Ch. 13: Exams Begin
'Wedding bells? Why are there wedding bells?'
Ever since he met Rias, Izuku has gotten pretty used to the strange and unusual. He had seen things that would make lesser people turn white and come out unscathed, which he could say wasn't an easy accomplishment. But for some reason he found himself standing on the steps of a church with bells chiming in the air and a large, noisy crowd standing before him.
And why was he in a white tuxedo?
"Izuku!" He looked through the crowd and found his mother dressed in a red gown, his father wearing light blue dress clothes standing behind her. "We're so proud of you! Please be sure to make us lots of grandkids!" Inko beamed proudly.
"Grandkids?" Izuku blinked dumbly.
"DEKU, YOU CHEAP BASTARD!" Izuku nearly jumped at the all-too-familiar yelling. Looking through the crowd, he saw Bakugo with an absolutely livid look on his face being restrained by his two friends. "HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED BEFORE ME!?"
"M-m-married?!" Izuku paled. "I'm getting married!?" How was he getting married now? He was only fifteen! Sure the age of consent is thirteen but that was something else altogether! And who was he even getting married to?!
That question was answered when he felt someone wrapping their arm around his. He looked up at a very impressive chest and the blood rushed back to his face with a vengeance as he jerked his head up. There at his side was Rias Gremory, dressed in a pure white wedding dress. The skirt was just short enough to show off her shapely legs covered in white pantyhose and matching heels. A bouquet was held in her gloved hands, a veil was lifted over her head, and her beauty was enhanced with makeup.
"There's no need to look so restless, Izu," she smiled lovingly at him, "Just bask in the moment."
'No way! You gotta be kidding me!' Izuku screamed inwardly, 'My bride is Buchou?!'
Both Izuku and Rias walked down the steps of the church and past the crowd, side by side. All the while, many cheers and cries sounded out from the crowd. There were a lot of voices crying out, but he could make out what they were saying. He could hear girls cry out "Rias-sama, you're so beautiful!", "You're gorgeous!", and "You're too beautiful! Why him?!" Izuku tried to play it cool but he was sweating, very uncomfortable with being so close to a beautiful girl, a beautiful girl he was married to apparently.
"We've arrived," Izuku was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of Rias' voice. To his surprise and embarrassment, he found that they were standing before a huge love hotel. He completely forgot that one of the main things couples did during a honeymoon was having sex with one another all night long.
"Shall we go then?" Rias asked, smiling at him.
"Uh… yeah," Izuku nodded slowly, his face still bright red.
The couple checked themselves inside and went up to one of the rooms. It was a typical design. The colors were meant to stimulate passion. Red and pink were pretty common. The rug was soft just in case the guests wanted to make love on the floor. Izuku sat nervously on the bed while Rias was in the bathroom preparing herself, his thumbs twitching together like crazy. The bed was round and there was a set of controls set on a control panel that was built into the nightstand.
He looked at a nearby round table and saw some bottles of wine, lit scented candles, and massage oils. He swallowed heavily, his skittish nature rising. As far as he could remember, he had never been with a girl, at all. There was that one time during elementary school that he played with Rinchan, but this was completely different. Sure he found himself attracted to Rias, much like a lot of heterosexual males, but he could never believe that she would take an interest in him before. But the times had changed and he was about to start a new life with her.
And on the first night, he was about to make babies with her!
"Oh, Izuku~."
Izuku quickly turned his head at the sound of Rias' voice. She stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her shapely body. The towel didn't stay for very long as she allowed it to drop to the floor and pool around her feet. The elegant young lady was in a very smoking lingerie, a white floral lace bustier with a lace-up front, boning, garter straps, underwire cups, adjustable shoulder straps, matching fingerless gloves, and g-string with matching sheer stockings. It was very welcoming, like uncharted territory.
"Uh… you look… wow…" was all Izuku was able to say.
Rias giggled as she sauntered over to him. She pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top, straddling his waist. "S…sorry, I'm n-not really used to this yet," Izuku stuttered, his voice beginning to crack.
"There's no need to apologize, my dear Izuku," Rias smiled, her eyes half-lidded as she cupped both her hands to his face. Izuku could feel his heart throbbing. He felt that it was throbbing so loud that it was practically thundering in his eardrums. "It's alright, I'll lead."
Rias leaned down and puckered her lips, wanting to seal the moment with a kiss. Izuku didn't know what else to do but breathe deeply and close his eyes. His arms reacted on their own and wrapped around her waist, bringing her in closer, the lips just inches-
[If I didn't know better, I say you like getting aroused by assertive women, huh brat?]
Izuku's eyes shot open as he quickly sat up. Rias had suddenly vanished and with her the bedroom. Instead, he found himself sitting in the middle of a black void. "What the- What's going on?! Is this still a dream?"
[This ain't no dream, brat. Not anymore, at least.] The voice was right behind him. [There are a few things we need to discuss.]
Izuku turned around, and paled upon seeing, surrounded by torrents of flames, a gigantic, red "D-d-d-dr-dragon?!"
[Don't act like this is the first time we've met. You've heard my voice before.] The red dragon spoke to him.
It then hit Izuku. He heard his voice before when training with Rias, and again during the fight against Chuuya. "You're that voice I've been hearing!"
[That's right. I'm glad you finally reached a level where you've noticed. I've been trying to talk to you for years now. And at last, I've managed to appear before you.]
"Wh-what do you want?!"
[I merely wanted to introduce myself… To my new comrade who will be fighting alongside me against the White One.]
"Fighting alongside you!? White One!? What does that mean?!"
[You'll understand soon enough. Till we meet again.]
"Hey, wait!" Izuku reached out, only to see his left arm had the Boosted Gear…
…And he opened his eyes to find himself lying in his bed. He blinked rapidly. He sat up, groggy, his head in a total daze. "Okay… that was weird."
He looked at his left hand, which held the Boosted Gear. 'It was a dream, right?'
Izuku then noticed that it was almost 5:30 in the morning. It was almost time for his morning jog. But that wasn't why he needed to get up early today. "Oh, right! Today's the entrance exam!" With that, Izuku put on his tracksuit and jogged.
When he got back to the apartment, he found that Ochako had already made breakfast. "Good morning Izu-kun," she greeted.
"Good morning," Izuku said as he took off his shoes. "Is Ibara-san still asleep?"
"She went out for a jog. You must've just missed her," Ochako salted the eggs she was cooking. Once she was done, Ibara returned from her jog.
As the three ate breakfast, discussing what they thought the exam would be like, Ibara was staring at Izuku. Eventually, the other two noticed.
"Is something wrong?" Izuku asked.
"Huh?" Ibara realized and fumbled with her fork. "I'm fine, it's just… Izuku-san?"
"Yeah?"
"…Did you always have horns?"
"Huh?"
Ochako began to stare at Izuku, too. "Oh, yeah. I never noticed, but there are two stubby horns on your head!"
"W-what?! Really?!" Izuku began to rub his hands through his hair, looking for the horns the girls saw. Sure enough, there were two, stubby little horns on his head. "What the… How long did I have these?!"
"Is it because of you being a devil?" Ochako guessed.
"I don't think so. None of the others have horns as far as I can tell," Izuku said. "Is it because of my Sacred Gear? I have been using Dragon Force a lot lately, so the energy may be starting to affect me physically. Still, why horns?" As Izuku continued to mumble, the girls could only sigh.
"And he's gone," Ochako muttered.
"Do you think Buchou might know why he's growing horns?" Ibara asked.
"Maybe. But for now, we should just focus on the entrance exam."
This was it, the day of the U.A. Entrance Exams. Izuku, Ibara, and Ochako were standing outside the building, wearing their training clothes for the practical exam. While they have been to the campus almost every day for the last few months, this felt entirely different. Today would decide if they would truly be going to U.A.
"This is it, it's do or die," Izuku said, staring at the large U.A. entrance that just seemed so much bigger and more intimidating than it was.
Ibara swallowed a lump in her throat. Izuku was right. Today, they would either succeed or fail. "This is really nerve-racking," said Ochako.
"Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait!" The three looked behind them to see Kyoka coming up to them. "You ready for this?"
"I'd say I'm not worried, but that would be lying," Ibara said.
"At least we're prepared," said Izuku. "Compared to Raynare and Chuuya, this should be easy." The three girls all nodded. Confident that they'll pass, the four proceeded to head for the entrance, until…
"Stupid Deku."
Izuku immediately stopped. Deku. And the voice… 'Oh no.'
The four looked back to see a familiar boy with ash-blond hair and red eyes walking forward with a frown on his face. "Get outta my way before I kill you." He threatened, making Izuku flinch and the girls frown, especially Ibara.
'Bakugo…' Ibara mentally hissed. She had never met him in person and only saw him a couple of times, but she had heard plenty about Bakugo from both Izuku and Inko and from other students at their middle school. She didn't care if he was at the top of his class, the fact remained he was a bully, plain and simple. One who belittled Izuku all his life.
She ignored Izuku quickly moving out of Bakugo's way and Izuku frantically said things like 'Good luck!'
Deciding to take some action, Ibara had one of her vines slither out… and tripped him. Izuku watched in horror as Ibara made Bakugo fall flat on his face with Kyoka and Ochako snickering. Bakugo quickly got up and gave the group a death glare. "WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!" He screamed with his usual temper.
Ibara smiled innocently.
"It wasn't us," Kyoka said. "But if I had to guess you must've tripped over your own ego."
"WHAT'D YOU SAY EARLOBE!?" He shouted with smoke coming off his hands, making Izuku pale while Ochako continued to hold back her laughter.
"I think you heard me," Kyoka said as she narrowed her eyes at him and talked in a serious tone. "Now, if you want to avoid making a scene and possibly getting kicked out for starting a fight, I think you better move along."
Bakugo was completely livid with this girl. Who did she think she was talking to him like that? Damn extras should know their place. But ultimately, she was right. Starting a fight with her would make him either late, or even kicked out of the facility. Glaring right at her, he turned around and walked away. "Fuck you." Was the last thing he said to them as he walked toward the building.
Once he was out of earshot, Ochako let loose her laughter. "That was great, Ibara-chan!"
Ibara smiled proudly.
"Yeah, nice one Ibara," Kyoka said. "That guy is a bigger jackass than you described, Midoriya."
"K-K-Kacchan's usually l-like that," Izuku said, trembling a bit after what happened.
"Why do still call him Kacchan?" Ibara questioned.
"I…" Izuku stopped. Why did he still call him Kacchan? Is it because he still admires him? Or is it because he simply wants his childhood friend back? "I'm not sure."
"…Well, it doesn't matter now," Ochako said, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "We need to head inside for the written exam."
Izuku nodded. "Then let's do our best."
"Yeah!" The four of them cheered. And with that, they headed inside.
"So, how did you do on the test?" Izuku asked as he and Ibara, as well as a crowd of other people, walked into a lecture hall.
Before the written test, the students were all given a card that gave them a number and pretty much told them where to sit based on things like what school they went to.
"I think I did pretty well. Those tips you gave me really help with the math questions," Ibara stated. "How did you do?"
"Great I think," Izuku said, remembering how the written exam was rather easy for him.
The two managed to find where they were seated… only for Izuku to panic a bit when he saw they were sitting next to Bakugo. Thankfully the ash-blond didn't seem to pay them any mind and simply scoffed. Izuku sighed in relief as he and Ibara sat down, Ibara sitting between Izuku and Bakugo.
"How do you think Ochako-san and Kyoka-san did on the test?" Ibara asked.
"I'm sure they passed, now we just need to worry about the practical," Izuku said, confident that their friends passed the first part of the entrance exams.
Suddenly the two's attention, as well as everyone else's, was drawn forward as the lights to the center of the stage in the room lit up as well as a large monitor with U.A.'s logo on it.
"What's up U.A. candidates?" A loud voice said with the lights revealing who it was. Standing on the center of the stage was a tall skinny man with long spiky blond hair and a small mustache. He wore sunglasses and a pair of headphones with the word 'HAGE' on the headband. He also had a black jacket that was studded on the collar, which was upturned, and had shoulder pads and a red studded belt with black pants, boots, and fingerless gloves. He also seemed to have a directional speaker around his neck.
"Welcome to the show today! Everybody say, 'HEY!'" He said enthusiastically while waving his arms around before snapping his fingers and pointing towards the audience.
…Only to receive silence.
"Tch. And here I thought Shouta was a sourpuss!" The announcer said.
"Oh my…! I thought he looked familiar. It's the voice hero President Mic! I listen to his radio show every day!" Izuku beamed.
"Shut the hell up," Bakugo growled, making Izuku flinch and Ibara to glare at the ash-blond.
"Now, let me explain how this wicked practical is gonna do down. Like the application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be conducting ten-minute mock battles in suburban settings! Better tighten up those belts of yours because once I drop the mic here you'll be sent to a specified battle center, sound good?"
Once again, silence, but only because everyone was looking at their application card. "I see," Bakugo said as he quickly realized something about the cards. "They're splitting us up so we can't work with friends." He deduced.
Izuku got over his flinching of Bakugo and looked at Ibara's card, and realized the ash-blond was right. "Yeah, you're right. Mine and Ibara-san's examinee numbers are in order but we're in different battle centers." Izuku stated. His card stated that he was in center B, while Ibara's stated that she was in E.
"Damn," Bakugo muttered. "I was looking forward to crushing you."
"Okay, everyone!" President Mic said getting everyone's attention. "Let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. The points you earn depend on their level of difficulty so I hope you keep track. Your goal here listeners is to use your Quirk to smash up as many faux baddies as possible and get the highest score you can! Just make sure you keep things heroic ladies and gents! Any unheroic behavior is strictly prohibited!"
"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question!" Everyone turned to the question as a tall boy with glasses and blue hair shot straight up from his chair and raised his hand high.
"Hit me!" President Mic said as a spotlight came down on the boy.
"On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three." Sure enough, he was right. Pointing to his own booklet, it showed there were four villains listed from A to D. "If this is a mistake on U.A.'s part it is shameful for the most prestigious school in Japan to make such a mistake! And you!" Suddenly he turned around and pointed at Izuku, making him flinch. "You have been muttering the whole time. If you are just here on some pleasure trip, then you should leave. You're distracting the rest of us."
"Sorry," Izuku said quietly as he lowered his head.
The rest of the examinees laughed a bit at Izuku being called out, until…
"Was that necessary?"
"Excuse me?" The boy replied, not having expected anyone to question what he had to say.
Everyone turned their attention to who questioned him. He had dual-toned, messy hair, being bleach blonde at the front and black at the back end. His eyes were dark red and had cat-slit pupils. His uniform was worn rather sloppily, with the red tie worn loosely and the black blazer unzipped, showing a white polo shirt underneath. He also had small belts with golden buckles each wrapped around the sleeves of the blazer and two more normal-sized belts around his waist, the top one was done up but not buckled while the bottom one hung loosely.
"Did you really need to call him out like that?" He repeated herself. "He's just a little excited about seeing Present Mic and probably nervous about taking the exam. Hell, we all are. So did you really need to call him out over that?"
"But he's distracting!" The boy countered. "Don't you find his muttering inappropriate in such a prestigious institute?"
"Not really," he said. "And I'm pretty sure no one else was bothered by it. Here's something that's distracting, though: A guy shooting up from his chair and demanding his questions be answered."
"But… I-I just needed clarification on…!" The guy seemed flummoxed, trying to formulate a response.
President Mic snickered at the bickering between the students before waving his hands around to calm things down. "Alright, alright calm down numbers 7111 and 2012. To answer your question 7111, the fourth villain is more of an obstacle getting in your way. That guy is worth zero points and there's one in every battle center. It's not that it can't be beaten, there's just no point. I recommend my listeners try to avoid it."
"Thank you, sir," The blue-haired boy thanked as he did a perfect 90° bow before sitting back down.
Izuku turned his head to look at the boy who stood up for him. He seemed to notice this and looked back at him as Izuku mouthed a 'Thank you' to him. He understood and gave Izuku a small smile and a nod.
"Now, before I send you guys off, allow me to share our school motto with all of you… As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down. A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. So Go Beyond… PLUS ULTRA! Now good luck suffering!"
"…That… was encouraging," Ibara said nervously as she and Izuku sat up.
"It's probably just his way of hyping up everybody." Izuku guessed with a nervous chuckle.
"Well… I better get to my battle center, good luck," Ibara said as she held her hand out.
"You too," Izuku said as he shook Ibara's hand.
One bus ride later, Izuku stepped out of the bus along with a small group of people. They all stood near the entrance to the faux city. Izuku's whole body was shaking, a wobbly smile on his face. Everything led up to this. After years of being told he could never be a hero, that he had no chance of getting into getting in his dream school. It all would end here. He just couldn't fail. He would prove everyone wrong. He would be a hero. A hero who would save everyone with a smile, just like All Might.
'This is it. It's do or die now.'
"Hey, Izu-kun! I didn't know you'd be here!"
Izuku was snapped out of his thoughts by Ochako. The brunette had just stepped out of the bus. "Oh, Ochako-san!"
"Looks like we got assigned to the same battle center!" She smiled. "Wanna team up, then?"
"S-sure!"
Once Izuku looked back at the entrance to the faux city, Ochako grew a mischievous smile. 'I'm gonna get ahead of you, Ibara~.'
Ibara suddenly had a strange feeling. As if someone was trying to take Izuku away from her. 'Why am I suddenly so upset?'
"Are you doing okay?" Ibara turned around and saw a girl her age wearing a basic teal gi. She had orange hair in a side ponytail and had teal eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just… trying to take it all in is all," Ibara was telling the truth. This was rather nerve-racking, to say the least.
"I don't blame you. This is a bit much." The ponytail girl glanced at the faux city. "I'm actually worried that this is a little biased. The people who have Quirks not suited against robots won't have an easy time."
Milia took deep breaths as she stood near the entrance to the faux city, trying to calm her nerves. Even after the little training she did during the past few months, she was still nervous about this. She wondered if Izuku and the others were nervous about the exam as well. Truth be told, she didn't originally intend to become a hero. After her parent's deaths, she just didn't know what to do with her life. She'd probably be on the street somewhere had Kudelia not taken her in as per her mother's wishes.
Even then, she never really spoke much with Kudelia or anyone else in the Dantalion peerage for that matter. Still reeling from the deaths of her parents, she barely spoke to anyone. They had to remind her to eat at times. They even had to remind her to go to school. Aldera wasn't all that bad, aside from the somewhat apathetic teachers, but overall it had been nice somewhat. The only thing she really hated about the school was how no one seemed to mind Bakugo's behavior.
She had the unfortunate "honor" of being in the same class as the explosive teen, and she was far from impressed. His attitude certainly didn't help, so she decided to avoid him as much as possible. An easy thing to do since he seemed to love tormenting the boy who sat in front of her: Izuku. She didn't really know what to think about him. Honestly, she found his muttering off-putting and annoying.
It wasn't until the beginning of the first semester of her third year that she got to know more about him. She was by herself near the school gate one day, walking home when she saw a family walk by. A mother and father carrying their young daughter, laughing and smiling. When she saw that, Milia just… broke down. Collapsing to her knees, Milia began to cry. As she never really got to know any of the students, they didn't bother to ask what was wrong. All except one. She wasn't sure how long she had been crying when she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. It was Izuku with concern on his face.
It honestly felt like a dream when he asked if she was okay. Even when she gave a shaky nod, he did anything he could to help, even taking her to a nearby restaurant. Milia had heard that Izuku wasn't that great when it came to girls, which became apparent once Milia had calmed down, but Izuku didn't seem at all bothered by her the entire time. He was so focused on helping her that was a completely different person from what she knew about him.
Milia wasn't entirely sure when, but she figured she began to fall for Izuku either during or after he helped her through her breakdown. Gradually, she began talking to Izuku more and more often. He was flustered and nearly had heart attacks the first few times, but he quickly got over it. And the more time she spent with him, the more she felt like her old self. When he told her about his dreams, Milia encouraged him to follow them, even though Izuku was Quirkless.
It wasn't until after Izuku got picked up by Rias that she began training. Training to go to U.A. had not been easy. But she was determined to go to U.A. Not to become a hero, but to be by Izuku's side. She was afraid of losing him to Ibara and Ochako, and maybe the other girls in Rias' peerage. And now here she was, standing beside other hopeful U.A. applicants. This will not be easy. But she knew she had to do this so that one day she could help Izuku like how he helped her.
That didn't mean she didn't feel like running to the bathroom to puke, though. She knew that Celica would be taking this test too, but the odds of her being in the same group as her were slim, so she couldn't rely on her for help.
"Wait a sec… Takamaki?"
Milia nearly jumped out of her skin when someone called her name. It took a moment to recognize the voice, as she only briefly met her once. "J-Jiro-san?"
Kyoka smiled as she walked up to Milia. "Wasn't expecting to see you here," she said.
"Y-yeah, I suppose…" Milia chuckled nervously. She and Kyoka had only met once before when Momo had come to Aldera to pick up Ibara and Izuku for training. "Y-You ready for this?"
"Hell no."
"That was… blunt…" Milia said, before nodding. "But yeah. I'd be lying to say I'm not nervous about this."
Kyoka chuckled. "Seriously, though, why are you here? You don't strike me as the type to want to be a hero."
"Uh, well, I…" Milia desperately tried to think of something, praying to the Satans she wasn't blushing.
"…It's because of Midoriya, isn't it?"
And her hopes were dashed. "W-what!? No, I-" When she saw the knowing smirk Kyoka had, she gave up trying to hide her reason. "Yeah…"
To say that Iida Tenya's experience with U.A. was disheartening would be one way to put it. For years, he had always imagined U.A as the pinnacle of Hero institutions. A glorious facility that, through its rigorous curriculum, had produced many great Heroes, from All Might to each member of the Iida family.
This almost holy institution was a mold, one that turned young students into the next generation of great Heroes. And Tenya did everything in his power to prepare himself, to prove himself worthy of stepping into its halls.
He spent countless hours training with his parents and brother so his Quirk, Engine, would be ready for the rigorous trials of this exam.
"Come on Tenya, you don't need to kill yourself over this. It's just an exam like any other. Just do your best and you'll pass it with no problem."
While Tensei had told him those words, Tenya knew that they had a double meaning. He had to train, but not to the point of exhaustion. This exam posed no problem for Tensei, but only because he had mastered the family techniques to the point where he made even the most grueling and difficult maneuvers look easy.
All Tenya had to do was push himself to the limit to pass. Then, and only then, will he be allowed to enter U.A.'s halls.
'And yet everyone else is…' Tenya scanned his surroundings. After the exam overview, Present Mic directed them to the lockers so they could change into the attire they brought for the practical exam. He brought the tracksuit that was specially designed for members of his family, made of frictionless material that clung tightly to the body but did not chafe. According to Tensei, that was important for Hero costumes, but for the life of him, Tenya couldn't understand why.
Everyone else, however, wasn't as prepared as he was. Tracksuits, sweat pants, old t-shirts that looked far too big for those wearing them, and the occasional scarf worn to make the outfit appear more like a Hero costume. Sure there were occasional homemade masks and such, but they were few and far between. Some even had the audacity to wear their school uniforms for this.
The boy who had been distracting was here as well. He was talking with another applicant, a girl with a perma-blush. Weren't they aware they could be distracting the other students who were trying to focus and steel their own nerves?! Tenya began to open his mouth to silence them but stopped himself. 'I shouldn't, or else I'll distract them and others from the exam.'
The two seemed to know each other. Possibly from neighboring schools, perhaps? Whatever the case, they seemed to be planning to work together, which Pro Heroes often did. Plus, it seemed that Tenya himself was the only one being bothered by them. He just needed to focus on the exam. That was the most important thing right now.
Unknown to Tenya and the other examinees, the large doors to the battle center opened up with surprisingly little noise. After a few seconds, the loud voice of Present Mic suddenly yelled down at them from above. ["Go! Go! Go! In real battles, there are no countdowns! What are you doing, listeners? You're wasting air time!"]
For a few seconds, everyone just stood in shock, and then almost as one, everyone rushed into the battle center.
Ch. 14: Robots and Exams
"So what do we do first, Izu-kun?" Ochako asked as she and Izuku silently trailed behind the other examinees.
Izuku began thinking, weighing their options. From what he could tell, they had two. The first was that he could rush into the center of the battle zone. That would probably be where the most enemies were, but a majority of the other examinees were sure to rush that way. Or he could head more towards the outskirts. There would probably be fewer enemies, but far less competition.
His decision was made quickly when most of the test takers rushed toward the center of the battle zone. "We'll stick to the outskirts!" He told Ochako. "There will be too much competition if we rush into the battle zone's center."
Ochako nodded, filing close behind him as they made a sharp turn. Izuku summoned his Sacred Gear and activated Dragon Force, his draconic wings spreading. "I'll take to the air and look for any robots. And remember not to use your Rook strength. We don't want to draw any unwanted attention."
"Right!"
Izuku took to the air, rising several stories above the streets. From above, he saw a group of three one-pointers and a two-pointer in an ally. "I see some! This way!" Izuku dive-bombed down toward the robots, sweeping over the one-pointers and landing behind the two-pointer with ease.
The two-pointer turned menacingly at Izuku. "Terminate!" The robot luged at Izuku. But the devil ducked underneath its attack.
'Promotion: Rook!'
[Boost!]
With his increased strength, Izuku easily tore off the robot's armor plating. Using it, he stabbed the robot right in its chest. The machine let out a hum before it shut down. "That's two," Izuku huffed.
"Release!"
Looking back, Izuku saw Ochako as the three one-pointers landed around her, each breaking.
"I got three!"
Izuku nodded, before realizing, "It might not be a good idea to keep track of how many points we get. We only have 10 minutes so keeping track might waste time."
Ochako blinked, realizing he might be right. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry!" She then ran ahead of him.
"Hey, Ochako-san, wait up! We should stick together!"
It took a few seconds for Milia to realize that the exam had already started. When she did she noticed that everyone else had already rushed into the faux city. "Good luck, Takamaki!" Kyoka called out from the crowd.
Gasping, Milia quickly ran after them, running as fast as she could to keep up. She wanted to use her devil wings to get the advantage, but she knew it would be bad if she used them here. As such, she had no choice but to run on the ground like everyone else. All of the other applicants had already scattered throughout the fake city, including Kyoka, so there was little hope of Milia teaming up with the rocking girl. She'd just have to go after as many robots as she could and hope for the best.
Suddenly, one of the robotic foes rushed out from an alleyway. Milia slid to a stop as the robot turned to face him with an ominous "Locked on target." It was a one-pointer. The easiest one, and Milia was glad for that. An easy target to face to get rid of her nerves.
The robot lunged at her. With grace, Milia waved her hand, and the robot was cut to pieces, each landing harmlessly around her. The reason why? Her fingers had grown into long claws.
Milia Takamaki, Quirk: Spearfinger. She can turn the tips of her fingers into razor-sharp claws that can cut through almost anything and can extend up to 10 meters!
Milia stared at the pile of scrap that was once a robot before a small smile spread across her face. That was the boost in confidence she needed. "That's one," she said, her claws retracting as she continued on her way. Time was short and she couldn't waste it.
"DIIIIE!"
An explosion marked the end of the two-pointer in front of him, but Bakugo Katsuki didn't stop to admire his handiwork. He jumped up and used the bucket of bolts as a springboard to get further away from the crowd of extras behind him. Sweat streamed from his arms thanks to the intense heat and exertion. He used it to sling more explosions at the small crowd of six robots heading dumbly toward them.
"You shitheads aren't going to get killed by anyone but me!" With a swing of his arm, explosions erupted from the ground below. The robots' progress was halted, but that wasn't the only reason for him hitting the ground and not the robots.
The extras behind him began to cough and wheeze, the smoke blocking their vision. Smiling that he dealt with the competition, for now, Bakugo bombarded the one-pointers with explosions, obliterating them with ease. He didn't even bother to count how many points he'd gotten by now. It didn't matter, for he knew he would take first place and get into U.A.
Leaving the extras behind, Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself through the faux city, searching for any other robots he'd send to robot hell.
"Target acquired."
Turns out, one found him. A three-pointer had stepped out of an ally, its red eyes focused on Bakugo. He smirked as he landed in front of the robot. "You want to go, shithead? Good! I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE AND-"
*Slice!*
Dark red energy ran up the robot for a brief moment before it suddenly split into, the halves falling apart briefly before it exploded.
Bakugou could only watch dumbfounded at what happened. Someone, somehow, stole his kill. Someone dared to take HIS kill! "Who the hell did that!?"
When the smoke from the explosions cleared, Bakugo saw it was the dual-toned boy from the lecture hall. The one who called out Glasses about Deku's stupid muttering. He was still wearing his sloppily worn school uniform, only now he was carrying a long, red sword.
"That's 27," he said, a stupidly cocky smile on his face.
"HEY!" Bakugo shouted, gaining the boy's attention. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"Uh, getting points?" He said. "I mean, we're all doing that, so it's kinda obvious."
"THAT WAS MY KILL! AND YOU STOLE IT!"
"Hey! Take your anger out on the robots, not me!"
"I INTEND TO, CLOWNFISH!"
'Clownfish' bilked at the nickname. "Clownfish? Really? That's the best you could come up with? You don't have anything more original?"
"SHUT UP AND STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" Bakugo roared, propelling himself away.
Clownfish watched as Bakugo blasted off, to presumably take his anger out on the poor robots. "Geez… That guy has issues. And that nickname… He reminds me of the lobster."
"ACHOO! Alright, who's talking about me?!"
Things could've been going better for Kyoka. She dug her right ear jack into the two-pointer to her right, piercing through the metal like paper. The sound of her amplified heartbeat was transferred into the robot, rocking the automaton with vibrations. The robot's insides disagreed with the sounds bouncing around inside, quavering and smoking from the gaps in the armor. Once Kyouka removed the jack, the machine fell to the ground in a useless heap.
'That's twenty points…' Kyouka wiped her forehead, already sweating, and looked around. 'It's going to be a pain to find more.'
Her Quirk wasn't one suited to long-range combat, and as such she and a few other examines missed out on the initial wave of robots. Thus she was forced to take out the robots designated as 'hidden' villains, skulking in alleyways and sewers.
It was easy enough to find them thanks to her advance hearing. The problem was that she might not get to them in time to earn enough points. She was fairly confident she did well on the written exam, thanks to Momo's help, but the practical exam was more than she had bargained for. Thank god for the training she did with Momo, otherwise, she probably would be doing far worse right now.
She turned back to the street to find more robots but heard the crunching of gravel from above. 'Oh, you have got to be kidding!'
Kyoka looked up to see a three-pointer staring down at her from the edge of the roof to her right. "Well, crap," she muttered as the robot jumped down towards her. She jumped back, shooting her jacks up.
But before her jacks could reach, the robot suddenly split in half, the two pieces missing her completely. "What the hell?" She turned to see the two halves crash into each other.
"Are you okay, Jiro-san?"
Kyoka turned back around to see the familiar face of Takamaki Milia running up to her, her fingers currently long claws.
"Yeah. Thanks for the save," Kyoka said. She then flashed a cheeky grin. "But don't you think you could've done it without kill-stealing?"
Milia suddenly looked flustered. "I-I didn't mean… I was just passing by, and saw that robot about to ambush you, so…"
As much as Kyoka would've liked to continue to watch her squirm, for both of their sakes she needed to cut this short. "Joking. Thanks a lot, but you really should focus on passing yourself. I trained just as much for this as you did, you know."
"…Maybe for a little longer than me…" she quietly said.
Kyoka noticed the sad tone, but before she could say anything, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. "Look out!" She pushed Milia aside right as a fist that had a jet engine where the wrist should be flew by.
Milia beached from shock. That rocket fist would've hit her in the head had Kyoka not pushed her out of the way. "Thank you."
"No problem," Kyoka replied. "Now let's get moving so we can survive this insanity."
"HURRY UP LISTENERS!" Present Mic screamed into the loudspeaker. "You're halfway done now! And those robots aren't endless! You need to get 'em while you still can! Pull out all the stops to get those Villain points! Say 'Hey' if y'all understand!"
Nobody responded. "Okay! That's all! I'll let you listeners know when we're reaching the end of this concert! Give it your all!" With that, Present Mic turned off the microphone and slumped in his chair. "Kids today are just no fun…" Just as before, no one proctoring the exam paid their co-worker any mind.
Currently, all of the U.A.'s hero staff were in a separate room, surveying each and every battle facility. They were paying close attention to each examinee. How they fight, how they react to everything, how they act. Every single detail was very important.
"Well, it looks like things are off to a fine start." Nezu took his teacup and sipped on it, managing to hold the fine china like an expert despite having no thumbs.
Considering how his Quirk made him more intelligent than any normal human, Nezu had probably figured out a workaround for that particular problem a lifetime ago.
"Yes," Yagi Toshinori rubbed his chin. "You've certainly got a bunch of promising kids applying today."
"That's one way to put it," Mizushima said, eyeing the monitor that was following Ochako. She couldn't help but smile at how they took down a group of two-pointers so easily. "Though some of them might need some work."
The pro heroes in the room all turned toward the monitor that showed Bakugo. He had already accumulated 70 points by now and was currently demolishing a three-pointer with his explosions. He then started yelling at some of the other examinees. "He may have an attitude, but look at him go." The ghost-themed hero Ectoplasm rubbed his chin while observing Bakugo. "He just keeps going and going, never stopping for a break and trying his damndest to destroy any robot in his path regardless of difficulty."
The Rated 18+ Hero Midnight chuckled at that. "Well, that's a long-winded way of saying that the boy has a lot of stamina." She gave the screen a coy smile. "These boys are certainly showing their stuff. If we whip them into shape, they'll become amazing in…"
"Midnight…"
"Come on, Ectoplasm, can't a girl crack a joke?" Midnight shrugged.
Shaking his head, Aizawa Shota turned his attention back to Bakugo. 'Mizushima is right. Bakugo is going to be a handful.' He could already tell. That face certainly did not belong to a child trying to become a hero. He seemed like the type who valued and flaunted strength above all.
But what really caught Aizawa's attention was how some of the students seemed to be holding back, in particular, Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako, Shiozaki Ibara, Kido Hyde, Celica A. Mercury, and Takamaki Milia. Each of them moved and acted like they'd been in combat before, and it was obvious to him that they were far more capable than they let on. Midoriya and Kido stuck out to him the most. While draconic transformation Quirks weren't unheard of, every time Midoriya's left arm glowed, his strength seemed to increase. There were no power-type Quirks that could increase your own power like that, as far as he knew. And while Kido's dark energy manipulation didn't seem that unusual, the sword he seemingly pulled out of his hand certainly was. They could all tell how deadly it was, with the way he sliced apart a three-pointer that was harassing a couple of girls.
Aizawa was sure that at least Nezu and All Might noticed this, based on how much they were paying attention to these examinees in particular. He could tell that Mizushima, however, knew at least Uraraka. It still boggled him about how much the girl recovered after what happened. It was certainly a shock when Mizushima approached U.A., asking for a teaching position. The memory of the broken young woman who couldn't even walk, let alone do hero work, was still ingrained deep within the minds of U.A.'s older staff.
While she didn't reveal much about her time in Kathmandu, Nezu had accepted her request to teach, likely because Mizushima's story would be a good example of the kind of dangers the students will face someday. Whatever the reason, Aizawa would have to trust the principal's decisions for now.
"Two minutes left, boss-man," Present Mic announced.
"Then unleash the Executors," Nezu's face lit up in a worrying manner.
Ibara clasped her hands together, the vines that make up her hair digging through the ground. In seconds, the four one-pointers and the three two-pointers were ensnared by her vines. Rising several feet above the ground, the vines crushed the robots with ease. "Eight more points." She had lost count of how many points she accumulated, but she was positive it was around 30 by now.
She could've easily gotten far more than that, but many of the examinees in her battle center were struggling against most of the robots. As such she spent most of the time helping them deal with the robots, something that was easy for her due to her Quirk.
Nearby, the ponytail girl she had met earlier, Kendo Itsuka, was doing something similar, helping a girl who was pinned by a displaced car… by lifting the car with her hands that had grown to an enormous size. "You okay?" Kendo asked.
The girl, who had big lips and short gray hair that covered her left eye, stumbled slightly. "Thank you for moving that vehicular transport off of myself. I lacked the vigor needed to move it."
Kendo blinked. "Uh, you're welcome… I think."
Ibara had a decent idea of what the girl said, but before she could say anything, the ground began to shake. "W-what the…?!"
Screams of terror could be heard nearby, with several examinees pouring into the alleys.
"They call that an obstacle!?" A boy, shorter than the girls by almost a head and with weirdly round purple hair shrieked as he ran by them.
Soon the source of their terror became visible. "Oh, boy," Kendo gulped.
Hyde acted quickly, slicing up the three-pointer with ease. Once the machine was down, he turned to the two girls who were struggling against it. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah," the first girl, who had pink skin and hair, black eyes, and two yellow horns, said. "Thanks for that."
"…Thanks…" The other girl had shoulder-length, bob-shaped hair, side-swept to her right with some shorter strands hanging above her cerulean eyes. She spoke with a neutral expression on her face.
"Not much of a talker, are ya?" Hyde asked.
"As far as I can tell, yep!" A third, bubbly girl's voice said.
"Waugh! Who said that?!" Hyde demanded, aiming his blade at the seemingly empty space.
"Wait! Wait! Calm down! Let me get my clothes back on!" The same voice said. Nearby, a backpack seemingly opened on its own, a bra and panties coming and floating in the air, followed by a shirt and shorts. "That's better."
Hyde could hardly believe what he was seeing. A girl, a NAKED girl, had just put her clothes back on right in front of him. His face burned slightly at the sight. The only reason his entire head wasn't red was because, well, the girl was invisible.
"Oh, like what you see, do ya?" The pink girl teased. Hyde now noticed that she was wearing a rather form-fitting sports bra and shorts, which somehow emphasized her-
Hyde shook his head, stopping that train of thought as best he could. "Why the hell were you naked?!"
"So I could get to the robots off switches without them seeing me," the invisible girl replied.
"…These things have off switches?"
None of the girls didn't get a chance to answer him though, as they were interrupted by the sound of a building imploding nearby.
"What the heck was that?!" The pink-skinned girl exclaimed.
As the dust and smoke cleared, they could see something step out into view. "Shit," Hyde whispered.
"Ochako-san, where'd you go?" Izuku hissed. All it took for him to lose her was for her to head down an alleyway. After that, he spent most of the exam looking for her, taking out any robots he found. After a few more twists and turns, and taking out a couple more robots, Izuku suddenly found himself in the fray of the battle. As he expected, more kill-stealings were going on with the main battle group. Not to mention that he heard people calling out their scores to each other.
He looked through the crowd to see Ochako anywhere in it. 'She's not here. I need to keep looking.' Izuku thought to himself when it seemed like the entire world suddenly exploded around them. Everyone stopped fighting when one of the buildings suddenly imploded, collapsing in on itself.
Before the smoke and dust had cleared from the collapsed building, everyone heard Present Mic yell, ["Less than two minutes remaining! So hurry it up, listeners!"]
But no one was moving, because the dust had cleared and revealed the zero-pointer. It was the same shape as the printout. But the zero-pointer was taller than many of the buildings. It barely fit in the street and knocked free chunks of wood and stone every time it moved.
'Present Mic had said that it was just an obstacle or a distraction, something to be avoided, but that is a bit much!'Izuku doubted he had the power necessary to take something like it down right now, so it was fortunate that he and the other examinees weren't expecting to do so. Many of the other examinees were already running away from the zero-pointer as fast as they could, scattering in all directions. 'I better get out of here too.' Izuku turned to run away when he saw it.
Ochako was in the path of the zero-pointer. Her legs were trapped by the debris it had created. And she was at most two seconds away from being stepped on. Even if she had strength comparable to Koneko's now, that didn't mean she was at all used to it yet.
'Promotion: Knight!' Izuku sped as fast as he could, reaching Ochako in a few seconds. He could try to lift the rock and get them both out of there, but that might take too long. So instead Izuku flew up, toward the robot's face.
Within his Boosted Gear, energy gathered, ready to explode. "DRAGON SMASH!"
[EXPLOSION!]
Releasing the stored energy, Izuku punched the zero-pointer with all his might. What resulted was the head coming clean off as the body started falling apart. All the other examinees could only watch in awe as they saw Izuku taking down a robot bigger than a building with a single punch!
Izuku huffed with pride, gripping his arm as pain swelled within it. That attack was definitely above what he could handle at the moment. "That did it." He smiled as he landed on the ground, before running over to Ochako. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Ochako looked to be in a daze, and Izuku now saw that a slight amount of blood was dripping down her head. "Give me a sec," with a grunt, Ochako lifted the boulder that pinned her with ease.
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure," Ochako replied. "When the zero-pointer showed up, I started running with everyone else, but then a rock must've hit my head before that boulder pinned me."
["Five… four… three… two… one… TIME'S UP, LISTENERS!"] When Present Mic finished his countdown, all of the remaining robots stopped moving. ["And that's all folks! U.A.'s Practical Exam is officially over! Please bring yourselves to the gates of your respective areas for any first aid you require and to confirm how you will be leaving! The results of the exam will be mailed to you in a week! Lemme hear y'all say HEY!"]
Nobody did that. Ochako, however, lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Izuku looked at her quizzically. "I shouldn't have run off like that. Because of me, we might not-"
"It's okay," Izuku told her. He took her arm and wrapped it around his head. "C'mon, let's go. We need to get your head looked at."
As the examinees watched Izuku and Ochako leave, muttering to themselves about what they saw, Iida Tenya could only watch in confusion. 'They're all missing the point. Don't they see what he did?' Tenya thought. 'He sacrificed everything. Just to save that girl. He must have known how little time was left, and how much points he needed to pass, and that he was putting his life at risk. But despite those concerns, he didn't hesitate to help.' Iida then clenched his fist as he remembered he had just run away without even trying to help. And how he belittled Izuku during the lecture hall. 'If this hadn't been an exam… then, of course, I would have done the same thing!'
And then it hit him…
'Wait… the exam… the judges, they saw that!' He realized as he held his chin. If that were the case… then maybe…
Over the next week, Izuku and Ochako worried themselves sick over the results. However, after the fact, Izuku was left wondering if he hadn't made a mistake. For the first few minutes of the test, they felt like they had performed pretty well. Ochako was having it the worst, blaming herself for both her and Izuku not being able to attend U.A.
Ibara and Inko had been able to provide some support for them, but both were also worried about them. The other members of the Gremory peerage did their best to help as well. After about five days, Momo had received news about her results, saying that she had been accepted into U.A.
"So you're officially a recommendations student now, huh?" Yuuto asked, sipping some tea in the clubroom.
"Yes," Momo practically beamed with joy.
"Did you fight robots like us?" Ibara asked.
"No, it was more of a series of obstacle courses," Momo answered. "Me and the other recommended students raced each other. I managed to achieve first place, while a girl who could split her body reached second. There was really no combat involved."
"Lucky," Kyoka groaned. "Those robots were a real pain. Uraraka and Midoriya nearly died because of them, didn't they?"
The two in question laughed nervously. "I doubt the staff would've let that happen," said Rias. "But I am proud of all of you. I'm sure you all passed."
"…But, what if we didn't?" Ochako asked.
"Well, we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we?"
It was now March, about a week since the entrance exam. A week of waiting with some combat training with Yuuto to relieve stress had passed before he, Ochako, and Ibara returned home one day to find Inko fretting over the mail. The stamp at the back of each letter was all that they needed to confirm who sent it.
"T-This is it…"
The three made their way to Izuku's room and closed the door. Izuku sat at his desk with only the desk lamp on as a light source. He had set his letter in front of him and was just staring at it. Ibara was sitting on the bed while Ochako stood behind him, each holding onto their respective letters.
"…Moment of truth," Izuku took off the seal with his trembling fingers and opened the letter. He peeked inside to see a small thin disk. "What the…?" He took it up and saw 'place this side on a smooth flat surface' written on the back. Shrugging to himself, he complied and put the disk onto his desk.
After a small beep, a hologram appeared in the air above. It was All Might, dressed in a yellow suit that seemed to barely contain his physique. Behind him was a stage that flashed red, blue, and yellow.
"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" All Might began, grinning at the camera.
The three jumped back in shock, with Izuku almost falling out of the chair. The disk was a holographic projector. And just like he announced, All Might was the one on the screen.
"All Might?!" Ochako gasped.
"OHMYGOSH!" Izuku's jaw hit the floor as the image of All Might laughed at his own 'joke'. "A-All Might is recording these!? But they wouldn't do that unless… Unless All Might is going to be teaching!"
It took everything Izuku had not to faint.
"I know I've been quiet this past week, but with great power comes a great amount of paperwork." All Might then cleared his throat and did a light bow. "I apologize. The truth is, I didn't come to this city just to fight villains. You're looking at the newest U.A. Faculty member!"
The three let out a loud gasp. All Might… was going to be a teacher at U.A.?! "He's seriously going to be working at U.A.?" Ibara asked.
Surprisingly, All Might nodded as if he actually acknowledged Ibara's question. But suddenly a hand came onto the screen.
"Stop showboating, will you?" A familiar voice said before stepping into view.
"Hm, who's showboating, Young Mizushima?" All Might asked.
"MIZU-SAN/ONEECHAN?!"
"Uh, you," Mizu matter-of-factly said. "We need to wrap this up. We have at least a dozen more to do."
"Of course." All Might let out a sigh and kept going. "Right, moving on. Young Midoriya, you have passed the written exam with a score of over 90%, which is more than enough to generate you a spot at U.A.! For the practical, you scored 28 points. Normally, that wouldn't be enough to enter the Heroics Course."
Izuku lowered his head dejectedly at that, tears beginning to swell in Ochako's eyes due to guilt, while Ibara looked at them with pity.
"IF the practical was based solely on combat prowess!"All Might quickly added.
…What?
Izuku and the girls slowly looked up to the screen.
"He's right. While Villain Points are the basic measurement we use to judge applicants, it's not the only one," Mizu continued as a video of when Izuku saved Ochako from the zero-pointer was shown.
"Such conviction… such selflessness! As the bastion of Japan's future Heroes, it would be foolish of us to ignore these qualities important for all Heroes!" All Might returned to the stand and flashed his signature grin."As such, we have an entirely different category for such acts, rated by a panel of judges! Rescue Points! And my boy… You have the highest of the lot: sixty points! Congratulations!"
Izuku could hardly believe what he heard. The 28 villain points he got, along with the 60 rescue points meant that… he had gotten a total of 88 points!
"Now then, welcome Young Midoriya… to your Hero Academia!" All Might and Mizu thrust their fists into the air. "PLUS ULTRA!"
Izuku began to cry. Behind him he heard Ibara and Ochako opening their letters, finding the same holodiscs that came in Izuku's. Their messages were similar to Izuku's, giving them their scores for both the written and partial exams. Ibara had earned 82 points in the practical, while Ochako had 60, which meant…
The two began to cry tears of joy along with Izuku before they went over to Izuku, hugging each other. They made it.