Chapter 8: Recovery and Results

Location: Zone B

It had only lasted a few seconds but where the wide street had once been deafeningly loud with the sound of thunder, lighting and the screams of people running away in fear from the massive robot was now quiet with only the faint murmurings of the young hero hopefuls and the echoes of thunder rumbling high above them. A thick smell of ozone had blanketed the street, piercing their noses with its coppery sent as everyone stared in shock at the remains of the zero point robot. Its head was competently gone and what remained of its upper body could be best described as a metal flower whose pedals stretched out in all directions and glowed red like a rose. And beneath the defeated colossus was the green haired boy, who stood still as a statue.

"Holy shit" one boy gasped.

"Did he… just change the weather" another boy said in awe as he stared up into the once blue and cloudless sky that was now covered in thick, dark clouds.

"Just how powerful is that guy" a girl questioned to herself as the voice of present mic sounded over the silent city, telling everyone that their time was up as the young boys body finally fell.

But just before he could hit the ground, he was once again caught in the familiar arms of the brown haired girl; grabbing him tight by his shirt, a small zap of static electricity discharging on contact. She yelped lightly but kept her grip firm as she used her quirk on him, making him become completely weightless before he was laid on the ground, face towards the sky.

Izuku could barely hear anything, all of his senses felt muffled and distant. All except one; pain, he felt like a rolled up tube of toothpaste, all of his electrical energy having been poured into that attack. Not that he could have stopped if he tried, it was the largest downside of that attack, and once he opened the gates it became too difficult to shut them again, forcing him to ride it out until he was completely drained. And his body was paying for it; his head felt like an elephant was sitting on it and every muscle fired off randomly in spasms that rippled across his whole body.

"I said, are you okay" he began to hear, the voice echoing like he was inside a large tunnel. It was agonizing as he forced the muscles in his neck to turn, looking to his left so he could see the familiar face of the girl from before. Her eyes were that of worry and all the hair on her head was standing on end from the ambient electrical energy.

He couldn't do much more than give a weak smile; his throat too tight and dry to give a proper response. The girl though, didn't seem to mind as she gave a relieved sigh and smiled back at him, though that was quickly followed up by pained expression as she looked down at her legs. Izuku rotated his eyes as far as they could till his vision began to blur, but he could see a dark patch on her leg.

He tried to force himself to stand up or at least sit and try to help her, but the pained squeak that left his lips were his only reward for his half thought attempt.

It was then that they heard the rhythmic tapping of something coming closer as the form of a short old woman came into his view. She was dressed in a white lab coat and her eyes were hidden behind an opaque purple visor.

"Move aside dearie; let me have a good look at him" the doctor said shooing the girl back with her cane that was in the shape of a syringe.

"Who is she" he heard someone else say as he to wondered that.

"That is Mademoiselle Recovery girl, she is the backbone of the school" he heard a familiar flamboyant voice answer back.

"How are you feeling" she asked as looked down at him.

"Drained" Izuku he barely managed to wheeze out as the woman nodded her head and motioned for something he could not see. He then heard the sound of something rolling until he saw a small robot roll up next to him and take his hand.

Almost immediately after making contact, Izuku's body began absorbing the electricity in the robot, drinking in every last volt; and though it was like giving a man dying of thirst a single shot of water it was a welcome relief, the colour returning to the edges of his vision as the vice around his head began to slacken ever so slightly.

"Feeling better" she asked as the robot collapsed, completely drained.

"Yes" he said; easier this time as he sluggishly managed to pull himself into a sitting position, breathing deep and heavy through his teeth as shaky limbs did their best to keep him upright.

"Good, time for you then" the old lady said; turning to the girl before she puckered her lips, stretching them to a cartoonish degree as she planted them on their girls forehead. After that the girl's body was covered in green aura as the pained expression gave way to one of relief, her legs glowing even brighter. He was about to try and ask if she was alright before the girl slumped on the ground.

"Oh she'll be fine, my quirk allows the body to heal much faster but the person is left rather tired afterwards." She explained, noting his worried expression as two more robots carrying a stretcher came rolling up.

"Now then; if you are good to stand I'll be going, there's many more who need my attention." She said as she turned back around, the robots carrying the unconscious girl with them as they followed after her.

Taking in another breath he forced his feet underneath him. His body was practically vibrating as he forced himself to stand but as he tried to take a step his legs gave out on him and nearly fell face first again if it wasn't for him being caught one last time. Looking up he was surprised to see the blue haired boy from before looking down at him, he wanted to push away, to say that he could walk on his own but he didn't have the strength and it seemed the other boy knew this as well. So with a huff he resigned himself to being helped by the previously annoying boy as the pair along with everyone else began their march out of the city.

The walk back was thankfully rather quiet save for only the whispered gossip of his fellow competitors as they sneaked looks back towards him and Izuku asking the boy carrying him to stop for a moment whenever they neared a source of electricity. The boy silently following his instruction as he let the energy flow into him, letting the feeling of pain slowly begin to wash away as he absorbed more and more. By the time they had returned to the bus Izuku had ceased limping, the muscle spasms having finally become manageable as they climbed onto the bus.

Both he and the boy gave each other one last look as Izuku sat himself down, a silent thankyou shared between them before he went to his seat as well. With a tired sigh he closed his eyes, allowing himself a short rest as the rumbling of the bus lolled him into a light sleep.

When the bus stopped for the final time Izuku was the last to leave, dragging himself slowly out of his seat and off the bus. Rubbing his eyes he was rejuvenated when his ears were greeted by a familiar voice.

"Izuku" Mineta yelled as the smaller boy came running up to him a wide smile on his face. "I saw the sky go dark and a big flash of light, what happened" he asked as someone new came up behind them.

It was a girl around Izuku's height with thorny, vine like hair, who walked with a gait that was equal parts graceful and purposeful as she went to stand beside Mineta.

"Oh yeah; this is Ibara Shiozaki and this is the guy I've been telling you about, Izuku Midoriya" he introduced, realizing she was behind him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Midoriya, Mineta has been telling me a lot about you" She said, smiling warmly and lightly bowing her head.

"Really, only good things I hope" he answered back, eyeing his best friend playfully over what ideas he had filled her head with.

"He said and Lord forgive me that you were "the coolest motherfucker you'll ever meet" she said with an abashed expression as she did the sign of the cross and began muttering a short prayer.

Mineta rubbed the back of his head, a tinge of red colouring his cheeks as the Shiozaki repeated him.

Izuku chuckled at that, needing that moment of humor and was happy that it was his friend that gave it to him.

"So tell me, what happened" Mineta said again, directing the conversation back to the original question.

"There was this girl trapped underneath some rubble, the zero pointer was about to crush her so I called down a lighting storm and blew it up" he explained and while Mineta had seen him use his lighting storm once before, Shiozaki had not.

"You blew up a robot the size of a ten story building by calling down lighting from the sky" she said, her earlier serene expression completely done away with as she looked at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

Izuku merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Yep, told you. He's cool" Mineta said, nodding his head with a look of satisfaction.

The conversation was redirected once again though by the appearance of another pair of faces, and just like the one before one was familiar the other not.

"Hey Tsu, how'd your exam go" he asked though he could tell just by looking at her she was tired.

"It would've gone better if blondie hadn't cooked the whole city" the unfamiliar girl answered for her, as Izuku was struck by her bright pink skin and dark eyes. She was wearing ripped jeans and a black shirt with big pink letters on it as she walked, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face that almost reminded him of Bakugo.

But speaking of him Izuku's face turned to one of concern as the thought of Katsuki going overboard turned his tired mind fully awake.

"You should have seen him, by the end he was glowing like a furnace, melting robots and made nearly half the group collapse from the heat" Tsu explained and with each description Izuku became more and more confused.

"Izuku; he melted the zero pointer down to its legs" she finished; finally taking in a breath and letting that new information sit in the air.

That didn't make any sense, Katsuki's quirk was explosions and most of the damage came from the force of the blast itself, not the heat. Sure the heat could have possibly melted a single part of a robot but to melt the zero pointer to that degree… he and Mineta had never seen him have anywhere near that kind of power. Neither had they ever seen him glow before and that description threw the forest haired boys head for a loop.

"What do you mean by glowing" he said, trying to piece together as much information as he could.

"It means what it means; he was running hot, hotter than a car engine in July and steam rolling off of him like he just came out of a sauna" the girl said, talking with her hands as much as her mouth.

"Steam?" Izuku questioned as he and Mineta looked to each other as the same horrible conclusion entered their minds.

"Douchebag almost made it impossible for me to get any points; spent most of the exam helping her get everyone away from him" the pink skinned girl said, pointing to Tsu as her yellow eyes narrowed.

"Do you think he got a new power to" Mineta said to Izuku, being the first to speak of what they both feared.

'God I hope not' he thought to himself; Bakugo was bad enough as he was. To think that he could have a second and even more powerful quirk made him breath through his teeth.

"Please excuse me, but who are you" Shiozaki asked, knowing neither of them and only recognizing the long haired girl because of the outburst during the orientation. "I am Ibara Shiozaki"

Tsu gave a small look of embarrassment in forgetting to introduce herself and quickly reintroduced herself and Mina to everyone. But the mention of Izuku's name seemed to flip a switch in the pink girls mind as a sly smile drew across her as she sauntered up to him and extended her hand.

"So you're the electric man; I saw your video, I like your style" she hummed as Izuku respectfully, though with slight hesitation shook her hand, blindsided by the sudden shift in attitude as he fought to keep his mind focused.

"I think we should all get going, it's been a long day and I'm feeling pretty drained" he said, not completely lying and being too tired to properly deal with all this new information. He could cross the Bakugo bridge when he came to it.

"Yeah he's right, I'm feeling dried out from all that heat" Tsuyu said, as Izuku breathed an internal sigh of thanks. The two began to walk away and it seemed Mineta was getting the hint as he and Shiozaki began walking with them.

When he looked back at Mina he was thankful she didn't appear upset, as she walked with her hands resting on the back of her as she looked back at him with that same sly smile.

Ochaco's eyes slowly peeled open, dry and irritated by the intrusion of light as she exhaled a low breath. She felt so tired, as she slowly pulled her hand to her face. Resting it there and slowly rubbing her eyes as she finally began to see what was around her. From the looks of it she was in some sort of hospital room, the off green curtain surrounding her bed and the unmistakable sent of disinfectant in the air.

Rummaging through her mind she tried to remember what exactly had happened that brought her here. She had been trapped underneath something, a loud rumbling and then there was this bright flash of light. She wracked her brain more and more, pushing past the fog as she remembered what the light was. Lightning, it had been lighting and the vigilante boy had saved her.

She wondered what the look on her face was when he called down that stream of lightning. She remembered catching him from falling for the second time, and him giving her that small smile even when he like he was in so much pain and wondered if she would ever see him again.

That train of thought leading her to why she was in a medical room as she looked down at her body. Lifting up the blanket slightly she could see she was still in her regular clothes and the pain from before was gone. Tentatively and expecting the pain to resurface she slowly shifted her legs and while tiring it was not painful. That nurse's quirk really did do wonders even if the memory of her wrinkled lips on her forehead made her shiver.

Before she could think further on her situation, the sudden sound of a door opening pulled her back. Silencing herself, her ears focused on the distinct sound of clacking heels against the tiled floor. She watched the shadow of a woman with long hair pass over her curtain and moved to what she could only think was another bed to her left.

That thought was proven correct as the sound of shifting cloth and a relieved sigh filled the room.

"Well I'm glad to see you're still in one piece" the woman said, her voice haughty and exaggerated. The joke, if it was one fell flat as whoever she was speaking to was taking their time to answer before the voice of a boy filled the silence.

"Why are you here" the boy asked, a barb of anger peppering the apparent surprise of his voice.

"Because you got injured, and I wanted to make sure you were okay" she answered back as if it was more than obvious. "You did rather well in your practical exam, in spite of what you did"

There was another pause then before he answered; his voice shaky.

"Yet here I sit; after getting knocked out by my own damn quirk" he hissed, sounding like he was fighting back tears as the clack of heels came closer and the screech of a chair being moved.

Ochaco felt a pang of sympathy for the boy; she thought she had rather well in the exam even if she ended up like this. To feel as though you failed at something so important must have been soul crushing as she felt the pain in his voice. And it was only now she became painfully aware that she had unintentionally become an eavesdropper in a rather private conversation. Like a deer who felt the eyes of a predator on her she did he best to stay quiet; holding her breath and not moving a single muscle.

"I'm sorry Hibiki, these test just aren't made for people with quirks like ours" she whispered as the sound of the boy fighting against himself to keep the sadness at bay.

"Please don't pity me Ms. Midnight, it only makes it worse" he finally said and once again silence filled the room.

The person was the hero Midnight! The reveal leaving Ochaco stunned as she wondered what had happened between them that would prompt this.

"Is the pony girl okay" he asked; Ochaco confused by the sudden change in topic.

The woman gave a light chuckle at the question "She's okay" she answered.

"Good" the boy whispered, faint and distant as the sound of shifting and the sound of bare feet on tile.

"Wait, did you at least try and apply for the general studies" she quickly asked almost sounding… desperate.

"No, I didn't" Hibiki said as he began walking away, his shadow appearing on Ochaco's curtain as he was suddenly hugged from behind my Midnight.

"There's always next year okay so don't give up, I'll be waiting" she promised as she slowly released him, the boy staying still as a statue before he walked out of the room without saying a word. Ms. Midnight's breath then became shaky, hanging her head low as she left shortly after.

After that Ochaco sat in the silence, unsure of what exactly she had just witnessed and unsure of what to do now. After ten minutes of continued silence she pulled herself out of bed, still groggy but more than able to stand. Pulling back the curtain she could see the orange rays of evening shining through the window.

"Oh crap" she thought to herself. He parents must be worried sick about where she was. Opening the door out of the room she was greeted by an empty hallway and began her march out of the school.

It had been one week since the exams and he had high hopes of having passed it. He knew from self-scoring that he had done well in the written portion of the exam and he had destroyed a good number of robots. But then there was Mineta and Tsu; from what they had told him Mineta had managed to immobilize his bots, though he had spent the last few minutes helping Shiozaki with those that had been taken out by a gas quirk.

He didn't know the specifics but he wondered what had possessed that person to think that was a good idea.

Tsu meanwhile was the most worrisome; from what she and Mina had said they did not have a lot of time to get any points and had spent most of the ten minutes getting people away from Katsuki.

The thought that Tsu might not get in because that explosive prick couldn't control himself made him ball his fist anger.

They had decided that they would all open their letters at the same time, so that they could celebrate together… or console anyone who didn't make it in.

But now the time had come, as his mother had come into the living room, a look of internal conflict on her face as she revealed the envelope with a shaky hand. He had called both Tsuyu and Mineta not long after and they had received their letters as well. So their he was his foot tapping anxiously as he sat on the cough facing the door, switching from sitting to pacing back and forth every few minutes as the envelope sat unopened on the coffee table.

His mother, who was on the couch as well looked as though she about speak before they heard a knock at the door. Racing to the door he swung it open and was greeted to both Tsuyu and Mineta who each showed their envelopes, the bright red wax seal of UA stamped on each.

"Hey mom we're going to open them in my room" he blurted out as he ushered them inside. He was so caught up in the moment he almost didn't realize that this was the first time a girl had been to his house and the first time a girl would be in his room.

His face went beet red at the realization and the thoughts that came with it. In that moment he was almost happy he had destroyed all his All Might merch, he would have died of embarrassment if a girl saw that. But those thoughts were short lived as they were interrupted by the attention seeking cough of his mother.

"It good to see you again Asui" she said as she walked up to the trio of children.

"It good to see you again to Ms. Midoriya, and you call me Tsu if you'd like" she said, a hint of nervousness dotting her words as the idea of being in Midoriya's house and being introduced to his mother, made her normally cold body begin to heat up.

"Okay Tsu, welcome to our home" she said, smiling.

"But I'd like to talk to Mineta" she said, looking to Izuku who was looking as confused as everyone else.

"It'll only be for a second" She assured, waving her with a smile that turned sly.

"Besides I'm sure you and your girlfriend can think of something to do in the meantime" she implied as the two's faces each went red as a rose.

"MOM" Izuku yelled, but Inko merely shooed them away, and leaving her alone with the purple haired boy.

Before the young boy could ask what she wanted he felt her arms wrap around him in a hug. If anyone was watching they might think the diminutive pervert would have been overjoyed to be touched by a woman. But they would have been wrong; he was a pervert to be certain but never to Inko. Not just because she was Midoriya's mom, but because she had always been more of a mother to him than his own. Not that it was exactly a high bar to clear but she always cleared it with flying colours. And she gave good hugs.

"Thank you" she said as Mineta already began to feel the shoulder of his shirt go wet with tears.

"Umm, thanks for what" he asked, finally reciprocating the embrace as he wondered where all of this was coming from. Inko was always emotional, even more than Izuku but this seemed different.

"For always being there for him" she whispered, pulling away and looking into his eyes.

"When the doctors said that he was quirkless I didn't know what to do. He had always wanted to be a hero and as he suffered there was nothing I could do to help him" she said, tears streaming down her face.

"But then he met you and it was like the dark cloud that had been hanging over him finally went away. Watching you two grow up together, watching him actually have fun and finally have someone who didn't treat him badly because of what he was." she praised. But as she did Mineta couldn't help but feel like an imposter, even if Izuku had forgiven him his inaction still weighed heavy on him.

"Please, I don't deserve the praise" he confessed, rubbing the back as his neck as he looked from her gaze.

"When he needed me, I stood by while he fought the villains." He said, hoping that someone other than himself would hold him accountable for what he did.

"Izuku told me everything, you did the right thing trying to stop him but you know how stubborn he can be" she said with a hurt smile as she remembered that horrible video.

"But that's why I need you to keep doing what you're doing" she said as she pulled some tissues from her pocket and dried her eyes.

"Where he's going I can't follow, I can't protect him anymore. So please try and keep him safe. Be that voice of reason in his head when he's about to do something dangerous" she almost begged as Mineta felt a tension in his heart.

"Can you do that for me Minoru" she asked as Mineta slowly began to nod his head. He could never say no to her.

"I'll try Ms. Midoriya" he said, his eyes going watery before he quickly wiped them away.

"Thank you, now get going. I'm sure they're both wondering what's taking you" she said, giving the small boy a spare tissue which he took gladly as Inko went back to the couch and Mineta went into Izuku's room.

Inko still had a mix of emotions about her son becoming a hero to say the least, after everything that had happened she had been happy just too still have her son. But after that woman had come to their home and had shown her the footage of her son being a vigilante and fighting villains. But he had been right, that blast had lit a fire in his heart and he wasn't going to stop for anyone, not even her.

It that moment she could feel nothing but a bittersweet pride in the boy she had raised, someone who stood up for what he believed in and fought for it, no matter who was against him.

As Mineta opened the door to Midoriya room he was greeted by the unsurprising sight of both him and Tsu sitting on his bed, nervously fidgeting as both looked up to see him enter.

"So what did my mother want" Izuku asked.

"Just wanted me to make sure you don't do anything stupid in UA" he said in a haughty tone. Smiling to hide the real emotions he was feeling.

Izuku rolled his eyes as they both got up, the bed springs creaking with their movement. All standing together in a rough circle, they each showed their letter as an unspoken question range out. Who would go first?

"I'll go" Tsuyu volunteered, a look of both resignation and fear slithering onto her face "Better to rip the Band-Aid off now"

Walking to Izuku's desk she slowly opened the letter, the sound of each small tear of paper like a foreboding bell. As she was about to pull whatever it was out she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Izuku giving her a small reassuring smile, gripping her shoulder to show that he was there for her.

Giving a small nod in turn she reached inside and was surprised to see a small black disk the size of a hockey puck. They didn't have much to time to think about what it was supposed to be before it projected the image of All Might.

"I AM HERE as a projection" came the baritone voice of the symbol of peace, wearing striped yellow suit as he smiled at them.

Everyone was shocked by the sudden appearance; they had no idea why All Might would be connected to Entrance Exam.

"Now Miss Asui, for your written Exam you scored near perfect, congratulations" he announced; but before the trio could begin celebrating, there was still the practical exam.

"But you only scored 12 points in the practical, which means you didn't pass" everyone in the room felt as though they had thrown into an icy river as All Might broke the news, Tsuyu hanging her head lower and lower by the second.

"Tsuyu I…" Izuku tried to comfort before he was cut off by All Might.

"Is what I would say if that was all there is" came a thunderous laugh as he smiled brightly, the camera shifting to show a recording of her and Mina pulling everyone else in their group away from Bakugo.

"The exam was not only graded by villain points; for how can a hero course turn those who save others even when you thought you would gain nothing from it." he continued as the video switched to a panel of judges, each holding a numbered paddle.

"Rescue points" he bellowed as the number sixty revealed itself on the scoreboard.

The hearts of everyone were soaring now, waiting only for those magic words that would send them straight into the stars as All Might offered his hand.

"Tsuyu Asui, welcome to your Hero Academia"

The room exploded in cheers as Tsu, with joyful tears in her eyes turned to Izuku. She practically leapt into his arms, knocking him back as she gripped him tight. Looking up at him; her eyes meeting as her face inched closer and closer, feeling each other's breath against their skin. That was until they noticed the only other person in the room, a person who with a small line of blood coming from his nose was staring at them as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Each of their faces went beet red as they pulled away doing their best to act cool from what each of them were about to do.

"I… I'll go next" Izuku stammered as he opened his envelope and the voice of All Might filled the silence.

After that they found out they had all been accepted, each of the celebrating but not to the same degree of Tsu's acceptance. They were in and as Izuku looked over to Tsu; his own face still burning hot from their close encounter, he couldn't be happier for it.