Chapter 8: Post Test Jitters and Results!
While students fought hard to earn their places at U.A., others watched on, keeping track of their progress over numerous sets of monitors. One such observer was a scraggily-looking man with long black hair, a scruffy beard, and bloodshot eyes. Half his face was hidden among a set of loose bandages that wrapped around his upper torso like a scarf. Yellow goggles sat nestled around his neck, and to the unaware observer, he looked to be very asleep.
However, Shota Aizawa was likely more aware of the monitors than anyone else in the room and perhaps the principal. There were plenty of examinees, plenty with showy quirks that would certainly have earned them a spot at other, less prestigious hero schools. But this was U.A., and U.A. only accepted the best.
Currently, he was giving a dismissive look at a monitor featuring a blond, spiky-haired teen wielding an explosion quirk with wild abandon against the robots. Not a care for the property damage, evident when he destroyed the front glass of a building as he handled a set of two-pointers.
So aggressive. Is this truly the type of hero you want to be Katsuki Bakugo?
Oh sure, the kid was racking up a high villain score but there was more to hero work than just blowing up villains. Excessive force on some villains could net hero hopefuls into quite a bit of trouble.
He'd likely get in, but the kid was an obvious problem child. No way was he ending up in Aizawa's class. Vlad could have him, he'd argue with Nezu about it. The kid had a disciplinary record, excessive quirk use on a classmate during a little playground roughhousing had resulted in the other boy receiving quite a few bruises and burns. He highly doubted it was "just a little playground roughhousing". He'd interviewed Aldera Junior High's faculty after Bakugo had passed the written exam to see if they'd noticed any strange behaviors about the boy. Aggressive tendencies or bullying behavior were the main things he was looking for. The faculty had all given him stellar responses, for all intents and purposes the boy was an angel in their eyes. He highly doubted such things, no matter how perfect his Junior High record had been, the brute savagely attacking the robots with no care for his peers was evidence enough of that.
It was apparent that his other faculty members didn't share the same concerns Aizawa had about the boy. They were praising his actions, but he could spot the frown Nezu was giving the screen he was featured on. The frown switched to a grin as Nezu noticed Aizawa watching him, and the little rat immediately began to type furiously at his console, apparently preferring a private conversation in the presence of other teachers.
Nezu: Impressive isn't he?
Aizawa sighed, knowing he would only get pestered more by the principal if he didn't respond.
Aizawa: No.
Nezu: Oh, but I hadn't even asked yet.
Aizawa: Give him to Vlad.
Nezu: Oh phooey! Who else to constrain him but you and your Erasure?
Aizawa: Vlad's hemokinesis can work just as fine in keeping him in line.
Nezu. Sure, sure…
Nezu: Should I give monitor 10, Battle Center B to Vlad as well?
Aizawa focused on the screens, watching as a plain kid bounced over an alley to attack one of the villain robots and save another examinee. Giving him a weapon that he'd taken off a previous robot and pointing him in the direction of some more robots that he could have easily gone for as well.
Aizawa updated that applicant's rescue points, noticing a few others had already made their own sets of recommendations on how much that applicant should receive before he responded to Nezu's message.
Aizawa: Strength-enhancing quirks are a dime a dozen, easy enough for Vlad to handle.
Nezu: Are you sure it's a strength enhancement quirk? *Attachment*
Aizawa frowned, viewing the applicant's profile a bit more in-depth. There was some information that he wasn't sure he was even allowed to have access to, and he shot the rat a glare, who gave no visible signs of having noticed the glare.
Still, seeing as he had the information might as well read it. This wasn't the only recording of the exams they'd have to sit through, each student's score had to be properly counted after all. It was easy to miss points and rescues on a first-time watch.
Carefully, he gave the application a read-through, one eyebrow shooting up at the name on the file.
Izuku Midoriya.
He quickly pulled up Katsuki Bakugo's disciplinary file, highlighted the relevant incident, and sent it to Nezu, before continuing to read. If Aizawa was already suspecting something, he knew the principal would be able to figure out the full story much more quickly.
After that, Aizawa continued through Midoriya's application, most of the information was irrelevant, although the kid did have a glowing recommendation from Kamihara Ninjutsu Academy.
Interesting…that Kamihara? Wonder why he didn't recommend the student then?
Finally, he got to what Nezu had hinted at,
Quirk: Dojutsu - Byakugan and Sharingan
It took a few moments for Aizawa to reassess the applicant up on the monitors with the information he was reading about his quirk. The report had helpful submissions from quirk therapists. The first report was standard for new quirks, the only problem was that this quirk first manifested at the age of six. Later than the usual four, so the kid must have been a late bloomer. The report gave some simple information about the quirk. It was ocular-based, with each of his eyes having different abilities. It was also a new mutation-type quirk. Both eyes could 'activate', but only his right eye remained permanently changed, his left eye reverted to his original eye color.
His left eye gave him enhanced reflexes, and perception, and allowed him to copy abilities at the level of muscle memory. His right eye gave him three-hundred and sixty degrees of vision, allowing him to see in every direction, and even had x-ray properties, allowing him to see through objects or into the human body. The vision was also telescopic, as long as it was within range, he could see it.
Most people only had one quirk therapist evaluation on their files, Midoriya was an exception. At the age of twelve, he had undergone a quirk awakening, with the catalyst being 'heightened emotions from stress' as the only contributing factor. There was a note there from the doctor that suggested that Midoriya's quirk was capable of multiple quirk awakenings, which would unlock further abilities.
After the quirk awakening, Midoriya's perception with his left eye had advanced significantly, while his right eye allowed the manipulation of his internal quirk pathway system to enhance both his body, even being able to expel the quirk energy from his system to affect other quirk pathway systems - potentially blocking off access to someone's quirk.
An Erasure-type ability with the perks of being able to back it up by enhancing his own body. Interesting…
Aizawa quickly turned back to the monitors, watching the kid working with two other applicants to fight the zero pointer of all things. He watched as they used the girl's quirk to throw a car at the zero pointer, causing it to hit a critical location. The resulting explosion was brilliant, and Aizawa couldn't help but smirk. As the zero pointer had been on an attack path towards the rest of the examinees it would likely net the three huge amounts of points.
Taking down the zero pointer had a hidden score of 60 rescue points for saving the city and any fleeing examinees. Since the three of them worked together, they each took a part of the score. 20 rescue points each for them, combined with the earlier 10 points meant the kid had a respectable amount of rescue points.
Turning back to his pad, he noticed the principal had sent him a reply.
Nezu: Interesting…
Nezu: I'll spend some time looking into this.
Nezu: Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Aizawa: I want Midoriya in my class.
Nezu: Ho ho?!
Aizawa: Stop that, it's been two months since Christmas!
Nezu: It's always Christmas Aizawa! Haven't I just given you an interesting gift? Surely you'll have a lot of fun with that young hero.
Aizawa: …
Nezu: Agree with me or you get Bakugo.
Aizawa: Thank you Principal Nezu, you have truly worked to ensure I get only the least disturbing of examinees in my class.
Nezu; I'm glad you think so Aizawa! :D :D :D You're getting him anyway!
Aizawa: Who showed you how to use emojis? -_-
Nezu: Who says I haven't known how to use them this whole time Aizawa? Truly, you've disappointed me today.
Aizawa couldn't help but let out a sigh of strangled annoyance, turning his attention back to the computer monitors. The monitors were still rolling, despite the exam having finished. Midoriya and that purple-haired examinee were all grouped around the brunette girl, who appeared to have hurt her ankle. Likely from all that debris that fell on her during the zero-pointer's initial attack. She should have been able to escape using her quirk but the awkward position she'd been in hadn't given her enough space to move to hands and activate her quirk.
It seemed Chiyo was already taking care of the issue, the "Youthful" Heroine was already at work, using her quirk to heal the applicant's leg easily enough.
Looking at their newest, esteemed, faculty member, Aizawa couldn't help but scoff at the ridiculousness that was All Might. The man had been given special consideration due to the fact he was both a respected alumni and a good hero, but Aizawa doubted his teaching abilities. Aizawa had taken the time to pursue higher education in teaching, however unorthodox his methods were, as was the case with the rest of U.A.'s staff. It wasn't rational that All Might was allowed to teach heroics when the man didn't even have a teaching license. He suspected there was a plot afoot between Nezu and All Might and more than just a simple change in his career path in the twilight years of All Might's career.
Turning back to the monitors, he noticed that they were starting to show reruns of the exam, and he returned to paying attention to the other monitors. While the students were done with their parts, the teachers now had to grade the exam properly, which meant more viewing of the monitors. A single view wasn't enough in Aizawa's opinion.
Nezu was fascinated by the information that Aizawa had sent him, he'd already analyzed all the prospective hero applicants during the first showing and was now taking his time to read through the packet of information he'd been sent on one Bakugo Katsuki.
There was a stain on the young boy's record from "a playground scuffle gone out of hand", or at least, that was what the authorities had proposed. It wasn't too difficult for the world's smartest being to hack into hospital servers and track down Midoriya's medical file from that time.
2nd Degree Burns and bruised ribs sound like the boy survived a fall from a burning building, not a playground brawl, Nezu easily analyzed, before delving further into this grand conspiracy that had fallen into his lap.
The mother, Bakugo Mitsuki, formerly Reya Mitsuki. Oh and would you look at that, she was part of an extremist group spouting Meta Liberation Army ideals during her time in university. Interesting, I wonder just how deep this goes, Nezu thought, his fingertips a blur over his console as a manic grin began to appear on his face. Connections between Mitsuki and the superintendent of Alderon School District were quickly found, along with school policies that encouraged MLA doctrine to be followed by their teachers. Promote the strong, and belittle the weak. Keep the records of students who show promise as clean as possible. My oh my, how exciting! A conspiracy within his prefecture! Practically in U.A.'s backyard! Already Nezu was seeing opportunities to pull out his wrecking ball, it would be so fun!
Needless to say, Nezu's manic grin remained on his face for the rest of that day, unsettling the rest of his colleagues, especially Aizawa, who was starting to regret ever sending that packet of information to Nezu.
The following week was nerve-wracking for the three teens. While they'd put in many hours studying and felt like they'd all put in a good show for the practical exam, it didn't mean they were immune to post-test jitters about whether they'd passed or failed.
Izuku and Eijiro were able to talk over the phone frequently, while Itsuka and Izuku met up every day during and after school to talk about the exam.
To burn off the nervous energy, Itsuka and Izuku would often find themselves sparring with each other, quirks not included. It helped keep the coolness of early March away and kept them in shape now that they weren't wrapped up in their dojo activities.
They both spent a lot of time working out. After one such session of sparring, they ended up side by side, sitting by the base of a tree as they leaned against each other. Their bodies were sweaty and they panted to regain their breath from the intense workout.
Izuku didn't think relationships were supposed to be like this, but Itsuka insisted neither hold back during a spar. Although he could tell something had been up with that last round of sparring. The fact her blocks had gotten sloppy and her technique was starting to slip was evident enough.
Itsuka's mind wasn't fully into the spar, and so she missed a hard hooked kick that sent her to the ground.
As she tried to catch her breath, Izuku held out his hand so she could get back on her feet.
"Alright, c'mon water break," Izuku said cheerfully, pulling Itsuka to her feet as they walked over to their bags nestled in the shade of a peach tree. The early spring weather meant that the tree was in full bloom and it provided a nice shade to escape the heat of the sun. While the weather was cool, they had built up a sweat doing all that training.
Izuku grabbed his water from a pack, taking a big gulp, before swallowing and letting out a sigh of relief as the coolness seeped into his bones. He sat at the base of the tree, closing his eyes for a moment and leaning back against the bark, as he tried to let his body calm after the spar. He felt Itsuka sit next to him, her head resting on his shoulder as they sat there in silence for a few moments before Itsuka broke the silence.
"Sorry, I should have been paying more attention during the spar," she admitted, voice tinged in bitterness that Izuku hadn't expected to hear.
"It's alright. I should have called it when I noticed how off your game you were," Izuku replied, opening his eyes to look down at Itsuka, a teasing grin on his face.
Itsuka pouted in response, looking like she was about to argue before her features changed to be more melancholic and she gave a resigned sigh.
"I know, it's just. The wait for these results is killing me!" Itsuka replied in exasperation, flopping her head onto his lap," Like I know I did good, that written exam was a piece of cake and I felt like I took out enough robots. I know I'm being silly but I can't help but worry the longer the wait goes." Itsuka had her eyes closed as she spoke, and Izuku took advantage of the fact to run his fingers through her orange hair, something that always seemed to calm Itsuka down before.
"You're going to do fine. We've trained hard to get into U.A. and the proctors of the exam must have seen how great you were. I'm sure of it," Izuku said, voice soft as Itsuka opened her eyes and stared at Izuku, momentarily caught off guard by the adoration on Izuku's face, a look that made her blush.
"We're going to be heroes Itsuka," Izuku promised, giving Itsuka a confident smile. Itsuka looked up into Izuku's eyes and felt her worry melt away, replaced by a strange feeling in her gut. The same feeling she felt whenever she was around him.
Her eyebrows knitted together for a moment before a hungry look appeared in Itsuka's eyes that surprised Izuku for half a second before he was suddenly pushed up against the tree, Itsuka had reached up and was kissing him hard and desperately.
Izuku groaned into the kiss and complied and kissed back, gripping her hips and rubbing her thighs as their tongues battled for dominance. The appreciative moan that Itsuka gave him must have meant he was doing something right.
This was the first time they had gotten so physically intimate - their kisses from before being much more tame. Itsuka gripped his hair almost painfully for a moment, before they broke apart - taking in deep breaths.
The soft embrace of wind on his skin made Izuku remember just where they were, while their location was remote it would still seem improper if caught in such a compromising position.
"Itsuka, we should-"
The crash of lips on his stopped any further words as Itsuka's hands went from gripping his hair to pushing down the front of his shirt. Izuku wasn't as bulky as Eijiro, but the years of training meant he was physically fit, the rippling muscles beneath the shirt were evidence enough. Itsuka seemed to agree as she let out an appreciative hum as her tongue battled for dominance with Izuku's.
They continued roaming downward, and Izuku became painfully aware of just how constraining his shorts were at that moment. At the same time, there was a bit of worry tinged in there as they hadn't quite done something like this before. Itsuka seemed to realize this as well as she broke her kiss, her hands now resting beneath his shirt. Her eyes bored into Izuku's own as if asking permission to continue, an undeniable hunger in them that Izuku was sure was reflected in his own eyes.
This sudden strike of passion had emerged out of nowhere for the both of them it seemed, and now the two were unsure of how to proceed.
"Itsuka, we should stop. This place, we should do this somewhere special right?" Izuku asked, although hesitantly.
Itsuka seemed to ponder the question, the haze of lust in her gaze softening a touch.
"No, you'd better go all out Izuku. Especially for the full experience," Itsuka said with a grin before Izuku shuddered as she gripped him through the shorts. A devious smile on her face.
"That being said, playing with the equipment should be fine right?" Itsuka asked, her brow raised as she softly stroked him through the fabric of the shorts. Izuku responded by hungrily kissing her, seemingly startling her for a few moments before she returned the favor.
It was a good morning to be Izuku Midoriya.
The following morning, Izuku couldn't help but wake up with a grin. Yesterday's activities were still fresh in his mind. It earmarked a new stage in their relationship, one that the both of them had come away quite pleased with.
He spent most of the day doing some ethical hacking. It helped by giving him a part-time job to do while helping out the companies that had hired him and making them more secure.
As he was stretching his limbs after a couple of hours of work, his mother knocked on the door, a shocked expression on her face.
"Izuku! It's here!" she practically yelled, vibrating with excitement as she handed him a thick envelope. Izuku stared at the envelope with a start, looking from it to his mom and then back again. A part of him wanted to use his Byakugan and see the results right away but he held himself back.
"Should I go?" Inko asked, getting ready to close the screen door to give her son some privacy. She was surprised when Izuku grabbed her hand to keep her from leaving.
"No. Please stay. You were the first person to tell me I could be a hero when everyone else told me it wasn't possible. You kept me safe when the environment around me wanted to stifle me. You enrolled me in the classes and always pushed me to succeed. I deserve to be here for this just as much as I do," Izuku said, his gaze adamant. Inko's eyes welled with tears and she hugged her son tightly.
Izuku returned the hug for a moment before pulling away and leading the way to the living room. Sitting on a stool around a small tea table, he looked at his mother one last time before they both nodded and Izuku ripped the envelope open.
The most obvious material inside the letter, besides the numerous pages of paper, was a small black holodisk, which began blinking the moment Izuku glanced at it. Placing it on the table, the Holodisk blinked once then turned on to reveal…
"Is that All Might?!" Izuku exclaimed, surprised that All Might of all heroes was the one that would be giving him his results.
"Why yes! I am here! As a projection!" the hero said, giving a heroic pose, which likely would have been cooler looking in his hero costume instead of the red business suit he had on. Either way, it was still quite a shock to both Inko and Izuku.
"Wow, I knew that All Might was an alumnus but I didn't know they had him do these," Izuku admitted, surprised at the effort U.A. put into their applicants.
" Now, young man. You've certainly put in an exceptional showing! Getting one of the highest scores on the written exam, but it's the practical where you shined. 48 villain points are certainly impressive, but what type of hero school would we be if taking down villains was the only basis for getting in?" All Might questioned, as clips of Izuku's test came up, saving Shinso and then fighting the zero-pointer with Uraraka and Shinso while the rest of the applicants escaped.
"You see, rescue points were also a good portion of the exam, and you managed to earn 40 of them. 15 for ultimately awarded by the panel of judges for aiding Hitoshi Shinso and showing him how he could earn villain points, and 25 were awarded for distracting and defeating the zero-pointer, an action that reduced damage to the city and allowed some of the examinees to flee to safety," All Might continued as a ranking list of examinees came up, starting from the bottom where Shinso had managed to barely reach the top 20 before it scaled up quickly to the top applicant.
"This means young Midoriya, that you are this year's top applicant for the hero course with 88 points on the practical. Welcome to your Hero Academia!" All Might with a regal pose, before the holodisk went dark and Izuku found himself caught in a death grip by his mom, tears falling easily from her face. Tears of joy.
Izuku Midoriya was going to U.A.
Chapter 9: Quirk Apprehension Test
The following weeks were a rush for the Midoriya household. Izuku had to get his student paperwork filled out, order and pick up his school uniform, and go shopping for school materials. Eventually, it was finalized with the Kirishima family that Izuku could have the spare guest room for his own use for the semester, being insistent that they wouldn't take payment for board, but Inko managed to wrangle in concessions for help with groceries.
When Izuku next saw Eijiro, he was exiting from the train and had to do a double take. The straight black hair Eijiro once had, was gone in favor of sharply defined, red-haired spikes.
"Dude!" Izuku cried out, a grin on his face as he pointed at Eijiro's hair, receiving a cheeky grin in response.
"Manly?" Eijiro asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Definitely," Izuku replied.
There was a moment of silence before both of them burst out laughing, a warmth settling in Izuku's gut over how easily their camaraderie came.
As Eijiro helped Izuku with his bags, they began to walk in the direction of Eijiro's apartment. The two of them talked about the happenings in Mustafu. A few new heroes had their debut recently. Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady were the stand-outs. Kamui Woods seemed to have a wood transformation quirk, and he used it to good effect to bind villains and maneuver through the environment.
Mt. Lady had a Gigantification quirk, that, while limiting in nature, had picked up a lot of appeal from the male variety. Itsuka had looked at Izuku quite jealously when she'd caught him viewing a video of her taking down another giant villain in her debut, it was only the mumble-storm of apologies and the latest of his quirk analysis notebook's filled pages about her quirk that had cooled her temper into a fond exasperation.
They soon reached the Kirishima household, with Kirishima-san having prepared a celebratory dinner of Izuku's favorite dish, katsudon.
After eating dinner, Izuku began unpacking his things in his new room. He no longer had the luxury of the traditional tatami mats that had made up his last home, having been given a more modern room of wooden flooring, a bed with a mattress, and furniture for his clothing had been prearranged. A reasonably-sized desk was positioned near the side of the room, perfect for a laptop and some writing equipment for when he had to do homework. The room even had a television, a luxury reserved only for the living room of his old home.
After packing away his clothes, Izuku sat on the desk, having put it aside while he got settled in.
A text from Itsuka was the first thing he saw.
Itsuka: Hey, how was the move in?
Izuku quickly typed back a reply.
Izuku: Hey, sorry for the late reply. Just finished unpacking. How's your aunt?
It took a few minutes before getting a reply. Minutes Izuku spent getting his laptop on to see if there was any new hero news. An All Might sighting in Mustafu? Strange but no surprise. It was probably there as a result of the time spent filming those videos for U.A.
A few rumors going around about a Hero Killer, in one of the surrounding wards. A scary thought if true.
His phone buzzed, and he turned his attention back to it.
Itsuka: No prob. She's been great and accommodating. I'm glad she was fine with me moving in while I am attending school.
Itsuka: Gunna catch some shut-eye early. See ya tomorrow!
Izuku gave a similar reply back, before heading over to Eijiro's room, poking his head in now that the door was open.
"Hey man, up at 5 for an early run?" he asked a sly grin on his face, knowing that Eijiro didn't like waking nearly that early. The stupefied look on Eijiro's face confirmed his thoughts.
"Nah man, have fun with that," Kirishima waved off, looking ready to head to bed himself.
"Gotcha, I'll wake you when I get back then," Izuku said with a smirk before heading to bed himself.
—
The two met up with Itsuka the next morning on their way into U.A., the boys walking to the train station first to pick up Itsuka before heading towards the campus itself.
Their I.D. Cards had arrived in the mail along with their acceptance letter, and it worked as their security badge to let them into the campus. Students rushed around, talking easily with each other while taking in the sights of the campus.
There was a general buzz of excitement from some obvious first years, while a few second and third years looked on in amusement at the younger students. A map of the campus and some guidance from one of the upper years and they were guided in the direction of Class 1-A.
The first thing that stood out to the trio was the immense size of the door.
"Woah," was all Itsuka could say. The two boys could only nod, a contemplative look coming over Izuku's face.
"The door's so big. Perhaps to allow for those with Gigantification quirks? Granted most people with Gigantification quirks have some semblance of control about how large they can be, so maybe it is more for people with mutant quirks that alter their base size. Some mutation quirks can permanently alter a person's size. That would make more sense then," he murmured, unknowingly missing a fond look of exasperation between Eijiro and Itsuka.
In a practiced duet, they helpfully chimed in.
"Izuku, you're mumbling~"
This brought Izuku's train of thought to a halt, and he blushed but gave his friends a thankful glance.
"Sorry," he said, before taking a breath and moving to open the door, surprised that it seemed to automatically move aside as he went to enter. The room was large, with 20 desks arranged throughout the room. While the trio was a little bit early for class, it seemed like most of the desks were already filled.
Unfortunately, for Izuku, the first one that he spotted was Bakugo, who was arguing with Tenya Iada about decorum of all things.
"Take your feet off the desk this instant! It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing up school property you cretin," Ida said, looking positively aghast that someone would dare treat their desk with the respect Bakugo was showing, feet up high on it as he leaned back on his chair. A cocky smirk on his face, as if he was proud to have riled up Ida.
"You're kiddin' me, right? Your old school put a stick up your ass?" Bakugo replied, the smirk never leaving his face, until his attention shifted toward the open door. A murderous expression crossed over his face, and he straight, standing quickly from his chair as he glared daggers at Izuku.
It was a movement that caught the attention of the rest of the class, as the socializing within came to a sudden stop.
"Dammit Deku!" he yelled, a murderous look coming over his face as he began to approach, being beaten to the door by the quicker Ida, who had disregarded Bakugo's ravings upon spotting Izuku as well. His steps were quick but with purpose.
As Tenya approached Izuku to talk with him, Izuku didn't fail to miss that Itsuka and Eijiro had shared a look between the two of them and moved to intercept the fuming Bakugo.
"Good morning! My name is Tenya Ida from Soumei Private Academy," Ida said as he reached a hand out to shake, which Izuku quickly took, keeping his handshake firm but polite.
"Good morning Ida-san. Yes, we met at the entrance exam if I remember right. Battle Center B? Correct?" Izuku asked, already knowing the answer. The Sharingan made it hard to forget faces and places, and he distinctly remembered Ida being one of the examinees who had been attacking robots before the zero-pointer emerged.
"That's correct!" Ida said, straightening his posture and gaining a serious edge to his tone," Midoriya-san, you realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you. You must be very perceptive, I again apologize for my outburst in the auditorium. It seems my opinion of you was highly incorrect."
"There isn't much my eyes don't perceive," Izuku replied with a smile, before taking a serious posture of his own, seeing as Ida appeared to be more of the formal type," and apology accepted. In truth, I had my suspicions about the exam being more than just Villain Points for a few weeks leading up to it. I'd done some research leading up, and all the sources online suggested the same exam was done every year, cross-referencing that with the last several years of U.A. alumni and their quirks, there were at least a few outliers in each class that I don't imagine could have passed a pure villain point exam. That led me to conclude there was something the proctors weren't telling us about in the information packets we received after the written exam. While I wasn't sure exactly that Rescue Points were what we were being graded on. Collateral Damage and Ruthlessness were other aspects I theorized might have been a part of the exam. Collateral Damage because heroes need to be aware of their surroundings when fighting villains, and ruthlessness because as heroes we need to be sure we don't go overboard and cripple a villain that we're fighting. It's our job to make sure villains face justice and the law, not put them down. And so…"
Izuku cut off his words as the door opened behind him, not realizing that he'd been rambling. Unknown to himself, most of the class had started to sweat drop about halfway through his explanation to Ida, except Ida who was listening very attentively to every word that came out of Izuku's mouth.
Izuku thought he heard Ida mutter a "...should have prepared more…" as he rubbed his chin with a contemplative expression on his face. He was pleasantly surprised to see Hitoshi Shinso and Ochako Uraraka entering the door, both of them blinking in surprise over the group that had gathered around the entrance. Uraraka's eyes it up in recognition when she spotted Izuku, and quickly through an arm around his shoulders and Shinso's as she happily declared.
"Alright! The zero-pointer slaying crew all made it!" she exclaimed, a big grin on her face. Shinso and Izuku met eyes and gave each other knowing grins before they all froze, separated by a stern voice that came from the doorway.
A caterpillar? No, a man was lying on the floor, enveloped in a yellow sleeping bag. His eyes were bloodshot and his beard scruffy, as if he didn't get enough sleep. And his tone of voice was serious.
Worst of all were his words, which were serious and straight to the point.
"If you're just here to make friends, then you can just leave."
They were said with such apathy that it made everyone shut up and hold his breath, even the explosive Bakugo had quieted down and gritted his teeth. Choosing to listen to the man's words over continuing the argument that he had been having with Itsuka and Eijiro.
For some reason, Izuku was sure the man gained an even more exhausted expression on his face when he saw Bakugo was in the classroom.
"Welcome to U.A. Hero Course," the man said, wait was this their sensei?! Instead of continuing, he pulled the zipper on his sleeping bag down a bit and quickly gulped down a packet of apple sauce. Then like some hideous moth emerging from its cocoon, he rose, sliding the zipper on the sleeping bag all the way down before pulling it away and standing out of it. He looked even more bedraggled without the sleeping bag, hair in a long wavy mess, a set of loose bandages wrapped around his neck, and a strangely black combat suit put on.
This must be a hero then, Izuku mused, wracking his memories on just who it could be. He had a pretty good idea, but until he saw the man's quirk in action he wouldn't know for sure. The hero he was thinking of liked to keep out of the public eye, as most underground heroes tended to do, and the only real reference he had was a staff photo from online that had his name, his actual name not his hero name.
"It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work. Time is precious, rational students would understand that," he said, looking incredibly worn out in Izuku's estimation. Was he doing hero work on the side with teaching, that could explain the exhausted expression he wore?
"My name is Shota Aizawa. Your homeroom teacher," he said gruffly, sounding almost annoyed at the prospect. A few students dropped their mouths open in surprise, clearly not anticipating such a scruffy man to be their teacher.
"Right, let's get to it. Put these on and head outside," AIzawa said, reaching into his sleeping bag and pulling out the school's gym uniform, an action that caused everyone to fall into a pit of confusion," Since time is precious, I'll give you ten minutes to get changed. Any later and you'll be expelled."
The blasé manner in which he spoke sent a shock of worry throughout the group. He seemed entirely too serious about such a claim.
Izuku was already advancing forward, picking up a gym uniform his size before bowing to his sensei and departing toward the locker rooms. Aizawa gave the rest of the class a dead expression as if silently berating them with his annoyance for not following Izuku's example. It was an expression that had the rest of the class quickly following suit, a mad scramble ensued and many tried to get a uniform and rush to the locker rooms.
Izuku was the first out of the locker rooms, used to changing quickly and under pressure. Kamihara-sensei had ensured he knew how to be quick about changing his appearance when time was essential. The group of boys entering the locker room gave him confused expressions, wondering how he had beaten them to the locker room and gotten changed so quickly.
Kirsishima was among them, and only gave Izuku a grin. A grin that turned murderous as Bakugo stomped past Izuku, shoulder-checking him into the wall as he did so. He noticed Ida looked outraged at the action, but the hardened of Eijiro's fist let Izuku know he needed to de-escalate the situation now.
"Don't bother, we'll show him later," he replied, voice serious as Eijiro met eyes with him a moment before giving a stiff nod. One thing was clear, it seemed Bakugo's petty little rivalry hadn't gone away, only festering over the years.
Izuku wasn't that six-year-old who had been pushed around, Bakugo was going to learn the hard way that he couldn't push Izuku around any longer.
Heading onto the training grounds, he was surprised to find Aizawa already there, sure that the man would have still been handing out uniforms. He didn't strike Aizawa as someone particularly energetic. He looked half asleep standing in the training field, his eyes fixed on a stopwatch.
His eyes flicked to Midoriya for a moment, before turning back to the stopwatch. Izuku was quickly being joined by the rest of the class, some of them looking to have run from the locker rooms. The moment the last student arrived, Aizawa hit the timer on the stopwatch.
"Eight minutes, seven seconds. Cutting in close," Aizawa murmured, before turning to look at the group.
"Alright class, listen up. We're going to be having a quirk assessment test," he said, only to be responded by with a shocked exclamation from the class.
"Quirk Assessment test?!" most of the class shouted, with Uraraka's voice carrying last from the group.
"But sensei, what about orientation?" she asked, looking concerned over missing the activity that Izuku was sure the rest of the classes on campus were attending.
"If you really want to make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies," AIzawa said, as he inspected the training facility to ensure they were usable before looking back at the students," here are U.A. we're not tethered by traditions. That means that I get to run my classes however I see fit."
An unease settled over the students as they remembered how easily their sensei had dropped the threat of expulsion from before. The fact his tone of voice was serious, and with an uncaring expression suggested that he wouldn't hesitate to expel them given the chance.
"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives, but you've never been able to use your quirks before," Aizawa said, raising his phone for the class to see the events that were lined up for this quirk apprehension test," the country's still trying to pretend that we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn."
Aizawa turned and glanced at Izuku, looking a bit more serious than before.
"Midoriya, you managed to get the most points on the practical exam," Aizawa said, surprising Izuku out of his attentive listening stance, yet he still managed to hear Bakugo gnashing his teeth in frustration," What was your farthest distance throw with a softball in Junior High?"
Izuku gave it a thought before responding.
"64 meters maybe?" Izuku replied, looking pensive. While the Sharigan helped with memory retention, he hadn't bothered to ever keep it active during the physical exams at school since quirk usage wasn't allowed.
Aizawa gave a nod and tossed Izuku the ball, who easily caught it, before motioning towards the circle.
"Right, try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes so long as you stay in the circle," Aizawa said, as Izuku walked up to the circle, looking pensive for a few moments before activating his quirk. His Sharingan spun to life, and the veins alongside the right side of his veins bulged.
He noticed that jaw muscles in Aizawa-sensei's jaw clenched as if he was about to speak, seeing the muscle movements for the word "Hurry" forming before the word escaped his sensei's mouth.
He turned toward the field he needed to throw the ball towards, tossing the ball upwards in a smooth motion. As the ball began to make its descent, Izuku pushed quirk energy through his limbs into a full cowling, before landing a spinning sidekick into the ball. Sensei had said anything goes after all. That doesn't necessarily mean he had to toss with his hand, just his quirk.
Closing his eyes to center himself after the kick, Izuku deactivated his quirk, surprised to hear the shout of surprise and praise from his classmates.
"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities, that's the most rational way to determine your potential as a pro hero," Aizawa said, lifting up his phone to the rest of the class, showing Izuku's score of 574.2 meters. While most of the class looked surprised, a furious expression appeared on Bakugo's face.
"Woah 574 meters are you kidding me?" exclaimed one of the guys in class, his ruffled and blond with a unique-looking black lightning bolt died in.
"Oh that looks like fun!" a girl with pink hair and horns cried out, looking excited at getting to take her turn next.
Izuku flinched at the reply, noticing that Aizawa had tensed up at the response too. Before their sensei could respond, explosions went off as Bakugo launched himself from the class, a murderous expression on his face.
"HEY!" Bakugo screamed, voice deadly with fury," TELL ME HOW SOMEONE WITH A LAME QUIRK LIKE YOURS MANAGED TO DO THAT OR YOUR DEAD!"
Izuku quickly entered a martial arts stance, ready to counter Bakugo's attack and scolding himself for being lax enough to deactivate his quirk. However, just as Bakugo was about to reach Izuku, strange bandages wrapped around his forehead and waist, holding him still. The flickering explosions in Bakugo's hand suddenly go dead.
The whole class turned to see a glaring Aizawa-sensei, hair levitating up as he held Bakugo down with a simple ease. Suddenly, Izuku knew just who their sensei was.
"Eraserhead!" Izuku gasped, his expression turning from battle-ready to being filled with stars as he recalled just who this was, Japan's Erasure hero. While Izuku had done a ton of research on heroes with Erasure-type abilities, Erasurehead had been the one Izuku had done the most research on. It was well documented that he had the best Erasure-type quirk around, with a simple glance being adequate enough to Erase someone's quirk, but Eraserhead also took underground hero work seriously. Not many people knew his face. To think he was one of their teachers at U.A.!
Bakugo looked startled that someone had managed to catch him, and tried to fight the restraints to no avail, barely managing to fight the pull of the scarf on him to turn his face to glare at his teacher.
"How is your damn scarf so strong?!" Bakugo growled as he continued to fight the pull of the scarf, succeeding in almost tangling himself up.
"Because it's a Capture Weapon made of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy. Stand down," The last two words were said with such serious hatred and annoyance that it almost startled Izuku and clearly startled Bakugo, who had probably never been disciplined by a teacher before based on the expression he wore," as for the rest of you, being a hero isn't all about fun and games. Some of may think testing out our quirks this way looks fun, but we've got three years to turn you into respectable heroes. There won't be any time for games, playtime, or any petty disturbances."
Aizawa reeled in his capture scarf after that, causing Bakugo to stumble a bit as he was pulled back, making it clear just who he was talking about with that last set of words.
"Today, you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately," Aizawa said with a smirk, as his hair returned to resting on his face.
The class blanched, at the smirk Aizawa shot their way before he released a fuming Bakugo who was glaring daggers at Midoriya.
Midoriya stared back, a defiant look in his eyes, as he walked past Bakugo to rejoin his friends. A spark of anger lit up inside him at the thought that Bakugo hadn't taken their last conversation seriously enough.
His thoughts were also occupied by something else.
Immediate expulsion? I'd heard rumors that a U.A. had a whole class expelled last year, Aizawa-sensei has to be the source behind those rumors with how easily he threatens expulsion, Izuku thought, rejoining a worried Itsuka and Eijiro. Both looked worried about the threat of expulsion.
"Don't worry, we'll all place high," Izuku said with a nod, almost as if demanding a promise out of the two of them with his words.
They steeled their gazes and responded with pumped fists and a nod.
"Like I said, I get to decide how this class is run, understand?" Aizawa said, looking around as he noticed more of the students put on a more serious appearance," if that's a problem, you can head home right now."
However, not every student looked nearly as confident or serious as Izuku's trio of friends. Shinso had gotten paler if possible, hands shaking slightly with worry. Meanwhile, Uraraka had leaped from his side to confront their sensei.
"That's not very fair! You can't just send one of us home, I mean we just got here and it's only the first day!" she protested, not looking pleased about the sudden stakes or test the class was being presented with on the first day.
"Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry villains, hmm? How about catastrophic accidents that destroy entire cities?" Aizawa asked, not giving the stunned Uraraka a chance to reply as his voice changed slight inflection from one of chiding a disrespectful student to one more in line with trying to teach a lesson,"-No. Not everything in the world is fair, and it's up to heroes to fight what makes the world unfair. You won't be taking it easy if you want to be a Pro. Push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, U.A. will throw hardship after hardship at you, so you'll need to go beyond. Plus ultra style. Show me it's no mistake that you're here."
It seemed that Aizawa's words had done the trick, as many students who might have been looking nervous, were looking more confident. Even the drowsy Shinso had a determined expression on his face.
"Now, let's get started. Line up for the 50-meter dash," Aizawa said, returning to a more non-interested pose while the rest of the class started their warm-ups.
Izuku patiently waited in line, watching as groups of two went up and did their sprints. Keeping track of the amazing quirks on display. Tenya Ida had an impressive score with his Engine quirk, and Izuku couldn't help but wonder just how fast he could go at his top speed based on the results.
Tsuyu Asui delivered an impressive score as well, using her frog legs to vault across the finishing line. Not nearly as impressive as Tenya, but the speed was nonetheless respectable.
Itsuka ended up going next, racing against Uraraka. While Uraraka decided to go with a traditional starting vault, Itsuka decided to try something new, performing an awkward front flip vault with her hands for distance. It likely would have worked, but it was clear Itsuka hadn't practiced something like this before, since she didn't stick the landing. She managed to recover and score a decent 5.59 seconds.
Izuku was up next after that race, and he had to stifle a groan to see that he was partnered up with Bakugo, who seemed pleased that he'd get to race against Izuku.
"Alright Deku, you're gonna eat my smoke," he grinned, turning towards the starting line, small explosions already popping from his palms. Izuku only scoffed, remembering that Bakugo thrived on verbal responses. It seemed he'd done the trick since Bakugo was already growling and turning to look at Izuku.
Muddled up in his anger, he missed the starting countdown.
Izuku, who had already activated his quirk, didn't.
Using the Sharingan to help with increased reaction speed, he was ready to pass the starting line the moment the buzzer went off, and funneling the quirk energy through his body, he beat Bakugo to the finish by a meter. Only bothering to stand still and listen long enough for the time of 3.79 seconds to sound off before heading off to join Itsuka, not bothering to give Bakugo the light of day. The enraged scream of Bakugo brought him plenty of enjoyment.
Eijiro put in a decent time of 5.22 seconds, running barefoot to give himself a better grip on the ground as he ran, easily outpacing Shinso, who had only managed 7.35 seconds.
Afterward, they went inside one of the buildings to test their grip strength. Izuku was proud to have gotten 350.2 kg, higher again than Bakugo, whose quirk risked destroying the machine and wasn't very applicable. Eijiro also did well, with a score of 331.6 kg, but they both paled in comparison to Itsuka's 724.2 kg, which drew a lot of attention from everyone before a raven-haired girl in the corner made a compressor and almost broke her device, a feat that drew some shock exclamations from many members of the class.
Bakugo ended up surpassing Izuku in the Standing Long Jump, easily flying over the sand with the help of his explosions. He gave Izuku a fierce competitive glare, as if daring him to beat the score but Izuku just took his jump, giving a nod when he earned a respectable 6.22-meter jump, before rejoining his friends. Much to the frustrations of Bakugo, who had been eager to gloat about his victory over Izuku but had once been ignored.
For the 30 seconds of side steps, Izuku was able to put out a respectable score of 98, trailed closely behind by the pink-haired girl with the horns.
Arriving back at the ball throw, Izuku sat back while others took their scores. Bakugo went all out with the ball and managed 705.2 meters, an impressive score. But his victorious smirk was quickly wiped off his face when the raven-haired girl spawned a cannon and sent the ball launching more than 1,000.0 meters. And a scowl took over his features when Uraraka literally through the ball in space, earning her the moniker of Infinity Girl by most of the class. However, Izuku had to furrow his brows in concern when Shinso only managed to throw the ball 52 meters.
As he turned to rejoin the class, Izuku could tell that Shinso was looking down and moved to talk with him.
"Hey man, everything alright?" Izuku asked, a concerned tone in his voice as he walked up to Shinso, who was standing a bit away from the group while the rest of the class did their throws.
"No, things aren't going good. This quirk apprehension test is meant for people with flashy quirks. I haven't even managed to get a decent score on any of the tests," Shinso admitted, clenching his jaw in frustration as Itsuka sent the ball over 800 meters in her throw, "I can't keep up with everyone."
Izuku looked at Shinso for a few moments, before shaking his head.
"Nah, you're wrong about that," he said, earning a shock glare from Shinso, "you've just got to think things through. Remember what Aizawa-sensei said, anything goes for these tests. Put that to the test. For instance, for that last test, you could have stayed in the circle and brainwashed one of us to carry the ball out to a set distance for you. It would have met the requirements for the test since you were using your quirk."
Shinso blinked hard at Izuku, wondering if he'd heard that correctly.
"You would have wanted me to brainwash another student to pass the test?" Shinso asked, confused by Izuku's suggestion.
"Why not? It's what I would have done. Had Ida carry me across the 50-meter dash, or let myself be thrown across the sand pit by that dude who bulks up with sugar," Izuku explained, "you have an awesome quirk, and you'll need to use it to be a pro. Don't hold back for our sakes."
Izuku gave Shinso a pat on the shoulder, before rejoining the class, who was moving on from the ball throw to prepare for the distance run. As Izuku began to limber up for the mile run, he paid close attention to Shinso.
Shinso looked conflicted for a moment but seemed to steel himself and walked over to the raven-haired girl, asking her a question. She blinked in surprise and answered, her expression going immediately blank right after. Shinso seemed to ask her something and then she made him a bike. As he took his position on his bike and ended his quirk's effect on the girl, she seemed to blink in confusion and glanced over to the watching Aizawa, who gave her a nod that it had been allowed. Still confused, she made her own bike and readied herself on the track.
It seemed like Shinso would do alright after all.
—
"Alright, time to give you your results," Aizawa said, looking incredibly bored while most of the class recovered around him, "I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably all have a good idea of your standing already."
Aizawa pressed one of the buttons on his phone, projecting the list up for the class to see.
As the list sprang out to be projected in front of the class, Izuku looked at the top of the list.
He'd come in 2nd, behind Momo Yaoyoruzu, which made sense. She was the one with the Creation quirk, and had an item for every test ready to go, earning her a good score on practically everything. Even the tests she couldn't quite benefit from a creation were trivialized by her athletic ability.
Shoto Todoroki came in 3rd, having used the explosive capabilities of his ice generation to get some seriously impressive results.
Bakugo had come in 4th, the gnashing of his teeth making it perfectly evident to Izuku that he couldn't stand such a notion.
Tenya Ida had taken 5th, another strong student with a strong quirk that had used it creatively for good scores all around.
Izuku searched further down the list, relieved to see Itsuka in 8th, trailing Mezo Shoji by a bit, and Kirishima in 9th.
Uraraka seemed happy with her 11th place score, but there was one last person in Izuku's group that wasn't - oh no.
In the 20th spot was Hitoshi Shinso. The stiff and pale expression on Hitoshi's face suggested he'd seen his placement as well.
Izuku moved to comfort his friend, but Aizawa sensei's words caught him off guard.
"And, I was lieing. No one is going home," Aizawa said, causing all the students to stop and stare at their sensei, shocked and flabbergasted expressions on each of their faces," that was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all on the test."
The shit-eating grin on Aizawa's face right after he said it, had the rest of the students exclaiming in shock.
All except two, Izuku - who was looking at Aizawa suspiciously - and Yaoyorozu, who appeared to be very nonchalant about the whole thing.
"I'm surprised the rest of you hadn't figured it out," she said, giving her classmates confused expressions.
"That's a lie," Izuku said at the same time, garnering the attention of his classmates and the curious look of their sensei.
"Sensei, am I wrong in stating that last year's 1-A was all expelled by you?" Izuku asked, getting shocked gasps from those around him. Aizawa gave him a passive stare before he smirked.
"All on the first day, yes," Aizawa said, causing the students to pale and Yaoyorozu to flinch, caught off guard by his response," I ran them through something similar on Day 1. They arrived late out of the changing rooms, goofed around during the tests, and didn't take them seriously, even their last place looked like he'd just been having fun and not taking the exam seriously. In the end, I determined none of them had the potential to be heroes and had them moved out of the hero course to our General Studies Program, with a recommendation they not be allowed to regain their spots in the Hero Course through the Sports Festival."
Aizawa's gaze hardened as it traveled across the class, landing on Yaoyorozu last.
"Make no mistake, if any one of you had proven you didn't have the potential for hero work, you would have been moved to General Studies without a second thought. Just because you've made it into the Hero Course, doesn't mean your spot is guaranteed in this class," Aizawa continued," every day of this class you'll need to prove to me why you deserve to be in the hero course over your peers in the Business Courses or General Studies. Don't get lax just because you've managed to overcome a small jump in hurdle in comparison to those who didn't score high enough in the practical and needed to be seeded out to General, Business, or Support."
With a final glare across the class and a nod to Midoriya for catching him in the farce he'd had going, Aizawa lessened the slightly serious stance that he noticed had put a few of the students into fearful positions.
"Alright, we're done for the day. Change out of your P.E. clothes and head back to the classroom, you'll find your assigned seat and syllabus. See ya tomorrow," Aizawa said, giving the class a lazy wave before beginning to head back to the classroom himself.
"Nice catch bro," Eijiro said, giving Izuku a shoulder bump and grin.
"Oh? Um, thanks? But I likely would have missed it had I not been doing some research on U.A. faculty," Izuku said with a grin, scratching the back of his head, before sharpening his focus to look at Eijiro and Itsuka, "nice job on your rankings by the way! We're all in the top ten of the class!"
"Izu, you got 2nd! Me and Kirishima are going to have to put in a ton of work if we don't want to end up eating dust from you," Itsuka said with an exasperating sigh, to which Izuku only sheepishly smiled, scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.
"Yeah bro, we're gonna have to work out even harder to catch up! It's going to be a manly effort to catch up," Eijiro replied, punching his fist into his hand.
"You and your manliness," Itsuka said with a fond roll of the eye, giving Izuku a kiss on the cheek, an action that didn't go unnoticed by their other classmates who had bothered to listen in," meet you back at the classroom babe. Gotta get out of this gym uniform before it starts to stink from the workout."
"Stink? You? Impossible," Izuku said with a snort, giving her a quick peck on the lips before they went their separate ways.
As they turned, ready to head off to the separate changing rooms, they noticed that the immediate group of students was giving them funny expressions.
Uraraka had a red blush on her face, Ida looked at them crossly, Shinso was giving Izuku a smirk, and Eijiro was giving him an exasperated shake of the head.
"Midoriya-san, Kendo-san! I know we've only just met but please, remember to maintain decorum in public spaces," Ida said, his hands waving in a chopping motion.
"Ohmygosh you two are so cute!" Uraraka squealed, giving Itsuka a hug and chattering away with her as the orangette gave a nervous laugh, "Spill the gos. How long have you two been together?"
"Oh um, a few years now. Since our final year of elementary school," Itsuka said, a nervous blush on her face as she and Uraraka walked away.
"Oh relax Ida, a little kiss like that is hardly indecent," Shinso said with a smirk, causing Ida to gasp in shock.
"What? But propriety says-"
"They could have used tongue," Shinso said with a grin in Ida's direction, which made the taller boy come to a coughing stop, his face burning in embarrassment at such a notion.
"Ah, yes. Apologies Midoriya, congratulations on such a fruitful relationship with Kendo-san," Ida said, giving Izuku a quick bow of apology and speeding away towards the locker room.
"Might as well take the band-aid off about our relationship now," Izuku said with a shrug at the questioning look Eijiro gave him," they were going to find out anyways."
"Heh, yeah I guess you're right about that," Eijiro grinned, as they headed for the locker room.
—
The trio was joined by two more on the walkout from school, Izuku and Eijiro had come to an unspoken agreement to walk Itsuka to the train station. Uraraka and Ida had joined up with them soon after.
"Shinso's house is in the opposite direction," was all Uraraka said as they started walking towards the train station.
"He must live close by then," Ida said with a contemplative nod.
"Yeah, Izu-bro and I live close by too," Eijiro said with a nod.
"Huh, I noticed the three of you seem to use your first names often. Are you all close?" Uraraka asked, looking at the trio curiously.
"Yep, I've known Eijiro longer than Itsuka, but we consider each other brothers. His parents were even kind enough to let me stay with them during the semester," Izuku admitted.
"And Izu and I started using first names when we started dating," Itsuka explained, leaning her shoulder on Izuku's playfully," by the way, all the girls were talking about how cute of a couple we are in the locker rooms."
"I would hope so! Us as an ugly couple? Outrageous," Izuku replied with a smirk, earning a snort of laughter from the group and a kiss on the cheek for his humor by Itsuka.
Their laughter was caught off as a familiar angry shout called out.
"Deku!"
Izuku sighed in annoyance and turned to regard Bakugo with an annoyed glare.
"What do you want?" he said, voice biting out angrily.
"Why the hell were you ignoring me during the tests. Think you're better than me or somethin'?" Bakugo demanded to know, glaring as he noticed that Eijiro and Itsuka quickly moved into defensive positions behind Izuku.
"Think?" Izuku asked, a questioning look coming over his face, before he shook his head, as if having made a decision," No, I know I'm better than you Bakugo."
"What the hell did you say?!" Bakugo growled, his palms opening up and the sparks lighting up beneath them as he stared down Izuku.
"Since it seems to you can't run it through your head, I'll repeat myself. I. Am. Better. Than. You," Izuku said, saying the words slowly so Bakugo could really understand what he was trying to say," the reason I didn't spare you a glance during the tests? You're so far beneath me that it wasn't worth the effort."
Bakugo looked apoplectic, eyes wide in astonished fury that anyone, especially this… Deku could claim such a thing over him. It looked like a vein was about to pop in his skull from the rage he was feeling.
"This isn't elementary school Bakugo. You're not the top dog here, and the teachers aren't going to care that you have an awesome quirk. All they see is a kid with a history of being a bully and the gall to think he can be a hero with the attitude you're carrying around," Izuku continued, before turning away from Bakugo, showing him that he didn't even fear a reprisal from the boy.
"You're beneath me Bakugo, because I already know that you'll never be a hero higher rated than me, not while that chip on your shoulder exists," Izuku called over his shoulder, Itsuka and Eijiro glared at Bakugo until he huffed and started to walk away in a different direction. Once he was sure he was gone, they turned to meet the confused glances of Ida and Uraraka.
"What was that all about?" Ida asked, looking between the annoyed-looking Izuku and the fuming Bakugo, who was now well out of earshot.
"Bakugo and Izuku have history," Kirishima explained, looking at Izuku as if asking permission. Izuku pondered for a few moments, before speaking.
"I was a late bloomer, my quirk didn't come in until I was six. A lot of late bloomers don't often develop quirks until much later in life and Bakugo decided that I was as good as quirkless as a result. He went out of his way to torment me as a kid, encouraged others to help in the tormenting, and even went so far as to physically beat me down whenever he had the chance. Sometimes he would use his quirk," Izuku admitted," eventually, after a really bad beating, Mom decided we should move away. We moved to Ichinomiya. It's where I met Eijiro, it's why we're so close. He was my first real friend."
"Is that why he calls you Deku?" Ida asked, frowning in disappointment that a member of their class had been such a bully.
"Yeah, he said it's cause the kanji in my name kind of look like Worthless. He's called me that since we were four," Izuku admitted.
"Oh, but Deku kind of sounds like Dekiru, y'know?" Uraraka chimed in, trying to brighten up the mood, earning her a smile from the trio," makes me think 'You can do it!' when I hear Deku."
"Yeah, I think Itsuka said the same thing when we told her about Bakugo," Izuku said with a grin.
"Pretty sure I did, yeah," Itsuka said with a chuckle, before checking the time.
"Shoot, we'll have to run if I want to catch my train. Seems Bakugo took up a bunch of our time without even realizing it," Itsuka said, Uraraka freaked out a bit at that.
"Yeah, I think we're catching the same train too. We'd better hurry!" she said, taking off at a run, Itsuka and the boys hard on her heels.
—
Principal Nezu was taking his time going through some of the files he had taken a look through. All of the Aldera Schools were definitely MLA fronts from what he had been able to discover. A conundrum since the Meta Liberation Army was a thing of the past now.
Yet to have an entire school district in Mustafu already under MLA doctrine implied an organized attempt at a takeover. MLA ideals didn't just spring up overnight, this was something that had been going on for years. Not possible for this to be a mere splinter cell, how curious.
Hacking into the Superintendent's email address was easy for a super genius like himself, but all the emails there were tame and insignificant…at first glance.
"Emails from parents concerned about their children….Shipping manifest from Aichi Prefecture for school supplies…Mayor asking Superintendant for an update regarding field trips to city hall…Transfer of student transcripts to schools in Aichi Prefecture…Billing information for more office supplies from a store here in Mustafu…Oh how interesting," Nezu said, noticing the discrepancy right away now.
They were getting their office supplies here in Mustafu, wouldn't it make sense to get supplies for their schools here in Mustafu as well?
Something else he could investigate then. With a sip of tea and an evil grin, Nezu continued his investigation.