Something something something
Eraserhead's words sent an icy spear through Izuku.
This was not good.
Did he already figure out he was Kage? But how? Had he known since the entrance exam? Were there Pro Heroes lying in wait to get him? They had probably gotten Sumire too and—
"The house isn't clean yet."
"What?" Izuku asked in response to Eraserhead's dry sentence, "The house isn't what?"
Eraserhead sighed much like how Izuku would after spilling a drink on himself, "The cleaners are running a bit behind schedule so I can't let you in yet."
"Wait, that's it?" Izuku couldn't help but ask, "I thought you were going to expel me! Um, I m-mean I thought you were going to expel me, Aizawa-sensei."
Eraserhead (or was it Aizawa-sensei now?) smiled and it a ghoulish thing. It was almost as if Aizawa-sensei was doing a copy of what he had read a smile was instead of an actual smile. It was less creepy than that Himiko Toga's smile, but not too dissimilar in how it made him feel.
It felt as though he was a helpless lamb staring up at a bloodthirsty predator.
"So you've heard of my policy?" Aizawa-sensei said more to himself than to Izuku, "Alright, then. Move your bags towards those garden furniture and take a seat. I'm not expelling you now, but there is plenty of time for that later..."
"Yes, sir!" Izuku squeaked out with a bow and everything before pulling his trolley towards the aforementioned garden furniture.
As he dragged his trolley towards the garden furniture, Izuku couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. That had been scary. Of course, Eraserhead hadn't figured him out yet. He would have been arrested immediately if that were the case. Plus UA wouldn't chance letting a vigilante get into their school...Right?
For now, though, he was sure it had just been him reading too much into things. Thankfully, Eraserhead hadn't really noticed or maybe he just assumed Izuku was a bit of a nervous wreck...It wasn't an inaccurate description of him either in all honesty.
He plopped down on the stone bench and took in the sights of UA around him. The dorm section of the school was somehow even nicer than the parts of the school Izuku had already seen. The garden furniture was carved out of a rather ornate and smooth stone and had some nice decorative touches.
The building itself had about five levels excluding the rooftop. After having spent much of his life going up and downstairs, Izuku hoped he was close to the ground level. He had had enough of stairs to last him multiple lifetimes.
A few minutes past and Izuku was still the only student around. Eraserhead had gotten back into his sleeping bag at some stage and was now lying on the ground once more...or sleeping... What made him so tired all the time? Maybe the dry eye made it hard for him to sleep?
That would suck.
Izuku got his phone out as he decided to check the news for anything related to Native, Backdraft and Death Arms. Much like the rest of the week, nothing was mentioned about their current exploits. Izuku had seen all three of the heroes operating since the Agatarri Mall incident and they appeared to be perfectly normal.
Well, other than the fact that they had actually hired villains to conduct a heist on a facility guarded by some of their colleagues.
Izuku had dedicated a lot of time to ponder what those heroes were doing there. If it were a sting operation then surely they wouldn't have been alone. Dabi would've been swarmed almost immediately. Plus, he had heard Backdraft call for a retreat with Death Arms right there.
Between Backdraft and Death Arms, they could have taken care of Dabi. Probably. Dabi's flames were really, really hot. If Izuku hadn't broken his jaw then his mask probably would have been melted to his face.
In any case, the Heroes were well-equipped to deal with everyone that was there. Hell, Backdraft had been one of the first responders to the fire at Miruko's club on the night Dabi had—
Oh, boy. Would they stoop that low? Native's conversation with Dabi flickered through his head and Izuku had his answer almost immediately.
"They definitely would do that," Izuku said as he resisted the urge to slap himself, "I need to tell Sumire."
"Who's Sumire? Is she hot?"
Izuku almost dropped his phone when he heard someone's voice. He looked up from his phone and around in panic until a hand snuck up into his view. The hand snapped its fingers a few more times before pointing down.
"I'm right here," said the owner of the hand who was a boy with oddly familiar purple hair, "So, tell me. Who's this Sumire chick? Another friend of yours?"
It took Izuku only a few moments to place the boy with a peculiar expression on his face.
"Mineta?"
Mineta was sitting next to a small suitcase which was probably why Izuku had missed him. The boy was rather short and had for some reason chosen to sit on the ground instead of on the chairs. The end result was Izuku not spotting him at all.
"That's my name," Mineta said before leaning in towards Izuku, "Now let's circle back...Is this Sumire chick a friend of yours? Like that babe with the orange hair?"
Oh, that was right. Kendou and Mineta had been tested in the same area and were amongst the first to get to their bus. At least, Mineta seemed more normal today and in all honesty, Izuku was curious about the ball managed to get in. It probably had to do with the balls on the boy's head.
"Um, S-Sumire and I have a bit of an...unconventional relationship," Izuku said in answer to Mineta's question and not wanting to lie, "I mean she is like ten or so years older than me so—"
"I got it!" Mineta said heartily as what suspiciously looked like tears formed in his eyes, "I totally get it! I'll keep your secret for you! You lucky bastard!"
Yet again, Izuku had the impression that Mineta was rambling once more so with a bit of courage he redirected the conversation to something obvious.
"Why are you sitting on the floor?"
"Oh, well I was about to go inside maybe scope out the vents or something, but then I saw that zombie in the yellow sleeping bag so I had to adjust my plans," Mineta said looking over his shoulder to Eraserhead, "He looks pretty strict, doesn't he? He looks like he won't let me get my groove on..."
This time Izuku understood and agreed with what Mineta had said...except for the weird thing about vents. He doubted the house had any at all. Eraserhead didn't seem like the type to let things slide and with Izuku's luck, he'd find a way to get on his bad side soon enough. He had never been good with teachers, after all.
Although, that had never really been his fault.
"So how did your Entrance Exam go?" Izuku asked deciding to get to know one of his new classmates.
Mineta's Quirk made for an interesting entry into his notebooks. Apparently, the balls on his head were sticky and could be used to bind stuff together. The effect didn't work on Mineta himself, though, which made sense.
It would be terrible if his own hand got stuck to his hair.
In any case, this meant that Mineta hadn't been able to outright destroy the robots. He had to trap them and then find the switches to deactivate them. It was a testament to how strong the adhesiveness of Mineta's balls was that none of the robots had managed to escape.
Well, almost none of them.
"That giant robot went straight through them like they weren't even there!" Mineta said throwing his arms to the side, "I got lucky that I didn't trap anyone in those balls or I'd probably have failed...and be in jail."
Izuku sidestepped around Mineta's questions about his own exam. He didn't think it'd be right of him to say exactly what had happened. It may come off as him bragging or gloating. That was fine to do around Kendou, but less so when setting first impressions. He took pride in what he'd done, but maybe this could sneak under the radar for a little bit.
"Oh, look at that guy. He looks like he could eat me for breakfast!" Mineta said in awe and Izuku felt the same feeling rise up in him.
A giant of a man— well, technically a boy who was apparently Izuku's age— was walking with just two suitcases in hand. It was a bit lacking compared to the sheer amount of stuff Izuku and Mineta had brought.
The boy wore a modified UA blazer—probably due to the fact that he had six arms joined by a web of skin on each side. He had a brief conversation with Eraserhead who was still lurking underneath the table with their forms. It was only when he moved that Izuku spotted two people way shorter than the boy.
"He's so much taller than his parents," Mineta all but whined, "Some people get all the luck!"
Izuku wasn't sure about that though. The boy's appearance was, quite honestly, bound to attract some negative attention from some of the more hateful populace that still skulked around in the world. The boy could definitely handle himself— he was built like a tank — however, Izuku knew that mental attacks worked just as well if not better than physical ones.
The boy hugged his parents goodbye and it was a bit amusing and touching to see his parents be on the verge of tears as he crouched down and wrapped them in a hug. They left not long after with the tall boy watching them leave.
A few cars pulled up at the same time and already the tall boy was leaving. Now, Izuku could get a good look at him. Admittedly, he looked really, really cool. He had silver hair that covered one eye and he had a mask that just added to his aura. Mineta seemed to think the same thing.
"Is everyone here going to look cooler than me?"
The boy's head turned as if on a pole and he looked past Mineta and straight at Izuku. The second they made eye contact Izuku's world seem to spin as he felt hooks settle into his skull and then pull.
"Kakashi-sensei! You can't be serious!"
"We don't have much of a choice, Sakura," Kakashi-sensei said placing a hand on her shoulder, "I fear things would have gone better if we had done this sooner!"
"He's right, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he finally found the courage to speak, "The Akatsuki got baa-chan and other famous shinobi... They've gotten a lot of the other Bijū and no one seems to care!"
Anger and sadness and frustration flowed through Izuku's —Naruto's— veins.
"If I had just been there when Gaara—"
"It wasn't your fault, Naruto," Kakashi jumped in to say, "Your return got delayed for understandable reasons. You had a tall order set for you and things went south. It happens. Six tails is no joke even for Jiraiya-sama..."
The storm within him began to cool even though hearing his master's name still stung.
"He's right," Sakura said firmly, "If Bee hadn't taught you then we'd be a lot worse off and even he said you took it to better than anyone else he'd heard of."
"And look what that got him," Naruto couldn't help but mutter as his mood soured again, "I'm the last one left and no one seems to realise the danger we're in! I'm tired of waiting in the village waiting for him and everyone else to come to their senses! They all think we're lying— that I'm lying because I killed—"
A hand settled on his shoulder.
"Naruto," Kakashi said and there was so much compassion and hurt and understanding in his voice, "I know you're hurting, but we need to do this."
"This isn't how we do stuff, though. I hate him so much, but isn't there—"
"He ruined the Five Kage summit completely, Sakura," Naruto frowned as he looked at his teammate, "Our alliance with Suna and then Kumo died because of him. You know hard Tsunade-baachan slaved to get those and now they're gone...because of him..."
His nails were digging into his palm and it was only a baritone murmur from within that calmed him down.
"It might not be right, but we have to do it," Naruto said less angry, but still radiating intensity and determination, "We owe it to Jiraiya. We owe it to Tsunade and we owe to everyone else suffering because we were too cowardly to disobey."
Kakashi's eye bored into Naruto's with none of the usual cheer. What looked like a smile spread behind his mask, but Naruto blinked and it was gone...
Stupid mask.
"So it's settled," he said and this time Sakura didn't object, "By this time tomorrow, we kill Danzo Shimura and reclaim the honour and glory to the title of Hokage."
"After that," Naruto said as the gravity of the situation settled in, "We fight."
"Hey!"
Izuku startled as he was thrown back into the present. Mineta was standing up now and was trying to get his attention. Izuku ignored him for a moment as he looked at the boy that had triggered his flashback.
Izuku was thrown for a loop when he saw that the boy was looking right at him. Izuku offered a tentative smile and the boy stared at him before nodding and settling down at one of the more isolated benches.
He kinda did look like the silver-haired man he'd just seen. Kakashi, was it? And from a perspective that wasn't Sakura's either, but someone called Naruto. He'd ponder what that meant later, though.
"S-Sorry, I kinda spaced out there," Izuku said to Mineta but Mineta wasn't listening instead he was looking towards Eraserhead's table.
There was one...no wait...two girls with their respective families. The one girl had pink skin and pink hair which was pretty unique already, but she was talking to a floating skirt and blazer—which had to be a girl with some sort of invisibility Quirk.
"Would you look at that?" Mineta whispered under his breath, "School just became awesome! I'm gonna go and...introduce myself."
The arrivals seemed to stack up after that. A rather bulky boy arrived with his mom and settled down near the six-armed boy. Mineta, after a rather loud dismissal from the other two girls, struck up a conversation with a blonde boy and a girl with dark blue hair who had arrived at around the same time.
The garden fast became rather busy. Izuku was beginning to feel a bit antsy as conversations sprung around him. He didn't want to come off as standoffish or rude, but he just wasn't sure how to do about joining a conversation.
The firm rebuttal Mineta had gotten from the first two girls to arrive only compounded his fear.
There was quite a bit of commotion on the front lawn now as people moved their bags around, introduced themselves and so on. Izuku was about to bite the bullet and introduce himself to a boy with spiky red hair. He was speaking to the girl with pink hair as well as the invisible girl.
Before he could move out of his seat, a trolley was stopped in front of him. Izuku blinked before looking up. Much quicker than with Mineta, Izuku recognised the person before him and thankfully the reverse served true.
"Aoyama! It's good to see you!"
For a moment, Izuku was almost blinded by all the sequins on Aoyama's bags. The suitcases were glimmering like diamonds in the sun. They would've been odd if anyone else had them, but somehow Aoyama just made it work.
"Same to you, mon ami," Aoyama said standing with his hands on his hips, "I must admit you had me worried when you collapsed after saving that belle fille."
So, Aoyama did know French. Rather well too. Or so he assumed. He understood nothing of what Aoyama had just said in French. What he did understand, though, was that Aoyama was actually worried for him after the exam.
"You were worried for me?"
"Of course," Aoyama said as he plopped down opposite Izuku, "Your plan helped me get enough rescue points to finish in the top 15. I'm sure the others feel the same. You can ask them yourself. They are on their way here now."
"Hey, it's Midoriya!"
"Midoriya! We need to talk!"
Aoyama flicked a finger to where he had just come from and lo and behold Iida and Uraraka were marching towards them.
Iida was pulling the many, many, many suitcases and boxes he had on a flatbed trolley (where the hell did that come from?). As for Uraraka, she was dragging her suitcases through the air with a rope, like a swarm of kites.
They ended up attracting a lot of attention weaving past people before they settled in front of him. The entire garden was silent and with a few loud thumps, Uraraka's suitcases fell to the ground. Both she and Iida then turned towards him in unnerving synchronicity.
"You looked so freaking cool destroying that giant robot! You were like POW and then it was like BOOM and everyone was like WOAH!"
"Your phenomenal plan and keen foresight allowed me to come fourth overall! I owe you a lot, Midoriya!"
If they weren't attracting a lot of attention from students, their parents and probably Eraserhead too, then Izuku would've found it cool that they had started and finished speaking at the same time.
As it was, he only felt embarrassed that their table was now the centre of attention.
"Uhhhh, hi guys," Izuku finally said feeling sweat build on his neck, "I-It was nothing, really. We all had to pass after all."
So much, for keeping the robot thing under the radar...
"Did that guy also destroy one of those giant robots?!" shouted a blonde boy in a nearby group, "Him? Really? He's not even that big, I could totally—"
"Shut up!"
The boy was cut off as a girl with dark hair and two...attachments...from her ear elbowed him in the side. The boy dropped to his knees as a high-pitched whine escaped from him. She said a few words under her breath to the blonde boy before turning right to Izuku.
"Sorry about this idiot!"
Izuku could only give a shaky nod.
Just like that, everything was back to normal. Izuku checked on the blonde boy to see if he was fine, but he did seem to be okay. In any case, Mineta was already checking on him and whatever Mineta was saying seemed to cheer the blonde boy up.
"What a jerk," Uraraka said as she crossed her arms, "He wouldn't be saying that if he was in our exam venue! You totally wrecked that robot!"
"Agreed. Your performance in the Entrance Exam was stellar," Iida said with a curt nod, "Furthermore, such behaviour is unbecoming of a hero course student at such a prestigious school. I shall have a talk with him about the expectations placed on us as students of UA."
Iida and Uraraka's words were different in tone, but their messages were the same. It was a bit unexpected that they had reassured him so quickly.
To think he'd been worried about finding nice people at UA...
"It's no worry, really," Izuku said ignoring the burn in his cheeks, "I'm kinda used to not sticking out all that much. People saying stuff like that is nothing new."
His words were meant to calm the two of them down, but if anything they only seemed to rile them up even more.
"Really? But you're so strong!" Uraraka said rising to her feet, "With a Quirk like yours, I'd be scared to say anything bad about you! Not that you're the type to hit someone for saying that or anything!"
"I agree with Uraraka's assessment," Iida said with a chop of his hand (what was that about?), "You are not the type to seek revenge. The foresight and intelligence you showed in discovering the second test only further proves her point. It was your leadership that allowed us all to pass with such good marks."
"I think you guys are giving me too much credit," Izuku said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I just wanted us to get out of there as quick as possible. If it weren't for you guys then it would've been almost impossible to get as many people out as we did."
Izuku really did mean that. Between the four of them and Yaoyorozu, they'd had the perfect combo of Quirks to evacuate everyone. They wouldn't have gotten any points for style and what they had done definitely wouldn't have worked in actual evacuation.
Still though, considering the circumstances, they had all done very well which was why they all got such high rescue points.
"Speaking of our group," Uraraka began her voice laced with something of an odd tone, "Did you speak to Momo after the exam?"
Wait, what did she just say?
"Do you mean Yaoyorozu?" Izuku asked which seemed to cause some confusion amongst them all.
"Is that her full name?" Uraraka asked before her eyes lit up, "Wait! Like the stupid-rich Yaoyorozu family?! She's one of them?"
"No wonder she is so formidable," Iida said putting his chin in his hands, "She outscored me in the normal exam despite not having my speed. It is expected that someone from such a family would do so well."
Aoyama was the only one to take this news in his stride.
"I guess so," Izuku said as he watched Iida and Uraraka come to terms with it, "She's really good, but that can't be down to just her family, right? She told me how her Quirk works and it would need a lot of work to actually be useful."
"So you did speak after the exam," Uraraka leaned towards him with a smile, "She could've come back on the bus, but she specifically said she wanted to speak to you even after she got healed. You had just saved her from failing, but still! D'you guys have any history?"
"Oh, trés interresant," Aoyama murmured under his breath, "This could be very interesting..."
"If Midoriya and Yaoyorozu have any personal history then—"
Izuku lost track of Iida's rebuke to both Uraraka and Aoyama as he pondered the former's words Did destroying an expensive bag count as history? Probably not.
Uraraka was probably reading too much into things. He and Yaoyorozu hadn't spoken all that much in the infirmary. If anything, he had been the one who had taken over the conversation. A sliver of embarrassment rolled within his chest as he remembered his rapid-fire questions to Yaoyorozu.
He had not made a good impression in any of his conversations with her. The worst-case scenario would be being in a class with her. Izuku would probably die of embarrassment if he had to see her again.
Izuku put that out of his mind as he allowed himself to take in his class. Iida, great guy that he was, had managed to steer the conversation away from Izuku and Yaoyorozu. This allowed Izuku to watch the new arrivals and also take in the others.
Between a boy with a bird head, a boy with spiky red hair and a girl with long green hair, there were a lot of immediate standouts. They would definitely not struggle to stand out in a crowd which was good for prospective heroes.
Izuku wasn't quite as striking as some of his other classmates so he had changed his hero costume to compensate. If it hadn't been for one of the scrolls he and Sumire had gotten, then he would've stuck with an ordinary costume.
All the top heroes stuck out especially the top ones. From All Might to Endeavor to Best Jeanist to Ryukyu, they all had a particular and unmistakable style. It was a sometimes overlooked aspect of being a hero. Sometimes, the look said it all.
Izuku still loved the preliminary costume he had come up with, but in truth that had been drawn up well before he ever got chakra. He was still himself, but he wasn't quite the same boy who had wanted to wear that costume. So, a change had been in order.
Plus, Kendou had said it made him look like a rabbit which wasn't bad, but considering he had been going for a homage to All Might instead of Miruko, perhaps he had messed up somewhere in the design process.
Thankfully, inspiration had been hidden inside a pocket dimension that could only be accessed by a scroll with magical writing on it. He could only hope that it got done on time. His request to change it had been a bit late.
The garden was now filling up. A boy with red and white hair had arrived. Izuku had noticed him at the same time as Uraraka and they had both come to the same conclusion.
"He looks strong, doesn't he?" Uraraka whispered as they watched him hug a man and woman clearly too young to be his parents, "I wonder what his deal is. He looks so intense."
It was true. The boy walked right through the garden and to their combined surprise, he seemed to be making a beeline for them. He stopped right at their table looking at all of them in turn.
When his gaze settled on Izuku, a cold feeling washed over him. The boy had unsettling eyes. Whereas Bakugou always seemed to be filled with anger and passion, this boy's eyes were cold and piercing.
Izuku tensed up as the boy turned towards him.
"You. With the green hair," the boy said as he looked at Izuku, "Is this seat taken?"
"N-No."
"May I sit there?"
Izuku glanced towards the other three in question. All of them, even Aoyama, seemed to be lost for words. Izuku gave a shaky smile before moving up a bit too quickly.
"O-Of course you can!" Izuku winced at the volume of his answer, but he gave the boy ample room, "It's only the four of us so you can sit here! This table is made for at least eight people and we're only sitting here because we know each other from the Entrance Exam! So you can definitely sit here! Speaking of the Entrance Exam, how did you do? You seem pretty strong so I'm kinda curious—"
Izuku's rambling was cut off by...a block of cheese? Izuku turned only to see Aoyama holding a plate of sliced cheese. Where the hell had that come from?
"Would you like some cheese?" Aoyama said to the new arrival, "It is rather divine if I say so myself."
Izuku bit down on the cheese block. Well, then. It was actually really good.
"No, thank you."
"Good day," Iida said sitting ramrod straight, "My name is Tenya Iida, next to me is Ochaco Uraraka. He's Yuga Aoyama and next to you is Izuku Midoriya! We are pleased to make your acquaintance..."
"Shouto. Shouto Todoroki."
"Todoroki?" Uraraka said with a finger to her chin before snapping her fingers, "Hey! Are you related to—"
"Deku!"
Oh, no.
"Who's Deku?" Uraraka asked instead as she heard the loud shout, "Is that someone here?"
Izuku sighed.
"No, it's me."
"Deku! Stop acting like you can't hear me! I can see you covering your ears! You're at the table with the guy who ran out of hair dye! The old hag—Ow! My mother wants to talk to you!"
Izuku looked towards the parking lot and sure enough, Bakugou was looking right at him. His expression oozed annoyance and anger. Aunt Mitsuki was standing next to him looking rather annoyed at her son.
She then turned towards him and her expression softened immediately. It would've freaked him out if he wasn't used to Bakugou's and his mom's relationship. He rose out of his seat excusing himself from the table.
This will be fun.
If the earlier moment with Iida and Uraraka had been awkward, this was some new fresh level of hell. Bakugou and his mother having a screaming contest while occasionally pointing towards him made for quite the scene.
This time Izuku knew everyone was watching his approach. Even Eraserhead's sleeping bag seemed to be turned towards the commotion. Izuku steeled his nerves as he finally walked through the garden and reached Aunt Mitsuki's car.
"Don't test me, Katsuki!" Mitsuki growled in his face, "I will tear your world fucking asunder if you—Oh, hi Izuku! Oh, my! You're looking more and more like a man each day!"
Despite months of training and getting into many fights, Izuku still didn't quite have the reflexes to avoid the hug Mitsuki pulled him into. He returned it and fought down the panic that Bakugou's sneering face lot aflame within him.
"Mom! Can you not?"
Mitsuki pulled away from the hug and turned to Bakugou, "Get your bags out of the car. I need to speak to Izuku."
Mitsuki sounded a lot less combative. It was a vast departure from the usual anger in her tone when it came to arguing with Bakugou. It threw both Izuku and Bakugou for a loop and Izuku watched as Bakugou immediately followed his mother's request.
Mitsuki didn't request. She commanded. What was going on?
"This is the first time I've gotten time to speak to you since you fought with Katsuki," Mitsuki began and her face was rather downcast, "I'm really sorry about all he's done to you. Masaru and I really should've kept a closer eye on him."
She was...apologising? This was weird...What was next? Endeavor becoming a chef? Ryukyu moving into an enclosure at the zoo? Miruko working with someone?
"You know how he is," Mitsuki said with a small smile, "His Quirk is stupid awesome and people tend to feed his ego. I thought he was just a little prick, I never expected that he'd be such a little douche!"
"Who you calling a douche, you hag?!"
"You're a douche, you douche!" Mitsuki yelled at her son across the road, "Now scram! This isn't any of your business!"
Bakugou glowered at his mom and then at Izuku, but in the end, he turned away as he carried his bags across the garden. Mitsuki took a moment to calm herself before continuing.
"Masaru isn't here, but I hope you can find a way to forgive us," Mitsuki said crossing her arms, "And with you guys now being in the same class, I'm wondering how this will affect you after everything. We've talked about asking the school to make him move classes—"
Okay, that was enough.
"It's not your fault, Aunt Mitsuki," Izuku said cutting her off, "Kacchan is...well, he's difficult. If I or anyone at school had said something then maybe, it would be your fault, but you didn't know. Not even my mom knew. So, you guys shouldn't beat yourselves up for it."
An image of Bakugou screaming at Izuku flashed through his mind.
"I think UA will be good for Kacchan," Izuku said after a moment's pause, "He's amazing, but so is everyone else here..."
Another image, this time of him fighting Eraserhead in an alleyway.
"Especially the teachers," Izuku said as he managed to smile, "I know he'll come right eventually. We might not get along as well as you and Mom do, but that's not really your fault."
It would be easy to blame Bakugou's parents for his behaviour, but it wouldn't be right. Bakugou wasn't a kid anymore. They were in high school now. Bakugou would have to take ownership of what he's done wrong. It would be wrong if he blamed Mitsuki and Masaru for Bakugou's attitude.
"Are you sure?" Mitsuki asked wiping her eyes and he nodded, "This isn't a problem?"
"It's not ideal, but I'll be fine," Izuku said as the whir of a scooter caught his attention, "I just want you and my mom to patch things up. It'll be lonely for the both of you without me or Kacchan at home and you shouldn't let this get in the way."
"Ugh," Mitsuki said as she hugged him tighter than before, "You're not supposed to be the adult in this situation, Izuku... Good luck with everything. I saw you came second overall. You did great!"
Izuku pulled away from the hug just as Bakugou returned. The scooter he had heard earlier also pulled up and to his dismay, Yaoyorozu was the one on it. She skidded to a stop and threw down her helmet. Her breathing was heavy as she put both the helmet and scooter onto a grass embankment.
"Good day," Yaoyorozu said to them all and her gaze seemed to linger on Izuku for a bit before she sped off.
"Hey, you guys saw that, right? What's her deal?" Bakugou asked, but his question was ignored by both Izuku and Mitsuki.
"Come here, Katsuki," Mitsuki said before she (forcibly) pulled him into a hug, "Stop struggling! This is the last time I'll see you in months!"
Izuku was barely paying attention as he watched Yaoyorozu speaking frantically to Eraserhead. The man was now out and about— his sleeping bag nowhere to be seen. He held up a hand and gave a nod to Yaoyorozu.
As if by magic, all the tension left her body. Izuku ignored the hug/shouting match between the mother-son duo behind him as he watched Yaoyorozu come back their way. Her uniform looked a bit dishevelled as if she'd somehow woken up late and had to dress in a hurry.
That couldn't be, though. She had come this way on a scooter so surely she had already been on campus. Why had she been in such a rush? She had looked downright panic-stricken before Eraserhead talked her down.
"Class 1-A!" Eraserhead's voice punched through Izuku's thoughts, "Now that you're all finally here gather by the steps! Leave your bags where they are!"
"Alright, I guess I have to go," Mitsuki said as she finally pulled away from Bakugou, "You guys better have fun and work hard. And you better be on your best behaviour, Katsuki! Don't forget to give Izuku his present! I love you!"
"...I love you too..."
At that very moment, Izuku wished he had Sumire's Quirk instead of chakra. The embarrassed look on Bakugou's face was one he'd never forget. A few moments later, Mitsuki was gone and Bakugou was left with a few more bags to carry.
"Do you need some—"
"Leave me alone, Deku!"
Izuku managed to find a spot on the lawn near Uraraka and Iida. Eraserhead was sitting at the top of the stairs looking half-asleep. There was a box next to him and he had a clipboard in his hands.
"Hey, Midoriya," Uraraka said as she eyed Bakugou dragging his bags, "Aren't you going to help your friend?"
"He didn't want my help," Izuku shrugged, "Kacchan is just like that."
"Is his name Kacchan?"
"No, that's just a nickname from when we were friends," Izuku said as they watched a red-haired kid alleviate some of Bakugou's bag which only seemed to piss Bakugou off.
"Why does he call you Deku?"
"It's an insult I think it means a useless person or something like that," Izuku said which made Uraraka frown, "Yeah... that's Kacchan for you..."
"Well I wouldn't worry about him, Midoriya," Uraraka said finally, "You probably crushed him in that exam."
"Well, actually, he was the guy that came first. Katsuki Bakugou," Izuku said and a small part of him was amused by Uraraka faltering, "Yeah, he actually is as good as he thinks he is..."
Eraserhead rose to his feet and cleared his throat. It was barely audible over the many conversations going on, but somehow it managed to quell all the noise. Izuku looked around the crowd in slight surprise and he caught Yaoyorozu's eye who was at the back of the group on her own.
"You guys should have been quiet the moment I gathered you here," Eraserhead said crossing his arms, "This isn't some middle school. We have much higher standards and expectations here. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sensei!" The entire class, even Bakugou, said all at once.
"Good," Eraserhead said as he looked down at his clipboard, "Oh, right. My name is Shouta Aizawa. Now let's do some roll-call. Just say present when I say your name. I'll also be giving you your PE uniforms now. Yuga Aoyama?"
"Present."
Aizawa opened the box and threw the PE outfit clear across the garden. Aoyama missed it, but a boy shot tape out his arms and reeled it back in. He handed it to a slightly embarrassed, but grateful Aoyama.
"Merci."
"This guy is like way lame," a girl with light brown hair said under her breath to the invisible girl from earlier, "I bet there are dictators who are less strict."
Luckily for her, Eraserhead hadn't heard what she had said. He continued to go down the list until he got to the girl in question's name. She continued to speak under her breath until it was her turn.
"Camie Utsushimi?"
"Present."
"You're the one who had to take a year off school, correct?"
"Yup—I mean, yes, sensei."
"You may be older than your classmates, but that doesn't give you a right to talk. If you speak to Hagakure or Ashido one more time, all three of you will have detention."
That jolted the crowd and especially Izuku. How had he done that? He was now half-convinced that Eraserhead could hear his thoughts. Izuku himself had barely heard that Utsushimi girl speak.
Eraserhead hadn't once looked up from his clipboard and yet he knew exactly who was talking despite the fact that they had met just today?
Izuku was in deep trouble with the Kage thing, wasn't he?
The list went on as gym outfits were thrown into the crowd. There wasn't really much of a commotion except for when Bakugou's name was called. They'd probably figured out
"Izuku Midoriya?"
"Present!" Izuku squeaked out and Eraserhead's throw was a bit wayward.
He was able to get a few fingers to it and snatched it out of the air with Surface Sticking. In his humble opinion, it was a pretty slick catch and at the very least Mineta and Uraraka seemed to agree since they both gave him a thumbs up.
"Momo Yaoyorozu?"
"Present."
After Yaoyorozu had snatched her outfit out of the air, Eraserhead put his clipboard down and pointed in a random direction. No one moved or even dared to speak. The standoff continued until finally, Iida lifted his hand.
"What is it, Iida?"
"I think I speak for everyone here when I say we are unsure of what to do next," Iida finished this off with a polite bow.
"Tenya Iida?" Eraserhead asked drawing a nod from Iida, "Any relation to Tensei Iida? Or should I call him Ingenium?"
"He's my older brother, Aizawa-sensei," Iida said with a hint of pride.
"I see," Eraserhead paused before looking Iida up and down, "Let's hope you can match even half of what he's done."
Eraserhead ignored the murmurs his comment generated as he turned to the other students. Izuku chanced a look at Iida and he seemed somewhere between shocked and offended.
"There's a large field around five hundred metres that way. There are changing rooms there too. Go there and change into your gym outfits."
"Excuse me, Aizawa-sensei," said a girl, Tsuyu Asui, "What about orientation? Or moving our bags in?"
"Oh, right. I forgot," Eraserhead said with as much enthusiasm as a bowl of soggy cornflakes, "The reason I can't let you move in is because of a test. A Quirk Apprehension Test. If any of you fail to meet my expectations of you then it'll be a good thing your bags are already outside."
"Uh, why is that...Aizawa-sensei?" asked the boy who had kinda insulted Izuku earlier— Denki Kaminari, if Izuku remembered correctly.
The answer was obvious to Izuku and pretty much everyone else there, but it was still surprising when Eraserhead confirmed their suspicions.
"Because you'll get expelled and kicked out of UA."
It had been rather easy to find the field Eraserhead had mentioned. They had gotten dressed in a hurry and all twenty of them was ready for Eraserhead. Thankfully, he allowed them a warm-up session which Iida decided to lead.
There were scattered conversations, but Izuku couldn't bring himself to speak. It wasn't the shyness, for once. No, he was focused on Eraserhead's words. He said they'd get expelled if they didn't meet his expectations of them.
It didn't matter if Izuku beat, say, Mineta or Koda in a race because it was likely that Eraserhead expected more from him. At least when it came to a race that was. Therefore, Izuku couldn't quite afford to hold back.
"I'm gonna cream you, Deku!" Bakugou shouted as he sprinted past Izuku and then back again, "Don't you even think of trying to beat me!"
Bakugou was exerting a lot more effort in his warm-up than was necessary. It was likely that they would have to use their Quirks so he was being proactive by getting his palms extra sweaty.
It would give his explosions an extra kick and more heat which would cause more sweating which would give them an even higher kick and so on. It wasn't surprising Bakugou had beaten more robots than Izuku had. His Quirk got stronger the longer he fought.
As for Izuku, the Fatebreaker actually got weaker the longer he fought.
To make things worse, Eraserhead wouldn't be expecting Fatebreaker-levels of strength. He had kicked off a zero-pointer's arm and destroyed it with just one punch. It would be suspicious if that level of strength disappeared.
Eraserhead probably wouldn't accept that feat being a momentary fluke even though it was the truth. Izuku hadn't managed to recreate Tsunade-shishou's technique just yet. He knew the theory and knew how it felt, but outside of destroying that robot, he hadn't actually used it.
If the opportunity came up then he'd have to make very sure that he did well. Or maybe he could smash the other events and then get a middle of the road score in that aspect. Ugh, but Eraserhead would probably realise that Izuku was 'holding back.' Especially after Izuku had pretty much just recovered from his wounds during the exam.
Izuku smiled wryly. Sakura's memories and abilities had chosen quite the time to awaken.
What would this test even be? He had called it a Quirk Apprehension so they'd obviously be using g their Quirk—Kendou would've slapped him for stating the obvious— but what did that entail exactly? A free-for-all battle royale? A bunch of fitness tests with their Quirks? A tennis match?!
Izuku shook that train of thought off. There was no use worrying. He just had to do his best and hopefully, that would impress Eraserhead. Besides, what was the worst-case scenario here? He got expelled and was forced to leave the school of his dreams?
No biggie.
"Are you guys warmed up?" Eraserhead asked and he got a loud chorus of "Yes, sensei!" as a response, "Good. Now, you guys must be excited to be the first batch of students who get to live on campus, but you need to understand that this isn't about making friends or eating pizza under the moonlight."
"It's a big decision to become a hero and if any of you are feeling any sort of doubt, you can leave now," Eraserhead said his hair lifting up and Izuku flinched as he caught sight of glowing red eyes.
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
Naruto stared into the red eyes of his closest friend. The black patterns in Sasuke's eyes were swirling rapidly. A lightning wreathed sword was zipping towards him. Naruto let his Rasengan die down as he caught the blade with his hand.
In it, he could see the deep orange patterning around his eyes as well as the toad-like irises he had while Sage Mode was active. It was Sage Mode that allowed him to catch Sasuke's blade without much issue. Sasuke looked stunned and in one quick move Naruto swept Sasuke's legs out.
He put his foot on the chest and pointed Sasuke's blade right in front of his nose.
"Danzou is dead," Naruto said and Sasuke could only blink, "Team 7—we killed him."
"Why?"
"Akatsuki almost have all the Bijū," Naruto said and he smiled grimly as Sasuke's face dropped, "Yeah, I know. We came to get you back."
"We?" Sasuke asked and he frowned as he spotted Sakura and Kakashi-sensei appear from thin air, "I left Konoha for a reason. I still have to—"
"We can get you Itachi," Kakashi said from the sidelines, "He and Kisame are coming after Naruto, remember? So if you're near him—"
"—I can kill him...and he won't get saved by that blue fish this time because—"
"I'll be fighting him," Naruto finished.
For a moment, Naruto believed Sasuke would come quietly. The tension in Sasuke's body faded away and he shut his eyes as if in deep concentration. However, those hopes were reduced to ashes as Sasuke reopened his eyes—this time the patterning in his eyes were completely different. Blood began to stream from his eye and immediately Naruto leapt away.
"Amaterasu!"
An explosion of black fire exploded from Sasuke. The flames danced and weaved as Sasuke got to his feet. A trail of blood flowed from one of his eyes and even from this far away, Naruto could see the pattern of his eyes had changed.
"He has the Mangekyo?" Sakura murmured under her breath, "How?"
"Orochimaru figured a way out using Edo Tensei before I killed him," Sasuke said as he picked up his sword.
Blood leaked from both his eyes and through his Sage Mode, Naruto could sense a massive build-up of chakra+even larger than before.
"Naruto...If you want me to help you—" Sasuke began as the flames began to morph before they turned into giant spires, "—then you've got to beat me."
"—and that's all of the events."
Izuku let out a heavy breath as the vision dissipated. He looked around to see if Eraserhead had noticed him dozing off. Thankfully, Izuku had gotten away with it. He looked at the rest of his classmates and they were all focused on Eraserhead.
All of them except for Yaoyorozu.
She was staring right at him and by the look of things, she had been staring at him for some time now. Her lips were pursed and a dainty brow was raised as she stared at him. Maybe ten seconds passed before he looked away.
Heroes not being what they seem, Eraserhead, Bakugou, random visions and now Yaoyorozu too. What else could the world possibly add to his plate? At this stage, he wouldn't be surprised if he somehow cut the moon in half.
"Bakugou, you beat Midoriya by just one point in the Entrance Exam and came first," Eraserhead said while throwing a ball up and down, "Do you want to do the demonstration or should he?"
"I'll do it!" Bakugou snarled as he snatched the ball out the air and away from Eraserhead, "I stand in this circle, right?"
"Correct."
Bakugou grinned as he held onto the ball and pulled his arm back. No one here seemed to be aware of what Kacchan's Quirk was. So, it was only Izuku who managed to cover his ears on time.
"DIE!"
A loud explosion punctuated Bakugou's exclamation. There were a few light tremors sent through the ground as the ball sailed up and away. No one had expected Bakugou's Quirk to be so...explosive so more than a few people were left picking their ears.
"What a nutter," Mineta said under his breath and in all honesty he was lucky that Bakugou was too far away to hear him.
"How much was that?" Bakugou asked Eraserhead who only held up a device.
A few seconds later the device beeped and Bakugou's score was easy to see.
915.4m
"He launched that almost a kilometre away?" Kaminari said under his breath, "I'm so screwed."
"You're screwed?" Hagakure said to Kaminari, "I can't do anything even close to that! My Quirk isn't really something that catches the eye..."
Whether Hagakure's play on words was intentional or not, no one was laughing. This wasn't a joking matter.
"We won't be doing this one just yet," Eraserhead said as he pointed towards the building they had changed in, "Test number one begins in there."
Test 1: Grip Strength
Right away, Izuku realised this was not one he would definitely be at the top for. The boy with six arms, Shouji, had managed 540 kg for his test. It probably helped to have so many hands. After him, the only comparable scores belonged to Satou who got 380 kg exactly.
Bakugou managed a respectable 270 kg that was aided by clever use of his Quirk— the device managed to withstand the explosion long enough to give a score before disintegrating.
Izuku used the Fatebreaker at 100% and squeezed as hard as he could. Blue energy wafted him and he ignored the inquisitive looks from his class and the furious one from Bakugou. He only stopped squeezing when he heard the device chime.
"385 kilograms."
"Woah, that's awesome, Midoriya!" Uraraka cheered after getting a score of 57 kg.
"Still think you can take him on?" He heard Jirou ask Kaminari who could only shake his head.
Bakugou glared at him from his spot before stalking away. The others looked at him with a whole range of expressions and their looks were all so unnerving (particularly that of Todoroki) that he had to take refuge behind Iida.
Okay, so he'd just beaten out Satou who had only taken a few grains of sugar. It was likely that Satou had more in the tank, but was probably holding back to conserve energy. So he was probably stronger than Izuku was when they were both at 100%.
Excluding Tsunade super-strength.
Still though, perhaps he had been underestimating himself. His hand still felt a bit tingly after going 100%, but it would be fine in a minute or two. He had managed a score in the top two so surely—
"3780 kg."
—his score would not be made to look pathetic.
Izuku turned to where he had heard the device chime and he blinked as he saw Yaoyorozu holding a modified hydraulic rescue spreader. This one was a little smaller than the usual ones used by rescue workers, but evidently just as powerful.
Instead of looking at Shouji or Satou or even Eraserhead, Yaoyorozu looked right at Izuku and just stared at him. She continued to stare until she was swarmed by some of the other classmates asking about her Quirk.
And just like all the other times, he was the only one that had noticed this.
Test 2: Sit-ups
"Come on Midoriya! Just ten seconds left," Iida encouraged him from the sidelines, "You are doing fantastic!"
Izuku sped through the sit-ups and was about to go for a few more when he caught Eraserhead watching him from just behind Iida. This caused him to falter and he lost his steam as he heard the timer beep.
"Excellent!" Iida said as they swapped positions, "103 sit-ups in two minutes. I really hope I can match you."
Bakugou was going this round too and hearing Izuku's score seemed to light a fire underneath him. He powered through the sit-ups with no sign of stopping. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were also going really fast.
Two minutes later, Iida was wiping his glasses down after getting a very impressive 93. Todoroki had gotten 97, Yaoyorozu 94 and Bakugou had gotten a 104. However, instead of being pleased with being number one, he seemed annoyed for some reason.
It soon became clear why.
"Mineta is in first place with 106 sit-ups," Eraserhead said marking his clip down, "Clever use of your Quirk to bounce you up and down like that... How long will it take for those balls to come off?"
"An hour or two, Aizawa-sensei," Mineta said as he stumbled around waving his arms, "I think I'm gonna be sick..."
Test 3: Toe Touches
Izuku didn't do especially well here. Asui came first, followed by Yaoyorozu and then Ashido. He had ended sixth behind both Todoroki and Iida, but ahead of Bakugou.
Flexibility wasn't really his strong suit so it wasn't all that surprising that he had gotten crushed. Unfortunately, Yaoyorozu and Bakugou still gave him the stink eye once they were given the all-clear to move to the next test.
Test 4: Standing Long Jump
"This one's about distance more than anything," Eraserhead said as he stood next to a very long sandpit, "There are sensors in the pit that will detect how far you've gone. Uraraka, you can begin."
Uraraka set the tone as she stepped up to the plate. She crouched down and leapt and then clapped her fingers together in midair. Everyone just watched as she soared up and over the pit. She was given an eventual score of 31m with a marker placed down once she touched down looking extremely queasy.
"I'm so screwed," Kaminari said once Uraraka landed, "My Quirk is useless here!"
In the end, those without Quirks suited to this landed in and around the 3 to 8-metre mark. Iida blew them all away by getting a 21-metre standing leap. This was then blown away again as Yaoyorozu used her Quirk to create a pole that all but propelled her past Iida. She followed it up with another more flexible pole and that flung her all the way to the thirty-three metre mark.
Izuku was next and with a chakra enhanced leap, he soared into the air. The feeling of flying through the air was great and by the time he landed, he had forgotten that all eyes were on him. He looked behind him to see Uraraka's marker just behind him and sure enough—
"Thirty-three metres," the robot bleeped.
Izuku had barely gotten out of the pit when he heard a loud explosion with a scream of fury. He watched as Bakugou sailed through the air like a missile before touching down in a wave of sand. The sensors went haywire for a bit until it finally settled down.
"This guys is nuts..."
"Sixty-one metres."
Izuku looked back to the start line and blinked. It was a good thing Bakugou was the last one up. There was a crater where he had been standing. Izuku was sure Bakugou had put a lot of power in that.
Plus, he had probably changed the shape of his hands which would've given him a lot of lift at the right angle. Bakugou was a whiz at stuff like that so it wasn't surprising he had acted a test very suited to his Quirk.
Izuku moved to congratulate him, but he was brushed aside.
"Leave me alone, Deku."
Test 5: Balance
Finally, Izuku won an event.
The balance obstacle was extremely narrow and dipped and then rose again over and over again. They had to always have at least one foot or hand on it at a time. As a result, more than a few people had fallen off in their attempts, particularly on the slopes.
Unfortunately for everyone there, Izuku had chakra so he was able to use the Surface Sticking to readjust whenever he slipped up. In the end, he edged out Asui by a few seconds. The only others to actually finish were, in order, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Iida. All of whom hadn't used their Quirks at all.
Iida had been a bit unlucky. Considering his legs had actual engines in them, it must've been a bit tricky to manoeuvre the obstacle. He was basically the direct opposite of top-heavy which meant he had to take a bit extra care than Izuku or Asui had to with their legs.
Bakugou had actually done rather poorly on this one coming closer to the back than the front. It surprised everyone there, but Ejirou Kirishima was the only person brave (or maybe crazy) enough to actually joke about it, though.
"So much for being number one," Kirishima said as he pulled Bakugou up to his feet, "Maybe you should take some notes from Midoriya. Did you see all the recoveries he had?"
Unfortunately, Kirishima had chosen to joke about it using Izuku as the punchline.
"Shut it, dumb hair! I'm better than that wannabe!"
Instead of being thrown off by Bakugou's demeanour, though, Kirishima laughed. He laughed right in Bakugou's face and thumped him on the back.
"Playground insults aren't all that manly," Kirishima said seemingly oblivious to Bakugou's souring mood, "Besides, we have almost exactly the same type of hair! Does that make your hair dumb too?"
It was the first real moment of levity that afternoon as Kirishima's lighthearted jokes caused quite a few laughs. Even Eraserhead looked like he was smiling before that disappeared. It was probably just a muscle twitch instead of an actual smile. Eraserhead then pointed to the next test and it was one that Izuku was looking forward to.
Test 6: 50m Dash
Izuku knew he had this one for a fact. Iida was faster than most humans and Izuku was faster than Iida. At least over short distances. Iida would find it a lot easier to maintain his speed than Izuku did. His Quirk came with a few fringe benefits that made him the ultimate running machine.
So, even though Izuku could outsprint Iida, he couldn't sprint forever. Iida probably could sprint for an unreal length of time— if there was one thing Iida had shown today, other than being very polite, it was immense leg strength.
Most of the races had been just two people, but for some reason, his race had four people. They were the last four so maybe Eraserhead wanted to speed things up. Whatever the reason, Izuku would have like a few more friendly or even neutral opponents.
"You are so going down, Deku," Bakugou whispered from next to him, "Don't choke on my smoke."
"Good luck Midoriya!" Iida said as he continued to stretch, "May the best man win! Oh! Or woman! Good luck to you as well, Yaoyorozu!"
"Likewise," Yaoyorozu said to Iida before fixing him with a look, "May the best win."
Izuku's skin tingled as he let the Fatebreaker activate under his skin. He could hear Iida's engines whirring away and he caught sight of Yaoyorozu creating something for her to ride. Bakugou was the final addition to the odd orchestra, crackling sparks emanating from his palms.
"On your marks."
Izuku pushed the Fatebreaker to full power. Chakra began to stream off of him as he stared straight ahead. The volume of Iida's engines cracked up a few and both Yaoyorozu and Bakugou took up deeper stances.
"Get set. Go!"
Izuku was in the lead right away. His Olympic training had honed his sprinting technique to well beyond just passable. Before, his technique had been more akin to a drowning mannequin or robot or something. He could hear a series of explosions and mechanical whirs which must have been Bakugou and Iida respectively.
Yaoyorozu was probably right there with them.
Still, though, Izuku had to win another event and this one was his surest bet. The distance run was a complete toss-up and the ball toss was probably Bakugou's if he were being honest. Or maybe Yaoyorozu if she made a cannon— wouldn't that be crazy?
"2.73 seconds!"
"2.95 seconds!"
"4.05 seconds!"
"4.15 seconds!"
Izuku, Iida, Yaoyorozu and then Bakugou. At this stage, he shouldn't have been surprised, but Yaoyorozu had made a hoverboard that was emblazoned with a Russian doll. It seemed to be completely dead, but it was what had given her the edge over Bakugou.
It had a long prong on the end which had probably counted as her crossing the line. Yaoyorozu seemed tired as she picked her hoverboard up. Her cheeks were a touch thinner than earlier— something easy to notice when she had been staring at him like he had killed her pet.
Was she running out of lipids? How many creations did she have left in her? She didn't look nearly as gaunt as she had been at the Entrance Exam, but there was a noticeable difference. Or maybe that was just the territory when it came to her Quirk? And how the hell was she making those devices so quickly? Even he sometimes forgot the top 250 rankings (much to his shame) so how crazy was Yaoyorozu's memory to remember all that?
He'd ask her once she stopped looking at him the way all the sore losers from the gym looked at Kendou after she creamed them.
Test 7: Ball Toss
As it turned out, Yaoyorozu did have a couple of creations left in her.
"A cannon?!" Kirishima shouted way too loudly, "Now, that's manly!"
"What?!" Mina screamed from next to him, "Gammon's meat! That's a cannon!"
"What?!" Camie screamed at Mina, "That's not a mansion! It would be lit if she could make one though!"
Lit? What did that even mean?
"What?!—"
Whatever Sero had been about to say was muffled by Eraserhead's scarf. A lot of people hadn't learnt their lesson from Bakugou's ball throw.
"No... Just no."
Eraserhead let Sero go free before turning to Yaoyorozu, "Good job. 1770 metres."
"Thank you, sensei," Yaoyorozu said with a bow after removing her earplugs before looking at her classmates currently clutching their ears or speaking way too loudly, "...I wish you guys accepted my offer for protective gear."
It had been awfully nice of her to offer. She'd given everyone who had asked, even Izuku, a very good set of earplugs. The only person who had rejected the plugs and was still fine was Bakugou which made sense. His ears were probably very used to explosions by now...and that was probably why Bakugou's balance was rather abysmal Izuku realised.
Funny enough, Yaoyorozu's cannon was not the craziest part of this test. Iida had just kicked his ball instead of throwing it, Koda made a bird carry it and then drop and best of all, Uraraka had sent a ball into orbit and gotten a score of an infinity. So, first place was definitely hers... and someone might die when that thing eventually landed.
Izuku was going last and he accepted the ball from Eraserhead with a heavy heart. By now, everyone's ears had recovered for the most part. Izuku was about to go the circle when a hand from Eraserhead stopped him. Izuku's felt his eyes widen as he stared back at his teacher.
Eraserhead seemed to search his eyes for something and seemed to frown for just a moment before he spoke.
"You are the one that destroyed that zero-pointer with one punch, correct?"
The murmurs of his classmates all blended into one indistinct noise as Izuku's heart thrummed away in his ears. His throat felt like it closed up as he stared into the eyes of Eraserhead. It took him a few seconds to form any actual words.
"U-Uh, yes t-that was me." Izuku said before taking a step back as he realised something, "I mean that was me, Aizawa-sensei!"
Eraserhead stared at Izuku with an inscrutable expression before pointing towards the field with his head.
"I'll be keeping that in mind. Now, go take your throw."
Izuku was surprised by how...normal the ball he'd be given felt. It felt just like any other ball he'd held in his life. It looked just like any other ball he'd seen in his life. It really was just a normal ball.
And yet it wasn't.
The ball was his key to staying into UA. Eraserhead expected different things from different people so it was likely that simply getting around Iida's score of 400m wouldn't be enough.
If Eraserhead was keeping his Entrance Exam in mind then Izuku had no choice, but to go all out. There was a big problem and only one solution.
He had to use Tsunade-shishou's Super Strength.
Would it be enough though? What if he messed things up? Or what if he got it right, but Eraserhead tried to cancel his Quirk midway and he got exposed? There were so many ways this could go wrong.
He had to calm down.
Izuku closed his eyes as he remembered Sakura's lesson. He had to gather as much chakra as possible before releasing it all at once. If he wavered or mistimed it then he was screwed up. Again, a streak of nervous energy filled him at the prospect of being expelled.
"Whenever you're ready, Midoriya," Eraserhead said from somewhere behind Izuku as if to tell him he could take his time.
Eraserhead wasn't the only one who had picked up on his nervousness.
"You got this, Midoriya!"
Uraraka.
"Best of luck, Midoriya!"
Iida.
"You suck, Deku!"
...Bakugou.
"Don't listen to this guy! You got this!"
Kirishima? That was nice of him.
"Send that stupid thing into orbit, Izuku!"
...Kendou?
Izuku looked over his shoulder to see Kendou in casual clothes all the way at the back of the field. How long had she been there? What had even brought her here? She was all the way at the road leading to the field. Her Quirk was active and she was waving her hands like giant pom-poms.
"Stop stalling and kick that thing's ass!"
The storm in his mind cleared as he looked at Kendou waving her arms like those inflatable balloon people. Her words sparking something within him. It was so bizarre and yet exactly what he needed for this moment.
Chakra streamed off his body and he swung his arm back before throwing the ball straight up. He watched the ball as it climbed higher and higher above him. He could have gotten a decent score if he had just thrown it, but it would've been less than Iida's kick let alone Bakugou or Yaoyorozu's attempts.
"You were so supposed to throw it that way! Not upwards!"
Kendou's yell didn't get to him as instead Izuku began to gather chakra. Tsunade and Sakura used their super strength by gathering and then releasing it. The thing was a large part of using chakra was visualisation.
What they used to visualise might not work as well for him as it did for them. He needed his own version. The gathering wasn't the problem. His control was getting better and better— almost on its own. The problem was the release.
He needed to think of a burst or...an explosion of energy...That was it!
Izuku adjusted his stance as the ball began to fall behind. The blue streams of chakra were visible even under the bright sun, Izuku looked at Kendou and then to Iida before finally settling on Bakugou. For once, Bakugou didn't look angry or pissed, he seemed completely and totally stunned.
The ball was getting closer and closer as it accelerated towards him. He just had to add his speed to the ball's speed to really get it flying. Normally a punch would be enough to get it done, but it would've been hard to pull off.
Thankfully, Iida had shown him the way.
He condensed the storm of chakra in his foot and time seemed to slow down for him. The ball slowed to a crawl and that made the next part easy. He took a step back, swung his hips and kicked the ball like a star soccer player doing a volley.
For just an instant, he could feel the ball's weight on his foot. He recalled Bakugou using his Quirk to fire the ball away and in that instant Izuku let the gathered chakra in his foot explode.
"DIE!"
There was a loud crack after his exclamation as his kick sent the ball sailing through the air and into the skies. It was lost behind sun rays and Izuku let his chakra dissipate. His foot felt odd, almost as if there were ants crawling underneath his skin.
But nothing was broken.
A chorus of screams and cheers followed his kick as the ball sailed off into the distance. Izuku heard his name called by multiple people many times, but he didn't really register who it was or what they said after that. The fog only lifted once the robot gave out Izuku's score.
"1732 metres!" The robot beeped and Izuku remembered right then and there that he wasn't alone.
Izuku looked back to his classmates and their reactions varied from Uraraka and Iida's joy to Yaoyorozu and Todoroki's cold confusion to Bakugou's burning fury. It was hard to tell if Bakugou was angry about Izuku beating him or that he was mad because Izuku had used his catchphrase.
"Midoriya," Izuku looked at Eraserhead, no, Aizawa-sensei who was smiling (and it was just as creepy as before), "Well done."
Izuku almost collapsed under his sensei's praise.
"That was awesome!"
Izuku looked away from his classmates as he saw Kendou jumping up and down. He waved in her direction which only seemed to make her even more animated. Oh no. She was doing this to humiliate him, wasn't she?
"It wasn't that cool, though! Like a 7 out of 10 at best! I've seen better!"
Yeah, that's what this was.
She actually ended up attracting a lot of attention and while most were confused about who she was, it was Mineta who managed to say the first full sentence.
"That's the girl I told you about!" Mineta said as he tapped a stunned Kaminari over and over again, "I was in the same arena as her!"
"Wait that's the girl who—" Kaminari began but he seemed to catch himself as he noticed Izuku looking at him, "Well done, dude! Great shot and great catch!"
He finished this statement with a thumbs up that Mineta and...Sero, of all people, imitated.
"O-Oh, t-thanks guys!" Izuku said now making a point of ignoring Kendou's yells, "Compared to Uraraka—"
"Deku, you bastard!" Bakugou all but screamed as he charged him, "What the hell was that about?! You stole my line!"
Izuku expected Bakugou to use his Quirk to attack, but instead, he stopped in front of him. He glared at Izuku— his red eyes awash with anger and confusion and indignation. He poked Izuku in the chest as he spoke too low for anyone to hear him.
"Fine then," Bakugou said irately, "You have a decent Quirk. That doesn't mean you can beat me, Deku. I won't lose to you, you got that?!"
"Kacchan—"
"—And don't use my catchphrase ever again or I'll kill you!"
Bakugou marched off after that and Izuku could only blink as the rest of the class stared at him in confusion. Well, most of them stared in confusion. Like he had done many times that day, Izuku glanced at Yaoyorozu and her gaze was similar to Bakugou's without all the anger.
Even Todoroki seemed to be looking at him in a new light. Studying him like a scientist discovering a new species or something.
"You wrecked your shoe by the way!"
Kendou's latest shout did penetrate his thoughts and he looked down only to see that it was in surprisingly good condition. In fact, there was nothing wrong at all.
"Ha! Made you look!"
He knew this game. She was trying to rile him up so she could get a spar out of him. She always did this, but he wouldn't fall for it this time. He was above that now. He was a UA student and—
"Class is dismissed," Aizawa-sensei said tapping away at a device, "No one's getting expelled. This was just a test to determine your rankings within the class. I lied to motivate you."
"What?!"
It was a lie? Izuku had been convinced that someone was going home.
"Did he expel anyone yet?! I bet it was you, Izuku!"
Okay, Kendou was gonna get it.
"Do you know her?" Uraraka finally asked and a few others seemed interested, "She's been calling you by your name for a while now. Won't you at least acknowledge her?"
How naive...
Izuku chuckled which made Uraraka frown, "That's exactly what she wants me to do, Uraraka... Trust me, I'll give her as much attention as she wants soon enough..."
"He is a god.!" Mineta all but wailed and something about his, Sero and Kaminari's expressions made Izuku very uncomfortable.
"Okay, then...There will be pizza brought to your dorms and your bags have already been moved up to your rooms," Aizawa-sensei said loudly as if to drown out what Mineta had just said.
"Pizza?" Camie exclaimed, "But earlier you said—"
The rest of what she had to say was lost to the ether as both Mina and Hagakure covered Camie's mouth with their hands...Or at least he assumed Hagakure had done that. It was kinda hard to tell.
"These are the rankings," Aizawa-sensei said as he projected the scores onto a wall, "Look at them as a motivating tool and do not be ashamed wherever you end up. You have three years to go at UA. I have faith once you are all done here, you will be superheroes."
1. Momo Yaoyorozu
2. Izuku Midoriya
3. Katsuki Bakugou
4. Shouto Todoroki
5. Tenya Iida
6. Ochaco Uraraka
7. Mezou Shouji
8. Tsuyu Asui
9. Mina Ashido
10. Rikidou Satou
11. Ejirou Kirishima
12. Fumikage Tokoyami
13. Hanta Sero
14. Koji Koda
15. Denki Kaminari
16. Camie Utsushimi
17. Kyouka Jirou
18. Yuga Aoyama
19. Tooru Hagakure
20. Minoru Mineta
"Hey, Bakugou what was it you said about Midoriya never beating you?" Kirishima said as he nudged the boy next to him, "Because according to that list—"
"I swear I'm going to shove my hand right up your—"
"I'm last!" Mineta all but screeched drowning out Bakugou, "How, though? I did really well in the sit-ups!"
"You also came dead last in everything else," Aizawa-sensei said with a frown, "Yaoyorozu, Izuku and Bakugou were always near the top which is why they are where they are. Uraraka, much like you, had one superb score, but she's actually in shape. You have to improve or you'll be left behind."
Aizawa-sensei's words had ripped the wind out from Mineta's sails who could only nod and look at the ground.
"...Yes, sensei..."
"Good, now you can go back to your dorms," Aizawa-sensei said before he pulled Izuku away from the others.
Izuku bit down his fear as he looked at Aizawa-sensei. A few of his classmates were now reclining on the floor, drained from the day's activities. A few were looking at him in interest and even Kendou had stopped her provocations.
For now.
"Remind me to send you the school rulebook. That's all."
"Yes sir!" Izuku said immediately before adding a bit hesitantly, "...May I ask why, sir?"
"There's a newly revised section about what is and isn't allowed," Aizawa-sensei said with a smirk that sent a chill down his spine, "I think you and your girlfriend will find it helpful."
"I see. Thank you, sir— my what?!"
His question/shout drew the attention of everyone except for the man nearest to him.
"Tomorrow, I'll be taking you guys for some combat training," Aizawa-sensei said which caused his class to become rejuvenated instantly, "You should take this time to make friends and figure out who you'd work well with. Go for someone who has something you lack. You'll be running an exercise of sorts with a partner of your choice tomorrow!"
"Any questions?"
There were none.
Aizawa-sensei left them— taking off in a random direction away from the dorms. His class watched him leave before they began to trudge back towards the dorms amidst a bunch of chatter.
He had to find a partner? Who would even want him—
"Izuku!" Kendou called out to him still in the same spot as before, "Do you wanna fight now or later?! As your teacher, I promise I just want to help you and not beat you up which I do all the time!"
Oh, right. He had to kick Kendou in the face.
He'd figure the partner thing out later.
Author Notes:
Boom! Done.
I had this chapter so close to completion a lot, but this is finally it. I started university again which is great, but very very time-consuming. If I'd been home, we'd probably have been past the USJ saga. Regardless, the train keeps chugging away.
Thanks to all of you who have subscribed, commented and done all that good stuff to this little story. I never expected this much traction on any of my fics so thanks for that.
I have the next chapter halfway done, but I have like 5 assignments for uni so yeah...it will probably be a while
Stay safe!
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