This was it! The day of the entrance exam for UA. Izuku was still bitter about the rules on Support Item use for the Hero Practical, since it prevented him from being able to use the tools he needed to effectively use his skills. For a second, he had considered trying anyway until he found out about the robots. Without a Quirk and barred from using Support Items because of that, it meant that he would have pretty much no chance of passing if he even tried. It was such an idiotic policy and he planned to bring it up to the principal if he ever got the chance.
Also, just the idea of using robots was idiotic. Sure, it gave the applicants targets but those with physical Quirks had more of a chance of taking them down. Heck, even the Pro Hero Eraserhead didn't initially pass the entrance exam and only was able to transfer into the Hero Course after he won the Sports Festival in his first year.
Something that Izuku also planned to do. Once he was in the Support Course, he could use his own inventions during the Sports Festival and show them that you don't need a Quirk to be a Hero. A Quirk was just another tool that Heroes can use. Since Izuku didn't have a Quirk, he would make his own tools to help him in his goal.
But first, he has to get into the Support Course. One step at a time.
Izuku took a deep breath as he looked up at the gates of UA. His dream school. After all, All Might went here and he was still Izuku's idol despite what he said. With determination to prove the Number One Hero wrong, he made to take his first step towards the school.
Before he could, Izuku heard an angry voice call out. "Out of my way, Deku!"
Izuku spun around to find Katsuki walking towards him, a scowl on his face. The explosive boy had mostly ignored him since he confronted greenet about trying for UA. This was the first time he was acknowledge by the other boy in months.
"Oh, good morning, Katsuki! Let's both do our best!"
The blonde just walked past the greenet without another word. Izuku watched him go and sighed. They may never be friends but even this was better than how Katsuki treated him before. Izuku accepted the other's actions for what it was, an improvement of sorts. Now, back to taking that first step.
Apparently, focusing on one step at a time was too much because Izuku suddenly found himself tripping after that first step. This is how I die, I guess, he thought. He shut his eyes waiting for the collision to the ground, planning to lessen the impact with a well-practiced rolling move.
But it never came. Izuku opened his eyes to find himself floating mid-trip. Flailing his arms, he spots a girl next to him smiling.
"Sorry I used my Quirk on you," she said cheerfully. She helped him down to the ground before pressing her hands together. The feeling of weightlessness disappeared after all her fingers touched. "But I figured it was bad luck to trip before the exam."
Questions raced through Izuku's head, fascinated by the girl's Quirk. But he bit them back because now wasn't the time for that. "Uh…i-it's alright. Thanks for saving me! My n-name is Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you!"
"My name is Uraraka Ochako! It's nice to meet you, too!" They exchange small bows in greeting. "I'm going to head inside but I hope to see you sometime. Good luck!"
Izuku waved at her as she walked away. He was a little proud of himself for talking to someone new. He barely even stuttered! Maybe they would see each other again if they both passed. No, not if, when. Then he could ask her all his questions about her Quirk.
With more care this time, Izuku walked toward the school to check into his exams. But he couldn't help getting distracted. How could he not?! He was finally in UA. Not as a student, yet, but being able to walk these halls was such an honor. He was looking around at anything and everything, trying to take in all the little details about UA as he could, when he ran into someone.
"Oof," Izuku let out as he fell to the floor. Great. Not only did I have to trip earlier, I just had to hit someone and make a fool of myself. He looked up to see a boy with gravity defying purple hair sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh my gods, are you okay?!" Izuku exclaimed. He scrambled to get up and offered his hand to the other boy. He looked at the hand confused with tired purple eyes that matched his hair and ignored it as he got up by himself. Izuku didn't mind as he continued rambling. "I'm so sorry I ran into you! I should have paid more attention to where I was going. I'm just so excited to actually be in the halls of UA and wasn't watching where I was going. And I…"
"You sure talk a lot, don't you," the other boy interjected, cutting off his rambling.
Izuku blinked owlishly for a moment before he blushed in embarrassment. As he looked up at the other teen, all he could think was, damn he's tall! He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Ah, heh heh. Yeah, sorry. And sorry for running into you. I hope I didn't disturb you too much. Um, g-good luck on the exam!"
The other boy merely grunted in response and walked off. Izuku watched him leave for a moment before shaking out of his stupor and continuing on to his way. After getting his room assignment from the check-in point, he headed toward his testing site for the written exam.
"Room D, room D," Izuku muttered as he searched for his room. "Oh, there it is!"
UA had several different courses that student-hopefuls could apply for. The most well-known was UA's Hero Course, one that produced well known Heroes that ranked among the top ten including All Might himself. There was also General Studies, Support Course, and Business Course. Each department had their own set up for the Practical Exam but all departments would take the same written test.
As Izuku entered the room, his eye was drawn to a familiar head of purple hair. The boy he had run into earlier was in the same testing group as him. Well, I didn't make the best first impression, but maybe we could be friends? He took a deep breath to steady himself and walked over to the other boy.
"H-hello!" he managed to stutter out as he approached the taller teen. The other watched him out of the corner of his eye as Izuku took the desk next to him but the purple haired teen didn't say a word. "I-I'm sorry about earlier again. I'm kind of a klutz at…well, all the time. But it's nice to see a familiar face! E-even though it was because I made a huge fool of myself. My n-name is Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you!"
The greenet looked at the taller boy with a small nervous smile. The purple hair boy studied him for a few moments, seeming to search for something. Whether he found it or not, Izuku didn't know, but the other boy finally spoke.
"You do talk a lot."
At the comment, Izuku blushed and looked down at his desk. His mind started to spiral, thinking that maybe he won't be able to be friends with the boy, when the other teen spoke again.
"Shinsou Hitoshi. Pleasure."
Izuku's head shot up as he looked at Shinsou, a look of shock on his face. Then he smiled and said, "Hi Shinsou-kun!" Shinsou gave him a small nod.
"So, um, what course are you applying for?" Izuku asked, getting out his pen case. All Might themed, of course. "I'm going for the Support Course myself. I-I would have gone for the Hero Course, too, but with the way they skew t-towards physical Quirks, there's no way I would pass."
"What do you…" Shinsou started but stopped when the proctor for the exam walked into the room.
...
With all the studying and preparation with Mei, Izuku was pretty confident with his answers to the written test. Plus, with his Quirk analysis and research into Heroes, he was able to answer the questions on laws and regulations with ease. He finished with about ten minutes to spare and spent the rest of the time checking over his answers.
Once time was up, there was a short break before the practical exams. Izuku hoped to find Mei but there were so many people and being shorter than most of them didn't help. With a sigh, he relented and decided to move to a less crowded area. He would see Mei later.
"Hey," a voice called to him. Looking up, the greenet saw Shinsou walking towards him.
"Oh, hey, Shinsou-kun," Izuku said with a friendly smile. "How did the test go for you?"
"It was alright," Shinsou replied, shrugging as he scratched the back of his head. "The general stuff was fine, but I struggled on the law part a bit. I didn't know they would be testing on things like that before getting in. A Hero school would be the place to learn about Hero laws, right?"
"That's true, but maybe they asked those as a way to gage how much we knew about that before UA," Izuku surmised, a hand on his chin and a thoughtful look. "I was fine with them but I've been researching that for my hobby."
"Hobby?" the purple haired boy asked.
"Oh, I like to analyze Quirks!" Izuku chirped, taking out his notebook. It had seen better days, but it couldn't be helped with a certain explosive blonde constantly messing with him. "I find Quirks really interesting, so I like to analyze them. Figuring out the strengths and weaknesses, ways to improve them, and strategize the best way to use them in different situations. Here, look."
The shorter boy offered his notebook to the taller one. It was open to his notes on the Number Four Hero, Best Jeanist. Shinsou read through the notes that covered the two-page spread along with a sketch of the Hero. There were questions and theories that he had never thought to ask or think about. Yet as he read through them, they seemed like really good ideas and questions to ask.
Damn, this guy is smart.
"This chicken scratch is pretty good," the purple haired boy snarked, smirking at the other boy who gave an offended squawk. He chuckled and handed the notebook back. "By the way, what did you mean there was no way you could pass? Do you have a passive Quirk?"
"Oh! Ah…no. I, uh," Izuku replied, putting his notebook back in his bag. He looked away from Shinsou, nervously kicking the ground. "A-actually, I don't have a Quirk at all…"
The last sentence came out only as a whisper. Barely loud enough for the purple boy to hear. "Huh?"
The shorter boy hesitantly looked Shinsou in the eye and said, "I'm Quirkless."
"Huh." There was no other reply that Shinsou could think of as he processed what he heard.
The chime sounded for the practicals to start soon and the boys went their separate ways. Izuku was nervous about how Shinsou would think about him now that he knew. He hoped the other boy won't reject him like everyone else had since elementary school. But that was a worry for later.
There was a Support Practical he needed to finish before having to worry about that.
...
Blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic
Notes extension: post/626547968445677568/chapter-7-entrance-exam-written-test