Standing in front of UA, Izuku was nervous. He had been training with One For All and chi for as long as he could, and he knew he could get in if he played his cards right. Katsuki had barreled past.
"Get your ass in gear, Deku!" he charged at the building ahead. Izuku always admired that zeal. Taking a deep breath, he took a step towards the most prodigious hero school…
And tripped on the curb.
'The hell kind of luck is this!' he screamed in his head. Suddenly he felt a tap and then the sensation of weightlessness.
"Sorry about using my quirk, but I thought it would be bad luck falling!" came a cheerful voice. After being put down, he saw the girl who helped her.
"T-thank you very much." he gave a bow. Her bright smile made it mildly difficult to look at her, but the boy managed. Seeing the undertone of nervousness of his helper, Izuku gave a shy smile and projected his chi a bit to help ease her. The undertone edged away, and she gave a thumbs up.
"Good luck on the exam!" her bubbly voice calmed his nerves in return.
"You too." going to the auditorium, Izuku found a seat near the back. His worry he couldn't hear the announcer was wiped away when President Mic stepped up to the podium.
"HELLO EVERYBODY!" several students winced at his volume and two cheered the proctor who took the mic away from the man.
"Ah well! Welcome to the UA Entrance Exam! Can I get a 'Hell Yeah?" Izuku indulged the hyper vocal hero.
"I like you kid!" he praised before continuing the explanation of the exam. On the subject of the physical exam, Izuku was thinking about how to earn points effectively when someone spoke up.
"Sir, you said there are three types to earn points from, but there are four robots in the manuals. And you!" he pointed at Izuku. "Quit mumbling, it's distracting everyone around you!" Looking embarrassed Izuku put his thoughts on hold. Bringing attention back to the podium, President Mic continued.
"Good question examinee 7111! The fourth robot isn't worth any points; it's called the Faux Villain! That's all of the exams out of the way, so before you go, how 'bout a "Plus Ultra"!?" this time Izuku wasn't alone in cheering for him. Katsuki found Izuku and came to talk.
"What block got stuck with you?" the blond asked his former classmate.
"Block C, you?"
"Block E. Damn, I wanted to crush you in the same place. Don't lag, Deku." Holding out a fist, Katsuki and Izuku fist bumped and left for their respective fields.
Finding the student that called him out on his bad habit in the auditorium, Izuku gave a small bow.
"Sorry for mumbling during the lecture, It's a bad habit of mine to do when I'm nervous." The boy with engine legs gave him a look and bowed in response.
"I'm sorry as well. You weren't the only one nervous, and I took it out on you." after the brief exchange, President Mic shouted from the main building.
"AAANNND START!" everyone looked at his position.
"HEROES DON'T GET WARNINGS, SO GET GOING!" no one needed a prompt after that. Izuku jumped over to the top of a small building to get a view while everyone else just ran in. 'you always try to look before acting, and that's good. Running in blind rewards you with nothing but trouble' Anima's words ran through the back of his mind as he was picking off the ranged villains on the rooftops. Every now and then, someone would get pinned by the bb fire they shot, and he'd throw a rock to make them target him. He never got a point for doing so, but helping another was reason enough.
'five, there were only five two pointers on the roofs' he sighed. Then came the call for the two-minute mark. Towering over the surrounding structures was a robot with a '0' on its body. When everybody else ran, the Martial artist caught a glimpse of someone.
It was the girl that helped him at the entrance, stuck under some rubble. Her quirk seemed to be erasing gravity of objects she touched, and there was more on top to weigh it down preventing her from freeing herself. Without a thought, Izuku ran towards her. When she saw him running her way with worry nothing but worry on his face, she was reminded of the hero stories she read.
The largest piece of rubble was easy for him to move as he kicked it off of the girl. The Faux Villain came to strike, but Izuku just took a stance. Hopefully, she would be able to get out of there if he bought a minute of time. While infusing his chi into his legs to anchor himself, he reinforced his arms to protect them. The strike felt like a truck, and he couldn't stop all of its momentum; redirecting that momentum, however, was a lot less effort. The steel appendage skid past the two. The girl looked at her savior as he glanced at her.
"I'll hold it for a bit, you get going" Izuku's calming aura filled the small space with warmth. Her next words, however, told him his initial plan wasn't going to work.
"My ankle feels like it's twisted. I-I don't think I can run." Izuku swore in his mind. He couldn't out run the colossal steel monster while making sure she wasn't getting more hurt by his speed. The option to destroy the Faux Villain looked like the most appealing option at the moment. Charging his body with One For All and bracing himself with chi, the green haired boy ran at the robot. Getting airborne wasn't hard, and the next thing he knew, Izuku was right in the robot's face.
His ax kick smashed the robot into the false building behind it as it's front crumpled like paper under the blow. Noting that he didn't gauge the power correctly, he felt the tear in his calf as he came closer to the ground. Finding it a little hard not panicking made him miss the girl he saved slap his face to erase his gravity. Hovering only a foot off the ground, his panic seemed justified in his opinion.
"Release." the words held no meaning to him, but by his gravity returning made him guess that she gave her quirk the command to let go. He gave a grateful smile as he started to limp up.
"I'm glad you're okay. Now then-"His mind went blank at Mic's words.
"TIME! THAT'S ALL FOLKS! GO ON HOME WHILE WE TALLY UP YOUR POINTS!" Izuku felt distraught. As Recovery Girl made her rounds, she came across him.
"Where are you hurt, dear?" the teen looked at her.
"Oh, I think I hurt my calf with the kick, but it's not bad." as everyone gathered, they saw the look on his face. Healing the wound was simple enough, and the girl he saved looked at him in worry.
"What's wrong?" it was a simple question, but it hurt to say it.
"I only got ten points. It takes twenty or more to get in." the crowd hears it, and someone spoke up.
"Bullshit!" it was a kid with spiky red hair and sharp teeth. "Total bullshit! You helped me get out of a bad spot not five minutes ago! I'll try and help if I can dude." the words touched him. Izuku had helped people before, but he hardly got thanks for it. It was a pleasant feeling. A boy with six webbed arms chimed in as well.
"You too? A three pointer cornered me before he knocked a leg off. I'll chip in as well." then came a blond haired kid with a metal belt.
"Non non! Not acceptable. If he helped me, then I should do the same, no?"
"For someone to help others is what it means to be a hero, to not reward him for such acts would be a shame." the straight laced boy put his two cents in as well. Izuku didn't know what to do. Anima never told him how nice it felt to be recognized, as he said there was no way to describe it. A small line of tears trailed his face as he smiled.
"Thank you, everyone." His chi projected and everyone felt it. While he wasn't sure if he could make it in, at least there would be more people cheering him on.
A week had passed, and the letter was supposed to come in today. Inko ran into the living room.
"I-I-It's here!" she was holding a package that was from UA. Quickly taking it, Izuku ran to his room. Opening it, there was a small disc. A hologram appeared from it with All Might on screen.
"Hello, young Midoriya! Now you may be wondering what I am doing in this recording, and the reason is that I will be teaching at UA! HAHAHAHA!" someone came from offscreen to tell him something.
"Hm? All right. Now as for your results! Being the top student in the written exam is quite impressive, but getting ten points in the physical won't get you in." Izuku looked down at the desk in shame.
"But!" the hero continued. "Beating up the villain isn't the only thing that makes a hero! Here, watch this." the video cut to the brown haired girl he helped.
"Um…" she spoke to President Mic. "there was this boy, he had freckles and curly green hair" Izuku was curious why she was mentioning him.
"Could you give him some of my points to help him pass?" Izuku was shocked, and the video cut again to the red haired kid with pointed teeth.
"Hey, there was this green haired kid who kicked the Faux Villain across the field. he helped me out, so could you give him a couple of my points?" the video changed to the six armed boy.
"Hey, Did you see the kid who helped me? He didn't get enough villain points to pass, so I'd like to give him a few of mine." The blond boy with the belt and the one with glasses asked the same thing for him. Izuku was crying in joy that so many people wanted to help him, he couldn't see the video though his watery vision.
"To inspire that many people to help is impressive, and while we can't give you their points, it wasn't needed. For your actions, you have been awarded 67 rescue points, bringing your final score to 77! This means that you tie for first place in the physical! With the top score in the written portion, you scored first place in the school! Congratulations, young Midoriya; this is your Hero Academia!" the video turned off, leaving Izuku alone in his room. He walked to his mother, still crying.
"I came in first…" were the only words he could get out. Inko grabbed her son, crying in joy for him as well. She then called Anima and Toshinori to give them the good news. Toshinori, Anima, and Jesse called them over to celebrate at the Cacciatore house. Anima asked that the teen bring the video if he could, and started to make Izuku's favorite food.
"You tied for first? Who else got that many points?" Anima was not surprised that there was such thing as hero points, and that the bulk of Izuku's points came from them. To turn someone away from a hero school because they helped another would be hypocritical. Izuku passing because of them was probably due to his hero complex.
"Dunno, but I think this means I won the bet with Kachan" the adults laughed. Toshinori was busy, so he only dropped by to congratulate Izuku before leaving. Jesse was filling out paperwork on a transfer of some kind but remained in the room to join the celebration. Izuku got gifts from the Cacciatores. Jesse gave him steel toe red combat shoes like his normal ones. They fit very well and were designed for comfort and durability for his training and hero work. Anima had a friend make him a rebreather he could put in his costume for when he needed independent oxygen. His mother had made a green jumpsuit for his costume that fit very well.
After smiles and thanks, Izuku put the video on for the group to watch. Inko was freaking out that All Might was going to teach while the werewolves focused on different parts. Jesse was proud her tutoring student had gotten the top score in the written exam and Anima laughed that he only got ten villain points.
When the video's of other participants willing to give him some of their points came up, the room was quiet. Inko had a similar reaction to her son while Anima gave his student a light punch to the shoulder. Jesse had a smile on her face because he may gain friends his age. After it was well after dark the festivities finally stopped. Next week was Izuku's first day at UA.
At the front door to the Bakugo house, Izuku was waiting for his rival. Mitsuki was the one to answer it.
"Midoriya-kun? How've you been?" she asked him.
"I've been doing great, Bakugo-san. Is Kaachan here?" an angry voice came from upstairs.
"Is it Fucking Deku!? Tell him I won the goddamn bet!" Izuku chuckled while his mother shouted about her son's language. 'Kaachan never changes' he thought as he called to the explosive teen.
"It's me Kaachan, but I don't think you won!" at his words, Katsuki barreled down the steps of the house.
"Bullshit!" he bellowed. "I got fucking first in the physical and fifth in the written. There's no fucking way that you beat me!" After a smack on his head courtesy of his mother, Izuku realized something and gave a knowing smirk.
"You tied for first in the physical." those words made the blond teen freeze.
"You're shitting me!?" The martial artist shook his head.
"10 villain points and 67 rescue points on the physical with top scores on the written exam." Katsuki went on a ten-minute rant that "rescue points were bullshit!" and "training didn't mean fucking good written test scores!" topping it off with an oh-so-eloquent "fucking bullshit and fuck you!". Losing steam, Katsuki told him where he was treating the winner and not to be late. Leaving after his tirade, Mitsuki shook her head.
"I don't know how you can calmly put up with him, but thank you for staying with him." she sighed in resignation. Izuku gave a small smile.
"Kaachan tackles everything head on with that passion. I think he's calmed down after the incident though." the boy's mother laughed at the memory.
"He threw his already patchy language filter away when he came home after the visit." Izuku smiled at the image. "Stay safe, Midoriya-kun"
"Thank you, I will." Izuku left the Bakugo residence. Next week, he was going to be a hero in training, and he couldn't wait.
I'm back! The bet between Izuku and Katsuki was decided, and our hero won! I added Kirishima to the block Izuku was in because his attitude wouldn't let him just watch as someone who was acting the hero didn't pass, and his words set a chain reaction for others to help. It's easier to do something if you're not alone doing it. As for Izuku kicking instead of punching like in canon, the reason is simple; Anima saw that his student was more comfortable with kicking styles like savat and taekwondo, and helped him make kicks the focus of the Bahou lujing. Other than that, there isn't much worth noting, so I'll speak to you next chapter. See ya then!