Chapter 11: Test of Strength
It was a strange feeling, being where he was. For so long, he had thought he would be awed and intimidated by the gates of U.A., of taking its famously challenging entrance exam. He had dreamed of this day for years, of taking this first step towards his goal yet, he felt none of that. He could feel his heart beating eagerly in his chest, and his arms buzzed with energy but there was no fear or awe to be found in his gaze.
Maybe it was because when he thought about it, this wasn't his first step. No, that had been years ago, when he was just a little boy, with no hope to ever achieve his dream who had the fortune to meet his master and gain a chance to prove himself to her. Thinking of that, and every step along the way seemed to do the trick. Dressed in his now former middle school uniform, he reached his hand to comb a hand through his hair, which was longer and wider than before, being a shorter version of the mane his master had, falling to his shoulders with some of it gathered into a ponytail to keep it in check. His green and blue scarf was secured around his neck, covering his chin and mouth despite the springtime air being warm enough to go without it. It was the same with his nails which he had allowed to grow out much like the master.
The woman in question stood by his side, having decided to see him off at the gates, those similarities making it easy for people to assume she was his mother dropping him off, but none bothered them if they felt the urge, as they had their exam to focus on. Turning to him, her amber eyes burned with authority and power, but also a distinct gentle love for her pupil. "So, this is where it leads, all your work."
Nodding, he turned from the shiny glass and steel building that made up U.A. main campus to his teacher, and mother in all but blood. "It's only thanks to do that I can even step up to this starting line."
"True, you've come a long way from the little shit that I picked up all those years ago." She placed a hand on his shoulder, that single gesture expressing how proud she was of him as she gave it a gentle squeeze. "You've more than earned your place in this world, it's your hard work that has brought you here, my boy. Be proud of that as I am of you."
Wiping away some tears at her kind, honest words, he gave her a smile which had his eyes shine in a way so similar to the one he gave her when she first found him all those years ago she almost forgot he wasn't that little boy anymore. He had grown into a fine young man. "You were always there to guide me, show me the way when things got hard." Humble too,
Shaking her head, she didn't let him get away with praising her too much. "Not even a diamond is made from nothing, and you're turning out to be one of the best I've ever found." Turning on her heel, the crowd of early bird students parted without thinking for her to walk back down the hill that U.A. sat on.
"I'll see you later, master," Midoriya called out to her as she waved back at him over her shoulder.
"I expect nothing but your best, my boy." She replied, as confident in his success as she was in the sun setting only to rise again. That little act meant more to him than he would ever say, it was certainly more than what Inko had done, as she had only seen him once after he returned from months of training and only asked him 'if he had let his hair grow', seemingly never noticing he was gone or not caring enough to question it if she had.
Shaking his head to clear away such depressing thoughts, he entered the school grounds, he found a quiet spot to sit and plan how he'd do this. U.A.'s hero exam was a two-stage thing, the first being a written practical test to test your knowledge on core subjects like Japanese, Math, Chemistry, Biology, History etc. Everything a middle schooler was expected to know. That was hard enough, which was why he had to study up in the days leading up to the exam to ensure he didn't flounder and get sick in it. But it was the second part that the U.A. was famous for, as they would place them in an arena of some kind and have the students battle it out against robots of different values.
From what he could find about it, that part of the exam had remained consistent for the last 6 years, which meant he had to move fast and hit hard as there was always a limited number of robots to fight, encouraging students to be proactive and even steal points where they could else, they'll fall behind. He didn't particularly like it, it wasn't an exam that allowed those with no battle-focused quirks to shine but that was just how things were, people wanted heroes to be flashy, bright and attractive, more celebrities than protectors so U.A. was a school that produced many of those same sorts of heroes, which would reflect that. His mind flashed to U.A.'s greatest success story, All Might and his mood soured as he took a breath to calm himself.
Even if that wasn't the case, the exam still all but forced people to fight among themselves for points, stealing them where they could to gain even a small advantage but U.A. only offered 16 spots for the hero course, the other 4 always going to recommendation students, so only those with the hunger and will to fight for what they wanted could ever hope to be one of the 16 out of hundreds to make it. The lion that didn't work didn't eat-it was as simple as that. Reaching for his pocket, he filled up the bag of seeds he had brought to ensure that he would be one of those lions that ate his fill.
Thinking of battle plans, he felt someone approaching him, his sensory capabilities still hinted as he could tell from the way they walked, the way they breathed and even how the wind seemed to flow over them that they were another student with little if any practical training outside basic physical fitness. Opening his eyes, he saw that he had been right on the money as the dark-haired girl with passive but so clear blue eyes approached. Her eyes reflected her demeanor well like many others who were extremely nervous, or excited. She was relatively calm, a bit on edge but a far cry from the rest.
"My apologies, did I disturb you?" Even her voice was calm and level, not a beat above what it needed to be to be heard.
He shook his head. "No but is there a reason you approached? To take a seat?"
"Yes, I would like to sit and collect myself before the exam." She asked once more, her eyes moving to the spot on the bench next to him. His cheeks reddened just a little at the fact a girl was asking to sit next to him, but it passed like a scent carried by the wind. He would need to thank Obi for his help with that.
"There's plenty of space." Moving a little to give her more space, she didn't smile or nod, merely taking the spot she wanted while he watched her out of the corner of his eye like a cat, if she felt his gaze on her, she didn't react as after a time, she pulled her phone out and went through it, doing what he didn't know. Despite the fact she seemed to have this air about her that got his interest, he turned away from her to focus on himself. The two remained silent as they either planned their battle strategy or relaxed before they were thrown to the lion.
In this relaxed silence between the two students, more students arrived and the space became a bit livelier as groups formed as friends from the same school or area found one another, offering up advice, words of encouragement or bragging that they'll be one of the top scorers, that last group tended to be those who flexed their quirks as if peacocks showing off their plume of feathers which irritated Midoriya to no end.
"Loud." The girl next to him said, her gaze never leaving her phone.
"You said it. It's easier to think when it's quiet, or when I'm taking a nap." Midoriya responded, with her turning to him after his statement.
"Do you take a lot of naps?" She asked as he rubbed the back of his head, wondering how much he could tell her without coming off as crazy.
"It's a habit now, I haven't had the best sleep schedule for a while now and I try to get some sleep where I can." That was an understatement as even after he survived being dosed with sage energy, his training schedule barely changed, so whenever they let him off the hook, he would find anywhere that seemed comfy enough to nap, whether that be in the shade or sunbathing. Lifting his hand to her, she smiled at her.
"Midoriya Izuku." He introduced himself as the girl looked at him, and then at his hand before shaking it.
"Kodai Yui." With the introductions done, they went back to the silence though it didn't last long as in a couple minutes, a new figure approached them. A boy with literal pitch-black skin whose relaxed slouched walk made him seem lazier than he must have been.
"Is this seat taken?" He asked, to which Kodai was the one to respond.
"No." With that, the boy took the seat and the trio exchanged greetings and introductions, the boy being named Kuroiro Shihai, they exchanged little talk after that, mainly simply questions about the exam and hobbies, with it never getting close to quirks which Midoriya appreciated as he rather not give up the bag so early. It was when he spotted a familiar head of blonde hair in the distance that he gave a different reaction as his eyes narrowed and his mouth became a thin line as he used Osaero to mask himself, his skill with it at such a level that the two seated next to him blinked as they looked around, wondering where he left and how he did it without making a sound. It took them a minute to realize he had never moved but by that, Bakugo had walked by them, having never even noticed him.
Once there was some distance between them and his old friend-turned-bully, he deactivated it, which made his presence all the easier for the two to notice. "Hey, what did you just do just now, it was like you came one with the shadows," Kuroiro asked him as he looked over to him.
Leaning his head to the side like a housecat, he answered. "In a way, I did but you're also wrong, after all, everyone always watches the shadows for threats, but never wonder if that threat could hide in the light." He gave them both a cheeky smile even as they looked on in mild confusion.
"That doesn't make sense," Kodai replied as he continued to smile, wondering if this was what his master felt like when she messed around with people.
"Trust me, if I tried to explain it, it'd make even less sense."
'Of course, this would be my luck.' Midoriya thought to himself later, making a good impression of a grumpy cat as he sat next to the person he had wished to avoid but it seemed that U.A. organized their seating by the school and had the only two from theirs, they were placed together. Bakugo's reaction to seeing him was less than pleasant as barely contained his rage, the boy no doubt remembering the last time they had seen one another, with Midoriya glaring at him before tapping his nose, which only made the boy all the angrier but he couldn't attack him here.
Despite his taunt, he wouldn't mind sitting somewhere else while Present Mic introduced himself and explained how things would work for the written and practical exams, he felt Bakugo's gaze never leave him as he mewed from how loud it got whenever Present Mic spoke, as the man sounded just as exciting and inviting as he had on his radio show but he just has to roll with it and get used to having increased senses, only for this enjoyable moment of seeing a pro in action to be interrupted when someone raised their hand to ask about the 4th robot that hadn't been touched upon despite the fact Present Mic hadn't finished his explanation, it didn't help Midoriya's view on them since they were just as loud as Present Mic.
As if not done ruining the flow of things, the boy turned to point towards where Izuku and Bakugo were seated. "In addition, you with the unkempt hair, you're incessant meowing is distracting, if you think this is some pleasure tour, leave now!" Bakugo snickered only for that to die as instead of folding or remaining silent, Midoriya shot to his feet, hissing at the boy with his hair flashing up like the fur of a cat.
Such an aggressive response made the boy flinch back, while others looked on in concern as he hissed back, "It's rude to point at people like that, and I'm only mewing because Present Mic is loud! It's disorientating in my ears!" His cat-like appearance completed the picture for them as Present Mic stepped in before an argument could break out, speaking softer this time as he calmed the tensions, with Izuku getting back into his seat, not caring if Bakugo was looking at him with wide eyes before he went back to glaring, muttering that he thought he was some kind of cat boy now on top of being quirkless.
He no doubt had questions for him, like where he had been for almost ten months, why he looked different and more but much like with those last 2 weeks of school where he showed up and avoided Bakugo like the plague, he did the same here as when he pressed his side to talk, he didn't so much as look his way as he snatched the pen, snapped it and tossed it back at him with a single action. Seeing that the papers were being passed around, Bakugo bit back his anger as they got their tests and they were allowed to start, with just 2 and a half hours to finish it.
Over 3 hours later, having completed the written portion and given time to change, Midoriya stood outside the walls of the testing area, the size of it surpassing ridiculous as he knew there were at least 6 others, which didn't factor in the other facilities that U.A hosted on its grounds. Even for a hero school, U.A. was massive. Along with the rest of the students, he stood in his training clothing, the worn fabric a welcomed feeling on his skin after months of training in rags just to cover up his dignity. The only difference was that his bright red sash replaced the brown belt around his waist.
The only difference is that unlike most, he had a bag with him, a little brown one tied around his waist which carried the seeds he was planning to use. Standing by himself, he did some stretches to loosen his bones, his body bursting with energy, not so much tenet but just his eagerness to start, to prove that he deserved to be here and maybe show up some others.
Cats were prideful creatures, and Shizune would have his head if he didn't do his best to outshine the rest of them,
As he got himself limber, others talked about the size of the place, themselves or continued to brag about how many points they'd get, which irritated him as they should save the showboating for afterwards yet here they were, counting their chickens before they hatched. Looking around, he didn't see or sense the two from before, so they must have been in other areas, he did see the tall spectacled boy from before, wearing a blue and white form-fitting runner's suit, one that left his calves exposed, probably for the odd engine like exhausts sticking out of them. 'So he must be a runner then.' He theorized as the guy noticed his gaze and turned to walk over, with Midoriya frowning as he prepared to have to deal with whatever grief the guy would give him.
"You there, I came to apologize for my earlier actions. I allowed myself to forget that those with animal mutations tend to have traits of those same creatures, so of course the volume of the announcements would be discomforting to you." The taller boy bowed to him, catching him flat-footed as this was the first time something like this happened, that someone outside Raxus or the sanctuary would apologize…Wait, did…did he think he had a cat mutation?
Recalling his appearance, he could see that the case could be made for that, his hair was wild like a lion's mane, some of which even resembled cat ears while also covering his human ears, and he kept his nails long, easily coming off as claws…He could use this, if people thought he had a quirk without him saying it, then he wasn't lying was he? He felt a spirit-perhaps his angel or demon, one that resembled Shizune on his shoulder egging him on, to see how far he could take this, how much he could leave people confused about his powers as the teachers would know he's quirkless-but not his future classmates.
He liked that idea.
With a Cheshire-like grin, he waves him off with a meow that sounded far too real to have come from anything that wasn't a feline's throat. "Apology accepted, just don't do it again and oh, remember to do your best." He replied as the boy nodded, a grateful release of tension from his shoulders, but while Midoriya thanked his past self for all those years he spent trying to mimic All Might giving him exceptional acting ability, and before his fellow examinee could respond, something else happened.
"Okay, start!" Midoriya didn't think nor wait to ask what that was all about, months of training with a deranged cat youkai made him far more reactive than the rest who turned to Present Mic to ask what he was talking about, by the time he explained that there were no countdowns in real life, Midoriya was already gone, having turned to the entrance and sprinted in like a cheetah on PEDs, adding to the image of being a heteromorph, he leaned so far forwards at that times, he would run on all fours with a determined glint to his playful, eager eyes.
As he rushed on ahead, his body started to be enveloped by a feint, heard to detect a green-reddish aura as he saw a 2-pointer turn the corner, not even slowing down, Midoriya instead increased the flow of tenet to his hands before a single swipe, he took its head clean off, his fingers cutting through the metal like an axe through cheap plywood, landing after his first take-down, he didn't even stick around to see it fall before he was off again, 2 points was nothing.
Seeing 2 1-pointers up ahead, both trying to double team him, he changed his approach style, zig-zagging to confuse them before leaping towards that and grabbing one's head in both hands and twisting his body mid-air, twisting the robot's head along with him before ripped the now twisted off clean off and threw it at the second one's chest, knocking it back as he landing in a roll, turned on his heel and jumped for it, a fist pull back before he punched straight through the dented metal to its core, grabbing onto what he could, he ripped his hand out and with it, a bunch of wiring and other internal components as the robot stared at him for a moment, as if shocked before it's big red eye lost light and it fell over.
"That's 4, I'll need far more than that." He thought aloud, rushing off to try and find more targets to handle. Finding more, he despatched of them just as a quirk, keeping his tally of his points to himself as he saw that the others had managed to catch up and spread to all the larger street which turned into a battle royale between them and the robots, the sound of metal buckling and breaking almost unending and random as people around him destroyed mechs using all manner of quirks. As he jumped off a 3-pointer he had got the drop on, he heard them calling out points which were scores either close to his, or higher.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get any real work done with so many around, he sprinted down an alleyway to search for villains that didn't move towards the larger groups. This proved to be a good choice as while he didn't spot any 3-pointers, there were plenty of 1 and 2-pointers, the latter having trouble with the smaller alleys and streets thanks to their size. Turning a corner, he saw that someone else had the same idea, but wasn't having nearly as much success as him.
Seeing the purple-haired boy, he could tell he was both tiring from his sweaty face and labored breath and also that his efforts to smash the robot's head in with a piece of a defeated machine weren't going to pan out, with that in mind, Midoriya jumped in to help him, leaping off the walls of the buildings to their sides while he reached into his bag and pulled out a single seed. His movement was picked up by the purple-haired boy who looked up in time to see a faint green-reddish aura emanating from the newcomer's clenched hand before from it, a massive wooden hammer sprouted.
"Watch out!" He heard the boy cry out as he covered his hand as the newcomer brought the hammer down on the 2-pointer's head, crushing it like it was an egg. The robot wobbled for a moment before crumbling down, leaving the victorious Midoriya standing over it, his hammer resting on his shoulder he turned to the guy he just helped. "You are alright?"
"Y-yeah…I had that one…" Midoriya doubted that. Up close, he could tell this guy was way out of shape, with little muscle on his bones to speak of, or even that much endurance if his labored breaths were anything to go by.
So, he was blunt with him, time was of the essence and he wasn't going to waste it dancing around the bush. "No, you didn't, also you're as skinny as a toothpick. I would say you're overlying on your quirk, but since you didn't use it to kill that thing sooner…you don't have a suitable one for this kind of exam, do you?" The guy's eyes widened at how quickly Midoriya broke down his situation before narrowing in anger. Where did he get off talking like that as if he couldn't just make wooden hammers appear out of nowhere?
"You like hammers?" He blinked at Midoriya's random question.
"What?"
Midoriya tapped the wrist of the hand holding his weapon as if he was wearing a watch. "Clock's ticking, do you like hammers?"
"I-no, I'll be better off with a bat or-!" Midoriya reached into his bag and pulled out another seed, clenching his fist, there was another flash of red-green light from his hand, the seed started to rapidly grow and shape itself till within seconds, Midoriya held a fully formed baseball bat which he tossed at the guy who fumbled, barely catching it.
"Great, then take this, it's made from Hinoki wood so it should be pretty strong but mind the shock since it doesn't have a rubber handle." He gave him quirk instructions before turning around and running off. "Good luck!"
"What the hell is that guy…" The boy he left behind asked, but got no answer as he only shook his head, and looked at his gifted tool for a moment before holding it properly and running out, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, a choice proven to be right when he used his bat to smash in the head of a 1-pointer, scoring his first point of the exam.
With Midoriya, his mind had already moved back to the exam as he swung his hammer into the leg of a 2-pointer, before finishing it off with a twirl which brought his hammer back up overhead before he brought it down on its head. With that latest kill, he had 35 points. Seeing another person struggling with some robots that were trying to overwhelm them, he pulled out another seed and grew it into a thick wooden javelin, imparting a little more of his tenet into it to increase its strength.
He lined up the shot and threw it, nailing a 3-pointer right in the side of the head, the javelin traveling half its length before finally stopping, but then it had done more than enough damage to take out the robot. Midoriya moved in and finished a 2-pointer with a double stomp to its head and a quick, heavy swing of his hammer to the second 2-pointer. The person yelled that he stole their points, but he was already on the move again. "He should be more careful about your surroundings," He yelled back at them before he turned the corner and vanished from sight.
Watching all this on numerous monitors being fed footage in real-time from dozens of cameras scattered across the different exam sights, the teachers of U.A. sat and made their assessments, recording points and impressive feats when they occurred, while also crossing out names of applicants that violated the spirit of the exam by fighting or sabotaging each other. Hero work was competitive by its nature, but no hero should undermine another like wild animals fighting over scraps of meat.
"Applicant 345 is out."
"Applicant 127 is out."
"Applicant 82 is out, also be sure to send his file to the commission so that other schools are made aware of his concerning conduct."
As the rest of the staff crossed out the names of applicants, All Might, in his weakened true form, learned towards his new colleague. "Is this normal? That's the 39th person who's been eliminated."
The Rated R hero, Midnight smiled as she replied, finding it adorable to see the symbol of peace so out of his depth when it came to teaching. "It's normally higher, we typically have to disqualify at least 90 people. This crop is going to be one of the better ones."
"Their skills are also a cut above the rest." Snipe, Japan's second greatest marksman, who was close by added as Cementoss nodded.
The cement manipulator added another thing to the discussion to help All Might understand their methods. "The rules as explained to them are simple, but the exam tests more than just fighting ability. They aren't informed of how many villain bots they are, nor their locations of movement patterns."
"So, they must also display exceptional scouting, judgment, and speed to have any hope in rising from the rest to claim a spot at U.A." Power Loader, a hero who taught the support course finished.
"All of which is turned into points for easier judgment of their abilities, yet in the end all that matters is how many villains they take down. An illogical move if we judge more than just combat prowess." A pro in black leaning against the back wall added that the man has made his feelings about a purely competitive exam clear in the past. As the man said that, All Might found his attention caught by one of the screens where he saw a orange haired girl carrying some people in her enlarged hands, ignoring the fighting as she focused on protecting the injured applicants she was taking away from the danger
Midnight caught where his eye was focused and playfully nudged his side. "Seeing something you like, All Might?"
"Young K-applicant 78, she's not so much focused on the exam as she is helping others." She raised an eyebrow at the fact he nearly used the student's name, at least she assumed as she hadn't gone through all their files yet, not when most won't cut it, but it was strange that All Might seemed to but she shrugged it off as the man over preparing.
"That is the X-factor we love to see, the desire to save people is the most important thing to a hero." Vlad, one of the tallest members of staff added as he crossed his arms, pleased with what he was seeing before he saw another student acting similarly. "And she's not the only one, Applicant 189 is also putting on quite the show." Their attention shifted to the screen with Midoriya, noting that the boy was displaying most of the skills they were looking for.
Information gathering from how his head and eyes seemed to dart to side, tracking targets or looking for them, mobility and speed from how he used the environment to get around like a house cat, and the skill and strength to bring it all home as he ends his fights quickly with few blows, even if his smile reminds the principal a bit too much of a cat that had caught a bird and was now toying with it for its amusement.
"He's certainly putting on an impressive showing, he must have been trained by a former hero before taking the exam with moves like that." Midnight guessed, as it wouldn't be the first time that happened, even if that was more common with recommendation students.
"It can't be…" All Might, on the other hand, looked at the feed with shock and confusion, something that the others noticed.
"Is there an issue, All Might?" Cementoss asked him as the number one picked up his teacher's tablet and unlocked it.
"Let me see his file," Seeing the boy's number underneath him, he quickly typed that into the search bar and found the boy's file, skimming it he reached the section on his quirk and found that he wasn't wrong. "So, he wasn't lying but…how could he be doing this?" What he was doing, that speed, strength, especially the hammer which he couldn't have brought with him in the beginning, none of it was making sense.
"Is there an issue?" Snipe asked, his attention shifted to the number one whose sunken brow was creased.
"I met the boy last year, he told me he was quirkless." The rest were surprised by that but immediately assumed that there was something wrong with the statement.
"Quirkless? That's impossible." Power Loader stated, suspecting that either All Might was remembering things wrong, got the name wrong, or the kid had lied.
"His file still states that…a late bloomer?" Looking through her tablet, Midnight saw that the man wasn't wrong, at least on paper as it clearly stated that he was quirkless.
"There's never been a case of a late bloomer past age 8, nevermind 14," Vlad added, as such a thing would be unprecedented, and if that was the case wasn't the paperwork changed as the way the boy was fighting wasn't the movement of a kid that didn't know what they were doing, but one that had months, years even to practice.
"Well, it's not like he could just get power off a tree, now can't he?" The dark-haired underground hero's remark made All Might's non-existent stomach flip as he knew of only one way that could happen, not a tree, but a monster in human skin, and he wasn't the only one that noticed for while the rest discussed what this could mean, the principle leaned close to All Might,
"All Might, you don't think…" His beady eyes turned to him, and while the room was dark, the man could tell he was just as cautious as he was and afraid which no one could fault him for, just remembering that man, and the battle that followed sent a spike of ice through his heart.
Squashing that feeling, he shook his head. "Impossible, he's dead and gone and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't send one of his people here, for what reason?"
Nodding, the principal turned to the screens again, his hand reaching for the big red button as he replied to both All Might and the rest of his staff. "Regardless of Midoriya's quirk situation, there is still an exam going on, one that has reached its final phase." He wondered how the boy would react as he pressed the button to unleash the 0-pointers on the applicants.
Midoriya had just finished taking out one of the few 3-pointers he could find when he felt the ground rumbling, as others looked around, he closed his eyes and focused his tenet, searching through the area for what was causing the rumbling, because of that, he was the first to realize what had happened.
"You gotta be kidding me, it's huge…" He muttered to himself, with others looking at him strangely before the 0-pointer I question made itself known, with its size being greater than the buildings around them, its one hand was large enough that it smashed the upper level of a building just by being placed on it. Midoriya knew that Present Mic said it was to be avoided, but did they have to do so big with it?! There is making an obstacle and then there is constructing a robot kaiju! When the robot pulled back its fist and punched down, debris flew all over the place, hitting some people, how the hell did U.A. get away with something like that?!
He wasn't the only one who upon seeing it turned to run, there was no point fighting something that large for no points, made all the more pressing when Present Mic announced that there were just 2 minutes left on the clock.
But then he heard a pained moan over the rumbling and shouting of the rest, he turned his head to where he thought he heard it, and saw someone had been trapped by the debris, the same debris from earlier. Looking around, he saw that no one else was going to help her, he couldn't even tell if they noticed in the panic as his mind flashed back to the fire, to the collapsing building, to the bodies.
He didn't even think about it, his body moved to her side as it recalled that night as well, and refused to allow it to repeat. He didn't even care about the 0-Pointer that was getting closer, threatening to crush them underneath his multi-ton tracks. Halfway to her, he saw that he wasn't alone in his rescue effort, as the guy from before was running with him, out of breath and looking worse for wear but the bat he gave him was still in good shape. They shared a look with no words, before coming to a silent understanding as they reached her.
Getting to her, he shifted his hammer into a staff, letting the head fall off to save time as he handed it to the other boy, "Lever, help us lift it." Was all he said as he crouched down and forced his fingers underneath the rock at the same time the other boy forced the end of the staff in. They were no count as they both started to lift the piece of debris, with Midoriya cursing the fact U.A. built the buildings to scale, which meant it had all the weight one would think and more. Seeing that they wouldn't have time to get out even if they worked together, Midoriya hatched a plan.
"I'll slow it down; you get her out of here!" He yelled at the boy, who along with the girl they were trying to help looked at him in shock and disbelief.
"What? How the hell are you going to do that?" He yelled back at Midoriya but he was already running ahead, his hands reaching into his pouch to grab seed.
"Just do it!" He yelled back as he yelled a bunch of them in his hand, which was followed by a dim light of green and red from his clenched hands as he created two more staffs, but that had cups at the ends which housed the rest of the seeds he pulled out. Slamming the ends into the ground, he sent his tenet through the staffs into the seeds, forcing them to grow underground. Needing more time to do this, even after learning how to do it under Shizune, he controlled his duel staffs to wrap around his waist to keep contact as he clasped his hands together, his aura now much more visible as his entire body gave off light of emerald and crimson.
As the 0-pointer crossed a threshold only he could see, unleashed his attack, "Wood Style: Nature's Bind!" From the ground, 9 trees burst out, smashing through concrete like it was nothing as they shifted into spiked roots that rushed the 0-pointer, wrapping around its treads as smaller branches worked through way, most were crushed by the machinery but others weren't as more continued to snake in, climbing over the beast as Midoriya kept his concentration up, pumping even more of his dwindling tenet into it and forcing the wood to continue to expand and infiltrate. The ever-increasing number of branches and roots continued to move, penetrating the structure as they continued to climb up the 0-pointer.
Its tracks were soon halted, too many gears stuck in place while dealing more damage as within the body of the machine, the roots wreaked havoc, tearing through whatever was inside, causing a cascade of failures. With a final push, Midoriya unclasped his hands and fell to his knees, winded from such a feat, but it had been done as the 0-pointer remained still, its body and systems too damaged to continue.
Taking a deep breath and feeling the sweat on his brow, Midoriya guessed that he had used after that stunt and the rest of the exam, around 75% of his tenet reserves, which would take time to replenish naturally as he got up to his feet, letting the wooden belt he made break off him like it was a dried-out twig. Turning to the rest, he saw them slacked jawed at what he did, as in less than a minute, he had managed to stop the 0-pointer by basically trapping it in a carnivorous forest. None more awed than the two he had been with, as the guy carried the girl in his arms, probably because she couldn't walk right.
Turning back to the wooden hell he created, he wished to undo it to get some of his spent power back, but with how the 0-pointer was leaning, if he did that, it might just topple down. As he reached for his bag to make a spear he could use to score more points, Present Mic's voice cut through the air
"Time's up!"
Letting out a soft meow, he walked towards the side where he could lean against the building and rest up, thanking all the training he had gone through as if not for that, he would have floundered just after making a few weapons, still looking at his hand and clenching his fist, he knew he had a long way to go.
"A-are you alright?"
Letting out an intrigued purr, he looked to see he had been approached by the two, the girl now using the exhausted boy as a support rather than letting him carry her. "I'm fine, just winded after that."
"I would be scared if that wasn't enough to tire you out." The sleep-deprived-looking boy replied, his eyes turning to the creation he left in his wake. "Just what kind of quirk was that? Are you related to Kamui Woods or something?"
Midoriya could have told the truth, but the Shizune-looking spirit on his shoulder was a better idea. So he merely smiled as he giggled. "A cat's gotta keep some of its secrets, right?" Not a lie, was he wasn't saying he was a cat but he could let them interpret it to mean that he was.
"Figures…" The boy muttered as Midoriya turned his attention to the girl with rosy cheeks.
"What about you? Is your leg okay?" He asked her as she awkwardly laughed, rubbing the back of her head.
"I twisted my ankle earlier, it's not serious." She replied as she reached her hand to him, a beaming smile on her face. "Uraraka Ochaco, thanks for saving me!"
"Shinso Hitoshi, the bat came in real handy." Shinso followed her lead, though he had dropped the bat earlier to carry her.
"Midoriya Izuku and it was no issue. Heroes help people, don't they?" Midoriya introduced himself to them as they heard someone else approaching, going by the commotion the rest were causing.
"Alright, where are the injured?" They looked to see a small, elderly lady dressed like a nurse walking through, supporting herself with a syringe-shaped cane. "The exam is over, if you got hurt, please come to me, if you can't move, please say so or someone calls out for them!" As people stepped up, her lips would stretch to kiss them, with a faint light emanating from the kissed body, healing them as she handed them some candy and she moved on.
"Guess that explains how reckless they can be with the exam; they have one of the best healers in the world on standby," Shinso stated as they got up to get Uraraka to her before they went home.
Chapter 12: First day of School
Watching the tree finish its accelerated rise, Midoriya unclasped hands to observe his work, the tree was healthy, thick and tall, great for its intended purpose as lumber.
"Was that all?" He turned to the farm worker he was helping, the octopus-headed man looking the tree over for a moment before giving him a thumbs up.
"Yup, that's plenty for the day, kid." Midoriya smiled, happy to have been of help, even if he had been at it for a while.
"Hey, we could use some help over here!" Looking to the far side, he could see some people cutting the already chopped-down trees into small pieces of lumber.
"Coming!" He replied as he jogged over, having gone through this for an entire week so far. His return after his training had already been a loud affair, as everyone was surprised that he managed to survive, almost everyone. Those he was closest to were just impressed and relieved to see him back in one piece, with the master being especially impressed when she learned he woke up 2 months before she did and used that time to further train with Shizune.
The party might have gone on for a week if he didn't need to check up with the school and get his things for the U.A. entrance exam. He didn't know his score for both parts, but was confident that he had easily made it into the higher echelon of points as while he hadn't done the same, he had been able to hear how many points others were scoring and knew his score would have been in the higher tiers of that.
Of course, that good mood didn't last when he had to, reluctantly, return to his middle school. Seeing that no one cared that he had been absent for months didn't sting as much as he thought it should, but then again, they never pretended to include him in anything so he was already an outsider. The only person who seemed to care was the last one he wished to be as Bakugo upon seeing him at his desk, had nearly flown over in a fury, demanding answers from him as if he was under any obligation to answer him, even the teacher walking in and being surprised to see him back didn't stop him till he was threatened with detention.
That didn't stop him out of class, be it before school, lunch or afterwards, that explosive annoyance was relentless. So he had to take steps to avoid him and never return him as he knew where he lived and didn't stop banging on his front door till after he threatened to call the cops. With his apartment less of an option than it normally was, he left a new note, not caring that the old one hadn't even been moved from the table and left to live within the sanctuary, and in the week since the exam, he's been helping to create building materials for the construction project, which he was pleased to hear was almost done after the commission paid the master through their noses to get her to appear at some PR event.
Reaching the work team, he placed his hand on the large tree trunk and with a little of his tenet, he managed to cut it into 6 different pieces. The edges weren't clean or perfect, but that would be much easier to correct than it would have been to cut through the entire thing.
Patting him on the back, the muscle bond woman laughed. "Dang, kid, you've come a long way with that fancy sage training of yours, you'll do the work of 10 people." He smiled at her, enjoying being around his people and using his hard-earned skills to help.
"It's good practice, you know." He replied before his stomach growled, getting her to laugh again as she looked at her watch and saw that it was close to lunch.
"Alright people, time to get some grub, we can continue after we've filled out bellies!" She yelled to the rest of the crew.
After a hard day's work in the fields, and a relaxing shower to soothe his muscles, he found himself seated in the master's office, a warm fire blazing in the hearth while he absentmindedly scratched Peach's ear, the cat sleeping on his stomach as he lounged on the wooden floor, matching the cat in her cozy state. His master was at her desk as was normal for her as she smiled at her student.
"And just when did you decide to become one with the carpet?" She asked him as he continued to purr on the floor.
"When the carpet revealed itself to be so comfy and called to be with its warm embrace." He replied, sounding to be completely at peace with the world she rolled her eyes, as even her tigers got up to join the two on the carpet, making for quite the amusing sight.
"You do know that it's filled with tiger fur, right?" She reminded him that she might have it cleaned regularly, but her tigers are large cats and it didn't take long for their fur to get everywhere. It was why they didn't go near her bed.
He just waved that off, compared to the hell he had been put through by that cat spirit, a fur-filled carpet was a luxury. "I can live with that, better than dirt anyway."
"Lazy cat." She snorted as she got back to paperwork, leaving the office in peace for a while with nothing but the crackling of the wood in the fire and the soft purrs of the tigers, house cats or one boy to fill the silence, sounds that relaxed the master.
After some time, she finished working on one stack and got to work on the other, starting up the conversation. "When is your acceptance letter due?" She didn't need to see it to know her pupil made it, but knowing the fine details would be nice.
Midoriya took a second to think about it, his mind far too calm to move as fast as it normally did. "Any day now, I already changed the address to hear so we just need to wait for the mailman to make the trek." He replied, as ever since he went on his training trip, he had made arrangements that important letters and mail went here, with mainly junk mail still going towards his apartment in town.
"What a cruel thing to do." Kenmikito smiled as she could only wonder how much the mail service, used to an urban environment, hated having to make such a detour and go up a mountain.
Midoriya felt no such shame in his choice. "As a mailman, they should be ready to go anywhere, brave any road, and face any mangy mutt to deliver a package." A few moments later, there was a knock on the door, which opened to reveal Kyūfune, the medical student holding a letter bearing the crest of U.A. in red on it.
"It came. But the mailman was pretty angry to have traveled this far to deliver it." Kyūfune said as she walked in, taking a seat on the couch while Midoriya got up from the carpet to join her.
"It's his job, now why don't we see what's inside, or would you like to be the first to see it, Midoriya?" Kenmikito asked him as Kyūfune handed the sealed envelope to the shorter boy who took the chance to snuggle up to her, starting to purr which only made her blush a bit, even if she combed a hand through his hair, noting that it was even fluffier than normal, as it had been like since he returned.
Basking in the warmth of her body, he shook his head as he looked up at her with a big smile. "No, you're close to me," Turning to the master, he held up the envelope ."I want the most important people in my life to see this." With that said, he used his fingernail like a letter opener to slice open the envelope, he found that there were some papers, most of them forms he'd need to fill in but what stuck out was a small metallic disk.
"A disk?" He asked as he took it out, seeing that it was a projector of some kind he placed it on the coffee table and turned it on.
"I am here as a projection!" Without warning, All Might popped up, wearing a striped yellow suit, the same one he loved to wear for any televised events. The abrupt nature of this and how loud the man was got the entire room to jump in surprise.
"What the-" Midoriya looked on, his surprise overpowering any frustrations he felt towards the number one.
"All Might?" Kyūfune asked, wondering why he was in a recording from U.A. while Kenmikito kept her piece, her eyes narrowing just a little as she had some guesses as to what this was.
Laughing, as if he had expected this result would happen, All Might continued. "I can tell that you must be confused, young Midoriya but allow me to explain, it's been kept a secret but the reason I came to town was because I'll be joining U.A. as their new teacher in the coming school year, so why not announce it to the students by having me record this message for all those that made it in?" He revealed to them, with the two students being surprised that he would do such a thing.
All Might was famous for his 'work alone' approach and while he wasn't as abrasive as Mirko who would outright tell you to piss off, All Might was someone that in his over 30 years of being a pro, had only had 2 sidekicks, one was the genius quirk researcher and support tool inventor, David Shield who now ran I-island as its head researcher. The second was Sir Nighteye, a fellow Japanese hero but that had only been a duo for a few years before they ended things. Put simply, the man was too fast, too strong, just too All Might for most to keep up, never mind help.
So for that same person to announce that he was taking up a teaching job, it was out of left field, to say the least as he barely had much experience working with others long term, would he be able to handle teaching students? Perhaps, but now that he thought about it, having the top hero as a teacher for what he could only assume is the first years seems like overkill.
All Might didn't give them much time to continue to ponder this fact. "But I'm on a timer here, a lot of recordings to make and I know you want to hear how you did, so let's start with the written portion of the exam. Despite your extended leave of absence in your final year of middle school, you managed to pass the written exam, albeit barely with a score of 57%."
Midoriya groaned into his hands, as he didn't want them to necessarily know that part. "I didn't have much time to catch it, and it wasn't like I had time to study when that cat was trying to kill me every other day." He didn't even bring any school material with him, and even if he had, he would be too exhausted most days to even read any of it without it going in one ear and out the other.
"That's no excuse, we'll just have to use some of your training days for study," Kenmikito replied, the boy looking up to see she was serious about that. seeing how dejected he got, Kyūfune giggled as she placed a hand on his back.
"She's right, you know." Looking at her with betrayal in his eyes, he just had to accept that he'd be spending more time hitting the books than hitting the weights. Lucky for him, All Might continued, giving him something else to worry about.
"Your performance during the practical was far more impressive, as you managed to score 33 villain points. However, that isn't enough to make it into the hero course." The number one was clear on this, which left him feeling dejected. He had known he would struggle with the written portion, but he had come up short in the practical as well. After all the time training, all the hardships, after nearly dying? Was this the limit of his ability?
He could feel his nails digging into his palms from how tight he was squeezing his fist, but he couldn't find it himself to care. He needed to get into a top school, it was part of the plan to prove himself as people would disregard anything but the best, but the issue was that he hadn't applied to another. Shiketsu rivaled U.A. yes, but was more secretive about it, they didn't broadcast their Sports Festival, so he would need to wait till his 2nd year to think about making a name for himself.
He wasn't alone in this, but those with him didn't want him to go any deeper as Kyūfune took him into a hug. "I'm sure you can apply to go through general studies then." It wasn't ideal, but he could embarrass someone in the hero course enough to take their place instead in less than a month's time.
"Yeah, but-!"
"That is what I would say if that was the whole story, but U.A. works differently to that, young Midoriya." All Might interrupted them, bringing good news. "You see, U.A. doesn't just test intelligence and combat skill, but your character as well, which is where rescue points come in!" He announced to them, the trio was more invested in this, none more so than the master herself who had been less than pleased with the false announcement that her pupil hadn't made it.
"But first, watch this!" All Might pulled out a remote from his coat and pointed it to a TV behind him. On the screen was a highlight reel of his exam, but instead of focusing on his battles, it focused on something that he had forgotten he had even done-helping people. From luring bots towards, getting them out of the way, saving that Shinso kid and giving him a tool to better his chances, even his final act of handling the 0-Pointer.
All Might's smile seemed a bit more genuine after that, less the cookie-cutter PR-friendly smile and more the smile of a man proud of what he had seen. "Look at that, without a thought to the contrary and more than once, you went out of your way to help others. Even if that meant facing off against the obstacle that was the 0-pointer. How could U.A. turn away such a spirit? Perish the thought! A hero at the end of the day isn't the one with the most power, but those who save the most lives." He told them, with Midoriya being wide-eyed at that fact. He hadn't been thinking that much about it, he just saw people in trouble, and helped them-that was all.
"And because of your actions, the panel of judges rewarded you with 50 rescue points, which combined with your villain points puts you at 83 points, placing you in second place!" All Might told them as the screen changed to show the top ten results of the exam.
1st Place: Itsuka Kendo. Villain Points: 36. Rescue Points: 59. Total 95
2nd Place: Izuku Midoriya. Villain Points: 33. Rescue Points: 50. Total 83
3rd Place: Katsuki Bakugo. Villain Points: 77. Rescue Points: 0. Total 77
4th Place: Eijiro Kirishima. Villain Points: 39. Rescue Points: 35. Total 74
5th Place: Ibara Shiozaki. Villain Points: 36. Rescue Points: 32. Total 68
6th Place: Tenya Ida. Villain Points: 52. Rescue Points: 9. Total 61
7th Place: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. Villain Points: 49. Rescue Points: 10. Total 59
8th Place: Fumikage Tokoyami. Villain Points: 47. Rescue Points: 10. Total 57
9th Place: Yosetsu Awase. Villain Points: 50. Rescue Points: 6. Total 56
10th Place: Neito Monoma. Villain Points: 39. Rescue Points: 14. Total 53
He couldn't ignore it, nor did he want to as this wasn't some dream but a blissful reality he didn't recognise 8 of those other names, but he could see that he had managed to surpass 7 of them as All Might nodded at him. "You earned this, young Midoriya. Through your efforts and hard work, this statement is a result of that: Come, my boy. Welcome to U.A. I hope to see you in class soon enough!"
With that the projection ended, with an option for it to be replayed, not that they noticed it as Midoriya had jumped to his feet, pulling a surprised Kyūfune to her feet as he started to twirl her around. "I did it!" He didn't even notice what he was doing, as the Peach, Ruby and Sapphire all moved out of the way as the boy led his partner through the impromptu celebratory dance.
"I did it, I did it, I did it!" He repeated his smile nearly splitting his face as he vibrated with positive energy as his dance partner got into the swing of things, matching his movements before they found that she was leading the dance, her larger size leaving her dominant but Izuku wasn't just following, as he kept up with every step she had and had a counter ready.
While her daughter and possible son-in-law danced like a couple of morons, too into their act to notice that they knocked over some of her things, she got up and retrieved the projector, going back to the part with the results and chuckling when she saw that he had managed to score higher than both the younger son of the Iida family and that Bakugo fellow he regularly complained about. "Yes, you did. And what do we have here? You bested that Bakugo brat by 5 points. Looks like his quirk didn't net him the victory he was after."
"Who cares? I managed to get into U.A. the best hero school in the country and I didn't need to use a quirk to do it!" Midoriya continued to celebrate as he dragged a laughing Kyūfune to his level and kissed her straight on the lips, savoring the taste before releasing her with a pop as he continued to dance, leaving the woman shell-shocked as she reached a hand to her lips as Midoriya grabbed Ruby and started to dance with the 320kg Siberian tiger which looked just as surprised by the fact as one would be if told this happened.
"I got it and I kissed the girl I like, I'm on top of the world!" Midoriya seemed to be too far in the clouds to even recognise the words he was saying as the door slammed open and a smirking Hanen stood there.
"What's this about kissing girls?" He asked the room.
"Wha-" Before the fox woman could respond, her mother beat it to it, looking like a cat that had just caught the canary.
"The boy made his move, at last." Midoriya didn't care that it seemed like his crush was an open secret, it wouldn't need to be a secret any longer anyway.
"Dammit, I owe Obi so much money," Hanen muttered as he walked over, slapping a hand onto Midoriya's back while scratching his dance partner's chin, the tiger closed its eyes in an adorable fashion which almost made him forget it could tear him limb from limb. "Anyway, I heard you celebrating from down the hall, how's it feel to be going to the best of the best?" The man asked, feeling happy for his younger friend. The man worked for this, even when life tried to tell him no, he could respect that.
"It feels great," Midoriya replied, a stupid-looking smile on his face as Hanen just laughed it off, his burnt skin stretching but he didn't seem to care if he could feel it at all. Leaning on the kid's shoulder, he brought him close.
"That's the spirit, you better show them, chumps, what we're made of, or I'll roast you." Raising his other fist, Midoriya finally let the tiger get back to its nap as he returned the gesture.
"When did you make a bet?!" Kyūfune finally got through to the two of them as Hanen looked towards her, confused for s
"Bet? Oh that, yeah it was a while back. I thought he'd only get his stones when he turned 16, guess I was wrong." He had no shame about admitting that to her face as Midoriya broke from his hold and went back to Kyūfune, grasping her larger hands in his scarred ones.
With a smile he declared. "I promised myself I wouldn't make a move till after I got it, she only deserves the best after all." She blushed a little at how honest he was, his good news-induced confidence started to infect her as well.
"Is that right," She asked him.
"Yu-" She didn't give him time to answer as she grabbed him and pulled him close for another kiss, this time he would be the one left breathless as she rubbed his cheeks with her thumbs, feeling how his breath hitched before she broke it, leaving him blinking, his brain needing time for a hard reboot.
"Then I believe I owe you a dinner date, come on." Leading him out, she saved her mother and fellow student as the door closed behind them as she made her way to the dining hall, her boyfriend led like an extremely thirsty horse to water.
"Don't do anything crazy you two! Having kids at your age is just a shitty experience!" Kenmikito yelled after them, knowing that they heard her as she turned to the other human occupant of her office. Seeing that they were alone, he went to business.
"About that job you asked me to do…"
Days earlier, the teachers had gathered to review the results of the exam before finalizing them and sending out the letters confirming if a potential student made it in or not. "As expected, not a lot for many rescue points," Snipe noted as he and the rest looked over the results of not just the top 20 but the top 20 students.
"Well, they weren't told that they'll be graded for it," Cementoss added.
"Still, hero work is more than being flashy and breaking things. Heroes on TV and online talk about that all the time." Ectoplasm retorted as he reviewed some footage from the exam, sad that so many students had been focused solely on combat, even when some could see others in need. In some cases, they got into arguments over skills like it was some of the game.
"I would be surprised if most could see past the fame and glory chasing." Snipe chided them.
Midnight drew their attention to one exception to that. "And yet, some of them didn't need rescue points at all, as our 3rd place holder managed that without a single rescue point to his name. His combat ability is exceptional, to say the least." Bakugo might have been a rather unsettling look the entire time, but he also made an effort to avoid others, so they could tell that he wasn't just a rabid dog when it came to fighter-more he was the type that enjoyed it a bit too much but there were plenty of pros like that, Mirko being a prime example.
"He's not the only odd one out as 1st place performed remarkably well, but according to her papers, her quirk isn't just increasing the size, mass and strength of her hands." Present Mic stated as the screen flipped to Kendo, that the girl left a mark on both the examinees and teachers with how valiantly she had performed, from her quirk and effective take-downs to how fast she could turn on a dime if it meant she could save someone, even taking time out of own efforts to give tips and direct people to where they'll have more chances of scoring points.
But the best part of the performance would be her taking on the 0-pointer. Some examinees had been trapped by it and she left the group and faced off against it with power they didn't think was possible, she slapped the floor and sent herself flying towards its face which she proceeded to give in with a single strike. However, Aizawa noted that she was lucky that the exam ended right after she landed, as her hands looked to be broken from that.
"It's quite strange that she learned that what? 2 weeks before the exam?" Vlad stated, with All Might being silent.
"I'm just happy that she didn't hurt herself too badly using her quirk as you saw the state of her hand." Nezu stepped in, directing attention from one potential problem child to another.
"However, on the flip side, those behind and in front of him all got substantial rescue points as the first place wouldn't have got such a high score without them." The screen flipped to Midoriya's performance which to put it into a single word, he would describe as exceptional. There wasn't a wasted movement, and he kept good track of his surroundings, he would go so far as to say his movements reminded him of a cat on the prowl.
"Hard to believe he's quirkless." Midnight noted as Eraserhead frowned.
"I find that hard to believe after that performance, there are support items that could mimic his tools, but not only did he not register any for the exam, but his final act would be all but impossible without some sort of quirk." The underground hero stated, blunt as ever with his skepticism clear, not that he was alone in this.
"And yet, when Recover Girl tested his blood, it came back negative for any quirk genes, which matches his medical records," Ectoplasm added as the medic had been given instructions to get some of his blood and test it later by Nezu, and she had confirmed that the boy was telling the truth.
"What the kid did was unusual, I would say it should be impossible." Snipe nevertheless was critical of that result as a quirk test or not, no human had that sort of power and ability.
"No kidding, I had a chance to examine the wood he left behind and while it's incredible quality, it shouldn't have had the strength to be used in such a fashion, never mind grow so rapidly." Power Loader spoke up, as he had been the one to clean up after the exams and that meant recovering pieces of wood to test, as he perhaps thought it was some sort of new edge support item, a self-replicating high-speed plant or something but he got nothing. It was just regular Hinoki wood.
"Unless of course, he was enhancing it." Nezu mused allowed, freezing the footage on a particular scene, where Midoriya had stopped and clapped his hands together. It was familiar to him, in ways both good and bad.
"Which only adds to the questions we have relating to him." Thirteen added.
"What's our next move then? The boy scored the highest of the applicants in the physical portion, but we have no idea how he did any of it. The commission will want answers about that." Cementoss asked as this was a rather delicate situation.
However, Nezu didn't see it as delicate in the same way they did as he smiled and took a sip of his tea. "We'll treat him like any other applicant, and his score more than warrants him having a place in the spring hero class."
His response turned heads as Snipe leaned in close to him. "Is that wise? Izuku Midoriya's quirk status aside, there are worrying gaps in his academic record, the boy did vanish for most of his 3rd year and we don't know why or to where."
"He's right, the boy is not terminally ill, nor do we have any records to state any long-term stay in a hospital." Thirteen added, which were concerned that Nezu didn't take lightly, but he had ample reason to suspect that they were making a mountain out of a molehill.
"While alarming, there is nothing wrong or illegal with his transcripts for medical history. We judge him based on his character, but if your concerns are too much to set aside, we can have all first years undergo a medical examination in their first week." Nezu stated, looking towards his staff.
"Of course, that doesn't mean I'll let him onto campus without precautions, we'll keep an eye on him and his activities to see if he's truly a bad seed but till such a time when he does something to warrant it, he shall be treated like any other student." At his statement, none chose to continue either because they saw it as pointless or could agree with him on some level. With that issue put to bed, there was another issue.
"With that settled, how will the hero classes be organized? Vlad, Eraser, do you have any preferences for students?" While Nezu selected 15 of the students for each class, the homeroom teachers in question could select up to 5 others, as he implemented it so that if he somehow made an error, the teachers who knew their capabilities best could pick students they felt were best equipped to help.
"I'll take Kendo, her quirk is unstable at present and she'll need to work on it before she does permanent damage to herself or others," Eraserhead replied, which made sense as his quirk made him excellent for handling power types if for no other reason then humbling them before they went out into the field and made a critical mistake.
"I'll take Midoriya. If his character is an issue, I'll keep a good eye on him but as you said, he deserves the benefit of the doubt." Vlad replied after him, the man excelling in teaching students with more technical quirks but as Eraser's senior educator by a couple of years, he was more experienced with handling more unpredictable students such as Midoriya and his yet-to-be-identified power.
The day finally came on the first day of class. Midoriya was up bright and early and carried out his morning routine of a jog, shower and breakfast which he ate in silence. The TV was off for once as he wasn't in the mood for the news at the present, and besides he could read up about it later. As he ate his breakfast, he found a note on the desk from his mother, who must have returned after he went to bed and left before he woke up. He didn't know what he expected when he opened it, perhaps a good luck or other good wishes, but instead it just read 'I'll be coming with groceries' which had him raise an eyebrow but not much else as he finished his meal.
Feeding Mario and Peach, the former seemingly angry with him for not taking him to the sanctuary, he looked over his uniform in the mirror one last time to ensure that it was clean, pressed and presentable, the only issue being his tie which he couldn't quite get done right. But that was minor as he grabbed his scarf, tied his tie the best he could and was out the door from his now-empty apartment. Leaving the apartment and stepping foot on the curve, he took a deep breath of the spring air before smiling as he turned to run towards U.A., leaving people baffled till they noticed his uniform and just chalked it up to New Year excitement.
They were partly right. Getting into U.A. was a challenge in itself, as the acceptance rate was 1 in 300, with the only two ways being through the general examination which the bulk of people used to get in, and the recommendation exam which required one to be sponsored by an influential party, mostly pros. To make things worse for most, those recommendation spots took up 4 of the 40 spots in the hero course. According to the forms they had sent him, those recommendation students were split evenly across the two hero classes but it didn't say why and how classes were made.
All that was important, but what was the source of his good mood was the fact that he had a girlfriend! Just thinking about it made him flutter as he purred contently as he ran towards school, making it onto campus long before the bell was meant to ring. He wouldn't say their first date was the best, having always thought he would sweep her off his feet like they did in those dramas, but just being able to have a nice meal with her in the dining hall had been a great evening, so much so that he hadn't punched everyone that kept commenting that it took long ensuing to make a move.
That didn't mean he didn't trip them though.
Slowing down, he started to look around for his homeroom, as he had been assigned to class B but he managed to spot its sign over a near comically large door. Looking up at it, he wondered if U.A. built it that way for the truly exceptional large door as if he wasn't wrong with his measurements, even Kyūfune could walk through with her arm lifted straight up and not touch the top, she could even jump to try and probably still not make it.
Looking at the big red making on the door labeling it as 1-B, he reached for the handle. "It's hope they're not in my class." He thought aloud to himself, his mind thinking back to Bakugo and that boy with the glasses, the latter of which he didn't have much problem with but he would like to have a fresh start with this. The former was just a pain to deal with, not helped that he got the same acceptance letter which showed their scores and had to stand with him at their graduation as the principal went on and on about how they 'always knew they were destined for greatness.' He barely managed to keep a straight face, not from fury but some amusement as the 180-change in his assessment of the 'weak quirkless troublemaker' should have been studied.
Opening the door, he finds that despite its size, it slid open with little effort from him, but his attention was taken by the other occupant in the room, already at their desk as they quietly read a book, their face as passive and serene as it had been the day of the exam.
Walking up to her desk, he thought it would be nice to greet her. "Morning, Kodai. It's nice to see that you made it."
"You as well." Her blue eyes remained as calm as a pond's surface but still bright. "Good job on placing second." He felt a little giddy about that, but as much as Shizune would say he should let her praise him more, that just made him uncomfortable.
"Have you been here long?" So, he moved the conversation along.
Kodai shook her head before returning her attention to her book, which he only now realized was a title in the Make-Out Paradise series. How she got her hands on it, or why she saw fit to read it during class on the first day was also a mystery. "Just a few minutes."
Deciding to head to his seat, from her at the back of the first row, he took out his guide and saw that he had been assigned a seat on the other end, slapped right in the middle of the 4th row. Setting his bag down and taking his seat, he rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes, to focus on the tenet around them while he did some light breathing exercises. Wondering what the first day will bring.