Chapter Text
"Bo-staff, check. First aid box, check. Taser, check." Midoriya checked himself over, making sure he had everything he needed as he strapped it all to himself and looked up. The entrance to the practical part of the UA entrance exam stood a distance away, closed and uninviting to the group of student hopefuls.
He looked around, trying to guess the quirks of those around him and, most importantly, who he recognised. The first face he stopped on was the girl with brown hair, although that was only due to their interaction earlier and he dismissed it to keep scanning. Next came the tall guy in glasses, a bit more familiar to him but he was fairly sure he had never seen him before. Another dismissal as he continued look- there. A kid taller than him, with wild purple hair and eye bags that were almost as bad as his own-
-"take Hitoshi and go! I'll get their attention with my quirk."
"But they know your quirk, they'll never fall for it!"
"They'll underestimate me, and that will be their downfall." -
"Annnnnd, go!" The loud voice snapped Midoriya out of his trance-like state and got him moving at once. He bolted, seeing the doors slowly open ahead of him as he felt the weight of the med kit on his thigh. The drumbeat of stampeding students behind him caught his ears as he sped up, entering the city and immediately hooking left to avoid the mess of quirks and debris that would soon fill the center of the test.
He was running down the street when a large Bang erupted in front of him, dust and smoke filled his view as a piercing red eye turned his way. "Target locked. Prepare for termination."
A snicker left the short teens lips as he heard the robots call, typically villainous and completely unrealistic. Still, he caught the sight of another contestant a short distance away who had locked up at the automatic announcement. Midoriya didn’t slow down, keeping his pace the same as he neared the mechanical threat.
A green-painted arm thrust out towards him, but a duck and a leap allowed the short boy to land on the body of the robot. Quickly glancing around, he confirmed the suspicions he had when he viewed the silhouette of the robot. Heavily armored, yet lacking any joint protection. A swift swing of his staff sent the head flying and its body crumpling to the ground as Midoriya hopped off, spotting the dimming light of the red eye.
The blond boy who had seen the event, looked past the now black smoke to the one who caused it. As their gaze met, he tried to put on a brave face. “Ha, I let you have this one but the next one will be mine monsieur."
The greenette nodded politely, “Merci, but I recommend you get moving before you finish last.” And he took off again, searching for his next target.
**********
“That one.” The blond hero announced, pointing to one of the many monitors in front of the crowd of teachers. The smoke was still clearing as he ran, beheading the 1 and 2-pointers with ease as he did so.
“Really?” came the squeaky reply beside him. The principal narrowed his eyes as he took in the scene, watching the teen scan for more targets and instead of moving on when he found none, approaching a minorly injured competitor and helping them using the medical supplies he had strapped to his person. “Well he definitely seems to have a heroic spirit. Who did you say pointed you his way?” The beady eyes shifted from the illuminated screen to the number one hero.
“An old friend of mine.” He replied, a genuine smile growing across his face. “He told me that he has been working with this kid for a while now and he thinks that he’s exactly who I’m looking for.”
Black eyes stared attentively at All Might, shifting slightly to see the changes in emotions as he viewed the child before he followed his gaze back to the screen. “And what are your thoughts?”
The smile shrunk slightly as he narrowed his eyes. The greenette had finished helping his fellow contestant, and doing a good job if his mediocre understanding of first aid was accurate, but there was something that stood out to him. A lack of hesitation in his actions, a ruthlessness as he continued to incapacitate the robots on the field. “I don’t know.” He answered honestly, eyes darting to the other screens as he viewed the other teens on the field. “He definitely has a higher skill set than his competitors, yet he has not used his quirk yet.”
The small mammal suppressed a sigh. For all the good All Might has done, all the heroes he’s met, he’s still in the mindset that a hero with a weak quirk is doomed to fail. An inaccurate assumption proven many times over by the UA staff alone, yet one he hangs onto all the same. “Still, maybe this will change your mind.” he muttered, flicking up a plastic switch and pressing the red button underneath.
**********
The trembling of the ground brought all the teens to a halt, everyone looking around as buildings shook from the force. Midoriya poked his head up, after helping someone else to their feet as he looked about. It wasn’t an earthquake, that much he knew, yet it must be coming from somewhere.
A large shadow fell over the center of the city, 8 piercing red eyes taking the place of the warm sun as it stared down at its targets. One by one it caught their attention, and then they began to scatter. Midoriya rose from his crouching position and turned away, ready to gather more points-
“Oww…”
The sound made the green-eyed boy turn his head, seeing a head of brown hair further down the road. Her head rose up and face then fell as they saw everyone running away while she was trapped under the boulder.
She’ll be fine. Midoriya looked away, seeing the other kids running off, some off for more points, some in fear. This is a test. She’ll be fine. He turned his back, took a step. There’s no way she’ll-
-A building crumpled under its own weight as the first bits of rubble began to fall. He saw it all, as if in slow motion: the children crying, screaming; the adult hunched over, trying to shield them; the rock directly over the top of them. He clicked his fingers, feeling his quirk surge through him as a cloud appeared above the civilians, protecting them from harm.
He only saw the shadow beneath his own feet, heard the familiar shout of his friend, when it was too late-
“Fuck.”
Midoriya spun around and began sprinting towards the mechanical monstrosity, and to the girl who needed help.
Blood pumped in his ears and the familiar feeling of adrenaline kept him moving. A sense of foreboding that never meant anything good as the quaked intensity increased. He finally reached the girl, seeing her face light up for a moment but ignoring it as he focused on her physical condition. There was a piece of rubble trapping her leg to the road, a quick shove with his staff forced it off and he turned to her. He dropped his weapon as he looked down at the girl.
“Come on, we need to move,” he said, offering a hand. She took it immediately with a nod, but then nearly fell over again as she put her weight on her foot. Letting out a wince of pain as he caught her, Midoriya looked back again. The metal treads were way too close for comfort, so he looked back at the girl.
“Hang on,” he bent down, grabbing her leg and quickly lifting her into a fireman’s carry, and began running away from the simulated villain. The girl winced as her leg was gosseled about by the movement, and Midoriya could hear the crushing of concrete as the robot advanced on them.
He suddenly felt a hand press into his back, and the weight of his heavy protective shirt seemed to ease. It wasn’t much, but it was enough as he pushed more power into his legs. Yet even with the help he saw a large shadow cross over theirs ready to-
“Tiiiiiiiiiime’s up!” came the announcement, startling the boy as he slowed down from his sprint, down to a jog, and finally coming to a halt. The weight on his back reminded him of his passenger as he slowly let her down onto a surviving bench.
“Sorry,” He apologized in between gasps of breath. “I didn’t really have time to ask if you were cool with that.” he leant back a bit, trying to get as much breath back into his body as he could but she responded almost immediately.
“Don’t be, you managed to get us out of there didn’t you?”
Midoriya settled for a strained smile as he looked over at the 0-pointer, its arm still outstretched as if ready to crush them still. “Just about,” he replied. Once he got his breathing under control, he looked at the girl again. “You alright?”
“Yeah, just-” She adjusted her injured foot against the road slightly and let out a hiss through clenched teeth.
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t look broken.” the boy said in response, crouching down to look at her injury. “Recovery Girl will be able to sort it as soon as-”
“I’m right here Sonny.” a femenine voice called out as she made her way through the crowd of students walking towards the entrance and handing out gummi bears as she passed them. She walked up to the injured girl. “How are you feeling darling?”
“Fine,” the brown-haired girl replied as she looked down, “but I can’t put any pressure on my leg.”
The elderly hero nodded along as she spoke and looked down at the injury, slightly turning it as she listened. “Looks to be just a strain, you’ll be up and about in no time.” and with that she kissed the injured leg, letting her quirk help heal the girl as relief spread across her face.
“Thanks,” She said gratefully as she turned to the boy who helped her. “To you too.”
Midoriya smirked as he met her eyes, “Well, wouldn’t be much of a hero if I left you behind would I?” He asked as he turned away and headed for the exit. “See you in the Hero course.” the boy called out as he walked away.