The Allmobile touched down inside the UA employee lot with a bit of a thud, and with time to spare at that. It had been a little rough, Izuku had to admit, but it hadn't been at all scary. He trusted All Might with his life after all, and he knew that All Might hadn't been sighted driving it in over 5 reason he abandoned use of the Allmobile had been the subject of countless internet discussions and debates, everything from it having worn out to having been destroyed, but now he knew the truth of the matter.
For some reason, Sir Nighteye and All Might ALSO seemed to stop working together around those same five years ago. Izuku was tempted to ask about that, but it was hardly the time, or the place.
Whatever the reason, All Might no longer had a sidekick or companion since the battle that had led to his terrible injury and thus hadn't needed to drive around in a two seater. Lack of need leads to a lack of use. There you go; nice, simple, logical.
His fellow nerds on the internet would never believe the reason was so simple.
He felt... good. Right before they left, All Might had a breakfast sent up to them using the Might-Chute, a mini-elevator that led from the lower levels to his personal "Might Only" area that allowed him to send up food and supplies without needing to call for staff.
What he had sent up was strange to Izuku. He called it an "All American On the Go Super Breakfast". Izuku called it a belly busting monster. A giant sandwich made out of ham, bacon, sausage, some ungodly substance he identified as 'scrapple', and eggs... and fried and served between two full sized pancakes that had been drizzled with maple syrup as if it were a sandwich sauce. With a side of fried potatoes with ketchup.
All Might, of course, hadn't eaten because he was driving... but at the same time his food bag had dwarfed Izuku's own. It looked almost as large as his backpack.
He felt overstuffed and like he was about to fall into a food coma, but at the same time, All Might's vague warnings about "needing the calories" had him on edge. He'd heard rumors that the UA Entrance exam was, at least to some degree, a combat test. He'd been nervous about that. Something not helped by the fact that when he'd asked All Might about how to use his quirk, he'd simply told him "squeeze your bottocks and yell this inside your heart".
All Might had then yelled "Smash" at the top of his lungs and laughed, before warning him that while he was a proper vessel, he'd been made one in a hurry. Words that didn't exactly fill the young man with confidence. After watching that girl stumble forward in clear agony simply trying to hold it, he was filled with a whole new respect for All Might's power. He hadn't been kidding when he said it would rip his arms off and make him explode. He'd seen it almost happen and it was terrifying. With that sort of graphic respect however, came awareness. He could feel the fires of One for All burning inside him. The collective people of generations of heroes passed on to him... by an odd little girl.
He'd just watched a little girl almost explode simply carrying the quirk. It was enough to fill him with a great deal of caution and maybe a little bit of dread. Somehow he just knew that if he took All Might's advice and just went in swinging, he'd end up hurting himself. Badly.
That's why he'd spent most of the ride to U.A. poking at the flame inside him, trying to figure it out. Trying to feel the warmth without getting burned...
And true enough, just doing that was enough to make his muscles ache. Good thing All Might kept some pain relievers on himself at all times. Otherwise he might have sabotaged himself before even getting started.
He'd need to start by using as little of One for All as possible and slowly trying to ramp up until he'd hit his limit. He just hoped it was enough.
"Hey, watch it dipshit!"
He blinked as he was pulled out of his musing by the familiar form of his oldest friend. Whom he'd just walked into.
Whoops?
"Oh, um, sorry Kacchan!" he said with a blush and stammer.
"Get in my way again, Deku, and I'll kill you," he sneered as he glared at Izuku.
"G-good morning to you too I guess...!" Izuku exclaimed, backing up slightly as his old friend sneered back at him.
Strange. He had to admit. Bakugou hadn't tormented him since the sludge villain incident, he was still nervous around him. But now, he felt a new confidence. He felt put off, but for the first time in a long time... he wasn't scared.
Did One for All have a mental effect? Did it strengthen your will as well as your body? Or was this the effect of his hard work and training? Ten months ago he'd have vomited in terror by now. Now on the other hand he was standing at the edge of a brave new world: one where dreams came true. He needed to talk to All Might about it when he had the chance.
He just needed to remember one important thing. The test was just a formality! This was a Hero School! What was important was acting like a hero! He didn't care if he failed, what was important was being the best hero he could! And if that wasn't good enough, he'd own that E! It didn't matter what anyone said! He was going to become the hero who saved everyone!
"Wow! You're excited!"
Izuku blinked and looked over to a smiling round-faced girl standing next to him. She was cute. And she was talking to him?
"Um, hehehe," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Aren't we all?"
She nodded with a laugh. "Yeah! I guess we are! Just do your best..." she paused, "And thanks."
Izuku blinked. "Thanks?"
"What you were saying..." she said, blushing slightly, lowering her head. "About 'Owning that E'."
His eyes went wide with shock as the color drained from his face. "I-I said that out loud?"
She nodded and looked at him with determination in her eyes. "And you're right! No matter what they throw at us... the most important thing we can do is be the best hero that we can be!"
Frantically he began to look around himself at the small crowd that had gathered during his rant. There were at least a dozen fellow applicants standing around him in a circle.
Behind her, a pale kid with purple hair muttered, "'Just be the best hero I can be', huh?"
"Awesome advice!" exclaimed a pretty redheaded girl who gave him a very large thumbs up.
"So cool! That sounded like something All Might would say!" exclaimed a very pink girl on the other side of him.
"Yeah, that was damned manly!" a boy with sharp teeth exclaimed from next to her as he gave a fist pump.
"I'm going to have to tell everyone what he said," stated a dumpy looking boy with gray hair.
"What did he say?" asked a girl with horns in poorly accented Japanese.
"Come with me cutie, and I'll explain everything," said a short kid with purple balls on his head and an anything but innocent expression on his face.
Izuku slowly felt his blood run like ice at all the sudden attention.
They heard him. Everyone had heard him.
Oh god.
He felt so embarrassed.
He wanted to die.
"I Am Here!" All Might explained as he burst into the control room from which the various teachers were going to be watching the practical exam. "And I hope no one minds, but I brought myself a light meal."
"Greetings, All Might-san," Nezu said as he walked in, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the bag of food the number one carried. "Don't you think you're overdoing it?"
Toshinori could only chuckle. The small, High Specs chimera was, of course, referring to the strict diet necessitated by his emergency gastric bypass. The one he no longer had any reason to follow due to his newly restored physical state.
"No, no I don't," he replied with a wide smile. "I feel like I'm a growing boy again!" He guffawed. "And I'll explain everything when we have a moment after the exam."
He leaned in. "Just do me a favor and keep Chiyo-san from freaking out on me, okay?"
The small, hyper-intelligent being simply laughed at the request. "No promises."
'Fair enough' Toshinori guessed as he sat down to watch the proceedings. In the corner of his eye, he saw Midnight approaching him but felt no need to comment.
"So, who's the kid you came with?" she asked, glancing at him sideways as he settled in.
For his part, All Might could only flinch ever so slightly. He'd been hoping to keep his relationship with Midoriya understated, but he guessed giving the boy a ride in the Allmobile of all things had taken that idea and torpedoed it across the bow.
"He's a good prospect," Toshinori replied after a moment, "Strong quirk, strong character. Reminds me of myself at his age."
"Well he certainly has spunk," Snipe observed.
"He has the applicants all fired up," Vlad King said with a chuckle.
Toshinori raised an eyebrow and looked over to the others. "What did he do?"
"He gave a speech about not caring about the grade and "Owning that E" if it was what he had to do to be heroic," Eraserhead said blandly from his spot in the corner. "I assume you had nothing to do with that?"
All Might could only laugh weakly. "I might have mentioned something about just giving it your all no matter what, but Midoriya-shounen isn't the type to go around giving speeches..."
"He seems to have done it unconsciously," Nezu observed, "Less a speech, more a rant to hype himself up. Once he realized he had said it all aloud, the boy looked quite mortified, but either way it had largely the same effect. Though he did just, at least partially, expose our secret grading criteria, if only by accident."
"I think we should keep a close eye on him after this little stunt," Shota remarked. "Not going to say we should remove him outright, but I'm concerned he may have an unfair advantage."
"If he did," Hound Dog growled. "Then he didn't take his time in sharing it with everyone else."
"I agree," Midnight replied. "And depending on how the other students react, I think we should consider giving him Rescue Points for this little stunt."
"Wait, what?" asked Snipe. "Not saying no, I'd just like to know your logic."
"I can see where she's coming from," Cementos observed. "Part of being a hero isn't just to save people's lives but to build up their spirits. In a way he just rescued his fellow applicants from their own fears and doubts."
"I agree," replied Power Loader. "Leadership is an important heroic trait, and intentionally or not, it's a good trait to see in the next generation.."
"If he passes," Eraserhead pointed out, letting the statement float for a moment before continuing. "If he's all talk, he's out. We're looking for heroes, not self-help gurus."
"Harsh," Vlad King said with a slight nod. "But more than fair. We judge him on his potential. If he's as good as All Might-san says he is, we'll award points to bump him up in the ranks."
"And if he's borderline," Watchdog added. "We'll favor him for acceptance as long as he seems true to his words."
"Wonderful!" Nezu said with a smile. "It's so wonderful to see my staff being so thoughtful."
"Not quite sure about the blonde kid who told him off, however," Watchdog added.
"You mean the sludge villain kid?" Lunch Rush asked, earning a nod.
Midnight chewed her lip for a moment, "Really? So what's wrong with the kid?"
"Something about his personality reminds me of Endeavor's," was Ryo's bland response.
"I fail to see how that's a problem," All Might cut in, "Despite his prickly attitude, Endeavor's an exemplary hero."
Everyone shared a look, making Toshinori wonder if he was missing something before he sat down and opened his lunch bag, removing his favorite "in the field" meal. One he hadn't been able to enjoy since he was injured.
Two Bacon Barbecue Mega Might burgers... (twin glorious one pound patties of beef, served on brioche buns with bacon, American cheese, barbeque sauce, and topped with onion rings), Four Might Dogs, (foot long all beef Coney Island franks slathered in onion, grated cheddar cheese, and "Three Alarm" chili), a set of Double Cheese fries, two dozen Buffalo Smash hot wings, and a 14 inch All Meat pizza. Served with a two liter chocolate protein shake and a pint of whole milk: because strong bones need calcium!
A perfect light lunch for any hero on the go, and the very thought of it made him salivate...
Taking a deep breath, he took a bite out of the first burger and felt like he wanted to cry. It had been almost a decade since he was able to really enjoy his favorite meal.
Oh yeah... tastes so good...
With his eyes closed he slowly chewed, enjoying every bite of the special blend of beef that made up the burger, the smokey flavor of the bacon, the richness of the cheese, the sweetness of the sauce, and the salty onion ring combined with the fluffy, buttery bun...
It was heavenly...
He could almost cry.
"So, Toshinori-san..." Midnight asked him, leaning onto the table.
"Hmn?" he asked, not wanting to pause in his first burger feast in five years, not even to reply to one of his comrades.
"The way you're moaning into that sandwich, I have to ask. Is it really that good, or is there a girl hiding under that table?"
Part of him wanted to flush and deny by instinct, but he was too damned happy right now to let the sexually charged heroine ruin his meal. He spent the last five years subsisting on powders and pills. He'd long given up any hope of having a proper meal, and nothing was going to ruin this for him. It had also been far too long since he'd felt comfortable bantering with an attractive woman, and it wasn't like they were in the watchful eye of the public, so why not have some fun?
"No, Nemuri-san, there isn't," he said after swallowing the mouthful of beefy goodness. "But I have to ask, was that a request or an invitation?"
A deep "Oooh" resounded through the room as his other compatriots responded to the counter burn he'd laid upon the ridiculously attractive woman.
"Hmn, I don't know," she said as she reached and picked up one of his chilidogs. "That depends... Which do you want it to be~?"
Toshinori raised an eyebrow and looked at her as she threw back her hair, cocked back her head, and began to move the bread and chili blanketed shaft towards her mouth.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned. While not as hot as his wings, which in true hot wing tradition were so spicy that some questioned their fitness for human consumption, the Three Alarm Chili on those dogs was still not for the faint of heart. Nor the faint of stomach.
Nor the faint of sphincter, if he wanted to be completely honest...
She smirked and deepthroated the chili dog. About half way down she began to squirm, her eyes almost bulging from their sockets. He wasn't sure if it was pure force of will or lewd talent that allowed her to bite down and swallow before she threw the remaining sausage onto the table and scampered back, her face turning red and her eyes bloodshot.
"Water!" she rasped out, chili still dripping down her chin. "Oh god! I need water! It burns! It burns!"
Smirking lightly, Toshinori held out his milk to her. "I guess my sausage was too much for you."
She almost tore the carton out of his hand, using it to wash out the burn as she glared at him.
"Well, I have to say All Might, your cream is the best," she half-growled, desperately trying to recover the offensive in their battle of innuendo.
"Don't you know it," he replied, wearing his trademark smile and giving her a thumbs up.
Rather than giving a response, Midnight simply huffed, and in a silent concession of defeat, walked to the other side of the room, nursing the small carton of milk as she did so.
For a long moment the room sat in silence as All Might enjoyed his victory by smugly downing the remaining third portion of the hotdog in one mighty bite, something that had the frazzled woman glaring daggers at him. He returned it with a cheeky smile and refocused on his feast without remark.
"Well," Shouta remarked, summing up the general feelings of the entire room, "That just happened."
Slowly, Snipe nodded as he watched the number one eat. "All Might truly is the strongest hero, peerless in all forms of combat..."
"Oh shut up you two," Nemuri sulked.
UA's main auditorium was everything that Izuku could expect and more, a massive chamber dominated by a trio of projection screens that individually wouldn't look out of place in most cinemas.
And most awesome to him was the figure standing at the podium in the center of it all.
"For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today! Everybody say 'HEY'! "
Izuku barely resisted the urge to squeal.
Standing in the center of the stage was the black clad, big haired and small mustached form of radio jock and pro hero, Present Mic!
The room resounded with the sound of crickets.
Or might as well have...
"What a refined response..." the teacher said with a shrug.
He was in the presence of Present Mic! The pro-hero who'd be teaching them all English! Oh this was so awesome! He had to literally bite his tongue not to start talking about how cool he was and how he listened to him every week, but after his last couple slips he was willing to do anything short of stab himself in the hand with his pen again to not make an even bigger fool of himself.
"Well, if none of you have anything to say, then I'll quickly present to you the big rundown on the practical exam! So..." he pulled back and posed. "Are you ready... YEAH!"
Izuku swore he tasted blood as he bit down to keep from losing his cool.
"If you're going to bite your tongue off Deku," Kacchan remarked from his seat next to him, "Just make sure to bleed to death on the other guy next to you."
Izuku paused and glared at his old friend. After seeing the horror of a little girl do the same earlier today, he failed to find that amusing.
"Not funny, Kacchan," he said with a sour expression on his face.
The blond raised an eyebrow and growled at him, "Back Talking to me, Deku? Where'd that spine come from?"
"My quirk finally came in, Kacchan," he said, thinking of a quick excuse. Katsuki would know something was up if he just showed a quirk out of nowhere and it wasn't completely unheard of for quirks to delay their manifestation until they could be used safely, "I've spent the last 10 months training it for this."
The blonde barked a laugh of contempt. "Well I guess your balls finally dropped, Deku. Took long enough. But even if you're not a quirkless loser anymore doesn't mean you're still not a loser. We'll see how your shitty quirk performs when we see the rankings."
Izuku frowned and glared back at the presenter. "I guess so."
"Alright you listeners! We'll be conducting a set of ten-minute mock urban battles after this!"
Behind him the screen changed to show an indicator of their current location along with a map of UA's seven mock urban battle centers that they used for battle training and exams of all shapes and sizes. Centers only physically possible due to the help of the Concrete Hero: Cementos, who was also one of the honored teachers at UA.
"After the presentation, you'll head to your specified battle center, okay? You can bring whatever you want with you..."
He looked down at his exam ticket and noted it said Battle Center B, then looked over to Kacchan, whose ticket put him in Center A.
"In other words, they won't let you work with your friends, huh?" Kacchan remarked, glancing at Izuku's card in return, words that made Izuku's heart feel a little lighter. He referred to him as a friend.
"You're right, Kacchan," he observed. "Our numbers are consecutive, but we're in different centers."
"Don't look at my card, dipshit" Katsuku sneered, despite the fact that he was looking at Izuku's.
Yep. And that good feeling went away fast.
"Damn," Kacchan went on to say, "Now I can't crush you."
Like tears in the rain...
"Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center and you earn points based on their level of difficulty. Your goal, dear listeners, is to use your works to earn points by disabling, immobilizing, or otherwise rendering the faux villains unable to fight! Though of course attacking other examinees and other unheroic actions are strictly prohibited!"
While he spoke a cute pixel art demonstration of cartoon Present Mic kicking down blanked out cartoon villains dominated the massive screen.
Izuku nodded. Of course it would be. This was a hero school, if you're willing to attack another examinee, you didn't belong here.
Bakugo clenched his jaw slightly and sneered in response, clearly showing his thoughts on the matter.
Then a young man several rows in front of them jumped to his feet, and raised his hand while yelling at the top of his lungs, "May I ask a question?"
"Okay!" replied Present Mic.
"On the print out there are four types of villains!" the tall boy, who honestly looked more like a senior than a freshman exclaimed, "If this is a misprint, then UA, the most prominent hero school in Japan should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes!"
He then turned around and glared at Izuku and Katsuki. "In addition, you two have been talking the whole time..."
"What a crock," Katuski sneered.
Izuku couldn't help but agree. Maybe it was the knowledge that he actually didn't need to be afraid about the test, or maybe it was the confidence he had gotten from being acknowledged by All Might, but he couldn't help but respond.
"M-maybe you should have let Present Mic-san finish first? I'm sure he was going to get around to telling us about the fourth villain..."
"Hate to say it," Bakugou said with a nod, "But Deku here's got a point, dumbass. Maybe you should try checking your own shit before calling anyone else out on theirs."
The tall black haired boy recoiled, but before he could respond, Present Mic called the room to order.
"Alright! Alright! Examinees 2233, 2234, and 7111... all of you just settle down!"
7111, the guy who'd pointed them out paused and bowed. "My apologies."
The entire room chuckled.
He coughed as a looming black outline began to dominate the screen, giving Izuku a strange sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach for some reason.
"Anyways listeners, the fourth type of villain is worth zero points. That guy is an obstacle, so to speak. There's only one in every battle center and it will go crazy in narrow spaces, so watch out! It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it either. I recommend you try and avoid it. So I'll leave you off with this. In the treasured words of the Pro Hero Napoleon Dolomite: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' So make sure to remember our school motto..."
He pulled back and spread his arms wide. "PLUS ULTRA!"
He then leaned in and smiled. "And everyone? Good luck suffering..."
Izuku couldn't help but let loose a tired chuckle. Now wasn't that ominous?
Ten minutes later, Izuku got on the bus to examination ground B. After sitting down he was surprised to find 7111, the boy who'd called him out sitting in the seat next to him.
"You are the one everyone's been talking about," he said after a moment, "The one who gave the speech about 'Owning the E' in front of everyone."
Izuku shrank under the attention, "I'd, um, hardly call it a speech."
"I will admit that you were correct in that I should have waited for Present Mic-san to finish, and that in light of what he said afterwards, my aspirations were unacceptable. And I do apologize for my poor behavior. I still must say that your speaking in the middle of the presentation was still unacceptable."
"Don't worry, it's okay. And I'm sorry about that," Izuku admitted, "I just tend to um... mumble a bit when I get excited," he paused, "Or scared. Or..." he flinched at the self realization. Yeah, best to just be honest about it. "I just mumble a lot."
"I accept your apology as well." he said after a moment. "But I have to ask you. What did you mean when you said 'Own that E'? I have no intention to fail this exam, but you clearly have confidence in those words. Have you figured out something about the exam? Some secret the rest of us don't know about?"
"I... well..." Izuku paused and looked up to the taller boy. "We're trying to get into a hero school, right? So shouldn't that be the most important thing? Being the best heroes we can be, I mean... And if we have to make a choice between doing the heroic thing and just trying to beat the exam... Well, we're here to be heroes, right?"
"Of course!" the taller boy exclaimed, "Of course the finest institution of heroic education in all of Japan would observe the behavior of its prospective students to determine their fitness! Competency in battle is important, but the good character and moral rectitude of the applicants is just as important... if not more so!"
He looked down to Izuku with an almost frightening degree of intensity before bowing to him as much as his seated position would allow, "Thank you for sharing with me, who showed you such disrespect, the hidden secret of this exam! I am in your debt!"
"Um, it's just a gut feeling, really."
"And as my elder brother, the Turbo Hero: Ingenium has told me numerous times, that often 'a hero's best sensory organ is their gut'!" he exclaimed "And my gut tells me that your gut is reading the situation accurately so I will put my faith in our combined intuition and aspire to act as a true hero during this exam! What is your name?"
"Um, Izuku... Midoriya Izuku..."
"Midoriya-san, I look forward to seeing you become a fine hero." he said with an ear splitting grin while taking what Izuku guessed was an attempt at a heroic pose, "And when we finish this test, know that you can count on me, Iida Tenya, to be a friend and ally!"
This guy was weird, and way too intense, but Izuku knew that Tenya meant every word of it and had a feeling that with this proclamation, he'd just earned a friend who'd watch his back, no matter what.
"Um, thanks... you too..."
"You know, you're pretty cool, curly."
Izuku blinked and looked up at the figure of a large, muscular boy with a red and white striped pompadour who was leaning over the seat and looking at him.
"Yeah," said a girl with what looked like earphone covers for ears, from the other side of the seat, "I feel like I could take on the world right now!"
Izuku began to pale and looked up. What he saw made his blood run cold. Everyone on the bus was looking at him and several had their cellphones out, probably calling friends who were in the other examination areas.
As he looked around, his eyes locked on the pink cheeked girl who'd seen him rant the first time. "Yeah, he's right. You're pretty cool, Izuku-kun!"
Izuku's eyes went wide as his head began to swim.
A girl just said he was cool.
A real life actual girl.
A real life actual girl just said he was cool!
There was no way he would be nervous during this exam.
