It took a week-and-a-half until the results came, during which Shinso went back to the park, hoping to see Shigaraki one last time. He didn't see him, and so mostly cycled around, admiring the sights as he tried not to let the nerves get to him.
When the letter came with the UA sigil embossed, he took the letter to his room and sat staring at it for a while, he knew he hadn't gotten many points, certainly a miniscule amount compared to some of the others he'd heard, not to mention he'd used his Quirk on at least 25 of the other examinees...
What was the worst they could say, no? As long as he was determined not to let this be the end for him, this wouldn't break his spirits. Confidently, he tore open the letter, a small metallic disk falling out as it settled on his desk.
He stared at it confusedly for a few seconds before it lit up, showing a projection of All Might!
"Hello, young Shinso! I am here with your results! You scored a total of 18 Combat Points, a very low score." All Might announced as Shinso looked on, a sadness gripping his heart, but no, he refused to let this be the end.
"But wait, there's more... what kind of a hero school could UA call itself if we judged solely based on combat, a panel of judges was also watching for acts of kindness and generosity, after all being a hero is about more than defeating villains, it's also about helping others! That's why we also awarded Rescue Points to those who demonstrated such qualities. Watch closely..." All Might trailed off as he gestured to a screen to the side.
It showed a young boy walking up to a figure in the hall, several other teens behind him. As the figure turned, the light revealed it to be Present Mic.
"HELLO LISTENERS, WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM?! STATIC MESSING WITH YOUR GROOVE?!" Present Mic shouted, the kids wincing at the sudden increase in volume.
"Umm, we were just wondering what happened there at the end?" The boy asked.
"Yeah, I was scared and just trying to hide from that scary robot and then it all went blank." A girl added.
"Uh huh, I heard a voice ask what was wrong, and then the next thing I knew the exam was over." A second girl jumped in.
"I heard him ask about my name, and then the fear was all gone." A third girl said in an airy voice.
"I don't know what they were talking about, but three guys just ran up and started carrying me away after I broke my leg." A guy said.
"And my arm." A girl said, another voice in the crowd.
"I was so scared, I was just shoving people out of my way, and then I heard a voice in my head. 'Help them.'" Another voice.
"Yeah." "Yeah." "The same, man." "I know right." Voices one after the other sounding off in the hallway as Present Mic listened.
"We would've abandoned everyone just to get to safety, but our consciences wouldn't let us go. We were just wondering what was going on there at the end? Was that one of the staff making sure everyone got out safely?" The first boy asked as Present Mic rubbed the back of his head.
"Don't worry listeners! Sometimes when the beat drops, your body can't help but move to the groove, ya dig?" Mic said in a normal voice, shocking everyone. "Don'tcha worry, everything'll be alright." He assured them with a thumbs-up.
The video froze, zooming back out to All Might again. "You see, young Shinso, when panic attempted to take hold, you were there. That's what a hero has to do, denounce the fear and panic in people's hearts. But you really messed up the exams. All the people you commanded were awarded Rescue Points for their selfless bravery under attack from the 0-pointer, but the truth is none of them could be held accountable for their actions. For insuring no person was left behind, and taking command of the panic, Hitoshi Shinso, you were awarded 30 Rescue Points!" All Might announced as Shinso watched his total rise from a paltry 18 to 48 points.
"You too can be a hero! Welcome to UA High, your hero academia!" All Might shouted, but Shinso didn't hear him, the tearful sniffles drowning it out as the projection went dead.
His mother found him like that an hour later, staring at the small metal projector, tears still glistening on his face. She sat next to him, patting him on the back as mother's are wanting to do, as he wordlessly pushed the button on the projector, starting it over again.
Izuku was having a weird morning. What should have been excitement at his first day in class 1-A of UA high was marred by the series of strange and fantastical dreams he'd been having. At least, he thought they were dreams.
After he'd gotten his acceptance letter from UA, exactly as he'd dreamed it, and what a shock that had been, but he'd chalked it up to his brain making a logical leap, after all it wasn't that strange to assume the Exam also judged based on helping others, after all it was one of the two pillars of heroism.
The fact that All Might had come to teach at UA was equally shocking, but nonetheless a possibility, after all if what All Might had told Izuku was true, then of course he would come back to teach at his alma mater!
But the other dreams... ones where he saw Kaachan destroy a building with a single blast, or him being voted Class Rep, especially the one where a massive group of villains had attacked someplace called the USJ? It was on the UA campus as far as Izuku had been able to tell; for villains to not only infiltrate it, but fully intend on murdering All Might! It was crazy, ludicrous, absolutely insane! No way it could be real, it had to just be a nightmare that Izuku had dreamed up after some bad oyakodon.
The fact that his mother would ever make bad oyakodon was equally crazy, but it pushed that from his mind.
Today would prove once and for all if he was crazy, or if his dreams might be something... more.
"In my dream, Kaachan, that guy with the glasses, his name was Iida, Tenya Iida, younger brother to the Turbo Hero: Ingenium. There was also the girl who'd helped him the morning of the Entrance Exam, that he'd in turn rescued from the Executor, Uraraka, Ochako Uraraka." He thought aloud, scribbling in his journal, a brand new one he'd gotten from UA to take notes on his fellow classmates.
He'd seen numerous others, some as just flashes with names associated, other with small scenes played out before him. But those three were the ones he knew most closely... darn it, that just meant it was more likely his subconscious would assume he'd be placed with them, familiar faces and all.
Honestly, that could be said for almost any student he'd seen in his dreams, he could've seen them in passing the day of the Entrance Exams, and simply parsed any number of them as being possible classmates, but the odds of his brains guessing all of them correctly would be astounding, it wasn't like he had a Brain-type Quirk after all."
"You going to move it or keep holding up the line?" A voice said as Izuku froze, his unintentional word vomit cutting off as the older man behind him glared intensely as the train started moving. "Damn it, thanks a lot kid, maybe go back to the hospital and get your head checked!" The guy yelled, shoving his way through the crowd in search of another door.
"Maybe I should think about this later?" Izuku muttered to himself.
His introspective muttering caused him to get to class late, but it was still with plenty of time before the first bell.
He did, in fact, recognize most of the students in the classroom, he even spotted Mr. Aizawa's sleeping bag hidden behind the desk.
But a nagging question stuck in his mind. Two of them really... where was Mineta, and who was Shinso?
Shinso groaned as he heard that they would be taking a Quirk Apprehension test. He could tell that he was in trouble, mainly due to the fact that he was simply worse off physically than his classmates.
"It's illogical to keep judging everybody by the same standards. Here in UA, we enjoy a freer teaching style. Bakugo Katsuki, you placed first in the Entrance Exams, at least among the ones who took it. You've done this before without your Quirk. Try it again going all out." Mr. Aizawa ordered, gently lobbing the ball to Bakugo who caught it.
Walking towards the circle, he seemed to almost glare off into the distance, angry at something only he could see.
"Fine then, I'll just give a little kick," Bakugo pulled back his arm before hurling it forwards, a massive explosion hiding the ball for a moment as it soared away, "DIE!"
"703.2 meters. You'll all do this, through this and seven other fitness tests to find your upper limits." Mr. Aizawa stated as Shinso heard several of the other students cheer.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Mina gushed.
"Yeah, I can't wait to show off what I've got." Tooru Hagakure added.
"Mhm mhm." That was Uraraka.
"Fun? Is that what you think this is about?" Mr. Aizawa's eyes seemed to gleam as he looked at the assembled students. "If you think this is about having fun, then you've clearly missed the point. Whoever scores last will be expelled on the spot!" That sent a chill down everybody's back, but none more so than Hitoshi.
"That's not fair!" One of the girls exclaimed.
"Fair, being a hero isn't about fairness. Super villain attacks, natural disasters, a crisis every other day, nothing is fair about that. Being a hero is about balancing out that unfairness and preventing as much harm as possible." Mr. Aizawa lectured.
"Umm, Mr. Aizawa, I have a question." He exclaimed, raising his hand over the crowd as everyone turned to look at him. "Are we being judged individually or by ranking?" Everybody looked at him strangely.
Mr. Aizawa was silent for long enough that Shinso thought maybe he'd asked a dumb question, and almost took it back before his teacher replied," Individually, sorry." His voice didn't give any impression of sorriness, but Shinso took what he was given.
50-meter dash: 7.08 seconds
Grip Strength: 45 kg
Long Jump: 2.4 meters
Repeated Side Steps: 46.5 cycles
Ball Throw: 88.4 meters
Seated Toe Touch: 14 cm
Paced Run: 58 laps.
Sit-ups: 83
Overall, Shinso would like to think he did above average compared to his scores in middle school, but even glancing and overhearing other's scores didn't fill him with confidence.
The 50 Meter Dash was taken by Tenya Ida, who had a speed Quirk, so that was expected, but the average fell around the 5 seconds to low 6 seconds marks, and he had a low 7 second score. It wasn't the lowest, but it was within reaching distance.
Grip Strength, he knew going in he would score abysmally low. He was built lean and wiry, not bulky. Not to mentioned compared to Mezo Shoji's outstanding 540 kg, most people's scores seemed paltry.
He scored in the middle of the field on the Long Jump, managing about a third of the sandbox, but even that wasn't amazing considering most people seemed to have a way to cover long distances without touching the ground, whether it was Bakugo using his explosions as thrusters, Aoyama doing the same, Uraraka subverting gravity, Yaoyorozu creating a pole to launch herself, Hanta Sero went for more of a high jump, and then used his tape to pull himself across quickly before he fell, and finally Todoroki created an ice bridge that he used to avoid the whole thing.
No one seemed to have an unfair advantage in the Repeated Side Steps, so Shinso felt confident in his score there, thanking Shigaraki silently for all his training dodging in the park. Even if he hadn't managed to snag first place, it shouldn't drag his overall score down.
At the ball throw, he'd been forced to get creative. Watching several other go before him, he adopted a similar trick to both Hanta Sero and Tsuyu Asui. He'd used his belt like a sling to hurl the ball an extra twenty meters or so. It didn't even bother comparing to both Bakugo and Midoriya's 705 throws.
That had been a shock, watching his teacher's hair suddenly flair up, his eyes glowing an ethereal red as Midoriya's Quirk died. What were the chances that Shinso's homeroom teacher was Eraserhead, the hero whose weapon he wanted to learn how to fight with.
And both of their scores were dwarfed by Yaoyorozu pulling a freaking cannon out of her stomach, and firing her ball just over 2 km away, a confident smirk on her face.
A smirk that wasn't mirrored at all by Uraraka getting an infinity symbol for a score. If anything, she looked disappointed, although once people started congratulating her, she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
The Toe Touch also looked like it would be a nice and simple test with no advantages, save for Mina's apparent ability to twist herself like a cat, resting her tiny horns just below her knees, allowing her to reach well past her toes. It seemed like she'd take the top spot until Shoji had surprised them all, not having to bother bending to touch his toes, and well past that point as he grew more arms from his 'hands' thanks to his Quirk. He'd been forced to stop when he touched the opposite wall.
The Paced Run left everyone puffing for breath, of course that was the entire point of an endurance test. Shinso had been glad to see that his previous score was blown out of the water now, thanks in near totality to Shigaraki's helpful training.
Shinso had expected Ida to once again dominate, but apparently the confined test space prevented him from switching to a higher gear. Hitoshi was pretty sure he heard him mutter something about getting his brother to show him how to make sharp turns.
The last place students were Kirishima and Hagakure, Kirishima was expected given that he seemed more of a slow and steady type, but Hagakure had just had bad luck. At some point she'd accidently gotten run over by one of the other students, leaving her a bruised, but relatively okay heap.
Ultimately Mina and Bakugo took the top spots due in part to their Quirks allowing them to rest when they got tired.
Finally, was Sit-Ups, simple, basic, easy. They'd probably been given this test last as a way to warm down, and finally they had a test that no one seemed to have an advantage in. As such, no big applause was made at the end, and Shinso couldn't even remember who'd placed first.
"After careful consideration, here are your scores." Mr. Aizawa had said, displaying the scores as Shinso looked down the list, finding his name in last place.
"I'm last?" He whispered as several people looked at him with, with what pity, arrogance, possibly even happiness.
"Hey, it's okay." He heard Mina say, patting him on the back. He felt a second hand lightly punch him as he looked up to see a smirking Kaminari.
"Come on man, moping like that isn't very cool, ya know?"
"Oh, and about expelling last place, that was a lie to make sure you all gave it your best." Mr. Aizawa stated, walking away.
"A lie!?" The class echoed loudly.
"Yeah, did no one know that. I figured it out right away, sorry, I guess I should've said something." Yaoyorozu apologized.
"Yeah, poor Shinso looked so sad. Are you okay?" Hagakure said, attempting to check on the lavender-haired boy, but she kept poking him in the cheek.
"Go back to the classroom, think about your ranking and how to improve it next time." Mr. Aizawa called over his shoulder. "Shinso, stay behind." He added as Shinso stopped in his tracks, the rest of the class looking at him with something akin to curiosity and pity.
Once all the other students had left, Eraserhead approached the youth. "I assume you are aware how close you came to being expelled today?" He queried rhetorically.
"Yes sir. My sensei told me I have a habit of being too reliant on my Quirk. He says no Quirk is perfect, and that's why physical training is so important, because we may come across a situation where our Quirk is useless." Shinso answered, although it sounded more like an apology from the tone.
"Hmm, your sensei has a point." Mr. Aizawa commented.
"Yeah, honestly I don't know if I would've passed the Entrance Exam without him pointing out that. It seems so obvious, but..." Shinso trailed off, noticing Eraserhead's look.
"He couldn't really help me much. He said the way he fights compliments his Quirk, and so it wouldn't be as effective for me. Ironically, he recommended I look you up. He said if I couldn't find a fighting style that felt right, I should try a weapon that I could use to bind my opponents in case I got them with my Quirk. I was wondering if you could help me with that, Mr. Aizawa?" Shinso asked, looking at him with the best pleading look he could manage.
Sigh. "Meet me here after school, and I'll see how far you've gotten. Just be aware that if I think you have no potential, or that you're slacking with your training, that's it, no more chances." Eraserhead finally answered as Shinso smiled, shaking his head.
"Oh um, but I have to meet with Mr. Hound Dog... which you probably already knew. I'll be here as soon as I can. Thanks Mr. Aizawa." He ran back towards the classroom with a pleased look on his face.
"I'm not known for my mercy, so don't let me down Hitoshi Shinso." He muttered under his breath, although a second person heard it.
"Hmm, you do have a point Eraserhead, last year you expelled your entire class because they didn't meet your standards. I wonder if you see yourself in young Shinso?" All Might said from behind him.
"Hardly, I merely think he has decent potential. Don't think I'm like you, picking favorites already." Aizawa said as he walked by All Might, heading towards the teachers' lounge. Maybe if he hurried, he could catch a nap before Hizashi was done with his lesson.
Several days had passed since the 'Orientation', and class 1-A was looking forward to their afternoon class with All Might on 'Hero Basics'. But first, they had an important trial to pass...
Lunch.
One might be tricked into believing that lunch wasn't a big deal, but those people would not only be wrong, but most likely, they failed to realize the critical thinking involved in such a mundane experience.
Not only did where you sit have a psychological impact on one, but whom they sat with did as well. It was a chance to meet new friends, make new enemies, rest, relax, and rejuvenate, in this particular case, it was a chance to puzzle out a mystery.
Izuku Midoriya's dream continued to confuse him. Were they remnants of his subconscious seeping through or were they the ramblings of a lucid dreamer gone mad? Probably not the latter, but Izuku wasn't quite sold on the former either.
The memories of his acceptance had gone verbatim as had the Quirk Assessment, mostly, but that was due to the small glitch in the matrix. Who was Mineta, and why did he show up in Midoriya's dreams. Perhaps more importantly, was it a message, and what was the significance of Shinso being in class 1-A instead.
He intended to figure it out, and the first step was joining Shinso for lunch.
He'd barely sat down beside Shinso when they were met with aggression courtesy of a young boy with blonde hair and a superior look on his face, if one could see past the glare.
"I don't recall giving you permission to sit with me?" The blonde accused as Shinso met the glare with an equal, if uncaring, glare of his own.
"Strange, and here I was waiting by the phone." Shinso replied as the two glared at each other, and Izuku was worried a fight may break out between them before the blonde huffed, setting his plate down across from Shinso.
"Fine, I shall grace you with my presence. The commoners should be allowed to look at a true hero in the making." The blonde announced before a small hand lightly chopped him.
"Monoma, what have we talked about picking fights?" A girl with orange hair pulled into a small tail inquired, although it sounded rhetorical.
"What, you're Monoma?" Izuku asked as the occupants of the table turned to look at him, a blush growing over his face.
"When did you get here Midoriya?" Shinso asked, Izuku face-desk er, tabling, barely missing planting his face into the food.
"He sat down before this rude man accosted you." Izuku heard a familiar voice as he looked over his shoulder to spot Iida, and a wary Uraraka standing there, holding their plates.
"Hey Iida, I thought I told you I wasn't sitting with you guys today?" He asked as his friends pulled out seats, sitting down as Monoma's associates did the same.
"You did, but we decided that we would simply sit with you as well, Midoriya!" Iida announced, his hand swishing through the air.
"Oh, okay." Izuku hadn't expected all these people when he sat with Shinso. It might make questioning him more difficult.
"Rolling back the tape, it sounded like you knew who Monoma was. I hope he hasn't been causing trouble already?" The orange-haired girl said as another girl sat down next to her, a pair of large curling horns protruding from her blonde hair, although Izuku was tempted to call it a mane.
"Ohio." The blonde girl said cheerfully.
"No Pony, it's ohayo." The orange-haired girl corrected.
"So scary." Pony said with a sheepish smile.
"I think she meant 'so sorry'." Uraraka said as Pony's expression didn't change, although a certain mechanist with scopes for eyes would've spotted a sweat drop rolling down her face.
"Once again, how do you know Monoma... Midoriya?" The orange-haired girl asked.
Luckily, between all the interruptions, and Pony's impromptu Japanese lesson, Midoriya had managed to come up with more convincing, read less creepy, story than he dreamed about Monoma.
"I heard about him from some of the other kids who were talking about his Quirk." Izuku answered as Monoma paused, his eyes glancing at the verdette boy.
"Oh, do pray tell what the masses are saying about me." He said, taking a sip of his wine, Izuku was pretty sure that was just regular grape juice in a wineglass, but with some people's Quirks it wouldn't have surprised him if Lunch Rush didn't have to alter his meals for their dietary needs.
"I think you have a really cool Quirk, so amazing!" Izuku gushed. he was only partially embellishing, he really did think Monoma had a cool Quirk, it was every hero fanboy's fantasy to have the same Quirk as their favorite Hero, with Monoma's Copy it was almost the same. If Izuku's dreams were to be trusted, it was Monoma's attitude that was the problem. He had a similar self-superiority to Kaachan, but not the natural born talent to back it up.
Monoma, on the other hand, hadn't been expecting such genuine praise over his Quirk, and certainly not from one of class 1-A. But he couldn't let Izuku know that.
"He, of course it's amazing! A great hero such as I would have an amazing Quirk!" Monoma exclaimed.
Sigh. "Sometimes I wonder how you fit through the door with your head being that big?" The girl chided.
"You'd be the expert on not fitting because you got too big, Kendo." Monoma taunted as the now named Kendo got a tick mark on her head as she gave him a firm chop to send him into unconsciousness, passed out in his food.
"Yay, Kendo killed Monoma!" Pony cheered, clapping her hands happily. No one at the table wanted to ask if she got the sentence right.
"I'm sorry about him." The tiny ponytailed girl apologized, "Ah, I'm Kendo, just let me know if Monoma starts bothering you guys again. Although... you seemed to not be fazed by him Shinso, what's your secret?" Kendo continued, a contemplatively look in her eyes.
"Hmm, oh, we met after school at Mr. Hound Dog's counseling. We had similar influences growing up." Was all Shinso said as he took another bite of his food.
"Similar influences, counseling, did a villain hurt someone you knew?" Izuku questioned, genuine concern in his voice as Shinso shook his head.
"No, I have to do weekly counseling sessions with Mr. Hound Dog right now because of me hurting myself so badly in the Entrance Exams... Apparently acting in a self-sacrificing way is only applicable when it really is life or death. Growing up, people used to tease me about how evil my Quirk was, Mr. Hound Dog says it causes me to overcompensate. Monoma probably went through something similar; most people don't like copy-types, it makes them feel belittled. If I had to guess, that's probably why he acts like that, Kendo, he got so used to hearing people ridicule him for having to rely on others that he acts like they should be happy he's using them as a steppingstone." Shinso explained as the rest of the table look at him with rapt attention.
"I'm surprised Deku doesn't have to go to those counseling sessions too, after he wrecked his arms and legs defeating that 0-pointer." Uraraka interjected as the attention shifted to the young verdette.
"Really, you managed to take out that massive robot?" Kendo said excitedly, "I tried punching it with my Quirk, but I could barely make a dent in it! You must have a super powerful Quirk!" Kendo added as Izuku began heating up, a small stream of steam leaking from his ears.
"Oh, umm, it's not that great." He tried explaining, but unfortunately for him, he'd started mumbling, "They mentioned me having to take the same counseling, but it never came up again. Probably because it has less to do with my reasons, and more to do with the fact that I can't help it." He whispered. 'Or because All Might explained to Principal Nezu and Recovery Girl.'
"Yeah, what is your Quirk, it seemed really powerful, but every time you use it, your arm breaks?" Uraraka asked.
"Oh um, it's just a simple augment-type, I just can't control it yet very well." Izuku mumbled a reply.
Bing Bong.
"Ahh, lunch is over already? Aww man, I was having fun." This came from Pony.
"Very good Pony." Kendo praised, handing the female blonde an apple as she happily munched on it.
"Bye guys, hopefully we can do this again sometime." Kendo called back as she dragged an insensate Monoma behind her.
"Yeah, sure." Izuku replied as the group of four 1-A students walked to their next class together.