Chapter Text
“Eat this!”
Izuku stared at the hair being offered to him in disbelief. There's no way All Might was serious, right…?
“To inherit my power you have to swallow some of my DNA. That's how it works!”
“This- This isn't exactly how I imagined it”
“Come on! There's no time! You’ll be late for your exam!”
Izuku stood in front of UA, its presence looming over him. He was finally here. He actually had a chance to be a hero now that he had a quirk. All Might’s quirk no less. He covered his mouth in an attempt to keep his bile down. He couldn't help gagging at the thought that he had eaten All Might's hair that morning, not even five hours before.
He’d been so worried about being late to the exam he hadn’t even thought to test out One for All. He prayed that wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass. Footsteps approached from behind him, but Izuku ignored them until a voice spoke.
“Move Deku.
Izuku flinched out of the way on instinct, letting Kacchan walk by. Izuku must be imagining things, he could have sworn Kacchan looked at him and gave him a small smile before continuing into the school. Yup definitely imagining things.
He let out a breath of air he didn’t know he’d been holding. I guess I was just scared out of habit.
He began to walk again, reminiscing on the progress he’d made in the last few months. These… These are the first steps towards being a hero. Before he could even finish his thoughts he began to fall, tripping on his own foot. Welp. I guess I’ll just die.
He watched as the ground got closer, until it stopped. He was so confused.
“Are you alright?”
He panicked and started thrashing in the air. He was floating! Is this part of one for all? No it can't be All Might’s never floated before.
"Sorry about using my quirk without asking. I thought it would be bad luck to fall before the exam."
Oh. So not One for All then. He thought as the brown haired girl straightened him out and released him once his feet touched the ground. A pink light came from her fingertips as she pushed them together.
He was about to go on a tangent about how cool her quirk was, when his brain decided to realize he was speaking to a girl. His social awkwardness and no experience talking to girls (besides his mom) caused his jaw to slam shut and his face going tomato red. With his green hair and freckles he looked like a strawberry.
"I'm super nervous for this exam! Like our whole future rests on this." She looked down at her wrist which had a watch on it.
"Oh shoot! We should go, it's almost time! It was nice meeting you!" She then sped off into the building leaving Izuku behind staring after her.
I just talked to a girl! If this was an anime the words didn't actually talk would have shown next to his head with sparkles next to it. But because it wasn't Izuku was just staring into thin air smiling like a maniac. (Or a certain french guy later on)
It was then that the girl's words registered and he realized he was going to be late. He scrambled to reach the auditorium in time. He only barely slid into his seat when the papers were handed out.
An hour later it was time for the practical exam.
"HELLOOOO! Welcome all you examinee listeners to my show. Can I get a hey?" The man on stage held his hand up to his ear as if expecting a response. There was nothing but silence.
"Tough crowd. Anyways, I guess I'll quickly tell you what you'll be doing during the practical exam. Are you ready? Yeahhh!" Once again there was silence.
"It's the voice hero, Present Mic! Wow…!" Izuku gushed quietly, stars in his eyes. "I listen to him on the radio every week! This is so cool, all the teachers are pros!"
"Shut up." Kacchan said next to him. Izuku only realized he was muttering then and forced himself to be quiet, covering his mouth with his hand.
"As it says on the pamphlet you all got, you listeners will be participating in a ten minute mock urban battle." The screen behind him changed to show the main building and then seven other color coded squares with letters on them, ranging from a to g. "After this presentation you will go to the battle center chosen for you, okay?"
Izuku picked up the small card in front of him looking at what center he should go to.
"In other words, they won't let you work with your friends, huh." Izuku flinched as Kacchan talked beside him. He was looking at Izuku's paper so Izuku decided to look at his.
"Y-you're right. Even though our examinee numbers are consecutive, we're assigned to different battle centers." Izuku was assigned to B while Kacchan was assigned to A.
Izuku was expecting Kacchan to say something else, maybe along the lines of "Damn, now I can't crush you" but all he did was turn back to the presentation as Mic spoke again.
“There are three different types of faux villains in each battle center. You earn points for each of them depending on their level of difficulty. You listeners’ goal is to defeat these villains with your quirks to earn points.” The screen behind him shows a pixelated Mic attacking the robots in the city.
“Of course, attacking another examinee or anything else that’s non heroic is off limits and will get you disqualified.”
“May I ask a question!” A boy with short blue hair and glasses stood up, words ringing out through the auditorium.
“Sure! What's your question Listener?” A spotlight shone down on the guy while he held up the printout, pointing at it.
“On the printout there are four types of villains, if this is a misprint it is highly dishonorable for a prestigious academy such as UA.” He paused to take a breath “We examinees are here because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes. In addition, you with the curly hair.”
Izuku tensed, the blue haired boy was pointing at him!
“You’ve been muttering this whole time. It’s distracting! If your here on a pleasure trip, you should leave immediately”
Izuku sank into his seat as everyone around him started laughing. “Sorry…” He mumbled quietly.
“Told you you should have shut up.” Kacchan said next to him.
“Okay, Okay, Examinee 7111. Thanks for the question. I was getting to that in a moment” He gave the kid a thumbs up. “The fourth type of villain is worth zero points and is more of an obstacle so to speak. It’s not impossible to beat it but I suggest you try to avoid it. It will go crazy in narrow spaces.
“Thank you very much! Please excuse the interruption.” The blue haired kid bowed before sitting back down.
“I see… it's like an obstacle you avoid in video games.” An examinee in front of izuku said to the kid next to him.
“This whole thing is like a video game.”
“Alright! That's all from me. Finally I’ll give you listeners a present. Our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “A true hero is someone who overcomes life’s misfortunes.” Go beyond… PLUS ULTRA! Good luck everyone!”
Why were all the doors so huge at UA? Izuku stared at the large gates that led into the battle center. The whole thing was the size of a city. How in the world did UA have multiple of these?
Izuku was shaking with nerves, everything he worked for the past ten months all led up to this moment. If he screwed up, his future as a hero would be over. He would fail All Might.
How does everyone look so confident? Aren't they nervous at all? He scanned the crowd in front of him. Something caught his eye and he looked back. It was the nice girl from earlier! He should go thank her, for earlier since he never got the chance.
He started to make his way over when a hand landed on his shoulder. He flinched, hard. Too many years with Kacchan burning that shoulder caused that. He turned around to see who grabbed him.
He was horrified to find that the blue haired guy was also there too.
"Can't you see that girl is trying to focus? Is your only goal here to interfere with others?"
"N-no! Of course not!" Izuku denied instantly, waving his arms wildly. "I-I just wanted to thank her for helping me earlier!" Why do I feel like the others feel like they lucked out because I'm here?
"Ok start!" Present Mic's voice rang out. Everyone started up incredulously at him. "What? There's no countdowns in real life. Go, go, go!"
Huh? Izuku turned back towards the gate.
"WHAT!" Everyone was already in the city. He was behind from the start! He started running as fast as he could but he was already way behind everyone else. Shoot, shoot, if I don't hurry all the bots will be defeated before I can do anything! He ran through the streets, trying to find anything or anyone. He ran down one when a bot burst through the wall next to him. It was a one pointer!
"Target acquired, I'll kill you." The robot said, red eye locking onto him. It rushed towards him and all he could do was stand in place. Why can't I move! It was upon him in a second and he braced for impact.
A bright beam of light shot from a side street, cutting off the bot's head.
"Thanks for distracting it! Merci! We make a good team but I don't think we'll be meeting again." The blonde haired boy turned around, hand in the air waving to him. "Au revoir!"
Won't be seeing…?
"Six minutes and two seconds left!" Mic called out.
"Oh no!" Shoot I need points fast. Izuku ran harder than before, he couldn't find anything. He sped out of an alleyway into a clearing, only to see destroyed bots everywhere. Other examinees moved around, listing off their points.
His eyes were drawn once again to the nice girl. She ran and touched a bunch of different bots, they all lifted into the air with a soft pink light. She put her hands together, muttering something before all the bots dropped.
"That's twenty-eight points." She said before moving on.
Twenty-eight?!?!
The blue haired boy from earlier sped around a corner and kicked a bot's head off, it seemed like his legs had engines in them.
" Forty-five points!"
"That's thirty two points"
"Hey! That one's mine!"
"It's first come first serve."
Izuku panicked. The number of enemies is decreasing! He started running again (when did he stop?) There was no time!
Suddenly plumes of dust erupted from the ground. Everyone braced as the ground shook. A large shadow fell over the clearing. Izuku looked up into the many eyes of the zero pointer.
It towered over all of the building. The thing was at least five stories tall. How the hell does UA afford this? The robot grabbed onto a building, causing large chunks to fall off. Everyone began to run. Izuku turned to do the same when he heard a cry for help.
Behind him was the nice girl, she was pinned under a piece of rubble. She was right in the path of the Zero pointer. Izuku didn't think, all he did was run.
He felt something warm up in his legs, instinctively he jumped. What he didn't expect was to end up level with the robot's face. He'd learned a long time ago to roll with the punches. In this case literally.
He recalled at that moment words that All Might had spoken to him that morning. "Clench your butt cheeks and yell this is your heart."
"SMASH!" Izuku punched the robot, a large dent appeared in its face and it fell backward. A series of explosions went off in the bot before finally coming to rest. Izuku watched the destruction from midair.
It was then that he began to fall and he realized, holy shit I'm super high up! The winds rushed by him and pain shot up his body. Both his legs were broken and so was his right arm.
"Two minutes left!"
He screamed as the ground got closer, his tears streamed down his face. If he timed it right he could use his other arm on the ground to prevent some damage. It was with that hope that he prepared for the pain.
All that was for nothing though when he was slapped in the face. Hard. He began to float. It was the nice girl again, she'd saved him from falling again. This time would have been fatal though.
She did the same motion with her hands he'd seen earlier, he fell to the ground in a heap, limbs bent the wrong way. She bent over the edge of the metal scrap she was on and threw up. Probably a side effect of her quirk.
She's ok. I'm so glad. He sighed in relief before registering what Mic said as he fell. NO! He tried to drag himself across the ground with just his arm.
"If I can just get one point!" He cried out, he was interrupted when Mic called out again
"Times up!" Izuku stared at the hero high above them in horror. And then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out.
"This guy…" Tenya saw the guy while everyone was running. He was sitting on the ground staring up at the Zero pointer, terrified. One second he was there the next he was in the air.
But what everyone around Tenya missed was the fact the guy only jumped into action when the girl cried out. If this wasn't an exam I would have done the same! Tenya reassured himself in his head. Wait… exam? Wait a minute.
"Good work everyone!" A scratchy voice called out, accompanied by the click of something hitting the ground. "Here, have some gummies." She passed a few into the hands of examiners as she hobbled towards the boy.
"That mademoiselle is the backbone of UA." A blonde kid said.
"Oh dear. You were hurt this much by your own quirk?" She stood over him for a second before leaning down and kissing him on the top of the head. Those who didn't know who she was were confused as to why the old lady was kissing a young kid.
"That is Recovery Girl, the youthful heroine. She's the reason UA can do exams like this."
Right before everyone's eyes the kids bones began to slip back into place, legs untwisting.
"Alright let's do this quickly, is anyone else hurt?" Recovery Girl turned to the rest of the crowd.
I see. If the exam is set up like that… then he's!"
Izuku opened his eyes suddenly, lurching up in bed. He immediately shut them again when he was met with bright fluorescent lights. He opened them again slowly this time adjusting to the brightness.
"Ah! You're awake!" Izuku turned towards the voice instantly. A short old woman stood next to him, cane in hand. It looked sort of like a syringe. That's when he realized exactly who was next to him.
"Oh my god! You're Recovery Girl! It's an honor to meet you! I've been a fan for a long time, it's so cool how your quirk works. Taking someone's energy to speed up the healing process? It's invaluable in the heroics industry!"
"I'm going to stop you there." She chuckled, and he realized he was muttering. "Do you know why you're here?"
Izuku realized he didn't know exactly where here was. He took a second to look around, taking in the white walls and the medical equipment around the room. Then he realized recovery girl was here. She's the school nurse for UA. Why am I at UA? And then it all came rushing back. The exam, the fall, everything.
"I got injured in the exam and you healed me?" He said, dejectedly.
"Correct. You should be all healed up but you may be sore for a few days. Here take some of the gummies for your energy." It was only when she said that that he realized how exhausted he felt.
"Thank you." He took one that she handed him and ate it. It tasted pretty good and he almost immediately felt the effects.
"You're free to go, the exam ended a few hours ago and I'm sure your family is worried."
His eyes widened and he frantically looked around for his backpack, he needed his phone! Recovery Girl gave him a knowing smile and handed him his bag. Where in the world she pulled it from he had no idea. All he knew was that he had 43 missed calls from his mother.
He stood up and began walking as he clicked the call button. It didn't even ring once before his mother picked up.
"Izuku! Where are you? Why didn't you answer? I was so worried!" She said, words jumbling together.
"Mom, it's ok I'm fine. I just got held up after the exam. I'll be home soon to explain."
"Alright, please hurry back." They hung up, Izuku could hear the trepidation in her voice as she spoke. He emerged out of the doors of the Main building, he somehow managed not to get lost on his way out.
The walk home would have been peaceful if not for Izuku's thoughts running rampant. All he could think about was the fact that there was no way he passed the exam. Even with a quirk he's just a stupid useless Deku.
He'd failed All Might. He suddenly perked up. There were still other hero schools he could try out for! He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and quickly googled when other hero schools held their entrance exams. He deflated, all of them had already been done. The latest was Shiketsu which had its exams yesterday. Izuku would have known this if he hadn't been dead set on UA his entire life.
It's not like he would have made it in anyways, considering how he flunked this exam. And he wouldn't have recovery girl to rely on with any other school. He stared down at his arm, it definitely wasn't the first time he'd broken his arm. It still seemed to hurt way worse though, probably because it was accompanied by the feeling of failure.
He sighed and continued home. It wasn't long until he reached his apartment. He only hesitated for a second, bracing himself for his mother. He had little doubt she'd hug him as soon as he walked in.
He opened the door and just as predicted his mother was instantly in front of him, practically leaping in his arms.
"Izuku you're ok! How was the exam? What took so long!"
"Ok,ok give me a second mom let me put my stuff down." He laughed, toeing off his shoes. She let go of him and he quickly went into his room, putting down his bag.
He went back into the living room, his mother was pacing in front of the couch waiting for him. They sat down and Izuku explained everything that happened, leaving out a few things.
"They held me for a little bit because I got injured, but I'm ok!" He reassured her quickly, seeing her worried expression. "And Recovery Girl was there! Her quirk is super cool! She used it on me and I was healed. I guess I didn't sleep very well or something Because of nerves so I passed out. That's why I was gone for so long. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Oh Izuku!" She hugged him again. "It's my job to worry, I'm glad you got the care you needed."
It'd been a week since the train wreck that was the exam. Izuku knew from self scoring that he barely passed the written exam. And even if he would have passed with that the practical completely overruled that. And to make it worse he hadn't been able to contact All Might since then. He had a feeling it was because of his failure. What did he even see in me? His thoughts were interrupted when a bang sounded from the door. Izuku jumped head whipping towards the sound.
His mother called out "Izuku! Izuku! It's here! Your letter from UA!" She rounded the corner on her hands and knees. Izuku leapt up and went to help her up and grab the letter. He went to his room with it. He felt a little bad for leaving his mom to her anxiety (he knew full well she was pacing outside his room). But he needed to see how much he screwed up on his own first. But even that was a struggle.
He stared at the unopened envelope for a long time. Anytime he went to reach for it his anxiety reared its ugly head and he chickened out. So here he was, staring at the stupid letter that held his future. Screw it. Before he could overthink anymore he reached the letter and ripped it open, he expected a piece of paper to fall out, instead a small disk fell out landing with a clang on the table.
A hologram of All Might popped out of it. He jumped as he spoke
"I am here as a projection!"
"What? All Might? This is from UA right?"
"I had to do some paperwork that took a while so I couldn't contact you." All Might coughed into his hand, if Izuku knew him as well as he thought he did he bet there was blood behind that. "I'm sorry." He bowed. "I actually came to this town to work at UA."
Izuku gasped "All Might is working at UA?!" All Might was going to say something when he was interrupted, he talked to someone off screen for a second before sighing and speaking again.
"Even though you passed the written exam you got zero points on the practical. Of course that means you didn't pass…"
I knew that already. Even though he did it still felt like a punch to the gut, hearing it from All Might himself.
"If that was all there was to it." What? He thought. "First take a look at this video." The camera shifted a bit to the left showing a TV as All Might pointed a remote at it. On it a video began to play.
"E-excuse me? Um." It was the nice girl from the exam! Why were they showing him her?
"She came right after the exam to negotiate. Negotiate what you might ask. Keep watching to find out."
"Um that boy, the one with curly hair and freckles. Um he's kind of plain. Do you know who I'm talking about?"
She's talking about me!
"I was wondering if I could give him some of my points. I heard him say "If I can get one point" and I thought he may still be at Zero points. At least the points he lost because of me! He saved me! Please, please, please!"
All Might paused the video and spoke, "in addition to now having a quirk, your actions spurred others to act. The entrance exam was not only graded by villian points. How can the hero course reject someone who saves others and does the right thing?"
On the screen it showed a scoreboard, Izuku was shocked at where he was.
"Rescue points! These are decided upon by a panel of judges. Izuku Midoriya, with
60 villain points!"
Izuku was in seventh place on the scoreboard.
"You both passed. Welcome. To your hero academia."
Katsuki walked down the street towards the beach. Some fucker had cleaned the place up and Shitty Hair thought it was a great place to meet up. He wasn't wrong but Katsuki would never admit it out loud.
The two of them both got their acceptance letters earlier that morning and decided to meet up to tell each other the results. Katsuki was the last one to the beach, Ejiro already waiting for him. He must have heard his footsteps in the sand because he turned around and waved to Katsuki.
"Hey man!"
"Hi." Katsuki sat down next to him with a huff
He pulled the crumpled letter out of his pocket, cutting straight to the point.
"How'd you do?"
"I got in! I can't believe it! My quirks not super flashy and-"
"Hey." Katsuki interrupted. "Fucking stop that, your quirk is perfect for hero work." I bet if Deku was here he'd be able to list a thousand things you could do with your quirk.
"Thanks man. Anyways, did you get in?"
"Who the fuck do you think I am? Of course I did." Katsuki grumbled.
"That's awesome! Maybe we'll be in the same class!" Ejiro said, practically shining with happiness.
"I hope not. You're annoying, how would I deal with you everyday?" Katsuki teased.
"Shut up, you know you love me."
"No."
"Then why do you hang out with me?"
"Because you're the only person I haven't fucked up my relationship with. You know this." He turned away, shame coloring his cheeks.
It was silent for a moment before Ejiro spoke again. "Have you apologized to him yet?"
"No. I just haven't found a good time, something always happens when I try. It's pretty damn annoying."
"I'm sure it will work out soon."
"I hope so." Katsuki muttered quietly.
"Did you hear about that new restaurant down the road?" Ejiro asked.
"No? Should I have?"
"From what I've heard its really good, apparently they have a competition for who can eat the spiciest curry. Whoever wins gets a prize. Wanna go?"
"Sure. Why not, I need a good competition and you're a wimp with spice."
The two stood up and Ejiro pulled up directions on his phone.
"Come on, let's go!" Ejiro grabbed Katsuki's arm and pulled him forward.
"Let go of me shitty hair!"