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Izuku’s head is throbbing when he opens his eyes.
He’s swaying on his feet, and the bright light is piercing.
What the hell happened?
He squints around him, shielding his eyes from the sun, when everything comes rushing back.
The random villain attack next to the cafe he’d been sitting at. He can still remember the way the villain’s fingers glowed before they came into contact with him, before losing consciousness.
This must be a mistake.
The villain’s quirk must have been a hallucinatory kind, because this cannot be fucking happening right now.
Even after he scrubs his eyes, trying to rub away whatever illusion this is, the place doesn’t change.
This is Yuuei Highschool’s entrance exam location.
Another stab of pain lances its way through his skull, and he groans, crouching down.
Behind his eyelids, it feels like there are needles making their way through his brain, when his vision shorts out again and he can hear an amused voice.
“-have fun in the past, Deku.”
The past?
No.
No, that can’t be right, because there is no way in hell that Midoriya Izuku could have been sent six years into the past. Before Yuuei. Before the war.
His throat is closing up, hot tears pricking in his eyes.
He’s panicking.
Izuku realizes it before he can go into a full-blown panic attack. He forces himself to breathe evenly, and pinching his arm to regain his bearings.
If the fight really happened, and if the villain had actually sent him to the past, then he can’t afford to panic right now.
As far as he can tell, there isn’t a way to go back to his time just yet, and he has to at least pass the exam and get into Yuuei to figure out what the fuck is happening.
If he remembers correctly, then he should have exactly three minutes to plan a way before the exam starts.
He stands up again to avoid stares.
Technically, Izuku could just do the exact same thing he did the first time he’d attempted, but it isn’t a foolproof plan in the slightest.
He doesn’t know if he can use One for All still without breaking his bones, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll get enough rescue points to pass without moving in the exact same way he did before.
For now, he’ll have to stick to destroying the robots with his own skills, without One for All. If everything goes the same, then he’ll use One for All to save Uraraka, and still pass.
At least he’s confident enough in his own hand to hand skills to know he can pass without his quirk, thanks to Aizawa.
Around him, several other kids frown at him.
“Weirdo,” one mutters, and he belatedly realizes that he’s mumbling.
So much for not standing out this time.
Iida comes up behind them to make a disapproving comment, but before he can say anything, the intercom crackles to life.
“ARE YOU READY?”
The other students startle, and Izuku gets himself ready to sprint.
“GO!”
Just like before, there is no countdown, and the others are stuck in place for almost five seconds before the shock wears off and they start running.
Still, Izuku has the lead.
He stops right in front of the first wave of robots, ready to fight.
From behind, a sparkling laser shoots out, and demolishes a two-pointer.
Aoyama, Izuku thinks, as he sprints to it and grabs the sharpest panel he can salvage.
The other students are already starting to destroy the robots, but there’s still a small ring of them gathered around him.
Good.
Izuku charges up to the closest one, panel up and ready, jumping to deliver a blow.
x
All Might would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous.
How could he not be, when his student is about to challenge Yuuei’s practical exam?
He’s absolutely sure that Midoriya Izuku is fit to be the next user of One for All in spirit, but his body is a different matter. Ten months is the bare minimum of training needed to not explode immediately upon usage.
He’s still not sure if Midoriya can handle it.
Present Mic’s voice breaks him out of his reverie.
“Go!”
The gates open, and All Might leans closer to the giant screen televising the exam to the teachers and examiners.
Most of the students are still even after Mic’s announcement, but there’s one lone figure sprinting out to meet the robots.
The drones zoom into his face, and he’s shocked to see who it is.
Midoriya shifts into a fighting stance, and even from this distance, All Might can see how determined he is.
With no small amount of pride, he watches as Midoriya picks up a sharp piece of metal left behind from one of the other students.
He really hadn’t expected Midoriya to be so smart about this thing, especially after noticing how nervous the boy had seemed in the morning.
Even as the drones zoom out to cover the majority, as the students start to destroy the robots, All Might fixes his eyes on Midoriya.
The boy is single handedly destroying several three-pointers without using his quirk.
The panel in his hands is causing severe damage to the robot’s weak points, almost like he knows where they are.
It’s incredible, how well Midoriya is fighting. Granted, he’s never sparred with the boy, even once, but the sheer skill in his movements is clear.
Ten minutes in, he’s broken almost a dozen robots, and earned thirty-four points.
His performance is on par with some of the best students Yuuei’s had.
All Might can tell Nedzu is interested in Midoriya, already. The principal’s eyes keep drifting to the top left screen, where Midoriya is located.
He’s fighting to keep his excitement unseen, but it’s practically impossible to contain a grin.
The way Midoriya moves is fluid and loose, right up until he hits. There’s undeniable strength behind his blows, thanks to the training he’s gone through.
On the screen, Midoriya is fighting his way through a line of robots, when his head whips to the side, distracted by something out of frame.
All Might watches as he suddenly abandons the robot he’d been smashing, running to the direction he’d been looking at a moment prior.
The drone follows him, leading them to a small intersection.
On the ground, a boy in a bright jacket is on the ground, eyes wide and terrified as a two-pointer raises a metal arm to crush him.
It looks like he’s doomed, or at the very least, heavily injured, when Midoriya comes out of nowhere and jumps to block the blow.
The kick completely decimates the robot, but Midoriya lands lightly on his feet, face creased with concern.
The boy extends his hand, asking, “Are you okay?”
Belatedly, All Might realizes that when he kicked the robot, he was using One for All.
The force of the kick seems to have blown away all the debris around him, and All Might’s excitement increases tenfold. Midoriya had just used One for All at what looks to be 100%, with no repercussions at all.
As the boy accepts Midoriya’s hand, shaking a little on his feet, Nedzu turns to the room.
“I know we’ve already given out several rescue points by now, but I’d like all of your personal opinions on this one,” Nedzu announces.
There are a few eights, several different sevens, and one five in total.
Nedzu hums, and on the screen, another fifteen points appear next to Midoriya’s name.
To his surprise, Midoriya doesn’t use One for All again with the same level of power against the robots, instead using it to dismantle the already damaged ones, and in one occasion, use it to blow another student out of danger.
Beside All Might, Nedzu’s eyes are glinting with a familiar look.
“He’s very heroic, isn’t he?” Nedzu asks. “Even without his quirk, he could be a great hero.”
All Might has no answer to that, but he agrees, silently. Midoriya has far surpassed his expectations, and his casual usage shows that he’s comfortable with using the quirk, already.
The next few minutes go similarly, and Midoriya rescues four more people, before Nedzu asks for the zero-pointers to be sent out.
“Now comes the interesting part,” Nedzu hums. “Let’s see how the students will react.”
Just as he’d anticipated, most of the kids run away from the giant machine.
In the chaos of the stampede, All Might can see a few students fall and get trampled, but while usually, nobody helps them up, Midoriya shows up.
Somehow, he’s always there within moments to help somebody up, and move rubble out of the way.
By now, several other teachers are watching Midoriya; talking amongst themselves about his unorthodox behaviour. Surprisingly, Eraserhead is one of them, his eyes fixed to the screen.
All Might is so fixated on Midoriya, though, that he almost doesn’t notice it when one of the drones zooms in on a girl, trapped under a heavy cement block.
“Help,” she calls out. The zero-pointer is dangerously close to where she’s stuck.
Some of the teachers look worried, himself included.
Eventually, Midnight speaks up.
“Shouldn’t that girl be saved?” she asks. “The robot could hurt her beyond repair.”
Several others agree with her, but Nedzu only shakes his head.
“Let’s just wait a minute more.” he says.
All Might frowns. “Nedzu-”
“I said wait,” Nedzu interrupts. “I’ve calculated the risks, and there is an extremely high chance she will be saved.”
Most of the staff looks skeptical and rather angry at Nedzu, but All Might knows better. Nedzu has never once been wrong about his predictions.
He settles back into his chair, scanning the screens for any sign of green hair, but there’s no sign of Midoriya.
Then Nedzu’s comment clicks.
And there, he can see Midoriya sprinting to help the girl. His legs are glowing, and All Might realizes that he’s using One for All to increase the strength in his legs to run faster.
By the time he reaches the girl, the zero-pointer is right above them.
Midoriya’s eyes flick back and forth between the machine and the rubble trapping the girl, clearly torn between trying to lift off the debris and run off, or try to destroy the automation.
Faintly, All Might can hear him curse under his breath.
Midoriya backs up a couple paces, before gripping his fists tight and making a running leap up to the zero-pointer.
The impact of his jump cracks the concrete, and amazingly, he flies all the way up to the robot’s ‘face,’ before drawing his fist back, and punching it with a blast powerful enough to completely obliterate the whole body.
There’s a collective intake of breath in the room, as the examiners clamor to see the extent of the damage caused by just one punch.
The punch blows Midoriya backwards, and the wind created by the blow swirls through the road, as the boy drops at an alarming speed to the ground.
All Might inhales sharply, waiting for the impact that never comes.
Instead, Midoriya is floating a few feet off the ground.
The drone pans to the trapped girl, with her fingers extended.
On the screen, a profile is brought up.
Uraraka Ochako, Quirk: Zero Gravity.
Nedzu turns back to the room, grinning widely.
“Now, how many points do you think these wonderful candidates deserve?”
All Might votes as well, this time.