Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia, nor I own the concepts of any other anime I use in this story. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this in the first place. I would be enjoying my million-dollar yacht and hot girls feeding me muffins and tending to my perverse urges. Enjoy!
CH3: A Hero's Worth
After making sure for the third time that he had everything in order, Izuku slipped his phone into the pockets of the black and green pants of his tracksuit. He adjusted the zipper of the matching jacket only leaving it halfway up, showing the white shirt he was wearing underneath. With his customized breathing mask hanging loosely from his neck, he walked out of his room and headed towards the kitchen.
Since it was early, he wasn't surprised to find his mom in her pajamas reading something from her tablet and drinking coffee. "Good morning, mom," he said with a smile as he took a seat next to her, quickly thanking her for the breakfast of fruit salad, yogurt and sandwiches.
"Good morning to you too, dear," she responded after finishing taking a sip from her caffeinated goodness. She raised an eyebrow as he saw him calmly eating his breakfast. "Are you really feeling as calm as you look? Today is the big day after all," she said with skeptic amusement. If Izuku wasn't smiling like a fool at his phone or running through the neighborhood, he was fretting in nervousness thinking about the upcoming exams. She couldn't really fault him. As brilliant as her son was, he was still teenager that was about to take the first big step in accomplishing his dreams. He had every right to be nervous.
"Not at all," replied Izuku promptly but calmly. "I feel like I am about to die but I think I did all the fretting I could during the week. There is no point on showing how nervous I am at this point. The only thing that's left to do is go there and do my best to not disappoint myself and those who support me," he said with conviction, but his feelings were betrayed both by his words and the shaky smile on his face.
Inko snorted and reached with her hand to pinch his cheek affectionally. "And as I have been telling you the entire week, you shouldn't worry. You know you are more than prepared for those exams, specially the practical one. It's obvious you will be using your quirks in some way, and you have been training with All Might for the past ten months. You've got this on the bag," she said almost dismissively as she released his cheek with a snap. She then smiled slyly, ignoring her son rubbing his cheek. "What you should be nervous about, is that girl you have been talking to lately? What's her name? Momo Yaoyorozu, hm?"
In less than a second Izuku was resembling a tomato with how red his face was. He just looked away in embarrassment and said nothing. He regretted telling his mother about his encounter with the first person in a long time he could consider a friend his age. Since they have been in contact regularly through the week, which made him happy knowing that meant that she also thought of him as a friend, his mother was convinced they liked each other and were secretly dating.
And while he would be a fool if he didn't admit that Momo was very beautiful and very sexy, what he really liked about her was that brain of hers and her genuine desire to prove she could be a formidable hero. With a quirk like hers Izuku didn't doubt that she was capable of that and more, something that he had made sure to remind her whenever she attempted to downplay herself, something that he noticed she was prone to do on occasion.
"We are just friends, mom," he muttered as he finished his breakfast. He was about to take the plates to the sink to wash them himself when his mother shook her head, indicating that she would do it. Izuku shrugged and nodded at her, leaving the plates on the table. "I guess I'll be going no. Since I'm going to be running there to warm up and loosen up my body, I have to leave now if I want to be on time."
With a nod of her head, Inko motioned with her hand for Izuku to move closer to her. When he stood before her she reached with her arms and brought his head to kiss him on his forehead. He patted his arm and smiled up at him. "Good luck, honey. I want you to remember that no matter what happens, I am proud of you and I love you with all my heart."
Izuku smiled down at his mother. "Thank you, mom. I love you too," he said, hugging her head to his torso gently. They hugged each other each other until Inko pinched his flank and shooed him out of the house, telling him to hurry. Laughing, Izuku did as told.
Stepping out his apartment and closing the door behind him, Izuku adjusted his mask so the lower half of his face was covered, and his ears were covered by the headphones that were integrated into the mask. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to set it so he could hear some music on his way to U.A.. He only had time to do that before the phone vibrated on his hand as a message popped up. It read:
Momo-chan: Good morning, Izuku-kun. I wish you the best of lucks today! I'll be rooting for you. Call me after you are done to tell me how it went!
With a silly grin on his face he replied to the message with words of thanks and appreciation. After he did that he went to his music app (Spotify Premium FTW) and feeling on a hip-hop mood, he went to that playlist and hit the random bottom. Immediately an excited smirk appeared on his face as 'Beast (Southpaw Remix) - Rob Bailey & The Hustle Standard ft. Busta Rhymes, KXNG Crooked & Tech N9ne' began to blast on his ear.
So big was the impact of the song that Izuku decided to not use the stairs. Instead, he ran towards the railing of the corridor that lead to his apartment and using his arm to jump over it he began to free fall to the ground from the fifth floor. At the last second, he channeled Armament to his ligaments and muscles as he reached the ground, bending his knees to reduce the impact of the fall and only leaving small indents of his feet on the concrete.
With a smooth motion he pulled the hood of his undershirt over his head and barely pausing for a second he was on full throttle in direction of U.A Academy, his form almost a blur as he moved faster than what he could without completely enhancing his legs, which by the way was still far faster than the normal person that didn't have body enhancements for quirks. 'So far, so good,' he thought to himself as he soared through the streets, easily avoiding pedestrians without slowing down thanks to passive Mantra.
Today was shaping up to be a very good day and his only hope was that it stayed that way.
XXXXXXXXXX
It took Izuku about half an hour to arrive to the U.A. grounds and he was more than just a bit impressed at the sight of the gigantic fences, the imposing door and the very high buildings that were connected to one another. He knew that the grounds for the most prominent hero school in japan was massive, able to hold many training grounds and facilities that extended for miles. He knew that what he was seeing was just the tip of the iceberg.
He ignored the curious and amused looks being sent his way by other teens that were making their way into U.A. proper as he pulled back his hood and took off his breathing mask after pressing the button that stopped the music coming from the headphones. As he noticed that all of them were wearing their school uniforms, Izuku deduced that him wearing workout clothing was certainly odd to them. Izuku shrugged as it didn't matter to him. While it was expected to wear your uniform, it was not required. And since Izuku was planning on running his way here, wearing a stuffy uniform was out of the question.
"Fuck off, Deku!" Snarled a familiar, albeit slightly deeper, voice.
Izuku turned around and he raised an eyebrow at the sight of Katsuki Bakugo walking towards him like a delinquent with a scowl of his face. Izuku noted that while Katsuki had not changed much, he was noticeably taller and more muscular than the last time he saw him at school almost two months ago. "Get the fuck out of my way or die!"
"Considering that you only need to change directions slightly to not bump into me, I find your request pointless," replied Izuku dully as he crossed his arms. Katsuki snarled and he seemed like he was about to use his quirk on Izuku but seemed to think better than to do that in front of U.A. on the day of the exam. So, with a grunt, he just adjusted his walk passed by Izuku without another word.
Izuku watched him go with a disappointed shake of his head. "He isn't going to grow up any time soon, is he?" He asked himself rhetorically. After a few moments he shrugged his head and started to walk towards the building, following the other hopeful applicants.
That was when he noticed a very pretty brown-haired girl with shoulder length hair and two long bangs that framed her face. Her brown eyes looked at him with curiosity as she seemed to realize that she was also walking next him. She took noticed of his attire and Izuku raised an eyebrow in amusement as she put a hand in front of her mouth as cheeks bulged, obviously trying not to laugh.
"No, I did not forget to wear my uniform if that's what you are thinking," he said, idly noticing the pads at the top of each finger that resembled those that could be found on animals. He blushed a bit, however, when he took notice of her slender, but well endowed, frame that was clothed in a short skirt, long socks and a jacket.
The girl seemed oblivious to this as she did her best to stop urge to laugh. "So-sorry. It's just seeing everyone in their uniform and suddenly seeing you wearing those clothes struck as funny for how random it was," she explained as she finally calmed down.
Izuku smiled. "Ah, yes. I also find random and sudden things that happen funny." He paused and hurried to add, "Of course, that's excluding when scary monsters and villains pop out in movies and such. That's not fun at all."
"I agree!" Chirped the girl with a smile before she turned a curious stare towards him, now really looking at Izuku and blushing when she caught a glimpse of his muscular and tall frame along with his kind green eyes and handsome face. "Erm, so, hehe, why are you wearing those clothes?"
"I'm used to running first thing in the morning every day and didn't want to stop doing it even for one day or not sleep enough to get it done and then come here, so I decided to come here running from house as a compromise," he explained, feeling a bit embarrassed about it.
The girl nodded her head once cutely in understanding. "Ah, I get it. You didn't want to risk having bad luck by doing one of the things in your daily routine in a day as important as this one."
Izuku blinked at her before chuckling and smiling. "You can say that, yes."
"Cool!" She chirped again before she made a fist and bumped it into the air in excitement as she grinned. "Let's do our best, Deku-kun!"
Izuku stopped abruptly, which resulted in her also stopping and looking back at him in confusion, and he looked at her with both eyebrows raised into his hairline. "Where did you hear that?"
The girl rubbed the back of her head nervously as she blushed a bit. "Um, I kinda overheard what that blond guy with a mean expression called you when I first noticed you and you two seemed to know each other, so I assumed that it was your name," she explained, feeling embarrassed by her daring.
Izuku snorted in amusement and he shook his head. "No, that's just how Katsuki Bakugo, that blond-guy-with-a-mean-expression's name, calls me ever since we were kids. It's another way you can read my actual name, Izuku, and it means worthless. He gave it to me after I failed to develop my quirk at roughly the same time as him. I eventually did develop my quirk a few months after him, so ignoring him now is quite easy."
The girl seemed mortified now and she hurried on to make things better, the thought of insulting this teen, even unknowingly, leaving a bitter taste on her mouth. "Oh! I'm so sorry. It didn't even cross my mind that it could be like that. To me, Deku, since it sounds a lot like Dekiru, gives of a feeling of 'You can do it!'. So, erm, hehe," she stammered, blushing and punching her temple slightly as she tilted her head cutely.
The action, her words and the overall cuteness he was seeing had Izuku blushing as he looked at the girl once again with wide eyes. Slowly, he began to smile until he was grinning happily. "Well, if that's the case, then I don't think I would mind if you called my Deku," he said, beaming at the girl. "My full name is Izuku Midoriya. What's yours?"
She blushed prettily at the expression on his face and his words, specially at the way emphasized 'you' when referring to her, and she also beamed at him happily. "Mi name is Ochako Uraraka! You can call me Ochako, considering that you are allowing me to call you by a nickname," she said, feeling strangely giddy at the thought being able to refer to him in that manner.
"Then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ochako-chan!" He declared, extending his hand towards her.
Ochako nodded her head happily and took his hand in hers. "Likewise, Deku-kun!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Izuku and Ochako walked towards an enormous amphitheater and they had to part ways, after exchanging numbers to keep in contact in case they didn't see each other during the rest of the day, for the moment since they were being sat by school. That meant, unfortunately for him, that he was going to sit next to Katsuki for an indeterminable amount of time. Even though he had enough practice to ignore Katsuki to so easily, that didn't mean it wasn't annoying.
They sat next to each other and for the moment they were content to ignore one another but Izuku knew that it was only a matter of time before Katsuki opened his mouth to say something rude or insult him. With weary sigh, he leaned forward and rested on elbow on the desk in front of him and rested his chin on his palm, looked on in a bored fashion as the rest of those that were going to take the exam got into the room.
When everyone was seated, Izuku perked as he saw a tall and thin man with spiky long hair and a small mustache walked towards the podium. He was wearing headphones, a pair of sunglasses and there was a directional speaker device around his neck. He was wearing a black jacket with an upturned collar complete with studs. He sported tan, studded shoulder pads, black pants with a red studded belt, black boots, and black fingerless gloves.
Izuku recognized this pro hero immediately. "That's Present Mic!" He exclaimed in excitement. He was a Pro Hero that also had a weekly radio program, which Izuku listened to almost religiously, and he was also one of the teacher's at U.A..
"Shut the fuck up!" Snarled Katsuki at him.
Izuku glanced at him with exasperation.
"Look at me again and I'll make explode you until you die!"
Izuku looked at him flatly for a few moments before shaking his head and focusing on Present Mic, who looked ready to start speaking.
"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO MY LIVE SHOW!" He screamed out of nowhere, making a lot of the students there cover their ears and jump in fright. Izuku just looked on in excitement. "EVERYBODY SAY 'HEEEEEY!'" He dramatically cupped an ear with a hand and turned it towards the crowd, an expectant smile on his face.
Silence was his answer and the only reason Izuku didn't respond was because he was too nervous and excited to do so.
Seemingly uncaring about not getting the response he was expecting, Present Mic continued on smoothly. "I'VE GOT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE, TOO, LISTENERS! ALL RIGHT EXAMINEES…" He trailed off and struck a dramatic pose, with his hand epically raised above his head. "I'M GONNA GIVE YOU THE LOW-DOWN ON HOW THIS'LL GO DOWN! ARE YOU READY!?"
Once again, no one answered his question. Someone coughed awkwardly, though, so that was something.
"NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, LISTENERS!" He continued again, not caring about the lack of response. "WE'LL BE TESTING YOUR METTLE BY RUNNING A TEN-MINUTE PRACTICE RUN AT OUR REPLICA CITY-DISTRICT! YOU CAN TAKE WHATEVER YOU LIKE! SO, EVERYBODY GATHER YOUR DESIGNATED AREAS AFTER THE PRESENTATION, YA DIG?"
Katsuki glanced at the different areas that appeared on the big screen of amphitheater and glanced down to see that he was designated to Battle Location A while Izuku was designated to Battle Location B. When he saw this, Katsuki clicked his teeth in annoyance. "They don't intend on letting friends or classmates to cooperate with each other, huh? It's probably a set so I don't get to kill you," he muttered, though it was loud enough for Izuku to hear.
Izuku promptly ignored him.
The screen suddenly changed and for some reason the black colored silhouette of the goomba, koopa troopa and piranha plant enemies from 'Mario Bros' appeared with the numbers one, two and three next to a letter 'p' in the center of each one respectively. They were surrounding a picture of what obviously was the representation of the urban setting in which they were going to have the test.
Present Mic began to speak once again. "WE'LL BE SPRINKLING A LARGE NUMBER OF 'VILLAINS' ALL OVER THE BATTLEFIELD. AND THEY'LL APPEAR IN THREE DIFFERENT VARIETIES, WITH POINT VALUES SCALED ACCORDING TO DIFFICULTY!" He motioned towards the screen with a dramatic and overexaggerated flourish, and it now showed the silhouette of Mario killing each of the enemies and his points increasing accordingly with each enemy he killed. "USING EACH OF YOUR INDIVIDUAL QUIRKS, DISPATCH AS MANY 'VILLAINS' AS YOU CAN. YOUR GOAL, LISTENERS, IS TO RACK UP A HIGH SCORE! AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ATTACKING OTHER COMPETITORS DIRECTLY OR ANY OF THAT NASTY ANTI-HERO STUFF BECAUSE THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES, CAPISCE?!"
Izuku wasn't surprised when Katsuki snorted in derision at the last bit. Ignoring that, Izuku focused on more important things, like, for example, the fact that there were only three enemies depicted in the screen and there were four of them in the pamphlet they were given, which showed that the actual enemies they were going to be fighting were robots. The one with the 'x0' next to it worried him some because it had the multiplying symbol instead of the equal symbol, unlike the other three.
"Excuse me, may I ask a question?"
Izuku raised his eyes from the pamphlet and he focused on the student that stood up. He was tall and muscular. He had short black hair, a rectangular jaw, rectangular half-rim glasses and even his eyes were a bit rectangular too. For some reason, it didn't surprise Izuku that this guy was moving almost robotically. 'This guy needs to chill out. He's already surpassed me in stiffness when I get nervous, and that's saying something,' he thought in astonishment.
"On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a top-tier national academy of U.A.'s caliber! The reason we are seated here today is because we seek guidance on the path to becoming model heroes!" He declared without waiting for the permission to actually ask his question.
'This guy's intense!' That was the general thought going through the heads of everyone there.
Present Mic grinned, and Izuku couldn't help but think that the expression looked as mischievous as it was bloodthirsty, and spoke. "OKAY, OKAAAY! THANKS FOR THE SEGUE, MUCH APPRECIATED EXAMINEE 7111! THE FOURTH TYPE OF VILLAIN YOU WILL ENCOUNTER IS… SPECIAL, YOU CAN SAY! LET'S CALL THEM 'ARENA TRAPS'! HAVE ANY OF YOU PLAYED 'SUPER MARIO BROTHERS' BEFORE? I DOUBT IT SINCE IT'S RATHER RETRO."
Izuku quietly thought that anyone who had not played Super Mario Bros on this day and age was not worth helping if they found themselves in trouble, and that was saying something considering his solid stance on helping anyone. But remember folks that there is an exception to every rule. This one was it in Izuku's case.
The students watched as the screen changed to show the outline of the fourth villain next to the outline of the thwomp enemy. Present Mic motioned towards the screen with a flourish. "YOU REMEMBER THOSE THINGS THAT'D GO THWOMP ON YOU WHEN YOU WENT UNDER THEM? THE FOURTH VILLAIN IS LIKE THAT AND IT'S 'GIMMICK' IS THAT IT'LL START TO RAMPAGE WHEN THERE'S A CROWD NEAR ITS AREA. AND SINCE WE ARE BASING OUR FOURTH VILLAIN LIKE THAT PARTICULAR ENEMIE IN SMB, THE PENALTY FOR FACING IT IS THAT ALL THE POINTS YOU HAVE EARNED WILL BE DEDUCTED BACK TO ZERO, SO YOU BETTER AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!"
Izuku's suspicions were confirmed and he sighed at exam becoming even more difficult than what it was already shaping up to be. He just hoped that avoiding the villain won't turn out to be too difficult while still facing the other villains. Thankfully, he had Mantra at his beck and call at all times, which he was sure was going to assure him the avoidance of that villain type.
When everyone settled down again after hearing that aspect of the exam, Present Mic spoke once again. "WELL, THAT'S ENOUGH FROM ME! I'LL LEAVE YOU ALL WITH A PRESENTATION ON THE 'SCHOOL PRECEPTS' OF THIS ACADEMY OF MINE! AS A CERTAIN 'HERO' BY THE NAME OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID: 'A TRUE HERO NEVER STOPS OVERCOMING THE MISFORTUNES IN LIFE!'" He grinned at them all and leered at them with his swirling eyes from behind his sunglasses. "NOW LET'S MOVE TO THE MAIN EVENT AND MAY YOU ALL SUFFER GLADLY THE TRAILS TO COME! PLUS ULTRA!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Several minutes later and Izuku, along with the other examinees that were designated to Battle Location B, stood in front of a set of gates and fences that made the perimeter of a gigantic urban setting that had to at the very least house thirty blocks full of buildings and streets. Everyone was looking in awe at the training ground, acutely aware that this was one out of hundreds of training grounds U.A. boasted, some smaller others easily twice the size of this one.
Izuku for his part began to observe everyone, noticing all the supplementary customized equipment that complimented their quirks one way or another. Izuku wasn't worried about it since his quirks, both Haki and One For All, had no need of supplementary equipment and/or machinery, like for example that belt with a jewel that pretty blond guy with sparkling eyes was wearing. Truthfully, Izuku only needed to consider for his hero costume that it wouldn't be restrictive and to somehow be able to increase the damage of his already ridiculously strong attacks, but that was something he could some thought into later.
Instead, he noticed that Ochako was slightly sweating and was palming her chest as she obviously tried to calm down her nerves. Happy that she was designated to the same area as him and subconsciously admiring how good she looked in her tracksuit, Izuku started to walk in her direction.
"I see what you are up to. You are planning to measure that girl's ability to concentrate, aren't you?"
Izuku turned towards the accusing voice and he narrowed his eyes at the stiff looking teen with glasses that had spoken before being given permission to speak after asking about it. "No, I am not. Has it occurred to you that we might know each other and that I just wanted to assure her that she was going to do great as long as she gave it her all?" He asked him rhetorically with a sharp tone of voice that carried on, bringing all others conversation to a slow halt.
"Hey, isn't that the kid that arrived here already ready for this?"
"He was probably nervous about this."
"We are all, but if he is so absent minded then there's nothing to worry about him."
Izuku heard all the comments and ignored them easily. He would show them shortly what he was truly capable off. Instead he focused on the stiff boy, who turned from him towards Ochako, who was giving him a concerned look, before he nodded to himself and bowed sharply, somehow making a perfect ninety degrees angle with his body.
"I'm deeply sorry, my friend. Being as stressed as I am right now, I assumed you wanted to obstruct our fellow test takers. I hope you find in your heart to forgive my transgression!" Even though he spoke stiffly, Izuku could hear the sincerity and truthful remorse in his voice.
Izuku sighed and shook his head with an amused smile on his face. "Don't sweat it man, just try to consider all possible scenarios and assume the best until the contrary has been proven in cases like this one," he advised, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder and giving him a friendly squeeze.
The stiff boy nodded, erm, stiffly and walked away almost robotically. Izuku shook his head in amusement again and he turned towards Ochako, who was smiling widely at him giving him a double thumb up. He chuckled, nodded at her with his own smile and returned the gesture. Izuku then rolled his shoulders and gave little jumps on the balls of his feet as he adjusted his mask so it was covering the lower half of his face. He didn't dare to start any music as he was going to need all his senses to do his best.
That was when Present Mic shouted suddenly. "AAAAAND START!"
Play "Warrior – Disturbed"
Izuku only needed to hear that and see the gates open suddenly, showing the robotic villains already littering the streets. He exploded into a full-on sprint, his speed steadily increasing the longer he ran and the more enhanced his legs became. He felt the others still standing in apparently shocked confusion, but he smiled to himself when he felt Ochako hurrying not two seconds later after him. He heard Present Mic starting to say something to the others when he reached the first robotic villain, a one-pointer.
Channeling Armament Haki into his right arm until it covered his arm until half-way up his biceps, Izuku smashed into the vaguely human shaped robot elbow first, carving through it as if it wasn't even there. With his left he grabbed one of the arms that was about to go flying due to the force of the collision that just destroyed the robot and channeling Armament up to the same level as his right arm and hurled the arm towards a two-pointer, destroying that one too.
Barely pausing, Izuku moved forward and in an instant was in front of a three-pointer, that looked vaguely like a tank, and he jumped over it, his right foot lashing out and smashing the body to metallic bits and its wheel too as he grabbed it's two rocket launchers and ripped them off easily. Again, without pausing, and without even looking for that matter, Izuku twirled around and sent the two explosive devices in direct collision with another one-pointer and another two-pointer that stood on the street in front of him.
He promptly went through the fires and smokes of the explosion, creating a shockwave that dispersed them because of the force generated by his moving speed, only for a one pointer to shoot a spray of bullets to his face. Not pausing, Izuku merely brought his left arm up and covered his face and body with his forearm, Mantra allowing him to perceive the trajectory of the bullets and where they were all aimed. The sleeve of the jacket of his tracksuit was destroyed up to about his elbow, revealing the shiny blackness of Armament not even straining against the onslaught of bullets.
When he reached the one-pointer, Izuku almost negligently backhanded it into a wall with his left arm, destroying it. Not a second later he raised his right arm and blocked the stinger of the scorpion like tail of a two-pointer. He smirked behind his mask at the harsh sound of metal bending and he quickly took a hold if the two-pointer's tail and spinning twice in place he sent it flying in collision a three pointer, resulting in a fiery explosion that caught two one-pointers that were nearby.
Looking up, Izuku saw four one pointers peaking over the edge of two buildings at each side of the street. Crouching a bit, Izuku shot forwards, creating a crater and generating another shockwave that dispersed the smoke of the third explosion he had caused yet. He smacked into the edge of the building right in front of the two one-pointers with concrete breaking force and immediately they aimed at him.
Izuku grabbed the arm of one of the one pointer and tilted his head the side to evade the spray of bullets from the other one that passed by his ear harmlessly and forced the arm he grabbed to aim at the one-pointer that was shooting at him. Bullets sprayed into the one-pointer that had yet to adjust its aiming to actually hit Izuku and it was destroyed in a small explosion when the bullets Izuku forced the other one-pointer to shoot into it caught the energy core of the robot.
Still hanging from the cracked edge of the building, Izuku firmed his hold around the one-pointer used his legs as a spring board to shoot himself backwards in a straight line with direction towards the edge of the other building that had the other two-one pointers, dragging the one-pointer with him and destroying the edge of the first building in the process. He spun around while still in midair and hurled the one-pointer at the one to his right, destroying both of them.
He then smacked into the edge of the second building with punishing force, cracking the concrete and breaking the nearby windows. He backhanded the arm that went to shoot him, send it flying away, and grabbed the remaining one-pointer with both of his hands and leaned back until the robot's upper half was pass the edge of the building and he was able to look upside down at the remaining robot villain on the street, a three pointer that had already its rockets launchers aimed at him.
Narrowing his eyes, Izuku used his legs again like a springboard and launched himself towards the three-pointer, giving the edge of the other building the same treatment as the one he smacked into first. The three-pointer launched its rockets at Izuku, who promptly used the body of the one pointer to protect himself. Izuku was momentarily obscured by the black smoke of the progressive explosions that smacked into his shield without stopping his momentum.
It was when the three-pointer was reloading that Izuku flew out of the smokescreen, the one-one pointer reduced to less than half of what it was with the metal burned black. Still in midair, Izuku hurled what was left of the one-pointer away and shifted his body smoothly to ram knee first into the three-pointer's body, carving through it like cake and skidding to a halt a few feet away from the building that forced the first street to have a sharp right curve, leaving deep trenches on the ground with his left hand, left foot and right knee, covering his face with right hand to stop the debris that his landing caused from hitting his face.
Izuku stood up slowly and looked back to admire the path of destruction he created. His lips twitched in amusement when he saw the shocked and awestruck faces of the other competitors, Ochako included, as they too looked at the destruction caused by whom most of them categorized as a nonentity for his supposed nervousness.
"Hm, nine one-pointers, three two-pointers and three three-pointers… that sums up twenty-four points. Hey, this is easier than I thought it would be! Extremely fun too!" He said to himself, his muffled voice still carrying on somehow, making the eyes of the other hopefuls widen in astonishment at the amount of points he had raked up already.
It had been less than thirty seconds since Present Mic called for the start of the test.
When Izuku was moving again further into the city, the shell-shocked group apparently got their wits about them and with new found determination they moved further into the city, unwilling to be left behind. Tenya Iida, the stiff boy, cursed to himself as he used his quirk, Engine, to reach the villains faster than the others but to his shock, he wasn't as fast as Izuku, who he could see carving a path of destruction through another street full of robots.
'Just who the hell is that kid and more importantly, how strong is that quirk of his?' He wondered, starting to destroy robotic villains as fast as he could.
Ochako, for her part, quickly went to look for her own robots to dispose of, but the image of Izuku, slowly rising from the ground after easily defeating all those robotic villains was burned into her head, causing a blush to appear across her cheeks. She rapidly shook her head and smacked her cheeks as a one-pointer suddenly appeared around the corner. 'Focus girl! You can day dream about how cool Deku-kun is later!' She thought furiously to herself as she tapped the robot with her hand, cancelling its weight and sent it into a wall and destroying it. With a grin, she turned around to face more of those villains.
XXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, inside the observation room, the current U.A. staff was looking at many screens that showed the most promising students that were taking the entrance exam.
Right at the front, a short humanoid mouse-like being with dog-like paws and a bear-like face with a scar running across his right eye, and wearing a tuxedo, looked on with a pleased smile. "A strict time limit, not knowing the mount of villains there are or where they are and a vast battleground… Nothing quite like it to bring everyone's ardor into the open and uncover their skills," he said happily.
"The ability to grasp the situation quickly and accurately," said another voice, this one coming from a man wearing a white space suit. He was looking at the video of a boy with six arms that he was apparently using to somehow locate more villains to destroy. "Insight."
"The ability to stick a dynamic entry without being late to the party," said another voice, this one obviously female with a husky and sultry tone to it. She looked on with interest as Tenya Iida drop kicked a two pointer and then using the engines of his calves to boost his speed, engaging a one pointer not three seconds later. "Agility."
"The ability to face any obstacle with coolness and composure," said another one, this one male, his voice coming slightly muffled because of his tan gas mask. He had the appearance of a cowboy, but his dreadlocks could still be seen despite the hat on his head. He was looking at the video of the blond-haired boy with sparking eyes as he destroyed a robot using a laser that came from his navel. "Judgment."
"And, of course…" trailed off another voice, this one coming from a man with shoulder length black hair wearing a black matching outfit and what appeared as very wide tape as a scarf. He was looking directly at the video of Katsuki surrounded by destroyed robots as his palms smoked and he panted with a savage grin, only to turn towards the video feed of Izuku, who was still destroying villains left and right with no signs of stopping, exhaustion or strain. "Sheer fighting prowess," he finished.
"We can gauge their respective levels of those foundational skills by way of the points system," said the humanoid mouse as he looked on.
"Oh my, we raked up a promising crop this year, didn't we?"
"We can't be sure of that yet," said the raspy voice of Toshinori Yagi in his real form as he smirked almost knowingly as he flipped up the protective barrier that prevented anyone from touching a red button accidentally. "The real test…" he trailed off as he pressed the button. "… begins now!"
They all watched as the gigantic form of the fourth villain rose form the ground in all of the battle areas, wasting no time to start wreaking havoc by merely moving and swinging its gigantic metal arms, easily making the examinees despair as they started to run away, both because of the almost immeasurable size of the villain and the fact that they could lose all their hard-earned points if their as much as faced it.
"There's absolutely no merit in taking on that villain. As a matter of fact, there is a severe penalty if you do so. Someone's true character is revealed when they are faced with an impossible obstacle they cannot overcome," said All Might solemnly, feeling slightly disappointed when he saw absolutely everyone that was near where the fourth villain appeared frantically screaming and running away. He smirked victoriously, however, when he saw something that didn't surprise him at all in the screen he had been focusing on the most. "But it creates an opportunity…"
XXXXXXXXXX
(A Few Seconds Earlier)
"And that's ninety-five points!" Shouted Izuku happily as he punched the last two-pointer of that street to oblivion. "Man, I don't know what I was feeling nervous earlier. This type of tests are my cup of tea," he said with laugh as he turned back to look for more villains. He still had about two minutes or left less, but it might be enough to get more than one hundred points, which had to be some kind of record, and Izuku felt like setting it.
As he turned around a corner, he witnessed many of the other contestants more than one hundred feet away fighting against robots and competing against each other for the right of destroying a robot without somehow using their quirks on one another. He had not managed to maintain the rate at which he gained points the moment the others joined the fray earnestly, which resulted in the villain robots for other, less dangerous individuals.
Basically, Izuku had to go around destroying the robots that were moving through the streets and buildings in search of targets, using passive Mantra to locate them. Since they weren't alive and had no true sense of self and will of their own, he couldn't use King's Will on them to make them stagger but thankfully, his enhanced speed was enough to make their mobility basically moot. It also worked to his advantage that the other contestants, for some reason, stayed in cluttered groups as they competed for robots to destroy.
Play "Headstrong – Trapt"
'Well, nothing to do here. I'll go to another area,' Izuku thought to himself about to turn around and do exactly that when the earth started to tremble. His eyes widened when he looked on as massive amounts of dust and debris rose from the ground about fifty feet away and in front of the group that Izuku had been looking at for the past seconds as the sound of metal cords snapping was heard.
Obscured by the dust, a gigantic silhouette could be seen rising from the ground until it dwarfed the tallest skyscraper of the training ground by a wide margin. It swept its massive arms around and that action generated strong winds that cleared the dust, revealing the humongous form of the fourth villain as it grasped one of the building with its right hand and cocked its left one back as it stared blankly at the group of heroes in front of it. This one was the one that should you engage it would reduce all the points you have earned to zero.
'What in the actual fuck?!' Izuku screamed in his mind as he watched the gigantic robot throwing a punch into the ground, making the earth shake again as it kicked up more dust and debris. 'How are we supposed to avoid that and still fight the other robots at the same time?! That's impossible!' He thought furiously, sighing with relief when he saw that the group managed to escape from being flattened by the enormous fist of the robot.
'Better get out of here before that thing gets close,' thought Izuku, throwing a last lingering glance in the direction where the crowd of students was coming from as they frantically ran away from the slowly advancing fourth type robotic villain and he froze. He looked past the incoming people and saw Ochako, grunting in pain as her legs were trapped underneath a slab of concrete in such a way that she couldn't use her quirk to make the concrete weightless which would allow her to escape.
The gigantic robot clearly made to reach for Ochako's injured form with its robotic hand opened wide in a threatening manner. Letting instincts take over, Izuku flooded his legs with Armament and shot forward, everything behind him breaking apart and being sent flying back due to the speed of his take off as the sound of air being displaced forcefully was heard. Using mantra, he evaded the escaping students, only Tenya being able to see him as he passed by him.
'What is that idiot thinking?! Does he have a death wish?! Furthermore, doesn't he remember that facing that villain reduces your points back to zero. Doesn't he …' He trailed off as he turned around only to see the trapped Ochako and the fourth villain reaching for her. '… oh, shit.'
Forcefully stepping on the ground with his right foot a few dozen feet away from where Ochako was, Izuku bent his right leg and channeled One For All towards it before flexing his muscles and shooting himself upwards in a green, black and white blur, cracking the entire street and creating another shockwave that dispersed the dust generated by the attack of the fourth villain along with breaking what windows had not been broken yet.
Ochako looked up in shock as she felt a block of ice falling in the pit of her stomach. 'Deku-kun! No!'
Putting his left hand in front of him, Izuku went cleanly through the incoming hand of the humongous villain, stopping its downward momentum and reversing it so now the entire arm was moving upwards with little explosions now going through its length. Izuku focused on the blank face of the villain and narrowed his eyes as he cocked his right fist and the entire right sleeve of his tracksuit was shredded, revealing to everyone watching how his entire arm was covered by the shiny black substance as red veins of power appeared running down its lengths and giving the shiny blackness a darker silvery hue.
Tears gathered at the corner of Izuku's eyes. "One For All Armament…"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Yes… an opportunity for it to shine brightly and rise to the surface!" Spoke Yagi proudly as they all watched Izuku moving forward to face the villain the moment he caught sight of the incapacitated Ochako without hesitation. The entire staff began to grin in excitement when they saw him fearlessly rising to meet the villain head on, going through his hand and destroying his arm.
"That's right! The most important quality of a true hero!" He declared, resisting the urge to not turn into his All Might form as he saw Izuku's Armament covered arm becoming further enhanced with his manifestation of One For All. "For there is nothing nobler, nothing purer… than self-sacrifice!"
XXXXXXXXXX
With tears running down his cheek as he recalled the months spent training with All Might, his encouraging words and the prideful grin on his face as he looked on at him as he gave it his all to be worth of what his idol saw him, Izuku tightened his fist and lashed out, without pausing to even think about the repercussion of his actions, with his right arm.
"… First Gear!"
The blow caught the gigantic robot right in the face and it blew it off cleanly of its body, as yet another shockwave was created due to the speed and strength of Izuku's punch being enough to break the sound barrier. Those watching were further shocked and/or impressed when the momentum possessed by the punch also affected the body of the gigantic robot, sending it harshly and alarmingly rapidly skidding through the ground as its parts began to blow up one by one.
Everyone watched as the villain left path of destruction that was only halted by the massive fence, which had the head of the villain deeply imbedded into it by the way, made of sterner stuff than the fourth villain, thought if everyone looked they would see that the walls were bent outwards by the momentum carried by the massive body of the villain, which went up in a gigantic fiery explosion a few seconds after it was stopped by the fence.
No one dared to make a sound as Izuku fell the ground nimbly, his right arm shaking slightly as he seemingly admired the destruction he just caused.
Stop playing "Headstrong – Trapt"
Shoulders visibly sagging and his form slouching a bit, Izuku turned around and with his hair obscuring his eyes and breathing mask obscuring the rest of his face, no one could determine what he was feeling right now. He walked towards the piece of debris that was covering Ochako, he kneeled and with his left arm turning black he easily pulled it off and away from her.
"Are you alright, Ochako-chan?" He asked her, his muffled voice sounding dull to the ears of those that could hear him.
Ochako tried to stand up but she cried in pain she a sharp throb from her left ankle made it impossible for her to do so. "My... my ankle…" she said with one eye closed in pain, but she focused on more important matters. Almost in tears, she focused on Izuku. "I'm sorry, Deku-kun. I'm so, so sorry," she said despairingly as she looked up at him from her position on the ground.
Izuku shook his head lightly, removed his breathing mask to let it hang loosely around his neck and he surprised everyone when he knelt down next Ochako and gently scooped her up in a bridal carry. He raised his head and Ochako gasped when he saw the tears running down his cheeks, but he was smiling at her in relief. "That's not important, Ochako-chan. What's important is that you are okay and no one else got hurt," he said softly, his tone sincere but it was still a bit dull.
Incapable of speech, Ochako just nodded meekly and refused to meet his eyes.
With Ochako in his arms, Izuku slowly walked towards the other students, all of them looking at him with wide eyes full of disbelief. Everyone there knew that he had likely raked up the most amount of points judging by his display at the very beginning of the test, so they also knew that he had willingly given all those points away to save Ochako, shooting his chances of entering U.A. to the trashcan… he did that willingly and without hesitation.
"TIME"S UP!" Came the sudden shout of Present Mic, but no one in Battle Location B was paying attention to that. Instead, they were focusing on Izuku and decision to save Ochako, resulting in him losing all his points.
'Of course, if it wouldn't have been a test with so much at play I would have done the same,' thought Tenya to himself, but it wouldn't be until later tonight that he would realize just how hollow and fake his thoughts had been.
Izuku was just setting down Ochako on a piece of metal scrap that she could use to sit down without putting pressure on his ankle when he felt another presence slowly entering Mantra range of perception and he turned that way to see a short, elderly woman with gray hair styled into a bun that has a syringe looped through it. She was wearing a doctor's lab coat and a dress with yellow and red vest-like designs on either side, two yellow buttons, and a pink belt. She had pink boots on and a helmet on her head. In addition, she walked towards them with a cane designed like a syringe.
"Go home lads! I'll take it from here," she said kindly when she approached, reaching into one of the pockets of her pristine lab coat. "Just leave it to me, boys. Here, enjoy some haribo candies, don't be shy now," she said as she handed everyone she passed by some candies. Eventually she reached Izuku and Ochako and she took a look at his still slightly shaking right arm and Ochako's limply hanging left foot. "Ah, I see that there have been some injuries. I swear, these tests are getting more reckless with each year," she grouched in annoyance.
'Hm, so she is Recovery Girl,' he thought dully as he watched her lips extend impossibly as she planted a kiss on Ochako's leg.
After a few moments Ochako sighed in relief as the painful throbbing slowly went away until there was no trace of it. Ochako turned towards Recovery Girl and smiled softly and gratefully at her. "Thank you," she said quietly.
"No biggie, girlie," she said, handing Ochako some candies. She then turned towards Izuku and looked at him seriously. "Are you going to be alright, sonny boy?"
Izuku looked down to his right arm to see that while it was still trembling, it was noticeably less intense than before. He nodded his head. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I just went a bit above the current limit of what my body can handle of my quirk. The nerves and ligaments of my arm should settle back in a few minutes."
Recovery Girl shook her head and used her quirk on his arm. "Not what I was asking."
Izuku's lips twitched before he looked down at his completely healed arm. After a few moments he shrugged his shoulders. "What's done is done and I don't regret saving Ochako-chan. No matter what anyone says and no matter the consequences, I did the right thing. That's that matters," he said with a slightly thick voice as he struggled not to cry. He began to walk away, only pausing to look at a guilty looking Ochako, who was failing at containing her tears. "It wasn't your fault, Ochako-chan. No one was expecting that, so stop blaming yourself. I just hope that we can become befriends even though we aren't going to be attending U.A. in the future, okay?"
Once again unable to speak, Ochako nodded her head deeply, her lower lip trembling.
Izuku smiled softly. "Thank you," he nodded at Recovery Girl in thanks once again and reached with his right hand to put the hood of his undershirt over his head. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his tracksuit and he began to make his way out of the training ground, his form slouched, leaving quiet the somber atmosphere behind him.
Looking at his retreating back, Ochako couldn't help but recall how he had jumped in to save her from being further harmed, perhaps even killed, without even thinking about the consequences of his actions. After everything that happened, Ochako thought that no one deserved being accepted in U.A. more than Izuku. So, with a very intense and determined look on her face that had others backing away, with the notable exception of Recovery Girl who smiled knowingly, she jumped down from her seat and began to purposely make her way towards the U.A. main buildings.
She had a few people she needed to talk to. And they were going to listen to what she had to say or else…
XXXXXXXXXX
Inko heard the door of their home opening and closing quietly and she hurried in with a big smile to greet her son, ready to congratulate him for passing the exam and getting into U.A. The smile immediately slipped from her face when she saw the utterly devastated expression her on his face, lips trembling as he squeezed his out shut, still trying to not let tears fall down. "Oh, Izuku, come here honey," she cried and gently cradle his head into her bosom, holding him gently.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Cried Izuku as he wrapped his arms around his mother, finally allowing the tears to fall freely as the comforting hug of his mother broke through his defenses as if they weren't even there.
"Shhhh, honey. I'm here. Everything will be alright," she told him soothingly as they both felt to their knees. It wasn't long before Inko was crying alongside Izuku as she felt pained by her son's suffering. It was worse since she didn't know what happened and what she knew was that there was likely nothing that she could do, not that Izuku would let her even if there was.
Instead, she just focused on being there for him, because as his mother, that was everything she could do and exactly what Izuku needed at the moment.
XXXXXXXXXX
Momo was lounging on her couch, reading a book on advanced chemistry as she waited for Izuku to text her about how he had passed with flying colors. She had been fretting about it all day and she had busied herself by finishing arranging her bookshelves and her kitchen. After a week spent settling down on her suite, that was the last bit of chores she needed to do before she was finished.
It was the reason why and Izuku had only been exchanging texts through the week, instead of meeting up and hanging out like they both wanted. Momo had to finish everything involved with moving to another city and Izuku had to focus entirely on passing his entrance exams. So, they decided that their outing, which was planned for tomorrow, was going to be in commemoration of Momo moving in and Izuku getting accepted into U.A.
And there was no doubt in Momo's mind that Izuku wasn't going to be accepted. Even if his quirk wasn't about enhancing his body to untold levels, making him basically omniscient within a certain range and allowing him to basically intimidate those weaker than him in spirit into submission with his presence alone, Izuku had the perfect mindset for becoming a hero, which he demonstrated to her when he jumped in to help her, dispatching those three disgusting men without even using his quirk.
So yeah, she was sure that Izuku was going to pass his test. It was a given. Besides, the thought of some R&R in the company of Izuku, whom she liked very much, to a point that she was starting to get a bit suspicious, was very pleasant. So, no one could fault here when her eyes widened in joy when she heard her ringtone coming from her phone. And uncharacteristic, for those that only knew her public persona, and girlish squeal left throat as she saw 'Izuku-kun' on the screen of her phone.
"Hello?" Her voice trembled a bit as she answered.
"Is this Momo Yaoyorozu-san?" The voice that came from the other end was not Izuku's. First off, it was the voice of a woman. And if that wasn't unsettling enough, it was the voice of a woman who had been recently crying.
"Yes, this her speaking. Who am I speaking with?" She asked tentatively, having a bad feeling about this.
"This is Inko Midoriya. I am Izuku's mother."
Momo's eyes widened and she shot to her feet, her chemistry book falling to the ground. "Midoriya-san?! What happened?! Is Izuku-kun alright?!" She asked frantically, fearing the wrost. She knew that U.A. Entrance Exams were difficult and those taking them tended to get injured, but there was Recovery Girl to take care of their injuries right away before they became too severe. Still, she feared the worst.
"Don't worry, Yaoyorozu-san. Izuku is alright, at least physically. The thing is…" she trailed off as her voice trembled, obviously fighting back tears.
"Midoriya-san?"
"Izuku… he… he told me he didn't pass the Entrance Exam. He is not going to attend U.A."
"…oh."
Well, fuck.
And there you have it! We finally covered one of the bits I was most excited about writing: The Entrance Exam and while it played almost exactly like canon when referring to major and obvious plot points, what happened differently is significant enough to change a few things along the road. Truthfully, I'm just happy that my Izuku finally got to meet Ochako and showed everyone how badass he is… and that wasn't even him going 'all out'. They caught a glimpse of that when he saved Ochako, however.
Izuku is despairing badly right now, but I know that some of you had been expecting it. Since I abhor prolonged angst, I promise you that he will stay like that only for a short while before he is back on his feet. I'm warning you that next chapter is going to be full of emotions and fluff and no action. I can already feel my manliness dropping. I'll have to drink some bears, crack the cans on my head, shave myself with a machete and without cream and punch a wall to regain it by the time I finish writing it, I swear.
No changes to the Harem yet. It's still Ochako, Momo, Mina, Tsuyu, Toru, Kyoka and Hatsume for now.
That's all from me, I guess. It's one in the morning and I'm hungry. That means is muffin time. Well, to me, any time is muffin time, but when I am hungry during the wee hours of the morning, it's an even more special muffin time. Do you understand? No? You want me to shut up? Okay.
See ya!