Chapter V- First Spotlight
Everything felt so surreal. That was the feeling Izuku felt even though he had come to UA a few times over the years, Izuku could not drown out the feeling of nervousness, excitement, and apprehension as he walked through the gates to UA for what felt like the first time. He passed by a few applicants who had the same look as him but he ignored them. Too bad Momo couldn't join him as her mother had insisted that she take the recommendation exam. At the thought of recommendations, Izuku frowned and his face became slightly annoyed because while the entrance exam was the general way to get into UA the recommendations were far easier and it was the most prestigious way of getting into UA but his mother refused to recommend him instead recommending Momo for UA. Well, no use thinking about that now as nothing could dampen his mood, and just as he said that he saw a spiky ash blond hair and the perpetual face scowl belonging to the king of assholes that was recognizable anywhere to him. katsuki Bakugo was a guy Izuku hadn't seen in many years and he was so shocked that his gaze lingered on Katsuki longer than it was supposed to with his mouth agape but fortunately, Katsuki did not notice or recognize him, and he was so shocked he didn't know when he bumped into somebody who let out a cute yelp in response. She tripped but she touched herself stopping herself from falling when she began to float.
"Ah, sorry there," Izuku said looking down at the floating girl.
"Oh, it's okay," the girl said while doing something with her hands that allowed her to float down to the ground.
She stood up dusting herself and Izuku could now properly see her Auburn hair, short round stature, and the perpetual rosy blush on her puffy cheeks. Honestly in Izuku's opinion, she was kind of cute.
"I'm sorry, I would have caught you but I didn't know you already had it covered." Izuku could only say with a sheepish smile.
"It's fine," the girl replied simply,
"So I take it you are here for the entrance exams?" The cute girl asked in an inquiring tone.
"I'm taking the exam but are you taking the entrance exam too?"
"Yes. And my name is Ochaco Uraraka by the way."
Not wanting to risk her recognizing him due to his mother he quickly but subtly changed the subject, "Your quirk, how does it work?"
If the girl noticed the sudden change in subject, she didn't comment on it. "It's called Zero Gravity. I can remove the gravity of anything I touch and then restore it by pressing my fingers together.
'what a fascinating quirk.' Izuku thought absentmindedly while walking away quickly before she asked him about his name. The last he needed was for her to ask him questions about his mother.
"WAIT!" Ochaco said while walking just as quickly towards him. "What's your quirk?"
"Space manipulation," Izuku replied with practiced ease while slowing down his pace.
"Wow, that's cool!" Ochaco said while now walking beside him. "What's your name by the way?"
And this was what Izuku hated, and while he could tell her a fake name, if she passed the exam he'd have kind of a hard time explaining himself. 'Ah, screw it.'
"Izuku Midoriya," Izuku replied now quickening the pace leaving Ochaco behind.
Meanwhile, Ochaco just stood there not expecting this. She had left her mostly bare apartment simultaneously excited and simultaneously nervous about the exam meant to determine her future when this frankly handsome bespectacled green-haired boy bumped into her nearly making her eat shit on her dream day. He came off as a bit rude no awkward but pleasant to talk to but what she had NOT expected was for the said boy to be related to the owner of one of if not the most popular Japanese restaurants in Asia. A dread in her stomach began to make itself known as she began to replay her conversation thinking she had offended him.
(X)
Izuku was very unhappy with himself as he weaved through the halls of UA with ease. While many aspiring students were stuck trying to get to the testing areas, Izuku had come here enough times to know his way around subconsciously. His mind constantly replayed the conversation with Ochaco and Izuku began to think he had come off as an asshole more times than necessary in their conversation. He made a mental note to apologize to her later.
Izuku reached the testing area which was just a classroom. Izuku entered the classroom and saw other examinees sitting there finding his seat he saw a very tired-looking Power Loader with a stack of papers.
45 minutes later when all the examinees had arrived power loader began to distribute the papers and after sharing the papers he cleared his throat and spoke up;
"Before you all start, I want to mention a few things. Firstly, the exam time in total for each paper is two hours and you'd be doing three subjects maths," the pro said as he ignored students groaning at the mention of math. "Science and written heroics. And each subject would be about a hundred questions in total. After two hours you'd be given extra minutes to tidy up your work and submit. And secondly," The pro paused and sent a scathing glare the way of the students. "Don't cheat. Don't do anything stupid that would implicate you. I'll be watching y'all and if you cheat you'd be disqualified as well as banned from taking the exam for three years. And lastly, don't forget to go PLUS ULTRA!"
No one said anything as they let Power Loader's words sink in.
"Good, you all can start now."
(X)
Izuku ignored the stares and looks of astonishment sent his way by other examinees as he had finished the three subjects in an hour which was a feat itself. Raising his hands, he told Power Loader he had finished and all Power Laser did was instruct him to drop it under his locker.
"You can hang out in the cafeteria until it's time for the practical exam." Power Loader called out to him.
"Thank you, sir," was Izuku's curt reply.
Izuku closed the door behind him and started stretching his limbs while walking to the cafeteria.
Entering the cafeteria, Izuku sat down on one of the chairs and looked around, and saw he was the only one there. It was good that his Six-eyes granted him enhanced brain processing power and his mother and Aunt Myaku took it upon themselves to teach him advanced science at the tender age of nine.
Bored out of his mind, Izuku decided to browse for the latest hero news he looked at an article on his phone that said 'Bone Crusher spotted in Britain.' Bone Crusher was an American villain back in the day who had somehow recently escaped prison. His quirk allowed him to manipulate the bone structure of the body.
"well, that's comforting," Izuku said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
Turning off his phone, Izuku went to order food from Lunch Rush and maybe get his autograph.
(X)
Walking to the UA auditorium with a cocky grin on his face Izuku got his number which was 6987. Izuku sat down and saw Present Mic who was one of his favorite heroes. Izuku could proudly say he had listened to nearly all of the man's podcasts. Present Mic explained the rules and soon enough, Izuku and other examinees were put on a bus to be sent off to the exam zones all the while Izuku tried to keep his excitement in check. He was going to pass and he knew it. He had trained practically his whole life for this moment and he would NOT fail.
Going through his stretches, Izuku spotted Uraraka doing breathing exercises. She was trembling and Izuku decided that this was the perfect moment for him to cheer her up as well as apologize for his rude behavior earlier. He had not even taken two steps when someone decided to grab him and although he saw the person in his periphery he decided to let them touch him to see what they wanted. Izuku then saw a slightly taller boy looking at him with a stern glare.
"The girl is preparing to take this exam. Do you wish to distract–" The boy froze when he saw the green hair and dark glasses staring at him. "M-Midoriya, what are– I mean it is a pleasant surprise to see you here!" the boy sputtered all the while doing a perfect ninety-degree bow while chopping the air so fast it was like his arm was invisible.
"It's okay Iida. it's completely fine to miss the green hair and dark sunglasses." Izuku said while pointing to himself. He turned around and looked for Uraraka but it appeared she was gone. Sighing he waved Iida goodbye while the boy was still karate chopping the air.
Pschying himself he went to the front before blazing off leaving dust and wind in his wake. A purple-haired haired boy with eye bags under his eyes scowled as he watched Midoriya take off. 'Damn, this exam was made for people like him. People with powerful and flashy quirks.'
For a moment, the purple-haired resigned himself to his fate and contemplated going home but his facial expression morphed into one of steely determination. 'No, I can't give up. Not like this.'
"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO! GO! GO! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE GO!" Present mic called out to them.
The examinees rushed only to see nothing but scrapes, bolts, and metal husks on the floor and they could only stare in shock as they saw robot parts flying up in the air along with a loud sound of metal creaking.
An orange-haired girl ran and enlarged her fists and the examinees watched in shock as she chopped off the leg of a three-pointer and let it fall to the ground with a loud bang before swiftly moving again.
"O-oi, w-we can't let them take all t-the p-points." A blond-haired boy cried out and quickly followed and soon all the examinees had dispersed to find points.
(X)
Izuku was honestly enjoying himself. But speaking truthfully there was no other way to put his myriad of emotions into words or thoughts. He had removed his sunglasses and his emerald eyes were on full display.
Looking behind him, he saw a robot that had zoomed in on him. The boy in question simply smiled and pointed a finger in the direction of the robot and suddenly a hole blew open in the middle of the robot's supposed torso. Moving faster than a blur he destroyed a few robots in front of him by flying through them as if they were made of paper and while internally Izuku was excited and full of adrenaline on the outside, he managed to keep a calm and neutral demeanor.
Appearing in front of a bunch of robots, he ripped off the head of the first robot before throwing it towards the second robot and flying towards the third robot he pointed out his palms, and the robot legs were enveloped in a faint blue energy and then proceeded to fold in on itself like paper causing the robot to fall on the ground with a loud thud.
straightening himself, he took a moment to observe his handwork and all he saw were metal husks and scraps that made the whole place look like something out of Terminator or Transformers.
Chuckling to himself, Izuku began to calculate the points he had accumulated and he estimated around 100 points he thought it was more than enough to get him in but it was better safe than sorry so Izuku decided to gather at least 70 more points before flying off in search of more robots.
(X)
Inside a dark room with numerous screens, several dark figures were visible watching the examinees.
"Wow, these students are much more promising than the one we had last year don't you agree Eraserhead?" Present Mic said
"Hm," came the simple reply from the man that could be mistaken as something from The Walking Dead.
"Lighten up Shouta I know you didn't want to be here but you're here now no need to be such a hard-ass." came the snarky reply from the pro hero Midnight.
Eraserhead didn't reply instead he focused on the screen specifically on the son of Limitless
"Limitless, you never told us your son was that powerful," Eraserhead leveled a light glare her way.
Limitless in question simply shrugged before saying, "Well, my genes are impeccable,"
Eraserhead's glare increased but Inko couldn't see it.
"Wow, I didn't know your son was that powerful." A skeletal man coughed out in shock seeing Izuku destroy a 3-pointer with just a flick of his finger.
"Such hot-blooded display of power and selflessness. It gets me–"
"What?" Eraserhead asked with a smirk underneath his mask.
Midnight did not finish the sentence because of the deathly aura she suddenly felt.
Ectoplasm and Present Mic were consoling Power Loader as he cried watching his precious robots get thrashed around by kids.
"Whyyy!"
"My precious robots!"
"It's okay Maijima, they're just robots."
Present Mic's comment did not help matters in fact, they made it worse as Maijima began to throttle Nezu while demanding a pay raise.
"Limitless, your son shows experience and no judgment issues, no overreliance on quirk like the blond kid in the other testing area. Just maybe your son has potential," Eraserhead said while looking at Izuku who had paused momentarily and appeared to be counting something most probably his points.
"Of course my son has potential! He learned from the best after all and," Inko's voice then took a dark turn into something much more threatening "Don't you dare think of expelling my son."
Eraserhead gulped at the scathing glare sent his way but didn't reply to her apparent threat.
"What's the boy's quirk anyway?" Cementos asked.
"Oh, it's space manipulation," Inko replied losing the glare and threatening face she had earlier giving Eraserhead time to reprieve.
"Damn, that's one hell of a useful quirk," the present mic said voicing the thoughts of all the teachers in that room.
"How many points has the kid racked up Nezu?" Thirteen who had not spoken till that moment asked without her usual helmet on.
Nezu who had somehow recovered from the throttling earlier tapped on the screen of a tab he was holding with his paw and the examiner's score was on the screen with Izuku Midoriya in the lead with 212 villain points.
"The hell!" Midnight called out looking at Izuku who had stopped destroying robots and was helping other examinees.
"That k-kid just broke your record All Might!" Thirteen pointed at the skeletal blond man in the corner who was just as shocked as them.
"THAT'S MY BOY WOOHOO!" Inko cheered on as she watched her son dominate the exam.
Nezu who had managed to keep his composure throughout brought out a tab and began laughing in a way that sent shivers down the spine of the teachers before he composed himself.
"Well, I believe that it is time for the finale!
MWAHAAMWAHAAAA!"
(X)
Izuku, who was helping a purple-haired girl from being crushed looked up as the voice of the present mic rang throughout the city.
"TWO MORE MINUTES, EXAMINEES!"
"Damn, thirteen minutes had passed already?"
A loud rumble shook the ground as the examinees stopped what they were doing and what they saw terrified them.
Towering over the faux buildings was a giant robot much larger than the ones they were previously fighting. With every step taken, it shook the ground and the examines Izuku included started moving the other way
'Damn! This thing looks expensive. Well, I've already gathered enough points to pass no use destroying that thing especially when it's about a minute left.
He was about to fly away but a scream calling for help forced him to stop and look back.
Trapped underneath a pile of rube was Uraraka the girl who had tried to befriend him earlier. "HELP!" Uraraka screamed but no other examinees seemed to care.
Sighing, Izuku flew towards her and lifted the rubble of her body. Her legs were bent unnaturally probably broken and without a care in the world Izuku lifted her bridal style before flying away. Dropping her in a safe place, Izuku flew back to where the zero pointer was intending on destroying that thing but what he did not expect was for the robot to shrink. It continued to shrink until Izuku could no longer see the zero pointer.
Flying down to where the zero pointer once stood he saw a black-haired girl shrug while holding a miniature version of the zero pointer. Looking at her with the Six-eyes, he saw that the energy around her hands expanded and contracted, and if he had to guess her quirk had something to do with the shrinking and enlargement of objects.
'That's a pretty neat quirk.' Izuku thought while the black-haired girl just looked at him holding the zero pointer like it was a toy.
"That's a pretty neat quirk you got there," Izuku said while trying to start a conversation with the girl now that Izuku could see her she kind of looked like Momo except she was less endowed. Shaking his head to get rid of such thoughts Izuku looked and saw the students gathered around them.
"I'm Yui Kodai hi." Came the girl's monotone response.
Izuku raised his eyebrows but didn't comment on it. It looked like the girl wasn't the best when it came to social interactions. Well, it's not like he was very good either.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya," Izuku decided to introduce himself while saying 'fuck it' in his head.
"AND NOW, THE TEST IS OVER!" Present Mic's voice rang out across the city.
Her eyes widened but before she could reply, a short elderly woman came who Izuku recognized as the youthful heroine Recovery Girl. Man, she needed to find herself a new name because 'girl' and 'youthful' rubbed off the wrong way at her age.
Recovery girl had been rather displeased with Nezu for endangering the lives of aspiring pro heroes but granted, so were other teachers who were currently throttling the Rat. Letting out a small chuckle she walked over to Uraraka who let out a small yelp upon recognizing her.
"Now, now dearies why don't we all calm down? Young lady, what seems to be the problem? She asked Uraraka with a gentle voice that could put a rampaging bear down.
"I-I think I broke my ankle when some debris landed on me."
Recovery Girl then bent down and kissed her hands and Ochaco quickly fell unconscious as the healing process zapped some of her energy while mending her broken ankle.
"Now children, stretch out your hands and have these," she said dipping her hands into her pockets and pulling out some gummies and handing them over to the examinees.
Izuku took some and absentmindedly chewed it as he watched Ochaco get put on a stretcher and carried away. He then saw a purple-haired boy scowling before he left all the while muttering something to himself.
He also saw Iida having a dejected look as he too turned around and left but not before he shot him one last look.
(X)
"Damn Nezu, I knew you were crazy but this is new what the hell man, were you trying to kill them?" Midnight said while shooting Nezu a very terrifying glare. Her glare along with the other glares sent Nezu's way terrified the little creature. Never in his whole life had he felt a passive tingle such as this crawling up his spine.
"It wouldn't have killed them, if I sensed any of the students were In mortal danger I would have shut down the robot."
This seemed to calm down the teachers a little but their glare never dissipated.
"And the zero pointer was specifically designed to not put students in mortal danger."
Their glare never dissipated but they did visibly calm down at that statement.
"You better make sure that robot of yours is programmed well," Inko said unknowingly voicing the thoughts of all the teachers.
Nezu only gave a hollow smile at that statement.
(X)
Ochaco felt nothing but exhaustion as she woke up. For a few seconds back there she thought that she was about to die. All the examinees had ignored her and the rubble and debris had left her pinned underneath. She thought for a moment that she was home but the white walls she woke up to reminded her otherwise.
"Ah, you're finally awake," an old, familiar voice came from beside her. She looked over to see the short frame of Recovery Girl next to her bed giving her a kind smile. That smile vanished and a stern frown took its place.
"I should be scolding you for overdoing it, but I really can't fault you entirely since the 0-pointer put you to flee or destroy it, and from what I saw when I watched the footage back, you did try to run and avoid fighting but the rubble trapped you preventing you from running."
Ochaco sighed in relief at narrowly avoiding the old woman's wrath.
"With that said," Recovery Girl continued before lightly whacking her on the head with her cane; she had spoken too soon, "You were on the brink of puking your guts out, young woman!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it if I didn't push the dizziness I wouldn't have gotten points!" Ochaco defended sheepishly.
"I ought to have a long overdue with Nezu about teaching the concept of self-preservation." Recovery Girl said in a very stern tone that sent shivers down the spine of Ochaco.
"I do not want to see you till the sports festival!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
"It's yes Recovery Girl you hear me?*
"Yes m- I mean yes Recovery Girl!"
"Well, since you are fine and awake now I can let your visitors in," Recovery Girl said snapping Ochaco out of whatever thoughts she was having.
"You can come in now," Recovery Girl said in a tone of resignation.
The door creaked open and all Ochaco could see was green hair that stood for some seconds before coming in.
"M-Midoriya?" Ochaco could not help but squawk out.
"Yeah, it's me I saw what happened to you and I just came to check on you to see if you were alright," Izuku said while rubbing the back of his head.
"And I also came to apologize for what happened earlier I just don't know what came over me and for that, I say I'm sorry," Izuku said while slightly bowing.
"I-It's okay you saved me after all and I should be the one thanking you," Ochaco said with a blush colouring her rosy cheeks.
"Then what are we waiting for? I'm Izuku Midoriya," Izuku said extending his arms for a handshake.
She took the hand and shook it nervously and suddenly the door opened revealing Inko herself in full costume with contact lenses to cover up her eyes.
Izuku did not even get the chance to react as she practically threw herself at him and trapped him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Izu-chan you were so cool!" She cried out. "My son is so damn cool!"
"Mom, please air, air!" he managed to wheeze out from his mother's bone-crushing hug.
She let go of him before looking at Ochaco who was looking at them with wide eyes. "WAIT, WAIT! You are a pro?" Ochaco practically cried out.
"Ehm, in a way yes because I work here." Inko simply replied shrugging.
None of the statements registered in Ochaco's brain except the fact that Midoriya's mother was a pro-hero. "You're the owner of Izanagi cuisine aren't you?" Ochaco knew she was asking a frankly ridiculous question. There was nobody in Japan that did not know of Inko the investor and businesswoman and one of the richest people in Japan. She felt very nervous talking to her and finding out she was a pro hero amplified that nervousness tenfold.
"Yes, yes that would be me," Inko said with a casual shrug lacking the demeanor that rich people would normally carry.
Ochaco swallowed nervously and began fidgeting on the bed she was sitting on.
"I saw what happened to you Uraraka, is it not? Are you okay now?"
"Yes, i-it's Uraraka, Ochaco Uraraka, and thank you for your concern. I'm fine now." Ochaco sputtered out nervously.
"Oh thank goodness, me and Izuku here have been worried sick about you." She said while her face shifted into a sly grin.
"Of course I'd worry about her it's not every day you see somebody get their legs trapped underneath a pile of rubble," Izuku said in a sarcastic tone deflecting his mother's teasing.
"Sheesh, tough crowd." His mother said while rolling her eyes.
"So, Uraraka you live around here? I mean I and Izuku would love to invite you for dinner sometime if it's okay with you of course," Inko said while having a kind smile on her face.
"I wouldn't want to bother," Ochaco replied faithfully but the rumbling gentle sound of her stomach told her otherwise.
"Nonsense, it would be no bother at all!" Inko replied with a sly grin on her face. "It would be nice seeing Izuku have more friends his age."
Recovery girl who saw and knew what Inko was trying to do turned away and started to snicker to herself while Izuku looked at his mother with cold and caculating eyes suspecting his mother was planning something.
"I don't even know if I should accept your offer. I'm not even certain I passed the UA exam." Ochaco said with a somber tone.
"I'm certain you two passed in fact I think you both make a great team."
"Thanks, that means a lot to me." her expression shifting into a slightly cheerful one.
"Even though you don't get accepted which is unlikely based on your performance I will still get you in, mark my words," Inko said with a firm tone that left no room for questions or doubt.
"Mom, aren't you one of the people grading the exams why are you telling us?" Izuku questioned.
"They didn't say I couldn't give you hints and besides we haven't started grading it yet," Inko replied with her trademark smile.
"So um, Mrs. Midoriya what is your hero name and why haven't I heard of you?" Ochaco questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm retired now and when I was active my hero name was Limitless and I was an underground hero because I was never really one for the spotlight," Inko answered.
Ochaco, meanwhile, was beyond starstruck. Her new friend was the son of a retired pro who had just offered to help her get into UA if she didn't make it in. And they were just being so chill about it like they didn't just drop bombs on her. She refused to believe that what was happening was real, but a few pinches to her arm confirmed that it was indeed real life.
"So, are you coming over sometime for dinner or what? And it's completely fine if you decline." Inko asked kindly distracting her yet again from her thoughts.
"Well, I guess I could accept," Ochaco replied.
(X)
That's chapter Five Folks and wow, this is my longest chapter yet. The UA entrance exam arc or as I call it the pre-UA arc now over and I wanna clarify a few things one, Izuku and Inko will NOT be getting domain expansion because domain expansion is an ability that if I add, will break the verse. Izuku is already OP and along with another limitless user in Inko adding domain expansion in any form will make this story a power fantasy which I do not want. Two, the story will not go according to canon well, for the first few chapters it may look like canon but it is an almost different story. And lastly, Izuku can use Reverse techniques yet.