The teachers that weren't fighting Izuku were sitting up in the viewing room, watching the fight.
Nezu, Power Loader, Thirteen, Hound Dog, Cementoss, Recovery Girl, and the newest faculty member, All Might, sat quietly as the fight played out. They were all fairly surprised at Izuku's performance, All Might especially, who hadn't seen Izuku in combat at all yet.
Nezu was smirking as he saw Izuku's new move. It might be difficult for the other heroes in the room to notice the change in the way Izuku fought, with the exception of All Might, as they were either support or rescue focused, but to Nezu the subtle changes were clear.
Thirteen clapped as the fight ended. "I know that Midoriya is a capable fighter, but I've never seen him go toe-to-toe with Aizawa and come out on top before. He must have really brought his A-game for the exam!"
All Might nodded as he wiped away a small amount of blood from his mouth. "Yes, I'm sure he did, Thirteen. His combat prowess is quite impressive! What was his Quirk again, Nezu sir?"
Nezu looked over to him and smiled. "It is called 'Human Archive'. It allows him to access the memories and thoughts of anyone, as long as it is from a human being."
All Might's eyes opened a bit wider as ideas started flowing through his mind. Nezu recognized the expression and smiled softly, as he had seen it on others' faces before when they realized how useful Izuku could be to hero work.
But he also knew the sorts of things that All Might would want Izuku to find with his Quirk, and he knew that as mature and experienced as Izuku was, he was definitely not ready to be brought into the search for All for One.
He shook his head slightly, doing his best to convey his message silently to All Might. It seemed that he succeeded, as the man's face fell slightly, and his hands curled up into fists.
Vlad King spoke up. "So, now that he's done, how are we going to score that? I don't think I can give him anything but high marks for that performance."
Nezu nodded. "Indeed, Kan. Not only did he come prepared to his battle, predicting who he would be fighting and dressing appropriately, but his combat skills as well as his new technique also impressed me."
Cementoss chuckled, the noise sounding like a rumbling stone. "And he actually knocked out Aizawa. I know top-ranked pros who would struggle with something like that."
After similar comments or praise from the rest of the staff, Nezu clapped his hands and smiled. "Wonderful! We are in agreement then. Izuku Midoriya will be placed in 1-A as one of the 3 recommendation students!"
There was a cheer for the boy from the staff at that, most everyone joining in. Recovery Girl huffed as she left to go heal Aizawa's concussion, and Izuku's mental injuries that he surely gave himself.
Honestly, if she didn't see the boy as something of a grandson, she wouldn't have healed him all of the times he went overboard.
Smirking, she entered the arena to see Present Mic and Cementoss dragging the unconscious pair out of the room, while Midnight was waking up.
She kicked the boy in the leg for good measure before walking with Ectoplasm and Present Mic to the infirmary.
She had a feeling this would be a regular occurrence.
Inasa was HYPED!
He was like, 99.999% sure he aced the exam, his Quirk allowing him to navigate through the obstacle course they set up for him with ease.
The laser gate traps that blinked on and off every few seconds had been tough to deal with, as the burn on his calf proved, but he had gone near flawlessly through the whole course.
He had heard that everyone got their own specialized test, which was so freaking cool! Of course UA would go 'Plus Ultra' in everything, even the entrance test! He saw a girl with a spiraling black ponytail leaving her testing area and rushed over to her.
"Hey there! My Name is Inasa Yoarashi! I was wondering what UA got you to do for your exam! Mine was a Laser obstacle course! I bet yours was cool too!"
The girl looked slightly confused and concerned for a moment when he had started spurting out his questions, but brought herself back after a moment. She smiled at Inasa. "Hello. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. While my test wasn't a laser obstacle course, I believe that it was just as cool."
Inasa's eyes sparkled at that. Just as cool as a laser obstacle course? Hell yea! "What did they get you to do?!"
Momo just laughed. "They had me use my Quirk accurately while hanging upside down and reciting poetry! And I must say I believe I did quite well!"
Inasa just stood there for a moment picturing her test, and in his head, it was nowhere near as cool as a laser obstacle course. But he loved her enthusiasm about it! "Hell yeah! I'm glad you feel that you did good on it! After test nerves are the worst, am I right?"
Momo just smiled at him and nodded, and as they reached the front gate, a beep could be heard from a parked limousine nearby. "Well! This is mine, I must be off now! It was nice meeting you Yoarashi, I do hope we can be classmates this year!"
"YEAH! See you later Yaoyarozu!" Inasa yelled out as the door closed and her limo drove off. Using his Quirk under his feet to increase his run speed, he reached the train station and bounced up and down in excitement.
He had aced his test and was probably going to UA! He could barely keep a cap on his excitement! The only thing that could ruin this for him was if Endeavour decided to teach at UA this year, but that wouldn't happen, right?
He arrived home and celebrated with his parents on his performance, not even remembering the red and white hair he had spotted in the corner of his eyes.
"Nezu, what the fuck are you doing?"
Nezu looked up as Aizawa entered his office. He had a fairly good idea of what he was here for, but he did love to play around with his employees. "Whatever do you mean by that Aizawa? You must be specific!"
Aizawa just groaned, running his hand down his face. "We both know that you know why I'm here. I checked the transcript from your evaluation. Why did you say that there would be 3 recommendation students this year?"
Nezu just smiled as he waved at Aizawa to sit down. He sipped on his cup of tea, passing one over to the man. "Because there will be 3 recommended students in each hero class of course! I have found over the last few years that some changes have been good for the school."
"Such as the new recommendation tests! The race that we used to make students do was not an accurate system of judgement for their capabilities as a hero! For instance, if we had that test, our little Sentinel would have most likely not qualified for the hero course!"
Nezu shook his head at that. "I have realised that being a static school will turn out static heroes, and that isn't acceptable. That's why I have decided to change how classes are going to be operating slightly!"
"Teachers will still have 20 students per class, but 3 of them will be recommended students! If all goes well I also plan on allowing for a potential 21st student in each class, due to a new program I am running that will help our general studies students to potentially get upgraded to the Hero course."
Aizawa was actually surprised at that. It had been a while since he had gone to UA, but he could still remember how hard it had been for him to fail the entrance exam and fight his way through the sports festival, not even knowing if the rumor about the upgrade was true.
If there was a new program that could help kids in situations like he was, slipping through the cracks due to a bad match-up, then it would have his support. But goddamnit, Nezu could have told him about it sooner! There was also 2 weeks until classes!
"Fine! It's a good idea to have variety in your school, I do agree on that point. But could you at least tell the Homeroom Teachers about the changes before school starts? I know you weren't planning on telling me if I didn't come here myself."
Nezu just cackled at that. Aizawa had hit the nail right on the head. "Of course not! But to assuage your worries, I did inform Vlad about it, so I at least got 50% of the homeroom teachers! I must have made a mistake and not told you as well!"
Aizawa just groaned as he walked out of the room, the cackling of Nezu following him out.
The next few weeks were a blur for Izuku.
Nezu had basically forbidden him from going off on field assignments until the internships in the middle of the first semester, he had a pile of clients that required information for various cases.
The biggest project was for a hero in Australia named Mr. Hale, the lead hero on a case looking into an elusive group of drug smugglers. It came with a detailed list of what they knew about the gang so far, and what they wanted to know.
All his clients, because of Nezu, were told to be as specific as possible, as the amount of information needed would change their priority on Izuku, or 'Sentinel's' list. Luckily for Mr. Hale, all they needed to know was a few of the lesser known member's Quirks.
They wanted to know about the boss and the second in command of the group. They were currently completely unknown, but for Izuku, it was child's play. If children played with headaches and migraines. Tugging on his Quirk, he focused on his targets and let the information flow into him.
'Jarred Musset, Quirk: Decoy. Allows the user to create a temporary fake on anything that he touches with both hands. Decoy's last approximately 3 hours. Using it on a person allows for temporary cloning. Does not affect himself.'
He jotted down the details of the Quirk into a document, before moving onto the second-in-command.
Nathan Dempsey, Quirk: Locate. Allows the user to locate 1 person or object at a time, as long as they have seen the person or object within the last week.
Izuku had to admit that the pair had some interesting Quirks. He finished up his report for Mr. Hale, including an analysis of the two drug smugglers, detailing possible ways they would use them to trick or defeat the heroes, and ways to combat them.
Sending the document over to Mr. Hale's hero agency, Mann Co, he stretched his arms above his head and smiled, moving onto the next client's request.
He quickly popped a Panadol to alleviate the incoming headache from the last job, holding onto his forehead with a pained smile.
While he enjoyed helping out other heroes with his Quirk, he did wish it hurt a little less.
"Izuku! Your letter is here!"
It had been two weeks since his exam, and he had spent that time training and doing jobs for various heroes.
"Coming, mum! Just give me a sec!"
"Alright, sweety!"
He finished up sending a report back to the Death Arms agency, and hopped out of his chair, pulling on a shirt as he entered the kitchen. His mum was sitting at the table holding the envelope out to him.
He walked over to her and opened the envelope, pulling out the holographic device and setting it up so that it would be facing the kitchen wall. Pressing the button on the side, he smiled as Aizawa's face appeared on the wall.
"Hello problem child, problem child's mother. Nezu made me do this one, even though All Might was meant to be doing these. You got around 98% for your written exam, guaranteeing yourself a place in General Studies if you failed the practical."
Aizawa let out a huff. "To be honest, if you failed your practical I would have made you train 4 times as hard, to give myself an excuse to punish you for stuffing it up. But you didn't. You passed the practical test with flying colors. Apparently, your new special move impressed the judges."
"So come on, kiddo, you're in class 1-A for the Hero Course. Good job. I'll see you on Monday." Inko teared up and crushed Izuku in a hug after that. Izuku smiled and returned the hug, lifting Inko up and spinning around, laughing the whole time. He had done it! No longer was he just Nezu's intern, he was a proper Hero-in-training!
As Inko started cooking Katsudon to celebrate, Izuku could barely hold in his excitement.
He had a good feeling about this year!
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