Hello everyone and welcome back to another addition to my MHA fanfic. I hope you all have been good. I've been ok, thank you for asking. I am working on the next chapter of Beyond Kami, but it is going to be a very long chapter so its taking me a bit longer than I thought it would.
Mimhere: You have to think about this from Izuku's POV. He was thinking about going ahead with Katsuki's suggestion of killing himself. He was so close to just giving up, when all of a sudden, a man comes in with a glimmer of hope of him achieving his dream of becoming a hero. I'm sorry, but if you think a kid his age wouldn't take a pretty sketchy deal over suicide, then idk what to say. I get that it's pretty unbelievable from an outside and logical POV, but from someone who was on the brink of suicide and just barely keeping it together, taking a needle from a stranger who had already gained the trust of his mother (whom he respects above all others) is the best course of action. Either he is telling the truth and he gets himself a quirk and can become a hero, or he dies and gets his secret desire for death without having to kill himself and hurt his mother. In Izuku's eyes, it was a win-win scenario. Sorry if it's confusing, I will go back and tweak some of the minor details if it becomes too much of a problem for readers, whether they be new or old.
TehStorm: Before anything else, I guess I should clear some stuff up. Izuku is not going to be able to pull off what he did in the last chapter whenever he wants, especially stopping AFO. That incident was the culmination of stress and the final event of his mother passing away in front of his eyes that made his quirk go out of his control and briefly showed the "true limits" of his power. When he has reached the limit of what he can absorb is when his golden veins become black, just to get that out of the way as well. Think of it like Hysterical Strength (When humans are able to push their bodies to 100% with no regard for their normal limitations in dire situations) or when Naruto goes rage mode and draws on Kyuubi chakra and gains a bit of a boost due to his rampaging emotions. He will be able to use the whole "creating a field to draw in Kinetic Energy around him" technique but definitely not to that extent for right now. Also, as for AFO and Shigaraki being too nice, I can give it to you in the case of Shigaraki (which is actually put like that on purpose and will be explained a good bit later), but AFO has always been understanding to his pupils, especially Shigaraki in the anime. He has stated and shown on multiple occasions that, even if it is all an act to manipulate his student to do what he wants, he is still openly supporting and helping Shigaraki whenever he needs it. He is not shown to be ruthless to anyone besides his enemies and from his enemies' (especially All Might himself) POV.
Giltlawyer9000: Don't worry, I read all the reviews and I appreciate your suggestions very much! As for quirks for Izuku, I'm not sure if I want to give Izuku a whole bunch of quirks (at least not yet) but I will definitely take these into consideration for some other people in the story if that's ok.
ChunkyFunkyMunky: Thank you for correcting me. I'm not sure what to use to describe a male's hair then since I don't want to keep saying "Green-haired boy" or something like that every time I mention Izuku or his hair. If you know can tell me what I can use I would greatly appreciate it, thank you!
Anyway, thank you all for your feedback and I hope you enjoy. See you at the bottom!
This Chapter was Beta'd by Solace Hollow
Chapter 4: Infiltration Time
It had been a long 10 months for Izuku after middle school ended. 10 months of near-nonstop training and constant improvement. He had improved his control with his quirk, developed his own Ultimate Move, and made sure to make sure to learn how to fight without his quirk. He wasn't able to get his villain costume developed due to needing to accommodate his quirk and hopefully One for All in the future without needing to make a whole new one.
After all of that, Izuku was glad he could just relax now and watch the news like a normal person. 'In recent news, the villain, Tremor, is being transferred this weekend to–'
"You should head out, lest you be late." Kurogiri called out, interrupting the news anchor as he polished off the glasses behind the bar.
With a sigh, Izuku stood up and shut the TV off. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Wouldn't want to be late to my first step of becoming a great hero, right?" he asked sarcastically before heading out.
Stepping outside the bar was like a breath of fresh air. He had been cooped up in there for a lot of the 10 months, mostly because the police came to his door to find out what happened to his mother since he claimed she was dead, yet no one even knew where she was, let alone her medical status.
Thankfully, Izuku had thought of such a thing ahead of time and had Giran forge false medical records and sneak them into a local hospital's files as well as a transfer application. He had even taken a few therapy sessions at that very hospital to better pull together his story. It helped that the doctor and nurse who had tried to help her suddenly eloped together to the Americas.
"Those acting lessons were a great idea. Who knew people would be so gullible whenever a kid started to tear up?" Izuku thought with a small smile.
Unlike what Kurogiri said, he wasn't even close to being late. The train ride was relatively short, and the station wasn't all that far from the High School, so all in all, he had plenty of time to spare.
Unfortunately, some other people also wanted to have plenty of time to get here. "Tch, quit gawking Deku!"
Katsuki Bakugo everybody, the only person who could sour his mood quicker than you can blink your eye. The boy apparently heard from somewhere that trying to add a bit of normalcy could help someone with grief. The problem with that being that normal for them was bully and victim. He had eventually just decided to end things with an all-out, no holds bar fight with the boy to show him just how big the gap between them was.
Long story short, the boy cursed him out from his place on the ground as Izuku walked away with barely a scratch. Though, judging by the fair amount of muscle on the blonde, he had taken that fight personally and trained himself into the dirt since then.
Izuku could only glare at the boy's back as he tried to act superior in spite of their last fight.
Whatever, he's not important. Though, he wasn't wrong when he said Izuku had been gawking. Say what you will about the total ineptitude of heroes, but they could surely build marvelous structures, no doubt due to the massive funding the government gave them in thanks for keeping their cities "safe".
The massive buildings of U.A. stood before him, and he'd be damned if he didn't take it all in while he had the time to.
"Welp, better head inside. Don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself." Izuku thought before walking up to the proportionally large doors and following the signs to the auditorium where they would begin their paper exam consisting of questions ranging from basic knowledge questions to specific battle scenarios that they would have to come up with the best plan of action.
"This is a piece of cake." Izuku thought with a grimace as he marked an answer to another very basic question anyone who had even bothered to study for this exam should know.
After a very long hour, it was finally time for the practical exam. He was stationed at Battle Center B, though he did catch that Bakugo was at A, meaning they had split up anyone who might try and work together.
"Yeah, like that would ever happen." He thought before stretching to get ready for the exam as well as get a good look at his competition. It was a bit brisk out, but he didn't worry about it as he wore his sweat-suit to protect himself from the weather and minor blunt force trauma.
There was a purple-haired boy a few feet away from him that seemed nervous as he kept clenching and unclenching his fist with a scowl on his face. "You good?"
Startled, the boy looked over at him with annoyance. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about how irrational this exam is."
"Ah, so your quirk is non-physical, and probably doesn't work on robots, right? Yeah, doesn't really make sense to just test on fighting ability, but if it helps any, I can help set them up for you so you can get some points?" Izuku offered as he looked away to continue his stretches. "It would be good to have some support right from the get-go, so getting this kid to trust me and get him into the Hero Course is a good move."
Shinso Hitoshi was shocked, not only at this random boy's accurate deduction of his quirk, but more so at his offer to help. Present Mic didn't say teaming up was against the rules or anything, but still. "He must be really confident that he can still pass while also giving me some of his points. That or he's just naïve."
"Are you distracting this boy? What are you, a trap contestant used to trip us up?" Izuku looked up from his leg stretches to see the blue-haired kid that interrupted during the explanation looking at him with what looked like contempt.
"I'm sorry, but when did it become polite to just intrude on other people's conversations? Listen, Mr. Stuck-up, I was actually just telling him about the secret points you can get if you find a special flag in one of the buildings. I heard from a friend already in his second year here about it and it's supposedly worth 30 points if you can carry it all the way to the end."
Stuck-up looked shocked at the revelation before his eyes gleamed with determination. "Ah, I see! Thank you for that information, I will let you continue your stretches."
Izuku could only watch with surprise all over his face as the boy just accepted his obvious lie without a second thought. "Jeez, talk about gullible."
Shinso couldn't help but admire this kid's casual manipulation of someone he'd never met before, before he remembered the offer. "Hey, I think I'll take you up on that offer. If I can pass this exam, then I can show people that I can be a true hero, despite this villainous quirk." That last bit is what really peaked the green-haired boy's interest.
Izuku couldn't help but smirk at the boy's description. "Cool, then whenever there's a group I'll wear down a few and let you get in the last punch. Oh, and I'm Izuku Midoriya, quirk is Rebound, nice to meet you."
"Shinso Hitoshi and my quirk's called Brainwash. And same here, I guess." If anything, Izuku's smile widened at that information, rather than be disgusted or afraid like he was expecting.
"GO!" they heard Present Mic's voice boom over the speakers near the entrance into the mock city.
While everyone else stood around trying to figure out what was going on, Izuku wasted no time in grabbing Shinso and dashing towards the now opened gate.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? FOLLOW THOSE TWO AND GET STARTED!"
Following the pro hero's words, everyone else finally got moving into the city.
Before too long, Izuku encountered a 2 pointer whose danger level seemed to come from its increased speed, making it harder to hit compared to the other bots.
Though, that meant nothing to Izuku, considering his fighting style was centered on counter attacks after absorbing the energy from his opponent's own attack.
Izuku pushed the purple-haired contestant out of the way as the two-pointer charged at them before getting into his fighting stance.
After dodging the bot's speedy punch– which Izuku slowed as it got close to him with a well-placed Kinetic Absorption Field– Izuku put his hand on the side of the outstretched arm, effectively bringing the bot to a screeching halt as golden veins appeared along Izuku's exposed skin.
With a smirk, Izuku immediately launched a Concussive Punch towards the bot's head, knocking it clean off and leaving Izuku with more than enough energy left over to deal with one or two more bots without needing a recharge.
Shinso watched on in no small amount of awe as this kid dispatched a bot that could've killed him if he were on his own with ease. He would certainly make it in with a quirk like that. Perfectly flashy for a hero with power to back it up.
With a quick, though unnecessary, warning from Shinso, Izuku easily dodged the slower punch from the three-pointer that approached him from behind. Then, as if he weren't in an exam that would decide his future, he slowly walked to the back of the machine and tore open the back panel before shooting his teammate an expectant look. Getting the hint, Shinso ran over to the machine before tearing out its wiring, causing it to shut down immediately.
With a smirk from his new friend, Shinso could only follow the boy with renewed hope. Hope that he could still get into the Hero Course and show all those kids in elementary and middle school that they were wrong about him.
So, as they were speeding through the streets, Izuku forcing himself to go a bit slower due to his less fit teammate, it wasn't long before he came upon a group of three 2 pointers, one 3 pointer, and two 1 pointers. They had seemed to be heading towards where there was a lot of commotion but stopped when the greenette came onto the scene.
Knowing he didn't have a whole lot of Kinetic Energy stored up, Izuku had to play this smart. Thankfully for him, these bots had no critical thinking skills so their only plan of action was ATTACK, in any way they knew how.
Using their predictability to his advantage, Izuku dodged the approaching 2 pointers with ease now that he knew their fighting style was literally dash, slash, repeat, and was able to get in the middle of the group of machines, now forming a circle around him and Shinso. Thinking quickly, Izuku created another Absorption Field fully around the two, effectively blocking all of the bots' swinging arms that tried to take them out all at once. Once he had drained a good amount of energy from the machines, Izuku smirked before carefully repositioning some of the approaching limbs. After he was done, he grabbed his friend and forced him to drop to the ground with him as he released his Absorption Field a split second later, allowing the offending limbs to continue their path straight through where he was standing and into the rest of the bots.
"Stupid machines." Izuku thought with a chuckle as he stepped over the wrecked metal as Shinso quickly took out the three-pointer and one of the two pointers.
As that was happening, Izuku took a little bit of pleasure in seeing that blue-haired kid from earlier dashing in and out of buildings with an ever-increasing look of frustration on his face.
When he was done, they both continued on their path as they approached more and more bots along the way. It almost seemed as if the more points they got, the more aggressive they became. "They must be hooked up to whatever is keeping tally of the points so the more points a person has, the harder it will be to get more. Smart."
Spectator's Booth- 4 minutes 28 seconds remaining
"Damn, do you see that kid? He's blowing away all the bots like they're fodder." Said a certain R-rated superheroine, Midnight. "That Bakugo kid sure is a beast."
"True… though, while base combat ability is great, it's also important to have other skills, such as information gathering and staying calm under pressure. Just look at this kid, he may not seem like much, but he's been using his quirk like a master, stopping bots and using their weaknesses as a pre-programmed machine to make them effectively useless against him. To have such mastery over one's quirk, I dare say he's a prodigy. He's even taken a less capable contestant under his wing to try and help him." Ectoplasm, the cloning hero, commented as he saw Izuku continue to outsmart and outmaneuver his enemies with ease, while also not only relying on his quirk, but his physical and mental attributes as well. "Who is that he's helping?"
There was a ruffling of papers before another voice spoke up, sounding tired and annoyed at the same time. "Shinso Hitoshi. Quirk: Brainwash. He can take control of anyone who replies to him so long as they don't get hit too hard or else the effect is negated. He'd be perfect for hostage situations, though he probably wouldn't make it in if not for that kid, which is why I've been saying this exam is completely irrational."
"Yeah yeah, I heard you the first hundred times, but look here. He was able to put aside his pride and accept the boy's offer, though by the looks of his body, it seems he hasn't put much effort into covering his weaknesses. And fighting bots is good and all, but what truly makes a hero, isn't their ability to fight villains." A mouse creature in a suit with a deep scar over his eye spoke up as he climbed over the control console. "It is their selfless spirit and willingness to put it all on the line for someone other than themselves."
With that said, the creature flipped up the safety glass and pressed a large red button labeled 'Zero Pointers'. "To be a hero, you have to be more than strong or smart. More than a prodigy or a dunce. You have to be fearless, even in the face of overwhelming odds with certain death staring you right in the face." That sentence lingered in the air of the booth as the pro-heroes/teachers all felt the tremors passing through their feet.
Mock City B- 3 minutes 50 seconds remaining
"Ok, as far as points go, I can safely say I've passed." Izuku laughed as he took a short break to catch his breath. He had been going non-stop for 6 minutes now and he was getting a good sweat worked up. On the other hand, Shinso looked about ready to pass out if he had to run any more. "And I think he's got enough points. I gave him that last group of bots so he should be good."
"Hey, we've probably got enough to pass, so why don't you just hang out and regain your stamina. We've still got a few minutes left to get more points, so no need to rush it if you won't be able to fight when the time comes." Izuku told him before chuckling at the boy's thumbs up from his place on the ground. As much as he hated being judged by the very heroes he swore to destroy, this was the most fun he's had in months. Since he's been training himself into the ground every waking moment, he hasn't had time to act like a kid his age or even interact with his peers. As much fun as Shigaraki was to fight against, he wasn't exactly the type to have a stimulating conversation with. So, being around people his age was kind of comforting.
That is, until he almost fell on his face from a massive earthquake that cracked the concrete around him and blew small debris over his head. "What the hell was that?!"
Looking to where a giant dust cloud was rising over the buildings, Izuku started to squint to try and make out what had caused such a thing, only to widen his eyes as a gigantic robotic head shot out of the smoke and debris and demolished a building right in front of it.
"Ah, so that's what they meant by 'The zero pointer is just an obstacle to avoid.' It's not like a kid not even in hero classes yet could defeat that by themselves anyway." Izuku thought, ready to just stay out of its way as he went to help Shinso get up.
That is, until he heard a very faint "Help!" coming from the direction of the colossal robot.
Turning around, the green-haired boy could barely make out a girl trapped under a few pieces of rubble. It was the girl he had seen use her levitation or gravity quirk to lift up the bots before dropping them to their doom. Not sure why she couldn't just use her quirk on the concrete pieces unless she was too spent, but she was also in the direct path of the zero pointer.
"Nope, that's not my problem. Heroes may be stupid in how reckless they are, but they wouldn't actually kill anyone, would they?" Izuku shook his head as he prepared to turn away and see how many points they could accrue before time ran out.
"Help, please!"
"Oh god, it seems like a villain is attacking."
Izuku's eyes widened as he froze as that memory played back in his head. "No! It's not my problem. I'm not the fuckin hero in this scenario." He thought in retaliation. "I haven't been training all this time to take down the hero society just to be like the people I despise."
"Izuku, come on, we gotta go!" Shinso yelled as he looked back at his frozen teammate.
"Izuku, I'm so sorry…"
"Stop! They wouldn't kill innocent people!" Izuku shouted in his head as he tried to get his body to move out of pure spite. That is, until he remembered All Might.
"I love you so mu-""DETROIT SMA-!"
Ochaco Uraraka's voice was numb from screaming for help. Everyone around her had already fled the scene and she couldn't reach the rubble pinning her to get herself out. It seemed like this was it for her. She couldn't stop the tears that started to pour down her face at the thought of how she disappointed her parents and old friends. If she couldn't even survive the entrance exam, how was she going to cut it living as a real hero?
With the shockwaves from the zero pointer, she couldn't help but think maybe this was for the best…
The bob-cut girl wiped her eyes as she heard the faint sound of footsteps getting closer to her position. Was someone actually coming back for her? Were they going to get to her in time?
Finally, she was able to make out a figure running straight towards her with everything he had, not even stumbling when a tremor passed through the ground, almost as if he didn't even feel it. After what seemed like an eternity, the figure was just about upon her. It was the green-haired boy that was the first to enter the city when the test started, dragging along another boy, wearing a slightly torn and disheveled track suit that revealed the bright golden lines running across his skin.
One final tremor shook the earth, telling the gravity manipulator all she needed to know about how close the zero pointer was. Though, thanks to that last quake, she was able to see that the golden lines across the boy's skin actually got brighter with every tremor.
That is, until this last one where they went pitch black. Though, even she knew that it was too late. There was no chance the boy would be able to get her out in time. Not wanting to ruin anyone else's chances at getting accepted, especially the boy who seemed to have had the best chances of getting in, she shouted out to him. "Run away, save yourself!"
Instead of heeding her warning, the boy slid to a stop right in front of her before placing his hand underneath one of the concrete pieces and unleashing pure concussive force to send the thing flying into a building. Though, a shadow enveloped the both of them before he could try the other one.
When Ochaco looked up, she expected a look of regret to pass over the boy's face as he silently second-guessed his actions. Shockingly, the only thing she could see was a cold, calculating look plastered to his face as he stared down the gigantic threat.
Izuku then held his hands skyward as if in protest to the overwhelming odds stacked against him. Then, as the hand was about to crush them both, a large circle appeared above his hands that looked to be made out of distorted air.
Not even a second had passed when Uraraka saw the impossible. While the robotic appendage pushed against the distorted air, she was shocked to see that it was actually slowing the hand down. Though it looked like the boy was struggling under the weight of the thing as he slowly drove it to a halt. She could feel the sweat hit her hands from his place standing above her.
Then, as if fully content to keep doing the impossible, the overwhelming threat suddenly stopped completely as it came into contact with the boy's skin.
Dropping his sore arms to the sides, Izuku smirked as his progress was shining through for everyone to see. Though, his work wasn't done yet.
Crouching down, Izuku let out a massive amount of concussive force from his feet, forcing Uraraka cover her eyes lest they be destroyed by the small debris flying everywhere.
As he became face-to-face with the gargantuan, Izuku could only smirk as he imagined the faces of the judges right now. As he charged the rest of his energy into his right leg, the only thought that passed through his mind was: "How am I going to land?"
Then an explosion of epic proportions rocked the entire exam cite with winds that whipped everyone's hair into a frenzy. The robot staggered back as its top half was pushed backwards while its bottom stayed still. The contestants could only stare in awe as the massive behemoth was sent reeling by just one boy, only to drop to the ground in order to keep their balance as an earthquake shot through the ground from the zero-pointer's rough landing.
Izuku couldn't help but smirk at his achievement. "Guess they didn't expect someone that already had over 10 months of intense training to enter, or else they would've made this more of a challenge." That is, until he realized that he was approaching the ground at a speed that kind of concerned him. "Right, about that…"
SLAP
With a resounding smack, Uraraka was able to land all five fingers against Izuku's cheek and successfully nullified his personal gravity, causing him to slow to a stop before roughly landing on the asphalt when she released her quirk.
Joining him a second later, the rosy-cheeked teen had to turn away to relieve herself due to overusing her quirk.
After a couple seconds of silence, Izuku couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably, his mouth opening so wide that he was forced to close his eyes.
As this went on, multiple examinees crowded around the two exhausted teens to see the people who had defeated that titan of an enemy. They all started to get very creeped out by the guy who just destroyed a bot that could kill most pro heroes when his laughing became hysterical. That is, until Present Mic's voice resounded over the intercoms.
"AND THAT'S TIME! THANKS FOR PLAYING!"
"Yes, I understand a lot just happened, but could you move out of the way?" a cranky-sounding granny called out as she pushed through the crowd of potential heroes, muttering something along the lines of "Back in my day…" before she reached the laughing powerhouse. "And what's with you? Think it's funny to almost kill yourself?"
Finally, Izuku was able to get control of himself as he looked towards the youthful heroine, Recovery Girl, with tears in his eyes, both from the laughing and the pain in his leg from the recoil of his kick. Later on, Chiyo would chalk up the flash of hatred in the boy's eyes when he saw her to adrenaline or shock or a hundred other false diagnoses.
"No, but I've never done something like that before! I completely obliterated that thing!" Izuku shouted as he laughed like a child that just learned how to ride their bike for the first time. The funny thing? He wasn't acting at all. The adrenaline and rush he got from pushing his limits like that felt amazing.
"Yes, well, you should be grateful you didn't obliterate your leg. I can heal what damage you did take here and now, but I implore you to not take such risks in the future. Everyone else with any serious injuries come over here so I can heal you. Are you ok miss?"
Uraraka's only answer was a thumbs up as she stayed turned around unless she wasn't done relieving herself. Izuku could only smile up at the sky, fully content with his performance as well as the impact he was sure he made on the teachers. And still, he might as well enjoy himself before he brought this world to its knees.
At that moment, Shinso ran over to his friend with concern obvious in his eyes. "What the hell were you thinking? One moment you were with me and the next you were just gone. Then I saw the giant robot go down and I just knew it had to be your dumbass." It's funny how much he felt he knew about this kid from the few small-talks they had while they searched for bots. He was also one of the first people to not react how he thought he would when hearing about his quirk, which was a win in his book.
At that point, Izuku couldn't help but snort in amusement as his friend gave him a quick look-over.
Spectator Booth
All Might could only gaze with stars in his eyes as he replayed what he just saw in his head multiple times over. Seeing that boy sacrifice so many points just to help another contestant who didn't have a very good chance of getting in. Plus, with a quirk like that, the application of it was near limitless, depending on how he could use the energy he stole. From the boy's file they had on hand, his quirk, self-named "Rebound", was able to absorb and manipulate kinetic energy to use both offensively and defensively. The fact that he could let lose a kick on the level of one of his average punches to completely obliterate the zero-pointer was incredible.
"A quirk like that combined with the likes of One for All… the user would be nigh unbeatable. I wish I knew more about it! Curse these basic profiles." He thought as the possibilities of such a combo started to fill his imaginative mind. "No! Calm down. There's more to being my successor than just quirk compatibility! Hell, I didn't even have a quirk when I got it. I will keep an eye on him though." He berated himself before folding the boy's file and putting it in his pocket for safekeeping with a smile.
"To pull off an attack on that scale without any serious damage to his body shows his mastery over his quirk. Even if he didn't plan ahead for falling afterwards, he shows exceptional potential. Not to mention helping someone like Shinso." A certain disheveled and tired-looking hero thought as he unknowingly copied the number 1 hero's actions, though without the smile.
"Truly amazing candidates this year! As you all know, we have much to discuss! Can I kindly ask anyone who was chosen to be a judge for these exams please follow me to the meeting room? If you are not a judge, you can do whatever you want and I will see you all when school is in session." Principal Nezu clapped as he led the group of judges out of the booth.
"First Mirio and now Midoriya? Coming to U.A. surely was the right choice." All Might thought as he, too, left the booth.
Soon, the only one left in the booth was Aizawa Shouta, otherwise known as Eraserhead due to his unique quirk-cancelling quirk. He didn't need to go out on patrol until later tonight, so he figured he would spend his time analyzing the recordings of the exams and study the ones he thought would make it into the hero course and, more specifically, his class.
Looking past the obvious shoe-ins, Aizawa was more interested in the ones who had used their quirks, whether they be combative or not, to try and overcome the very combat quirk oriented exam. These were the ones he would take notes on and give his report to the principal on his opinions on them. Nezu appreciated and respected Aizawa's opinion immensely, meaning he would take these notes into serious consideration when deciding who would get into what class, or any class at all, even if they couldn't excel in the combat exam.
He immediately noticed a girl whose quirk made her invisible, which was kind of ironic. Since she couldn't be detected by the machines, she was able to easily get up close and pull at their wiring until they either shut down or exploded. While not the smartest move considering what could have happened to her if she pulled the wrong wire, Aizawa had to give it to the girl for utilizing her strengths rather than try and compete with the other brutes. Plus, her quirk would be great for infiltration missions and information gathering.
There was also the little purple boy who would throw balls that looked like grapes from his head that would stick to whatever they came into contact with for an undetermined period of time. While his quirk was able to incapacitate numerous bots, probably giving him enough to scrape by, the fact that he kept crying and blindly throwing his balls behind him as he ran away was irritating to watch. He had even caught one or two other examinees in his recklessness. Of course, the other judges would probably overlook that due to the boy's "potential". To Aizawa, this was a perfect example of a decent quirk being mediocre at best when in the possession of someone unfit to properly utilize it.
His thoughts started to go off in a tangent as he thought of how someone like Midoriya or Bakugo would utilize such a quirk after showing such a mastery over their own powers. Shaking his head, Aizawa forced himself to refocus on his assignment.
There were also those that had quirks that were incredibly useful, but couldn't work against non-organic enemies like the machines they were fighting. One such example was the purple-haired boy who teamed up with that Midoriya kid. Against machines who couldn't reply, as well as not having the advantage of being invisible, there was no way this student would get into the hero course alone, regardless of his potential and desire to be a hero. He was lucky Midoriya offered to help like he did, or else he would be in the General Studies as another of the lost potential.
After spending a few hours putting together his report on potential candidates for Nezu, Aizawa finally was ready to leave and go on his nightly patrol. He was about to shut the door behind him when his eye caught the still-lit main screen. On it was the frozen image, taken from the cameras inside the zero-pointer's eyes, of the green-haired boy moments before letting loose his attack.
With a squint, it seemed like the boy was smirking. In the face of such an insurmountable enemy, the boy was smirking as if the fight were already decided. Though, with a powerful quirk like that, to be able to completely incapacitate the zero pointer, it was to be expected.
Oh well, he didn't get paid enough to analyze the psychology of a potential candidate. He would worry more about it if the boy ended up in his class, though he most likely would be.
1 Week Later
"It finally came!" Izuku announced as he opened the door to the bar… only to see that no-one was here. "Go figure."
Deciding it was best to just wait here for them all to show up, Izuku just grabbed a seat at the bar before reaching over and grabbing a drink. Non-alcoholic of course, lest Kurogiri have his head for drinking his old, expensive whiskey which the cloud-man had a certain disposition towards.
"Well, might as well see if I passed." He thought with a snort at the "if" part as he opened the envelope to find a metal disk.
Seeing no harm in it, Izuku laid it flat on the counter, only to move his head back in surprise when All Might himself popped up in hologram form.
"HELLO, IT IS I, ALL MIGHT, HERE AS A PROJECTION!" of course he had to yell the obvious.
"I KNOW YOU'RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHAT I'M DOING IN A LETTER SENT BY U.A." I can make the connection myself just fine thank you. "I AM GOING TO BE TEACHING YOU AND YOUR CLASSMATES THIS COMING SCHOOL YEAR TO BETTER NURTURE THE NEXT GENERATION OF GREAT HEROES." Yep, called it.
"What?" All Might whispered to someone behind the camera. "I just ruined the surprise? Oh…AS YOU MIGHT HAVE CAUGHT, YES! YOU ARE GOING TO BE ATTENDING U.A. BECAUSE YOU, MIDORIYA, MY BOY, HAVE PASSED THE ENTRANCE EXAM!" god, what a bumbling idiot.
"NOT ONLY DID YOU PASS, BUT YOU FINISHED IN SECOND PLACE WITH A TOTAL OF 57 VILLAIN POINTS. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!" What is this, a bad infomercial? "WE WERE NOT ONLY SEEING HOW WELL YOU COULD FIGHT FAUX VILLAINS. WE WERE ALSO SCORING BASED ON THOSE WILLING TO PUT THEIR LIVES AND POINTS ON THE LINE TO HELP OTHERS!
"SO, ON TOP OF YOUR 57 VILLAIN POINTS, YOU ALSO EARNED THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF RESCUE POINTS POSSIBLE, 60! FOR BOTH HELPING A LESS CAPABLE CONTESTANT TO LET HIM HAVE A CHANCE OF GETTING IN, BUT ALSO PUTTING YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE FOR YOUNG URARAKA. Was that the girl's name? WITH THAT YOUR NEW GRAND TOTAL IS 117 POINTS! CONGRATULATIONS, MIDORIYA, AND WELCOME TO YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!"
"So, I take it you got in too?" a voice called from the entrance.
Turning, Izuku smiled seeing his partner in crime for the next year or so. "Yeah, even defeated their big bad boss trap. I even helped another contestant get in; said he has a brainwashing quirk so I figured he would be useful to have close at hand."
Taking a seat next to him, the newcomer could only be described as stunning, with "intimidating" being a close second. She had vibrant red hair that was cut in a short fashion. She had said something to him when she was watching the tutorial on YouTube about it being called a "side-swept pixie cut", but either way, it looked good on her and greatly accentuated her dark blue eyes that twinkled with mischief. Way better than her old "perfect" cut her parents forced onto her to try and make her stand out less. She wore casual clothes consisting of a grey-black hoodie with two white striped on the biceps, a pair of blue jeans that were ripped in multiple areas along her long legs and some black and red Converse All-Stars.
"If you can infiltrate the Hero Course, then a monkey could've gotten into the General Studies. The tests might have gone over more subjects, but it was seriously easy." She smirked, scrunching the small scar she had on her top lip as she grabbed herself a drink and sat beside her partner.
"Yeah, or maybe we're just too awesome." Izuku laughed as Chiri Sakasa raised her glass to cheers him for that with a smirk.
"Have you heard from the others?" she asked, though she had no doubts that they would succeed as well.
Izuku nodded as he swallowed before verbally answering his friend. "Yoroi and Shin were successful, but I haven't heard from Suigetsu or Kyori yet, but I'm sure they made it in as well. Same goes for Gaara and Koneko."
"Yeah, I mean, they got the easy stuff compared to us. 'Top hero school' my ass if it can be infiltrated so easily." Sakasa laughed as she thought of what the teacher's faces would look like when they found out. Though, by then it will be too late.
"Yes yes, we are supremely powerful, and they should all bow before us." Izuku smirked as Chiri almost choked on her drink.
"I do not sound like that, you dick!" she laughed with a small push on his shoulder.
"They will bow, one way or another." Another voice interrupted from the back of the room.
Shigaraki and Kurogiri were standing there with the rest of the Cracked Mirrors, a dark purple portal closed behind them.
To introduce his team, they were as follows: (Long detail dump ahead)
Shinyaku Seigan, a boy by the age of 14 who had been lied to for his entire life until he was approached by Izuku Midoriya with an offer he couldn't refuse. He had run away from home after getting fed up with his parents and "friends" all talking behind his back about how useless he was. They would promise him they still thought of him as a friend and "their wonderful son" despite their actions, but word always got around about what they really thought. He hadn't been on the streets long before he was saved by those two and, although he was distrustful at first (something they didn't hold against him at all), he eventually came to love this place, though still didn't care for other people.
Shin had longer, white hair that went just past the tops of his ears and that he often had to move out of the way of his ginger colored eyes. He wore black, rectangular glasses due to the neglect he endured leaving him very nearsighted. While not looking it, Shin was a very good boxer with muscles he was currently hiding under a black puffer vest over a grey long-sleeved shirt. Like the girl sitting next to Izuku, Shin also wore blue jeans, though he kept his undamaged and clean looking. To finish the ensemble, he wore a leather bracelet with a metal infinity symbol threaded in on his left wrist, as well as some basic running shoes.
Next up was his taller partner, Tenrai Yoroi. Yoroi was a small child when his parents abandoned him in a mall, too ashamed of his quirklessness to even attempt to go to an orphanage. He was rescued when a man by the name of Ken Yoroi found him and took him in. Ken was a dojo master and well into his years, but by no means was a pushover. He taught martial arts and weapon proficiency at his dojo, that is, until he lost his life to some thugs while standing up for Tenrai. Yoroi senior had always preached about only using violence when absolutely necessary, but Tenrai despised that mentality ever since he saw what his father got for it. Now, he chose to let his actions talk instead of trying to reason with anyone who tried to disrespect him.
Yoroi could easily be mistaken for a Goth person by how much black he wore. First of all, he had unkempt black hair that he never attempted to brush or tame down. He could intimidate a lot of people despite his more lithe physique due to his piercing silver eyes that, if the light reflected off them in just the right way, could shine in the dark and creep out anyone who saw them. He wore a black, short-sleeve button up shirt (that he never buttoned) over a black short-sleeve t-shirt. The only non-black part of his attire was his dark blue denim jeans. That and his white socks which he wore under his black Nike tennis shoes. He also wore a gold chain necklace with a shiny black prism of an unknown material as the pendent and a black ring on his right middle finger with the symbol for his father's dojo on it. The logo was an 8-pointed star that interlocked with the other points where they converged in the middle.
Kyoka Suigetsu was just to the right of him and wore a black kimono with intricate white flower patterns on it. She had long brown hair that easily reached her mid-back that she kept in a neat ponytail with not a hair out of place. Her eyes were a brilliant purple before fading into a calming light green, never staying as one color for too long. That had been an unexpected side-effect of her newly acquired quirk. It was hard for him to even remember what her original eye color was after all this time, now that he thought about it. She also had a sword strapped on her right waist that she both cherished and despised due to its previous owner.
Her father, a man named Sosuke Aizen, had been a good father before he learned of her quirklessness. He had always been a more traditional Japanese father, always expecting respect and proper etiquette when addressing someone else. He had a quirk that allowed him to "enchant" certain weapons with different properties, though they were usually pretty weak unless he really pushed himself. When he learned of his daughter's "condition", as he called it, he became strict and abusive, a few times even scarring her otherwise elegant skin. When she had been given the opportunity to escape, she took with her that man's most prized possession: the sword that he enchanted that almost cost him his life, though was just as powerful as the risk implied. Made from a very sturdy metal, the sword was truly a masterpiece, the work of a now dead blacksmith whose quirk let him create blades out of almost any material he wanted. Now, it was her main form of attack that worked perfectly with the quirk she acquired from Sensei. One day, she swore she would cut down her father with the very sword he had almost died to make.
Her partner, a girl who went by the name of Kyori, was quite the opposite. She had a Black Sabbath t-shirt on with black jeans with rips on her knees. As a nice contrast, she had bright blonde hair that fell down her shoulders but didn't reach much farther than that. She also wore fingerless biker gloves with metal plates over her knuckles for more punching power. She wore dark red Vans over her short black socks as a final splash of color.
Despite her rugged appearance, she was actually very intelligent, due to the knowledge she needed to be able to use her quirk effectively, though she was already very cunning before that. Unlike her teammates, Kyori didn't come from an abusive or broken home, but she was shunned by society, and not just for her quirklessness. Her parents had actually been small-time villains, known for being some of the best at bank heists. They had eventually been put in jail by the second-place hero, Endeavor, leaving her in the hands of the gang members closely associated with her parents. Due to her parents and being raised by gang members, she had never been accepted in the public eye, so when she found out she was quirkless, it was just another reason for people to unjustly despise her.
Chiri's fellow red-head was standing next to the rugged girl, though he was a good head or so shorter. Gaara Sabaku, age 14, had short, spiky auburn hair with light green eyes with dark rings surrounding them and the kanji for love carved into the left side of his forehead. He wore a black one-piece bodysuit with a white sash from his left hip over his right shoulder, making an 'X' over his chest with the brown strap that held his support item on his back: a large gourd filled to the brim with sand that was trapped inside by a cork. Instead of regular shoes, Gaara wore traditional battle sandals with tape tightening his pant legs onto his shins.
He had actually carved the kanji for love into his forehead himself using the quirk he had just received from this "Sensei". He did it to remind himself to never rely on others for love like he had done with his family. He trusted them to take care of him and because of that trust, he spent most of his life in misery. His father blamed him for his mother dying while giving birth to him and spent most of his childhood treating him like a nuisance. His siblings refused to associate with him for fear of bringing their father's wrath onto themselves. Ever since he was given the opportunity to become a part of this team, he had vowed to one day go back to his family's home and get his siblings out of there, as well as end that man once and for all.
The last member of Izuku's little team was Koneko Toujou, a 13 year old girl that, despite her petite stature, had massive strength behind her tiny fists. She was essentially the team's tank, due to her unbelievable endurance and highly destructive attacks. She hadn't been very old when her sister went mad due to her quirk and slaughtered their family. Though even in a maddened state, she couldn't bear to harm her little sister. She fled before the police could arrive to detain her for her crimes, leaving Koneko to the mercy of the foster system. From there, she had been taken in by what she thought was a nice family, until yet again, her sister somehow found her and once again massacred her foster parents and scaring her into running away. From there, she met Izuku, who was actually looking for her, surprisingly. He had offered her power and a place among other people like her, people who were quirkless before given the strength they needed to reach their goals.
Koneko was a short girl, only about 4 ½ feet, with snow white hair and two long bangs that framed her face with a cat hair pin on each one. Her golden eyes shown with stoicism, though gained a bit of mirth at the sight of who she sees as her savior. She wasn't the most expressive person due to her past, but if she did show emotion, it means she must be feeling whatever it was pretty intensely. She wore her casual outfit of a black vest over a white button-up, long sleeve shirt. She wore a dark red skirt with a white fringe around the edge that didn't even make it down to her knees, showing off her pale legs and knee-high socks.
Detail dump end
"Jeez, where have you all been? I know the exams were last week, but you guys couldn't drop in to tell us how it went?" Izuku play-pouted as his team and friends took their seats at the bar, forcing Shigaraki to sit at the very end, which he didn't mind as it let him stay away from the teenager talk.
"Kyori thought it would make for a more dramatic entrance if everyone waited until the results were announced before meeting up again, despite knowing we would all pass." Gaara replied stoically as he was taking his seat on Izuku's left, forcing Koneko to take the next seat over with the slightest hint of annoyance in her eyes.
"You say that, but you still did it, didn't you?" Kyori retorted with a snort when Gaara refused to reply. "And besides, it does feel good to come back with proof that we can get shit done."
Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You're not wrong, though I still want to hear about your guys' exams. If they were half as fun as mine, then I'm sure they'll be good stories."
Yoroi could only scoff. "It was a cakewalk. Why do you get the fun mission?"
"Because I have had my quirk a lot longer than you guys, which means I am more suited for the big stuff. Though don't sell yourself short, infiltrating some of the most renowned hero academies in all of Japan is no small feat, no matter how easy the test was. We still have a long way to go before we can crumble the hero system from the inside out." Izuku reassured one of his more… confident teammates.
"Just don't let their ideals brainwash you with how long you'll be in their company." Shigaraki growled.
Chiri snorted at that. "We know better than to let their lies dissuade us from our goal."
"You say that now, but as an added incentive, just know that if you stray from our goals even a bit, I will personally make sure you never get the chance to betray us further." He threatened as he turned his glass to dust to emphasize his point.
Izuku glared at the man with annoyance. "You know you'll have to replace that." The glare Kurogiri sent the man reinforced that statement tenfold. "Anyways, they've proven their loyalty already, so stop threatening my team, Tomura. You've proven your point with Kosan."
The rest of the team looked down at the counter as they remembered Gaara's original partner. He had said one thing about how maybe heroes weren't all bad before being called in for a personal training session with Sensei and Tomura the next day. As cliché as it sounded, they hadn't seen hide nor hair of the boy since then.
"Oh, the kid gets himself a team and suddenly he thinks he's in charge?" Shigaraki sneered as he glared at the boy.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Izuku yelled, getting sick of the man's attitude. "Whatever you're learning during those private training sessions with Sensei has made you a complete dick."
Tomura smirked at the boy's retort. "Ah, does the child miss being the center of attention. Well sorry kiddo, but the adults have work to do."
"Just because Sensei trusts me to lead a team before you doesn't mean you need to be all pissy about it." Izuku couldn't help himself. He had been putting up with this shit for months now, and he had kept silent due to how helpful he had been in the beginning, but he was on his last nerve.
Though, maybe he shouldn't have poked the bear as Shigaraki stood up so fast he launched his stool backwards before walking towards the greenette. Not one to back down so easily, Izuku met his charge, though silently cursed at having to look up at the taller man.
"Enough." Suddenly the TV that always sat behind the bar switched on to display a screen filled with static, though the audio was coming through perfectly. "Why don't you two take a walk to calm yourselves?"
It wasn't a question, and they both knew that.
Tomura huffed before walking through a warp gate to god knows where while Izuku said his goodbyes to his team before walking out the door before making his way home.
Despite keeping the place clean over the last 10 months, it still seemed to reek of something he couldn't place, nor could he actually smell anything. He chalked it up to grief messing with his head a while ago, causing him to pack everything that reminded him of that day into boxes before storing them in the attic. Though when he opened the door, it seemed as if he had neglected to take one of the boxes up.
"I'll have to put it up eventually, might as well get it done now." Izuku reasoned as he pulled down the attic step ladder and grabbed the box by its sides.
Only for the bottom to give out, dropping its contents onto the wood floor, including a picture frame that shattered as it contacted the floor, scattering the shards all around his feet. Izuku could only sigh in exasperation. "Just my luck."
Letting go of his sigh, the boy started to clean up the mess, being careful not to cut himself on the glass. After he was confident he'd gotten most of the loose shards, Izuku picked up the picture frame, only to see it was one of the few pictures with him as an infant, being held by his mother while his father hugged her from the other side, so that baby Izuku was in the middle.
Hisashi Midoriya didn't look like anything spectacular. He had very bright red colored hair with a clean shaven face. He looked to be pretty fit if his muscular forearms were anything to go by. Though, when Izuku squinted, he could swear he saw a barely visible pattern on the man's skin, almost resembling scales, though not actual scales since it looked just like regular skin. "Hmm, I guess his quirk was more along the lines of Minor Dragon, rather than just Fire Breath. Yet another reason why they shouldn't classify quirks so young."
As he was about to throw the frame back into the box, a glint caught his eye. It seemed like he had missed a glass shard…right next to the door to his mother's room. He hadn't dared set foot in there so as to preserve it exactly as she had left it. And maybe because he knew he would cry again if he saw her room without her in it.
No, he wouldn't go in, he wasn't ready for that yet. With that conclusion, Izuku bent down to pick up the last shard… only for fate to once again hit him with the old one-two combo as he sneezed from the dust that was on the other side of the door, effectively sending the glass straight through the gap and into the room as well as give him a slight cut on his pointer finger.
"Fine, I'll go in. Don't have to spell it out for me." Izuku thought to no one as he reached for the handle, pausing for just a moment before going inside.
As much as he didn't want to be in here, he also hated seeing his mother's room covered in dust from not being used in so long. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, thankfully. He picked up the glass without any further trouble, tossing it in the trash can that sat by Inko's nightstand.
He took one last look around the room as he got ready to leave, until a splash of color grabbed his attention from the space underneath the bed. Quirking his eyebrow, Izuku got onto his knees and pulled whatever it was out, only for his breath to catch as it seemed to be a present.
Wrapped in green wrapping paper with a red ribbon tied around it, the box was a little bit bigger than his hand. The tag on the ribbon read out "To: Izuku. From: Mom." With a heart next to his name and a smiley face next to hers.
"Yeah, I guess it was my birthday when it happened." He started to unwrap the present, treating it as if the slightest movement would cause it to disappear.
When he finally got done it was revealed to be a weathered leather box, the ones usually used to hold watches.
Finding his deduction to be correct, Izuku opened the box to find a silver-edged watch with a black face and three extra time pieces under the center of the watch, most likely for the date or a timer of some sort. The band looked very well taken care of as, unlike the box, it did not have a lot of wear and tear. All in all, it looked like a pretty decent watch.
There was also a little note in the box:
Hey, Izu! Despite how you might feel about him, this watch belonged to your father, as well as his father before him. He always talked about how much he wanted to be the one to "Bestow it upon you" and make it a long-lasting heirloom. I'm sorry he couldn't be here to give it to you himself, as his job has him stationed around the world, but I hope you will still carry on the tradition and pass it along to your own child one day. Think of it as a link to him, that no matter where in the world he is, you will always be connected and know that he loves you very much. Anyway, Happy Birthday! I'm making you your favorite food! Though by the time you're reading this you've probably already eaten it, huh? Ok, just ignore that part, and this one I guess. I love you baby!
A water droplet fell onto the last word, smudging the aged ink as the boy closed the note. "I was so close, but you just had to make me cry one last time didn't you?" he mumbled to himself as he wiped his tears.
When he could see properly again, Izuku stared at the watch with unease. On the one hand, this was his father's, someone who wasn't even here for his mother's death, let alone the rest of his life. But on the other, it was his mother's last wish and gift to him.
Shaking his head Izuku thought to himself, "No, of course I'll wear it. And when I have kids, this'll be a reminder to be a better father."
With his mind made up, Izuku fastened the band around his wrist to find that it fit perfectly. He sat there for a few more moments before deciding to just head to bed tonight. It's been a long day, so he deserved it.
Chapter End
OKAY, whew, that was a biggie. I wanted to get this chapter done because I really want to get into the class introductions and USJ arc though I didn't want to rush anything (I know, the guy that takes months just to update one of my stories is worried about rushing. Oh, the irony). But I also wanted to put a couple major notices here and I'll put them in bold for those who don't like to read these notes.
1) There WILL be changes to the class roster! Honestly I don't see how some of these people even got into 1-A, let alone the hero course at all considering quite a few of them obviously didn't train all that hard beforehand, so yeah, just a heads up about that. In response to that, should I replace those that are being taken out with students from Class 1-B (if so, who?), or should I make some new characters to add some more variety to the quirks?
2) Let me know of any ideas you guys get about the name of Izuku's team. Shigaraki will still have his Vanguard Action Squad, but I figured Izuku's team should be called something that really hits home with all of them. Like Team Zenith or something… I dunno. You know, cause Zenith is like when something is most powerful. Let me know if any of you think of something better.
Howdy! Solace here. While editing the chapter, I thought up a name. If any of you missed it, my idea is the Cracked Mirrors.
Also, for those of you who do not know, Gaara and Koneko are the only characters from different anime to make this partly a crossover. And I guess that includes their families as well, but they won't be a big part of the story, so I won't mention them. Gaara is from Naruto while Koneko is from Highschool DxD. They will have pretty much the same power sets as from their original anime.
Also, let me know if you guys want full character profiles of the people in this story, including the OC's that make up Izuku's team. These would contain stuff like names, quirks, some of their techniques if they have any, and I could update it whenever a significant character is introduced.
Ok, that's it for me for now, I hope you all enjoyed. I will see you all in the next one, Seeya!