'Wedding bells? Why are there wedding bells?'
Ever since he met Rias, Izuku has gotten pretty used to the strange and unusual. He had seen things that would make lesser people turn white and come out unscathed, which he could say wasn't an easy accomplishment. But for some reason he found himself standing on the steps of a church with bells chiming in the air and a large, noisy crowd standing before him.
And why was he in a white tuxedo?
"Izuku!" He looked through the crowd and found his mother dressed in a red gown, his father wearing light blue dress clothes standing behind her. "We're so proud of you! Please be sure to make us lots of grandkids!" Inko beamed proudly.
"Grandkids?" Izuku blinked dumbly.
"DEKU, YOU CHEAP BASTARD!" Izuku nearly jumped at the all too familiar yelling. Looking through the crowd, he saw Bakugo with an absolutely livid look on his face being restrained by his two friends. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGED TO GET MARRIED BEFORE ME!?"
"M-m-married?!" Izuku paled. "I'm getting married!?" How was he getting married now? He was only fifteen! Sure the age of consent is thirteen but that was something else altogether! And who was he even getting married to?!
That question was answered when he felt someone wrapping their arm around his. He looked up at a very impressive chest and the blood rushed back to his face with a vengeance as he jerked his head up. There at his side was Rias Gremory, dressed in a pure white wedding dress. The skirt was just short enough to show off her shapely legs covered in white pantyhose and matching heels. A bouquet was holding in her gloved hands, a veil was lifted over her head, and her beauty was enhanced with make-up.
"There's no need to look so restless, Izu," she smiled lovingly at him, "Just bask in the moment."
'No way! You gotta be kidding me!' Izuku screamed inwardly, 'My bride is Buchou?!'
Both Izuku and Rias walked down from the steps of the church and past the crowd, side by side. All in the while, many cheers and cries sounded out from the crowd. There were a lot of voices crying out, but he could make out what they were saying. He could hear girls cry out "Rias-sama, you're so beautiful!", "You're gorgeous!", and "You're too beautiful! Why him?!" Izuku tried to play it cool but he was sweating, very uncomfortable with being so close to a beautiful girl, a beautiful girl he was married to apparently.
"We've arrived," Izuku was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of Rias' voice. To his surprise and embarrassment, he found that they were standing before a huge love hotel. He completely forgot that one of the main things couples did during a honeymoon was having sex with one another all night long.
"Shall we go then?" Rias asked, smiling at him.
"Uh… yeah," Izuku nodded slowly, his face still bright red.
The couple checked themselves inside and went up to one of the rooms. It was a typical design. The colors were meant to stimulate passion. Red and pink were pretty common. The rug was soft just in case the guests wanted to make love on the floor. Izuku sat nervously on the bed while Rias was in the bathroom preparing herself, his thumbs twitching together like crazy. The bed was round and there was a set of controls set on a control panel that was built into the nightstand.
He looked at a nearby round table and saw some bottles of wine, lit scented candles and massage oils. He swallowed heavily, his skittish nature rising. As far as he could remember, he had never been with a girl, at all. There was that one time during elementary school that he played with Rinsan, but this was completely different. Sure he found himself attracted to Rias, much like a lot of heterosexual males, but he could never believe that she would take an interest in him before. But the times had changed and he was about to start a new life with her.
And on the first night, he was about to make babies with her!
"Oh, Izuku~."
Izuku quickly turned his head at the sound of Rias' voice. She stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her shapely body. The towel didn't stay for very long as she allowed it to drop to the floor and pool around her feet. The elegant young lady was in a very smoking lingerie, white floral lace bustier with a lace-up front, boning, garter straps, underwire cups, adjustable shoulder straps, matching fingerless gloves and g-string with matching sheer stockings. It was very welcoming, like uncharted territory.
"Uh… you look… wow…" was all Izuku was able to say.
Rias giggled as she sauntered over to him. She pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top, straddling his waist. "S…sorry, I'm n-not really used to this yet," Izuku stuttered, his voice beginning to crack.
"There's no need to apologize, my dear Izuku," Rias smiled, her eyes half-lidded as she cupped both her hands to his face. Izuku could feel his heart throbbing. He felt that it was throbbing so loud that it was practically thundering in his eardrums. "It's alright, I'll lead."
Rias leaned down and puckered her lips, wanting to seal the moment with a kiss. Izuku didn't know what else to do, but breathe deeply and close his eyes. His arms reacting on their own and wrapped around her waist, bringing her in closer, the lips just inches-
[If I didn't know better, I say you like getting aroused by assertive women, huh brat?]
Izuku's eyes shot open as he quickly sat up. Rias had suddenly vanished and with her the bedroom. Instead, he found himself sitting in the middle of a black void. "What the- What's going on?! Is this still a dream?"
[This ain't no dream, brat. Not anymore, at least.] The voice was right behind him. [There are a few things we need to discuss.]
Izuku turned around, and paled upon seeing, surrounded by torrents of flames, a gigantic, red "D-d-d-dr-dragon?!"
[Don't act like this is the first time we've met. You've heard my voice before.] The red dragon spoke to him.
It then hit Izuku. He heard his voice before, when training with Rias, and again during the fight against Chuuya. "You're that voice I've been hearing!"
[That's right. I'm glad you finally reached a level where you've noticed. I've been trying to talk to you for years now. And at last, I've managed to appear before you.]
"Wh-what do you want?!"
[I merely wanted to introduce myself… To my new comrade who will be fighting alongside me against the White One.]
"Fighting alongside you!? White One!? What does that mean?!"
[You'll understand soon enough. Till we meet again.]
"Hey, wait!" Izuku reached out, only to see his left arm had the Boosted Gear…
…And he opened his eyes to find himself lying in his bed. He blinked rapidly. He sat up, groggy, his head in a total daze. "Okay… that was weird."
He looked at his left hand, which held the Boosted Gear. 'It was a dream, right?'
Izuku then noticed that it was almost 5:30 in the morning. It was almost time for his morning jog. But that wasn't why he needed to get up early today. "Oh, right! Today's the entrance exam!" With that Izuku put on his tracksuit and jogged.
When he got back to the apartment, he found that Ochako had already made breakfast. "Good morning Izu-kun," she greeted.
"Good morning," Izuku said as he took off his shoes. "Is Ibara-san still asleep?"
"She went out for a jog. You must've just missed her," Ochako salted the eggs she was cooking. Once she was done Ibara returned from her jog.
As the three ate breakfast, discussing what they think the exam will be like, Ibara was staring at Izuku. Eventually, the other two noticed.
"Is something wrong?" Izuku asked.
"Huh?" Ibara realized and fumbled with her fork. "I'm fine, it's just… Izuku-san?"
"Yeah?"
"…Did you always had horns?"
"Huh?"
Ochako began to stare at Izuku, too. "Oh, yeah. I never noticed, but there are two stubby horns on your head!"
"W-what?! Really?!" Izuku began to rube his hands through his hair, looking for the horns the girls saw. Sure enough, there were two, stubby little horns on his head. "What the… How long did I have these?!"
"Is it because of you being a devil?" Ochako guessed.
"I don't think so. None of the others have horns as far as I can tell," Izuku said. "Is it because of my Sacred Gear? I have been using Dragon Force a lot lately, so it is possible that the energy is starting to affect me physically. Still, why horns?" As Izuku continued to mumble, the girls could only sigh.
"And he's gone," Ochako muttered.
"Do you think Buchou might know why he's growing horns?" Ibara asked.
"Maybe. But for now, we should just focus on the entrance exam."
This was it, the day of the U.A. Entrance Exams. Izuku, Ibara, and Ochako were standing outside the building, wearing their training cloths for the practical exam. While they have been to the campus almost every day for the last few months, this felt entirely different. Today would decide if they would truly be going to U.A.
"This is it, it's do or die," Izuku said, staring at the large U.A. entrance that just seemed so much bigger and more intimidating than it was.
Ibara swallowed a lump in her throat. Izuku was right. Today, they would either succeed or fail. "This is really nerve-racking," said Ochako.
"Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait!" The three looked behind them to see Kyoka coming up to them. "You ready for this?"
"I'd say I'm not worried, but that would be lying," Ibara said.
"At least we're prepared," said Izuku. "Compared to Raynare and Chuuya, this should be easy." The three girls all nodded. Confident that they'll pass, the four proceeded to head for the entrance, until…
"Stupid Deku."
Izuku immediately stopped. Deku. And the voice… 'Oh no.'
The four looked backed to see a familiar boy with ash-blond hair and red eyes walking forward with a frown on his face. "Get outta my way before I kill you." He threatened, making Izuku flinch and the girls to frown, especially Ibara.
'Bakugo…' Ibara mentally hissed. She had never met him in person and only saw him a couple of times, but she had heard plenty about Bakugo from both Izuku and Inko, and from other students at their middle school. She didn't care if he was the top of his class, the fact remained he was a bully, plain and simple. One who belittled Izuku all his life.
She ignored Izuku quickly moving out of Bakugo's way and Izuku frantically saying things like 'Good luck!'
Deciding to take some action, Ibara had one of her vines slither out… and tripped him. Izuku watched in horror as Ibara made Bakugo fall flat on his face with Kyoka and Ochako snickering. Bakugo quickly got up and gave the group a death glare. "WHO THE HELL DID THAT!" He screamed with his usual temper.
Ibara simply smiled innocently.
"It wasn't us," Kyoka said. "But if I had to guess you must've tripped over your own ego."
"WHAT'D YOU SAY EARLOBE!?" He shouted with smoke coming off his hands, making Izuku pale while Ochako continued to hold back her laughter.
"I think you heard me," Kyoka said as she narrowed her eyes at him and talked in a serious tone. "Now, if you want to avoid making a scene and possibly getting kicked out for starting a fight, I think you better move along."
Bakugo was completely livid with this girl. Who did she was talking to him like that? Damn extras should now their place. But ultimately, she was right. Starting a fight with her would most likely make him either late, or even kicked out of the facility. Glaring right at her, he turned around and walked away. "Fuck you." Was the last thing he said to them as he walked toward the building.
Once he was out of earshot, Ochako let loose her laughter. "That was great, Ibara-chan!"
Ibara smiled proudly.
"Yeah, nice one Ibara," Kyoka said. "That guy is a bigger jackass than you described, Midoriya."
"K-K-Kacchan's usually l-like that," Izuku said trembling a bit after what happened.
"Why do still call him Kacchan?" Ibara questioned.
"I…" Izuku stopped. Why did he still call him Kacchan? Is it because he still admires him? Or is it because he simply wants his childhood friend back? "I'm not sure."
"…Well, it doesn't matter now," Ochako said, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "We need to head inside for the written exam."
Izuku nodded. "Then let's do our best."
"Yeah!" The four of them cheered. And with that, they headed inside.
"So, how did you do on the test?" Izuku asked as he and Ibara, as well as a crowd of other people, walked into a lecture hall.
Before the written test the students were all given a card which gave them a number and pretty much told them where to sit based on things like what school they went to.
"I think I did pretty well. Those tips you gave me really help with the math questions," Ibara stated. "How did you do?"
"Great I think," Izuku said, remembering how the written exam was rather easy for him.
The two managed to find where they were seated… only for Izuku to panic a bit when he saw they were sitting next to Bakugo. Thankfully the ash-blond didn't seem to pay them any mind and simply scoffed. Izuku sighed in relief as he and Ibara sat down, Ibara sitting between Izuku and Bakugo.
"How do you think Ochako-san and Kyoka-san did on the test?" Ibara asked.
"I'm sure they passed, now we just need to worry about the practical," Izuku said, confident that their friends passed the first part of the entrance exams.
Suddenly the two's attention, as well as everyone else's, was drawn forward as the lights to the center of the stage in the room lit up as well as a large monitor with U.A.'s logo on it.
"What's up U.A. candidates?" A loud voice said with the lights revealing who it was. Standing on the center of the stage was a tall skinny man with long spiky blond hair and a small mustache. He wore sunglasses and a pair of headphones with the word 'HAGE' on the headband. He also had a black jacket that was studded on the collar, which was upturned and had shoulder pads and a red studded belt with black pants, boots, and fingerless gloves. He also seemed to have a directional speaker around his neck.
"Welcome to the show today! Everybody say, 'HEY!'" he said enthusiastically while waving his arms around before snapping his fingers and pointed towards the audience.
…Only to receive silence.
"Tch. And here I thought Shouta was a sourpuss!" The announcer said.
"Oh my…! I thought he looked familiar. It's the voice hero President Mic! I listen to his radio show every day!" Izuku beamed.
"Shut the hell up," Bakugo growled, making Izuku flinch and Ibara to glare at the ash-blond.
"Now, let me explain how this wicked practical is gonna do down. Like the application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be conducting ten-minute mock battles in suburban settings! Better tighten up those belts of yours because once I drop the mic here you'll be sent a specified battle center, sound good?"
Once again, silence, but only because everyone was looking at their application card. "I see," Bakugo said as he quickly realized something about the cards. "They're splitting us up so we can't work with friends." He deduced.
Izuku got over his flinching of Bakugo and looked at Ibara's card, and realized the ash-blond was right. "Yeah, you're right. Mine and Ibara-san's examinee numbers are in order but were in different battle centers." Izuku stated. His card stated that he was in center B, while Ibara's stated that she was in E.
"Damn," Bakugo muttered. "I was looking forward to crushing you."
"Okay, everyone!" President Mic said getting everyone's attention. "Let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. The points you earn depend on their level of difficulty so I hope you keep track. Your goal here listeners is to use your Quirk to smash up as many faux baddies as possible and get the highest score you can! Just make sure you keep things heroic ladies and gents! Any unheroic behavior is strictly prohibited!"
"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question!" Everyone turned to the question as a tall boy with glasses and blue hair shot straight up from his chair and raised his hand high.
"Hit me!" President Mic said as a spotlight came down on the boy.
"On the print out you've listed four types of villains. Not three," sure enough, he was right. Pointing to his own booklet showed there were four villains listed from A to D. "If this is a mistake on U.A.'s part it is shameful for the most prestigious school in Japan to make such a mistake! And you!" Suddenly he turned around and pointed at Izuku, making him flinch. "You've both been muttering the whole time. If you two are just here on some pleasure trip, then you should leave. You're distracting the rest of us."
"Sorry," Izuku said quietly as he lowered his head.
The rest of the examinees laughed a bit at Izuku being called out, until…
"Was that necessary?"
"Excuse me?" The boy replied, having not expected anyone to question what he had to say.
Everyone turned their attention to who questioned him. He had dual-toned, messy hair, being bleach blonde at the front and black at the back end. His eyes are dark red and have cat slit pupils. His uniform was worn rather sloppily, with the red tie worn loosely and the black blazer unzipped, showing a which polo shirt underneath. He also has small belts with golden buckles each wrapped around the sleeves of the blazer and two more normal-sized belts around his waist, the top one is done up but not buckled while the bottom one hangs loosely.
"Did you really need to call him out like that?" He repeated herself. "He's just a little excited about seeing Present Mic and probably nervous about taking the exam. Hell, we all are. So did you really need to call him out over that?"
"But he's distracting!" The boy countered. "Don't you find his muttering inappropriate in such a prestigious institute?"
"Not really," he said. "And I'm pretty sure no one else was bothered by it. Here's something that's distracting, though: A guy shooting up from his chair and demanding his questions be answered."
"But… I-I just needed clarification on…!" The guy seemed flummoxed, trying to formulate a response.
President Mic snickered at the bickering between the students before waving his hands around to calm things down. "Alright, alright calm down numbers 7111 and 2012. To answer your question 7111, the fourth villain is more of an obstacle getting in your way. That guy is worth zero points and there's one in every battle center. It's not that it can't be beaten, there's just no point. I recommend my listeners try to avoid it."
"Thank you, sir," The blue-haired boy thanked as he did a perfect 90° bow before sitting back down.
Izuku turned his head to look at the boy who stood up for him. He seemed to notice this and look back at him as Izuku mouthed a 'Thank you' to him. He understood and gave Izuku a small smile and a nod.
"Now, before I send you guy's off, allow me to share our school motto with all of you… As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down. A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. So Go Beyond… PLUS ULTRA! Now good luck suffering!"
"…That… was encouraging," Ibara said nervously as she and Izuku sat up.
"It's probably just his way of hyping up everybody." Izuku guessed with a nervous chuckle.
"Well… I better get to my battle center, good luck." Ibara said as held her hand out.
"You too," Izuku said as he shook Ibara's hand.
One bus ride later, and Izuku stepped out of the bus along with a small group of people. They all stood near the entrance to the faux city. Izuku's whole body was shaking, a wobbly smile on his face. Everything led up to this. After years of being told he could never be a hero, that he had no chance of getting into getting in his dream school. It all would end here. He just couldn't fail. He would prove everyone wrong. He would be a hero. A hero that would save everyone with a smile, just like All Might.
'This is it. It's do or die now.'
"Hey Izu-kun! I didn't know you'd be here!"
Izuku was snapped out of his thoughts by Ochako. The brunette had just stepped out of the bus. "Oh, Ochako-san!"
"Looks like we got assigned to the same battle center!" She smiled. "Wanna team up, then?"
"S-sure!"
Once Izuku looked back at the entrance to the faux city, Ochako grew a mischievous smile. 'I'm gonna get ahead of you, Ibara~.'
Ibara suddenly had a strange feeling. As if someone was trying to take Izuku away from her. 'Why am I suddenly so upset?'
"Are you doing okay?" Ibara turned around and saw a girl her age wearing a basic teal gi. She had orange hair in a side ponytail and had teal eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just… trying to take it all in is all," Ibara was telling the truth. This was rather nerve-racking, to say the least.
"I don't blame you. This is a bit much." The ponytail girl glanced at the faux city. "I'm actually worried that this is a little bias. The people who have Quirks not suited against robots won't have an easy time."
Milia took deep breaths as she stood near the entrance to the faux city, trying to calm her nerves. Even after the little training, she did during the past few months, she was still nervous about this. She wonders if Izuku and the others were nervous about the exam as well. Truth be told, she didn't originally intend to become a hero. After her parent's deaths, she just didn't know what to do with her life. She'd probably be on the street somewhere had Kudelia not taken her in as per her mother's wishes.
Even then, she never really spoke much with Kudelia or anyone else in the Dantalion peerage for that matter. Still reeling from the deaths of her parents, she barely spoke to anyone. They had to remind her to eat at times. They even had to reminder to go to school. Aldera wasn't all that bad, aside from the somewhat apathetic teachers, but overall it had been nice somewhat. The only thing she really hated about the school was how no one seemed to mind Bakugo's behavior.
She had the unfortunate 'honor' of being in the same class as the explosive teen. And she was far from impressed. His attitude certainly didn't help. So she decided to avoid him as much as possible. An easy thing to do, since he seemed to love tormenting the boy who sat in front of her: Izuku. She didn't really know what to think about him. Honestly, she found his muttering off-putting and annoying.
It wasn't until the beginning of the first semester of her third year that she got to know more about him. She was by herself near the school gate one day, walking home when she saw a family walk by. A mother and father carrying their young daughter, laughing and smiling. When she saw that, Milia just… broke down. Collapsing to her knees, Milia began to cry. As she never really got to know any of the students, they didn't bother to ask what was wrong. All except one. She wasn't sure how long she was crying for when she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. It was Izuku, concern on his face.
It honestly felt like a dream when he asked if she was okay. Even when she gave a shaky nod, he did anything he could to help, even taking her to a nearby cafe. Milia had heard that Izuku wasn't that great when it came to girls, which became apparent once Milia had calm down, but Izuku didn't seem at all bothered by her the entire time. He was so focused on helping her that was a completely different person from what she knew about him.
Milia wasn't entirely sure when, but she figured she began to fall for Izuku either during or after he helped her through her breakdown. Gradually, she began talking to Izuku more and more often. He was flustered and nearly had heart attacks the first few times, but he quickly got over it. And the more time she spent with him, the more she felt like her old self. When he told her about his dreams, Milia encouraged him to follow them, even though Izuku was Quirkless.
It wasn't until after Izuku got picked up by Rias that she began training. Training to go to U.A. had not been easy. But she was determined to go to U.A. Not to become a hero, but to be by Izuku's side. She was afraid of losing him to Ibara and Ochako, and maybe the other girls in Rias' peerage. And now here she was, standing beside other hopeful U.A. applicants. This will not be easy. But she knew she had to do this so that one day she can help Izuku like how he helped her.
That didn't mean she didn't feel like running to the bathroom to puke, though. She knew that Celica would be taking this test too, but the odds of her being in the same group as her were slim, so she can't rely on her for help.
"Wait a sec… Takamaki?"
Milia nearly jumped out of her skin when someone called her name. It took a moment to recognize the voice, as she only briefly met her once. "J-Jiro-san?"
Kyoka smiled as she walked up to Milia. "Wasn't expecting to see you here," she said.
"Y-yeah, I suppose…" Milia chuckled nervously. She and Kyoka had only met once before when Momo had come to Aldera to pick up Ibara and Izuku for training. "Y-You ready for this?"
"Hell no."
"That was… blunt…" Milia said, before nodding. "But yeah. I'd be lying to say I'm not nervous about this."
Kyoka chuckled. "Seriously, though, why are you here? You don't strike me as the type to wanting to be a hero."
"Uh, well, I…" Milia desperately tried to think of something, praying to the Satans she wasn't blushing.
"…It's because of Midoriya, isn't it?"
And her hopes were dashed. "W-what!? No, I-" when she saw thew knowing smirk Kyoka had, she gave up trying to hide her reason. "Yeah…"
To say that Iida Tenya's experience with U.A. was disheartening would be one way to put it. For years, he had always imagined U.A as the pinnacle of Hero institutions. A glorious facility that, through its rigorous curriculum, had produced many great Heroes, from All Might to each member of the Iida family.
This almost holy institution was a mold, one that turned young students into the next generation of great Heroes. And Tenya did everything in his power to prepare himself, to prove himself worthy of stepping into its halls.
He spent countless hours training with his parents and brother so his Quirk, Engine, would be ready for the rigorous trials of this exam.
"Come on Tenya, you don't need to kill yourself over this. It's just an exam like any other. Just do your best and you'll pass it no problem."
While Tensei had told him those words, Tenya knew that they hid a double meaning. He had to train, but not to the point of exhaustion. This exam posed no problem for Tensei, but only because he had mastered the family techniques to the point where he made even the most grueling and difficult maneuvers look easy.
All Tenya had to do was push himself to the limit to pass. Then, and only then, will he be allowed to enter U.A.'s halls.
'And yet everyone else is…' Tenya scanned his surroundings. After the exam overview, Present Mic directed them to the lockers so they could change into the attire they brought for the practical exam. He brought the tracksuit that was specially designed for members of his family, made of frictionless material that clung tightly to the body but did not chafe. According to Tensei, that was important for Hero costumes, but for the life of him, Tenya couldn't understand why.
Everyone else, however, wasn't as prepared as he was. Tracksuits, sweat pants, old t-shirts that looked far too big for those wearing them, and the occasional scarf worn to make the outfit appear more like a Hero costume. Sure there were occasional homemade masks and such, but they were few and far between. Some even had the audacity to wear their school uniforms for this.
The boy who had been distracting was here as well. He was talking with another applicant, a girl with a perma-blush. Weren't they aware they could be distracting the other students who were trying to focus and steel their own nerves! Tenya began to open his mouth to silence them but stopped himself. 'I shouldn't, or else I'll distract them and others from the exam.'
The two seemed to know each other. Possibly from neighboring schools, perhaps? Whatever the case, they seemed to be planning to work together, which Pro Heroes often did. Plus, it seemed that Tenya himself was the only one being bothered by them. He just needed to focus on the exam. That was the most important thing right now.
Unknown to Tenya and the other examinees, the large doors to the battle center opened up with surprisingly little noise. After a few seconds, the loud voice of Present Mic suddenly yelled down at them from above. ["Go! Go! Go! In real battles, there are no countdowns! What are you doing, listeners? You're wasting air time!"]
For a few seconds, everyone just stood in shock, and then almost as one, everyone rushed into the battle center.
A/N:
And thus we've finally reached the U.A. Entrance Exams! Yay!