Chapter Text
“I can’t believe that I’m actually here!” A young woman exclaimed, as she looked in awe at the school’s gate.
Izumi Midoriya, out of breath from having just run several miles from Dagobah Beach after finally receiving One For All from All Might, finally arrived at the entrance of U.A High for the Hero Course Entrance Exam.
The tall glass building towered above, casting an imposing shadow over the U.A hopefuls. Masses of hopeful students walked towards the building for the various exams.
Izumi noticed that around the path, a few small groups were gathered, eagerly chatting about the coming exams. Those looking to enroll in the Business and Management courses were cross referencing portfolios and sharing tips.
Several people carried technical equipment and U.A provided briefcases for their Support Gear. In particular she could see a manic woman with pink dreadlocks buzzing about like a squirrel on cocaine, her case flailing behind her as she flitted about.
“Watch it, Deku.” A gruff voice called from behind her.
“Sorry Kacchan.” She said, stumbling after he pushed past her like some kind of jock from a b-rated movie.
Katsuki Bakugo, an egotistical jerk who called others extras, and claimed to be the future “Number 1 Hero” despite being at the very best, a bully. He was her childhood friend, turned harshest tormentor when she was diagnosed at age 5 as quirkless. (Nearly a death sentence in this day and age.)
In a society based around powerful quirks, being quirkless automatically labeled you an outcast. Despite around 20% of the world’s population being quirkless, only around 0.1% of people her age in Japan were quirkless. So it wasn’t like there were any support groups she could join. Despite having no physical differences between a quirked and quirkless person besides a single strand of DNA, quirkless people were seen as “Inferior” or “Useless”.
Slapping herself on her face she shook herself out of her thoughts, stepping foot inside U.A’s walls for her exam.
-~-~-~-~-~-
‘It’s all over, goodbye world.’ She thought as she shut her eyes tight, her face was quickly approaching the ground, because a very evil, and very malicious pebble tripped her, thus beginning her eulogy.
Until suddenly she felt her weight seemingly dissipate, leaving her floating mid-air.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry for using my quirk on you without asking!” A girl cried, as she bowed nervously. She had a brown bob cut and permanent blush marks on her cheeks.
Izumi blinked, “No worries, I appre-I appreciate the save. My name is Izumi Midoriya! What’s-what’s yours?”
“Ochako Uraraka, nice to meet you Midoriya!” She said, physically turning Izumi right side up as she floated mid-air. “Release!”
“Nice to meet you too, Uraraka!” She said, nearly falling as she touched the ground after her weight returned.
“Wish you luck on the exams!” Uraraka said, as she ran inside the school.
“Y-you too!” She stuttered out, ‘Wow, I talked to somebody, and they didn’t even insult me! Maybe U.A will be better than Aldera!’
-~-~-~-~-~-
‘That was… easy? Why was that easy? Wait, did I fail horribly? Because there’s no way that I a useless Deku did it that easily. U.A is the #1 hero school in the country, Nedzu was reported saying that he “Had high standards for the Heroes of Tomorrow’s education.” I must’ve messed up badly then, hopefully I got at least a passing grade.’ Izumi spiraled, panicking about her scores on the exam.
“Heya Listeners, can I get a ‘YEAH!?’” A loud voice echoed through the audience.
There was only an awkward silence in response to the call, the person behind the voice merely shrugged before continuing on unbothered. “Welcome to this year’s U.A Heroics Course Entrance Exam’s! Heads up for you Listener’s, my name is Present Mic. I'm a Pro Hero, radio host, and teacher here at U.A! Before we roll onto the Heroics Practical Exam, we have to pass out print out for you all to look at okay?
“We got the rockin’ Ectoplasm to spare some of his clones to pass out the print out! Everybody, give a hand for Ectoplasm!” Mic shouted, clapping loudly.
Several students cheered, while most politely applauded for Ectoplasm. One blue-haired boy near the front sat up at a perfect 90 degree angle as he clapped stiffly.
“As you will see from the print out we’ve got multiple different kinds of robots. We have the 1-Pointer bots, 2-Pointer bots, and 3-Pointer bots. If you couldn’t tell, the 1-Pointer is the easiest, with the difficulty going up with the number!”
The board behind Present Mic shifted from a U.A emblem, to silhouettes of the three robots. The 1-Pointer being the smallest, and 3-Pointer being the biggest.
“Now—“ Mic started,
“Excuse me!” The stiff blue haired boy interrupted, “The print out states that there are 4 different robots! With all due respect, a school as great as U.A should not be making mistakes in regards to its Practical Exams! And you messy green haired girl!”
Izumi flinched before she hesitantly pointed a finger towards herself.
“Yes you! You have been fidgeting this whole time! If you aren’t going to take this test seriously, then I suggest you go home. U.A doesn’t accept anything but the best.” Jerk Face shouted, standing pompously above the seated examinees.
Izumi sank down in her seat, desperately trying to hide from the snickering people in the crowd.
“Not cool man, making fun of other examinees isn’t very heroic of you!” A sharp-toothed fellow greenette shouted back.
“Hey, hey listeners, let’s not start fighting. First of all Examinee 3704, I was about to get to the 4th bot before you interrupted me. Second, please don’t put down other people, you don’t know what's going on with them, so I ask you to please use empathy.” Present Mic responded, trying to ease the tension.
The fellow greenette gave a sharp grin and thumbs up to Izumi, before sitting down, causing Izumi to return it albeit slightly shakier.
The blue haired boy stuttered as he turned red— in anger or embarrassment she couldn’t tell— before giving a sharp nod as he returned to his seat.
“Alrighty then!” Present Mic sweatdropped, beaming smile never fading. “The 4th robot is known as the 0-Pointer, there’s only one per testing site, and you don’t get any points for defeating it, the only reason it’s there is to be an obstacle!
“Before I send you off to the buses I’ll leave you with the words of Napoleon Bonaparte... 'True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.' That’s a sweet sound bite. Don’t forget to do your best during the test, and to go beyond, Plus Ultra!”
“PLUS ULTRA!” The crowd shouts, as the examinees stand up to rush out of the room. Whereas Izumi sat patiently, waiting for the chaos to die down before standing calmly and walking her bus to get to Battle Center B.
-~-~-~-~-~-
As Izumi got to the bus stop, she felt a tap on her shoulder, looking towards it she noticed a hand on her shoulder. Not just a hand, a severed hand.
“Aaahh!” Izumi screamed, frantically trying to remove the object.
“Hey, hey, chill fellow greenie, I didn’t mean to scare you that bad.”
Behind her was the greenette that defended her in the auditorium. She sported a guilty smile from sending Izumi’s heart directly into her esophagus.
“Names Setsuna Tokage, my quirk Lizard Tail Splitter, lets me detach body parts, see?” She said, wiggling her severed hand’s fingers, before reattaching it seamlessly.
“Geez Tokage, way to make a girl ha-have a panic attack. Anyways, its ni-nice to meet you, I-I’m Izumi Midoriya, thanks for defending me back there.” She said, as her heart slowly returned to its proper place.
“No worries Mido! Always glad to lend a hand.” She said, wiggling her eyebrows as she offered her now severed hand.
“M-Mido?” Izumi stuttered out, flushing at the nickname she received from a practical stranger.
“Yup, too lazy to say your whole name! Plus nicknames are always fun! Anyways see you at U.A!” She said before sprinting over to the bus heading to Battle Center D.
“Bye I guess.” Izumi muttered. Shaking her head, she continued on her intended path to the Battle Center B bus.
“Battle Center B, line up!” A man shouted, holding his arms like a goalpost in front of a bus.
In the line she noticed an incredibly sparkly blonde boy, and the gravity girl that saved her from falling. Shaking off her nerves, she got in line behind the sparkly guy.
The inside of the bus was… well, a bus. Izumi sat near the back, to try and calm down for a little bit.
‘Deep breath in… Deep breath out. Inhale for 4, hold for 6, out for 8.’
“Shh don’t say anything okay?” A man’s voice called out.
‘Wh-what?’ Izumi mentally began scouting exits.
“Hey hey, no it's fine. This is because of One For All okay? I’m the first user, my name is Yoichi.” He said frantically.
“Um how?” She asked aloud, scanning the bus for anyone out of the ordinary.
“Okay, I’m not sure how much time we have to talk, so I’m doing bullet points okay? Okay. One For All is extremely powerful now, after 8 adult users it’ll wreck your body if you aren’t careful. So, I’d recommend finding a good way to visualize using about… 1% for now. Don’t go too high or else it’ll hurt… a lot.
Secondly, don’t listen to the buffoon and just ‘Clench your cheeks and yell Smash!’ okay? Focus on spreading One for All throughout your whole body. If you get to fight or flight, don’t use more than 1% on your head okay, you don’t need any brain damage 9th. Oh yeah, you’re the 9th user, we’ll be able to chat more while you're asleep. And I think that’s the important stuff, any questions that I can answer quickly?” He listed practically word vomiting.
“Um, where are you?” Izumi asked, looking around.
‘Oops, okay. I’m dead, when I died a “vestige” as we call them, got left in One for All. So you don’t have to speak aloud, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’m speaking directly in your head.’ He responded, explaining he died like it was an everyday occurrence.
‘Oh.’ She thought, ‘Any advice then?’
‘Oh oh! Always go for the joints. Kudo — the second user — taught me that!’ He said excitedly. ‘Kudo was so cool when he—‘ He started, before his voice gradually faded out.
It was kind of concerning that he was so excited teaching a child how to maim things. Eh, everyone has their quirks.