Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku stood between his two friends in front of the gates of U.A. On his left Hanazawa Teruki was grinning and confident. On his right Kageyama ‘Mob’ Shigeo blinked up at the impressive school with his typical blank expression. As calm as he looked on the outside, his friends could recognize he was nervous.
They had arrived a little early but already there was a crowd of students in front and behind them. There was no fee to take the entrance exam so hundreds of hopefuls flocked to the gates. Thankfully, the support and management entrance exams were earlier in the week, or the crowd would have been overwhelming.
“Smile!” Reigen prompted them to turn around and then snapped a picture of them in front of the gates. He looked at the photo and tsked. “One more. Midoriya try to look less like you are about to be sick.” Izuku did his best to smile. “Better.” Reigen typed on his phone, probably sending the photo to Izuku’s mom and Shigeo’s brother. Their families had stayed behind to work or study. Reigen closed his consultation office for the day to escort them to U.A. “Alright, get inside. Go show them what real heroes look like,” Reigen gave them an encouraging thumbs up. Midoriya waved goodbye and followed the two other boys to the security gate.
They had to show their test acceptance letter and school ID to be issued a pass onto school grounds.
“Are you alright?” Mob noticed Izuku still looked ill.
“Yeah,” Izuku swallowed his nerves. “I can do this.” He tried to take a triumphant step forward only to trip over his own feet. Mob and Hanazawa reached out almost simultaneously to catch him with telekinesis. “Thanks,” he muttered embarrassed as Kageyama set him back on his feet. A girl with brown hair smiled at the friends a she walked by. Izuku was too flustered to notice.
They reached the main building together. “Do you remember where we’re meeting after the practical?” Hanazawa asked.
“I have it in my phone,” Shigeo assured him.
“Then let’s crush this.”
They separated for the written portion of the exam. Hanazawa left after his written test as he was only applying for Gen Ed. Izuku and Shigeo met in the auditorium to hear an explanation for the practical. A couple rows ahead of them, Izuku noticed a semi-familiar head of blonde hair. He resolved to not say a single word that might draw attention.
“How did you do, Kageyama-kun?” Everyone was whispering to friends while they waited for the presentation so he went ahead and asked.
“I ran out of time.” Shigeo was relieved the hard part, for him, was over. Not to be cocky but the practical probably wouldn’t be a problem as long as he could use his quirks. His academic scores were what concerned him. Despite months of studying with his friends he doubted he did very well. “Are you ready?” He asked. Midoriya was the opposite of him. He was really smart but concerned for the practical exam.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Present Mic took the stage to explain the test.
Kageyama was a bit concerned about the ‘no targeting other students’ rule. “Are you going to ask about your quirk?” Mob whispered to his friend.
“Um…” Midoriya fidgeted nervously. If Bakugou was in the audience then the last thing he wanted to do was call attention to himself. However, he couldn’t ask Shigeo to speak in front of a crowd. “oh.” He had an idea. He got a pen out of his pocket and wrote on the back of the handout about the robots. I’m sorry to ask this way, I have stage fright. A boy with glasses asked a question. Midoriya took the opportunity to fold the paper into an airplane and mime what he wanted to Mob. Mob agreed this was a better idea than trying to talk in front of people.
Kageyama telekinetically flew the paper airplane down to the stage and had it land on the podium. Mic took this in stride. “Hold on I have a letter.” He scanned the note before reading aloud. “Shy Listener askes; ‘Can we use our quirks on other participants with their permission? If we have a healing or copying quirk for example.’ Yes, you may, just be sure to ask. Any other questions?”
Nobody had further questions. “Good luck.” The friends exchanged sincere well wishes then split to go to different exam areas.
Kageyama followed his testing group to the locker rooms. He changed into his gym uniform. They had to take a bus to the exam site. Shigeo went to the head of the line and politely asked the other students and proctor if he could sit near the front. He became car sick easily and it really helped to be close to the bus engine. They were understanding and let him take the first row.
Everybody had a single seat and weren’t allowed to talk for the drive. Shigeo watched the impressive campus out the window. How did they afford all this? What was the tuition going to be like? He resolved to do his best and aim for a scholarship if accepted. The Shiketsu exam hadn’t been nearly as intimidating. He’d probably prefer to go there if Hanazawa and Midoriya weren’t so dead set on this school.
Mob was one of the first students off the bus when they arrived. He stood close to the massive metal doors. From Present Mic’s explanation, it sounded like he would have to run. Kageyama preformed his usual warm up stretches and jogging in place. He stood next to a tall girl with an orange ponytail who had the same idea. She gave him a friendly nod when their eyes happened to meet while exercising.
“START!”
No count down but okay. A couple kids with speed related quirks passed him but Mob stayed near the front of the group. The moment he spotted a robot he threw it against the nearest concrete wall. On second thought, that was kind of dangerous to do with so many people around. One of the fast kids was running in circles around a larger robot. He didn’t look like he knew how to disarm it. Mob went ahead and crushed it by pushing on it from above.
“Hey!” the boy complained.
“Oh, sorry, did you want that one?” The boy gave him an exasperated look before sprinting off.
“Ow!” The girl with the ponytail caught Mob’s attention. Her hand had grown to a giant size and she used it to swat a three pointer like a bug. She must have caught a sharp edge of metal or something though because her palm started bleeding a bit.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
“Yeah, just a scratch.” She returned her hand to normal size. It didn’t look so bad. Still, he might as well help.
“May I use my quirk on you?” When she nodded Mob pointed two fingers at her, mentally transferring some energy. “I can’t heal injuries but this should help.”
“Wow, I feel a lot better, thanks.” The rest of the group had caught up with them and were flooding the main street. “We better get to the side streets, good luck.” She waved then hurried away. Kageyama waved back before jogging in the opposite direction.
“Five minutes!” Present Mic’s shout alerted them to the time. Already? Shigeo needed to pick up the pace. What would Midoriya or Hanazawa do in this situation? He looked at the nearest building and had an idea. He levitated himself as quickly as he dared to the roof. No enemies on the roof like he had hoped for but he had a decent view of the streets. He lifted a three pointer several feet off the ground. He was trying to decide if he should crush or drop it when a girl with green hair ran to it. She pulled the robot’s head off with her hair and then kept running. Oh, that would count as points for both of them. Shigeo dropped that robot and looked for more.
Kageyama vaulted to the next roof like the long jump in gym class only assisted with a bit of telekinesis. He levitated any robot that was still moving and ran to the next one without putting it down. Other students could finish them off, so he wasn’t stealing points from anyone. And if nobody destroyed them, then he could save the school some money by returning their robots undamaged at the end of the test.
“3 minutes!” Jogging across roofs was the right strategy, he didn’t keep score but it felt like he was doing well.
A small earthquake shook the training grounds. It didn’t feel large enough to damage any of the buildings so Shigeo paid it no mind. The sound of falling rubble made him turn around. Oh, there was a robot taller than the buildings. He ran over to investigate.
The giant robot slowly lumbered down the street. The other contestants were fleeing. Shigeo didn’t see any other enemies nearby and it didn’t look like anyone was trying to fight the big one. After a moment’s consideration he decided to stop it. He wrapped a barrier around it and tried to push it back. It resisted.
Trying to hold it back like this was tiering him out. But he didn’t want to break it either. Telekinetic touch identified joints and connection points. He unfastened the arms and head. Any wires and tubes he couldn’t figure out how to unplug snapped as he lifted the limbs away but most of it was in working order. Mob set the arms and head on the street in front of the unmoving body. There, he could rebuild it if they wanted him to.
Several students were gawking at the disassembled bot or pointing up at Kageyama. Why were they just standing around? Was the test over?
“Time’s Up!” It was. That final robot took a bit of time.
With as little motion sickness as possible, Mob lowered himself from the roof. Medical bots handed out water bottles to the students and pointed them towards the exit.
“Hey!” The girl with the orange ponytail joined him as they walked back to the entrance doors. “Thanks for earlier, my name’s Kendō Itsuka.”
“Kageyama Shigeo, it’s no problem.” He noticed her struggling to twist open the cap of her bottled water.
“I can open that if you like.”
“Would you? My quirk is murder on my hands.” He twisted it open easily with his telekinesis. “Thanks.” She took a sip, using both shaking hands. “Was that you who took out the zero point robot?”
“It was worth zero points?” He glanced back where the downed robot was still visible.
“Are you okay to use your quirk more? I shouldn’t have asked for you to open my drink.”
“Little things are fine.” He should probably rest before trying anything else big though.
On their way out they passed several injured students. Two medical bots awkwardly herded a blonde boy who was walking in circles, staring at the sky, and drooling. Everyone leaving the test area eyed that scene curiously but the bots seemed to be successfully corralling him towards the exit. More robots and a professor stood by the city doors, offering medical care. “I’m fine, just some scrapes and quirk exhaustion.” Kendo waved them off. Mob just nodded and walked to the bus.
“Your quirk makes your hands big?” They were allowed to talk on the ride back.
“Yep, Big Hands. Not a particularly fancy name I know.”
“Like a balloon?”
“You’d think so, but I also adjust my mass. My dad’s limbs do get lighter when he enlarges them but my mom’s quirk is to increase her density so I got a mix.”
“That’s useful.”
“What’s your quirk? Some sort of energy control?”
“Master named it Energy Manipulation.”
Izuku prepared for his own test. He was nervous but tried to keep it under control. He’d gained a lot of confidence in the past two years now it was time to show what he could do.
Reigen-sensei, that man was god-send, was a master of paperwork. He’d insisted on doing the bulk of Kageyama’s and Midoriya’s school applications for them. Izuku could have done it himself but bureaucracy went right over Shigeo’s head. What Reigen helped with that Midoriya wouldn’t have had the confidence to do alone is file for a support item. Students were allowed up to one quirk related support item for the practical test. With a noncombative quirk Midoriya was allowed a metal staff. He'd been taking lessons with it for a couple months.
Izuku made his way as close to the giant doors as he dared. Too many people were around him for him to focus. He moved to a quieter spot. He did his breathing exercises and focused outward with his quirk. Standing in the crowd of excited quirked teenagers was like swimming in stars. Each slightly blurry and indistinct. They would stay that way, bright but untouchable until he used his quirk to transfer each one.
Once he touched a quirk he could recognize it anywhere. His quirk gave him a sixth sense, making it difficult to describe. He could best equate it to picking out a single noise in a cacophony or one of those “Where’s Waldo” books. Once you hear the clock ticking in the background, it takes concentration to stop listening to it.
Kageyama’s unique sun-bright, rainbow aura was easy enough to find. His quirk was more like looking at a galaxy or a kaleidoscope; many individually beautiful gems spinning around each other to make a pattern. (Two years ago Kageyama’s aura was far more chaotic but since then Izuku had stripped away the ill-fitting quirks. Now all of the lights happily orbited the massive black hole of power Kageyama was born with.) A minute longer and Midoriya recognized Hanazawa’s golden glow. Reigen was always difficult to find. Looking in Hanazawa’s vicinity he managed to pick out Reigen’s empty yet comforting presence. He gave each of them a small tug and they trembled in response, like a candleflame under a gentle wind. Somewhere at the very edge of his ‘vision’ he could sense Mom but it was a reach.
“Eh!” A loud sound jolted Midoriya from his concentration. He looked around and noticed everybody was running. He was already behind! Izuku sprinted into the city streets. The students spread out to find enemies. He took a path he didn’t see anyone else go down.
“Target acquired.” A robotic voice almost made him jump. A two point robot stood in front of him. He took a second to remind himself it was just a robot. He’d faced far scarier villains before. He ran to meet the bot, ducking low and jamming his staff into a joint in its neck. He was about to twist its head off when a boy shot it with a laser.
“Ah, apologies, Monsieur, didn’t see you.” He apologized before running off.
Izuku stared after the blonde boy. Who got that point?
Izuku ran as fast as he could but couldn’t find any robots. Every enemy he encountered was already destroyed.
A rumbling shook the fake city. From a giant dust cloud rose the massive zero point robot. It towered over the buildings and seemed to leer down at contestants.
Midoriya took a step back but kept calm. This was a test not real danger. The other students didn’t seem to agree as they all sprinted away. Oh, maybe he could use this opportunity to find more points.
He spotted girl trapped under a piece of rubble and ran to help without thinking about it. “Are you alright?”
“My leg is stuck.” Midoriya tried to lever the rubble off with his staff. The 0 point robot was too close for comfort.
“Can I give you telekinesis temporally? is that okay?”
“I guess, but I’m really nauseous because of my quirk.”
“I can take that away.” Izuku ran his mental touch over her quirk. A pink beachball cool to the touch, it came away easily when he pulled. He tossed this to Hanazawa and tugged the golden telekinesis. “Imagine the rubble moving off your leg.” Experimenting with their classmates proved Hanazawa’s quirk to be easy to use even for people without emitter quirks.
“Whoa,” she gasped as the rock moved at her mental command.
Izuku helped her stand but her leg was hurt. “Can I carry you?” When she nodded he lifted her best he could and ran away from the robot. The zero pointer lurched towards them, sending a rain of rubble down from a nearby building. The girl raised on hand towards it instinctually and it froze midair.
“It’s a bit like my quirk but at a distance,” she marveled at the suspended concrete. Izuku concentrated on getting them out of the danger zone.
“Times up!”
Izuku helped her sit down. She dropped the concrete and watched it fall with rapt interest. “This is really cool. How can I do this?”
“It’s my friend’s quirk. I can transfer quirks from one person to another. I can’t use them myself, though.”
“Your friend who caught you on walkway?”
“You saw that? Yeah, that’s him.”
“Wow, so cool. He doesn’t mind you borrowing it for the test?”
“I can’t take them without permission. Actually, can I send it back?”
“Of course. I can take my quirk back now.” She played with her fingers a bit.
“The overuse symptoms will come back.”
“That’s okay.” Izuku reached for the floaty quirk. Hanazawa gave it up easily and allowed his natural quirk to settle back into place.
The girl’s fingertips changed to raised pads. “Oh, how forgetful of me. My name’s Uraraka.”
They talked a bit longer until Recovery Girl came by to check on the girl’s ankle. “Good luck, I hope you get in.”
“I probably won’t,” Izuku admitted. “I only got two points, maybe less.”