The Midoriya Residence
The next week passed slowly, as Midoriya fell further and further into despair, despite all Info and Clark's efforts to help. This was hastened by his inability to contact All-Might following the exam, until one night at dinner Izuku seemed practically comatose.
"Izuku? Izuku? Izuku?!"
"Huh?" Izuku said as he looked up from his food.
"Are you alright? W-why are you smiling at the fish?" Inko sounded more panicked than concerned at this point.
"Oh, sorry! I'm fine!"
Izuku pretended nothing happened and resumed eating, prompting Clark and Inko to share a concerned glance.
After dinner, Izuku retired to the couch, where he began doing half-hearted bicep curls, seemingly lost in thought.
"The results should arrive today or tomorrow right?" Inko asked, obviously attempting to snap him out of it.
"Yeah."
"You know it's incredible you even applied!"
"Yeah." Izuku seemed to grow even more despondent with every subconscious reply.
As Inko moved over toward the door, Clark placed a light hand on his shoulder.
"I know you got in man. The judges had to have seen you try to save that girl. Even if the Wayne kid kinda pulled that out from under us."
"Yeah."
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you." It wasn't remotely a question.
Izuku finally acknowledged Clark was there as he looked up. "Huh?-"
He was cut off as Inko barged back into the room, tripping as she came through the door, before Clark caught her by the arm in a light blast of air and helped her regain her balance.
"Izuku, Izuku! It's here!" She thrust out a white envelope, addressed to both boys.
Izuku sat still for a moment before taking the envelope and going to his room. Clark floated behind as he called out. "Where're you going with that? Mine's in there too!"
Across the city, Bruce Wayne's Penthouse
"Master Bruce," Alfred said from the doorway of the workshop, as he tried to avoid meeting the gaze of the batsuit's empty cowl. Even without the goggles down it seemed to watch him. "Letter for you from U.A."
"Leave it on the table, I need to finish fixing the grapnels."
"Very good Master Bruce. Grapnels, plural? I was unaware the spare had been damaged."
"When I disabled the safety lock to save that girl, the increased tension damaged the motor. I'm modifying them both to keep it from happening again."
"Of course. We'll be talking about that little stunt at dinner. If, of course you ever come out of here to eat it." Alfred had left the room before Bruce could retort.
Putting down his tools after a few minutes, Bruce moved to look at the envelope, and unsealed it with the edge of a broken batarang. Within it, he found a small disk, and a few sheets of paper. He paid the disk no mind and tossed it on the table, when it projected a rectangle of light into the air. A tired looking man appeared on the holographic screen. The pro hero Eraser Head if Bruce remembered correctly. "Stupid name." He thought.
"Wayne," he began. "For the record, and for the sake of honesty, I was against this. You being quirkless presents a tremendous risk to both your life, and the reputation of the school should the former ever be endangered. But you had to go and pass, and do so in fifth place across all the practical exams and then tie for first on the written. You scored thirty-four villain points, and as per the judges decision, thirty two rescue points. As such we have no choice but to let you in. I am expecting you to fail out of hand, probably within the first week. Prove me wrong."
The light from the screen dimmed as Bruce began examining the sheets of paper in the envelope. Material lists, and instructions to get his uniform. He turned his eyes back to the hologram projector. That could have its uses. After packing it and writing up instructions for Lucius, he left the workshop for the kitchen. He was already dreading this conversation.
"I got in."
Alfred didn't look up from the stove. "Was there ever any doubt?"
"Before the practical, no, but I underestimated the tactical abilities of my competition. Assumed they'd all be depending solely on their quirks to carry them through. During the exam it became obvious that there was much less room for error than I expected."
"Well done regardless. Now. Let's hear it. Why on Earth would you disable that safety lock? Least of all without the suit on."
"The girl was in danger-"
"It was a school's entrance exam! You know as well as I that there was no chance of her actually dying! You know as well as I that there were others who could have pulled her out if there was any actual threat! So what were you thinking?!"
Bruce's expression darkened as he turned away. "The situation brought back some bad memories. I wasn't thinking at all."
Alfred was silent for a moment, before turning off the heat and bringing two bowls of curry to the table. "When I was still in the SAS, I once spent some time in India. My company had been assigned to aid the local military in hunting down a sect of insurgents, attempting to overthrow the government. One of the native soldiers there had been serving longer than any of us. An old scout. At night, he slept on the ground, under his bunk. When someone in our company finally asked why, he seemed lost in thought. "Because it keeps the ghosts away," he said. We didn't understand what he meant of course. Many of the men I served with at the time had yet to lose their youthful aspirations of honor and glory. A few weeks later, we encountered a small encampment of guerillas, and had mostly cleared them out, when one of my teammates dragged their commander out of a tent. The scout recognized him. A traitor, who had gotten his brother killed. He tackled the man over a nearby precipice, and killed them both."
Bruce remained silent, chewing slowly.
"I am not telling you this story without reason. To be motivated and educated by the past is good. But to be ruled by it, made reckless by it; that can, and likely will result in the death of you, those of your allies, or God forbid both."
Bruce nodded, and continued eating.
"Look at me!" Alfred barked. "If you won't listen for your sake, then do so for that of the innocents you claim to care about. If you lose your mind any time you see someone in danger, you're liable to get them killed. Stay. Focused. Or people will die."
Bruce finally looked up. His eyes were hardened in a way that no fourteen year-old's should be. Batman's eyes. "Understood."
April
Clark and Izuku moved through the halls of U.A for the second time. Along the way, they encountered a familiar face from the entrance exam. He had however changed somewhat, his dark hair now dyed a visceral crimson, and styled upward into a flamboyant crown of spikes. Upon seeing Midoriya and Clark he perked up.
"Hey! You're the ones who destroyed the zero pointer! I'm Eijiro Kirishima!" he bellowed.
"Clark Kent. I just transferred from the states."
"I-Izuku Midoriya."
"You guys had to have ended up in 1-A too right? No way you didn't with a manly hit like that!"
"Yes, we did. We've been trying to find the classroom," Midoriya said.
"Don't suppose you know the way Kirishima-san?" Clark asked.
"Sure do! C'mon!"
They rushed after Kirishima, and into the elevator. Just as the doors began to close, a hand shot in to hold it open, and the doors slid apart to reveal Bruce.
"Clark, Midoriya-san," the greeting was curt, but obviously not meant dismissively.
The other American stepped aboard with them before extending his hand to Kirishima.
"Bruce Wayne, good to meet you."
"Eijiro Kirishima!" he said, accepting the hand.
"I saw you flying around on that wire during the exam, is that your quirk?"
"No, that was a piece of equipment. I don't have a quirk."
The silence inside the elevator was deafening. Despite the fact that Clark and Midoriya had assumed as much, it was still a shock to actually hear. Even more so for Kirishima. The redhead just stared in astonishment for a moment before a huge grin began to spread across his face. "You don't have a quirk and you just fought your way in anyway?! That's gotta be the manliest thing I've ever heard of!" Kirishima exclaimed.
Bruce gave a small smile, nodded once, and fell silent. A moment later, the doors opened and a short walk down the hallway put them at the door to Classroom 1-A.
"That's a tall door. Is it for accessibility?" Midoriya thought.
"Most likely," Bruce said.
"Did I say that out loud?"
"Yep," Clark answered.
Eijiro pulled the door open, and all four of them were greeted by heated shouting.
"Take your foot off that desk right now,"
"Huh-?"
"and stop disrespecting this school you moron!"
The argument was between two students toward the side wall of the classroom.
Bakugo simply smirked, obviously having fun with it.
"And why the hell should I care what you think you damn extra?! Where'd you even come from?"
The taller boy, the one from the exam with glasses and blue hair took a deep breath, and seemed to compose himself.
"I am Tenya Iida," he began, gesturing oddly. "from Somei Private High."
"Somei?! So you're a damn elitist eh? I'll have a great time blowing your ass to hell!"
"What on Earth do you mean? Are you sure you're trying to be a hero?!"
Both Iida and the Bakugo lost track of their argument as they both noticed the four who had just arrived.
"You two…" Iida started before walking- no, marching directly toward them and bowing deeply.
Kirishima not-so-subtly squeezed behind Bruce and went to his desk. "I am Tenya-"
"We heard," Bruce said.
Iida seemed to deflate before rallying.
"I must apologize to you for my conduct at the exam Wayne-san. You meant only to be polite, and as evidenced by the practical, were far more prepared than I gave you credit for. And you as well," Iida said as he turned to face Midoriya. "What is your name?"
"I-Izuku Midoriya."
"I reproached you for your muttering, but the end of the exam made it clear that it was simply a result of your observational skills. You recognized the true nature of the exam, and by that token, you are better than me." Iida bowed again.
"Oh! It's you three!" Said a voice in the doorway. It was the girl they had saved from the zero pointer. "I'm glad you all got in!"
"Honestly I was kinda hoping it would come sooner. Midoriya-san was giving himself an ulcer worrying. But, All-Might did a pretty good job reassuring him," Clark said. "He managed to scrape seventh on rescue points alone."
"All-Might?" Bruce asked. "Why would he be in a U.A. letter?"
"Apparently he's working here for a while." Midoriya said.
"Hm. I got Eraser Head. Came in fifth, thirty-four/thirty-two. What about you Iida-san?" Bruce asked.
"I received sixth place and was admitted by Cementoss. Fifty-two and nine. But who's Eraser Head?"
"A pro hero who can disable others' quirks," Midoriya said. "He tends to shy away from attention. I'm kind of surprised you knew who he was Wayne-san."
"I'm not much of a fan, but I try to do my research anyway. Clark?"
"I came in first."
The word silenced the room. Almost every pair of eyes turned to look at Clark at once.
"One hundred thirty-two villain points, forty-seven rescue points."
A loud popping emanated from the other side of the room.
"WHAT?! THEY GAVE FIRST TO A FUCKING FOREIGNER?!" Bakugo roared, hands looking like they were on fire, as a small stream of firecracker sized blasts poured forth. "BULLSHIT!" He yelled as he jumped up out of his seat.
"Kacchan, calm down-" Midoriya started.
"SHUT UP DEKU! NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR YOU SPEAK!"
"If you care this much about points you won't last very long," said a bored voice in the hallway.
The five by the door turned to see a tired looking man laying in a sleeping bag.
"What the…"
"You don't want to finish that sentence Kent-kun." The man crawled out of his sleeping bag and stood up, slurping down a packet of apple sauce as he went. Welcome to U.A's Hero Course. I'm Shouta Aizawa. Your homeroom teacher."
Most of the class made a sound similar to gasping and shouting "What?!" at the same time.
"It took you all eight seconds to shut up. That's way too high. It's a little sudden, but go to the locker room and change into your gym uniforms," he said, pulling one of the red white and blue suits from his sleeping bag. "Meet me on the field in ten."
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