How To Imitate A Hero

by PixieDeafies

Jayluf Viller is a normal teenage human being that sometimes feels that he's... something not normal. Having lived in a research facility all his life, he'd never seen the outside world, at least until now. Although his past is shrouded in mystery, he's confident he can become the one thing he's trained to be, a hero! But his quirk may be more than meets the eye.

2. Arrival And Meeting

Jayluf was going to leave his home.

He was going to leave his home. Disbelief caused him to repeat the phrase in his head several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.

For the first time in his whole life, he would be granted access to depart from the laboratory and the research facility to apply at U.A, somewhere that was outside of the walls that surrounded the entire base.

Although his emotions were still dulled and lacking as they usually were, he still knew that deep down, the strange warmth in his chest was a positive feeling. Even if it was only the slightest feeling.

The morning had started the same as any other day at the base, with Miss Hunee being his alarm clock by waking him up early, taking a sample, business as usual. But instead of her leaving with the sample, she'd abruptly turned and casually informed him that he needed to use the shower and bathe as soon as possible, for today was an important day. Before he was able to voice his curiosity, she'd already vanished with the daily sample.

Showering of course wasn't really anything special, it wasn't exactly a new concept to him, considering he was required to do it at least once a week. In the past, he'd originally been allowed to shower every other day, but everything changed when they'd given him the privileges of warm water.

Having never experienced hot water, Jayluf had been caught completely off guard. Although he struggled with things like emotions, physical touch was still normal for him, so even if he could feel pain, he could also feel the pleasures of the skin. So when the hot water had been switched on to maximum, and the full blast had hit his skin for the first time as it had filled entire shower room with steam, he had simply lazily slumped over in the tub in utter bliss, lying his head against the back wall.

Enjoying hot water hadn't been the issue, the problem was how long he decided to enjoy it. And he'd enjoyed it a bit too long. Time was something Jayluf never really paid attention to, so when he had almost completely fallen asleep from the steaming hot water pouring on him, he'd been abruptly awoken by Miss Hunee's frantic knocking. Post exiting the shower and drying off, his caretaker had been quick to elaborate on the fact that he'd been in the shower for over an hour, and had used up enough hot water to cause other employees to be missing hot water.

Ever since that day, combined with a few repeats of the incident was the reason for him being restricted to shower only once a week during the evening.

But now in the present, being ordered to shower in the morning? It had come as a surprise to Jayluf. But he still did what he'd been told, having a quick cleanse in the shower, and when he'd finished drying his body and being halfway clothed, Miss Hunee had barged in with a hairdryer, and proceeded to blast his hair and scalp with hot air. Before Jayluf had time to recover, she'd then went on to assault his hair with a comb and brush, making sure any knots in his strands of hair were pulled apart.

When his hair appeared satisfactory to Miss Hunee, she'd quickly ducked out of the room for several minutes, and returned with a brand new outfit. Something about today was definitely off... What day was today again?

Miss Hunee had cheerily informed him that these clothes were called a "school uniform", and that he was to don it immediately for the entrance exam.

The entrance exam. Of course! Today was when he would apply!

According to Miss Hunee, a school uniform was something apparently that people around Jayluf's age would wear to a school. The top piece of clothing called a "dress shirt", while the bottom were "dress pants".

In the past, Jayluf had only ever worn the casual lab outfit given to him, which had been a long sleeved white shirt with no buttons, and the same for his pants, which used an elastic band inside the neck to be a "one size fits all".

But the school uniform was a much different article of clothing compared to his usual outfit. One major difference was how the collar of the shirt was decently tall, reaching halfway up his neck. It also was a button up shirt, which he fiddled with before Miss Hunee had come to the rescue and buttoned it up for him.

Although this was the first time in his life he'd ever laid eyes on a school uniform, he had an assumption that this one was custom made at Nohken Industries. At least he thought it was, considering the fact that it was a deep blue just like the company logo, and on the right chest area was none other than the Nohken Industries logo neatly woven in.

After putting the whole outfit on and glancing at a mirror, he could safely say that it had looked fine on him.

That's what he had thought, at least until Miss Hunee started crowing about how the collar "wasn't straightened out", or how Jayluf needed to "tuck his shirt in". After a few minutes of her making adjustments to his outfit, she finally nodded, content with her work.

But the surprises hadn't ended there. After he'd been deemed decent enough to be seen outside, by Miss Hunee and some higher ups in Nohken, they'd given him a pair of shoes, telling him they'd serve him better than the slippers he would don when going to his outside pen.

Although he did not mind having new footwear, a temporary speed bump had occurred in the form of something called "shoe laces". But thanks to an intervention from Miss Hunee, the problem had been solved.

It had been strange, going past the two doors he'd been told to never go into by the same people who were now accompanying him through said doors.

Of course, he had an escort besides Miss Hunee and the businessman from earlier, because Jayluf had been also accompanied by two armed guards, who followed his every step. Nohken soldiers were quite a mystery to him, being dressed from head to toe in military gear, with a helmet, goggles, and mask hiding any sign of their face to the naked eye. A backpack and vest was tightly attached to the soldier's backs. The strangest thing was although their shoulder pieces had the Nohken Industries logo, their entire outfit was jet black.

Finally, they'd reached a new pair of doors that had the blessed sign proudly attached on top of them.

EXIT

---

And when they'd passed through the doors and into the outside world was nothing short of overwhelming. He'd felt the sun and fresh air before yes, but when he'd felt them as he went truly outside without fences or walls hindering his movement, it had been an almost indescribable experience.

It was unbelievable just how much space there was. Without the barriers to prevent him from going too far out, it felt like he could run forever. He could see the other buildings of the base, looking much different than they did on the map. Compared to the flat shapes on the paper, the real buildings towered over everything, casting a ginormous shadow on their respective parking lot.

The scents were so much more different now as well. Jayluf had breathed in through his nose, and had smelled everything, the outside air, the smoke, exhaust, he could smell it all.

But the senses had not experienced it all yet, for when he looked down, he could see they were walking on a sidewalk. A real life sidewalk. It was something he'd thought he'd never be able to see in person, let alone walk on. But now here he was, his feet firmly planted on them.

Not wanting the chance to go to waste, Jayluf reached down and placed his right hand on the ground, running his soft fingers against the strangely grainy surface. It was oddly warm, rough, and very dry. The rough coarseness of the material felt nothing like the smooth cold waxed floors of his room and all the laboratories.

The sensation of the rough surface grinding against the pads of his fingers was something he knew he wouldn't forget for a long time from now. Wow…

But it hadn't ended there. His bewilderment would only increase when he reached the section of the sidewalk that connected to the main path, which was by the road. On said road ahead did Jayluf realize they were approaching a big black box that was parked by the sidewalk they walked on.

It was a car. A real car. They were going to ride a car.

Jayluf finally found his voice. "Miss Hunee… that is a car!"

"Not just any old car," said Miss Hunee as she reached out to pat his head. "It's a limousine. You probably never heard of them, I don't think we ever taught you about specific types of cars. But still, it's a really fancy type of car, although this one is shorter than the average one since it's just us, but it's still quite expensive. This one is brand new! If you're gonna be a hero and also be representing Nohken Industries, you can't be see slumming it in a PT Cruiser or something."

Jayluf had honestly no clue what a PT Cruiser was, but still found himself mindlessly nodding along, until he absorbed her sentence completely. "You imply that we are going to ride this?"

"Yep! Cool, huh? Perks of royalty! Here…"

As they reached the side of the vehicle, Miss Hunee reached down and gripped a handle and pulled, opening the door with a satisfying KLUPsound. "Just hop on in and scooch over to the left side."

Nodding, Jayluf obediently went forward, putting his upper body in before swinging his legs inside as well. Once again, all of his senses were nearly overloaded due to all of the new sensations at once.

First, he had been hit with the strongest scent that day, the smell of a brand new factory made car, the aroma assaulting his nostrils in full force. The scent was so overpowering that he'd nearly fallen over from the sudden dizzy spell that had hit his brain, combined with the fact said brain was still desperately attempting to keep up in processing all the new sensations.

He shook his head as he reached his side of the car, and sat down. Immediately he used his hands to explore the inside of the car, rubbing his fingers against the material that made up both his and Miss Hunee's seats. It was a strange dark black colored material that had felt not too smooth, but not very rough at the same time. It was somewhat soft like his pillow, but a bit firmer.

Before he was able to explore or experiment with anything else, he'd been interrupted by the door on his side being swiftly pulled open. Looking up in surprise, he saw the masked visage of one of the soldiers assigned to rescue him. Jayluf blankly stared at the man whose identity was obscured by their goggles and mask. Without saying a word the soldier reached a gloved hand into the car above Jayluf's shoulder, and grasped something that had been out of the younger boy's line of sight until now.

Pulling down and outwards, the soldier appeared to be holding a strange metal piece attached to some sort of belt loop that was coming out of the car wall.

Intrigued, Jayluf said nothing, allowing the man to do as they wished while he silently watched.

Yanking the piece further out, the soldier dragged the metal piece downwards towards Jayluf's right thigh. Snaking past the leg, he inserted the metal piece into some strange black rectangle that had a red opening on its side.

As the soldier firmly pressed the metal piece in, Jayluf was surprised to hear a CLICK sound be audibly made, and now the belt that had been attached to the steel part was now currently restraining part of his body, namely his thighs, and to a certain extent, his chest.

Seemingly finished with their bizarre task, the soldier backed out of the car doorway, and promptly slammed it back shut.

Jayluf stared at the belt contraption curiously, wondering what purpose the device served.

As if reading his mind, Miss Hunee spoke up from his right. "Before you ask, Jayluf, that's what we call a seat belt. It's a neat little gizmo that prevents you from being tossed around if we happened to get into a bad wreck or something."

Jayluf could only offer a slight nod. Seat belt? It seemed there would be an endless supply of new information to cram into his brain today.

His hands began to inspect the belt that was now hugging his body in a firm embrace, feeling the sensation of yet another new material against his hands. Although it was not a hard substance, it was not soft or squishy either.

In fact, it was a very solid one to the point he became unable to identify whatever substance it was made out of. Was it plastic? Maybe cotton? Perhaps a different strain of leather?

To his surprise, he had been able to really move the top part of the strap as much as he wished at first, as he freely began pulling more and more of the belt out of the receptacle on his left until it finally stopped coming out. Releasing his grip, Jayluf wasn't expecting the belt to almost immediately retract back in with a very audible whirring sound.

Blinking in surprise, he pulled at it once more, but it did not cooperate. Instead of coming out, the belt was holding firm, and resisting any attempts of being pulled back out. What had happened?

Miss Hunee, who had witnessed the whole debacle, sighed. "Jayluf, if you pull the belt too much, it kind of malfunctions. The belt tightening is an automatic response to being pulled on too fast and too hard in case of a sudden violent crash. Here… "

Unbuckling her own seatbelt, she scooched over to Jayluf's side and pressed her thumb down on the red part of the rectangle from earlier. The mechanism released the belt from its grasp, and the belt was swiftly pulled back into the receptacle, making the same whirring noise from before. "Now it's been reset, meaning it'll let you move around more." She reached over and refastened the seatbelt. "Don't go pulling on it again, okay?"

"Yes ma'am. Sorry, Miss Hunee."

"It's fine, hun. You couldn't have known."

"Are we ready to go ma'am?" Spoke the masked soldier in the driver's seat, who for some odd reason lacked any firearms on his person.

"Yes, we're ready." Miss Hunee shuffled back to her side and re-buckled her own seat belt. "Let's get a move on."

Nodding, the man reached into his pocket and produced multiple keys from his pocket, which were all attached to a single metallic ring. Selecting one seemingly at random, the man inserted the key into a receptacle, twisting it.

The effect was immediate, Jayluf felt a shudder through his entire body as the car's inner workings roared to life, vibrating the entire car, his seat included. His whole body was shaken, his flesh, bones, even down to his cells. Despite being a bizarre sensation it had felt oddly pleasing, in a way. A breath escaped his mouth as his mind struggled to keep up with the over stimulation.

But it hadn't ended there. With a mighty rev, the automobile began to move forwards and away from the sidewalk they had been parked at mere moments ago. They were moving , Jayluf realized with anticipation. This was really happening.

Not knowing if he'd get a chance like this again in the future, he turned his head to the left to stare out of his window and drink in the scenery. It was strange to be sitting completely still, yet to have the outside world beyond the glass pane begin to move by rapidly. We really are leaving the base… we're going…

Outside.

It was almost a struggle to process. After all these months and years of training, he was finally leaving. It was almost unbelievable. Even with his stunted emotions, disbelief was rattling through his body as he watched them pass by Nohken Industries buildings and vehicles. If he had been told a long time ago that he would be departing from his home in the laboratory to be let outside the base itself, he would have dismissed it as a mere falsehood. Something like that would surely be inconceivable, impossible, even.

Yet here he was, sitting inside a limousine and being driven right up to the entrance gates of the Nohken Industries base itself in order to leave.

As the vehicle passed by the gate, multiple armed soldiers positioned there stared at them intently, as if waiting for someone in the car to make a sudden or aggressive moment. But no one in the car would ever do such a thing, so why were they leering at him like that?

Odd.

Then the journey began. As the car picked up more and more speed, Jayluf soaked in the sights as much as he could. The first thing he noticed, besides how endless the road ahead seemed, were the trees. Trees. Trees, trees, trees! Trees were stretched as far as the eye could see, all tightly packed together on the sides of either lane of the road. Sure, he'd had a small tree in his outside pen, but these were proper trees, the real deal. They towered over everything around them, with brown stalk bodies with little ridges and imperfections, complete with the top sprouting with hundreds of gorgeous green leaves fluttering in the wind.

If only he had the chance to get out and touch them, smell them, maybe even taste.

As their vehicle drove off the curved rode to join onto a larger, straighter road, it picked up more speed, and the trees began to morph together into a blur of brown and green whizzing by his sight, the effect fascinating him. It felt somewhat… familiar? Had he dreamed about something similar?

But before he was able to ponder on the sense of deja vu, a new point of interest was the fact that their limo was no longer the only vehicle on the road. Other people had their own cars, and had decided to use the very same road that they were on now. Every car was different in some shape or size, but had similarities to others. Some were small boxy cars that had sharp edges, others were medium round cars that looked rather irritating to ride in, and the bigger ones were either boxy or round, or a mix of both.

At first glance, it appeared as if all of the cars were heading in the same exact direction; straight forward on the seemingly endless straight line. But the longer Jayluf observed, he realized that some cars would actually change their spot in a subtle way.

An empty area that could fit a car would be in front of a green car on one side, and the blue car next to them seemed to wish to fill in the spot its neighbor currently inhabited. A wordless communication happened via a strange exchange of where the blue car flashed the lights on one side, and the green car would speed up to fill in the spot. Afterwards, the blue car would adjust itself by slowly moving to the now vacant area.

The more Jayluf watched did he notice that it was happening almost every minute or so, a car would flash a light on the back to indicate which way they were going to move their car, and wait for the chance to snag the opening in order to reach their intended direction. Some would not need to wait, some did. It was a strange, yet delicate dance.

"Jayluf?"

Jayluf's eyes widened as he was pulled out of his trance. Angling himself to the right, he looked inquisitively towards his caretaker. "Yes, Miss Hunee?"

She smiled. "I know this might be a lot to take in, and you might be a bit overwhelmed. How are you feeling?"

The un-voiced question did not go unnoticed. She was asking if he was feeling any emotions. Jayluf honestly couldn't say. Maybe he was, and he just didn't realize it at the moment. But he could definitely say he was not bad right now, all of his cells were excitedly working in perfect harmony to absorb as much information as they could, and his synapses had been constantly firing from how much new things he'd experienced under the span of ten minutes.

"I think…" he began. "I think I am feeling more than adequate. I think I am feeling very good."

Her smile told him it was the right thing to say.

"I'm very glad to hear that Jayluf, I'm just glad you haven't fainted or anything."

"Me too."

New shapes in the corner of Jayluf's eyes caused him to snap back towards the window to see that the endless sea of trees had vanished, now replaced by signs of civilization. There were houses, complexes, and buildings scattered everywhere.

Some of the structures featured neon lights, or flashing screens that played strange footage of a cartoonish character performing bizarre actions like jumping up and down while talking, although he couldn't hear it due to him being inside the car.

Although it was weird, Jayluf couldn't help but wonder what the neon lights screens looked like at night. Night was something he'd very much like to see in real life, as his only exposure was a picture or two from being educated on day and night cycles. And since he was never allowed outside to go to his pen if it wasn't daytime, he'd never gotten the opportunity to see it. He'd had dreams about it as well, where he'd see dozens of white glittering dots carelessly scattered across a black sky, complete with a gargantuan moon perched in the middle.

He'd do anything to see the nighttime sky. Perhaps… "Miss Hunee?"

"Yes Jayluf?" Miss Hunee stopped writing in a small notebook she'd stored in her pocket, presumably for jotting down notes. "Something wrong?

"If I pass the entrance exam… could I possibly be rewarded by being able to go out to see the night sky the day after?"

Blinking, the woman tapped her chin with the eraser end of the pencil nestled between her pointer finger and thumb. "I suppose I can speak with the higher ups about it, it shouldn't be too hard to set up if you do well enough to please them."

Jayluf's cells wiggled with anticipation at the suggestion. "Thank you Miss Honey."

There was so much to do in the outside world, and so much to see in it. If he was lucky, he'd be able to witness it all when he became a hero.

---

Jayluf's arrival at U.A. had been anything but subtle. The limo had pulled up close to the walkway that led to the entrance of U.A.

The building was a unique structure that was actually quite baffling to the naked eye, as it almost looked as if it was shaped like the letter "H".

As he stepped outside of the car to stand up on his feet, he heard a strange whirring noise behind him, causing him to turn around and see that the car window had been rolled down to reveal Miss Hunee's bashful face.

"Heheh, I almost forgot something really important! Lean forward a little please."

Obeying, Jayluf tilted his head forwards slightly, and felt something attach itself to his neck. He raised a hand to feel around something metal clinging to his neck.

"It's a tracker and health monitoring device!" Miss Hunee said. "Think of it as like a choker a doctor would use. Here…"

She rolled the window up slightly, allowing Jayluf to see his own reflection. Angling his head, he managed to get a good look at the device. It was a silver metal collar of some sort, with a single red LED light in the middle.

"It's so we can keep an eye on ya during the exam," continued the woman. "Now remember, I know there will be a lot to take in, and at certain times it might seem too much to bear. But just try to do whatever the objective is for the exam. I'm aware that being near kids your age for the first time will be jarring, but do your best to take it in stride." She gestured to the people behind him. "Try to understand that some people aren't all the same here. People in the real world look, talk, walk, sound, and act completely different to others. So just, do your best to be understanding of them, yeah?"

Jayluf could only blink at first, as it was indeed quite a lot to take in. "I will… try my best to perform acceptably, ma'am."

"Perfect!" Exclaimed Miss Hunee as she started to roll the window up. "Have fun, best of luck, stay safe, butmostimportantlydontfai-"

The window slid shut.

Before he was able to even consider trying to get Miss Hunee's attention to have her repeat what she'd said at the last second, the limo revved to life and drove off.

"Whoa…" An unknown voice spoke, "that kid has his own Limo?"

Jayluf turned back to the entrance of U.A. at the sound of a previously unrecognized voice. He remembered that there were people his age now, not scientists in their very late twenties or early thirties that were several inches higher than him, like the ones he'd been adjusted to back home at the laboratory. It definitely was jarring, that was for sure.

A handful of students continued to stare. "So cool…how much do you think that cost?"

"No idea," said another. "His shirt says Nohken Industries, maybe it's a company he works for?"

"Nohken Industries? Isn't that the one pharmaceutical company?"

"I thought it was like a military organization."

There were so many of them, all different shapes and sizes. It reminded Jayluf of seeing all the varied cars on the highway. Although a handful of students were still peering at him in a not so subtle manner, he knew that he couldn't stand there and ponder why they were doing that. The exam most likely did not wait for late students. So he stepped forward, continuing onwards into the crowd of students who all were walking in the same direction.

Except one.

Some distance ahead Jayluf spotted a single student who was standing completely still, not moving a single muscle. Curious as ever, Jayluf slightly adjusted his trajectory so that he was now walking towards the broccoli haired boy.

But before he could get close enough to get a better look, the student took a single step forward…

And promptly tripped, falling downwards face first.

Jayluf could only watch the boy plummet to his pre determined fate with the sidewalk, as he was too far away to intervene, and wasn't fast enough to reach the boy in time, even if he had tried to run.

But before the broccoli student's skull slammed into the cement, a brown haired girl who happened to be walking alongside him noticed, reached out, and pressed her hand to the boy.

And then the boy had… stopped falling?

Jayluf blinked. That didn't make any sense. What had happened?

Upon second glance, he saw that the boy was now being suspended mid air. The boy was floating! But how?

The girl gently reached out and used both of her hands to adjust the boy's body and posture so that his feet were now holding him up.

Smiling warmly, the girl put her hands together and began to speak to the green haired boy, but it was inaudible to Jayluf himself, as he was too far away to hear whatever words were being spoken.

But Jayluf had waited long enough. Thoroughly intrigued in the boy, Jayluf set aside his objective of getting inside in favor of walking in the direction of the two in front of him in order to close the distance between them.

When he'd gotten close enough to hear, he managed to hear a snippet of their conversation, at least the end of it.
"-o our best!" Said the brown girl with a winning smile as she turned and waved. "See ya!"

Without another word, she'd walked off, leaving Jayluf and the green haired boy in silence.

Before he'd been able to get a word out of his mouth, Jayluf had been abruptly cut off because of the boy suddenly making the strangest guttural sound he'd ever heard, being so loud that even some bystanders had turned in surprise to see what the commotion was.

Jayluf took the opportunity to announce his presence. "Hello."

Upon hearing someone else's voice, the boy had quickly ceased his bizarre mating call to whirl around in surprise, and stare at Jayluf with wide green eyes. "E-Eh?"

"How did you do that?"

"M-Me? D-Do what?"

"I was behind you when I witnessed you suspending yourself in the air, I saw your feet were not touching the ground at all. How did you accomplish this? Was this your… quirk?" The word "quirk" felt alien to Jayluf's tongue for some odd reason.

A look of utter befuddlement had been plastered on the boy's face before he quickly shook his head. "N-No! Th-that quirk wasn't m-me! Mine is… w-well, it's a secret! B-But the floaty thing w-was because of the nice g-g-girl!" A tinge of red appeared on the boys cheeks. "She s-saved me!"

So he'd wrongly assumed, Jayluf realized. "I see now, I am in error for assuming without asking. My apologies, stranger."

"S-Stranger? I uh, m-my name is Midoriya!" The boy squeaked, turning back towards the building. "B-But the exam is starting soon, s-so we should go! B-Bye!"

Without another word Midoriya turned away and began speed walking towards the entrance.

Jayluf was not far behind, either. Due to months and months of training sessions, hearing an instruction being given to him caused him to instinctively obey, causing him to trail after the nervous wreck of a boy.

---

To say that Izuku Midoriya was a complete nervous wreck today would probably be the world's biggest understatement of all time. Not only was he applying to be a hero, he was applying in U.A! The U.A! Now he was inside the U.A. High School Hero Course Exam Orientation to learn details on what was going to happen today.

He'd hesitantly entered the auditorium and sat down by… Bakugo. He hoped he didn't mind. The lights were still on, so he assumed it might be a few minutes before it began. A perk of arriving early.

"Is this the correct location?" said a voice beside him.

He nearly leapt out of his seat. Whirling to his left, he was shocked to see the shorter boy from earlier. After being picked on so much for being kind of small, it was somewhat weird seeing someone much shorter than him. It was difficult to tell what the boy was thinking, as his thick black hair was covering his eyes.

"Y-You again?" Midoriya stuttered. "You followed me?"

"You instructed me to."

"I… instructed you to?" What did he mean by that?

The boy's expression did not change from the blank look he had earlier. "When we first encountered one another, you commanded that 'we should go', so I followed."

E-Eh? He thought my stuttering was a command for him to follow me? Who is this guy? And he just obeyed it without question or second thought?! Does he just do whatever anyone tells him? "I-It wasn't a command! Sorry!"

"Understood. Apologies for my inability to understand. Would you like me to go away?"

"N-No!" Midoriya squeaked, suddenly feeling a bit guilty for some reason. "Y-You can sit by me if you want. It's just, w-well, you shouldn't do whatever someone tells you to do just because they tell you to."

"Why not?"

"Why n- B-Because! What if someone was a person you shouldn't be following? What if they were a villain?!"

"But you are not a villain."

"Well y-yeah but, my point still stands! You can't just go around obeying any command from every stranger! What if someone tried to take advantage of you?"

"Why would someone do that to me?"

"Because..."

A flashback to a certain villain attack months back popped up in his head. He could still hear the voice of the villain.

"Sorry kid, I'll just have to borrow your body for a bit…"

Midoriya shuddered, having a flashback to the Slime Villain, the image of it lunging towards him when he'd been alone and vulnerable was still burned in his mind, even months after. "Because there are bad people out there…" He swallowed the urge to vomit, remembering the horrible sensation of the villain forcing itself into him. He really did not like body snatcher villains. "And they don't care who gets hurt. They only care about themselves, and their own selfish desires."

The stranger appeared to take several moments to absorb the new information. "I find your reasoning… logical. I understand now," said the boy. "I apologize for my error."

"Y-You don't have to apologize. Just… try and remember that for next time. We should only be listening to the teachers here."

"Affirmative. Thank you, Midoriya."

"Ah… I g-guess I'll fully introduce myself. I-Im Midoriya, Izuku Midoriya. D-Do you want to tell me your name?" Wait, was it weird to suddenly ask for someone's name like that? "You d-dont have to if you want to, I mean if it feels like I'm p-pressuring you to reveal personal information-"

"My designation is Jayluf Viller. I am usually addressed as merely Jayluf."

Designation? The way this guy speaks is… unique? "I uh, w-well it's nice to meet you, Jayluf!"

A third voice decided to make themselves known. "Shut up Deku. Stop talking so damn loud."

The angry blonde's voice caused Midoriya to reflexively shrink into himself a little "S-Sorry Kacchan!" He squeaked, and threw an apologetic glance towards Jayluf. "T-That's my childhood friend, s-sorry about him…"

"Kacchan?" Jayluf parroted, leaning slightly forward past him to get a better angle of the explosive student.

Immediately Midoriya's anxiety kicked up, fearing that his new acquaintance might unintentionally set off a screaming fit by unintentionally angering Kacchan. "W-Well that's w-what I call him, it's n-not his actual name..."

However, Jayluf didn't appeared disturbed or upset in the slightest. "Greetings Kacchan, I am-"

"Shut the fuck up," Bakugo snarled, "you worthless ass extra. And don't talk to me."

Immediately Jayluf's mouth snapped shut, and promptly leaned back into his seat to stare straight ahead, expression still blank as ever.

Midoriya had an awkward smile as a sweat drop rolled down his face. Don't tell me he registered that as a command too? Didn't I just mention the teachers being the ones in charge? But before he was able to ponder Jayluf's bizarre behavior, it got even worse.

"Midoriya, what did you call him?"

The question caught him slightly off guard. "What do you mean?"

"Friend. You called him a friend. What is… a friend? That sounds... familiar."

His mind went blank. What is… "a friend?" Is… is he pulling my leg right now? "A-Are you trying to be funny or something?" Is he doing some sort of bit or joke?

"I am not funny."

He's not kidding… he's serious? What kind of upbringing did this guy have?! How do I answer this?! I have so many questions!

Recomposing himself, he took a deep breath. "O-Okay, well… a friend is like. Someone you know, and you like them, and they like you. B-But only the platonic like! I didn't mean to imply the like as in like like. So y-yeah…"

Several seconds passed with Jayluf absorbing the information. "Are we friends?"

"E-Eh? You want to b-be friends with me? I-I'm just, I mean, a-are you sure? I-I'm just a quirkle-"

No… wait. I'm not quirkless. Not anymore. Not since this morning . He could still feel the horrid sensation of swallowing a hair strand. He shivered. Eugh…

"We know each other, do we not?" Jayluf' said. "And we do not dislike one another, either. By that logic, we are friends, correct?"

Not exactly! We barely know each other! But… "Well… I g-guess…? Okay, s-sure!" Midoriya had no idea if he'd run into Jayluf after today, but if they both passed the exam, there was a chance they'd bump into each other. Although his mother told him to make friends, he didn't think it'd happen this soon! First, the really nice girl… now Jayluf. I hope I run into that girl again soon….

"Affirmative. You have reached 'friend' status Midoriya. Congratulations on your promotion."

I don't know if I'll ever get used to the way he talks… "T-Thanks? I'm g-glad we're friends too."

Jayluf nodded.

But before anything else could be discussed, the lights began to slowly dim, and the chattering students started to quiet down abruptly. Midoriya looked over to the stage. Was the briefing about to begin?

His new friend seemed somewhat alarmed, eyes darting left and right in surprise. "Midoriya, the light function in this room is failing. What is happening?"

"D-don't worry, I think the briefing for the practical part of the exam is starting. They're just dimming the lights so we can see the screen."

"Screen? You mean that large square on the walk is an actual scre-"

"SHHH!" Snarled a student from in front.

Midoriya took quick notice of the fact that Jayluf was still speaking at the same volume, despite everyone else in the auditorium quieting down, and the two were now getting rather dirty looks from students sitting near them.

"J-Jayluf!" He whispered quickly, "W-Whisper, you're making people mad!"

Jayluf began to catch onto the unwanted attention as well. "Okay. I will whisper." He said, voice lowered. "I apologize, Midoriya."

He apologizes a lot... "It's okay… j-just be ready to watch the briefing." I heard Pro Heroes were teachers here… I wonder if that's actually true. If it is…

THUNK THUNK THUNK

His train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt by the sound of spotlights flickering on one by one, as the giant television screen on the wall activated, proudly presenting the U.A. Logo, and on the stage where the spotlights were illuminating stood…

N-No way… Midoriya thought giddily.

"FOR ALL YOU EXAMINEE LISTENERS TUNING IN… WELCOME TO MY SHOW!" the yellow haired Pro Hero, who stood on stage.

It was Present Mic. THE Present Mic. Midoriya was so moved, he could have cried right then and there.

"EVERYBODY, SAY HEY!"

Complete silence.

"WELL, WHAT A REFINED RESPONSE! THEN I'LL QUICKLY PRESENT TO YOU THE RUNDOWN OF THE PRACTICAL EXAM!"

Before Midoriya could begin to properly geek out, he felt a small tug at his shirt.

"Midoriya…" Jayluf said softly. "Who is that?"

"ARE YOU READY?" Present Mic continued in the background.

Midoriya's jaw dropped. Who is… does he really not know? "Y-You don't know?! It's the world famous Voice Hero; Present Mic! People like me listen to him every day on the radio! All the teachers at U.A are Pro Heroes! How could you not know that?!"

"Present Mic…" Jayluf echoed.

"Shut up." Bakugo muttered.

"AS IT SAYS IN THE APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, YOU LISTENERS WILL BE CONDUCTING TEN MINUTE MOCK URBAN BATTLES AFTER THIS!"

As if responding to his voice, the screen behind him flipped the U.A. logo into what looked to be a diagram of English letters.

"AFTER THE PRESENTATION, YOU LISTENERS WILL HEAD ON OVER TO THE SPECIFIED BATTLECENTERS! OKAY?"

Silence.

"Specified battle centers?" Jayluf questioned.

"It means that they won't let you work with friends," Bakugo said, glaring at both boys. "Now I won't be able to crush you, Deku. Dammit."

After a quick inspection of his own card, Midoriya saw that he was not in the same battle center as Bakugo. "You're right!" He said. "Even though our executive numbers are the same… we're assigned to different battle centers."

Jayluf held out his own card in front of Midoriya. "It says I am assigned to C."

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. "Ah… I'm B… Sorry Jayluf."

"Do not apologize. It was out of your control. It does not bother me."

Well that's… good, right?

Present Mic jabbed a thumb to the screen behind him, which had changed to show a picture of a city and three dark outlines of robots. "THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FAUX VILLAINS FOR YOU TO BATTLE WITH! YOU EARN A SPECIFIC AMOUNT OF POINTS DEPENDING ON WHICH ONE YOU DEFEAT! THE WAY YOU DEFEAT THEM IS BY USING YOUR QUIRKS! WHEN YOU DEFEAT ONE, YOU'RE AWARDED POINTS!" He pointed at the crowd. "OF COURSE, ATTACKING OTHER STUDENTS AND OTHER UNHEROIC ACTIONS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED! THIS IS A HERO SCHOOL, AFTER ALL!"

"Excuse me!" called a voice from in front. A tall student with glasses was standing up, raising one arm straight up. "May I ask a question?"

"OKAY!"

One of the spotlights above switched on to highlight the student in question.

"On the printout! It says there are four types of villains, yet you say that there are three!"

A glance on the printout told Midoriya that the student was correct, a fourth robot's shadowy figure was displayed as clear as day. Was it a misprint, as the glasses student implied? If true, that would be rather sloppy. But it had to be some sort of mistake!

The student was still talking. "We examinees are in this place because we wish to become exemplary heroes!" Spinning around, he pointed an accusatory finger at Midoriya. "And you two, the one with curly green hair, and the one with the black hair! You two have been whispering and muttering! It's distracting! If you two are on a pleasure trip, you should leave immediately!"

Never did Midoriya want more than to just crawl into a little ball and vanish from reality. He didn't mean to be muttering, now he and his new friend were in trouble… His red flushed red. "S-Sor-"

"Who are you?"

To Midoriya's surprise, it seemed that Jayluf had decided to butt in as well.

"What?" said the student.

"Who are you?" Jayluf was staring at the student, head tilting to one side. "Are you a Pro Hero?"

Midoriya's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that to be a question.

The question seemed to take the accuser off guard for a moment as well. "N-No? But everybody here is trying-"

"You speak as though you have an authority here of some sort. I was told only Pro Heroes were employed as teachers here, and that we should only follow their commands. By that logic, they are the authority."

Despite his words, Jayluf's tone betrayed no anger or spite. It seemed as if he was genuinely curious about the situation.

"You are not a Pro Hero," he continued. "My conclusion is that you have no authority here. Why do you speak as though you do? Do you not trust the teachers to do their job?"

The glasses wearing boy stuttered. "That's not... You're putting words in my mouth. I had merely wished to point out the error on their printout!"

Jayluf blinked. "What if it is not an error?"

"Excuse me?"

"The teacher, Present Mic, has not finished speaking. What if he has the answer you seek already?" Jayluf turned to Present Mic. "My caretakers have taught me that it is best to let your superiors finish speaking. Perhaps it is possible he has not reached that section of the orientation?"

The student opened his mouth, then stopped. "I… I had not considered that as a possibility, no" He turned to face Present Mic. "Is this why you have not mentioned it yet, teacher?"

"CORRECTAMUNDO, IN FACT, I WILL PROCEED TO EXPLAIN IT NOW!"

"O-Of course! Apologies for the interruption!" Bowing, the student quickly sat down, but not without Midoriya noticing the quick glare thrown in his direction. Yikes.

"WHEW, I THOUGHT THAT WAS NEVER GOING TO END," piped Present Mic as the spotlight switched back off. "BUT YES, BOTH OF THOSE STUDENTS HAD VALID POINTS, BUT IN DIFFERENT ASPECTS. GLASSES KID WAS CORRECT IN THAT I HAD SAID THERE WERE THREE BOTS INSTEAD OF FOUR. BUT THIS IS WHERE MISTER OFF BRAND PROTAGONIST WAS CORRECT, IN THAT I HAD NOT GOTTEN TO IT FOR A SPECIFIC REASON! I HAD NOT MENTIONED THE FOURTH ROBOT BECAUSE IT IS A MODEL THAT YIELDS NO POINTS. THAT'S RIGHT, ZERO! ZILCH! NADA!"

The screen changed the graphic to show the colored version of the robot. "THIS ZERO POINTER SERVES AS A WAY TO BREAK UP STUDENTS, AND SEPARATE THEM. AN OBSTACLE, IF YOU WILL. IT'S NOT WORTH FIGHTING, DUE TO ITS HUGE STRENGTH AND SIZE. BUT DON'T TAKE THAT AS A CHALLENGE TO GO AND FIGHT IT. BECAUSE THERE IS NO POINT IN SCRAPPING THIS BOT, SINCE, YKNOW, ZERO POINTS." He shrugged. "I MEAN, IT'S NOT AGAINST THE RULES TO ENGAGE WITH IT, BUT WITH THE LIMITED TIME YOU HAVE, CAN YOU LISTENERS REALLY AFFORD TO BE MESSING WITH IT?"

Midoriya inspected the graphic on his card. Zero pointer… how big is this bot?

"AND FOR THOSE WORRIED ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO TELL WHICH BOT IS A ZERO POINTER, DON'T WORRY. YOU'LL KNOW WHEN YOU SEE IT. THAT'S ALL FROM ME TODAY, BUT I'LL GIVE YOU ALL A PRESENT, OUR SCHOOL MOTTO! THE HERO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID THAT A TRUE HERO IS SOMEONE WHO OVERCOMES ALL OF LIFE'S MISFORTUNES. GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!"

The phrase Midoriya knew by heart made him grin giddily. I'm going to be… a hero! I just have to pass this exam!

---

I was planning originally for Jayluf to not meet Midoriya, but I realized that it would make more sense that Jayluf's curiosity would cause him to investigate Midoriya almost faceplanting on the cement, lol.

I will admit, seeing only 1 comment (At the time of posting this on AO3) was slightly disheartening, but as I said before I really like this idea, so if you liked this, please comment and let me know what you think! And maybe recommend it to fellow readers/friends! Because I literally live for comments, I check everyday for em, so I'm crossing my fingers in hoping this one gets a few more than the one lol. See you guys next time!