deductions.
'Oh? His muscles tensing at the mention of a quirk suggest that he knows Midoriya is quirkless. Or at least, he used to be. Oh! How I love mysteries!' The principal speculated giddily.
"He's not wrong: Magnetism of any variation is a powerful quirk when used correctly. It just so happens the practical portion of the exam was in his favor from the very beginning... It's not rocket science." Eraser Head spoke up suddenly, almost giving Vlad King a heart attack with how unexpectedly he appeared behind his shoulder.
Then, proceeding to lean his partial weight on said now grumpy man with a propped up elbow, he scanned the faces of the UA faculty. His eyes flickered to Nezu for a long moment.
"The practical portion of the exam is entirely illogical. Midoriya is living proof."
"How's that?" All Might's personified inquiry had the effect of quelling every other discussion from transpiring in the observation room.
Nezu merely watched on with rapt interest as Shota Aizawa stared down the herculean man with no lack of disdain in his withering, arid glare.
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me, number one hero?"
The symbol of peace curled a brow at his fellow hero's sudden hostility.
"Fine." All Might rose to his full height, crossing his arms. "What's this really about?"
Eraser Head scoffed.
"That depends, are you going to keep playing dumb?"
The stalemate was witnessed by the UA faculty, wondering where this verbal spat was coming from.
"Look, Aizawa–"
" –Eraser Head. You don't get to call me by my name."
"...Eraser Head," All Might trailed, "I'm serious when I say I have no clue what it is you may be referring to." He spoke with sincerity present in his voice, but Nezu spotted the vocal discrepancy right away.
Eraser Head squinted narrowly at the principal.
"Why is he here? Why is All Might teaching at UA? I sincerely doubt the symbol of peace sat down in a college lecture hall just to get his education degree. Now he has to divide his time between hero work and teacher work– which isn't exactly ideal when he's the most powerful man in the world. The second he has any kids in his class they're going to be too starstruck to think comprehensively."
"The purpose of the practical portion of the exam is to measure pure combat ability and heroic tendencies in the midst of struggle. Perhaps this is a discussion best left for another time, hmm?" Nezu casually deflected, humming.
"No he- he has a point. I haven't the slightest idea of where to start when it comes to teaching. That being said, I also think my status as well as my experience, gives me more than enough reputable points to incur valuable wisdom to the young heroes of this generation." All Might mumbled his case albeit, hesitantly.
Eraser Head's eyes gleamed briefly signaling the activation of his quirk.
"You're reckless. You're negligent. You throw yourself into the fray with no regard for personal preservation. What message does that send the children? You get away with it because of your super durability, but for everyone else? That's not an option. Not on the streets. I won't stand by idly while you fumble the ball of the basics of teaching and get my future students, teenagers, slaughtered because they thought, if they had enough machismo and one-liners, they could take down any villain with their quirk alone."
He shook his head, nearing the end of his rant.
"You've fooled a lot of kids into thinking they were anything close to being hero material."
'I've had to crush a lot of their dreams.'
"Is that why you expelled your entire class last year?"
"For not being ready to take on the responsibility that comes with a profession such as ours? I did them a favor by sending them home early. They get to see their families again and pursue a career best suited for them, not something as life-threatening as heroics. That's preferable to a family waking up only to find the face of their sons and daughters in the obituaries."
"My intention isn't to lead the youth astray. The only thing I've ever wanted was to help people– that's my calling in life! The reason I smile– it was something my master imparted onto me before she died. To deceive the fear within my own heart, to abandon doubt– it made me stronger as a hero— as a person." He clenched his hand into a fist, divulging.
"It's part of the reason why I never got… 'involved' with the dating scene. Knowing that my passion for heroics has inspired so many others to give it a shot is an honor I can't dismiss, Eraser Head, but one I proudly cherish. I understand the importance of safety, I wouldn't be where I am today if I ignored it. Had I done so, I'd be no different than Endeavor. What I stand for is tenacious, excruciating dedication towards a craft that is intended to make the world a better place.
It's… difficult for me to see myself in any other job– which I'm guessing is why you expect me to pass down all of my bad habits onto your soon-to-be students. You're scared for them. I am too. We can't know what the future holds, so it's better to be ready rather than not. I get that."
His face didn't show it, but the way he says it:
"I'm getting older– It might not seem obvious but my uh, well– it's complicated– the gist is, I'm close to retiring."
The pain was palpable.
Eraser Head remained deathly quiet throughout the verbal dump. The other teachers, who were still attentively focused on the examinees, couldn't help but recoil at the reveal. While not directed solely at them– it was an atmosphere changer. The excitable air in the observation room rapidly thickened, as the gravity of All Might's disclosure took on varying effects.
Then he bowed.
"Eraser Head… if you will have me… you have my word that every single one of your students will make it to graduation day. I'll make absolutely sure of it."
The erasure hero gave an audible exhale through his nose.
"Color me surprised, you're not as daft or obnoxious as your hero persona would suggest." He readjusted his capture tool.
"You can stand up, you big oaf."
"Eraser–"
" –Nezu," Eraser Head brushed off the number one hero, "You pride yourself on intelligence and foresight. So why are you reaching for the red button that specifically says DO NOT TOUCH?"
"Oh dear, it seems I've been caught… red-handed?" Nezu laughed at his own pun.
Multiple groans later, Power Loader remembered why he had been so distracted to begin with.
"Say uh, how many points is Midoriya at now?"
The question sparked to life the curiosity of the other pro heroes present. Ectoplasm, the hero who was responsible for monitoring the fluctuating top ten, clicked a couple times– when his jaw unhinged and just about hit the floor, white eyes bulging out of his head almost cartoonishly.
"Good God what fuckin' reaction was that!" Snipe cursed as he stumbled backwards and spilled to the floor.
"What is it!? How many does he have!?" Midnight impatiently demanded as she shoved Snipe back down while he was attempting to stand.
"He is about to hit two hundred points." Ectoplasm's voice was small despite.
"TWO HUNDRED!?" Was the collective response to such absurdity.
The main screen showed the hero hopeful altering the trajectory of several missiles to funnel together a massive explosion in the center of the street, which was strangely subdued— like a force field had kept the shockwave contained.
"That kid sure is something else," Power Loader commended, "Hold on— Nezu, is he the reason you asked me to triple the amount of robots to be deployed in Ground Beta?" He pondered as he scratched his head.
"Did you see his quirk registry as magnetism and decide to even the playing field?" He guessed, only to be dismissed moments later. The principal's paw flicked open the plastic box shielding the red button from being pressed.
"Call it a hunch."
"OK, are you one hundred percent sure you want to—"
—Power Loader flinched as the quirked animal anticlimactically pushed the button.
'Let's see how he fairs against this! Am I slightly masochistic? Probably— but no time to dwell on that at the present time! I have an exam to conduct!' The principal thought to himself amusedly.
…
Izuku Midoriya was fighting for his life.
What had initially started as an intense five on one matchup, had quickly devolved into a full-throttle battlefield in the heart of Ground Beta. He found his skills being pushed to their absolute limit, as the sheer number disadvantage alone was forcing him to reach deep in his bag for moves he only experimented with prior to the exam. Not only was he maintaining his levitating manhole cover to cruise on, he also had to create a constant polarizing force field around himself to even be able to move safely out in the open. Although the mental strain was taxing, his adrenaline rush canceled it out.
A rocket whizzed through the voided dimensions between his head and torso. Capitalizing on its momentum, he returned the explosive ammunition to its sender, allowing his metal skull to magnetize parallel to its surface, yanking himself along for the ride. While this was happening his main body fought independently. With his head now essentially a cannonball, he ejected it from the flaming rocket and headbutted a one pointer in the midsection so hard that he effortlessly tore through the metal chassis, rending them in two. Diagonal to him, a collection of three pointers were blown to bits in a heated burst. After confirming that his separate entity was holding its own, he proceeded to carry on with his crusade.
Utilizing the leftover smoke from the robots scrap heap as cover, he screamed in and out of the thick gray smoke akin to bullet howling across the trenches. The smoke dissipated after a short duration, but the opportunity it provided him with was earning seven easy points so he wasn't going to complain. He commanded his skull to patrol the oncoming alleyways for lurking one pointers.
Meanwhile, the main body was surfing atop a mob of robots with his manhole cover, performing a somersault and then heaving the plate like a discus. The iron slab sliced the heads off of every robot in the area. When the desecration arrived at a conclusion, he pulled the metal back to his arm like a buckler and brandished himself with a dismembered tail of a two pointer as a sword. His skull slingshot back to its original position, as he theatrically turned to face off against the approaching army of villain bots barreling over the asphalt pathway. Their lifeless scarlet optics visible through the large amount of dust they were kicking up.
The alien boy gave a guttural battle cry, charging headlong into the mechanical fray. Using a widespread magnetic dispersal blast, he locked the gears of the robots at his locality, stalling them, before smashing through them with long sweeping strikes. Using the destruction to his advantage, he attracted the scrapped parts from his leftover carnage to fit around him into a misshapen suit of samurai armor.
Seeing that his sword had been damaged beyond usefulness, he launched the busted two pointer's tail like a javelin, impaling an entire row of villain bots. The resulting detonation enveloped a large swathe of them. Hopping on the back of a three pointer he plunged his pincers into its spine, splitting the material with a condensed forcefield. He followed this up with a downward strike from his buckler, successfully incapacitating the machine.
Tanking ballistic missile fire, he ducked and caught the weight of a daring one pointer. While unsuccessful in stopping him (as Izuku immediately ripped it in half), the first robot to physically catch him off guard led the way for his comrades to gain the upperhand. The swarming villain bot brigade was mobbing him, and this time he wasn't able to deflect their blows. His skull was being knocked around like a pinball, rebounding between the various flinging limbs and projectiles. He was getting extremely dizzy, and if he didn't break out of their hold soon he was going to be completely overwhelmed.
Improvising, he ejected his armor in a shockwave around him, piercing the robots exteriors with magnetized shrapnel. If there were any that survived the initial spread, there certainly were none remaining once he recalled the shrapnel, doubling the extent of the damage. The fragments swirled around him in a metallic gust, as he permitted them to rest. Perched at the summit of a robo-graveyard, he surveyed the cityscape, surprised to find no more villain bots in sight.
"Did they run out?" He wondered aloud, losing his footing when a low rumble caused the scrap pile to shift.
"What was that?" His skull rotated, discovering a gargantuan robot rising above the buildings.
"The zero pointer…" He breathed, and without hesitation, he levitated himself away from the wreckage and in the direction of the goliath.
'UA isn't trying to kill us are they?' His mind flickered to the past five minutes.
"Maybe they are actually trying to kill us– but a robot of thatsize– someone could get seriously hurt!"
Approaching the ruins of the desecrated street, he discovered an examinee trapped under fallen rubble— a brunette with a bob haircut and pink cheeks. She was struggling to pull herself free out from underneath a large concrete slab. The zero point robot was already poised to crush her.
"NO!" He flew behind the giant robot, attempting to restrain with his magnetokinesis.
In response, the inner workings groaned loudly and the treads stuttered. However, while he was able to slow down the zero pointer's progress, he wasn't strong enough to attract something with so much distributed mass. Noticing other examinees fleeing the scene, he caught sight of a familiar bespectacled boy.
"IIDA!" He screamed as loud as his alien form could manage.
The teen came to a grinding halt, whirling around to locate who called out to him.
"IT'S MIDORIYA! YOU NEED TO GET HER OUT OF HERE!" His desperate plea struck Iida like an echo chamber, who, even in the midst of all the chaos of the exam, was still able to make sense of what he was trying to say.
Wasting no time, he activated his thrusters, navigating the collateral maze. Dodging more falling bricks and glass shards, he found the trapped student that Midoriya had been alluding to.
"Where are you hurt?" Iida spoke diligently.
The girl's head snapped up to look at him as he spoke, eyes widening briefly by the fact that someone had come to rescue her. A mechanical roar reminded the pair of teens that they didn't have much time to become acquainted.
"My leg! It's pinned! I can't move it at all!" Her panic was evident in her voice.
"It's OK! I'll get this thing off of you!" He promised, pouring all of his strength into lifting with his legs.
"What's your name?"
"Uraraka. Who're you?"
"Iida Tenya! Nice to meet you!"
"U-um yeah!? Same!?" She replied unsurely, but not unenthusiastically.
A shadow indicated the jumbo-sized fist of the zero pointer was encroaching on their position. Izuku's heroic instincts flared to life, as he multiplied his efforts to hold the mechanical monstrosity back. His mouth was beginning to taste vaguely like mercury, which was the indicator that he was rapidly approaching his limit.
With a combined heave, they were able to shift the concrete slab enough to where she could shimmy herself out. Seeing that her ankle was obviously twisted, Ingenium's brother took the liberty of sweeping her off her feet; he leapt away, seconds before both would be reduced to paste. The impact of the zero pointer striking the earth caused a tremor that shook the entire city.
Seeing that Iida had done his job of saving that examinee, he relinquished his hold, the pressure building inside his skull reducing drastically.
"THREE MINUTES LEFT!" Present Mic reminded him that he was still in the middle of a test.
"Only three minutes left!?" In his floundering he failed to notice the zero point robot had rotated on its midsection axis, optics fixated on him.
"Huh?" He blinked as a metal fist, not unlike the size of the bus he'd taken for the ride over, rammed into him, the colossal strength and kinetic energy behind the attack sending him rocketing across the cityscape– crashing into four separate office buildings. Tumbling through the road barrier, he finally rolled to a stop.
"That…" He paused to vomit a stream of mercury. "...Sucked." The lightheadedness that suddenly overcame him caused him to crash to his knees, as he blinked stars out of his vision.
"I pushed myself… too much…" His brain felt like it was sizzling, but somewhere deep in his subconscious, he remembered why he was here.
"But I can't give up. I need to show them… I have- I have to show them! I-I have to! That I…" He rose to his feet, legs shaking.
The robo-colossus was almost upon him as he already began formulating a plan.
'So it wants me? Alright, then come and get me!'
"Just a little bit… closer!"
He offered himself, splaying his arms widely, subsequently allowing for his main body to be smashed by the weight of the zero pointer's punch. In the moments prior to this, he ejected his skull high into the atmosphere, flying far above the other's head. Pulling its arm back, the giant robot somehow managed to appear distraught as the alien had instinctually magnetized to the machine's hand.
Floating close to cloud level, Izuku ordered his skull to be slingshot back towards the planet he called home, gradually building up so much velocity that a stripe of fire was trailing behind him. Simultaneously, Magnetician's body was evading capture by swinging in between the zero pointer's monumental digits like an acrobatic (really his magnetic nature made it more troublesome for the metal titan to establish a steady grip on him).
"If I can't slow you down, then I'll just speed things up!" He declared.
Like an asteroid impact, his skull collided with the giant villain bot's optic, impaling the material. Now literally inside the zero pointer's head, he set about determinedly to shredding and dismantling the giant robot's innards. From the outside, it appeared as if the mechanical monstrosity was having a seizure. The chest plate creaked, the metal warping oddly, before expanding outwards and bursting open. The skull of Magnetician returned to his main body, as he vaulted over the now smoking and crackling limb. The prone form of the metal titan slumped over, defeated.
As soon as he made contact with the ground, he broke into a run in the opposite direction. The shockwave from the resulting explosion threw him off balance, but he was still far enough away that the only danger he was in was due to heat exposure. Magnetician was already impervious to most forms of harm anyway.
"TIMES UP!" Present Mic announced the conclusion to the exam.
"Times–!?" His head rotated three-hundred-sixty degrees.
Crestfallen, Izuku reverted back to his human form. His mouth tasted thickly of iron, the injury his alien experienced carrying over to his more vulnerable human body. He wiped the excess blood away from his lip. He didn't get as many points as he believed he could've. Had he not spent so much time dealing with zero pointer by himself, he might've been able to secure a higher ranking and score. He saw Iida standing beside the brunette from earlier being tended to by Recovery Girl.
"At least she's fine. It was worth it." He sighed, a humble smile gracing his lips.
"I wonder how Jiro did?"
…
The observation room was as silent as the vacuum of space. Before All Might, the teachers of UA had never witnessed any examinee successfully stop the zero pointer before– and Nezu had set the machine to its maximum difficulty. Speaking of the number one hero– he had to leave for an 'emergency' bathroom break just as the exam ended.
"Shit." The herculean man attempted to be discreet as he dabbed at the corner of his mouth with his handkerchief. "The Midoriya situation is worse than I could've possibly imagined."
'There's only one explanation for how he got this incredible power… and I fear I might not have the strength left with One For All diminishing… Nana… Forgive me.' Toshinori pocketed the handkerchief, while using his free hand to extract his phone.
Leaning his weight on the tile wall, he hesitantly hit the call button.
"Hello?"
"Whose this?" Someone grunted on the other end.
Pinching his nose, Toshinori steeled himself.
"I know you have me in your contacts, you don't have to act senile."
"Who said I'm senile?"
"That's not what I– Jesus Christ–"
"I'm just fucking with you Toshinori, no harm, no foul. So what's this about? You haven't called me in over five years."
"..." The words were trapped in his throat.
"Toshinori? Are you still there? I know I'm hard of hearing but throw me a goddamn bone here!"
"I think he is still alive." The explanation was curt, but effective at establishing the tone of conversation.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Izuku Midoriya. I just watched him destroy the zero pointer."
"That's…impressive. What about that implies this boy is tied to him?"
"He has a quirk."
"Details, Toshinori."
"He didn't have one ten months ago. When I first met him."
"Ah."
"Yeah."
"So, what do you need me to do?"
"Err, I mean, I'm not telling you to do anything, but–"
" –You want me to make a surprise visit? Drop in? That's what you're asking me, right?"
"Yes." He admitted after an awkward moment of silence.
"OK, fine, I'll do it."
"Thank you."
"Hey, that's sensei to you."
"Thank you, Gran Torino sensei."
"Hehe, all these years and you're still whipped." The elderly man laughed at his student's expense.
…
Ochaco Uraraka gloomily stared at the Thirteen space-themed candy bars through the glass pane of the convenience store. After taking a train all the way to Musutafu from Mie Prefecture, and renting a hotel room for a week, the gravity quirk user had been brimming with excitement for a chance to make it into a prestigious school such as UA. She figured she'd done well enough on the written portion– and she was doing decent enough during the practical– when she made a fatal mistake that cost her dream.
'If it wasn't for that weird, floating head guy and Iida, I may have actually died today.' She sighed depressingly. 'I should never have gotten so close! I saw all those three pointers clumped together and I-!' Unable to keep her emotions under control, tears pricked painfully at the edge of her eyelids.
She bumped her forehead against the glass.
'How could I be so STUPID!? Now my parents will never get the life they deserve! It's all my fault! It's all my–!'
"What's your deal?" She was barely able to contain her sobs, when that dry voice appeared beside her.
She rubbed the wetness from her eyes, so she could examine this person with better clarity. Pale blue locks shielded his crimson eyes from plain view, but most of his facial features were concealed by the dark hoodie he wore anyway. They took a large bite out of their apple. He wore specialized gloves– she knew instantly they were for touch based quirks because she owned the same pair herself— back at home. She didn't entertain him with a response, instead choosing to glare at her reflection through the transparent material.
"Hey, there's no issue in talking about your problems isn't there? You seem to be in a bit of a rough patch. You're staring at those candy bars like they killed your family." Another bite.
She huffed.
"They might as well have." She growled menacingly.
"Oooo, edgy! Tell me more?"
"I don't have to talk to you about anything."
"Rude. Fine, see you around but then again…" He slowly turned to walk away before slyly inserting, "...Maybe not."
It felt like a harp string was being cut inside her mourning soul, the manner in which she was dismissed so easily by this sudden stranger. It reminded her of how her parents' construction business was never sought out, despite the exceptional quality of their work. She refused to be brushed off again.
"Wait." He slowed to a halt.
"I thought you didn't want to talk?" He hadn't turned around yet.
"I- I don't want to keep talking to myself."
'Or my parents.'
"That's all. I didn't mean to give you the cold shoulder. I'm upset. Angry. Depressed. A whole bunch of other things that I don't know how to describe. "
"I accept your apology." He said nonchalantly, nearly finished with his fruit.
She approached him.
"I didn't even say sorry." She laughed. "I'm Uraraka."
He finally spun around to focus on her, swallowing.
"Shiggy." He grinned widely, putting his chapped lips on full display.
Mirroring him, she deliberated;
"I failed the UA entrance exam today."
It was brief, but for a split second, she could've sworn he looked like he was about to reach out and strangle her. It passed as quickly as it came, however, as he hummed in acknowledgement.
"I suppose UA is less than a mile down the road, huh?" He commented offhandedly, appearing amused by the fact.
"UA's a hard school to get into. If not, the hardest. Are your standards so incredibly high that you're crying over failing a test that ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent of participants don't pass?"
"I– well I- I was so close!" Her fists shook in her frustration. "I guess there is a chance I still get in, but it's most likely not happening. I didn't score enough points. Instead I had to be saved like I was some damsel in distress!"
"Why'd you take it in the first place?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you, of all people, take the UA entrance exam? Did you want to be a hero?"
"That was the plan."
"Things don't always go according to plan. I would know that." He shed his glove and disintegrated the apple core, showcasing his quirk to her.
"Which is why you need a backup plan." He yanked the cloth back on. "You wouldn't already happen to have one?"
"No… I was sort of banking on this." She admitted, cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I thought if I could become a hero, the money I'd make from that alone would be enough to set them– my parents– up for that trip to Hawaii they always dreamed of."
"Being rich is your motivation? That doesn't sound too heroic to me."
"That's not– it's different from that!" She argued.
"Is it?" He countered tactfully.
"It is." She didn't sound confident in her assurance.
Shiggy appeared to seriously regard her circumstance for a moment, before he slung his hands into his hoodie pocket. He thumbed a business card, extending it for her to take. Snatching the paper, she was confused to find only a phone number.
"If you are in desperate need of some cash, I know about a job you can do."
She frowned, though the allure of making up for her failure in any way possible was becoming a more tantalizing option. In a moment of weakness, she took the bait.
"Um, what kind of job?"
"The kind that can get your parents to Hawaii."