Archive of Our Own

Izuku sits on his bed, absentmindedly staring at the wall.

He doesn't know what to do.

He has to go to his U.A. entrance exam in approximately thirty two minutes and a handful of seconds. Where he will have to take a physical test, utilize his quirk, and somehow get a high enough score in whatever they’re going to have to do and get a spot in one of their heroics classes.

Which sounds like a piece of cake to the average person.

(Or maybe not. It is U.A.)

But for one Midoriya Izuku, it is basically a death sentence, especially considering that he had activated his quirk a grand total of zero times before.

Back all of those months ago when All Might first offered him One for All, Izuku was too high on excitement to think about just exactly how he’d manage to get into U.A. with so little control over his quirk. And even then, Past Izuku had assumed he would at least have a few days to get used to the flow of power that was shortly going to be flowing in his veins.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. 

Izuku glances around at the different posters filling his room as his leg vibrates in a show of anxiety.

Despite being quirkless for the entirety of his fifteen-year life, Izuku knows a lot about quirks. He knows the ins and outs, how they often manifested, the different types… basically, anything that Izuku could learn about quirks, he knew about.

(He once came across something called ‘All for One’, and Izuku assumed it to be an old folks tale because it was about a person who could give and steal quirks. Since Izuku had done so much research on quirks before he had completely discarded the story but… after the idea of All Might passing on his quirk called ‘One for All’ came to light, Izuku decided he wouldn’t touch that situation with a ten-foot pool unless it became a necessity.)

Anyhow, the clock was still ticking and Izuku still had no idea how he’d even begin to even try and pass the physical test.

He doesn't know how to use his quirk.

He doesn't know the drawbacks of using said quirk. (Yes, there will be drawbacks. Every quirk no matter how strong has drawbacks, even Kacchan with his explosions has them. Shown by his high body temperature and the hearing aids always plugged into his ears.)

He doesn't know how to regulate it.

He doesn't even know how to activate the damn thing.

Izuku was so unbelievably screwed, and the only thing his mentor could offer him was a ‘clench-your-ass-and-yell-smash’.

So what Izuku needed was a solution, and fast.

How do people normally learn how to control their quirks when going to a quirk specialist isn’t an option?

He knows that in some cases (typically animal mutation types,) learning how to use one's quirk is instinctual, though that itself could also have drawbacks too…

Izuku examines his room, looking around as if he could find something that could even just slightly hint him in the right direction. His eyes momentarily pause on his alarm clock, which states that he only has about 25 minutes left until he has to meet his mom downstairs before he leaves for the morning.

He bites his lip, green eyes flicking from object to object before landing on-

-His open laptop, still on the same hero analysis page from the other night with the charger cord plugged into it. Izuku blinks. How had he forgotten to turn that off?

He stands up and walks over to his laptop, sliding into his chair as he takes his mouse into the palm of his hand, clicking around for anything he might’ve left waiting. There seems to be nothing left of importance, so Izuku lets his cursor glide over the ‘x’ button and shuts the tab down. He comes face to face with the homescreen and a search bar.

A search bar.

Oh.

Oh.

Izuku is stupid.

Outwardly he groans but inwardly he can feel a slight bit of hope rise in his chest. There has to be at least one person on the internet wondering how to help their child control a strength-type quirk unsuited to their body type.

He rapidly types his question into the search bar and presses ‘enter’, keeping his eye on the time as he does so.  There are actually quite a few links that show up, so Izuku just clicks on the first one he sees.

A forum pops up, so Izuku begins reading the top question.

Swizzy182 - Posted 5 Years Ago

Hey. So my daughter just got her quirk, and it’s just an average strength enhancer that she originally activated while trying to help put away groceries. Anyways, the thing is, it hurts her when she uses it. Which yes, I know is quite strange, since mutations usually change naturally to help support a quirk. But the thing is that I have a bird mutation involving wings, which means that I have hollow bones, and my daughter took after me. I don’t know what to do. There are support items but they’re not classified for civilian use unless it’s a serious safety hazard, and we tried contacting the HC but they wouldn’t allow access.

TDLR - I don’t know what to do. My daughter's strength quirk hurts her and I need tips.

ShimmeringGold- Replying to Swizzy182 - Posted 5 Years Ago

Bestie no one on this forum is a quirk specialist. Your case is a unique one. Literally just go to a quirk analyst or doctor idgaf.

• omni_and_confused - Replying to ShimmeringGold - Posted 5 Years Ago

calm down dude, what crawled up your ass and died this morning? op might not even have that option, you do know those things cost money right?

Izuku frowns at the rest of the replies, none of them held any information that he was looking for. Even so… one of the replies…

He rolls the mouse in his hands as the screen in front of him moves up a few pages, before stopping once he sees 'ShimmeringGold's' reply. It was awfully rude in a way that made Izuku’s stomach twist, but he ignores it in favour of rereading the comment.

(What? He was on a time crunch.)

Aha !

A quirk analyst!

Now, Izuku doesn’t know anyone that has that as a job, but as someone who loves analysing quirks in general, he had to have gotten that love and knowledge for it somewhere.

So Izuku knows exactly who he needs to talk to.

He holds the power button on his computer for a couple of moments and then closes the screen. Izuku walks back over to his bed and sits down, leaning over and rummaging through the back pocket of his yellow school bag in search of his phone.

Once it’s found he unlocks his All Might themed phone and pulls up his ‘contacts’ and clicks on the second one labelled ‘Dad’.

Izuku presses the call button, tapping his foot against the ground in beat to the ringing as he waits for the other line to pick up.

The ringing stops and there’s a momentary silence from both ends of the phone before something comes through the speaker.

“Are you alright son? This is quite off from our scheduled phone calls.”

Right. Time zones. It was probably quite late for him in comparison to his own early morning Japan. Izuku would have to apologize for that later.

He ignores this, instead just nodding despite knowing his father can’t see him. “Yeah. Actually, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Theoretically, how would one go about managing a strength quirk that holds more power than All Might's?”

The line is silent for a solid three seconds. Then, “Seems out of the blue, is this really theoretical?”

“Does it matter?” Izuku questions.

“... I suppose not,” His father chuckles. “What do you need to know specifically?”

Izuku bounces the question around in his head for a few moments, pondering it. He could just simply say ‘everything,' but Izuku feels like that would be just a bit too obvious.

“How would one go about activating and then managing the output of an overpowered strength quirk?”

Hisashi hums a sound that reverberates deep in his father's throat, despite talking through a phone. “Are you trying to trick me into doing an in-depth analysis on that blon- All Might’s quirk again?”

Izuku winces. While a younger him had tried on multiple occasions to do that in the past, that’s not what Izuku was going for. But he could definitely see why his father thought that was the case. Maybe Izuku should tone it down with the All Might stuff...

His father interrupts his train of thought. “I’m just joking, son. If that's all you need to know then I can help you with that. Actually, now that you mention it, I've been... acquainted to others with similar quirks to what you're talking about in the past."

Izuku stretches his legs in front of himself, trying not to groan. Time was still ticking and he still desperately needed answers.

"Impatient are we? Though I guess it is the morning of the entrance exams, isn't it?"

Izuku blinks, thumbing the volume button on his phone in thought. "You remembered?"

His father laughs, "Of course! It's an important day for you, so I marked it on my personal calendar. Even if you end up failing, I'll always be proud of you for trying."

"I-" Izuku feels his heart swell as a few tears lick at the corner of his eyes. His father was one of the first people to ever say that he didn't care about Izuku's quirklessness. Even though Hisashi hadn't been home in well over six years, small things like this always reminded Izuku just how much his father cared.

"Ah- right. I apologize for going off on a rant for a moment there." Izuku can hear a beep on the other end of the calls background, he ignores it in favour of getting some actual answers. 

It was probably just a computer anyways.

"To activate a strength quirk of that calibre, you'd need to reach deep inside your subconscious mind. One would need to find the energy that's producing the strength and then just… guide it towards the surface."

Izuku nods along. He probably could've figured that out himself if he was given enough time, but low and behold, time was of the essence.

"Now. Output and control are two different things, but they work together in tandem which is why I'm covering both of them," Hisashi clicks his tongue. "First off, just- discard the idea of doing things like the blond id- All Might completely."

Izuku opens up his mouth in an attempt to say otherwise, but his father interrupts. "I can see that look you're giving me through the screen, and what I'm going to say is that this is unrelated to my dislike of All Might."

There's a pause that his father takes as his cue to continue.

"All Might is, to put it simply, very buff. He doesn't or didn't need to adjust how he was using his quirk even though there are billions of more conventional ways to do it. He throws all of his power into one arm and punches with all of his strength. If someone even with slightly less muscle tried that, their arm would be pulverised or even detached from their body."

Izuku pales as a billion terrifying scenarios run through his head, and he's suddenly very thankful for his own foresight to ask for help. He gives himself a metaphorical pat on the back.

"Because of this, someone with the same quirk strength would have to lower the output to whatever said person could handle and distribute the force. It also couldn't hurt to focus on attacking with your legs, since those bones and muscles are naturally stronger than the ones in your arms."

Izuku smiles, and he suddenly feels like an anime protagonist when he imagines himself with a grin on his face as a made-up beam of light shines on him like a blessing from god.

He was so lucky that his father didn't ask for any further clarification regarding the 'strength' quirk, and at the same time, had given Izuku all the answers to his questions on a silver platter.

"Now, if you don't mind answering to my curiosity, why-"

" Izuku! Get down here! It's almost time for you to go!"

The other line goes silent as Izuku glances at this clock, and sure enough, his half-hour was basically up. He tilts his phone away as he turns his head towards the door, "I'm coming, Mom!"

His father chuckles and his eyes flick back towards his phone. Izuku had heard the question before his mother had cut his father off. Good timing, but now he wouldn't have an excuse-

"I won't keep you any longer. Good luck on your exam."

Izuku smiles, silently relaxing his body, already getting up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Yeah, thanks for the help Dad, bye!"

"Good luck son, talk to you later."

The call ends, so Izuku clicks off his phone and decides to just shove it in the side pouch of his backpack this time for easier use.

Too close. In an optimistic light, dad won't bring it up in later discussions. It would pose a problem to know that I knew about my quirk before I had even activated the thing.

He opens his door and walks downstairs, grimacing lightly at the sound of sobbing coming from who Izuku assumed to be his mother. He then glances down at his clothes.

Maybe he should've brought a poncho?

Izuku walks through the gates of his dream school with a pep in his step, staring straight ahead of himself in awe as U.A. comes into view. 

He'd seen the school in pictures before of course, but it barely holds a candle to standing in front of the real thing. It's inspiring, because this is it. This was where all of Izuku's hard work would all (hopefully) pay off.

As he continues to walk forward, he can't bring himself to tear his eyes away from the building. Whether that be because of the 'bigger than life' feeling it gives off, or just Izuku's daily dose of 'anxiety that builds in his gut like a swarm of seagulls to leftover fries,' that made him act like a deer in headlights, he couldn't tell.

Something warm seems to flicker in his chest. Izuku blinks in surprise. The feeling isn't unpleasant, and it's definitely not something that Izuku would associate with being sick… so-

He feels someone harshly run into the side of his arm, and it makes Izuku stumble a few steps to the side in panic. He flinches his head around to where the force came from, trying to find the person who could've done it. 

Izuku sees a flash of blonde hair and only a moment after does he hear the words spoken to him. 

"-the fuck outta my way you stupid nerd!"

Ah yes. 

Classic Kacchan. Not holding back his superiority complex even just a little bit, not even on U.A. grounds. Though Izuku supposes with all the people here, it is unlikely that anyone would be paying attention to the two of them specifically, even less so that they'd be able to hear them over the noisy chatter. Although… there weren't too many people still in the courtyard with how late Izuku was running...

He pushes their brief encounter to the back of his mind, thoughts about his quirk and Kacchan trailing off as the grand doors to the school get closer and closer with every step Izuku takes. It's amazing, because one day he'll look back on this day and think that this moment was one of the first steps he ever took towards becoming a hero, and that no one (not even Kacchan) could get in his way-

But then his foot lands on something (a rock?) weirdly, and it's just enough to make Izuku lose his balance and begin falling straight towards the unforgiving pathway.

Oh god.

How embarrassing.

Forget getting a good mark on the entrance exams- apparently even just getting into the school was going to be a challenge for someone like him. Was this his price to pay for having too much luck learning about One for All? That now he'd break his face on concrete because he'd somehow managed to find a way to counter completely pulverising his arms?

Izuku realizes that he should've hit the ground by now, so he opens his eyes (when did he close them?), and notices that he's literally floating centimetres off of the ground.

Izuku blinks.

The ground does not blink back because it is concrete. Plain, reddish coloured concrete.

…

Oh yeah, and he's floating. He flails his arms in front of him. Wait-

"Oh, sorry about that!" A feminine voice squeaks as he's lightly pulled by the shoulder into a standing position, "I just thought it'd be bad luck to fall right before the exams start…"

The brown-haired person trails off, nervously glancing to the side. They press their fingers together and Izuku is hit with the feeling of gravity suddenly coming back to him.

Yet his mind is still preoccupied with thoughts of the others quirk. 

A type of floating quirk? No… if that was the case I would've still felt my weight while being under its effects. Gravity cancelling maybe? That's rare. Floating quirks are common but still really popular, so the same is said for those that affect one's gravity. But their weight limit must be insane! They used it on me and didn't even look slightly tired, which is amazing because most, like mom, can barely ever expand their limit past things like dinner plates. He thinks back to when the other pressed both of their hands together. Could it also be a five-point touch? Seeing as they're holding the strap of their backpack with their pinky raised, that seems to be the case. That's uncommon… quirk combinations that result in such things are hard to come by-

Izuku blinks, suddenly realizing the awkward silence. Not answering at this point would've been more humiliating than just standing there like an idiot, so he manages to mumble out some form of a sentence. "O-oh. Uhm. Thank you! You're right, that would've been really unfortunate."

They smile, "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I think that they're gonna start soon, so we best get going!" Both stand for a moment as the wind breezes past them.

Izuku nods in agreement, glancing around at the overall lack of people that must've started thinning out sometime when he started rambling in his mind about quirks. "Y-yeah! Er- do you wanna find our testing rooms together? I don't know my way around and, well, the school is kinda overwhelmingly large..."

They blink in surprise before letting a grin cross their face, "Sure! I'm glad I'm not the only one worried about getting lost. Even though they said there would be clear directions, it'd be much more fun with someone else!"

Izuku laughs, rubbing the back of his head as his anxiety over U.A. seems to lessen by a fraction. "Mmm, yeah. Oh! My name is Midoriya Izuku, uh, he/him pronouns. Please."

The two of them begin to hesitantly walk forward, "Uraraka Ochako, she/her pronouns. Nice to meet you!"

He smiles, nodding his head. "Same goes to you. But uh, I really think we should hurry up now," Izuku bites his lip, gesturing to the lack of people around them with his hand as they begin to walk up the steps.

Uraraka hums in agreement as they both start to change their steady pace up the steps into something more akin to speed walking. The doors are already open when they get to the top so they walk right into the school, Izuku trailing slightly behind.

Does this mean that he has a friend? Or are they just acquaintances-

He pauses for a moment, letting his eyes take in the sight of pristine white walls. His eyes catch onto golden arrows that seem to be plastered to the floor, which they both nod at each other and begin to follow.

They only have to go through one short hallway, which at the end is where they find a small group of people and U.A.'s principal sitting (he knew beforehand that Nezu was an… animal. But seeing it with his own two eyes doesn't make the view any less shocking) behind a large desk topped with stacks of papers. Izuku hesitantly follows Uraraka into the line.

The people are called up to the front desk surprisingly fast despite the decently sized group waiting for their exam rooms and directions. Thankfully, it's not too chaotic since Gen Ed, Business, Heroics, and Support all have different exam dates.

Well. It's also because both Uraraka and Izuku himself were quite late, Izuku being held up by his mom…and then the train… and then Kacchan…and then he tripped and met Uraraka. But he was going to ignore all that.

His thoughts snap back into focus when he hears Uraraka's name called. She gives him a wave as she walks towards the desk, and the principal says something that Izuku can't quite hear. But Uraraka nods in response and begins to leave down one of the many hallways branching off of the room they're in.

He waits in silence, and it only takes about twenty more people being called until it's his turn.

"Midoriya Izuku."

Izuku walks forward, stopping at the desk. The rat(?) doesn't look up towards him, but does point him to a hallway to Izuku's left.

"You will be taking your literacy test in room 1-B, and then afterwards the pro watching over you will give you further instructions on what to do after you're finished. There will be a break for lunch at 2 pm, where you can either eat a quick snack that you brought or have something that our one and only Lunch Rush prepared for the day! At 3 pm we will all meet in the main auditorium for instructions and then later move into the physical testing portion. If you need help with directions there are multiple maps located all over the school, or you can just ask any of the teachers watching over you. Further questions may also be directed to them."

Izuku gapes, and principle Nezu's eyes seem to gleam like shiny obsidian in the warm lighting.

"Take a left, walk straight, then go right, and you'll arrive at your room."

Izuku feels like his brain is melting before the exams have even begun. Sure, what the principal had said seemed rehearsed, but, mind his language, what in the absolute fuck did he just witness.

He turns around and begins walking to his destination, not once daring to look back at the rat when he feels eyes prickling at the back of his skull. He absentmindedly follows the directions he's been told as he tries to think happy thoughts.

Uh.

Uraraka!

He has a friend!

Maybe. He thinks that's how you make friends, and she didn't seem to have any ill intentions.

He looks around at the number of different doors there are, and how many hallways he could take if he wanted to be lost and never be found again.

Izuku knows that his previous thoughts about 'physically getting to his exams being a challenge' was him just being sarcastic, but now he can't help but think that the words held some truth. Because really. The place was honestly huge, and with all of the hallways he was traversing through it was reminding him of a maze.

That was upside down.

And Izuku was blind.

But, he regressed, he has a test to take. So when he finally makes it to the right testing room (after many failed attempts despite the directions given to him and the many maps he had looked at,) he swallows his nerves and opens the door.

It's two o'clock.

Izuku doesn't have a brain anymore.

It's been turned to mush.

He is dying.

He is in physical pain.

He is in physiological pain.

He is dying.

He has said that twice, and even though it wasn't on purpose, it definitely works.

There were 4 subjects. Mathematics, literacy (both English and Japanese), science, and heroics.

Literacy went fine. To others the amount of writing was probably overwhelming, but for Izuku who literally writes pages upon pages of analysis for fun? It was a breeze. The English bit was a tad more difficult since he isn't fluent, but he had his fair share of watching All Might documentaries and interviews from the US to be able to get the gist of things.

On that note, math was also okay. Math usually is very puzzle-like, so Izuku can typically put things together with little to no effort.

Heroics was the one that probably went the best for Izuku, since other than oxygen that was the only thing that Izuku lived off of. The history questions were easy, but he may be biased. Since you know. The whole 'hero analysis' stuff?

Anyways.

Science.

The bane of Izuku's existence.

He has no words for how terrible that was, other than that it was hell on earth. He thinks he might have started dissociating during the middle of the test because if he were to pay attention he's fairly certain he would have gained some fairly severe trauma.

He hopes he did okay.

If he managed to pass, it was likely because of the few questions there were on quirk science.

He pulls out his lunch from his backpack and cracks apart his wooden chopsticks, opening his container to see… moderately warm katsudon from his thermal lunch box.

His mom is a blessing in disguise. Izuku doesn't deserve her, especially not after she packed him his favourite food for lunch.

Izuku shuts his eyes, ignoring the way he is sitting in the corner of the lunchroom next to a garbage bin. It smells horrid, but surprisingly it does have its perks, because at least he's not being trampled by a stampede of brain dead teenagers looking for food. He mourns the loss of time he could've spent talking with his new friend, but honestly, even if Izuku wanted to find her, it would probably take him their entire lunch break to do so.

He hugs the katsudon close to his chest, looking similar to how a mother bear would protect their cubs as he shovels food into his mouth like a dying man.

(He definitely does not choke. Nope. Not him.)

Ten minutes before he has to leave for the auditorium, Izuku remembers that he actually needs to try and activate his quirk.

You would think that remembering that fact a bit ahead of time is a good thing, but then Izuku would tell you he's been staring at a fly eating a banana peel for the past fifteen minutes.

So maybe he accidentally wasted valuable time. Sue him.

(Actually don't do that. He spent all of his money on hero merchandise-)

He tries to scootch back as far as he can behind the garbage bin and puts his backpack in front of himself as he crosses his legs. Hopefully there would be no one paying attention to him, but at least there weren't as many people as before since the next test was so close to starting. To Izuku's luck, the auditorium was also right beside the cafeteria.

Small victories.

Izuku slides his eyes shut and takes a deep breath, letting his shoulders relax.

Right, he had to… guide the main source of power towards the surface, while not using too much and spread it across his body.

He lets his mind go back to the warmth he felt in his chest, and in comparison to before when it felt like a small spark of fire, it now felt more like a small sun burning everything around it. Or maybe a more accurate description would be that it was an ocean? Vast, deep, mysterious, and in need of further… exploration.

Izuku lets himself hesitantly (and metaphorically) cup the ocean into his hands. He pokes at it, and lightly plays with it like putty, letting himself become as familiar with the power as possible. It's warm, and it could almost be described as energetic in the way it just simply is .

And then, he gently lift up to the surface, focusing on his body as a whole-

Green flashes around him as his eyes snap open, burning hot pain courses through his bones like embers. He lets the power slip like water through his fingers on reflex due to the white-hot pain zipping through his entire body. Violent green lightning dissipates around him, and the red lines zigzagging between his fingers (and assumingly the rest of his body) disappear.

Well then.

Izuku stays stock still, riding through the brief waves of residue pain as he strains his ears to listen and see if anyone just saw what had happened.

"What the fuck."

Izuku shrieks, pushing himself away from the talking trashcan as he tries to calm his racing heart, pain momentarily forgotten.

There's a few long moments of shuffling before someone with purple hair and tired eyes stands up and peaks over the garbage can lid.

They both stare at each other for a few long moments. Izuku sweats, wetting his lips. "...Hi?"

The other blinks sluggishly, slow and like a cat. Done with the world and its bullshit.

"What was that green light that just blinded me and took probably 50 years off of my already deteriorating life span?"

…. Izuku can't come up with an excuse. His brain hurts, his body hurts, and he wouldn't be surprised if he just fainted right this second. But he also can't tell the truth, so…

"I-"

His vision turns a hazy shade of grey, and his loud thoughts seem to go quiet. Not in the sense that he isn't thinking , but it's definitely some sort of mental quirk that has the aspect of making the victim's mind foggy.

Something cuts through his mind, words clear and strong despite everything else being overly shadow-like. "What were you doing just now with your quirk?"

Oh fuck. 

This was not good. Abort-

Eight lights flash in his vision, all being different colours, but they're too far out of Izuku's grasp to really know if they were doing or even meant anything.

His mouth opens despite Izuku's strong will of trying to make sure it stays closed. "I was testing out my quirk for the first time because someone just gave it to me and I need to pass-"

The quirk drops and Izuku is released from its hold, feeling like a cold bucket of ice water was just dumped on his head from the whiplash.

The purple-haired person suddenly seems a bit frazzled, tired eyes slightly wide. Izuku can't blame them, but even so, he gulps and glances away. Of course, Izuku just (unwillingly) told someone about some of the secret of One for All barely hours after gaining it. He was so screwed. All Might would be so mad-

"... Goodbye. I'm too tired to deal with this."

Izuku stares, only watching the others back as they walk away from the garbage bins. Despite the situation, he can't help but nod his head in agreement.

Same though.

Izuku quickly jogs to the bathroom. He had about five minutes until orientation started, but if he didn't go to the bathroom now, his chances of getting sick from nerves would be much more likely.

After he does his business and washes his hands, he takes a few paper towels to wipe the water off of them before throwing the trash into the bin by the door.

Exiting the washroom he notices a short person with about four purple orbs lined along the top of their head. Izuku pauses, noticing the drool dripping from their mouth as they try to peek into the women's washroom.

He holds back a gag.

So when Izuku walks by the small fucker, he picks them up by the head, throws them into one of the empty gender-neutral single stalls, and kicks the door inward so it's stuck, all before the pervert can utter a single complaint.

As Izuku leaves he can hear offended screeches ringing out, but neither he nor anyone else nearby are stupid enough to listen.

For once, the future doesn't look quite as bleak. 

It's not really unluckiness that had Izuku sitting next to Kacchan in the auditorium, because realistically Izuku knows that being seated by school is a very common system. But still. That doesn't mean he has to like it.

Everyone had been given a pamphlet of what they were going to be doing for the tests before they had sat down, so Izuku had already read the rules a couple times over. Since at this point waiting for Present Mic to explain it would take way too long.

And Izuku would likely be way too distracted with a pro hero standing in the same room as himself.

But even so…

Destroying robots.

Different points for each type.

It was awfully… simple.

Anyone with a good enough quirk and stamina to match could destroy robots, but that doesn't mean anything for heroic capabilities.

Well, at least it wasn't going to be Izukus problem, as long as he can figure out One for All… he'll be set.

Too bad he couldn't continue testing it here though, if the flashiness during lunch was anything to go by.

Izuku sighs, folding the corner of his pamphlet in boredom as he tries to ignore Present Mic's arguably deafening explanation, and despite his love for heroes in general, it was getting on his already frayed nerves. Maybe it was because Izuku was closer to the front of the room than most because people in the back needed to hear… but still. His head still hurt from earlier that morning and this wasn't making it any better.

Anyways. One for All. Izuku thinks that he did… okay, considering it was his first time activating it (if you ignore the whole purple-haired person incident and the fact where he was sitting is now dented). But it's now that he realizes that he missed doing a key point in his father's explanation.

Which was that he had to lower the output.

And not. Just. Use it all at once, like Izuku did, by picking up the entire metaphorical ocean of power.

At least he knew that now, and by using that metaphor, he could just try to pick up a couple of drops and go from there.

"-and you with the green hair! Stop your mumbling at once! It's disrespectful to be so blatantly ignorant of the distress you're causing to those around you!"

Izuku's head shoots up as green eyes meet a steel-like blue colour, feeling his face and neck heat up in embarrassment. But Izuku did have to note that the blue-haired teen's statement wasn't exactly wrong, because looking around he could see a few people ever so slightly leaning away from him.

Ouch.

Unfortunately, Izuku couldn't just say ' Sorry I'm just kinda trying to figure out how to activate my quirk and learn how to control it right now so I don't go into the exam completely clueless, thanks,' no matter how tempting the thought of doing so is. So he swallows the words down, bowing his head with squeaky joints as he mumbles a quick sorry under his breath.

The blue-haired teenager nods, seemingly content with Izuku's half-hearted apology and rigidly sits back down in his seat. 

Izuku suddenly wishes he could just…sink into his chair. Maybe become a ghost that could haunt U.A.'s auditorium for the next eternity? Alas, such wishes were not possible, despite his somewhat lucky streak. So Izuku settles for hunching his shoulders and pointedly decides to ignore the red-hot glare from the boy sitting on his right.

Getting onto the yellow torture vehicle of death was almost worse than the cafeteria incident, and no, Izuku was not joking.

Buses were usually fine since they were almost always filled up with tired business workers either going to work, or coming back from work. Meaning that it was almost always relatively peaceful, especially with social constructs keeping most from ever making a scene.

Unsurprisingly, the group that Izuku was assigned to ride to the testing ground with must have been missing the day that the bus safety presentations were given, because everyone as an entirety was louder than an angry pomeranian on steroids.

If anyone were to know how loud that was, it would be Izuku. While the 'steroids' part wasn't exactly accurate, it would be a good substitute for high blood pressure…

As you can see, Izuku was going insane with the amount of noise, and ripping out his ears with his newly acquired quirk was getting more and more appealing by the second.

His group was split into a few different buses from the pure number of people being taken to the testing ground, but that didn't mean the bus was any less crammed.

Izuku was seated with one other person, a teen with a crow head with some sort of shadow twirling around their waist with a shadow resting in their partner's lap. Quite obviously being a sentient quirk paired with a secondary mutation.

Izuku leans into the window of the bus but doesn't take his eyes off of the shadow that almost seems to be breathing.

The bird mutation is obviously secondary, but it seems like it was still inherited in all aspects of the quirk. Additionally, a sentient quirk is so cool! They often vary from how they work, but more often than not they have their own personalities and feelings, so both of them being so relaxed with each other and heading to become heroes together tells loads about the work they put in to have a functioning relationship-

"Do you need something?"

If Izuku's mind wasn't already as tired as it was, he would've been surprised at the interruption. But he was tired, so the embarrassment at being called out didn't come as easily.

"Ah. No. I was just admiring how well you two got along." Izuku mumbled, not quite meeting the eyes of the crow headed teen.

They blinked, and the shadow on their lap opened their eyes to reveal a bright yellow colour. "Hm, not many notice the intricacies of working with a being of sentience. I applaud your observational skills."

Izuku feels a light blush coat his face, not being used to compliments on analysis apart from his father. A curious beak from a particular shadow creature pokes at Izuku's leg, and he shivers from the odd cool feeling it gives off.

Glowing yellow eyes seem to light up, "Fumi! He's like us!"

Both teens blink before meeting each other's eyes. Izuku rubs the back of his neck, "Ah, what do you mean by that?"

The shadow looks ecstatic at being addressed, and Izuku holds back a frown at the implications. "You have a partner!"

Izuku gapes, "What?"

The shadow floats up near his face. "You have a partner. You know. A sentient quirk?"

"I- yes. I know what you mean, but I only just recently activated my quirk, and I wasn't aware that-"

The person that Izuku now internally dubs as 'Fumi' spends him a sparing glance as he tugs the sentient shadow back to give him some space.

"I apologize, Dark Shadow is not well versed in the way of human interaction," The teen muses before raising a questioning… feather? "Though I do have to ask, did you really not know about your quirks' sentience?"

Izuku shakes his head, shifting in his seat. "No… I didn't. I only activated it for the first time recently, and I never really entertained the thought because it enhances my strength. Which to my knowledge isn't really how sentient beings work."

Fumi nods in agreement, stroking Dark Shadow with one hand as they take a finger to their beak in thought. "You're not wrong. If you wanted you could always try activating it on and reaching out, see if your partner answers your call into the abyss like mine did so long ago."

Izuku tilts his head, "You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not. I offered, and I can sense that Dark Shadow feels the same as I do."

To enhance the effect, Dark Shadow begins to nod rapidly.

"A-alright then." Izuku stumbles, praying to any god he's never worshipped in hope that he wouldn't destroy the back end of the bus, "But I have to ask, what are your names and pronouns?"

The other blinks, feathers ruffling. "Tokoyami Fumikage, he/they."

Izuku grins knowingly to show that he heard over the noisy ruckus, before looking down to Dark Shadow, "And you?"

There almost seemed to be tears in Dark Shadows eyes at the question, and the sentient quirk blubbers some incoherent words in shock.

Tokoyami (not 'Fumi'. How embarrassing, calling someone he'd just met an abbreviation of their first name. Sure, it was just internally, but still!) notices his slightly questioning gaze and elaborates.

"They're not used to being addressed, let alone being asked such personalized questions."

Izuku nods in saddened understanding-

"My name is Dark Shadow! I use they/them pronouns!" They turn to Tokoyami in excitement, "Fumi? Can we keep them? Please?"

"D-Dark Shadow! You can't say that to a human being we've only just met!"

"Okay? Then hurry up and get to know them better so we can keep them!"

"You know that's not what I meant-"

Izuku coughs, trying to disguise his laughter. "My name is Midoriya Izuku, he/him pronouns."

Both heads turn towards him at the same time and Izuku dies from adorableness. Tokoyami attempts to pat down Dark Shadow to go back to his relatively quiet persona, but the previously petty 'argument' and the way Dark Shadow just avoids the teenager's hand gives Izuku no illusions.

The bus rumbles beneath them and Izuku bites his bottom lip, "So… about my quirk..?"

Tokoyami hums, leaning back into his seat, "Yes, if you'd like, you may activate it. Me and Dark Shadow are sworn to silence, and no one on this ride is paying any attention to the three of us."

Dark Shadow just seems to vibrate in agreement, so Izuku takes that as his cue to activate One for All.

Right.

One for All.

He hadn't really thought about it before, but if One for All really was sentient like the pair in front of him seemed to think, then what did that mean exactly? Izuku didn't think that it was the quirk itself just magically gaining sentience, because people had the quirk before Izuku. Even though it was a stockpile… stockpiling larger amounts of power did not necessarily mean higher sentience each time the quirk was passed on.

However.

That begs the question, what did One for All really stockpile? All Might said it was power, but that could mean anything. Did he mean willpower? Strength? Quirks? Or, like Izuku had a sudden inkling towards…

Souls. Or imprints of said souls.

It made sense, since a quirk (probably) couldn't just extract power from a soul and go on its merry way to the next holder, it'd have to take the whole thing. But even so, assuming that all of his predecessors weren't idiots, at least one of them must've noticed this.

But that's where the power must come into play. The more power there is, is the more power being used, so more power for potentially dead people to act through-

Izuku shakes his head. Now was not a good time to be rambling. He shuts his eyes, imagining an ocean of power, before taking a few drops of it and spreading it over his entire form. Hesitating for only a moment when green light flashes in his vision at the reminder of how much pain he felt previously.

"... How very bright. Now try reaching out."

Izuku tries to ignore the sting in his veins as his mind works in overdrive. How was he supposed to reach out? To a bunch of water? Water that is his visualization of One for All?

So, to activate the quirk he lifted it up to the surface. So to communicate… he'd have to somehow get closer.

Get closer.

Izuku feels sweat trickle down his back as he reaches a metaphorical limb and dumps it into the ocean of power. He waits a moment.

Hello?

The water rumbles and Izuku gasps, the quirk shifting until the lightning that vibrated in his bones felt more stabilized. It felt like the weight of bringing the power to the surface was easier and didn't hurt as much.

Izuku tears his hand out of the water as his eyes snap open, One for All dissipating around him Tokoyami and Dark Shadow watch him closely, one with well-hidden curiosity and the other with visible excitement.

Tokoyami opens his beak, "That was truly a sight to behold, Midoriya-san. Would I be correct to assume you found what you were looking for?"

Izuku smiles, "Y-yeah! I think so… thank you so much for the help!" Izuku looks at Dark Shadow, "Especially you! I don't know how long it would've taken me to notice if you had not pointed it out!"

Dark Shadow is still for a moment before he darts behind Tokoyami, "Fumi! He's too bright, I don't wanna disappear!"

Tokoyami sighs, ignoring the sentient shadow as they shake his head, "I'm sure you would've noticed eventually. Despite the light flowing from your eyes like something from the heavens, I can see that your soul is truly intertwined with both the light and darkness. A yin and yang, one could say. You could never truly ignore one's call from the being Dark Shadow seems to have heard.

What an odd way with words.

Izuku wholeheartedly approves.

"Ah. Thank you, I think?" Izuku says while Tokoyami bows his head. "Also, no need for the 'san', we're friends! Only if you want to though! That goes for you too, Dark Shadow-kun."

Tokoyami brings a hand to his chest, scrunching his eyes shut. "I think I see what you mean, Dark Shadow."

In response, the shadow in question just peaks out from around the corner and quickly nods in agreement.

The crow teen turns back to Izuku, "We'd both be grateful of having the experience of being your friends if you'll have us, Midoriya-kun."

The bus slows to a stop, and the trio goes quiet as the guide at the front of the bus starts to stand and give out instructions to those who could hear. Most were just looking on to the testing area in amazement as the pure full-scale size was unleashed before their very eyes.

Izuku is amazed too, but he's also amazed at how much money had to have gone into U.A. to have it be this big, not to mention the robots…

Where were they even getting their money from anyways? The hero commission?

Speaking of which, it was unfortunate that working together was prohibited in the exams, but Izuku assumed that to be because the judges wanted to look at your individual skills despite the fact you almost never worked solo on the field. Stupid logic, but if Izuku wanted to succeed then he'd have to follow their rules.

As they begin to exit the bus and move out onto the field, Izuku is tugged on by Dark Shadow so that he doesn't get lost in the crowd. Thankfully though, his two friends seem to be masters at -ahem- blending into the darkness of the background.

The trio ends up off to the far left side, around half of the group of people away from the gate. Izuku can tell that the other two, similarly to himself, wished that they could've gotten a bit closer to the front to save themselves some time. But now it wasn't possible with the amount of people packed together the closer to the front you get.

Tokoyami seemed to be doing some sort of hip stretches, and it's a smart enough idea so Izuku follows suit with his own that focus mostly on his legs. Since those were the muscles he was probably going to be using the most.

Everyone around him must've finally gotten the clue that they should begin to focus on themselves, so ever so slowly that chatter dies until the group of students sounds almost like it's muttering.

With that, came the notice that his head didn't hurt as much as it did before. It likely happened during his talk with Tokoyami and Dark Shadow since he was so immersed in it.

Izuku pulls his foot to his back, balancing on his left leg like a flamingo, feeling a slight burn on his thigh.

As he looks around, he admires the different quirks. There's someone with a beast arm nearby, then another has bat wings. Someone with extremely long claws is going through different types of punches while another with blue hair has orbs of light dancing through their fingers. A french looking person with a bulky belt winks straight at Izuku.

Izuku's eyes flick away from the person as his face tints pink, continuing his 'people search', when his eyes land on someone with brown hair. They're taking deep breaths through the mouth in a show of trying to control their pre-exam jitters-

Oh! Uraraka!

Izuku puts his foot down to regain balance, kindly telling Tokoyami to wait a few moments before weaving through a few people in the crowd. "Hey! Urara-"

A hand on his shoulder interrupts his call.

Izuku turns around to see that very same blue-haired teen with rectangular glasses that called him out just earlier that day.

"What do you think you're doing? Were you about to bother that poor girl over there when she's clearly trying to compose herself for the exams we're taking? You should be ashamed!" Glasses teen lectures while chopping his hands. Izuku sweats, noting the other students that were backing away from them.

Izuku waves his hands, "Ah! No! Y-you got it all wrong! I'm not trying to bother her! She's my friend!"

"O-oh." The teen turns a vibrant red colour, "I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. I SHOULDN'T JUST HAVE ASSUMED, PLEASE FORGIVE MY RUDENESS!" They bow at what was probably an exact ninety-degree angle.

Izuku doesn't know whether to run away from all of the attention now placed on him, or to feel relieved that the blue-haired teen wasn't an asshole, and just had a very… strict? Personality?

"It's alright! You were just trying to look out for her!" Izuku watches as the other teen stands up like a robot, "I-I just think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Midoriya Izuku! He/him pronouns."

At that, the teen with glasses eyes seem to dull ever so slightly, "I identify as male and use he/him pronouns! I apologize for not using the proper etiquette beforehand-"

"I-Its alright! You probably just forgot-"

"Midoriya-kun?"

Something wraps around his waist, so Izuku puts a hand on Dark Shadow's- shadow?

Tokoyami walks up beside Izuku, taking a look at Iida before deciding to ignore him for the moment. They notice Izuku's questioning gaze.

Tokoyami elaborates, "The exam is probably about to start since it's 3:30, and I finished stretching so I wanted to see where you went off to-"

" ANNNNND GO!!!"

Everyone does not, in fact, 'go'. Instead, all of the students stand there in surprise. Including both Izuku, Tokoyami, and Iida.

Was he really never going to get a chance to see Uraraka again?

"COME ON LISTENERS, THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN A REAL FIGHT!"

Izuku wants to scream at the man, because this is not a real fight, either.

The feeling of Dark Shadow peeling off Izuku's hips makes him look up at Tokoyami, Iida having already taken off running with- was that an engine quirk? Like Ingenium's?

"I wish you luck in your endeavour, I look forward to seeing you some time in the future."

Izuku nods, telling Tokoyami to go ahead so he could take a moment to activate his quirk. The teen nods and takes off running with Dark Shadow floating right along beside them.

He pushes his way through the large moving crowd that was reminding him of both the cafeteria and bus incident, but there were now desperate teenagers flinging their quirks every which way. Izuku ducks to the side and stables himself against a wall.

He shuts his eyes, taking a few moments to wait for the crowd's loud footsteps to fade out into the distance. Izuku didn't want to run into anyone.

So Izuku powers up One for All… lets himself guide a few drops of the power towards the surface and over the entire circumference of his skin… opens his eyes and pushes as hard as he can into running with his legs-

Lightning flashes around him as his surroundings seem to blur and then-

Pain .

Izuku groans, peeling his body from a wall as he wipes his bloody nose on mint green sleeves.

Sorry, mom.

Izuku glances at the large entrance, and everyone in the same site as him was already long gone into the field. He looks up to where Present Mic had been standing on a podium, and just as Izuku guessed, that man is standing there staring at him.

Izuku stares back to assert dominance.

You know. Like a normal person.

Present Mic stares back.

The cockatoo haired man turns around, but Izuku knows what he saw. That being the man fighting the grin appearing on his face.

Izuku would cackle, but he had already wasted a solid minute or two, so he really needed to get going.

He presses on his nose with a hesitant finger and finds that it is undoubtedly broken. Izuku grimaces at the feeling of cartilage, but at least there didn't seem to be much more blood flowing out of it.

This time, when activating One for All, he knows without a doubt how to do so thanks to the practice with Tokoyami. He cups the power in his hand, takes a few drops, and turns on as a whole all over his body. 

Dim green lightning flickers around him, and red veins cross over his clothes like some form of a spider web. He takes a step forward.

It's not too fast compared to what Izuku is used to, so he takes another, and then another, until Izuku is shooting into a sprint as he glides across the ground.

He would be shrieking with joy like his quirk is internally doing after being used correctly for the first time, but he had robots to find and destroy.

The entrance is full of robot parts, but some were left only half-finished off, so Izuku kicks in their heads with his super-powered strength to hopefully start out his points.

He runs past a few people who are destroying the hunks of metal with their own power, one of them being Iida, but he ignores it since Izuku couldn't just steal them. During his desperate run, he pulls a few people away from the pieces of metal, getting a few thanks in return.

Izuku takes a deep breath, standing in an intersection for a moment to rest his muscles and quirk that's burning his veins. He couldn't find much…

Izuku studies the buildings around him before his eyes lock onto a particular building that has multiple balconies for people to be able to see the rest of the testing area better-

His eyes light up as a smile twitches across his face. He activates One for All and runs over the building, before testing a small jump in the air. He hums, glancing between the railing and the ground. It should be fine…

Izuku leaps onto the outside rail, fingers curling as metal digs into the palms of his hands. He pulls himself up, wheezing as he does so.

He jumps up two more balconies before he's as high as he can go, and from there he takes a breath and leaps across a small gap between the building he's on and the one next to it, landing on its roof since it's slightly lower.

From here… he can see a lot. People scattered around fighting, buildings towered along different made up streets, Tokoyami in a nearby alley, and most importantly, a decently sized cluster of about seven robots one street away from where he is.

Izuku jumps across roofs to get to his destination, only slipping on shingles a few times. Anxiety and nerves thrum in his throat in a way that makes him want to throw up, because he knows what he's doing is risky, but…

He has to get into his dream school. Izuku can't let a little fear overwhelm him when he's so close to his goal.

He lands on a moderately sized building, basically right beside where the robots are despite being well above the street. He looks around, and he sees a few people a ways away from where Izuku is. One of them has claws and is trying to scrape at the moving metal, and the other is floating a bunch into the sky before letting the robots drop to the ground.

There also seems to be a drone flying high in the sky with its camera locked onto Izuku's form.

He shivers, now if Izuku messes up, the teachers or whoever's scoring will know about it.

He squints at the robots, before taking a few steps forward and back to warm up his muscles. The running and leap strategy Izuku was going for is one that needs to be well-executed, or else he could end up with at least one broken leg.

He was aiming to land onto the three-point robot's head, where the crunching of inverted metal would slowly stop Izuku's fall without much pain. From there he could dodge whatever lasers were thrown and destroy the rest in the process.

Probably wishful thinking on Izuku's part, since he was rusty with his training since his dad hadn't come home in over 5 years, but it was worth a shot.

Izuku huffs a breath, tucking a green curl behind his ear, activating One for All and taking a running leap off the edge of the building.

If only Kacchan could see me now.

He would laugh at the intrusive thought, but Izuku was preoccupied.

The metal exoskeleton of a three-pointer is crushed under Izuku's weight, with the help of gravity and a quirk. The body lands face-first into concrete, with Izuku still standing on its smoking skull, biting his tongue at the slight stinging in his bones.

Six other robots simultaneously twist their heads with glowing red eyes, locking onto Izuku's still form.

Ah fuck.

He leaps away as their lasers go off, landing where Izuku was moments earlier and end up harmlessly obliterating their fallen comrade.

Meanwhile, Izuku had jumped with a kick towards one of the robots whose lasers didn't go off and shot it towards a building's wall a few meters away.

One for All sings in his veins like a well harmonized orchestra.

Izuku's eyes land on the three-pointer smoking on the ground, but now it had three large holes through the head. He takes a breath, leaping away from a robot that was getting too close, noting a rumbling sound from one that was firing up its laser.

That… that's an idea.

Izuku jumps behind one of the smaller robots and ducks to the ground just as the other fires off its beam of death. The blue light slices through the metal Izuku was hiding behind and the robot falls as Izuku skids away from the collapsing machine.

Izuku grins, wiping his knees as lightning flickers around him.

He uses the same tactic for the next four robots, jumping and leaping behind different robots as lasers went off and destroyed the themselves for Izuku. He had the brief worrying thought of his tactic not counting, but the rules were clearly stated in the pamphlet, and they never said Izuku couldn't do it this way. Besides, without his fast movements, this wouldn't have been possible for anyone else- or, at least, someone without something that could enhance one's speed. So it was a valid battle tactic.

A few other robots joined in the party in all the commotion, but Izuku had barely even noticed. Between having so much fun working with his partially sentient quirk partner, and the satisfying (and not yet tiring) burn of his muscles.

He's suddenly… a bit thankful to his months carrying garbage, building up his strength along with his stamina. Not to mention whatever 'click' happened on the bus that made One for All feel more like his.

When there's only one robot left, he jumps on the head so that it gets inverted where Izuku red shoes stand and the neck crumples like a spring to the ground.

Izuku sweats, wiping his brow as his focus on the fight wears off. It felt like he was in a trance; mind not once resting during the whole thing. But now with his points, he can take a moment to get his bearings.

There are now more people scurrying around near him, probably having moved on from their spots closer to the entrance once all of those robots had been taken care of. The sky is bright, and Izuku can no longer see Uraraka anymore without his height from the building. Plus, there are more people, but he can make out a floating robot a little bit away from where he is, so she must still be close.

He looks back to his own defeated scraps of metal. There were originally seven, but now looking, the number must've been upped to around fifteen in all of the commotion of his fighting. Izuku's surprised, especially since he'd come off relatively unharmed.

(Unharmed being a broken nose, multiple different scrapes that were mostly focused on his legs, and likely bruised feet despite not being able to check for marks yet. Quirk overuse too. His muscles burn, he'd only been using a little bit but considering that before he hadn't used his power at all? Yeah. Not the best for Izuku.)

So he'd gotten at least twenty points. Which is assuming that everything he'd destroyed were one pointers. He wasn't really paying attention during his fighting, and the leftovers that were left unfinished at the entrance were still missing pieces of themselves, and Izuku couldn't really tell during his rush. Though, he had gotten a few three-pointers, since he knows that they have lasers.

Realistically thinking, Izuku probably had around thirty points. Which was good, but he also wasn't sure if that was enough to get in.

A shadow drops over Izuku, and at first, he just sighs in relief at the coolness of it. But then he feels the shaking of the ground and decides that now would be a good time to open his eyes.

It is at that moment that Izuku can see a big robot.

And no, he doesn't mean one twice the size of a three-pointer, or even triple the size.

He means that you should try triple the size of a building.

Yeah, not today Satan. Izuku is going to go find people and robots trapped in the rubble caused by that behemoth while trying not to get killed in his exams, because this is just ridiculous. Does U.A. want to kill children? Is this school really just some secret villain organization-

And then a stampede of children start running away from the robot, and while Izuku can't exactly blame their reaction, he is going to anyway. Because he is currently getting war flashbacks to when they ate lunch in the cafeteria, the bus, and the start of the damn exams combined.

He has trauma from today, okay?!

"HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP! I-IM STUCK!"

Uraraka.

Green eyes flick to where the noise came from, and while he can't hear much over other people's screaming, he could just barely tell that it was towards where the zero pointer is.

So he does the only thing he can do.

Which is run, straight towards the sound of someone needing help. In opposition to the way the crowd is moving.

Izuku dodges through people as light sparks around him, and thankfully it's not too difficult since people take lightning as something to avoid. He breaks out of the crowd, eyes locking onto Uraraka underneath a slab of fallen concrete.

He ups his power outage slightly, just enough to feel like his bones are creaking under the force before skidding right beside Uraraka.

Izuku wishes he could just stop the zero pointer in its tracks. It'd be much easier, but with his current power outage, it would barely give the thing more than a small dent in its side. Not to mention, if that fell the wrong way and landed on someone…

Yeah.

Not good.

He looks at Uraraka, who's gasping for air as sweat drips down her pale face, and then at the rock slap on top of her. Izuku could easily break it, but that would run the risk of shifting something within it and making things worse.

Izuku steadies his hands on rock, trying to pull it up-

It's heavy, so it barely moves and the shift is nowhere near enough to get Uraraka out from under it. Especially since if he put any more force on that specific spot, the slab would've likely cracked off.

He looks at Uraraka.

Anti-gravity quirk…

A lightbulb illuminates in his head, as he keeps his eyes on the slowly progressing zero pointer.

"Uraraka?! You have an anti-gravity quirk right?" He says with a strain in his voice.

The girl doesn't open her eyes, but she does nod in surprise. "Y-yeah, why-?"

"Could you use it on this slab for just a moment? Enough for me to be able to pick it up and throw it away?"

"I'm not sure but-" She opens a determined brown eye as she twists her elbow to the side. "But I can try for five seconds!"

Izuku puts his hands underneath the concrete, mumbling out an affirmative. That would have to be enough time.

The zero pointer lifts its left foot towards them.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck-

Izuku counts down.

"Three, two, one, go!"

It happens all at once.

Uraraka places five fingers on the concrete, and Izuku can feel it go light in his hands, yet it doesn't rise since Uraraka is probably too tired to do anything but what already is.

Izuku picks up the slab, balancing part of it on his chest and wincing as stray large rocks tumble around where it previously was. None end up near Uraraka, which is a small mercy in their state of desperation.

And then he yeets the slab as far away from the both of them as humanly possible.

It flies into the sun, narrowly missing the zero pointer's head, and Izuku does not miss it.

Izuku stands for a moment.

What is he forgetting-

The zero pointers foot comes into view right above him, and Izuku lets out a yelp as he activates One for All on instinct, picks up Uraraka by the thighs and neck, and gets the fuck out of there.

"AAANNNND TIMES UP FOLKS! IF YOU'RE NOT INJURED YOU CAN GO AHEAD BACK TO THE GATE, OR IF YOU ARE INJURED WAIT AROUND FOR RECOVERY GIRL TO MAKE HER ROUNDS! YEAAAAAHHHH!"

At that, the zero pointer puts down its foot, and now that both Uraraka and Izuku himself are both far away from it, it does not even come close to crushing either of them.

Then Uraraka jabs him in the chest, and Izuku fumbles to a halt as the burning in his arms finally becomes too much. His arms buckle under the total exhaustion of the day and Uraraka's weight.

She lands on the ground with an 'oof', putting a hand on the ground and then-

Uraraka throws up what was probably all of her day's meal.

Izuku wants to plug his nose at the sour smell, but even so, he kneels down and pulls the hair out of her face, similar to how he would do it with his mom.

She gags, stopping for a moment as she takes a deep breath. Izuku can hear some kind of cart rolling towards them as an old voice rings out. "Oh my. You two really went through quite a bit."

Izuku looks up at Recovery Girl, just nodding as his eyes scan the leftover group of people. They're all staring at him and Uraraka… huh. Even that Iida guy seems to be looking at him with what seems to be… admiration?

He looks back at the heroine and nods, "Yeah. But focus on her, she's actually hurt, I'm just a bit tired."

Recovery Girl kisses Uraraka's forehead, holding out what is probably nausea medicine and her signature 'stamina gummies'.

Uraraka chews and gulps down both without a second thought.

Recovery Girl stares at him. "Dear. Your nose is broken."

Izuku blinks down at his nose. He had forgotten about that.

"I will be healing you, but take these gummies first. I know quirk exhaustion when I see it."

Izuku sighs, holding out his hands until he feels the gummies resting in them. He lets himself sit down as he chucks them in his mouth, chews, and then swallows them in one go.

This was not how he wanted to find his new friend from this morning, but he guesses that beggars can't be choosers. 

He looks over to the resting Uraraka, who's propped up against a stretcher. His brow furrows.

Recovery Girl turns around, takes one look at his expression and huffs. "You children and all your worrying. She's just tired now and needs to regain her energy, which is why I gave her the gummies and medicine. If she fell asleep from exhaustion now, the stomach medicine wouldn't have been necessary. Almost similar to you, sonny, but you don't need the medicine."

That made sense.

Wait- what did she mean by him too-?

Izuku feels something wet on his forehead, and then his nose shifts, presumingly back to normal.

His vision goes dark. Still awake but definitely tired from the healing.

Izuku lets himself close his eyes, resting his mind. Today was tiring anyways, and he doesn't feel like moving from his spot on the concrete. At least if he falls asleep, he won't have to go back to U.A. on a death trap (read: bus).

He feels himself go limp against something soft and cold, and just before Izuku lets himself rest after the long day, a thought comes to him.

I never got any of my friends' phone numbers! What am I going to do if we all don't get in-