Alright quick warning, there are going to be assholes that some people might not like. But it does kind of follow the trope of cultivation novels. Anyways, enjoy!
"START"
Immediately, the gates opened, and while the majority of examinees were confused, some were not.
Wakaba was one of them, using his large size and weight to shove other examinees out of the way, and purposely into the ground hard, as a way to eliminate the competition. He would use the excuse that he was 'eager', and 'panicked' when the instructor suddenly said start with no warning, and that the other examinees were just idling and in his way.
'Hehehe, good thing my uncle warned me about the sudden start,' thought Wakaba before noticing someone was running in front of him.
It was Izuku, who had already began running as soon as Present Mic said start.
'Asshole! I'm not letting some quirkless freak stand in front of me!' thought Wakaba as he raised his stolen staff.
Wakaba 'tripped' while putting all his strength on his swing, empowering it with his quirk, aiming for Izuku's skull.
"Watch out!" shouted Setsuna, who had also been running before detaching an eye to look around in time to see Wakaba's action.
'DIE!' screamed Wakaba in his mind mercilessly. Who cared if he killed the examinee, he was just a quirkless freak who didn't know his proper place in this world. He had generously offered Izuku a way out, now he needed to pay the price!
Izuku looked as if he didn't notice before suddenly shifting his body, leaning back and to the left, letting the rod harmlessly pass by him as it slammed into the ground. The asphalt cracked under the impact, causing a few chunks of asphalt and concrete to fly up into the air.
Izuku suddenly shifted his weight, raising his right leg before kicking the floating pieces forward. The pieces could be heard whistling through the air as two 1 point robots came out from the corner.
"Targ-" started the robot, only for the pieces to pierce right through its neck and eye, destroying them instantly.
Izuku stayed calm as he began dashing forward once more after landing, leaving the shocked Wakaba standing there. Wakaba noticed that Izuku's eyes seemed to be glowing purple, but didn't think about it much. A few seconds later, Wakaba began shouting into the air.
"Hey examiner! Those points are mine you hear! He stole my points! I was planning to swing my rod that is properly mine at the chunks I made and he stole it!" shouted Wakaba.
Wakaba would continue talking to the air for a minute before realizing he was wasting time, which led him to another rant that Izuku should be disqualified for distracting him, which made him waste his time even more. By the time he realized he should be going, he had already wasted five minutes. And with the exam being only ten minutes long…. he would need a miracle to catch up.
During Wakaba's continued ranting.
Izuku, along with everybody else, had ignored Wakaba ranting as they continued forward, trying to gather points. Just because he didn't have his requested staff didn't mean he couldn't be resourceful. There were plenty of resources to use, as U.A. never skimped on making a real city simulation. Izuku tore out a stop sign, using it as a weapon to smash a few robots before hurling it at another robot that was trying to sneak up on Yuga.
Yuga heard something crashing behind, and quickly turned around in time to see the stop sign piercing through a villain bot's body, causing it to freeze. Yuga quickly blasted the villain bot away before his eyes traced over to Izuku, noticing his throwing position.
"Merci!" shouted Yuga with a twinkle in his eyes.
Izuku gave him a thumbs up before jumping, shifting his body into an arc kick as he dodged another villain bot trying to sneak up on him and smashing its head in.
After smashing its head in, Izuku used it as a footstool to launch himself upwards, scaling a street light pole to give himself a higher vantage point to scout where to go next.
"Wish I could use the grappling hook I made," muttered Izuku as he used Purple Demon Eye to enhance his view. He was referring to the Flying God Claw, but Izuku preferred the simple name over its flowery name.
Still, Izuku didn't spend much time begrudging over it. He couldn't always depend on having it in his arsenal despite his artifact allowed him to do such a thing. Izuku launched himself towards some villain bots that had yet to be discovered, hiding in a corner to ambush their prey.
Before the bots could react, Izuku tore one apart with his bare hands. The Mysterious Jade Hands allowed him to harden his whole hands, allowing him to punch through steel with ease. Pulling his fist out, Izuku admired his now white and smoky hands before grabbing a piece of wreckage and hurling it a 3 point villain bot, lodging the piece into its head. Before it could react, Izuku slammed the lodged piece with a palm strike, causing it to go deeper into its hard drive and destroying it. The other 2 point villain bot tried to stab Izuku with its stinger, only for Izuku to suddenly disappear from its sight. The bot barely had time to register anything before Izuku shut it down by slapping the red button that was hidden at the base of its neck.
"So they do have another way to get points besides destroying it," muttered Izuku as he landed. He had noticed it when using Purple Demon Eye, having raised it to the Detailed realm some time ago.
In another room full of screens, the staff of U.A along with supporting members were watching the examinees. Each testing arena had many cameras embedded so that it was impossible to not monitor each student. Not to mention there was a personal camera that each student was carrying in the form of a wristband that was mandated so they could also verify point scores.
While eyes were naturally drawn to those with flashy quirks or more suitable for combat, Toshinori Yagi's eyes were scanning for someone in particular. Someone with green hair and freckles.
'Where is he?' pondered Toshinori as scanned through the screens, all while palming the bottle, still in his pocket. He never left without it, as a reminder of his own hypocrisy and to do better.
"Any students catching your eyes?" asked Nezu, sitting right next to the currently emaciated All Might.
As of right now, nobody besides Nezu and U.A's head doctor, Chiyo Shuzenji, aka Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl, knew that the very unhealthy and skinny man sitting within the judgement area was actually All Might. They only knew him as a special guest that Nezu had invited in.
"Some," said Toshinori distractedly while scanning through the screens.
"Something else distracting you?" asked Nezu.
"Nothing important," replied Toshinori, "Just something I have to do personally."
Nezu understood that Toshinori would not clarify on the matter despite the fact that finding a successor should be the highest priority. It was personal for the man, and Nezu did not feel the need to pry open its secrets…. for now.
It took awhile, but Toshinori finally found whom he was looking for. Discreetly, Toshonri pulled out a tablet that each judge was given and had it pull up the camera that it was currently filming.
"Izuku Midoriya," murmured Toshinori to himself as he managed to find the name of the examinee he was watching.
Toshinori witnessed Izuku going through the bots with ease despite not having a quirk. He noticed Izuku using anything on hand, including pieces of wreckage from the villain bots to rocks on the ground.
'Resourceful,' nodded Toshinori as he glanced up in time to see another examinee panicking as he needed time to recharge his quirk, something villains would certainly never let heroes do, 'Perhaps because he doesn't have a quirk that he doesn't rely on it primarily. He uses anything and everything on hand, including his own body. He's not stuck on being a one-trick pony like a lot of the examinees are exhibiting. He's certainly more prepared than I was at his age.'
"Finally that idiot's moving," laughed an examiner, causing a few to glance over to see Wakaba starting to move, "Idiot stood there for five minutes ranting up in the air. Did he forget that the exam's on a time limit? And that speech, oh man, if he became a hero, he might bore the villain to death with his monologue."
Toshinori resumed watching Izuku tearing through another bot while providing another examinee an opening with a well placed kick that shot a metal plate into the wheel of a three point villain bot, causing it to stall out, giving the examinee time to destroy it.
Instead of thanking Izuku though, the examinee shouted that the point was his and ran off. Toshinori frowned, wondering if this exam was a proper measurement and attitude. It was different from his own, but then again, U.A. didn't have this sort of money to create such things until later, when Nezu became the dean.
Though Izuku would be receiving rescue points for the assist, a hidden function of gaining points that had purposely been left out of Mic's speech.
Toshinori glanced at a few others, who were commenting about some other students before noticing it was time to hit the Yaruki button.
Izuku took a deep breath as he finished shutting down a three pointer villain bot before he heard Present Mic announced that there were two minutes left. Mentally adding everything up, Izuku calculated that he had roughly 50 points. He would've had more, but he did spend some time helping some other examinees from being ambushed or helped give them an opening. While some thanked him, others glared at him before stating he was an idiot and the points were theirs before rushing off to find more villain bots.
Izuku shrugged it off. They weren't his enemies, and a hero wouldn't let anyone be harmed if he could've done something to prevent it.
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble as the 4th villain bot revealed itself, towering over the most of the buildings in the area. One stomp caused streets to fracture, one swipe made the winds howl in their ears.
The most common reaction was to flee, and that was what the majority of students did. Only a few, such as Katsuki, dared to continue hunting more bots, confident in their own abilities to flee if necessary.
Izuku turned to leave when he heard someone groan in pain. Quickly turning his head back, his ears and eyes found the source. Another examinee, a female with low curved pigtails and ear length bangs parted to the side was on the ground, her head bleeding. A stray rock had slammed into her head, leaving her dazed and confused.
Izuku didn't hesitate to rush towards the girl, passing by Tenya, who paused to wonder why Izuku wasn't running like the others. His eyes traced down the road before seeing a hurt examinee. At that moment, Tenya hesitated. He was sure that with his speed, he could reach the girl faster than Izuku, but was it worth possibly losing his points and his chances at U.A.? When that question resounded in his head, Tenya focused on Izuku for a second. There was no trace of hesitation in his eyes or face, he was helping the girl regardless of what the outcome would be.
Izuku reached over to the hurt examinee, examining her injuries before quickly lifting up her bridal style.
"What are you doing?" slurred the examinee, but Izuku ignored her feeble protests as he quickly carried her away.
"I'll take her to safety, I'm faster," offered Tenya as he shook off his hesitation.
Izuku nodded as he passed her over to him, not wanting to argue over pride. It was one thing to be proud of something, it was another thing if it hurt others.
Izuku looked around to see if there were more injured before noticing Setsuna's head floating in the air.
"Tokage-san!" shouted Izuku, getting her attention, "Do you see anyone injured?"
Setsuna sent a hand and ear over to Izuku, raising up two fingers.
"Show me the way. I can help," said Izuku.
Setsuna made her limbs move, floating towards an area where the rest of her body was gathering. Izuku quickly followed her, finding two more examinees groaning in pain. Checking them over, Izuku saw that they had minor injuries, a sprained ankle and a bruised wrist. Izuku quickly took the heavier examinee, putting his arm over his shoulder, while Setsuna lifted the lighter one up. Luckily, the giant bot wasn't facing towards them, so they managed to escape without attracting its attention.
As they were moving, Izuku felt his instincts blare out danger. Izuku quickly used his Demon Purple Eyes, scanning where the danger was. Time slowed down for Izuku before he saw Wakaba running forward, his staff raised high into the air.
Wakaba was angry. He only realized that he had wasted half of the exam time arguing for two points, and by the time he managed to find some villain bots, there was only two minutes left. He had only gotten six points, all by rather dubious means like kill stealing other people's bots. It was obvious he would not pass the exam with just that, and that made him angry.
'It's all the quirkless brat's fault! Without him, I would've passed the recommendation exam!' shouted Wakaba, finding his logic to be 'impeccable' despite the fact Izuku had never even met him, 'And now he's going to make me fail this exam! I'll show him what it means to cross me!'
Wakaba, in his mind, thought Izuku wouldn't pass due to his quirkless status. So he wanted revenge, and as soon as he spotted Izuku, he made up his mind.
If Izuku was harmed, he would use his family's influence to push it down. Even if he refused, it wasn't as if the boy had some sort of supreme backing behind him.
'If anything, he should be considered blessed to be a target for me, elevating his existence,' thought Wakaba.
Since he was going to fail, he wanted to make sure the other boy lived a handicapped life, unable to truly do anything with the brain damage he was going to cause. Wakaba theorized that even if the boy died, he would be blameless and walk free without guilt.
And so, Wakaba threw the staff at Izuku's head with all his strength, augmented by his quirk.
"Watch out!" shouted Setsuna when saw Wakaba hurling the staff like a javelin at Izuku's head, her body already splitting apart.
Setsuna tried to send her body parts to intercept and hopefully block the staff with said limbs. Even if they were damaged or destroyed, she could regenerate them with rest. However, they moved too sluggishly for her own liking. She had been using it to destroy villain bots, save a few examinees from being hit, and acting as a distraction while her hand silently slammed the shut down button. In short, she was tired and out of stamina, and was unable to intercept.
Izuku's gaze, however, was completely calm. While his right hand was helping steady the hurt examinee, his left hand was free. Quickly summoning a stone from his artifact, Izuku threw the stone at the staff at an angle, causing it to divert from its original path ever so slightly. The staff deviated the left and slightly up, enough that Izuku had to 'move' his head to the side to dodge it. He allowed it to scruff past his hair, taking some off but unharmed.
The staff continued its path until it hit the 0-pointer villain bot… and did absolutely nothing to it. It was, however, considered an attack against it.
Wakaba paled at the thought of losing all his points that he stood there in shock as the 0 pointer began to turn towards it, his legs shaking in fear that yellow liquid began to seep down his pants.
"TIME'S UP!" announced Present Mic, ending the exam and 'saving' Wakaba.
The boy stood there in shock and fear as other examinees passed him, giving him a look of disgust as the smell of urine hit them. It wasn't until a staff member doing final checks finally noticed Wakaba standing there, and he was reluctant to even touch Wakaba. Recovery Girl absolutely refused to touch him, though it was easy to see the boy wasn't even harmed, just in shock.
"HAHAHAHA!" laughed Setsuna as the students were dismissed, lining up to pick up their cellphones and other personal items, "Did you see that fat idiot's face!?"
"Tokage, it's not nice to laugh at other people's misery," chided Izuku lightly, though his face also held a grin.
"I hope he gets disqualified for that shit he pulled," huffed Setsuna, "Asshole tried to hit you twice on purpose now. No way the examiners didn't see that."
Izuku shrugged at that. He had felt worse killing intent when he had gone to the training realm.
Soon, they collected their personal belongings and were walking out when Setsuna held up her phone.
"Hey, give me your number. I wouldn't mind hanging out with you if we have some free time," offered Setsuna.
Izuku saw no harm in it and exchanged numbers.
"Hopefully your girls won't get jealous of another girl hanging out with you," teased Setsuna, "Who knows, maybe I'll join their little group."
Izuku lightly blushed before saying goodbye to Setsuna. It was only day one of two days of testing, so there was no reason to celebrate until after the second day.
As Izuku was getting on the train, he saw a text coming from Setsuna.
And you can call me by my first name, Setsuna, if you don't mind me calling you Izuku.- Setsuna.
Izuku smiled at gaining a new friend in this world… though he should consider getting some male friends too. Katsuki counted… technically, but it wouldn't hurt to expand.
Just as Izuku was about to leave, he heard someone from behind.
"Umm, excuse me," said the voice, "You're the one who saved me, right?"
Izuku turned around to see it was the girl that he had saved before passing her to Tenya.
"My name is Togeiki Chikuchi," introduced the girl, "Thank you for saving me while everybody else just ran past me!"
"Don't worry about it," smiled Izuku, "I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt."
"Recovery Girl saw to that," nodded Chikuchi, "I know I didn't get enough points to make it into the Hero Course, but I hope you do!"
With that, Chikuchi quickly walked away, her face blushing.
Second day testing
As all students were finishing up with the exams, a staff member was sneaking his way into a computer, pulling up student records. While the rescue points had yet to be counted for, the villain points were already tabulated.
"Ka…. Ka..," muttered the staff member before he found it. Then, in another window, he pulled up Izuku's name.
"Remember kid, you're just a quirkless brat who doesn't know how big the world is. There are some people you can't offend, especially as a nobody," grinned the staff member as he deleted Izuku's score of 57 villain points, putting a fat 0 while giving Wakaba an additional 57 points.
Why would the staff member do such a thing? He was actually the same person who had been responsible for dispensing support gear in Izuku's exam group, and also Wakaba's uncle.
"Nobody would care about that brat," hummed the staff member, "Even if he does cry foul, we can just shut him up easily. Plus we can say that it was his staff that hit the 0 pointer, since it's technically registered to him."
Wakaba's uncle left with a grin on his face, closing and locking the door. Slowly, the vent to the said room opened up to reveal Nezu with a ferocious grin on his face.
"Well, well, well, look at what we have here?" mused Nezu as he landed in front of the computer. He logged onto the computer, noticing what the man had down, putting his furry hand to his chin.
"Obviously the points should be corrected to its proper place, but what fun can I have with this Wakaba Ka?" mused Nezu as he began tapping the keyboard.
Izuku's points were properly restored while Wakaba's points were back to just six. Then Nezu put a note stating he was disqualified for such blatant acts of sabotage, with an e-mail to all other accredited universities with hero courses about said examinee, effectively giving him a black mark with no chance of ever becoming a hero.
"Now then, for the other cadaver," mused Nezu, not bothering to correct himself. In his mind, that staff member would become one soon anyways.
"Wakaba Taisho," hummed Nezu as he pulled up the said staff member's file, "He's definitely not an employee of U.A., otherwise he'd be fired years ago. Ah, he's a loan staff member from the Hero Public Safety Commission. More blackmail for me, how generous of them to give me a belated birthday gift."
The U.A. entrance exams hosted too many examinees trying out that the usual U.A. staff would not be able to handle the workload. So they would have temporary hires or loans from other agencies or those willing to volunteer. Usually Nezu only accepted temporary hires with no real authority than just basic monitoring or volunteers from other hero agencies he felt were trustworthy, but the HPSC almost managed to put some of their staff members in on such occasions.
While Nezu was not an anarchist, and he worked with the government and had some government employees that he liked, he and the current HPSC got along like oil and water. Or oil and fire, with the result being everything being destroyed, depending on how people looked at it. Really, it was like a cold war between the two, with each one itching to blow the other up. It had gone slightly down, but only very slightly, when the previous president of the HPSC 'retired' and a new one took his place.
Nezu hummed as he finished correcting everything, double checking all scores by bringing up another copy of the scores that he had backed up at midnight to ensure no other changes had been made before locking the scores with his own personal password that nobody knew. He could've done so at midnight, but the fact that it could be used as bait against the HPSC was too tempting.
With that, Nezu slipped back into the vent.
"And done!" cheered Ochako as they were at Izuku's home to celebrate the ending of their entrance exam.
"Cheers!" exclaimed everyone as they raised their cups in reply.
Whether they were confident they passed or not, they were all damn tired from the tests they had to go through, and wanted to take a break. So a private party had been organized with parental supervision. Momo had ordered an extra large sushi boat for them all to eat with real wasabi, along with some other food such as ramen or any high carb food to replenish themselves.
Izuku, Ochako, Itsuka, and Yui ate the most, considering they had gone through the most intensive exams of their life and needed to replenish themselves. What made it more enjoyable was not only did Izuku's father find the time to celebrate, but all three of Izuku's masters were there to celebrate, along with their wives.
While everyone was mingling, Izuku met with his masters in private in another room.
"Well then, our disciple is growing up!" laughed Yang Kai as he rubbed Izuku's head, making a mess of his already fluffy hair.
"So how'd you feel you did?" asked Nie Li.
"Good, I think I got around 55 points," said Izuku, "Would've gotten more if I didn't try to help others."
"Just shows how good your situational awareness is," complimented Tang San, "If you focus only on what's in front of you, you may miss out on the bigger picture and the war itself. But enough about that. Since you are graduating 'high school', that means you are an adult in the eyes of your society."
All three masters were confused about the education system that Izuku attended, but chose not to comment on it as it wasn't their society. Plus the fact that even commoners could get an education seemed good for them, and were planning to introduce such systems in their own world for the more common people.
"And so, we have been told that it is common to have these graduation gifts. And since you are our student, it is only fair that we participate in such things," smiled Tang San as he pulled out a jade green herb with three snow white leaves, "This is the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew. This will improve your Purple Demon Eyes immensely to Mustard Seed level. Just squeeze the dew drops into the eye before you cultivate it."
"While that's useful, you'll love mine," bragged Yang Kai as he barged in after Tang San gave Izuku the herb as well as some notes on constructing some of the hidden weapons, "Here, take this. It's the Myriad Drug Cream that my wife helped make."
Yang Kai pulled out a 40 ounce hydro flask from his storage ring to showcase it, "Just put a drop of this in a cup of water once a day only. This will improve your cultivation and cleanse your body of impurities and promote longevity. This should be more than enough to use until you can't feel its effects anymore, meaning your body has been cleansed to its peak, making you no different than the 'geniuses' at birth. Of course, this means you can share some with your friends if you want to, though the same restriction applies."
Yang Kai had not brought this out earlier in Izuku's training because he wanted Izuku to have a firm and solid foundation before using it.
"Oh, and a spare storage artifact," chimed in Yang Kai as he held out a belt with 24 milky white jades evenly distributed on it, "Tang San wanted one crafted for you so you didn't always have to depend on the sealed world orb to pull out any hidden weapons needed. Also he mentioned that it was a right of passage for Tang Sect members to have one."
"Hehehe, you all gave him some nice gifts, but I got him the best one!" bragged Nie Li as his nose was pointed up into the air, "Behold! My graduation gift!"
Nie Li held out a colored orb in front of Izuku, who looked at it in confusion. It became clear when Izuku saw something moving inside it.
"It's a demon spirit, more importantly a dragon type one," explained Nie Li, "It's time for you to have a demon spirit now. Your soul realm is strong enough to contain it. I made an extraordinary growth level rate for now, and I'll upgrade it to god growth when you're stronger. Considering its type, I think it fits you quite well. Don't integrate it right now, do it later. Go ahead and cultivate Tang San's gift first along with Yang Kai. Wait about 5 days of using the cream before integrating it."
"Thank you masters!" bowed Izuku in gratitude, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.
"You've been carrying a great weight in your heart all this time haven't you?" sighed Tang San as he gently pushed Izuku back straight, "Remember what Yang Kai told you? We took you in because of the strength of your character, not because of your skills or strengths. So long as you stand strong and proud in the path you've chosen and never turn away from it, we will support you. So stand tall and proud, for we certainly are proud of you."
Izuku didn't hold back as tears sprouted from his eyes like geysers, causing the trio to chuckle at Izuku's state.
Five days later at U.A. university.
Dean Nezu was having a faculty meeting in regards of finalizing the results as well as which student would be going to which class. Attending the meeting, much to his disdain, was the current HPSC male president, Minise Mikari as the government representative. As much as Nezu wanted to completely own U.A., he wasn't allowed to do so with the checks and balances placed into the system. To be fair, he was training future heroes to work as government employees, so it could be argued that the government needed a voice and eye over his university. Currently, thanks to using shell companies and various dubious means that are borderline illegal, Nezu did own 90% of U.A. The 10% belonged to various government agencies.
"So it is official," started Nezu as he pulled up the students that had been accepted into the Hero Course, "These will be our new students for the upcoming semester."
There were a total of 42 names on the list that was going to be split in half. 1-A was led by Aizawa Shota, aka Eraser Head, while 1-B would be led by Sekijiro Kan, aka Vlad King. Usually, 4 recommended students and 36-38 top scoring students would join the hero course. The reason for the variance was that homeroom teachers could put in their own recommendation outside the exams. Vlad King had done a few during his tenure while Eraser Head had zero on his. This, of course, put the hero who recommended said person at risk in his reputation and job if said recommendation was a failure, but so far, Vlad King had none.
"My recommendation is up there right?" clarified Vlad King, having submitted his recommendations months ago.
"Yes, she is there," nodded Nezu, appreciative that Vlad King was so organized with his work ethic. A bit bombastic, but still someone Nezu enjoyed working with as having a neat work ethic meant less paperwork.
"Now then, I've already devised how the class will be separated," began Nezu as he clicked on a clicker, making the names move to two separate columns, "You may notice that-"
That was when Eraser Head interrupted, "Sorry, but I'm putting up a recommendation too."
Nezu blinked before clicking his tongue in irritation for a second, taking a moment to mask his emotions before replying, "Well that's a surprise. You've never taken a student in before during your tenure here? Just who exactly has caught your eye? And I suppose I'll need to move the lowest score to the general course."
"Hitoshi Shinso, and I've already chosen the student he'll be replacing," stated Eraser Head as he tapped a few buttons on his phone.
On the screen itself, Izuku's name was hi-lighted before being deleted and replaced with Hitoshi's name.
"Done. Now we can continue," said Eraser Head without a care about who's future he had crushed.
"Now hold up!" shouted Toshinori, currently in his All Might form, "Midoriya Izuku has more than earned his spot in the Hero Course!"
Toshinori glanced at Nezu, who immediately pulled up Izuku's score, "Look at that. 57 villain points and 43 rescue points, totaling to 100 points. In fact, he's the current leader in the leaderboard! Why would you dismiss such a potential candidate for…."
As Toshinori paused, Nezu pulled out Hitoshi Shinso's records besides Izuku.
"Someone who only got 4 villain points and 15 rescue points, with a total of just 19. The difference is just too vast. It makes no sense to disqualify the top candidate for…. this. Not to mention on the written exam, Midoriya scored nearly 100%. Shinso scored 85%, which is impressive, but to just drop Midoriya out of the hero course is too drastic! It's too irrational as you would say!"
"Accepting Midoriya is irrational," replied Eraser Head, causing the staff to turn towards him, "Midoriya is strong, no doubt. But the key difference is here."
Eraser Head clicked on his tablet, revealing the quirk status of said candidates. On Shinso's status, it was revealed that his quirk was brainwashing, causing quite a stir among the staff. On Izuku's own, it was clearly written in red that he was quirkless.
"The entrance exam is biased to those with flashy quirks. Hitoshi was unable to use his quirk on the villain bots, otherwise he would've gotten a higher score," explained Eraser Head.
"But Midoriya has no quirk, and yet he was able to get so many points," argued All Might, "Even excluding him, there was another female examinee who's quirk made her invisible, and yet she was able to garner enough points to pass, granted she just barely made it past the cutoff. No offense to Hitoshi's body, but based on their profile pictures we have here, Midoriya has clearly been training while Hitoshi….. well he's not fat, but he doesn't look like he's been training as hard as Midoriya."
"And that's the difference," said Eraser Head coldly, "Midoriya has already hit his peak while Hitoshi has the potential to do the same, but also has a quirk. Accepting Midoriya into the hero course would be irrational as he would only plateau in his current state, unable to improve or assist while the other students grow stronger. I can train Hitoshi to become just as strong, and I'm willing to bet that if the two were to fight, Hitoshi would easily win."
All Might felt the winds changing as more staff seemed to agree, along with the HPSC president, and frowned. This…. This wasn't fair! True the world was 'unfair', as Shota would quote, but this went beyond that. This was clearly a bias and injustice against quirkless people, and to him, it rankled deeply within him. Especially after his talk with Izuku at the rooftops. He couldn't' help but thumb the bottle that the boy had given him.
"Hold on, I can't agree to that," shouted Present Mic, voicing his displeasure, "The boy clearly has the right attitude, it would be unfair to just disqualify him just because of his quirk status!"
Present Mic liked Izuku as being the only one who was willing to answer him during the presentation.
"This world is unfair," snorted Eraser Head, "We would be foolish to send someone with no powers to be a hero. Midoriya can join the police force if he wants to, but a hero is a first-responder to many situations, and he would only hold others back, being unable to do anything. Also, as the homeroom teacher of 1-A, I have the freedom to do whatever we want about the circumstances of our students. So even if he does make it in, I'm expelling Midoriya out of the Heroic's course the moment he sets foot into U.A. He can join the General Education, but no amount of complaining or crying will change my mind. I'm just moving up the time table."
"Shota!" said Midnight, a very curvaceous lady with long thick spiky purple hair, "That's outrageous, even for the amount of freedom we're allowed! To expel a student who hasn't even started, nor has done anything to deserve this treatment!"
"You may hold me in contempt for this, but believe me, this will be better for the long run," said Eraser Head, "It is irrational to feed someone with a pipe dream."
"I…. can't help but agree with him," said Ectoplasm, another hero staff member who looked down at his fake legs, "The world of heroes is a dangerous place, even for us. I've lost my legs in a villain attack, but if it wasn't for my quirk to create clones of myself, I would've lost more, even my life. Midoriya doesn't have that to fall back on."
"I don't agree," argued Vlad King, "He has potential to shine, nor does he deserve to be booted out with his score. He is clearly passionate about becoming a hero. Look at his rescue points! He aided others when most other examinees wouldn't. He has the highest out of all of them! Is that not what we look for in heroes? Is that not why we have them!?"
Arguments began to fly back and forth, letting Toshinori feel helpless until a loud clap could be heard. Everyone turned to the source to see it was the HPSC president who had made the noise.
"I believe we've let this argument run long enough," said the HPSC President Minise, "Indeed, I have questions about the qualifications of two of the candidates. Midoriya is one of them, and the other I have concerns about is Vlad's own recommendation, Toga Himiko."
Vlad King clenched his fist at that. Himiko was someone whom he had discovered by coincidence, mainly when he attended a family reunion. Himiko had been present with her parents, being silent and never speaking unless ordered to by her parents. But Vlad King could see the cracks on her mask starting to break, and knew if it broke, it would be disastrous. According to their relationship, Vlad King was Himiko's mother's cousin three times removed, so he could claim he was Himiko's 'uncle'. He knew his cousin's personality as being a strict control freak that wanted to remove anything 'freakish'.
Not only that, Vlad could see that Himiko was suffering some sort of withdrawal of some vital nutrients that was very similar to his own. His own diet included the increased need for blood, as his quirk operated on using his own blood. So Vlad managed to sneak Himiko away for a private conversation, and upon learning that she also needed blood and was being denied such a basic need because it was seen as freakish, Vlad exploded. Himiko didn't even know that she needed blood, just that she craved it but her parents kept denying it, telling her it wasn't normal. Even the so-called 'counselor' that Himiko had been bought to told her it wasn't 'normal'.
Vlad scoffed at the third-rate counselor as he brought out an emergency blood pack he always carried and had Himiko drink it. He could see Himiko hesitating before she could no longer resist and biting in, relishing the blood going through her body with a bloody insane smile that would freak most people out, but not Vlad.
Vlad confronted the said parents, and after a long and bloodless argument (though Vlad would very much to have preferred it be bloody) Vlad adopted Himiko as his niece and sent to live with him. It was there that he discovered how much of a rare gem Himiko was when he was exercising with her.
With the need for blood, Vlad had Himiko working out to increase the efficiency of her blood flow to lower the need for blood, something her parents had always disdained. Vlad discovered Himiko's talent for reading others, her insane cat-like reflexes, flexibility, and being able to naturally daggers. So when Vlad asked if she wanted to be a hero under his recommendation, Himiko cried and said yes.
But despite all this, Himiko did have a rather dark history, including attempted stabbings and other 'freakish' incidents that her parents did nothing to help.
And now, her position was being threatened. It was clear in Vlad's eyes that the HPSC was using this to force Vlad in a position that would be advantageous to the HPSC. No doubt that Eraser Head's discovery of Hitoshi had been perpetrated by them.
Nezu hissed a little, knowing this was the HPSC trying to get a petty comeback at them. Nezu had exploited his blackmail material on Wakaba already to get what he wanted, and Minise had to grit his teeth and comply with it. Now he was trying to threaten another upcoming student.
"Then again, I suppose since it is the recommendation from Vlad King, who has had several successful recommendations already, there should be no problems with this one," stated Minise, "Why don't we put this to a vote on this Midoriya Izuku? I do remember that you mentioned the 4th villain bot would cause an examinee's score to zero out if attacked, and the staff that attacked it belonged to Midoriya."
Eraser Head obviously voted to expel Midoriya, along with Snipe and Ectoplasm and a few others. Vlad King hesitated, noticing the HPSC's stare at him before glancing at Nezu, who sighed and nodded, before raising his hand to vote against Midoriya. Though it pained him to do so, he wanted to protect his niece.
Toshinori huffed and was about to vote for Midoriya when Eraser Head's voice cut through, "You're not officially part of the staff, so you have no vote."
While Present Mic, Midnight, and others refused to vote against Midoriya, all that was required to remove a student from the Hero Course was the HPSC input along with one of the homeroom teachers of the U.A. hero course, along with two or more votes from the staff. Nezu wasn't allowed to vote, being the Dean of U.A. university.
"Well then it's official," clapped Minise, "Though he showed a good showing, Midoriya Izuku's enrollment to the Hero Course will be terminated. In fact, we should probably send him a letter of rejection from U.A. altogether, and perhaps a black mark to prevent him from attempting to join a Hero Course from any university, as well as any courses even remotely related to-"
His speech was interrupted when he felt his phone ring. Quickly peeking at it, he paled when he saw it was from Nezu, with an attachment of no doubt another blackmail piece. Minise glanced at Nezu, who merely smiled as his paw hovered the screen, ready to mass send it to everyone.
"Then again, that may be going too far," coughed Minese, "No, perhaps this will open his eyes that not everybody can be heroes, no matter how much training one puts in. Though his talents may lay in other fields, and in the long run, he will thank us for this."
With that, the meeting was finished with the students organized into which class they would be attending.
Hour later
Nezu sat in his comfy chair, staring at his tablet from the umpteenth time as he had to compose that damning letter to Midoriya that he was rejected. Eraser Head suggested that because the staff was his, he had lost all his points due to the attack against the 0-point villain bot, and that it was his fault for losing it in the midst of battle, despite the obvious proof it had been stolen from him by a disgruntled student and a staff member. Eraser Head hadn't bothered to review that footage, deeming it unnecessary.
Nezu merely glared at him, causing Eraser Head to raise his hands in surrender before leaving, though not before mentioning that he would volunteer to record the rejection letter if needed.
The door opened up once more as Nezu took another sip of his tea to reveal two female figures, one who strode in and sat on the chair directly in front of Nezu while the other stood by the door, her eyes flashing everywhere as a dutiful bodyguard. Both of them were wearing HPSC badges.
"So….. not doing well?" asked the female after a minute, letting Nezu finish his tea.
"Depends," said Nezu, his eyes flashing as he poured himself another cup of tea.
"I heard," said the woman, "And I don't agree with the president's decision, but it is out of my hands for now."
"... You're one of the few ones that I would launch out of a cannon and maybe regret it, Mrs. Liza Halsey" said Nezu bluntly
The female chuckled, "Coming from you, that's high praise."
At one point of time, this person would've become someone known as Madam President after her predecessor died. But instead of assuming the spot, she threw her whole career at risk to save a hero she knew didn't deserve to be lambasted for her actions. In the end, she managed to save said hero at the almost cost of said career. She was instead shifted aside as Minise rose to power, who shared the same egotistical view of his predecessor. Liza never regretted her actions, as it led to her current bodyguard who had protected her from many incidents, and was also currently in line to being the guardian of her younger family members if anything happened to her. The one who was currently in the room with her, known as Tsutumi Kaina, aka Lady Nagant. And while she did not hold the prestigious position of being the president, her power base was not something to be overlooked either.
"Should I assume that you want someone to be shot?" asked Kaina with a sarcastic tone, "Because I'm out of that business for a long time."
"No no, though if you wish, you can be plan M," said Nezu whimsically, "Sometimes it just feels better to be the one doing it."
Kaina shivered on the fact that Nezu apparently had 12 other contingency plans in place already, and maybe more.
"So what do you plan to do?" asked Liza, "You managed to prevent the boy from being downright slandered and shut sideways, but there's still the fact he did achieve an impressive score without a quirk. Too many people think you need a powerful quirk just to do what is right. But in the end, justice without power is just helplessness."
Nezu remained silent before tapping on his desk for a little, causing everyone inside to get slightly nervous.
"Did you know?" asked Nezu as he finally spoke out, "That Midoriya is the victim of the Aldera Middle School Case?"
Liza and Kaina winced at that. That had been a very big case that Nezu had went on a 'killing spree', so to speak. Nezu had always been an advocate against bigotry and racism due to his own experiences, and added to the fact the famous Yaoyorozu family even funded his said rampage was even more destructive. One hero had foolishly tried to intervene against the two giants, and had been forcefully retired and 'went on vacation'. Nobody had heard of him since then.
"Wait….. That means he has some sort of connections with the Yaoyorozu family," said Liza slowly, "And you didn't warn them about the possibility of facing backlash from them?"
"It is hardly my fault that they never read my reports," scoffed Nezu, "But this still remains, as much as I enjoy working with Morino Yaorozu on those who deserve it, Midoriya has done nothing to warrant this sort of treatment. If this gets out, U.A. is most likely liable to be sued on the grounds of favoritism and bigotry, and they will have grounds for it. Not to also mention that the HPSC will be dragged into this."
Liza frowned at Nezu's words, especially the fact he used 'will be', not 'may be', meaning that he would drag them down, and possibly be thrown into the firing line as a scapegoat without guilt.
Still, he was right, the boy had been unjustly treated without cause. The core matter is what they could do to alleviate the upcoming storm.
"And I suppose the data in regards to the scores was somehow 'leaked'?" asked Liza.
"Yes, but not in the way you're thinking," sighed Nezu, "Somehow, despite Power Loader's best efforts in creating an impenetrable security system, which as you know is rated perhaps the highest, with only a few exceptions that exceed its defense, was somehow breached. Nothing vital was stolen, though the scores on the entrance exam were copied. Though it is unknown who the hacker is, no doubt it is going to make its way to the Yaoyorozu family. They have a very special interest in Midoriya. I went through the files and found out that they even bought the land Midoriya currently resides in and practically gifted it to him, manor included. It is unknown how they are connected, but it just is. Power Loader has managed to somewhat trace the hacker's pathway, but he lost it mid route. Though he says he recognizes the hacking logarithm, and says the hacker, whomever it may be, is actually relatively harmless, never leaking important data."
"Impressive," hummed Liza, "Though no doubt they'll claim they got it from the HPSC?"
"Naturally," said Nezu without batting an eye, "I had that file saved into the HPSC system."
"Perhaps I have a suggestion?" recommended Kaina, inserting herself into the conversation, "Though I am considered retired from hero duty, I still have my skills and experiences as a hero. From what I've gathered, Midoriya Izuku has obviously trained himself, and is quite intelligent based on his exams. I could take him on as an apprentice, and let him garner real-time experience with me as an intern. It may not be U.A., but it's better than nothing."
"A kind gesture, one that I can put as plan E for now," smiled Nezu, "But I have my own eye on the boy."
Liza raised an eyebrow, to which Nezu passed a document over to Liza.
"Back during the whole Aldera scandal, Midoriya approached me for an autograph. He passed me a notebook, which I noted was called Future Hero Analysis Vol. 10. So while I flipped through the pages, I also perused a few and took a few photos with my hidden camera before I signed it. What does this tell you?"
Liza scanned through the document, her face making very minute gestures before taking a deep breath.
"He did this in middle school?" asked Liza, getting a nod, "I can see why this caught your eye. Only 12 years old, and he's already outdoing specialized quirk analysts and counselors who have just graduated. If he's been keeping this up, no doubt he'll outdo most of the senior analysts when he enters U.A. with this talent."
Nezu nodded, "So with that being said, I'm afraid I'll have to cut this meeting short. I have others to see."
Liza stood up and left, with Kaina following behind him.
Nezu took this time to close his beady little eyes, preparing himself for the next meeting he needed to go through. A few minutes later, Toshinori entered, already deflated to his true form.
"Nezu, there has to be something we can do!" exclaimed Toshinori, his fist pounding on the desk, "The boy does not deserve to be railroaded like this!"
"You seem more eager to defend this Midoriya," said Nezu lightly, "Perhaps a possible successor?"
Toshinori hesitated for a second, catching Nezu's eyes as he continued, "Or something more? The boy is well trained, clearly has a good muscle structure, and knows how to fight. The way he moves shows efficiency, and finally, instead of focusing only on fighting villains to gain points, he instead helped others without hesitation. Even when others insulted him, he kept going with due diligence. And finally, even when the 0 point villain bot was revealed, his first priority was not to run, but to ensure other examinees made it safely. All while being sabotaged by another examinee. So what else would you want? Surely not something else?"
Toshinori knew what Nezu was hinting at and shook his head, "I admit, he is a very good potential successor, and you know I do not care about whether a person's quirk is powerful or not, or if it's even there. No, I want to….. No I need to meet him before anything else. I need to apologize to him."
Toshinori took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He could still see Izuku's face of cold fury at his words, and knew he was wrong. Not only that, but recently, he had a dream about Nana. Except on Nana's face wasn't a smile, but rather a look of disappointment. Those two faces hurt him much more than All for One could ever do.
"I met Midoriya about ten months ago. I had been chasing after the slime villain, and when I found the villain, he was attacking Midoriya, who easily dodged his attacks. I captured him into a bottle and foolishly did not check to make sure it was secure before taking my leave. Midoriya tried to warn me, but in my haste, I ended up taking him with me to the rooftops. There, he asked me if I believed a quirkless person could become a hero. My time unfortunately ran out, exposing my secret. After ensuring that he would not say anything, I gave the most asinine answer to his question and said no. The boy was in the same situation as I was, and instead of following my master's example, I became a damn hypocrite!"
Toshinori clenched his chest, gripping at his wound, "I let my own injury and jaded view distort what I truly believed in, and almost shattered his dreams. And here is he today, proving to me that I was wrong. Right now, he truly deserves the title hero more than I do! And yet because he's quirkless, he is being looked down upon! For what, just not having a quirk? A real hero does not need a powerful quirk to help others! I cannot live without knowing that there was something I could do to help him!"
Nezu gave Toshinori a disappointed glance, but chose not to say anything. The man was already regretting his words and repenting, so there was no need to rub it in.
"So are you going to tell him about your quirk, and possibly pass it on to him?" asked Nezu.
Toshinori paused before sheepishly looking at Nezu, "That….. may be a rather difficult request. You see, when he left, he swore that he would cut all connections with me. He may not even accept my apology, much less my quirk. It has been ten months, and I was looking for the boy. Unfortunately, at that time, I failed to get his name, making it difficult to track him. I only knew that he was going to try out for the hero course despite my bad advice."
"So plan B-2 is out then," mused Nezu, causing Toshinori to raise his eyebrow. He knew the rat overlord had plans within plan, but to think becoming One for All's new host was actually only plan B, and part 2 at that.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is your plan A?" asked Toshinori.
Dean Nezu merely looked at Toshinori before cackling in maniacal laughter, causing Toshinori to shiver. In the end, he never did get to figure out what plan A was, though something deep in his bones told him it was terrifying.
Two days later
Everyone who had participated in U.A.'s entrance exam were getting their letters of acceptance or rejection, depending on how they did. While 99.8% of examinees cried at their rejection, at Izuku's manor, everyone was slowly opening their own letters. Momo watched with happiness as Ochako, Itsuka, and Yui received their acceptance letters. Alongside them were the parents of each one of them, cheering alongside with them.
And serving tea for them was….
"Tobito-san, please do not pour tea from up that high," lectured Momo, "That is Golden Tips Imperial that you are spilling."
"My apologies, Yaoyorozu-sama," apologized Tobito Danjuro, "I got a little excited."
"Don't bully my Gentle," cried out a short female maid with red hair.
"Aiba, don't cry," said Danjuro, "It was my fault for getting excited. I was wasting tea when I shouldn't have."
"Oh Gentle!" swooned Manami Aiba.
The two of them had been recruited during Izuku's high school years to help clean the manor when Inko wasn't around. It had been a complete coincidence since Izuku had taken Momo and his masters' wife, Ye Ziyun and Xing Ning Chang, out to a cafe where they served exquisite tea. They had encountered the two 'villains' in the making, and from them everything spiraled out of control. Making a long story short, the two female masters captured the two, and after a long talk, they quietly turned themselves in for their crimes, which was really small. Then Izuku asked Momo, who asked her parents to help them, who easily agreed to hire lawyers for them. In the end, they were released with a slap on the wrist and made to do community service, to which then they were quickly swept into Yaoyorozu's arms, to work as a maid and butler at Izuku's manor while also doubling up as security detail.
This made Danjuro sort of happy, as it would allow him to use his quirk for often to train, and perhaps finally become a hero that he dreamed of becoming. Just a detour rather than his old pathway of trying to become famous. Aiba would follow Danjuro regardless of where he went. It was also she who had hacked into the U.A. 's server for the exam results, wanting to hold it as a surprise for her employer.
"Izuku, let's take a look at yours!" said Ochako excitedly.
Everyone looked over to Izuku excitedly, knowing how difficult his path had been. And now, he was going to take his first step to proving everyone wrong, that being quirkless did not mean he was powerless. Not to mention he had calculated at least 50 villain points, and if the rescue points were valid, he had some in reserves, which should be more than enough to get him in.
Aiba giggled, having already seen Izuku's score and knew he was in first place, something she shared with Danjuro.
Izuku opened his letter, putting the device on the living room table to let everyone see his results. Each one of the other examinees had done the same, having no shame whether they had made it or not. They were all close friends, or in some cases, even more.
Soon, the device began to display the message enclosed inside the storage device.
What made them all suspicious was exactly who had been displayed on the message. Itsuka and the others had gotten their acceptance letter from a recording from All Might himself, congratulating them on their acceptance to the hero course. Itsuka and Yui had checked with a few other friends, some who wanted to enter the hero course but failed, and they had gotten a recorded message from Present Mic or Midnight, offering their condolences but telling them they qualified for the General Education course. From the grapevine, Momo had heard that any students who had applied for the Support Course had their videos recorded by Power Loader, which made sense as he was the head department for said course.
However, the one appearing before them was somebody they had no real clue who it was, and frankly he looked like a clean hobo.
"I think that's….. Eraser Head," said Izuku as he rubbed his chin with his hand, "He's usually an underground hero."
Everyone became silent when the video started playing.
"Midoriya Izuku. I am Aizawa Shota, a professor and hero in U.A. University. In the written examination, you scored 98%. In the practical exam, you got 57 villain points and 43 rescue points, totaling to 100 points."
At that, everyone was getting excited, knowing Izuku had practically blown the exam out of the water with these points.
"However, you foolishly decided to attack the 0 point villain bot with the staff that was registered to you. You were warned that your points would be reduced to zero if you did so, so you have a total of 0 points."
"WHAT!?" exclaimed all of them.
"That's not fair, Izuku didn't even you the staff, it was stolen from him!" shouted Itsuka in outrage.
"I find it hard to believe such an oversight could have been Izuku's fault!" said an incensed Momo.
Ochako and Yui both gripped the table, activating their quirks by accident, causing the said table to shrink and float away, dropping the device onto the ground, but it continued playing.
"I don't care if you lent it to someone or you dropped it, that is your responsibility. A hero cannot let anyone borrow his tools, so the responsibility falls to you. There is another chance to join the hero course, and that is to participate in the annual U.A. sports festival. However, with your status, I will advise you to not bother participating in it to raise up your hopes. You have zero potential to become a he-"
The video suddenly glitched, causing the image to distort until it changed to just black and white static with green words popping up that said no visual.
"Hello, I'm Nezu, the one that could be a dog or a mouse or a bear, but more importantly, I'm the Dean of U.A. University!" chimed in a voice from the device, surprising them all, "This is a live communication as of right now. May I know if I am speaking to Midoriya Izuku? I would prefer to speak face to face, so to speak."
Izuku cleared his throat before replying, "Yes."
"Excellent!" replied Nezu, "Do I have permission to turn on visuals so both sides can see each other? And are you alone or with family? I would prefer to talk in private."
Yaoyorozu Hotoru cleared his throat, giving Izuku a look of permission to speak before getting a nod back, "He's with friends, and we would prefer if you spoke to all of us here. From what we've seen from the video, you'll have to be very convincing to prevent us from suing the hell out of U.A. university, and trust me, from what we've gathered, we have very good grounds to do so."
"Yaoyorozu Morino? No, the voice sounds a little different and younger. Perhaps this is Yaoyorozu Hotoru?," asked Nezu, "Very well, so long young Midoriya allows it."
Hotoru gave Aiba a glance, who immediately retrieved her laptop, pulling up all relevant documents. After a quick and small discussion, it was decided that for adult supervision, Inko, Hisashi, Aiba, Danjuro, Hotoru and his wife Mami. Itsuka, Momo, Yui, and Ochako stayed with Izuku for emotional support.
The static screen cleared up to reveal Nezu sitting in his armchair, looking at them with tired eyes.
"Midoriya Izuku. I know how disappointed and angry you must be," began Nezu, "In order to understand what happened, I will need to give you the full context. First off, it is already known to almost all my staff, and more importantly, to me, that the support gear that you requested was stolen and handed off to another examinee by one of our temporary employees. Rest assured, the staff member has been fired off and is facing punishment."
"You mean his contract is terminated?" asked Inko for clarification.
"Sure, let's go with that," hummed Nezu without clarifying his words. He had actually fired the said employee off in a cannon in a literal sense, but he did terminate his employment and probably his life.
"Originally, I was going to send you a video requesting for you to come to U.A. to talk, but Aizawa pre-empted me by sending a recording of himself rejecting your admission to the U.A. Hero course to which you rightly deserve. Luckily, I had a feeling and snuck in something extra so I could still talk to you before too much damage was done."
"You're still not making me not want to sue you all to oblivion," said Hotoru.
"Of course," nodded Nezu, "Allow me to be more clear. As you know, we accept a total of 42 Hero Course students. 4 are from the recommendation exams, while the rest comes from the general exam. Our two homeroom teachers for the Hero Course, however, are allowed to make recommendations. One of them, Vlad King, made his own recommendation long ago and submitted the proper paperwork. The other one is the problem. Aizawa, or as you may know him as Eraser Head, made his decision to recommend a student rather abruptly. In fact, two days ago."
"Then he shouldn't be allowed to do so," frowned Hisashi, "But even then, shouldn't you be removing the student with the lowest score? Our child seems to have gotten a high, if not the highest score."
"You're right, your son did in fact score the highest," nodded Nezu, "However, this meeting was also attended by the….. HPSC."
Nezu gave a voice of disgust at that word before continuing, "Eraser Head pointed out that Midoriya Izuku is quirkless, and thus will be unable to grow more powerful even with our education, causing him to plateau or stagnate. The HPSC capitulated on that, and by a passing vote much to my shame, he was cast out in replacement of another."
"May I ask who it is?" said Mami lightly.
"I'm sorry, I cannot reveal that detail as of now," said Nezu apologetically, "I can see that there are several children who are currently accepted into the Hero Course though. They can find out when the school year starts should the student choose to divulge that information."
Mami gave Nezu the stink eye before Danjuro passed a piece of paper to her, pouring some tea for everyone while he was there.
Mami took a deep breath before slamming the paper down, though Nezu showed no surprise reaction.
"Shinso Hitoshi," said Mami dramatically, "He's the one who's replaced our benefactor's disciple. Do you know how much of an insult this is!? He only has 4 villain points and 15 rescue points, with a total of just 19, with a written score of 85%!? I did not think your university practiced nepotism and favoritism to this degree! The top Hero Course University? Something like this is a joke, and you can be sure I will be bringing this to the news! Let everyone see the true colors of U.A., just another university who is willing to let students who are undeserving of such honor nor put in the hard work be allowed in while disqualifying those who deserve their merits only to have them stolen! Is this what your university practices?! I'll be damned before I let my daughter go to your school if you don't give me an explanation!"
"I am aware," said Nezu solemnly, not even surprised that they had discovered it. The final list had been sent into the HPSC network, so it was out of his 'paws' if the results were leaked.
"But allow me to say something," continued Nezu, "Though this is not disclosed to the students, all professors have the freedom to whatever they want to the circumstances of the students to a limit. This includes expelling students if they are deemed unable to handle the course load. Eraser Head has already made it clear in the meeting that if Midoriya Izuku was placed in his class, he would expel him out of the university without even letting Izuku defend himself, and deafen himself to any complaints. The HPSC has backed him up on this power play."
"So what does that mean?" said Inko, "My baby boy is unable to become a hero because a pathetic professor that you hired is unable to look past his eyes? That he would deafen voices because it doesn't go his way? That he is a 'quirkist' despite claiming otherwise?"
"Eraser Head has his own reasons, to which I disagree," said Nezu, "But the key part is that Izuku will not be under his purview as of now."
Nezu looked directly at Izuku, whose hands were tightly gripped into a fist that blood was spilling out of his palms in anger, "Midoriya Izuku. Though your application has been denied to the Hero Course, you can still try to prove yourself in the U.A. Sports Festival to transfer in. It would take longer, but it is still viable path."
"Flowery words, but that's all it is," spat out Izuku, "You can spout out words to sound good, but if you can't follow through, then it's pointless. Especially if this Eraser Head seems to have it out for me for just being quirkless, even if I somehow do make it in, he would expel me for 'taking up space for those worthier' before I even stepped in. Before you interrupted his video, he was already telling me not to bother even trying for that path!"
"True," nodded Nezu, "Which is why I am offering another path. While it is true that both homeroom professors are the only ones allowed to make recommendations, they are not the only ones who hold that power. Which is why I, Dean Nezu and Pro Hero, am placing a recommendation for Midoriya Izuku to become a student of 1-N."
"1-N?" everyone repeated.
"1-N," confirmed Nezu, "As of right now, there is only one student in said class. I am the one in charge of that class. A one-to-one session with me."
"And what does that entail?" asked Momo.
"For regular courses, which we can't skip, he will be placed in 1-C. Then when it comes to hero training, depending on what the hero course is doing, he will either join them or be with me," said Nezu with complete honesty.
"... Why do this for me?" asked Izuku, "Why not just ignore me like almost every other hero has done. I'm sure with your powerbase and cunning, you can easily have U.A. sidestep this and pin the blame on Eraser Head and the HPSC?"
"I'm glad that you think so highly of me," smiled Nezu, "While also very sad that today's heroes can't even do the right thing. Simply put, I believe in your potential. I remember when I first met you back at Aldera Middle School, when you had me sign your notebook. I saw your analysis while flipping through the pages and took photos when you weren't looking. I was astounded at your ability, and you were just a middle school student with no intelligence enhancing quirk. So I've always kept my eye out for you, in case you decided to enroll in my university. While others deny your achievements, I will not. In addition, in becoming a student in my own special course, you will be protected. No professor will have the power to expel you unless they go through me first, and they better have a good reason or else."
'Not to mention this will not only rub at the HPSC, this might frighten them into thinking I have an apprentice!' cackled Nezu within his mind. The HPSC had always held on hope that the cold war would end with Nezu's death, but with a successor on the rise, it might overturn everything they knew.
"My only request is that should you accept, that you hold your anger on U.A.," stated Nezu, "I am aware that we have wronged you, but rest assured, I will do everything in my power to show the world that you can be a hero."
Hiashi took a deep breath, "And the HPSC?"
"Feel free to do whatever you want," said Nezu bluntly, "Should you somehow overturn the HPSC, I will send you a gift basket along with an all-expense paid cruise trip around the world."
Nezu looked at Izuku once more, "In the end, it's your choice. I have made my offer, and I will respect whatever decision you make."
Izuku nodded, closing his eyes to review everything. True, U.A. had completely disrespected him with this decision, but the Dean of the said university was doing everything in his power to make it right. He then remembered Yang Kai's words of advice.
Those that respect me once, I respect them ten times over, and those who wrong me once, I beat three times!
While it was a rather violent creed, it was one that Izuku could understand. The major point lied in the HPSC and a few teachers in the U.A. department, specifically Eraser Head, were the ones who had disrespected him, and by proxy, his masters. He would not beat everyone who just happened to be in proximity, just the ones responsible. Izuku wanted to meet the ones who disrespected him eye to eye and prove them wrong.
"If I take your offer," said Izuku slowly, "Can you guarantee that I can participate in the provisional license exam, and if I do pass, get the said license?"
"Naturally," said Nezu, "Otherwise I wouldn't have made this offer. I have enough influence to make sure no back-door dealings will be pulled on you should you pass it."
"Good," said Izuku fiercely, "I accept so long as I am not restricted to seeing Momo and the others outside class time."
"But of course," said Nezu, "You'll have similar schedules, there is no point in restricting students from visiting other students in different departments."
"And I want to meet Eraser Head face to face, and look him in the eye for disqualifying me for that inane reason, along with the student he decided to recommend on a whim," stated Izuku with finality.
Nezu hesitated for a second before nodding. He could not push away the confrontation that would bound to pop up, so it was better to get it over with.
"Then Midoriya Izuku, may I welcome you to U.A. university, to your hero academia!" declared Nezu.
Yep, Eraser Head is an asshole here. But I will put my reasons why he thinks Izuku isn't a good candidate besides the ones he listed. The primary motive.
So now, Izuku is no longer in the Hero Course, but rather in a specialized course headed by Nezu. Chaos anyone muhahaha!
I decided to fling a few changes as some might of noticed. The current HPSC president, the slot of 42 students instead of 40, as well as some criminals.
Reminder, I have a pat reon, look up azndrgn making fanfic. Donators get to read my chapters earlier!