Not the entrance exam quite yet, but something slightly different. I wonder how you qualify to be a villain.

.

Comments:

Dsman: Izuku is keeping a very close eye on Hitoshi's coffee, at least during evenings.

.

.

Proofread by 3DPhantom, mostly, I made a little addition afterwards.

Chapter 15: The Villain Exam

Their training for the entrance exam was finally over as the happy, tired trio left their usual training spot. The entrance exams were only a few days away so whatever happened, they could take the next weekend off just to have fun. Unfortunately, they needed to see Hitoshi off for this weekend first, the worst part of every weekend for the past few months. It didn't help that they had worked up plenty of sweat and the February weather did not suit that well.

Luckily one of them had blowtorches for hands when there weren't too many people or police close by. Even the ever law-abiding Tenya moved in closer to the heat, covering the fire from being seen in the process.

"Thank you," he said.

"Can't risk any of us getting sick right before the exams," Izuku said. "At least Toshi is going to get into a warm train soon."

"And then the next time we meet is going to be at the entrance exams," Hitoshi said. "I can barely believe it. The last couple of months have gone so fast, and thanks to you two I feel like I actually have a chance to get into the hero course… maybe."

"I believe you will, unless they really go out of their way to discriminate against your quirk," Izuku said. "The reason I applied at UA is to keep our group together."

"But we don't even go to the same school now," Hitoshi reminded.

"And we only meet during weekends," Izuku shot back. "Though it did give a good excuse to have you stay over some nights. I hope you will do that even if we go to the same school, or even the same class. There are some people who we might come across at UA, and I will need some friendly faces around if we do."

"Are you talking about Bakugo?" Tenya asked. "To think someone like him could be accepted into UA."

"Yeah," Izuku answered. "Unfortunately his quirk and fighting talents are no joke, and he is smart enough to pass written exams. I'd be surprised if he didn't get in."

"Surely UA would vet hero students better than that," Tenya insisted.

"They might ask for records from the previous school, but I wouldn't trust Aldera's records. They didn't bother intervening with him, I doubt they recorded anything their prize student did. Sometimes…" Izuku paused for a moment. His fires disappeared. "Sometimes I wish the sludge villain killed him instead of mom."

The trio stopped as Izuku confessed his feelings.

"That wasn't a very heroic thing to say," Tenya said, "though I can understand where it came from, a bit."

Izuku sighed and kept walking as Hitoshi and Tenya kept up with him.

"I have never pretended to be a hero. Well, not in many years," Izuku answered. Tenya opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't.

"Don't let Tenya scare you. You can say what you feel," Hitoshi said, "and if the exams go well, you won't be dealing with Mr. Boom-Boom alone."

Izuku chuckled. "Are you trying to come up with ways to provoke him into falling for your quirk?"

"Maybe."

"Because if you actually say that to his face, I'll make dad pay for the funeral."

Hitoshi and Tenya both stared at him with some shock, especially Hitoshi. Izuku looked at them with a blank stare. Slowly Hitoshi started chuckling and it turned out to be contagious.

"Yeah," Izuku said when they calmed down. His tone became more serious "I was only partially joking. He has gotten physically violent many times, especially before my quirk manifested. Considering how much stronger he must have gotten since then, you should be careful around him. Ten might be fast enough to get out of the way but Toshi, you aren't."

"Ten?" Tenya asked.

"Is that what you picked for him?" Hitoshi asked with a grin. Izuku rubbed his chin.

"I thought I did, but it doesn't sound right, not as good as Toshi. Tenya's name is hard that way."

"Unlike yours… Izu, or did you prefer Zuku?" Shinso teased.

"Please no," Izuku pleaded. "Those sound too cutesy, like we were dating or something. This isn't some love story. I didn't buy three beds to share one with you… No offence."

"How could I ever take offence on my dear Izu?" Hitoshi teased.

That made all of them smirk, until they turned a corner and saw the station. Izuku's mood quickly dropped. He turned to face Hitoshi.

"See you at the exams. Try to sleep before then Toshi or I'll take your quirk and make you sleep 'till the next semester starts."

"Is that supposed to be a threat? Because it sounds great," Hitoshi responded. "Well, I should hurry. The train is leaving."

"Don't miss it for us," Tenya added, and the trio separated. Izuku was left with Tenya. He checked his watch.

"Can you get home without freezing?" He asked Tenya. "I need to run some errands."

"Don't' worry about me. See you tomorrow at school."

"Hey, watch where you are walking... Oh look, this guy wants a fight. You seem to struggle just standing straight."

A trio of shady looking young men probably on drugs were standing in front of Hitoshi seemingly having come from an alleyway next to them and made Hitoshi evade ready to counterattack like Izuku had trained him. Two of the three were walking around Hitoshi to trap him. The apparent ringleader held his fingers together and his hand formed into a metallic looking blade he held up towards Hitoshi's neck.

"You must be very sorry about getting in our way. Maybe enough to pay us as an apology and get away with only little pain." He raised the blade into a strike. "Would be a shame if someone had to tell your mom you…"

He stopped to scream as an arrow of flames struck his transformed hand and had no time to even realize what was going on as Izuku's shoe met his chin. The walking corpse fell on his back and before his fellow dead men could get involved, Izuku's Dragon Blade was already lit and moving towards the man's neck.

"Izuku," Hitoshi shouted.

The blade stopped millimetres from the man's neck as Izuku was left on top of him breathing hard, one little twitch away from taking a life. Slowly his stare hardened even as the man under him started trembling more.

"Tell his mom what?"

"No… nothing, it's just a big misunderstanding."

"Really, didn't look like it to me."

Izuku wanted to say more, but at that moment a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Izuku, breathe," Hitoshi said. "Let me talk to him."

Izuku breathed in deep once and pulled his Dragon Blade further away from the man's neck.

"Do you want to live?" Hitoshi asked the man.

"Of co…."

Hitoshi's quirk took hold of the man and his eyes glazed over staring ahead into emptiness. Izuku got off him and checked the other two. One was similarly staring into nothingness. Other was very consciously staring at his brainwashed co-criminals looking terrified and restrained by Tenya. Izuku focused on him with a stare that still promised death if he made a single wrong move while pointing at Hitoshi.

"My friend will talk to you, and you will respond, or I will find a more painful way to finish this."

The last thug nodded several times in a few seconds and a moment later all three were standing next to the wall staring into nothingness. Izuku could focus on Hitoshi.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I would be more worried for you."

Hitoshi's expression turned sterner.

"Izuku, it looked like you were going to…"

"He was going to attack you."

"Izuku… were you going to," Hitoshi paused, "kill him?"

Izuku looked away and at the ground unwilling to face either of his friends.

"I… maybe. It all went so quickly. I was only focused on how to take him down. Can't even remember anything else before you stopped me."

A police car curved on the street sirens screaming. Izuku picked up his phone.

"Not a good time to talk about it. I'll handle this situation."

He had a lawyer on the phone before the police stopped to find criminals standing in line ready to be arrested. The whole thing took a while to settle but at least they didn't get arrested for illegal quirk use. Yes Izuku saving his friend from getting stabbed and Hitoshi nonviolently restraining the criminals was bigger concern to the police than actually taking the scum away.

In the end Hitoshi only missed two trains and with Tenya walking home Izuku was left alone, for just a moment. He had to hurry. He left the station and walked until he found an empty alley with enough cover from curious eyes. After sending a quick text with coordinates, a vortex of dark mist appeared in front of him forming into a warp gate. In a few steps he was back at his usual training room, sweating even more after suddenly transferring into a much warmer space.

"I need to wash and get changed."

"Please be quick young Shigaraki. You don't want to be late."

"With you it would be hard to," Izuku remarked and walked out towards the shower room. There were no long baths with friends here and in less than ten minutes he was already placing his helmet on. He glanced at a mirror before leaving the dressing room. He literally looked like an officer to an army of shadows. How would Hitoshi and Tenya react to seeing him like that? Izuku sighed. Maybe he wasn't meant to have pure happiness without the danger and lies of living two parallel lives.

At least both sides of his life now had something, some people, to live for.

Izuku smiled under his helmet as he returned to the training room where Kurogiri was still waiting. As long as he could keep these four people, including the Nomu, safe and happy, he could be happy. Whether it was pure or not hardly mattered.

"Are you ready?" Kurogiri asked and handed Izuku a suitcase.

"Yes, let's get this done. Dad doesn't like if I'm late for the evening training. He's planning something special before the entrance exams."

Kurogiri didn't even make a move, but a warp gate appeared next to him. In an instant they were on a parking lot full of trucks. It was a good place to hide stuff while keeping it easily transportable, and no one was hanging around there, especially after sundown. Izuku didn't delude himself by assuming no one could see him though and made sure to stand straight, not allowing any uncertainty into his body language. The one exception to keeping appearances was when he talked to Kurogiri, making sure to not order or demand anything.

"Kurogiri, could you go somewhere where you can look over me from a distance?"

"Yes."

The word was barely said as Izuku felt the Nomu's presence disappear. He checked the communication system of his helmet and stayed still until he heard a car approaching slowly. The car stopped for just long enough for a man to step out before continuing away. Izuku stepped out from between the trucks to face the middle-aged man with eyeglasses and a lit tobacco hanging from his mouth.

"Giran, I assume," Izuku said, his voice altered by the helmet.

"And you would be… Shigaraki I hear?" Giran responded.

"One of us yes."

"I figured. That helmet would be quite a change of style from a hand on your face."

"You are thinking about my brother. I trust you don't a have problem dealing with me instead."

"Nope, at least not based on first impressions. I heard your brother can be bratty. I am glad to deal with someone more… mature. I have acquired the first batch of the materials you requested, if you have my payment."

"I have," Izuku said and opened the suitcase. It was filled with money and a flash drive with confidential data on new support items his father had acquired. "I'm guessing you've hidden your products in one of these trucks."

"Yes, oh I love dealing with bright individuals, at least after the price has been negotiated," Giran said. "Though that comes with some interesting requests. Usually people want weapons, support items or even new recruits. Advanced medical research equipment and strange chemicals are something else."

"I've been told you are good at keeping your client information secret, but don't try to pry for information you don't need. The League is interested in dealing with you again in the future, including for those more… conventional purchases, so long as you mind only what you need to know."

"Sounds good to me. This way."

Giran turned around and led Izuku past a row of trucks, seemingly not even paying attention to where he was going as he chatted with Izuku.

"I've been hoping to meet you for a while, well not you personally, but I have heard whispers of this League of yours for a while, and about your brother. Many people that have talked about you seem to pass you as couple of crazies who have managed to gather a small army of small-timers with big promises, but seems there is more than meets the eye, and I don't just mean there being two Shigarakis, although one just appeared recently. Did you just get into the game or have you worked under a different name?"

Izuku deemed it best to remain quiet rather than risk trying to come up with an appropriate response, voice changer or not. Giran had already figured too much. Izuku didn't want to unintentionally give him more information. Giran waited for a moment before giving up on that question.

"Do you even have a name?" ¨

"I go by Shirokuro Shigaraki," Izuku responded.

"I can see the black. Where is the white?"

"The casket," Izuku gave the first part of the response he had thought up ahead of time for his role as Shirokuro, black and white.

"The casket?" Giran asked just as planned.

"The one you will be cremated in if you fail our trust."

"Ah, I see where you got the name," Giran stopped. "We are here."

He turned behind a truck next to them and opened its rear to reveal several large liquid containers and a large amount of advanced looking scientific and medical machinery. Izuku had no doubts that they were for the doctor to create more Nomus, though some might be used to help his father. For that alone Izuku had to complete his mission. He grabbed the side of the truck and leaped onboard with a single fluid motion. His helmet had the list of things that were supposed to be there, so the only problem was recognizing the devices listed on his HUD. Without night vision it would have been impossible.

"Everything seems to be in order, but we will see how they actually work. Just need to be transported now."

"I can have the truck delivered in any location within 100km and left alone long enough to be emptied."

"That won't be necessary," Izuku responded and jumped off the truck. His helmet's inbuilt radio had been active since the beginning. "It is all here. You can pick it up."

Giran blinked, looking at him curiously, but Izuku only handed him the suitcase and raised his other hand to point into the open truck. A large warp gate had already opened and was spreading dark mist across the space. Kurogiri's voice came from inside it.

"It will take a moment to transport this much, young Shigaraki."

"That's fine," Izuku responded. "You're still faster than anyone else. Don't stress your quirk unnecessarily."

"Well, isn't that nice," Giran said. "Most people in this business don't treat their people that softly."

"He is one of the few people I can count on with irreplaceable abilities. Why would I treat him anything but well?"

"You are interesting person. I suspect the darkness of this world will either tear you apart or learn to fear you."

Izuku saw it best not to answer so as not to feed the man's interest or risk saying anything he would regret. This man was perceptive, meanwhile Izuku hadn't been able to find out much more than that about him. He had a lot to learn.

"Either way, if you need gear or people, you know who to call, as long as you can afford to pay."

"I'll remember that," Izuku responded, and at the last moment had another thought. Tomura would be livid if he found out though. "If you want a tip, you should be ready when the League starts getting more attention and see if you can identify anyone whose interests might align. The League is growing in numbers but could use a few more carefully chosen, powerful individuals interested in changing this country."

"That sounds like you have big plans. I will keep your tip in mind… Seems your friend is finished."

Izuku glanced at the truck where Kurogiri now stood in the otherwise empty space. Giran walked past Izuku.

"Close the door after yourself will ya? I'll wait for your next contact."

Izuku stood in place quietly until he was sure Giran had left and gotten far enough away. Kurogiri stepped down from the truck and waited quietly next to him. Still not saying a word Izuku pulled the door closed. There was no sign of anyone nearby.

"Time to go," he finally said.

"I shall send you straight to master as he requested."

Izuku nodded in response. A warp gate opened in front of him, and he stepped in.

"Remember to always be aware of your surroundings," Kurogiri said just as Izuku stepped through the gate.

"What…?"

He stepped into the usual training room. There was movement on his side and he jumped out of the way just in time before a hand struck through the space he had just occupied, brushing against the protective fabric of his sleeve. It was a hand with elongated, sharp nails, from what he could observe. He didn't have time for anything else as the owner of the hand charged at him again, striking and slashing at a great speed. Izuku barely dodged the barrage and got a tiny bit of breathing room when the sharp-nailed hand struck a shield of fire. The yelp of pain was the first sound the woman had made. Izuku just breathed audibly. He didn't have energy for this after a day of training.

With a few steps to put some space between him and his attacker, Izuku could finally worry about what was going on. How had this woman gotten inside and why? Was his father okay? Izuku didn't recognize the woman as any hero he knew of either. He turned a bit as he evaded a new attack and finally noticed his father in a dark corner of the room. He brought the shield up to deflect another strike but this time the attacking woman was prepared and pulled her hand back, then jumped back when Izuku slashed at her with a flaming blade stretched to its max length.

"Dad, what is going on?"

"Your exam. Despite all of the training you've had, you have never experienced a true battle with another human… to the end. Better do that here to harden you in case you have to face the same out there."

"Are you kidding?"

"Do I joke about these things? This is the minimum requirement just to be capable of surviving in this world and completing your missions." As All For One spoke the woman started attacking Izuku again, making paying attention to his father quite difficult. "Your opponent is not in here out of her own free will. I gave her only two options, kill and be rewarded or be killed. She won't hold anything back. You have to kill her to stop her."

"You told her to kill me?!" Izuku shouted as he slashed at the woman again. She was slippery and flexible like an eel and had manged to avoid every strike Izuku had thrown at her, including a hellfire arrow.

"Yes, not that she could. Also, you used the wrong quirks, so I wouldn't let her get away if I were you."

Izuku cursed internally and right as he was distracted the woman struck. Her unnaturally long and sharp nails cut into Izuku's wrist right between the sleeve and glove, drawing a surprised yelp from Izuku, but the cut was nothing compared to what came next. A burning agony radiated through Izuku's arm that fell down completely lax. The pain quickly spread throughout his body as all of his limbs failed and he collapsed into a twitching mess on the floor. The burning had spread all across his body like his very blood was boiling. He couldn't shout, just whine quietly. The only things working properly were his eyes and even those felt hot. The woman stood over him with a manic, outright bloodthirsty grin.

"You might not be a quirkless monkey, but I still love it when people keep twitching like fish out of water.

"Oh right," his father said with an exaggerated high tone, "I forgot to introduce her. This lovely lady is known as Yūi. You might have heard of her in the news. Likes to torture and kill quirkless people."

"Those monkeys are like an anchor holding back the evolution of humanity," Yūi said, "I think it's only fair I get to have some fun with them while working to clean the gene pool. My venomous nails paralyze them and when I get tired of letting the venom cause all the pain, I might make some art out of them. You actually remind me of a kid I dealt with a few weeks back."

With every word Yūi said Izuku felt such a mix of disgust and rage, he barely noticed the pain anymore.

"Now isn't that interesting Shirokuro," his father said to him. "Can you see why I picked her? Imagine all she will do with her quirk after leaving here if you lose."

Slowly seething, Izuku realized it wasn't just his anger. The pain as bad as it was, wasn't as paralyzingly bad as before. He tried wiggling his toes.

"He has already lost," Yūi said and stepped closer to Izuku, raising her hand, fingers and their nails extended. "Even with that scratch he will be paralyzed for a few more minutes. Last chance to change your mind on making me kill hi…." She screamed in pain as a blade of fire pierced straight through her calf.

In a second Izuku pushed himself off the ground, pulled his feet back under him and bounced up to deliver an uppercut with every ounce of strength in his body. The monster in front of him somehow held her balance for a moment and her hand was already approaching Izuku. There wasn't even time to consider options of what to do. There was only enough time to activate his quirk.

A hand hit the ground an instant before its owner's back. Screaming Yūi was holding the scorched stump of her right hand with her left. The nails of her remaining hand dripped a little bit of their poison as she gripped her damaged arm, but most people were immune to their own quirk. Grimacing from the pain, Izuku grabbed her remaining arm with one hand and slammed the other against her face.

Of course, it wasn't that easy. She was flexible enough to kick Izuku back even from that position and even after all of Izuku's training, her strength was nothing to ignore, especially when she started panicking. Izuku hardly distinguished all that from the pain he was already feeling. She was so tense and unconsciously resisting Izuku's All For One that it couldn't have been pleasant to her either, alongside the dismemberment of course.

Soon Izuku's pain waned away while Yūi's resistance grew equally fiercer. She was actually using her cut stump of an arm to punch Izuku, who was glad for his helmet. She was still fighting with her remaining fingers extended but when they hit Izuku's hand it was just a poke. Her nails had shrunk to a normal size and the attack only hurt her own fingers. She finally stopped moving, staring at Izuku in horror.

"How do you like being quirkless?" Izuku asked coldly, no longer the least bit worried for his safety. He took off one of his gloves and with some focus was able to find the quirk within himself. His nails slowly grew longer and stronger and he could feel the venom building up under them. He made sure to show them to Yūi while lighting a Dragon Blade on the other. With vibration applied to it he was actually using three quirks.

"It's time to finish this son," his father said. "You wouldn't want for her to get away with what she now knows… Izuku."

Izuku froze. If his father intended to encourage him to act it had backfired. Izuku hesitated. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't just…

Yūi's stare turned from horror to one of desperation and she bounced with a scream, going straight for Izuku's throat. He dodged it almost as easily as Hitoshi's attacks but also swung forward with his blade as he had trained to do with the nomus. The scream ended with a gasp. The hand that had reached for Izuku fell down and both their eyes turned down where the dragon blade went in through Yūi's chest and out of her back. Her legs failed and as she fell forward the blade kept cutting until it came out of Yūi's shoulder and she slumped on the floor. Izuku stepped back. His quirks disappeared from his shaking hands. He fell on his knees in front of the corpse, gasping for air. The only thing that stopped him from vomiting was the inbuilt gas mask in his helmet. He could only imagine the stench of the burnt flesh and blood.

An arm landed on his shoulders. Another circled behind his back and pulled him against another body and up from the ground.

"You did well. I am sorry, but this was necessary to prepare you for the world we exist in. Now you are ready," his father whispered while carrying Izuku. Izuku's gasping breath turned into whimpering as tears started blurring his vision.

"Kurogiri," his father commanded, and darkness encased them.