he would become the hero he had always wanted to be.
Slowly, day by day, the trash covered beach that All Might had assigned him to clear began to show patches of sand. They marked his progress, and made his job harder. He had to fight for balance with every step, and often found his feet sinking into the soft sand when he was carrying something particularly heavy.
Several months in, he finally caught sight of the ocean after dragging a car out of the way, and found himself crying at the sight. It wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense. There was still far too much trash in the way to make an acceptable view. It was, however, undeniable proof of his progress.
From that day on it seemed like the task became easier every day. He could carry a little more, run a little further, stand a little straighter. It never got easier, All Might saw to that. He made sure that Izuku never stopped pushing himself.
Seeing that progress though made it possible for Izuku to keep going. Even when All Might reprimanded him for overworking himself, Izuku simply thought back to that strip of blue water visible through the mounds of garbage and he knew that he could do it. He knew that he would do it.
He was going to make it to the starting line, or die trying.
Izuku's stomach was twisting itself in knots as he made his way to the UA campus. He had done his absolute best to prepare for the exam, both mentally and physically, but he still couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something was about to go terribly wrong.
Or maybe that was just the lingering effects of "inheriting" All Might's Quirk.
Once again, All Might had managed to buck Izuku's expectations. He'd been expecting some sort of ceremony to accompany the passing of the Quirk, with ethereal lights glowing around them and some suitably inspiring music.
Instead All Might had simply plucked a single hair from his signature V and ordered Izuku to eat it. Izuku had balked at the idea, but All Might insisted. In the end he had no choice but to swallow the hair. Izuku had been exceptionally thankful that All Might's hair spikes were natural, instead of being the products of hair gel.
He swallowed as the massive entrance gate to UA came into view. It was probably just his imagination, but he could swear that the sour taste from the hair grew stronger at the sight. He certainly hoped it was a sign that the transfer was working. Despite having taken two hours to return home for a shower and a change of clothes, Izuku still didn't feel any different than he had this morning.
He was sure it would kick in soon. It had to. If it didn't then he was totally screwed. And he couldn't fail All Might like that.
He did his best to push his nerves down as he took his first step onto the UA campus. His second step refused to come, however. His body was frozen in place, muscles completely unresponsive to his commands.
"Well, well, well. Looks like I lost the bet." Said a familiar voice from behind him. "I thought you'd never have the balls to show up. I'm glad to be wrong though. I get a front row seat to watch you fail." Izuku couldn't see the malicious grin on Shindo's face, but he could picture it perfectly. He'd seen it more than enough after all.
One of the worst parts of Shindo's Quirk was the inability to respond. Izuku wanted to point out that UA probably separated people from their middle school classmates, to prevent anyone from gaining an unfair advantage. Instead, all he could do was stand there while Shindo mocked him.
"I mean, seriously. Watching you run around like a chicken with its head cut off is gonna be hilarious. I could probably get internet famous if I uploaded some footage." He chuckled to himself, before leaning close to Izuku, speaking directly into his ear. "You should be careful in there though, Deku. Who knows what could happen to a Quirkless loser like you…"
Suddenly, Izuku could move again as Shindo stepped off his shadow. He stumbled forward, trying to regain his footing. Shindo's Quirk always left him feeling a little off balance for a minute or so after he was released. Something to do with the inner ear's alignment getting disrupted by the paralysis.
By the time he managed to get his feet back under him, Shindo was long gone, leaving Izuku with a vague sense of unease.
Of course he would be here. Izuku thought to himself. His Quirk is really useful, so he's a shoo-in for the hero program. I should have thought of that. He must have changed his first choice to UA after hearing that Katsuki and Izuku were planning to attend. After all, he would never allow himself to be shown up by the pair.
Sighing, Izuku realized he would probably be thinking about what Shido had said for the rest of the day. He didn't believe the other boy would actually do anything to him during the exam. Even Shindo had limits after all. His words had a way of sticking with Izuku though.
As Izuku stepped forward towards the UA building once more, the tip of his shoe caught on the edge of a protruding brick. In his still addled state he wasn't able to regain his balance in time, and went careening face first towards the brick.
Guess I'll just die then He thought morosely as pain and humiliation approached him.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, the grip strong and firm. A moment later Izuku found himself suddenly weightless. It was a slightly disorienting experience, having the ground taken away from him even though he could still see it. He flailed in surprise and confusion, trying to regain his balance. Thankfully a second hand was placed on his leg a moment later, guiding him back to the ground. With his feet returned to earth once more, Izuku felt much better.
"Sorry for using my Quirk on you without asking." His savior said. "I just thought it would be bad luck for you to fall right before the exam."
She was slightly shorter than him, with bobbed brown hair that seemed to float slightly whenever she moved her head. The smile that was on her face was so open and welcoming that Izuku almost did a double take. It had been years since anyone looked at him like he was anything other than pond scum, and he had forgotten how...nice it felt.
"I...uh...yeah...t-thanks!"
Her smile somehow managed to brighten, nearly blinding Izuku. "Of course! I'll see you around!" With that, she skipped off towards the building, an aura of happiness radiating from her.
She was so nice! He thought happily. Maybe there will be other people like her here. And I could make friends again!
With that thought, Izuku's mood rose significantly. Shindo's taunts and his own myriad of worries had been completely forgotten when faced with the prospect of friendship.
Katsuki was nervous, a fact that was pissing him off to a probably unhealthy degree.
He had no reason to be nervous. The written exam was going to be challenging, but he'd passed every one of the mock exams with flying colors. The practical would probably be even easier. His Quirk had grown in leaps and bounds recently and his physical skills had grown to match thanks to his time at the gym Izuku had directed him to. The place didn't have much of a martial arts focus, but Katsuki had leveraged the space and equipment to become significantly more dangerous than he had already been.
So why the hell did he have a knot of worry in his stomach that refused to go away?
In his desperation he'd even tried a few of the calming exercises his parents were always pushing him to use. They hadn't helped his nerves in the slightest bit, and instead had helped to drive up his blood pressure when he heard people snickering at him as he breathed slowly in and out. A single glare from him was enough to send most of them scurrying away but the whole exchange left a bad taste in his mouth.
These were the other UA candidates? They were just like his classmates at Aldera, happy to talk shit about their betters right up until they faced consequences. Then they suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be.
It was pathetic, honestly. Not a single person he had seen so far had anything resembling the attitude of a real hero. He could see it in their empty eyes. They don't have a hero's fire, the drive to be better than everyone else around you, no matter the cost. They haven't had to stand tall while everyone tries to beat them down.
They didn't have the same eyes as a real hero, the same eyes as him.
As if summoned by his thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind him at that moment.
"Oh! G-good morning Kacchan!" Izuku said, doing his best to sound cheerful and failing utterly. "Are...are you feeling ready for the exam?"
A lot had changed in the last ten months. Katsuki and Izuku had hardly spoken to each other, each devoting themselves to their own training. Their promise to meet at the entrance exam had kept each of them going beyond where they might have given up on their own. And now they were here, their promise fulfilled, and neither really sure how to continue.
It was Katsuki who broke the moment of silence between them.
"Fucking course I am. Exam ain't gonna know what hit it."
Izuku's smile was much more genuine now. "I'm glad to hear it. The competition looks really tough this year. I saw tons of cool Quirks on my way here! I saw a guy with peacock feathers, but they looked really sharp, and I think he can shoot them like darts, and then there was this girl who made her hands giant, and this other girl who—"
Katsuki held up a hand to forestall the info dump he knew was coming. Izuku would happily talk about every single Quirk he had seen that day, in exhaustive detail, complete with theories about how they could be used in hero work if given the chance.
"Save it for later. If you're gonna make me listen to Quirk talk again, you can at least buy me ramen first."
Izuku looked so ridiculously happy at the prospect that he reminded Katsuki of a puppy that had just been thrown a treat.
"That's perfect Kacchan! We can go over how we did on the exam too!"
Katsuki grit his teeth at the implication. He still didn't like the idea of Izuku participating. UA varied their exams every year so prospective students couldn't practice for what was coming, but there was never a year where the exam didn't involve some sort of combat.
"Izuku, tell me honestly. Are you going to be ok?" Katsuki stared directly at his friend, hoping against hope that Izuku would change his mind at the last minute.
Izuku slumped. "I...I don't know. I trained really hard and All...Toshinori said I should be able to use hi-my Quirk at this point. But I just don't know."
"It's not too late to turn back. Support course works pretty close with the hero course. They make some cool shit too."
He shook his head. "I can't Kacchan. The whole reason I trained so hard, the reason I could train so hard was so I could be here today. So I could fight with you, not be protected."
His eyes met Katsuki's. "I want to be a hero Kacchan. No matter what."
In that moment Katsuki truly hated the world they lived in, because only the cruelest of gods would give the plebeians around them powerful and useful Quirks, and ignore the only true hero among them.
"Izuku…... don't get hurt."
He nodded. "I'll...I'll do my best."
"Fuckin better, cuz I don't want to have to deal with the world's most annoying ghost if you die like an idiot." Katsuki grinned as he spoke.
"Hey!" Izuku cried, in mock indignation.
They both grinned, the tension that had grown between the nearly dissipating in the face of a decade old friendship.
Katsuki turned to leave, but was stopped when Izuku grabbed his arm.
"Kacchan, I…." He swallowed. "Thank you. And, I know it goes without saying, but good luck on the exam today. I know you're gonna do great"
A part of him bristled at the implication that he would give anything less than his absolute best, but it was easily overwhelmed by the warmth filling his chest.
Finally, after nearly a year apart, he and Izuku were standing together on the battlefield, two best friends against the world. Just as it should be.
"You too." With that, Katsuki walked away. He was so focused on the exam now that he didn't even notice that the knot of tension in his stomach had entirely disappeared.
Luck seemed to be in Ochaco's favor today. She'd managed to get a full eight hours of sleep despite her nerves, and wake up before her alarm went off leaving her plenty of time to get ready. Breakfast had been a bit on the light side, but she was used to that. She could push through a little bit of hunger for the sake of her dream. Besides, she was too nervous to eat a big meal today anyway.
She made excellent time on the way to UA's campus, thankful that she'd mapped the route ahead of time. She did get stuck at one crosswalk for what felt like hours, but was probably only a minute or two. She hopped back and forth from foot to foot while she waited, irritating the other commuters standing around her, but not caring one whit. After all, she had something much more important on her mind.
And then she had even managed to help someone out before the exam. If that wasn't a good sign, she didn't know what was. Sure, she hadn't done more than prevent him from tripping, but it still felt good. She had taken her first step towards being a hero before the exam had even started.
You've got this Ochaco! She thought, doing her best to psych herself up for the coming practical exam.
The written portion of the exam had been rough. She had needed to guess on way more problems than she felt comfortable with, but in the end she had managed to answer every question with a few minutes spare to review her answers.
Now, however, she was staring down the absolutely huge testing area which had been designed to look like a generic urban environment, and freaking out a bit.
Her mind boggled at the amount of money it must have cost to build this, not to mention the amount it would take to maintain it. A small part of her was furious, imagining how even a small chunk of that money could change her parent's lives. She quashed it though. It wasn't as if they were spending the money on frivolous things. This area was for training future heroes so they could protect the largest number of people possible. It probably even saved money in the long run, since it would teach them to keep property damage to a minimum.
Continuing the trend of UA demonstrating their monstrous resources, their opponents for the exam would apparently be robots, designed and custom built by UA themselves for this express purpose. They were designed to act like the criminals they might someday encounter in their hero work, apparently including some limited ability to mimic common Quirks. She wasn't quite sure how that worked, but it did set her teeth on edge.
In an attempt to calm herself, she fell into the familiar rhythm of her yoga stretches. Her mother firmly believed in the healing powers of yoga, and as such had been teaching Ochaco the poses since she was young. They had been an excellent way to destress while she was here in Mustafu, since every time she did them, she felt like her mother was standing behind her, just out of sight.
A commotion coming from behind her distracted her from her stretches and she turned to see what the fuss was about.
A tall boy in glasses that she vaguely remembered from the information session for the practical was telling someone off for attempting to sabotage the other applicants . She was pretty sure he'd been the one to ask a question about the different types of robots they would be facing, and then tell someone off for muttering. He gave off the impression of being extraordinary uptight, though that might have just been due to nerves.
With a start, she recognized the boy the taller one was interrogating. He was the one she had kept from falling before the exam. What little confidence he had regained while talking to her seemed to have evaporated in the face of the other boy's lecture.
Ok. Time for round two! She thought to herself as she walked towards the pair. A few of the other applicants had formed a loose circle to watch the spectacle.
"Everything OK here guys?" She asked the pair when she had muscled her way through the onlookers.
The boy with green hair jumped in surprise. "Oh! I was just—We were—"
"I was preventing him-" he paused to indicate the green haired boy "from interrupting the exam again by disrupting the other applicants. Yourself specifically."
Ochaco blinked in surprise.
"I-I wasn't trying to distract you! I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier!"
"Regardless of your intentions, you were-"
"It's okay!" Ochaco interrupted. "We're friends, so I guarantee he wasn't doing anything nefarious. And I'd say your lecture is the thing disrupting exam most right now." She gestured at the onlookers.
The taller boy jerked in surprise, as if he'd only just noticed the people watching them. The crowd, now seeing that the spectacle was over had begun to dissipate quickly, but a few stragglers remained, hoping for the spectacle to continue.
"I didn't...it was not my intention to…" The taller boy began haltingly.
"It's...uh...it's okay." The green haired boy said. "You were just trying to help."
"Still, I committed the same error I was accusing you of, for which I apologize. I will endeavor to do better in the future." He bowed to them, lower than was really necessary or even warranted. "Now, I should make good on my own words and leave you to prepare in peace. Pray excuse me."
With that he turned on his heel and marched away, every movement stiff and precisely controlled.
Definitely a case of nerves Ochaco thought to herself.
"Um...Thanks. Again." The green haired boy said, drawing her attention back to him. Once again, she found her eyes tracking directly to the scar that ran from his forehead and down the right side of his face, a thin white line that crinkled when he frowned.
She immediately felt bad for fixating on the mark, sure that he was sick of people staring at it. Instead, she focused her attention on his eyes, not letting herself look anywhere else on his face lest she make the same mistake again.
"No need to thank me. I'm sure you'd have done the same thing for me. Friends look after each other, yeah?"
He blinked in surprise at that. "Friends?" He said in obvious disbelief.
She felt her stomach drop. Sure, they had just met, but there was something about the boy that made him easy to like. She hadn't been lying before. A part of her had been hoping they would both make it into UA, so that she could have a friend to talk to from day one.
Still, as her mother always said, the best way to make friends was to go up and ask.
"Yeah. I haven't been in town for very long, and I was kinda hoping you wouldn't mind being my first friend here?" She put on what she hoped was a friendly smile.
The boy practically lit up in response, smiling like he'd just won the lottery. "Yes! I'd love to be your friend!"
Well, that was easier than I thought. She smiled
"I'm Uraraka Ochaco" she said, sticking her hand out towards him.
He took it while wearing what could only be described as a million dollar smile. "Nice to meet you Uraraka! I'm—"
"START!"
A booming voice echoed across the group out of nowhere, causing everyone to jump. They cast their eyes all around, trying to see where the voice had come from. A moment later, someone pointed to an elevated platform where Present Mic was standing, microphone in hand.
"Well?!" He called to the crowd. "What are you waiting for? Villains aren't going to wait for you to pull your boots on! Get going!"
For several seconds no one did anything, too busy processing the hero's words. Then someone took a step and pandemonium took hold. Nearly every applicant broke into a dead sprint, trying to be the first one to enter the city.
Ochaco and the green haired boy looked at each other, their hands still clasped tightly. At the same time their faces hardened as looks of determination overtook each of them.
"Good luck" Ochaco said, giving his hand a small squeeze.
"You too." He returned the squeeze. "You can do it!"
With that, they let their hands drop and broke into a dead sprint behind the other applicants.
The first robot Ochaco encountered took her by surprise, and nearly took her out of the fight all together.
She was trying to get away from the main group so she ducked into a side alley and came face to face with a wall of hulking metal. She leapt back in surprise. Hearing about robots in the briefing and actually seeing the things were two completely different experiences.
It was at least two feet taller than her, a mass of metal plates with a single glowing "eye" at the center of its head.
It was currently regarding her with what seemed to be a surprised look of its own. The eye at the center of its head was opened wide and was tracking up and down her body. One of its arms was raised over its head, but not in an overtly hostile manner. It looked more like it was in the process of trying to break a nearby window when she had encountered it.
The surprise didn't last long for either of them. As the robot turned towards her and prepared to bring its oversized fists down on top of her, Ochaco lunged forward and slapped her hand directly onto its chest. The robot immediately became weightless, and she sent it careening into the air with a shove. The moment she thought it was high enough to break on impact, she released her Quirk and sent it tumbling back to earth.
The crash was enormous and sent shards of concrete and pieces of robot spraying everywhere, forcing her to dive for cover behind a nearby trash can.
All told, the exchange lasted less than a minute, but to Ochaco it had felt like an eternity. She slapped herself all over, checking that all the important bits were still attached and undamaged. Satisfied that she was okay, she popped out of cover and went to check on her opponent.
It was still mostly intact, though it was missing quite a few miscellaneous screws and a few of the seams between plates had burst.
Whatever material they had constructed the robots out of seemed to be extremely durable, but also very light. She had been worried about the robots exceeding her weight limit when she first heard about them, not wanting to be incapactitated after the first exchange. Instead, lifting the robot had only caused a slight twinge in her stomach, roughly akin to lifting a person.
She smiled to herself. In that case…
She dashed back to where the main group was fighting, slipping through the melee and laying her hands on every robot she could get near. A few wild shots from other applicants came near her, but most of them seemed to have it under control, a fact that she was very grateful for. As she ran, bot after bot went careening into the sky. A few were picked off by various ranged attacks before she could drop them, but the majority were sent crashing back to earth when she released her Quirk.
It was a healthy amount of points, and the thought sent excitement running through her. It was more than enough to offset the slight churning of her stomach.
I've got this! She silently cheered to herself as she moved off once more, eagerly searching for her next group of opponents.
Robots
Of course it would be freaking robots! God forbid the mighty UA have an exam that wasn't completely biased towards people with physical Quirks.
Hitoshi Shinso growled to himself as he ran around yet another corner, trying yet again to lose the robot that was chasing him. Unfortunately, it continued to be remarkably persistent in its tracking, following at a similar pace to his own while smashing its way through obstacles that Hitoshi had to leap over or dodge around. He had a bit of ground on it currently, but it was closing in worryingly fast.
Since his Quirk was off the table against non-human opponents, Hitoshi had opted to go with a tried and true method of eliminating opponents; a lead pipe to the head. There had been a pile of the pipes lying near the entrance to the testing area, which Hitoshi guessed were for the students who needed a weapon to make their Quirk effective.
Unfortunately, it had barely made a dent in the robot's head, despite him swinging it as hard as he could. He'd immediately dropped the pipe and sprinted for his life, hoping that the robot would ignore him in favor of a closer opponent. He hadn't been lucky though, which lead to his current predicament.
He was so focused on keeping his breathing as even as he could that he didn't even see the loose piece of concrete that sent him sprawling. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, but by that point it was far too late. Three robots now had him surrounded, each managing to loom over him despite several feet away.
I'm fucked He thought to himself as he raised his hands above his head. Without his Quirk, his best hope was to hope they were programmed to accept his surrender, and wouldn't just beat him up.
"Hope youre happy, you dumb hunk of metal" He said bitterly, addressing the lead robot
The robots beeped at that, a series of quick tones that reminded Hitoshi of laughter. Being laughed at by a robot set his teeth on edge even more so than being laughed at by his classmates.
It only lasted a moment though. As he watched, the lead robot froze mid beep, then dropped its arms to its sides in what looked like a neutral stance. Hitoshi braced himself for whatever attack was coming, but after nearly a minute of waiting, nothing happened.
The other robots were acting as confused as Hitoshi felt. They beeped at their companion curiously, but it didn't respond. It almost looked like it was in some kind of trance.
An idea occurred to Hitoshi, and a small smile appeared on his face for the first time since this exam began.
"Raise your right arm." he ordered. A moment later, the robot followed his command.
The smile widened to a full on grin. Apparently UA hadn't just been filling a checklist when they had asked for prospective students to explain their Quirks in detail when they were applying. They had been gathering data to program into the exam. And now, months later, it was paying dividends.
He wasn't truly controlling the robot. His Quirk didn't work on robots, only people. It was more like he'd been given Admin control after it had responded to him.
Either way, he had a way to fight back now. Sure, he'd have to be clever about how he used his new "weapon" to keep it from regaining control, but he was more than willing to put in the work if it gave him a chance.
He opened his mouth to give some more orders, prepared to slip into the shadows in the confusion he was about to cause. He was interrupted before he got the chance though.
A figure rocketed out of the sky, landing just in front of Hitoshi. He caught a flash of spiky blond hair before a pair of explosions ripped out of its hands, turning the two non-brainwashed robots into so much scrap. Not even a second later, another explosion destroyed the last robot.
The rapid fire blasts left Hitoshi's ears ringing and his lungs filled with smoke. He coughed furiously, trying to clear his throat, but only succeed in pulling more into his lungs.
"Fucking amatuer" Said a harsh voice from just in front of him. "You know you're supposed to fight the robots, not get surrounded, right?"
Hitoshi coughed angrily at the boy standing in front of him. He was slightly shorter than Hitoshi, which was made more pronounced by his slumped stance. The look he wore on his face said more about him than anything he could have said.
He looked like arrogance personified, and Hitoshi hated him immediately. The expression he wore was the same one that so many of his classmates had worn while they mocked his villainous Quirk. It was the look of someone who thought they were superior in every way to the person they were talking down to.
The blonde boy didn't say anything further, just clicked his tongue once and blasted back into the sky on a pair of twin explosions.
Hitoshi glared at the rapidly retreating form. A part of him wanted to chase after the blonde, to send the arrogant bastard wandering around the arena for the rest of the exam. It would serve the dick right, but Hitoshi had other things on his mind.
Instead, he set off towards the opposite edge of the testing area. He still needed to pass the exam after all. This time, however, he felt confident that he could do it.
He was about to show everyone what he could really do..
Ochaco was pleased with her performance on the exam so far. She had a good number of villain points under her belt already, and by her reckoning she had nearly four minutes left to go. She'd also managed to help a few other applicants out of tight spots, which might not have earned her any points, but it did make her feel good.
She had trouble viewing the other applicants as competition. The school may have been trying to pit them against each other by having them compete for a limited number of points, but she couldn't help but think that they would all do much better if they worked together, or at least in small teams.
A rumble passing through the ground interrupted her thoughts and knocking her and several other applicants off balance. She managed to keep her feet under her thanks to her practice navigating in zero gravity, but it was a close thing.
Once she had her feet back under her she looked around wildly, trying to spot whoever or whatever had caused the disruption. She figured the shaking must have been caused by something big, powerful, or both.
She got her answer a moment later when a truly massive robot pushed its way through a pair of buildings down the street. Steel beams bent under fingers the size of tree trunks while concrete and glass simply shattered, sending shards spraying into the street below.
Ochaco blanched. In the briefing, Present Mic had talked briefly about the Zero Pointers, but his description had failed to convey how truly terrifying they were. There was something primal that made her want to scurry away and hide under a rock in the face of such might.
Ochaco and the other applicants found themselves frozen in fear. All they could do was stare in wide eyed terror as the behemoth robot finished pulling its way through the piles of rubble that had been a pair of buildings less than a minute ago.
Its head moved side to side as it surveyed the area in front of it, then paused as it finally caught sight of the examinees. It stared for a moment, as if evaluating the motionless students in front of it. Then its eye turned dark red and it began to move towards them.
That broke people from their stupor and they began to flee, not caring one bit which direction they went. Ochaco followed, but she didn't push her way through the crowd like some did. She stayed at the back of the group, willing those in front to move faster but keeping an eye out for anyone who had fallen, ready to help at a moment's notice.
A massive crash came from above her a moment before the arena became covered in dust. The behemoth had decimated another building in a single strike, sending dust and debris over a huge chunk of the area.
Ochaco had a brief moment to panic over losing her ability to see more than five feet in front of her before something slammed into her legs. She smashed into the ground before she could put her hands out and her chin bounced off the pavement, blurring her vision.
She tried to crawl along the ground, pushing through the dizziness with her desire to get away from the oncoming danger. Her legs wouldn't move, however. A heavy weight was pressing them down, pinning her completely to the concrete.
She could feel the ground rumble as the behemoth closed in on her, causing her teeth to shake in her gums. She knew she wouldn't even be a bump in the road for its massive treads.
She cried out in pain, in fear, in desperation. It was a cry of inarticulate emotion, one that she knew in her heart was fruitless. The other applicants were too far away, and too focused on their own survival to pay attention to her. She was all alone, with death bearing down on her.
And then a blur of green caught her eye as it hurtled toward her.
It wasn't a conscious decision. One minute Izuku was trying to crawl away from the monstrosity that just leveled a building oh shitohshitohshit!
The next, he heard a cry of fear, the cry of someone who desperately needed a hero. He turned, and with a start, he saw her. The girl from the entrance exam. Uraraka. His friend. In danger.
His limbs filled with energy, warmth spilling through him and burning away all his fears and doubts, leaving only one option. Action.
He leapt up, passing through the fingers of the behemoth bot as it leaned down to grab something. He climbed higher and higher until he was level with the behemoth' s face. All Might's voice echoed in the back of his head, the only instruction he had given Izuku on wielding the power that was now burning inside him. He clenched his butt cheeks as tightly as he could, and screamed with everything he had.
"SMASH!"
The robot's head crumpled like paper under the force of the blow, spitting sparks wildly as metal folded and systems shorted. It began to fall backward, and Izuku had a brief moment of panic. He hoped no one was behind it. He'd hate to save one person, only to end up crushing someone else in the process.
Then a whole new worry took precedence as gravity claimed him once more and he went hurtling toward the ground.
One second, the green blur was running towards Ochaco, the next, it had leapt into the air, streaking into the sky while it emitted an incoherent cry.
When it reached the top of its arc, the blur slowed, and she was finally able to resolve it. The plain boy, her first friend in the city whose name she still hadn't gotten, was nearly even with the behemoths head, legs hanging awkwardly and arm cocked back into a fist.
A single strike was all it took to fell the seemingly unstoppable robot. Ochaco could feel her jaw drop at the sight. Beyond her, every other applicant did the same.
They had been focused on running away, on saving themselves above all else. And then the boy who had seemed so weak and helpless, who had done little more than cry for the first half of the exam, who they had all written off as a weakling and a coward had decimated an opponent they hadn't even tried to touch. It was a humbling experience for all who witnessed it, and left many of them questioning what exactly they were doing at the exam.
Ochaco felt the rubble that was pinning her in place shift slightly, enough that she could jerk her legs free. The process left her missing several patches of skin on her knees and palms, but she hardly even noticed.
What did catch her attention was the scream coming from above her. It was rapidly increasing in both pitch and volume as she listened. She craned her neck up and saw the hero of the hour plummeting toward certain death, legs flopping crazily in the breeze as he wept openly.
He can't stop himself! She realized with a sense of panic. Thinking fast, she grabbed a piece of destroyed robot, and used it as a platform to boost herself higher. She reached as far as she could, willing her fingers to go that little bit further, willing herself to stop her new friend falling to his death.
The slap she landed on his face wasn't gentle, nor was it exactly how she wanted to help him, but it did save his life, and that's all Ochaco could really ask for.
His momentum slowed to a crawl, and he landed with barely a thud on the pavement. She released her Quirk with a sigh, happy to finally be safe.
The boy, apparently, disagreed. Despite his obviously broken limbs he dragged himself forward, muttering furiously about needing to get just one point. Ochaco felt her eyes boggle. He was that strong, and he hadn't even gotten a single point? What the heck had happened?
She wanted to help him out, but the only robots left in the area were in pieces, and with what appeared to be a pair of broken legs, he wasn't getting up anytime soon. Sighing, she laid back on the chunk of robot. In the distance, Present Mic called the one minute warning for the exam.
A familiar rumble passed through the ground, and Ochaco shot to her feet. Somehow, the behemoth was getting back up. It's head was almost totally crushed, and was hanging by a few wires, but the eye at the center still glowed an ominous red.
Her mind kicked into overdrive. If she grabbed the boy and ran, they might be able to put enough distance between them and the behemoth to escape when the exam ended. It's the sound, logical plan, the one she should take. But she just can't take that option now. The green boy had charged in, heedless of the danger, in order to save her. Doing any less herself would be insulting to him.
So, she did the only other thing she could think of, and charged the robot, slapping her palms against the massive form. Up close it seems even more enormous than before, but she didn't shrink away from it. Instead, she flooded her Quirk into it even faster, willing the gigantic piece of metal to lose its connection to one of the fundamental forces of the universe.
For a long moment, nothing happened. The behemoth's massive form quivered slightly as it tried to rise, but didn't budge. Her face was flushed with effort, and her stomach was twisting itself in knots, but she refused to let go. She had to do this. She had to stop this villian, both for herself, and for everyone who was counting on her.
She imagined she could hear them behind her, cheering her on, telling her that she was strong enough, that she could do this.
She cried out, willing her mind and body to go even further beyond, and ever so slowly the behemoth began to float. She hooked her fingers underneath the massive frame and heaved with all her strength. It spun, massive treads rising into the air as its shoulders were scraped along the ground.
Finally, after an agonizingly long time, the wires holding the behemoth's head on its shoulders snapped, sending the head skipping off as the light of its eye faded.
She released her Quirk, and the behemoth's limp form fell once more with a ground shattering boom.
There. Everyone's safe. She thought to herself.
Unbidden, her eyes roved over the still form of the robot, realizing yet again how enormous it really was.
You know, I don't think I've ever lifted anything that big before.
With that final thought, her vision turned black and she collapsed into an unconscious heap on the ground.
Izuku was completely worn out, to the point where he was stumbling every few steps. Even All Might's training had never left him this tired. Recovery Girl hadn't been kidding about the side effects of her Quirk.
It also didn't help that he was feeling incredibly depressed about his performance. He hadn't even managed to get a single villian point, and after all the training All Might had given him. He really was the absolute worst.
He stumbled into someone standing by the entrance gate, the third time he had hit someone since he had left the infirmary, and scrambled to apologize to them.
"You look like a fucking corpse" Katsuki said eloquently.
Izuku nearly jumped at the familiar voice. He had been so focused on not breaking down in the middle of the courtyard that he hadn't even recognized his friend.
"O-oh. Hey Kacchan." He said, more to fill the silence than as an actual greeting.
He was about to leave, ready to walk home alone and wallow in his misery when Katuski placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"I...uh...home?" Izuku said, suddenly unsure.
"Like hell you are. I was promised ramen this morning, and I will not be denied."
Izuku cast his mind back to the half remembered conversation from that morning. It had only been a few hours ago, but somehow it felt like a lifetime had passed since then. He and Katsuki had made plans to get ramen after the exam.
"Kacchan, I'm not really—"
"Save it." Katsuki said, with surprising force. "I blasted my way through an army of robots today, so all I want to do is stuff myself. And not on that vegan shit my dad's always making. I mean real, delicious, meaty ramen. And while I do that, you're gonna give me the rundown on the Quirks you saw today. I wanna be able to blow those posers out of the water in our first combat class."
With that, he set off in the direction of the ramen stand they had been visiting since they had discovered it four years ago. He didn't so much as glance back in Izuku's direction, confident that he would follow him.
A moment later, Izuku felt his feet turning the same way. He was still bone tired, and his emotions were all over the place, but he did have to admit that a warm meal and a willing ear sounded pleasant.
Two hours later, Izuku was feeling significantly better. His stomach was pleasantly warm and full, his nerves had calmed, and his mind was buzzing with ideas for notes to add to his Hero Analysis book. He'd definitely have to start a new volume at this rate. The last volume had been three-quarters filled before today, and there had been sooooo many different Quirks on display.
He walked home with a skip in his step, mood completely turned around. After all, there would be time to freak out about his performance later. For now, he had to get his notes down while he could still remember everything.
