Ashen Hero: Smoke

Sato and Harry arrived at their examination spot , around them they noticed that there were at least two hundred or so other competitors. "Any advice?" Sato asked, the smoke-quirked user, he seemed extremely unconcerned about this particular test.

"Keep up if you can, heroics isn't about hitting the bad guy and UA knows it. Oh and get moving!" Harry murmured, before he launched himself into the city grabbing Sato as they went.

"HEY! WHERE…THAT'S CHEATING!" Voices shouted before Mic yelled something about Villain battles not having countdowns.

In front of Harry and Sato, there were a small cluster of enemies "Throw me!" Sato shouted and Harry obliged. Harry waited long enough for Sato to make contact with one of the small enemies before he himself launched himself forwards into a descending ax-kick. The strike didn't fully connect, it didn't need to, as the heat Harry emitted was enough to melt the wiring deactiviating it. "That's three…now show time." Smoke erupted around him and he dived into the melee.

(Observation booth)

"Twenty Hero Points for Potter with the assist of the Sugar-teen?" Snipe asked, Snipe was much of a conservative point suggester, due to his own experiences he'd had to rely on other hero candidates to get in.

"Awfully generous Snipe…" Midnight joked "I'd have thought you'd have given five at the minimum."

"All Potter did was deliver him at the Villains, he didn't interfere and take the points instead he decided to get his own."

Vlad grunted "Potter does have a very good handle on his quirk, it's…exceptional far beyond…"

"Vlad-san, Harry-kun has been in training since he was eleven when the British Educational System has them start Highschool, what we would call Middle School."

Vlad King stared at the Marcupial "He's been training since he was ELEVEN! What the heck…"

"British Heroes deal with British Problems. They train all their higher education students to use their quirks and after they leave, they've got a licence to use them in self-defence if need be. Furthermore, they have quirk usage programmes teaching them to hone their quirks to help in the workplace, furthermore, they've got one of the lowest quirkless-suicide ratings. Granted the number of quirkless suicides is astronomically high but the statistics aren't nearly as bad as in Japan. They have a different mindset, we see a quirk and how it'd benefit society they see the person and how they contribute, in Britain they observe quirkless as a disability, not a hindrance quirkless heroes are rather common in the West." Aizawa commented "Anyway, Potter is a good student…needs a little incentive to put his mind to work but he's capable."

Cementoss nodded, he'd seen the Transfer about the school sitting in the Support Classes and Gen-Ed. The Cement Hero had also seen him debating with Midnight about the practicalities of the Suit Restriction Laws. Cementoss and Hound Dog had been impressed that Harry had maintained eye contact with Midnight without being distracted by her revealed physique.

"He's got another fifteen villain points, that was BRUTAL." Said Heroine observed. (Harry had spewed out a veritable cloud of smoke, formed it into a set of blades coating his hands and he'd bisected a group of robots before scooping a young girl literally off her feet and out of the collapsing villains.

(Harry)

Harry landed depositing the girl, she was cute, horns on her head and hooves for feet. "You saved me! Why?" She babbled in English.

"Squished student makes me uncomfortable."

"You speak English!"

"I'm a Brit…I'll see you around, probably at the end of this exam…most likely." Pony beamed at him.

"What's your name?"

"People call me Smoke." And in a puff of smoke he was gone. There were five minutes left, the robotic villains were being defeated, Harry's heart skipped when he saw Kyoka. The purple haired punk was on literal fire! Her attacks were neat, precise and but scrappy but with her quirk and pulse of her heartbeat the robots fell. "Heartbeats fuck electricity…who knew."

"Ohayo, Jiro-san." Kyoka jumped, she hadn't detected Harry at all since the start of the exam. She'd seen him but as he was a transfer student he was in a separate part of the hall. She saw him arguing with another teen, and chatting with another and decided to catch up with him after the exam. "Potter…how are you doing?"

"Errr…kinda lost count of the villain points, on your left! Mainly helping and assisting the others."

"Isn't the point of this exam to defeat villains?"

"Not all heroics is hitting a bad guy…sometimes…got this one INFERNO SPIKE, that makes fifty…I think…sometimes it's all about the assistance."

Jiro paused, she wasn't a major hero fan but she had seen the news of more than one hero dealing with a villain. "Teamwork, saving others…you think there's a hidden system?"

Harry smiled, he loved this girl, she knew how to read between the lines especially if it was pointed out "Exactly. I've not got that many villain points, but I'm pretty sure I've got more heroic points."

Sato had found himself next to Smoke and a Purple-haired girl with Auxillary Jacks on her ears as the ground shook. "Smoke…if you're done chatting up the female participants, look behind you."

Smoke turned and spoke a phrase easily recognisable to those who didn't have a grasp of English "I have a really bad feeling about this." The ground shook, four buildings collapsed as a gigantic robot the size of a skyscraper emerged. Screaming ensued.

Jiro looked at her comrades "Smoke, PLEASE, tell me you have a plan; preferably on how to get away from this thing."

Smoke had pulled out a vape kit and took a hefty pull from it "Jiro, Sato…I have a plan."

Sato stared at him "You have a plan?"

"More like 12% of one, it's more of a concept. Look, the Teachers want to see how we operate under pressure. It's highly unlikely they're going to kill us, bruise and potentially break limbs. Plus we're heroes in training, part of that training is to run towards these things, I have no idea how many participants were near that thing when it appeared…Jiro, I'm going to need you to start detecting erratic heartbeats around that collapsed area. Sato, you're going to be the heavy lifter allowing me to teleport trapped students out. Once we're sure we've got everyone I'll attempt to hobble it; I could destroy it but I'm the one more likely to kill participants."

Jiro nodded "I hate it, but it works."

Nezu grinned, it appeared Harry's file was accurate, he had the fibre of a hero "And a legacy of men and women giving oppressors, tyrants and general evil the middle finger…although the Potter family were not all that concerned about Collateral Damage. 'Know No Fear' was a known phrase and the Family Motto." Nezu thought.

The Heroes watched as Potter and his two companions were accompanied by a boy who could turn himself into metal. They chuckled when Jiro shouted 'There's no-one here you utter moron, now we're far too close the Robot!'

'What is it with Japan and Mechs, Jiro? Look I'll buy you food after this flustercuck…LOOK OUT!' The Heroes watched in amazement as Potter, managed to transfer all four of them just out of reach of the Robots foot. The 0-Pointer was whilst looking extremely terrifying was equipped with top-of-the-ranger sensors, so far no-one had been injured by it and few had managed to deactivate it.

Harry was sweating profusely, he'd managed to salvage quite a bit of his expended smoke but even he was running out. 'TWO MINUTES PEOPLE!'

"Right, everyone get clear I'm going to turn that thing to slag." Mustering the remains of his power, pulling on his vape kit, smoke began to emanate from his feet. He crouched, and launched himself high as he passed the head of the Villain he turned and brought his hand down condensing his power around his fist "PYROCLASM!"

Jiro found herself being carried out of the way by the metal teen, they felt the heat and then the shockwave. Glass exploded and a few buildings warped but as the smoke and ash receded standing on a robot head in a puddle of liquified metal, panting and wheezing up blood was Harry as time ran out.

"TIME! THE RECOVERY BOTS WILL BE OUT ASSESSING EVERYONE FOR INJURIES!"

For once Harry hadn't taken too many injuries, he found himself next to Recovery Girl, he knew of the Medical Hero, Madame Pompfrey considered her an idol, especially for how she detained reluctant heroes in need of treatment. She looked Smoke up and down "You're the new Transfer, come back tomorrow 15:00pm, and I'll do a fully physical exam I have read my counterparts medical files on you…I believe I might be having a hard time with you, Potter."

"I'll do my best to keep my injuries less than hospital worthy, I've got light scratches and the slight sensation of being cooked alive…I'll be okay, just Quirk drawbacks."

Recovery Girl nodded "He's going to be a tough one." She thought.

"That was intense." Sato stated when they left the facility. Harry smiled before moving a few feet from them and lightning a cigarette. "Sorry about this." Rikado nodded, whilst Jiro crinkled her nose.

Unfortunately, the smell caught someone else, like Kyoka he possesed purple hair "Yo! Cancer-Walking, ya mind."

"Cancer-Walking? That's a new one, Purple Haze. Apologies, that practical really, took me to the cleaners."

Purple Haze chuckled "Purple Haze, not been called that one before. Hey Jiro."

"You two know each other?"

Jiro nodded "Middle School. Shinso's cool, got a tonne of flack for his quirk."

Harry looked at the newly named Shinso "And…please don't leave me hanging."

"I don't have any hemp rope to hang you with…Anyway my quirk is brainwashing, if you respond directly to my questions you're under my control."

"So hypothetically…" Harry found himself blanking out, before waking up again.

"You said 'So hypothetically…' Admittedly I was really TRYING to get you under my control."

"That's really fucking cool…like really fucking cool. Anyway, hypothetically with someone under your control you could say 'go play in the traffic…'"

"Yeah. U.A. Hero Course only works for those with flashy quirks." Shinso explained.

Harry shrugged "Seems so. I only did this because I wanted to see where I measured up."

"You could have done the recommended exam!" Jiro exclaimed.

"No, I could have gotten in solely on my out-of-bounds-heroics…I told my Headmaster that if he did that I'd brutally maim him despite him being 104."

"Wow. You hate him that much?" Sato asked dumbfoundedly.

"Considering he got me expelled from pretty much home, yeah, wouldn't have been my first. Killed my first instructor-turned-villain when I was eleven. Twat was trying to kill me, not my fault I'm a choking hazard."

"That's horrible."

"I was eleven and I hadn't exactly found my limitations…anyway, Shinso, when you get into UA, I'll…We'll, help you get into the Hero Course. It won't be easy but it'll be fun."

Shinso could only nod "Amazing…Anyway, I heard Jiro shouting at you about burgers."

Harry sighed "Unless the three of you have places to be, come back to mine, food and drink with music."

Jiro nodded "Oh hell yes…You've never invited anyone round yet. I've heard you say you could make better food than the fast food stuff we've eaten."

Rikado sighed "I wish I could, but, I have a shift in my Dad's bakery."

"You're welcome to come over anytime. My Godfather does find it strange that I've not brought people over. It's not that I'm an introvert, it's…"

"You don't know enough people to invite. I'll join, if that's okay?" Shinso asked.

"Sure, your parents won't mind?"

Shinso stiffened, "That's complicated."

Harry sensed a massive bombshell concealed in those two words, they'd arrived at the station just in time to see Bakugo arrive behind Midoriya. Jiro pulled out her phone and began to record as Bakugo began to use his quirk "DE…" He began, when, to Jiro's surprise Harry crept up behind him.

"Pomeranian." Bakugo jumped "You." He growled, his hands crackling.

"You going to light some fireworks with those? Or am I going to have to follow your extremely weird quirk-usage laws and get you punted from UA, plus…are you really forfeiting on our deal?"

Bakugo stopped, he quickly realised that they were being recorded "No…No you don't and no I'm not."

"Good. Now get on the train three carriages from Midoriya and I don't want to even smell any nitroglycerin anywhere near mine and Midoriya's residence…Midoriya, you and I share the same apartment block."

Jiro's jaw dropped "Damn, the three of us live near each other."

Shinso chuckled "The Four of Us, you mean…Anyway here we are." As the quartet, Midoriya quickly joined them, disembarked. As they left the trainstation, and passed a nearby corner store as several events unfolded at once.

Number One, Sirius emerged from said store in the company of three women whom Harry quickly deduced as Jiro, Midoriya and Bakugo's mothers and in a nearby alley Izuku stilled as he saw a familiar pair of shoes.