Author's Note:
We finally arrive at U.A. for the entrance exam. I never thought I would do a self-insert, but I've found this fic surprisingly enjoyable to write. I hope all of you have enjoyed reading it thus far. We'll start seeing some friendly faces in this chapter.
Chapter 10: Start Line
The breeze feels good, and I can't say I miss the smell of garbage.
It had been a little over a month since I had cleared Dagoba Beach of the heaps of trash that had once plagued it. All Might had anonymously donated to a local community group to rebuild the pier as well. At one point I had even been interviewed by local news about the cleanup.
The process had been hastened exponentially once I was able to utilize One for All. After the first few days of very unsuccessfully attempting to harness my new quirk, I finally managed to throttle the power down to a manageable level. Even then, it had taken a few more days before I could use it comfortably. But once I was able to operate Full Cowling at even just one percent, it hadn't taken long to finish the task All Might had given me what felt like a lifetime ago.
"Are you ready?" The man in question asked from beside me.
"For the hundredth time this morning, yes, All Might. I'm ready." I answered indulgingly.
"Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous." All Might admitted as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment.
I chuckled at my mentor's concern. All Might had grown increasingly anxious in the final days running up to the UA entrance exam, asking at least a half dozen times per day if I needed anything for the written or practical exams, or if One for All was behaving normally.
I know he cares, but I feel like he should be the stoic one. We're lucky I'm not worried at all, or the two of us would likely be a wreck. God knows my mom is.
Inko had been fretting even more than All Might. The first few weeks spent trying to harness One for All had been a nightmare, with Inko rapidly oscillating between forbidding me from becoming a hero, crying that I was getting hurt, and telling me how proud she was because I was persevering and getting better. I was lucky I finally managed to control One for All when I did, or else I may have had to check her into the hospital for tears-induced dehydration.
Truthfully, I would probably be a lot more nervous if not for the fact that I know far more stressful events are on the horizon.
The USJ attack, the Sports Festival, Hosu. And that was just the first couple months of my first year. Compared to the trials to come, the entrance exam was a cakewalk.
Turning to my mentor, I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'll be fine, All Might, really. Besides, shouldn't you be the one trying to calm me down?" I teased.
All Might let out a bark of laughter before descending into a coughing fit. Once he recovered, he wiped away the blood with his handkerchief and retorted. "I would if you showed any sign of being worried at all. If anything, I need to tell you not to underestimate the exam."
"Don't worry, I'm going to give it everything I've got. Those robots won't stand a chance." I declared, punching my palm for emphasis.
"No, they really won't." All Might agreed with a proud smile.
We returned to our companionable silence for a few minutes until it was time to leave.
"I know I'm a broken record, but humor me." All Might said as we made our way down the pier. "What are your restriction levels?"
I rolled my eyes good naturedly at All Might's worrying. "Five percent is comfortable, eight percent is painful, but manageable, and longer than five minutes at eight percent leads to microfractures. Ten percent is immediate microfractures, fifteen percent is partial fractures, twenty percent is full break, and anything over thirty completely trashes whatever limb I used, so may as well pump it to one hundred." I answered.
All Might spluttered blood before rebuking me. "No! Just because thirty percent disables your limb, doesn't mean you may as well just go all out. Higher percentages still increase the damage, even if there is no functional difference in terms of your ability to operate the limb afterwards. Like Recovery Girl said, repeated usage of one hundred percent at this stage could cause permanent damage."
Laughing at All Might's reprimand, I nodded in acquiescence. "I know, All Might. I'm just kidding."
"Sheesh kid, you're gonna be the death of me." All Might muttered with a shake of his head.
"Probably, yeah." I agreed.
Teacher and student shared a laugh as we made our way to All Might's car.
Leaning against the passenger door of All Might's station wagon, I poked my head partially in through the window. "Any last words of advice, old man?"
Carefully checking our surroundings to make sure none of the middle schoolers currently making their way towards the UA front entrance were paying attention, All Might puffed up into his muscle form.
"I told you to avoid going beyond your limits, but if you find yourself in a tough situation, clench your buttcheeks, and yell this from the depths of your heart. Smash!" All Might whisper shouted, grimacing as he accidentally dented the roof of his car when he thrust his fist upwards in imagined triumph.
"..."
I stared at him in silence for several seconds before he cracked under the pressure.
"You'll do great! Best of luck, young Midoriya!" All Might flashed a quick double thumbs up before punching it down the street towards the entrance to the staff garage.
Shaking my head at how the forty year veteran pro somehow managed to be both the best and worst teacher of all time, I turned and made my way down the street towards the main entrance.
UA really is impressive. It definitely looks a lot bigger in real life than it does in the anime. I wonder if-
"Deku?" I may have only spoken with him once after coming to this world, but Izuku's memories ensured I would never forget his voice, even if the use of my nickname hadn't been a dead giveaway as to the speaker's identity.
Turning to the source, I found Bakugou staring at me like I'd grown two heads.
I wonder if that expression is going to be a recurring theme in our conversations. Though here it makes sense I suppose. He was a bit taller than me previously, but now I've got about half a foot on him.
"Katsuki." I acknowledged with a short nod.
Bakugou stared at me with wide eyes for another few seconds, but just as I was about to continue on my way, he finally found his words.
"How the fuck? When the fuck did you get that tall?" he asked incredulously.
"It's a side effect of my quirk. Once I started putting on muscle, I kind of ballooned in terms of height." I answered disinterestedly.
Schooling his features, Bakugou finally returned to his usual sneer. "Tch, whatever. Get out of my way, nerd."
Sidestepping in order to avoid the attempted shoulder check, I waited until he had passed me before calling out. "Katsuki."
Coming to a halt, Bakugou looked up at the sky in irritation before glancing back over his shoulder at me. "What the fuck is it, Deku?"
Giving him a smirk, I decided to poke the bear. "Good luck."
As expected, Bakugou's eyes lit up and he barked back at me. "I don't need luck, I'm the fucking best!"
I snickered under my breath for a moment as he stomped off before following after him.
His words don't have the same bite they used to, so that's progress at least. Either way, we won't be sitting next to each other in all likelihood since I'm not an Aldera student anymore. Shit, I hadn't thought about how being homeschooled would affect my group. I might not be with Uraraka. I suppose it doesn't really matter. It isn't like the staff would let her get hurt… But wait, she received a good number of rescue points. Did she need those to pass, or was that just a buffer that elevated her into the top five? Shit. I guess there's no changing it now. I'll just have to hope she and I are in the same group.
As I mulled over the unforeseen potential consequences of my decision, I failed to notice a broken stone in the pathway leading to the main stairs. In what must have been an act of cosmic fate, I proceeded to clip the stone and take the expressway to the ground face first.
Didn't Izuku trip over himself? Am I at a different spot? Is Uraraka not here? I should probably brace myself if she isn't…
Luckily for me, Uraraka was indeed behind me, and mercifully rescued me from my indecision.
"Are you okay?" Uraraka asked.
Holding my hand out in front of me, I gently pushed the ground so that I began slowly spinning backward.
"Whoa. This feels awesome." I said, more to myself than Uraraka or the dozens of other students watching.
Giggling, Uraraka reached out and grabbed me before I could tilt too far backward, setting me back on the ground with a smile before releasing her quirk's hold on me. "I stopped you with my quirk. I'm sorry I didn't ask first, but I figured you wouldn't mind me catching you."
Returning her smile with one of my own, I waved my hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. Thanks for catching me. I'm Izuku Midoriya, are you here to take the hero exam too?"
"Yep, sure am. My name is Ochaco Uraraka." She replied with a happy nod. Uraraka glanced at the schoolhouse before averting her eyes off into the sky. "Man, isn't this like, way nerve wracking?"
I chuckled and shook my head. "With a quirk like that, you've got absolutely nothing to be worried about. You'll kill this exam and make a great hero." I reassured her with the brightest smile I could muster.
Looking back to me, Uraraka's smile returned. "Thank you. I needed that. I'm sure you'll do great too!" Noticing the surrounding students in a rush, Uraraka pulled out her phone in order to check the time. "Oh shoot, we better get inside before we're late. It was nice meeting you, Midoriya! I hope I see you again in class!" She yelled over her shoulder as she hurriedly made her way up the stairs.
"See you around, Uraraka!" I called after her.
She's just as adorable in reality as she is in the anime.
After several hours of mercilessly tedious written exams, I made my way to the auditorium and then my assigned seat. As expected, Bakugou was nowhere in sight, and I didn't recognize the people on either side of me. Settling in for Present Mic's extremely awkward attempts to rile up the crowd, I was surprised when many of the students responded to his cues.
I had continued Izuku's tradition of listening to Present Mic's radio show every morning while training, and I had to admit, he was pretty funny. The crowd's silence had seemingly just been a gag in the anime, and it made sense that in reality plenty of people would play along, especially his fans.
Iida's interruption on the other hand, was just as awkward as I remembered, and it felt like the entire auditorium let out a sigh of relief when he finally sat back down. With one final Plus Ultra from the assembled students, myself included, Present Mic dismissed us, and we followed the staff out to the buses that would take us to our assigned practical exam area.
A short ride later, and I was standing before the titanic gate to Battle Center B as it slowly opened in preparation for the beginning of the practical exam. I didn't remember which one Izuku had been assigned to canonically, but when I saw Iida standing off to the side, I knew I had managed to be sent to the same one despite my change of school.
Looking over the assembled students, there were a handful I recognized like Uraraka and Aoyama, but most were randoms I didn't know, or I only remembered from the entrance exam episode itself. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Present Mic climb out onto the exterior of the watchtower.
Alright, showtime.
Setting the timer on my watch to ten minutes, I lowered into a ready stance as Present Mic activated his speakers.
"RIGHT, LET'S START!"
Author's Note:
As you can see with Bakugou, he is still an asshole, but it's a bit less aggressive than it used to be. He listens (if begrudgingly) and drops fewer insults. His relationship with Izuku will become a bit more clear in the coming chapters, but for now I'll just say that it's better than it is at this point in canon, but it certainly isn't sunshine and roses.