Chapter Six: Initiation
Present Day…
Izuku stood still as a statue among the headstones. A few others could be seen here or there, they were all a comfortable distance away. Distant thunder and clouds of rain passing on and sunlight breaking through the dreary sky of a passing storm.
Here lies Midoriya Inko
Beloved wife and devoted mother
Taking a deep breath, he set the bouquet he had brought with him before her earthly remains. It was a superfluous gesture, but it felt more real having something physical to interact with.
"Hey, mom," he said, pasting on a smile. "Today's the day. Going to be taking the entrance exam for U.A." The façade slipped, and he hands thrust into his pockets. "I know you would have preferred a safer occupation, but…I don't think that was ever going to be a possibility."
A spot remained for the old man, wherever he was. Hisashi Midoriya was still alive, as far as legal matters were concerned, but there was nothing official concerning his status. Not that Izuku expected anything else. He had more than two centuries of experience in moving around unseen, and the supposed death of his more…clandestine persona meant there were fewer people looking for him.
"I wish it didn't have to come to this, but as long as he's still out there, I don't think I'll ever be able to rest, and I know he'll never stop. This is just the next step to an end. Not a peaceful one, but an end all the same. So…I guess, wish me luck. We'll talk again later."
Dismissing the phantom sensation of a set of hands resting on his shoulder, he flicked his sunglasses open and onto his face, spun on his heels, and made his way back to the sidewalk. A train ride, another sidewalk and he spotted Iida waiting at the station.
A quick exchange of small-talk, and conversation drifted to the recommendation exams earlier in the month.
"I am saying that there must be some quality I am presently lacking."
Izuku laughed. "Tenya Iida, there were only four slots, and U.A. is the most competitive Hero school in the nation. It's not a mark against your capabilities or potential that you didn't get selected. Heck, Momo almost didn't get selected. If that other guy hadn't punched at the last minute, she'd be taking the general admissions exam with the rest of us."
The duo made their way through the front gates of the U.A. campus. Surprisingly, there wasn't much of a crowd, but there was still some time before things got started, so they were most likely slipping through the two rushes.
"Out of my way, extra," a familiar voice barked.
Izuku barely flinched as the blond tried to elbow him. "Still as mannered as ever, Katsuki Bakugo."
The blond stood up straight, turning back around with a sneer, which deepened into a rictus of rage when he recognized who he had bumped into.
"Deku…" he snarled. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, the Annual U.A. Bake Sale, of course!" Izuku said, laying on cheer like frosting a cake and throwing out a shrug for added effect.
Bakugo sneered, then stormed off in a huff. "Whatever. Just stay out of my way. Or better yet, watch in awe as I shoot for the top."
"Later, Ka-chan," Izuku called out at the departing blond. Looking around, he noticed they had picked up something of an audience, but since nothing of interest had happened, they soon dispersed.
"Arrogant twit," he heard someone mutter.
"That wasn't very nice," a brunette said, before going on her way.
Tenya's brow furrowed. "Who is that delinquent, and why does he seem to know you?"
"Him?" Izuku asked, jabbing a thumb in Katsuki's direction. "We grew up together, sort of. Even started at the same elementary school." Izuku narrowed his eyes at Katsuki's back again as he disappeared into the building. "His parents sort of took me in for a time, so I've kept up with the family, even if Ka-chan and tend to keep a distance. Doesn't seem like he's changed too much, though."
"I see." Iida hummed. "And the insulting nicknames?"
"He calls me Deku, I call him Ka-chan. Turnabout's fair play and all, and it pisses him off less if you can return fire."
"That strikes me as incredibly toxic."
"Eh, less troublesome than trying to ignore him or running away." Rolling his shoulders back, Izuku stepped towards the front door of U.A. "Enough of that. Let's get inside."
[IB]
Wow, Izuku thought. Attending one of the top Hero schools in the country, being given instructions by Present Mic himself, and the only response is silence. Izuku nearly cheered by his lonesome, just to make things weird, but decided not to draw attention to himself until he got the lay of the land.
Pinching his lower lip as he mulled over the information. Eyes flicked over to Tenya's paperwork, noting a different training center than his own for the practical portion of the exam.
"Looks like they'll be splitting us up," he whispered.
"It would make sense they would keep students from the same school separated to prevent friends from teaming up together. It would ruin the metrics and integrity of the practical exam."
"Or maybe they're serving us up to the resident elder god."
Tenya paused and did a double-take while reading through the handout. "This must be an error."
"What is?"
"He has only gone over three of the villain types listed on the handout."
"They went through the effort to put it on the handout, so I imagine not. He's probably building the hype up. Feel free to bring it up for the benefit of the others, if you feel like it."
Tenya stood up. "Excuse me!" he said, voice cutting through the auditorium, drawing all eyes on him. Izuku kept an ear open to his friend's passionate diversion, which included calling out a pair of chuckleheads. Present Mic had no trouble with the interruption, and took the opportunity to segue into the subject.
Izuku raised an eyebrow when Tenya sat back down. The exact wording left things open to interpretation. You wouldn't lose points for taking it down, there was simply no gain for attacking it, at least by appearance.
The assembly was dismissed, the applicants dispersing to get changed. On the way, Tenya was still dwelling on the briefing.
"I still don't understand why they would incorporate an obstacle that provides no value."
"It's all going to be part of the test. Regardless of whether we're expected to engage it or not, I imagine how we react will be noted. And if I were the betting sort, I'd wager on it showing up when things start to slow down. Possibly once enough bots are destroyed." Tenya chewed on that for a bit, then Izuku bumped him in the side. "Just keep your eyes and ears open, and be mindful of your surroundings."
The furrows eased and Tenya gave him an easy smile. "I will. Good luck, Midoriya."
[IB]
Battle Center B. Practically an entire city, with several more like it distributed across U.A.'s campus. Izuku whistled as he pondered the possibilities. Were there utilities? Was it furnished? He couldn't imagine them building this just for the entrance exams, so they probably had other uses, likely urban training for the students.
"Can you imagine how much it cost to build this?" someone asked.
"A lot," a guy with a bandana answered. "Not as much as if people actually lived here, but still."
Izuku smirked, and added, "and since they're about to let a bunch of middle-schoolers with Quirks loose for game of search-and-destroy, they have the resources to rebuild it after we're finished."
Several students stared in awe, then back at the simulated urban center. "Wow."
"U.A. is amazing!"
"Get moving!" Present Mic shouted from his lookout, his voice blaring through the intercom. "There are no countdowns in real battles! Run, run, run, listeners! You're wasting airtime here!"
Izuku took a deep breath as the stampeding herd thundered through the gates, donning his goggles and giving his gloves some final adjustments.
All for One: Initial Release. At his mental command, Izuku's Quirk came alive with a minute flare of light. In the sanctum of his mind, inky tendrils surged to life, connecting to the Quirks in his possession. Up Gear 4. Connections to Push, Pull, and Reinforcement ignited brackish green, Bullet Time simmering in reserve with minimal power.
All of this happening in the span of a couple of heartbeats, and he slowly picked up the pace to follow after them. Once he entered the city proper, he Pushed against the pavement and launched himself to the nearest ledge, then bounced higher, a pulse of green light accompanying each takeoff, with a final Push skyward to get a bird's eye view of the city.
The faux-villains were scattered pretty evenly, but concentrated a bit more densely towards the center of the city. What's more, as the column of students began to disperse, the robots began to mobilize in response.
Committing the layout to memory, he Pulled himself back down to earth, aiming for a cluster of robots that hadn't yet been aggro'd, stomping a 2-pointer into the pavement, metal buckling under reinforced legs. He turned his focus to a 1-pointer and Pulled towards it, swinging around its neck and using it as an anchor to launch towards a 3-pointer, driving his fist through its faceplate, reaching in and Pull the insides to his hand.
Kicking off, he nearly hit another 1-pointer that came up behind him while his back was turned, bringing its arm down on Izuku's head only stopping short when he caught the offending appendage. Grabbing tight, followed by an anchor, a Pull, then swung the robot overhead and into the pavement, smashing the first 1-pointer as it struggled towards him, taking both out play.
Seven points in the first minute. Looking at the timer still counting down on his HUD, he got his breathing under control and launched himself skyward once more in search of his next target.
Some of the faster students having taken to circling around, sweeping up some easy points while the slower examinees simply charged towards the center, fighting over villains to take down.
Izuku decided to avoid that scuffle and aimed to where a couple of the students drifted off by themselves, then Pulled down on another 2-pointer harassing some other kids, riding it along the pavement, then hopping off to go after a pair of 1-pointers.
A pair of 1-pointer that was soon contested by a guy coated in metal, pounding his fists into it until it all but exploded.
"Watch what you're doing," a purple-haired boy shouted from behind one of the concrete barriers.
Metal man drooped a little, then jumped off and repeated the maneuver on the other 1-pointer. Emerging from the wreckage and his apparent daze, he set his sights on purple-hair, stomping up to the other kid and grapping him by the front of his shirt.
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!" he shouted, the metal receding.
Izuku rolled his eyes and moved to intervene. "Hey." Iron man wasn't listening, so he tried again. "Hey!" He floated himself towards the ensuing scuffle and shoved the two apart, getting a good look at the other guy's face. "Settle down."
The gray-haired teen – and that was an impressive set of eyebrows – rounded on Izuku. "HE TOOK CONTROL OF ME!"
"Okay, dick move on his part. If you're really all that pissed off, you can discuss it like a sensible person after the exercise. Besides, Present Mic said no going after the other participants. Now run along. There should be more bots to the northeast if you hurry."
Bushy-brows scowled, and Izuku smiled blandly in return. The kid's little tantrum was nothing compared to Tomura on a bad day, let alone Hisashi when he got partway serious. He looked about ready to continue the…discussion, but thought better of it at the last second, stomping off in search of more faux-villains, loudly fuming imprecations.
"Bye," Izuku said with a parting wave, then turned his attention to purple-hair. "Mind control?"
The boy nodded slowly, apprehensive.
Looking back at the robot, it was a fairly easy conclusion to draw. "And it only works on people, right?"
Another nod.
"Well, that sucks. You have an instant 'game over' of a Quirk and they won't let you show it off." Walking off, oblivious to the perplexed expression on the boy's face. "There might be better ways to get points, though; I don't think that one counted for you, and I don't think you're going to make any friends if that's how you've been operating. What's your name, by the way?"
Blinking owlishly, Purple Hair slowly replied. "Um…Shinso."
Izuku shot a grin over his shoulder. "Call me Midoriya. Come on, Shinso. And grab some scrap. I know of some villain bots a block down that no one should have gotten yet."
[IB]
From the observation center, Toshinori Yagi, better known as All Might, watched the proceedings with rapt attention. For the first time in…well, it had been a long time since he was a student. Point was, for once in seemingly forever, he was once again the least experienced person in the room. One for All may have been passed on, but that wasn't the only thing he was good for, and he was determined to put forth his best effort.
In addition to the numerous monitors showing different angles over the testing centers, a leaderboard for each one, including a running count of points. Nedzu had his own console with a mind-boggling juggling act as he kept track of the students, pulling up their applications, making notations. Toshinori couldn't keep up with the flow of information, so he kept his focus on the happenings on screen.
In Battle Center A had a blond stringing along a column of robots before blasting them into scrap heaps. He was good, skilled with his Quirk and tenacious, but All Might had some reservations with his attitude, considering he nearly hit the other U.A. hopefuls with shrapnel. In Battle Center D, a boy with a wind Quirk was sweeping through the robots, using the 1-pointers as ammunition against the sturdier targets.
Over in E, young Kendo was handling herself well. Not just for her ability to take down the faux villains, but for her desire to help her peers. Her sense of fair play was only a slight detriment to her performance so far, and more than paid off for the rescue points accrued. Once again, she was showing herself a worthy successor for One for All.
If only Nighteye agreed with that assessment. It was a tragedy, really. The first time he and his old partner had spoken in years, rather than reconciliation, and all it had led to was more arguments. There was no use dwelling on it, though. The torch had been passed to Kendo. The course was hers to determine.
Having enough wool-gathering, he focused on the prospective students. He found his gaze drawn to one screen in particular, a boy with green hair diving down on a group of robots, harrying some of his peers.
That boy…
As first impressions go, Midoriya had left a strange one. Apart from asking for an autograph, he acted as if Toshinori was simply another person he met on the street. Seeing him here was too big a coincidence to dismiss out of hand.
"I see young Midoriya has caught your attention, as well," Nedzu said, disrupting Toshinori's train of thought. "Would you mind sharing your analysis on his progress?"
"He has a knack for shock and awe," Toshinori replied. "And not many his age have that degree of control of their Quirk, or even some Pros."
"He'll have plenty of rescue points, I'm sure." He paused, watching Midoriya defuse a confrontation between two other prospects. "And his leadership capabilities are also admirable. It's almost a shame that he is prioritizing Management over Heroics."
"Can he do that?" Cementoss asked.
Power Loader twisted around in his seat. "Not all that common, but usually it's with the Support applicants wanting to demonstrate a proof of concept in a practical setting."
"It's a good quality to have," Obsidian added, "even if he never has to leave the office."
There was something else niggling in the back of Toshinori's mind when he saw Midoriya on the beach, but now the feeling had grown stronger. As if he was reminded of someone, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out who.
For now, he decided to shove the feelings aside. If they continued to bother him, he might ask his old teacher to keep an eye out.
Minutes ticked by, the number of faux-villains thinning to single digits in most test areas.
"Hmm…looks like we have a promising crop this year," said Midnight.
"We can't be sure of that yet," Snipe countered. "And there's still plenty of time before it's over. The real test begins now." Pressing the big red button on the console. "Let's see how they react."
[IB]
A giant crash startled all the examinees in Ground E.
"Go, go, go!" Itsuka shouted, dragging an examinee up to her feet and sending her on her way. If something that big had hit, they needed to get out of its way before it made an appearance.
Not that they had to wait long. A shadow fell on the mock city, and Itsuka looked up at the metallic giant rearing its head above the buildings that surrounded it, hands crushing everything in its path.
Itsuka blinked at the new threat. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
[IB]
So that's the environmental hazard? Katsuki grinned like a maniac and ran at the zero-pointer with a will. "This one's mine!"
[IB]
Shinso ran for cover while Izuku looked up at the rampaging giant, unimpressed.
"U.A. really knows how to show off," he said, though no one really paid any attention as they fled in terror.
Ignoring the panicking prospects running past him, Izuku gathered and flung bits of falling debris back at it at the zero-pointer's faceplate, the chunks of broken building dinging off with little appreciable effect.
"Fan-friggin'-tastic," he grumbled. "Guess I'll have to put a work out a different approach."
He was about to launch himself up for a better angle, when a cry of pain caught his attention.
Directly in the path of the rampaging bot, pinned beneath some rubble, was the brunette he had seen at the front gate.
Rather than go to the rooftops like he was planning, he hopped over to the girl, flipping the rubble away and tossing it at the zero-pointer to give it something to think about. Once she was freed, he pulled the girl out of the immediate line of fire, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and launched out of the robot's way.
Unfortunately, the zero-pointer had singled him out as a priority target, knocking down a building as it turned to pursue him.
"Just another one of those days," he mumbled, landing a relatively safe distance away from the rampaging zero-pointer.
"You good?" he asked.
She wordlessly nodded, blushing heavily.
"Think you can walk?"
A pause, then a quick shake of her head.
"Right. Shinso!"
Thankfully, the other boy hadn't gotten too far and realized he was being called, and responded quickly. Without preamble, he passed the girl over, nearly knocking him over.
"Get her and yourself out of here. You're in the splash zone."
"The what? What are you going to do against that?"
"You'll see~" Heedless of their confusion, Izuku began approaching the skyscraper-sized machine. "Now, how do you go down?"
Given the size, simply pushing it over wasn't an option; too much mass to destabilize and not a strong enough anchor. And most of his practical offensive abilities were liable to hit other students on the other side of the target, would take too long to set up, or otherwise cause unnecessary destruction. Knowing his luck, he'd get docked for something like that. No, we would have to get up close and personal for this one.
All for One: Up Gear 5. Funneling a smidge more energy to Bullet Time, he let Pull's connection fade, trading places with Shard to form a base for Limelight to shape, fashioning a simple, straight blade, then applied Reinforcement on it, hardening the normally fragile construct for the task he had in mind. Weapon in hand, he broke into a dead sprint towards the machine. Unsurprisingly, the metallic titan zeroed in on him, bringing a massive palm down.
He sidestepped the zero-pointer's hand, then jumped onto the arm, focusing some of Reinforcement into his shoes for a grip as he ran up the colossus, slashing at it along the way. The zero-pointer made an attempt to dislodge him, sweeping its other arm down his path.
"No you don't!"
He brought the blade up and sliced through the arm, forcing the gap open when the construct crumbled and disintegrated, then jumped through, swinging the severed appendage into the robot's optics.
Not finished, Izuku let go of Bullet Time and Shard to reignite Pull and Frequency, then Pulled towards the robot's damaged face, driving his fist through the warped plates that made up the surface, dialing up Frequency. The metal casing serving as an echo chamber, reflecting the sound-waves back into itself until the thing's brain overloaded.
No, that was the backup power supply for the optics, he corrected. "Ah, crap."
Izuku jumped off moments before the head exploded and flared out Push, warding off the cloud of debris. However, a piece of shrapnel was able to carry through, slamming into his head. Everything went black…
[IB]
"Oh no!" his mother's voice cried.
"He'll live," another voice said. "Might have a headache, but the boy's tough."
"Passion is all well and good, young grasshopper," a third voice added, "but don't let your pride overshadow your ability."
"Hey, he could have gotten through just fine if he'd used my-"
"Shh!" the other voices hissed.
"I told you not to get cocky," Nana chided.
The voices receded and his vision began to return.
[IB]
"Ugh…Release."
Izuku regained consciousness in time to gently plop back to the ground; a marked improvement from what he was expecting. He cheek smarted slightly, but it wasn't the taste of pavement delivered at terminal velocity. All for One had returned to Full Lock automatically, so none of his Quirks were mucking around on their own. Always a good sign.
"Son. Of. Ahh…how…?" Shinso panted out.
Blinking in surprise, Izuku took in his surroundings. The brunette he rescued proceeded to vomit over the side of the debris she was on, with Shinso breathing heavily, hands planted on his knees. The zero-pointer had stopped moving and had lopped back, presumably from the force of the explosion. "Thanks for the save," he said, rubbing the back of his head.
Gravity girl smiled, weakly. "I wouldn't have been able to get there in time if he hadn't carried me out here."
"Wasn't expecting to bodily haul someone today," Shinso groaned, too tired to be flustered by the praise.
Izuku rolled his eyes. "You only hauled her, what? A hundred feet? Two? How are you so tired?"
Shinso twisted around to look at him. "How did that not take off your head?"
"I have a thick skull." Izuku pressed a hand against the cut, wincing at the amount of blood that covered his hand. "Still, probably better get some medical attention."
"Time's up!" Present Mic announced, accompanied by the sirens.
Shinso looked crestfallen. "Guess I'm off to General Education."
Gravity girl did a double-take "What? Why?"
"I only got a couple of points, maybe."
"Really? That's a bummer."
"You're telling me."
"You think you passed the written portion then?" Izuku asked.
"For whatever it's worth," Shinso answered tiredly.
"Then you're not done yet." Seeing Recovery Girl make her way through the carnage and the mingling examinees that had begun to gather around. "And it looks like the medic has arrived."
[IB]
Itsuka stared at the crumbling wreckage of the zero-pointer. She was fairly certain she had broken her arm in the last punch, but the villain had been blown away, removing it as a threat to her and the other applicants. All Might hadn't been kidding when he said One for All had a massive kickback.
"Everyone okay?" she asked.
A chunk of rubble shrank back down to its original side. "Hm."
[IB]
"Piece of cake," Katsuki growled, standing atop of the zero-pointer's smoldering corpse. Since time had run out and the battle was over, everyone else slowly gathered to see his accomplishment.
As they should.
Stomping on the fallen robot, he shouted at the other participants. "Remember, extras. This is just the beginning."
They could watch from the side of road or they could be stepping stones on the path to his triumph. He was shooting for the top. He would surpass All Might, and no one, not even Dead-eyed Deku, would stand in his way.
[IB]
Itsuka Kendo, Quirk: Big Hands (increases the size, strength, and resilience of her hands), One for All (accumulates power as it is passed from vessel to vessel, exponentially increasing physical abilities and supercharging any resident Quirk).
Izuku Midoriya. Quirk: All for One (allows for the acquisition and imparting of other Quirks).
A/N: Feel free to play Rules of Nature for Izuku's little display. Anywho, I didn't really want to belabor the entrance exam, so we're moving onto the aftermath, followed by the first day of school next round.
Much like the early portion of Naruto, the chain of events is pretty well set, and difficult to inject much variety without gratuitous derailing (seriously, try finding a pre-Shippuden Naruto fic longer 10,000 words that doesn't involve the Bell Test, Wave Country, or the Chūnin Exam). I'll save the serious rewriting for another MHA fic. However, I did want to get the hooks set for some characters and ready to draw them into the plot proper. Virtual high-fives and cookies if you can pick who shows up where.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Feel free to leave a PM or review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Also, a belated happy birthday to Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.