The day of the UA Entrance Exam.
IZUKU WAS NOT READY.
Everything had started off perfect. Izuku woke up early and took a shower. The hundreds of blankets he used to stay warm during the night were scattered across the room carelessly. He took his quirk drawback medicine while he ate breakfast… and then he headed to take the UA Entrance Exam.
The train ride was nice. No one came over and sat next to Izuku or even spoke to him. The number of people taking his train to the station near UA was thankfully low, and most of them were from his school and scared of him.
He felt ready for the exams themselves. He studied the week before religiously and had been training for months just for the physical part… But just because Izuku knew he could take the hits of whatever he was fighting, just because Izuku knew he could fight. Did not mean he did not fear getting hurt or failing. And what if he slipped up? What would he do then? Become a police officer? Go to another school? Would another school take him? He could not fail. Izuku did not know what to do if he did fail the exam.
Izuku felt that he was ready for the exams… But he was NOT prepared for the crowds in the slightest. From the moment he glimpsed the massive glass and steel structure that was UA's main building, he became aware of the enormous mob of people in front of it. It just kept growing and expanding. Izuku saw people leave the crowd, but it never let up, new people, new threats, new people that could hurt him worse than those who came before them. He could hear Katsuki yelling at him and bumping into him, but he could not focus. He could not respond. The constant churning of the crowd and… and he could not breathe. Why could he not breathe? Why could he only gasp for air? Was he overheating? His diaphragm was contracting. The air went in, it stayed for moments, and then he relaxed, and it went out… SO WHY CAN'T HE BREATHE!
—
Mina felt like she was going to be late. The crowd was massive, and no matter how much she fought to push past it. It only seemed to get harder to move. Then she saw a familiar mop of green hair it was easy to miss due to how tall everyone else in the crowd was, towering anywhere from a foot or more above him. But the boy seemed to not be able to breathe, they were grasping their chest, and from what she could see, tears were running down their face… The boy appeared to be trying to push through the crowd. But the masses in front of him were fighting back, forcing him farther from UA. Why was no one helping him! He was freaking out! Did he have a phobia of crowds? Is that why he stayed on the top of buildings?
With a newfound determination, Mina pushed past the massive group. Nearly knocking over a surprisingly small kid with balls for hair, and grabbed the green-haired boy's hand. Initially, he glanced at her in fear, his eyes wide and glassy with tears. But once she started pulling him to UA, he gripped her hand tight. After she nearly bulldozed through the crowd-pulling him along the whole time, did she glance at his face for the second time. His eyes were closed tight as he gripped her hand as she pulled him past the crowd.
When Mina and the greenet passed the school's threshold, the crowds seemed to disperse, were most of the mob reporters? As they walked into the main building, she pulled the boy into an empty hall. They might be late because of this, but she couldn't bring herself to care. He needed quiet and a friend.
She sat them down next to a door and draped an arm around his shoulders. Which, with how he tucked into her side, he appreciated. A couple of minutes passed as his breathing started to even out.
When he finally peaked out of her side, she noticed something that she really should have before. "Holy shit! Your eyes are like mine!"
Her happy escalation caused the boy to falter for a moment, surprised by her outburst. "Ah! Sorry, ya know it's just not everyday people have eyes like mine! But we should hurry, the tests start in… Three minutes… I think? But do not worry, we're really close! Oh we are so going to be besties!"
—
When Izuku came to his senses… he was NOT expecting to see the pink girl. SHE WAS SO PINK! And really energetic, and friendly. And tall… and pink. Really he felt like she was just being nice to put down his guard. But she seemed so genuine as she talked on and on about this and that. Especially when she noticed his horns. The laughter that came from her was incredible for his mood. She kept calling him an eye and horn buddy as she pulled him to the auditorium. And when she finally let go of his hand, she gave him a small piece of paper and told him to call her...
HE GOT A GIRLS NUMBER, HE TALKED TO A GIRL! She held his hand… OH GOD, A GIRL HELD HIS HAND!
Okay, she talked to him and dominated the conversation, but it is not like he minded. And sure, she held his hand to pull him along… so maybe she wanted to be friends? The last time he had a friend was… what… kindergarten? First grade? Gods, it had been a long time.
"The written exam will start in one minute, please hurry to your seats!"
And with a yelp, Izuku entered the examination auditorium… with a massive blush on his pale cheeks.
—
The low rumble of the AC unit filled the cooling auditorium, its sound drowning the light scraping of pencils and paper being flipped. The occasional growl of frustration made its appearance, and Izuku couldn't help but jump lightly. It hadn't even been thirty minutes in the three hours allotted time when Izuku had finished the math and science portion of the test. Thanks to his hobby of writing an analysis on hero's he could put his thoughts on paper as fast as they came. By the forty-five-minute mark, the English test had been cleared, and he was starting on the heroics section. Morality questions that were opinion-based, laws and regulations, and the occasional treatment question appeared before him.
By the time he finished the exam, it was an hour and four minutes into the allotted time. But the massive amount of people in the room made the wait unbearable. Three seats down, a kid looked around, glaring at all who dared to look at them. Eight seats to his right, another kid banged their head against the table. He needed a distraction. It was somehow too quiet and yet too loud in the auditorium. The unused scratch paper he had left would have to do.
By the time the three hours were up, Izuku had analyzed everything he could on the scratch paper. The girl next to him? Blond hair and horns, likely their quirk, had to do with that as the horns were massive in stature. The horns most likely played a part in their quirk.
The pink girl? Ashido Mina if what her friendly ramblings that he remembered were correct. Pink skin and hair, as well as a dark sclera around her golden eyes. Pink hair was not all that rare. It was usually a mutation caused by an ancestor's quirk. If his research was correct. It would be kind of like how his green was a mutation of a plant hair quirk from his great grandfather. The color itself is likely a dominant trait of the hair in the family's quirk gene for both of their cases... The black sclera now that one is a bit harder. Mutation quirks could cause a whole host of changes. An extra joint or body part like a tail could be caused by an entire muscular and skeletal mutation quirk. Mutations were the hardest to figure out the depth of changes some could cause.
Eyes, however, were a bit rarer to get the off-shoot mutations. Izuku's was due to the chemical imbalance his quirk caused. Which sounded like nonsense on paper, but the research told him it was true. For Mi- Ashido he, could not tell. It could be anything from a pigment mutation like her skin could be or, like his, a quirk drawback problem.
Her skin was either pink as a defensive mechanism from her quirks backlash a pigment mutation... or hell, magic for all he could figure out. His skin was black because of… the… why was his skin black?
"AND YOU, what do you think you are doing mumbling and writing during the presentation! No matter if we already have the information you should be paying attention! What are you even doing here? If you are here to distract us then, leave and let the people wanting to be heroes continue! This is an insult to all up and coming UA Students!"
"W-who are you?" WHO WAS THIS, AND WHY ARE THEY SO MAD!
"I am Ilda Tenya, and I am tired of you not taking this seriously-"
"HEYOOOOO Examinee Number 7111, Please let the kid be. I was getting to the fourth robot so hold your horses! Now! The fourth BOT, don't fight it. It's a waste of time and energy and worth zero points. NOW ONTO THE PRACTICAL! Head to the busses out the exit to go to your testing grounds!"
—
As the bus drove to the faux city, the anxiety came to Izuku full force. He was on the same bus as the blue-haired mean guy… and he REALLY did not want to deal with him. As the bus came to its stop and the doors opened, the surge of kids kept Izuku from being able to exit his seat… not that he wanted to be in front of the pack anyway. But as he left the once crowded bus, he caught a glimpse of his… friends? Pink hair.
Three busses of teenagers in one area. Only one person who could possibly be a friend. And a whole lot of others that would likely hurt him. Thankfully he did not have Bakugou in his testing area… that would be bad. So Izuku hurriedly walked towards his pink-haired acquaintance. If only for safety in numbers, at least.
She turned and saw him as he walked to her, his small frame making it easy to weave through the spaced-out students. As he made it about halfway to her, she waved… did he need to wave back? Want that what people usually do? It has been so long since anyone else other than his mom even spoke to him kindly. It was wild. He got nearer and nearer, and the spark of joy at having even a conversation with someone nice bloomed in his chest.
…
Only to be stopped by the blue-haired guy.
"YOU, what do you think YOU are doing distracting, this pink lady? Have you no shame! First, not paying attention to vital information and now distracting another participant when they should be getting ready!"
Izuku was getting really tired of this blue-haired asshole. L-like what is his problem?
"Not to mention your clothes, those are not even for exercise! What, are you? A plant! you must be its the only reason someone like you would ever be here-"
"L-Look, I- we- I do not know who p-pissed in your iced coffee this morning, I B-but you need to chill. I'll- I'll have you know I know her. I-I came over to her to wish her good luck! W-While you- you a-a-ass hole, came and distracted both of us. And I need these layers!" Izuku said indignantly, fluffing out his hoodie, "M-my quirk does not help with holding- con- warmth c-conservation. N-not all of us have good heat circulation." Swiftly, Izuku turned to the pink girl and said, "T-thank you f-for earlier a-and good luck! I-I hope you h-have fun!" Oh no… OH NO! Why does my mouth speak when I do not want it to but does not make noise when I DO! AHH, this day can not get any worse. Next thing you know, this guy punches me for talking back and, then I hit the pink girl with my body from the force... and then it just keeps getting worse! Oh no! How would she respond I-
Suddenly Ashido's voice broke through his downward spiral of thoughts, "YA You go buddy! Tell him whats up!" She said, full of energy while giving him a pat on the head… which did not make him blush! And turned to tall blue and grumpy, "Look man, I do not know what you have against my friend here." F-f-f-friend? "But I do not appreciate you calling him out or insulting him! My name is Mina Ashido, and I do not tolerate bullies like you!"
The blue dude Iida, if what Izuku remembers was correct, had the gall to look offended, "I'll have you know that I am not a bully! I am merely stating what I perceive, and that is that he is a delinquent! And I will not stand by as he blatantly disrespects the school of U-"
"GO!" Present-Mic screeched loudly from his tower near the door out of nowhere. And no matter how much Izuku wanted to stay near Ashido, he needed the head start. So he dashed forward.