Chapter 7: Stumble
Izuku received some additional testing in order to get his quirk registered. He had to guess the names and quirks of random volunteers, which he did right every time. He even leveled up Observe once, not that it really affected his performance. Once he'd done this, Dr. Kyudai (Tsubasa?) promised he would start working on the paperwork he'd need to submit for his quirk to become officially registered. But before that…
"Ah, one more thing," Kyudai said, just as Izuku thought he was done. "I'm supposed to ask: how would you feel about doing some additional intelligence testing?"
Intelligence testing? "Why?" Izuku asked.
"Some quirks have auxiliary effects," he explained. "This quirk, though primarily observatory in nature, technically also falls into the category of analysis quirk. Analysis quirks occasionally provide secondary intelligence boosts… if you take this test and get a high score, increased intelligence would be part of your quirk description."
That sounded… "Great!" Izuku said. Good! That would give me something extra to sell to hero schools besides 'can tell a person's name/quirk'... having boosted intelligence might actually make me a way more competitive applicant!
"I'll go print you a test," the doctor said. As he left, Izuku sat down at one of the chairs and thought about making a potentially-rash decision. "Stats," he said.
VIT: 15, STR: 12, DEX: 15, INT: 28, WIS: 18, CHA: 15
Unallotted Stat Points: 26
"Is my intelligence actually good enough to make a big difference on the test?" he muttered to himself. He hoped it was… this might end up being kind of important for his hero resume, and it would also let him explain his boosted intelligence if he heightened it significantly in the future.
I could add unallotted stat points to intelligence for a boost, Izuku thought to himself. Intelligence is kind of getting out of the ballpark where I can improve it naturally anyways…
The whole point of how he was using his quirk was to get into hero school, right? This was basically improving his chances.
With that in mind, Izuku's choice was decided. "Thirteen unallotted stat points to intelligence," he said.
VIT: 15, STR: 12, DEX: 15, INT: 41, WIS: 18, CHA: 15
Unallotted Stat Points: 13
Perfect. Forty-one intelligence had to be high enough. He'd felt like a genius with how fast he could learn at twenty-eight.
The doctor came back with a test (along with a pack of pencils) before long. Izuku took the pencils and the test and glanced at it, ready to crush this test and get plausible deniability for having really high intelligence in the future.
Which is why he almost dropped his pencil when he saw it seemed to be an exam that focused almost solely on testing the critical-thinking and problem-solving of the person in question.
Problem-solving is Wisdom! Why did they call this an intelligence test?!
Izuku wanted to bang his head against the table. Did he seriously make the mistake of mixing up intelligence and wisdom again? His wisdom wasn't even that great! How was he supposed to do well?! Well, sure it was high, and getting to the point where it was difficult to grind it much higher, but…
Izuku sighed. "Thirteen stat points to wisdom."
VIT: 15, STR: 12, DEX: 15, INT: 41, WIS: 31, CHA: 15
Unallotted Stat Points: 0
Well, now that he was done wasting a bunch of his stat points by mistake, hopefully he'd actually be able to get a good score on this awful test. He put pencil to paper, and did his best.
The test had been hard, but not that hard. Izuku was hoping that was a good sign, considering it was supposed to test if you got some kind of boost… so maybe it was hard on purpose, and the fact that he'd found it medium-hard was a good sign?
Kyudai promised him that his test (and the rest of his paperwork) would be processed within a few business days, and therefore he was good to go. He went in the car with his mom, who was making celebratory katsudon to celebrate, and sighed. I had to make a lot of impulsive decisions today, but… boosting my highest stats was probably the best idea anyway given the curve on stat point gains… I think I'll just focus on grinding my other four stats for now, and improving skills.
I wonder what my classmates will think, now that I have a quirk…
His classmates weren't exactly… happy with him. Not really.
Still, their anger at him was… withdrawn. Subdued. But he'd been the pariah of his class for so long that it seemed like he was always destined to be, at the very least, mildly unpopular. Part of him was angry about what happened, but… well… he understood they hadn't meant to kill him, only keep him locked in the closet for a few hours. So it was… a little bit like an accident, right?
(It was nothing like an accident, but thinking in those terms made Izuku feel better.)
Basically all of the bullying had stopped, though. Whether it was because they'd received some kind of dressing-down from the teachers or because they'd felt bad about what happened, Izuku wasn't sure. Maybe they were just too afraid to bully him any longer after what happened to Nakano.
Nakano had gotten a black mark on his record for attacking another student.
Izuku was stunned that Nakano actually faced real consequences. He'd thought maybe he'd get detention for a few days and then they'd forget about it, but… no. Nakano's wrongdoings were actually documented? He supposed that now that there was a story behind his odd interest in quirks and his strange mannerisms, and that he had an explanation for how he knew about Nakano's quirk, he was believed. It was kind of ironic. The punishment that the principal had threatened him with was the one that had been levied against Nakano.
Sure, Nakano technically hadn't any punishment punishment, like getting suspended, but… this was good enough! Izuku hadn't had very much of an expectation for that anyways, considering the teacher had barely even believed him. It was fine.
(It wasn't.)
Something very interesting was what had happened with his classmates' reputation. It was still in the high twenties (which left him on-edge) but it was now labelled unsure instead of enemy, which was something, at least.
RELATIONSHIPS
Midoriya Inko: Rep +97. Unconditional Love.
Bakugou Katsuki: Rep -54. Enemy. (Type=Abusive).
Bakugou Mitsuki: Rep +13. Friendly Acquaintance.
Bakugou Masaru: Rep +12. Friendly Acquaintance.
Classmates [Homeroom]: Rep -27. Unsure.
Strangely, Bakugou's rep had actually gotten a little better too! Only by like ten, but still.
Frankly, Bakugou was still kinda mean. He glared at him across the classroom and insulted him loudly, even calling his new quirk useless. But he never attacked him or messed with his stuff anymore. When his friends asked him why, Bakugou loudly announced that he wouldn't be getting a mark on his record "like dumbass Nakano" since he had to get into UA, but Izuku got the sense that Bakugou was letting him off easy.
Izuku didn't think that Bakugou felt bad about what happened to Izuku, not exactly, but Bakugou did seem to be at the very least thrown by what had happened.
(It made Izuku feel better about their relationship that Bakugou hadn't been in the group who had locked him in the closet.)
To be honest, Izuku wanted his rep with Bakugou to improve. Still, he didn't know how to make that happen, so there wasn't much he could do on that front. He'd just have to hope that it would happen on its own.
"Izuku, your results are back!" his mother called.
"Results for what?" he asked, chomping on his noodles.
"Auxiliary testing for your quirk?" she said, reading the envelope.
"Auxiliary… wait--" Izuku started. Was that the intelligence test?
Inko tore open the seal. "It says… oh, it says that the test results confirmed that quirk gives you an intelligence boost! How wonderful, baby! I always knew you were a smart cookie," she said, giving him a pat on the head. Then she handed him the envelope.
Izuku scanned the letter eagerly.
Apparently, with the score he got, he'd be listed as having a 'mild intelligence boost.'
Despite how he'd initially suggested the name Observe, his quirk would officially be called Analysis, and the description would be, " Analysis lets the user know a person's name and quirk just by looking at them. It has the side effect of giving them a mild intelligence boost."
Izuku sighed in relief. Good enough.
They'd decided to call it 'Analysis' rather than 'Observe' because they thought it fit better, considering the quirk gave him an intelligence-boost as well as letting him figure out someone's quirk and name. Technically Observe would be the more honest name in truth, but Analysis hit what he was trying to portray in his fake quirk better, so the name change would work just fine for him. "So I'm finally registered," Izuku said.
His mom smiled. "Congratulations, sweetheart."
Izuku glanced down at his plans to train for the UA Exams. He needed completely new plans, now taking into account his new quirk and used stat points.
Well, firstly, even though it was inefficient, he would have to boost his intelligence and wisdom as much as he could. Intelligence quirks were expected to grow with adolescence, so he was supposed to get smarter as time went on. While his growth didn't have to be perfect (it was hard to measure what 'intelligence' really meant anyway, and it's not like anyone was breathing down his neck and monitoring his progress) but he should probably try to keep up appearances a little just in case, since he didn't want any suspicion. That would be hard to pull off, though. It was hard to grind INT and WIS as it was.
But… he could grind related skills, right? He could probably work ahead a lot in Math and Chemistry, right? Physics, maybe? Learning new things for those would help him grind INT anyways, and if he practiced Quirk Analysis he could bulk up his WIS while working on that skill specifically. And working ahead in academics would help him with the UA written regardless.
As far as his other raw stats went, he'd need to improve his strength and dexterity a lot to be a hero. He'd continue his workout routine, and keep going with his charisma practice during school. There wasn't much he could do for his vitality, though, since he wasn't planning on intentionally hurting himself for it. He could figure out what to do with that later. It's not like he was planning on getting in any fights anytime soon, so he'd basically have until he was out of internships before his low VIT became a risk. But regardless, he had a plan.
Izuku felt a swell of determination.
He could do this.
He would do this.
And he would keep his secret in the meantime.
Chapter 8: Entrance Exam
Izuku huffed, finishing his run. He'd been practicing for the past nine months, and the UA Entrance Exam was tomorrow. He'd been training, but his stat changes had started to plateau the more he gained, which had stymied his progress. He was stronger, of course, he could feel it, but he wasn't sure if he was strong enough.
"Stats," Izuku said.
VIT: 16, STR: 18, DEX: 20, INT: 43, WIS: 35, CHA: 21
Unallotted Stat Points: 0
It was decent, but… well, the UA Entrance Exam was tough. And since he had (as far as the law was concerned) a non-physical quirk that didn't boost his athletic potential, he needed to be in top condition.
Izuku wasn't in top condition. He was above average, sure, but he wasn't amazing.
So yeah, his training hadn't gone great exactly.
On the bright side, thoug, he'd gotten very far ahead in math, chemistry, physics with his new INT boost… he'd even tried out a little computer coding! Such high intelligence was very conducive to learning. (To be honest, his 'mistake' when it came to adding more intelligence points had been a great boon to his academic career. He got As on basically all his tests without trying.)
He hadn't gotten any quests, so no more XP… which meant there weren't any free stat points to put into anything. He'd just have to take the test with what he had right now.
"Oh, good luck Izuku," his mother said fretfully, handing him a packed lunch.
"I'll be fine, mom," Izuku said, despite feeling a bit worried himself. "I'll do my best!"
"That's all I can ask," she said, giving him a quick peck on the forehead.
Izuku waved his mother goodbye and got on the train to take him to UA. The commute was only ten minutes (another reason Izuku wanted to go to UA) so Izuku didn't take too long to get there and enter the school.
Only to trip on the sidewalk as he was walking up to the testing building.
Luckily, he was saved by a friendly girl who had brown-hair, who used her quirk to float him up from the ground. Too nervous to say anything, he just stuttered in response to her. Afterwards, he managed to walk the rest of the way into the testing center.
He took his seat a little numbly, before noticing that he was seated next to Bakugou, of all people. He tried to ignore the way that Bakugou growled at him.
Once the testing center had filled up with examinees, Present Mic walked onstage and started to explain how the exam would be going. Izuku grinned upon seeing him.
"Observe," he muttered to himself.
Yamada Hizashi -- Lvl. 53 -- Radio Hero
Quirk: Voice
[See Stats & Skills]
Izuku hummed in satisfaction. It wasn't any information he didn't already have on Present Mic, and Izuku's level was too low to look at the stats and skills, but he liked seeing it regardless. It made sense that Mic had the title Radio Hero, too.
Unfortunately, Present Mic was in the middle of explaining how the Physical Exam consisted of fighting robots. He winced internally at that. A strength score of 18 was probably not good enough to punch through metal, especially not thick metal. A robot-fighting test did not bode well for him whatsoever.
He puffed out a breath. I'll just have to do my best…
"You with the unkempt hair!" a boy with glasses said.
Izuku jolted out of his daydream. "Huh?"
"You've been muttering this entire time! You have to take this seriously. You're distracting the rest of us," he said strictly.
Izuku shrank into himself as the students around them giggled, and frowned. Once Present Mic went back to answering the boy's question (about how the fourth robot was an 'obstacle'-- best avoided, rather than fought) Izuku glared at the boy and muttered, "Observe."
Iida Tenya -- Lvl. 19 -- None
Quirk: Engine
[See Stats & Skills]
"No title, but he outlevels me," Izuku mumbled, but quickly shutting up so that the boy wouldn't notice and yell at him again. That last name, Iida, plus the quirk, Engine… was he related to Ingenium?
There was no chance to ask. The exam was starting. As he walked to his new testing arena, Izuku wondered a little bit how mad the kid was with him. He supposed that if he was curious, there was a way to find out.
"Add Iida Tenya to relationships," Izuku whispered. "Relationships."
RELATIONSHIPS
Midoriya Inko: Rep +98. Unconditional Love.
Bakugou Katsuki: Rep -54. Enemy. (Type=Abusive)
Bakugou Mitsuki: Rep +12. Friendly Acquaintance.
Bakugou Masaru: Rep +10. Friendly Acquaintance.
Classmates [Old Homeroom]: Rep -28. Very Mild Hostility.
Iida Tenya: Rep -3. Slight disapproval.
Izuku could have given a sigh of relief. It looked like he hadn't made a proper enemy out of the kid yet, it was just a little disapproval. -3 rep was nothing. "Close."
He wanted to go up and talk to the girl who had stopped him from falling on his face earlier, but Iida gave him a severe look from across the courtyard that stopped Izuku in his tracks. Why is he looking at me like that?
Unluckily, at that exact same time, Present Mic yelled 'GO' for the exam to start.
Izuku ran clumsily sprinted forward, just as white text jumped in front of his vision with a dinging noise.
[ALERT: HEROICS QUEST ACTIVATION!]
Heroics Quest: UA Physical Exam
Goal: Pass the UA Physical ExamBonus: Get first in the UA Physical Exam.
REWARDS: ???
BONUS REWARDS: ???
"Close!" Izuku said, ignoring it and continuing to sprint. He didn't have time to hem-and-haw over the quest right now, he just had to take the test.
He ran forward and made a plan.
"Kids are doing pretty well this year," Hound Dog commented, scanning the screens. "That one is certainly making significant progress," he said, pointing out the kid blowing up all the robots by explosion.
Nedzu nodded. That one--Bakugou Katsuki, by the name on his files--was obviously powerful and focused. He had high potential. Though it looked like he wasn't very keen on rescuing, judging by the way he'd only gotten villain points so far.
"Oh, and that one," Kayama said. "Look how stylish he is! Keeping a level-head!" She pointed to a blond kid with sparkles shooting out of his stomach.
Nedzu sighed, a bit bemused. This was the ' let's point out all the kids who we think look interesting' part, in which all the teachers (except perhaps Aizawa) partook every single year. Nedzu for one didn't really understand why they didn't just wait until everyone had gotten in before getting all excited.
"Oh wow, look at that one!" Yamada said, pointing to an examinee in Battle Center B. "He's spearing the robots with that robot leg he got off another kid! Metal."
"He's going pretty fast, but not fast enough. He might get in, though, if he manages some decent rescue points," Thirteen said. "What's his quirk?"
Aizawa pulled up the kid's profile on one of the computers. "It's Analysis," Aizawa said. "It lets him know someone's name and quirk on-sight. Additional mild intelligence boost, as well."
"How are they spearing the robots with that piece of metal, if they don't have a strength quirk?" Yamada asked.
"He's aiming for the vulnerable area beneath the control panel," Nedzu said. "On the 2-pointers. That's why he's going after them exclusively."
"Aw, that's clever! Looks like his quirk really does make him smarter!" Yamada said, glancing back at Nedzu expectantly.
Nedzu nodded, but he didn't feel as excited as Yamada thought he would be. Very few intelligence quirks among humans were anywhere close to being as powerful as High Specs, which is why he had very few intellectual equals. To be honest, he wasn't really expecting much out of Midoriya's quirk, considering it was a secondary effect (instead of the function of the whole quirk itself) and was only strong enough to be listed as mild in the quirk description list.
It was interesting that he'd found that weak point, though. Nedzu had put in a few weak points on purpose, to ease Aizawa's (legitimate) complaints, but they were only ever utilized rarely.
"Let's unleash the Zero-Pointer," Kayama suggested. Nedzu nodded at that, breaking into a grin. He slammed the red button.
Izuku panted, feeling exhausted. His legs and arm throbbed as he ran, destroying yet another robot by spearing it right under the control panel. He'd managed to obtain the metal spear thing after the sparkly kid had blown a three-pointer apart in front of him, and he'd managed to grab a sturdy-looking piece and use it to his advantage.
It had taken him a little while to find the weak spots, but once he got started he was easily able to make a robot-destroying rhythm. But considering the point values the other kids were yelling out, Izuku worried that it wouldn't be enough.
Only a few minutes left…
There was a great rumbling, and a gigantic robot arose in the middle of the arena. Is that supposed to be the zero-pointer? "Oh geez," Izuku started, turning around, about to run. But, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl trapped in the rubble.
Surely they know she's there, she won't get run over or anything, Izuku justified, wanting to run away. Still, he felt guilty. She was the one who helped him before! And knowing he couldn't make it over there in time…
As Iida ran by him, Izuku grabbed onto his arm. "Wait!" Izuku said, skidding a few feet.
Iida slowed down, his engines sputtering out, and he whipped his head over and looked at Izuku like he was crazy.
He pointed at the girl from earlier. "Grab her!"
Iida's eyes set in determination, and he ran back, lifting the girl out of the rubble, before swinging around just as fast. The robot actually shut down once it got seriously close to the students, but by Izuku's estimates, Iida probably would have escaped even if the robot had kept plowing forward. He did feel a little silly once he saw the robot stop automatically, though. Obviously UA had their robots under control… Still, Izuku followed Iida as he ran back towards the entrance.
"Thaaat's it, boys and girls! The exam is over! Injured examinees, stay where you are! We're bringing medical to you." Present Mic's voice rang through the arena.
[ALERT! Heroics Quest has been completed! Collect rewards?]
[ALERT! Heroics Bonus Quest Failed]
Does that mean… he got in?!
It did!
Izuku barely managed to resist pumping his fist and literally cheering. He didn't even care that he didn't get in first place. He got in. He got in! He didn't think it would have been possible with a non-physical quirk like his, not with robots for a test!
"Collect rewards," he said.
UA Physical Exam Complete!
Rewards [Hidden]: +10 Stat Points, +100XP
Stat points! Good enough. He could always use a few of those.
That meant so long as he passed the written exam, he would be fine!
Izuku grabbed his bag at the front and started walking inside to change. He'd brought an extra set of clothes to change into before the second part of the test, as had been recommended.
And now that he was thinking about it… Izuku really wanted to pass the written exam by a large margin, since he was faking an intelligence quirk. He didn't want to get a weak score and for everyone to think he was being lazy or that his quirk didn't do much.
And, well, since he basically couldn't grind up WIS or INT anymore unlike his other stats… it would make a lot of strategic sense if he just…
"Ten stat points to wisdom," he said. "Stats."
VIT: 16, STR: 18, DEX: 20, INT: 43, WIS: 45, CHA: 21
Unallotted Stat Points: 0
Forty-five was probably good enough, right? Wisdom was meant to represent problem solving, so it should help him on the test. Was 45 a good number for a kid with a minor intelligence quirk? Probably. It would probably be fine. Stop stressing, Izuku ordered himself. Now changed into a new set of clothes, Izuku mentally prepared to take the written exam.
The written exam was easy.
Izuku hated to say it! It was fun, sure, and somewhat challenging, but he'd expected it to be a bit more difficult. Maybe because it was the Heroics exam and not the General exam? No, no, the internet had told him that the two exams were virtually identical…
Did I miss all the trick questions? Izuku wondered. Maybe I missed the complexities… or, well, it is just a high school entrance exam. Were my preparations overkill? I mean, did I really need to go so many grade levels ahead in math? Maybe not…
He was reluctant to say that for certain, though. UA had brought out a giant death robot for their physical exam, so who was to say?
He was pretty sure he'd passed, though. And that's what counted.
Glancing down at the written exam in his paws, Nedzu had to admit that his low expectations had undersold Midoriya's abilities. He grinned.
At the very least, Midoriya was worth keeping an eye on.
Chapter 9: Acceptance Letter
"Ah, there's one more thing," Nedzu said, in the middle of their staff meeting. "We need to change things regarding Midoriya."
"What do you mean?" Aizawa asked, giving Nedzu a look.
"Midoriya's quirk allows him to know a person's name and quirk on sight," Nedzu said cheerfully. "If he sees All Might, Yagi's civilian cover would be blown immediately! Which is something of an issue, considering All Might is supposed to be Midoriya's Heroics instructor."
"Ouch," Hound Dog muttered.
"Yeah. How do we deal with that?" Yamada asked.
"I do have a plan," Nedzu said. "Yagi, in his normal form, can teach First Year Heroics, while All Might teaches some of the upper classes."
Aizawa grimaced. "Which classes? Those students will be graduating soon and they can't afford to have been taught poorly."
"That's why he will not be teaching alone. He can help run the practical exercises of some of the upper-year heroics courses. We'll schedule them against each other so he doesn't run out of time on any given day," Nedzu said. "Then he can be listed as a secondary teacher or a co-teacher on multiple courses."
"I can do that," Yagi said.
"A bit complicated, though," Thirteen added.
"Yeah… I hate to say this, but…" Kayama seemed uncomfortable with her suggestion even as she spoke, "…wouldn't it be easier to just reject his application?"
"Yes, but we shouldn't," Aizawa said flatly. "We can't just reject all the applicants with information-gathering potential because we have secrets to keep."
"Ah, it might be better this way," Yagi said. "It would probably be easier to learn how to teach if I'm under the guidance of others as a secondary instructor…"
"Yeah. Plus, more students would get to meet All Might," Hound Dog said gruffly. "That'd make them happy, and it's good for PR. We'd just have to be careful that Midoriya and All Might never come in contact."
Nedzu wanted All Might to be moved to teaching the older students for his own reasons. Since All Might had chosen Mirio as his successor, it would be better for All Might to teach the third-years so he could more easily have contact with Toogata.
In a way, Nedzu appreciated Midoriya giving him a proper excuse.
Kayama nodded, and the teachers seemed to be in agreement over this plan, even though it would require a significant amount of very last-minute switching around.
"Alright then, we have our plan," Nedzu said, and so the meeting ended.
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Izuku called, running to answer it. His UA letter was supposed to be coming today! And sure enough, at the door was the postal worker, carrying all their mail for the day. And in that mail was Izuku's letter marked from UA.
Time for the moment of truth…
Izuku took the heavy envelope upstairs and opened it, just to find a holo-disk inside. He unwrapped and activated the disk.
All Might appeared on the screen. "I am here… as a projection!" he said.
All Might?! How'd UA get him to do the acceptance letters?
"Now, you're probably wondering why you see me here! Which is why I come bearing an announcement! I actually came to Musutafu to teach at UA!" projection All Might said.
All Might's teaching at UA?!
Part of Izuku was absolutely thrilled, but the other part was mortified. Would All Might still remember him? All Might hadn't known at the time that Izuku had figured out his real name and quirk, so it shouldn't be a problem, but just remembering that mistake was absolutely embarrassing.
"While I'll only be teaching the upper-years," projection All Might said, which made Izuku both disappointed and relieved, "I'm here to deliver your scores! And perhaps I'll end up being your teacher in a year or two!"
Alright, I can work with that, Izuku thought. Now tell me if I got in or not…
"As for your physical exam score, you managed to achieve 26 villain points! Not bad, but unfortunately a little short of being enough to get you into the hero course."
What?! But my quirk said… Izuku's roiling feelings of shock and betrayal were interrupted by All Might once more. "If that's all there was to it! Take a look at this video!"
A video in the background of the scene clicked on. On-screen was that blue-haired boy, Iida Tenya, talking to Present Mic.
"Apologies for the intrusion, sir!" Iida said, doing a chopping motion with his arm. "But you know that boy who was muttering in the auditorium? The one with the green hair? I am unsure of how many points he got, but I must ask you to admit him!"
"Why do you say that, little listener?" Present Mic could be heard asking offscreen.
"I ran away when that girl was in danger," Iida said. "It was that boy who stepped up and told me I needed to save her! Even more so than me, he would make an excellent hero," Iida said, face set in determination. "So I must recommend him very strongly for the hero course!"
The video-within-a-projection was clicked off.
"That student there has a point, you know!" All Might said. "How could a hero course reject someone like you, who brings out the heroic spirit in others?" he announced. "For encouraging someone else's heroic actions, and thus contributing to a rescue, you've been awarded 25 rescue points! When combined with your villain points, that's definitely enough for you to get into the hero course!"
Izuku gasped in shock, a broad grin spreading across his face.
"And that's not all! For saving that person from the zero-pointer, Iida himself received 45 rescue points, which puts him in first place for the entire exam!" All Might said. "All three of you passed!"
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. I'm in. My quirk wasn't lying!
"Your heroic spirit is truly something to be admired! Congrats on getting a 98% on the written exam, by the way. That marks something of a record! Top scorer this year! Nedzu informs me it's been a while since anyone's scored that high!"
Oops, shit. Might have overdone it…
Oh well. This is fine. This just means that my INT and WIS are high enough now to believably class as an intelligence-boosting analysis quirk. That's what I was worried about in the first place.
"The rest of your enrollment information will arrive in the mail this week! Plus Ultra!" With that, the recording ended.
Izuku swung his door open. "Mom, I got in."
Midoriya Inko's eyes filled with happy tears. "Oh, congratulations, sweetheart!"
"Congratulations, Midoriya and Bakugou, on getting into UA High!" the principal announced. "To hear that two of you got into such a prestigious high school… especially you, Midoriya, after discovering your quirk so late! We'll be sure to congratulate both of you at our commencement ceremony."
Bakugou glared daggers at him. Izuku winced.
Well… time to avoid Kacchan for as long as possible…!
There wasn't much time left before classes at UA would start. And Izuku was thrilled, though he knew it might be a bit tough for him, since he hadn't been able to boost his physical stats very much.
Looking at it from an objective standpoint, I obviously put too many points into Wisdom, Izuku thought to himself, It might have been better to split it, half-WIS and half-VIT or half-WIS and half-STR. But it isn't not like I could have known that that level of WIS would be overkill… I wasn't sure how much forty-five stat points would really end up being at the time…
With a little bit of extra thinking, Izuku made a plan for how he wanted to use his future unallotted stat points.
Since UA involved a lot of physical conditioning, he would wait for his STR and DEX to rise around as high as they would go with regular training. Then he would use his unallotted stat points to top off those two stats. He would try and make them go as high as he could without making it look like Izuku had an unregistered strength quirk.
He'd do the same with CHA. When it got so high that practicing with Observe and Detect Enemies wasn't improving it any longer, he'd add a few more stat points. He'd try not to worry about his INT and WIS for now… seemed like they were high enough for now, and he didn't want to spend more stat points on them unnecessarily.
And, last of all, judging by how slow his VIT was levelling, he'd probably have to increase that using unallotted stat points alone.
That meant, if he got more stat points in the future, he should save them (for topping off his strength and dexterity later) or he should put them in VIT right off the bat (to get that stat up to par since VIT wasn't levelling any longer on its own).
Izuku puffed out a confident breath. This was a good plan.
Izuku, casually looking at his stats, absently decided to delete some people off his relationship page. For one, Bakugou's parents were cluttering it up when he didn't really know them, and for two, seeing his low relationship with his old classmates all the time had been getting him down.
After removing Bakugou's parents and his old classmates, he looked at his relationships screen to see how it looked, expecting it to be depressingly thin. It sort of was, but...
RELATIONSHIPS
Midoriya Inko: Rep +97. Unconditional Love.
Bakugou Katsuki: Rep -51. Enemy. (Type=Abusive)
Iida Tenya: Rep +27. Admiration.
Nedzu: Rep +5. Curious.
The first thing Izuku noticed was that Iida's rep had gone from a little negative to way in the positive. That was great! And Iida actually admired him!?
Two seconds later, Izuku noticed Nedzu was there. WHY IS NEDZU ON MY RELATIONSHIPS LIST?! Izuku thought, a little frantically. What had he done for the principal to take note of him?!
Nedzu had to have noticed him at the entrance exam for some reason, there was no other explanation that made sense. His reputation with Nedzu was positive, which was good, but the Curious tag worried Izuku. Does he suspect my quirk is fake? Why would he be curious about me? I didn't think I was acting that strange… maybe because I was the top scorer on the written?
"Why," Izuku muttered to himself, putting his head in his hands.
Chapter 10: First Day
Finally, it was the first day of school. Izuku was buzzing with excitement.
Bakugou had been trying to corner him for the past two weeks, but Izuku had managed to give him the slip every time. It was half luck and half the fact that he could use 'detect enemies' to discern Bakugou's location.
Izuku was pretty sure that Bakugou just wanted to talk. But he didn't want to have a talk with Bakugou, because he was scary, so he would avoid him as long as it took! At this point he was just praying Kacchan would be in 1-B.
Regardless of this weight on his mind, Izuku was still incredibly excited.
His mom was thrilled about his first day too. She dragged him out of bed early, even though he could hardly sleep, and made breakfast while he got on his uniform. Luckily, his breakfast included green tea…
Green Tea. -20 Ex, +6 HP. Good for you.
… which helped get rid of his exhaustion.
(Izuku was pretty sure that drinking tea couldn't actually undo the fact he didn't sleep, just give him a caffeine boost, but he sure felt like the tea had simply erased his exhaustion. Numerically speaking if he drank enough green tea his exhaustion would inevitably drop down to zero. Did these 'healing items' operate outside of normalcy as well?)
Questions for later. For now, he had school.
With backpack in hand and a full stomach, Izuku waved goodbye to his mother and marched his way to school. He was there in very little time, but the huge gates didn't help his nerves.
As Izuku was walking to the classroom, he decided that he was hoping for Iida to be in his class. He worried about meeting Iida a little, since he seemed super intense (Izuku also worried about messing up the apparent admiration Iida had in him) but he also seemed so earnest that Izuku couldn't help but want to be his friend.
As Izuku walked in, he saw perhaps the worst case scenario: Iida and Bakugou were both there, but they were arguing with each other.
"Take your feet off that desk now! It's the first day and you're already disrespecting the academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!" Iida said.
"You're kidding me, right?" Bakugou scoffed.
Iida opened his mouth to retort but quickly stopped when he saw Izuku. He turned away from Bakugou and walked in his direction. "You got in! I must apologize for what I said earlier--you saw the true nature of the exam, and you behaved much more heroically than I did in that situation! For that I must thank you!"
"Oh, it was no big deal--" Izuku said sheepishly. "You're the one who saved her."
"Your humility is admirable!" Iida said. "But you don't give yourself enough credit!"
"Oh! Glasses kid and messy-haired kid!" a voice said. The girl that Iida had saved earlier bounced into the classroom. "It's you two! I'm so excited you guys got in! What are your names? I'm Uraraka!" Uraraka said.
"If you're just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now." A voice, from the floor. Izuku glanced down and saw a yellow caterpillar--no, a man in a yellow sleeping bag--getting up from the ground. "It took eight seconds for you to shut up. That's not gonna work, time is precious."
Is this our teacher? Izuku resisted the urge to use Observe on the man immediately. He'd wait for his moment.
The man introduced himself as Aizawa Shouta and announced in short order that they would be doing some kind of Quirk Assessment Test outside instead of going to orientation. It was a bit disappointing, because he'd been planning to Observe all the teachers to see what they were all about, but it seemed like he'd have to wait.
[ALERT: HEROICS QUEST ACTIVATION!]
Heroics Quest: The Quirk Assessment Test
Goal: Don't get last placeBonus: Get 15th place or aboveBonus 2: Get 10th place or above
REWARDS: +1 stat point, +200XP
BONUS REWARDS: +5 stat points, +500XP
BONUS 2 REWARDS: -5 rep with Bakugou Katsuki, +5 rep with Aizawa Shouta
Another quest. He'd definitely want to do well on this test, so he could get some stat points. And to be honest, he should try to get above tenth, too. Honestly, what's losing another five rep points with Kacchan? It's already at -50… better to build rep with my new teacher…
But when Aizawa announced the nature of the test, Izuku couldn't help but wince. They were physical tests, which his fake quirk wouldn't help him with whatsoever. While his STR and DEX were pretty good compared to the average citizen, Izuku suspected he would be no match for the people who actually had quirks capable of boosting their scores. Getting above 10th might be impossible.
But… well, when Izuku thought about it, it didn't really matter that much if he lost. He could lose and it'd be fine! Yes, there were some stat points in the game, but he couldn't expect to win every quest. And it was just a test anyways. It's going to be fine, Izuku thought.
Then, once they were outside, Aizawa threatened to expel them.
"If I see any students not taking this seriously, I'll expel them immediately," Aizawa reprimanded. It made Izuku feel a little skittish. Does he mean that?
"Expelled on the first day?!" a pink-skinned girl exclaimed.
A red-haired boy agreed with her, "Isn't that a little harsh?"
"Life is harsh," Aizawa said. "Get used to it. We're wasting time by just standing here, so let's get started."
Despite Izuku's best efforts, he didn't do exactly well on the test. Since most of the tests were based on dexterity (which he was better at than strength) and his decent flexibility, his score was alright for a normal person. And he definitely tried his very hardest.
But when almost everyone had quirks that could help them out on the test…
Izuku scanned the scoreboard for his name.
He found it by the end of the list. #16: Midoriya Izuku.
Izuku gave a sigh that was somewhere between relief and disappointment.
[ALERT! Heroics Quest has been completed! Collect rewards?]
[ALERT! Heroics Bonus Quest Failed]
[ALERT! Heroics Bonus Quest 2 Failed]
Looks like I'm just not quite good enough to get fifteenth or above yet… so close, though...
"Mineta Minoru," Aizawa said, staring at the kid who had gotten last place.
"...Huh?" the kid said, looking nervous.
"You were slacking. Don't think I missed the fact you were goofing off with Kaminari earlier. Do better next time or you won't be here much longer."
"G-got it, sensei!" Mineta said nervously, gulping.
"Peh, might as well expel him already," Bakugou scoffed. "He got an even lower score than Deku and his useless quirk." Bakugou glared at Izuku, letting everyone in the class know exactly who he meant by Deku.
"Bakugou," Aizawa said. "I'm pretty sure I just said that I was willing to expel students who didn't behave. Did I not make myself clear?"
Bakugou looked away, clearly trying to contain his anger. "Tch."
"Keep it in mind," Aizawa said, before turning back to the class.
Did he… just threaten to expel Kacchan?!
Izuku bit his lip. It felt like a good sign, the idea that this teacher wouldn't let Bakugou get away with things, but Izuku knew that it probably wasn't. Strict teachers, even though they claimed to be fair, always ended up being soft on their favorites. And then they usually came down hard on the heads of the kids who they liked the least.
If Bakugou (diligent student, perfect quirk) was getting expulsion threats just for mouthing off, then what kind of consequences would someone like Izuku face for his mistakes?
Best to keep his head down in this class and try to avoid being noticed.
"And Midoriya," Aizawa said. "See me after class."
Never mind, Izuku thought, barely resisting the urge to sigh as his classmates sent him curious glances.
The class headed back inside to change out of their gym uniforms.
"Collect rewards," Izuku said as he went.
The Quirk Assessment Test Complete!
Rewards [Hidden]: +1 Stat Points, +100XP
New stat points. Not many, but still. As per his new plan, he'd save the point for later.
Izuku awkwardly stayed behind in the classroom, feeling oddly vulnerable staring into the tired, flat expression of his new homeroom teacher. "Um-"
"The principal wants to have a meeting with you tomorrow in order to rework your schedule," Aizawa finished.
Izuku froze, remembering Nedzu's +5, Curious on his relationship screen. "Why? What's wrong with my schedule?"
"Your entrance exam score indicates that you're far past the usual high school science and mathematics curriculum. Going at the pace of your classmates at this point would be illogical, and a waste of your time."
"O-oh," Izuku said. He hadn't really thought of that. "That makes sense, I guess."
"You'll meet with Nedzu tomorrow to build a new schedule. In the subjects in which you're ahead, you'll likely be placed in advanced second- and third-year classes for now, but Nedzu suspects by the end of the year that you'll improve enough to need either private tutoring or university courses," Aizawa said. His tone was dry but casual, and Izuku couldn't tell if it was deceptively so. Private tutoring? Is this some kind of test?
"Um… sorry," Izuku said. "I don't mean to impose…"
Aizawa gave Izuku an unimpressed look. "Don't apologize for your academic success. And here's your pass for tomorrow." Aizawa handed him a hall pass marked for a time in the morning.
"T-thank you," Izuku said, giving a hesitant wave. Aizawa gave a simple nod in response.
As Izuku left the room, he glanced back at Aizawa, who was sitting back down at his desk. As quietly as he could, he whispered, "Detect Enemies. Observe."
[No enemies detected nearby.]
Aizawa Shouta -- Lvl. 54 -- Watchful Guardian
Quirk: Erasure
[See Stats & Skills]
Izuku considered this result as he walked out of the room. He's not at enemy status--not that I think he'd be, Izuku thought, feeling a little ridiculous at the thought. I mean, I might not have the best history with teachers, but it would be stupid to think that this one would just randomly be an enemy of mine! Haha.
But deep down, Izuku knew he'd chosen to use Detect Enemies for a reason. Because he didn't trust that that wouldn't be the case. (And maybe it was a worthwhile precaution. He remembered what happened the last time he'd gotten a new enemy, after all.)
But, putting that aside.
Going off Aizawa's quirk name (Erasure) and his scarf, Izuku strongly suspected that Aizawa was secretly the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead. Eraserhead kept a low profile, but he was a very skilled underground hero, and seemed like just the type that UA would hire.
His title is interesting too! Watchful Guardian is probably a play… he's technically the temporary 'guardian' of his students because he's their teacher, but he also protects people as a hero! That's kinda cool. But the Watchful part is a bit worrying, since I have the secret of my quirk…
But I'm not sure titles really give very good hints as to the nature of how someone is. I mean, my title is Broken Chemist, but I'm not a Chemist! And my quirk doctor had that 'Shadow of the Demon' title even though he's just an old man! But Aizawa does seem like a 'watchful' sort of guy...
It was something to ponder.
Izuku walked away from the school, getting back on the train.
At the very least it'd been an interesting first day.
Chapter 11: Scheduling, Coincidence
Izuku sat in his bed, waiting anxiously.
He'd woken up at 3 am in the morning and hadn't been able to go back to sleep, too keyed-up at the idea of having his first normal day of classes (well, maybe normal, depending on how the meeting went) and his upcoming meeting with the principal. Since he was awake, he decided to creep around before breakfast and look around the house for better healing items.
Only food and drink responded to Observe, just like he'd thought, but finding anything that resembled a 'healing item' was difficult. While a lot of them had health benefits, most of them were proportional to size. The best he found was a large salad that would net him +15 HP, but he wouldn't have time to consume a giant salad in the middle of a fight. That meant his best bet was still green tea until he managed to find better healing items.
He did find something else that was useful in the cabinets, though.
Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans. -6 Ex. Caffeine and sugar, the perfect combo.
No health benefits, but it was -6 exhaustion per bean, which was pretty good. If his exhaustion was too high he could just shove a bunch of them in his mouth and swallow them quickly. Hopefully they'd give him an energy boost. He put the chocolate-covered coffee beans in his bag, just in case.
At that point, his mom came out from her bedroom and started to make breakfast, which meant he had to end his healing-item hunt. He'd work more at it later.
His hall pass was marked for the second class of the day, which was English. So that meant that after Homeroom, he was to immediately go meet with Nedzu. Present Mic gave him an encouraging smile when Izuku showed him his hall pass, and told him he could leave for his meeting.
Okay. My first meeting with the principal at this school… let's get this over with.
Nedzu had taken the liberty of doing a quick look-over of Midoriya's school files to get a better idea for how to tackle the boy's scheduling situation. And what he found was interesting. According to these records, Midoriya hadn't been in any advanced classes during his time at Aldera, meaning that everything he'd learned to score well on the exam had been either self-taught or the result of tutoring outside of school.
Also interestingly, most of the comments left by teachers indicated that Midoriya was disruptive in class, disrespectful towards authority figures, and abrasive with his peers. Frankly, Nedzu wasn't all that surprised. Midoriya had probably been very bored, and teenagers were famous for their poor impulse control. Keeping him stuck in a classroom with literally nothing to do had probably not been a good idea.
Okay, so. What could he expect from Midoriya?
Midoriya might show up to UA with behavioral problems, like antipathy and hostility (as suggested was his normal at Aldera) but Nedzu suspected that the problem might die down to some degree once Midoriya's educational needs were met. Not only that, but Nedzu couldn't rule out the possibility that Midoriya might be cocky or arrogant, having grown an ego from being surrounded by people who couldn't keep up.
Nedzu didn't see even a hint that either of those things were true when he actually met Midoriya.
When Midoriya arrived for his meeting, he was stiff as a board and white as a sheet, looking like he very much didn't want to be there. Despite the fact that it wasn't completely unusual for people to show up to his office being a little nervous, Nedzu couldn't help but feel mildly concerned. Nedzu greeted him politely, resisting the urge to frown.
Midoriya, achingly shy, said only hello back. Nedzu was pretty sure he could see Midoriya trembling slightly.
This was a far cry from the rebellious teen found in the files. Had someone been telling him horror stories about Nedzu? Maybe the kid was just nervous because it was the second day?
For a reason Nedzu couldn't explain, those explanations didn't feel right.
"So I assume that Aizawa told you why you were coming?" Nedzu said.
"Y-yeah," Izuku said. "We have to change my schedule?"
"Exactly," Nedzu said. "Why don't you take a seat? We can talk over your scheduling adjustments."
Midoriya took a careful seat across from Nedzu.
Izuku left Nedzu's meeting with a relieved sigh. I'm glad that's over, he thought to himself. Not that it had been unpleasant.
No, on the contrary, Principal Nedzu had been very nice. He didn't talk over Izuku, he didn't yell at Izuku for his twitchy posture or his averted gaze, and he hadn't made Izuku feel bad about himself. He hadn't even reprimanded Izuku for his mumbling! No, Principal Nedzu seemed rather kind. (At the very least, he was the type to keep up appearances.)
Still… being in there, he couldn't help but think about what had happened with his old principal and the situation with Nakano. Then that made him remember how he'd been trapped in the closet, choking on noxious gas, frantically searching for anything to help him remove the hinge pins. The whole thing made him want to crawl out of his skin.
But once he'd left the office and the haze of panic had lifted, the whole meeting had been harmless in retrospect. Just some scheduling changes. (Nedzu had even asked his opinions! Izuku appreciated that even if he was a bit nervous to actually say what he thought). Izuku would take third-year classes in math and science, and he'd add a second-year computer science class to replace English, since he was mostly fluent at this point. He'd keep the rest of his classes the same, those being Japanese Literature, Heroics, and Modern Hero Art History.
So that was… three classes to be changed, and three normal classes. Izuku liked it, he thought it was a pretty good split. He'd get some extra English material from Yamada-sensei to make sure he stayed ahead in that area. Izuku was quite sure he'd be able to handle the workload with the INT and WIS stat boosts he'd given himself before the UA entrance exam.
He'd also managed to cleverly get Nedzu's stat block during the meeting by sliding the word Observe-ations into their conversation, which Izuku felt inordinately gleeful about.
Nedzu -- Lvl. 63 -- UA Principal
Quirk: High Specs
[See Stats & Skills]
(He hadn't been able to use Detect Enemies, but Izuku could just check Nedzu's status from the relationship screen.)
All in all, Izuku was pretty satisfied with what had gone on in the meeting, even if the whole thing had been a bit much while it was in progress. He returned to class just as Modern Hero Art History was starting.
Uraraka had invited him to sit with her and Iida once lunch came around, and Izuku was incredibly happy about it, if slightly nervous. The three of them talked for a little bit about mundane things, like the weather and how are classes going and do you have any siblings? Uraraka was cheerful and friendly, and Iida revealed he really was related to Ingenium just like Izuku had thought. Turns out Ingenium was his older brother.
"Oh, I hope this isn't rude to ask Midoriya, but since you're in the hero course with us," Uraraka asked. "What's your quirk?"
Izuku panicked and fumbled for a brief moment before managing to say, "A-Analysis. I-I can tell what someone's name and quirk is by looking at them."
"That's so cool, Midoriya-kun!" Uraraka had said, and that was the end of it. Izuku felt like he'd been given a great gift: normalcy.
When Izuku got to the last class of the day, Heroics, he was thrilled. This was going to be the most important class considering the career he was going into! He wondered who would teach the class.
Just as the class was about to begin, an older man, looking thin and sickly, entered the room. "Ah, hello," he said, looking a tad nervous. "My name is Yagi Toshinori, and I'll be your instructor for Heroics this year."
There was a slight murmuring among the class, probably the other students trying to figure out what hero this guy was, since basically all of UA's staff were heroes.
"He's probably a retired hero," he heard Jirou say.
"Yeah, he does look older," Sero murmured back.
But Izuku had a much more pressing concern. Did he say his name was Yagi Toshinori? But that was…
"Observe," Izuku muttered under his breath.
Yagi Toshinori -- Lvl. 99 -- The Symbol of Peace
Quirk: One for All (remnants)
[See Stats & Skills]
What.
Those were the stats and skills he'd seen on All Might! How was that possible?
A feeling of dread came over Izuku.
His first instinct was to quickly leave the classroom and run to fetch Nedzu or Aizawa. After all, this man couldn't be All Might, right? Maybe he was a shapeshifter? His quirk was One for All, and if he was one who could become all via shapeshifting, that sort of made sense…
But, no. That theory fell to pieces the more he thought about it. It brought up too many questions. If Yagi was just some guy, then why was he at Lvl. 99? Why was his title Symbol of Peace?
It really seemed like…
Yagi is All Might?! But how is that possible? Could it be… that All Might's quirk is a transformation-type and that's why he has two forms?
Izuku stared at Yagi.
That would mean… I'm being taught by All Might?!?
Izuku gaped at the idea.
But still. While his theory explained a lot, there were still things that went unexplained. Once he'd seen All Might's time limit ten months ago, he'd started looking up the hours the hero spent on work, and found a strange pattern. All Might, after a fight five years ago, had vanished from the media, and then sharply decreased his hours. Nowadays, he only spent around three hours a day on hero work.
So, why had All Might suddenly incurred a time limit on his transformation quirk? Had he gotten hurt, or something? Or was it just aging? Had he always had a time limit?
Was Izuku wrong? Was this man an imposter after all?
Whatever the case…
He planned to find out.
Chapter 12: Pinpoint
Almost as soon as Yagi entered, he felt a pair of oddly-intense eyes on him.
He glanced over, and saw Midoriya.
Midoriya was staring him down, seemingly deep in thought.
That's the kid who can figure someone's name and quirk by looking at them, right? Yagi thought to himself. He's probably doing that right now. He'll only find Yagi Toshinori, though, and he shouldn't know the meaning behind the words One for All… if it even shows up as that instead of 'quirkless', given I've handed it off to Mirio…
Speaking of, the kid looked kind of… familiar, but Yagi couldn't place him. And the kid had a plain-looking sort of face, so maybe he was thinking of someone else? Regardless, Yagi felt mildly unsettled. He tried his best to ignore it.
He explained to the students they'd be changing into their costumes and heading to Battle Ground B to start off their First Year Heroics Class. The class broke into excited chatter as they got out of their seats and went to change.
As excited as Izuku was to investigate, he had to do this first. This was his first heroics class after all. And he got to do it in the costume his mom made him! He should really try to pay attention and avoid thinking about the whole Yagi thing.
(It didn't work that great, Izuku still felt kind of distracted.)
Yagi announced they'd be splitting into random groups of two. Their team would be assigned "heroes" or "villains" and they would have to either attempt to get to or protect a fake bomb that was held by the villains. Izuku was very happy when he was paired with Uraraka.
[ALERT: HEROICS QUEST ACTIVATION!]
Heroics Quest: First Training Exercise
Goal: WinREWARDS: +6 stat points, +300XP
Another chance to earn stat points! These quest opportunities were rolling in faster than ever… Now I really can't get distracted, Izuku thought. I need to get those six stat points, which means putting the whole Yagi thing out of my mind… focus on your strategy for now.
So he was paired with Uraraka, but who would he be fighting?
"Team A will be fighting… Team D," Yagi announced.
Izuku glanced over at Team D.
Bakugou snarled at him, while Iida gave a friendly but competitive grin.
Oh joy… guess this won't be easy…
"Any plan on how to win this, Uraraka?" Izuku asked, turning to her.
"I'm not sure…" she said.
"Bakugou has Explosion, Iida has Engine," Izuku said to himself, deep in thought. "You know… I think I have an idea."
Uraraka removed Izuku's gravity. Izuku slowly rose and grabbed the side of the roof and pulled himself forward, so he hovered over the roof. Once Uraraka saw that he was safely bobbing and wouldn't fall multiple stories, she dropped him. Izuku made an oomph noise as he hit the concrete of the top of the building. He stuck out his hand in a thumbs-up gesture, signalling to Uraraka that she could go in the front entrance.
Izuku, meanwhile, snuck down the staircase that went from the roof to the fifth floor.
Even though it would be more strategically sound to send Iida after me, since he's faster, I just know that Bakugou is going to try and go hunt for me himself…
[Your observation of others increases your people-skills. +1 CHA.]
… thank you, quirk. Anyway since I know he's going to try to go get me, that means Iida is going to guard the bomb. They probably set the bomb on one of the higher levels, so Kacchan would probably go down to look for me. That means…
Bakugou would encounter Uraraka, and Izuku would encounter Iida.
Izuku did feel a little bit bad about setting up Uraraka to fight Bakugou, but she was a better counter to him than Izuku! If Uraraka managed to touch him, therefore making him weightless, Bakugou setting off any explosion would make him fly off in some other direction, thus making her an excellent Bakugou-counter! By contrast, Izuku had nothing that could beat Kacchan.
Also, Izuku didn't want to get maimed… Bakugou still seemed kinda mad about how Izuku got into UA and then didn't tell him and then avoided him for two weeks, so…
But regardless, Izuku was certain that their best way to win was for Izuku to try to get past Iida somehow. Izuku crept down the staircase, quiet as a mouse. Floors five and four were a bust, but the third floor…
Do I hear Iida's voice?
Before Izuku could approach it, he heard crackling static in his comm.
"I found Bakugou!" Uraraka's said.
"WHERE'S THE DAMN NERD?!" Bakugou's shouting was loud enough for Izuku to hear it through the comm.
"See if you can keep him busy," Izuku whispered. "I think I found Iida."
"Roger!" Uraraka said. An explosion sounded in the background.
Izuku ignored the sounds of battle coming from his earpiece and crept towards where he'd heard Iida's voice.
"-of evil, to become a hero. Behold, I am the personification of villainy!" Iida said. He finished the sentence with an evil laugh.
Is he roleplaying? Izuku thought to himself. He barely repressed a snort. Iida really is an earnest sort of guy… he's really putting his all into this…
"Midoriya, Bakugou is coming your way!" Uraraka said. "He back-tracked when he saw you weren't with me and I wasn't able to stop him! I'm following him up!"
That was bad. If Bakugou showed up at Izuku's location fast enough, he'd be sandwiched between Iida on one side and Bakugou on the other, which would be a disaster. That meant he had to move now. Izuku rushed forward through the door as quickly as he could.
Iida jumped in surprise at his appearance, not having heard him coming, and ran toward him at super-speed. And… now! At just the right moment, Izuku kicked down at Iida's leg, causing him to stumble. Iida managed to right himself before his engines sent him reeling, and he managed to regain his momentum and shove Izuku into the wall.
Izuku struggled, but couldn't get out of Iida's grip. I'm pinned, Izuku thought, unable to escape. Iida fumbled with one of the pockets of the costume to get what was probably the handcuffs.
An explosion sounded behind the two.
"Deku," Bakugou said.
"I have Midoriya pinned!" Iida said, still fumbling for the cuffs. "You should search for Uraraka!"
"Deku's mine! Hand him over and find her yourself!" Bakugou growled.
"Bakugou, that would be quite inefficient--"
"Shut up, glasses! Nobody cares!"
Izuku, glancing behind the two, saw Uraraka at the entrance. Neither of them seemed to notice her presence, too busy arguing. He gestured to the bomb with his free hand, giving her a little nod. Uraraka nodded back in determination and started sneaking over to the bomb. Still, there's not much cover in this room. There's a good chance they'll notice, unless I can keep their attention away from her.
Which meant it was time to make a distraction.
"Hey Kacchan," Izuku said. "You're the dumbest person I've ever met."
"WHAT?!" Bakugou's hands sparked as he whipped his head around, giving Izuku a murderous, outraged look.
"Midoriya-" Iida started, but Izuku disregarded his warning.
"How does it feel to be in the same school as me? Someone whose quirk is so weak they didn't even realize it existed for ten years? Is it because I've gotten stronger, Kacchan?"
Bakugou gave a scream of rage and ran toward the two, shoving Iida off Izuku and cornering Izuku himself.
"Or maybe it's because you've gotten weak," Izuku taunted.
Bakugou hit one of his hands into Izuku's shoulders. It crackled, and he set off a direct explosion. Sharp burning pain slammed into Izuku's shoulder.
[Alert: Damage Taken! (Type:Fire) -26 HP.]
Izuku gritted his teeth and muffled a yell.
"Don't you EVER call me weak!" Bakugou shouted. He grabbed Izuku and tossed him to the ground. "You've always been beneath me! You've never been at my level!"
Standing over Izuku, Bakugou lifted another hand and trained it in his direction. Izuku quickly brought up his hands to shield his face, just in case Bakugou tried to send another explosion his way. Izuku cringed, unsure if he could beat Bakugou at this point even if he tried.
"Bakugou, I think that's enough," Iida protested. "He's already lost!"
"He hasn-" Bakugou said, but he was interrupted.
"That's it, everyone! Uraraka has captured the bomb! Heroes win!" Yagi's voice rang over the intercom, announcing their victory.
[ALERT! Heroics Quest has been completed! Collect rewards?]
Bakugou and Iida quickly swung their heads around to look at the other side of the room, but it was too late. Uraraka had one hand on the bomb, and the game was over.
Bakugou glared down at Izuku, eyes alright with rage. But instead of trying to explode him again, like Izuku expected he would, Bakugou simply lowered his arm, ever-so-slowly, mouth splitting into a feral grin. "Haaah…. so that really is all you're good for, isn't it Deku? Just dirty tricks?! Well, guess what! You're nothing compared to me!" Bakugou shouted. "And you never have been!"
Bakugou turned around and stormed off, stomping out of the room with a purpose.
"That's no way to talk to a classmate!" Iida shouted after him. He scowled slightly when there was no response. "How rude!"
Izuku had long gotten used to Bakugou's insults. But something was off about Bakugou. Izuku had expected Bakugou to kill him for saying something like that, or try to injure him as badly as was allowed within the confines of the exercise, but it seemed like Bakugou had been holding back.
Is he still off his game because of that time I almost died? I feel like it's been long enough for him to get over it, but maybe he's still worried about severely hurting me… I suppose it would be pretty disturbing to hear about an accident like that…
Uraraka, who had been standing by the bomb, ran over to Iida and Izuku. "Are you okay, Midoriya? I saw you got hit."
"I'm fine," Izuku said, wincing as he hauled himself to his feet. "Just… singed."
"Let's get you to Recovery Girl, then!" Uraraka insisted. She and Iida helped him off the battlefield.
"Now who was the MVP for this fight?" Yagi asked. Iida and Uraraka, along with Bakugou, had returned to hear the debriefing, but Midoriya was still stuck with Recovery Girl. From what Yagi had seen his injuries hadn't been too severe, though he had to admit he was still a little concerned. He knew Recovery Girl would take care of it, though.
"Midoriya and Uraraka, I believe, tied for first!" Yaoyorozu answered. "Midoriya's plan was instrumental to their success, and though he got himself captured, he also created a vital distraction. Uraraka, in addition, carried out her part of the plan perfectly and was the one who managed to sneak to the bomb. They were the perfect team."
"Excellent explanation, Yaoyrozu!" Yagi said, but Yaoyorozu wasn't done.
"Iida took the exercise seriously and did well during the beginning, but he let himself get drawn into an argument with Bakugou," Yaoyorozu said.
"I will try to do better in the future!" Iida promised.
Yaoyorozu's eyes slid towards Bakugou, who scoffed and looked away from her. "Bakugou, on the other hand, was basically the reason their group lost. He lost sight of the objective, failed to work with his teammate, and actively hindered Iida's efforts. That's why neither Iida or Bakugou should be MVP."
Bakugou scowled, and said nothing.
Recovery Girl healed him quickly. One kiss, and just like that, he was fixed. He felt a bit tired, though, since her quirk drained his stamina, but she gave him some gummies to compensate for that.
As he was walking out of school with his gummies, he glanced down at them. "Observe," Izuku said.
Stamina-Regeneration Gummies. -20 Ex. Designed to be helpful.
Izuku gaped. -20 exhaustion per gummy? Hell yeah, now this was a healing item. He ate his gummies and then after decided to eat a handful of chocolate-covered coffee beans. They were bitter, but it made him feel even less exhausted. Soon enough he wasn't feeling tired at all.
I wonder if Recovery Girl would let me borrow some of her gummies, Izuku thought to himself absently. Probably not, but worth asking… oh, and one more thing.
"Collect rewards."
First Training Exercise Complete!
Rewards: +6 Stat Points, +300XP
[ALERT! Level up! You are now Lvl. 17!]
Izuku gave a sigh of contentment. More stat points, more levelling. As it was meant to be.
Now that school was over, Izuku scribbled ideas into his notebook, excited and a little bit desperate to figure out the mystery behind who Yagi really was.
CLUES ABOUT YAGI-SAN??
I met "All Might" 10 months ago, and he had Yagi's statsAll Might only operates for three hours a day He didn't always. All Might vanished from media for a week, then began sharply decreasing hours (five years ago) Yagi has a time limit on his quirkYagi can change his appearance: has been seen as his normal self and as "All Might"Teacher-form Yagi is definitely his true form ("Quirked Form" buff was not seen as an addendum when he's Yagi) "Quirked Form" gave Yagi a buff to STR, DEX, and VIT. Yagi Observe information: One for All, Lvl. 99, Symbol of PeaceBoth Yagi and All Might work at UA
Izuku bit the tip of his pen. From these clues, he could make a few concrete deductions.
Firstly, since All Might's employment had been publicly announced, it didn't make sense that Yagi had been hired as All Might in disguise. Otherwise, the real All Might would have probably said something about how he wasn't working at UA. That meant All Might probably did work at UA, unless something was stopping him from talking about it.
Secondly, he had to recall that he saw Yagi as All Might ten months ago. Whatever this was hadn't started recently. Plus, that fight five years ago might be significant…
Thirdly, according to his quirk, the ability "Quirked Form" gave Yagi strength buffs, which meant that if Yagi did have a shapeshifting quirk, it was one that allowed him to copy All Might's quirk, which was a rare and powerful ability.
So knowing all these things, and having his information, Izuku had a couple theories.
THEORIES
"Yagi" is the All Might working at the school, but both Yagi and All Might know this and that Yagi has replaced him. In this theory, for some reason, All Might had to stop doing hero work five years ago, and Yagi took his place. Ever since then, Yagi has been All Might, but "All Might" has been forced to decrease his hours due to Yagi's shapeshifting time limit. All Might's quirk is, in actuality, a transformation quirk. Yagi Toshinori is actually All Might's secret civilian identity. After the incident five years ago, All Might died or went MIA. The villainous Yagi took his place without people noticing (or he killed the people who noticed?) and has been operating as All Might in secret ever since.
Izuku was pretty sure that theory two was still the most likely. It explained everything: the fact that Yagi was listed as Symbol of Peace by title, why Yagi looked just like All Might. They had the same hair, if you were looking for it! Besides, it was also statistically more likely, given how rare it was for a quirk to be able to copy both someone's appearance and quirk at the same time.
So theory two was the most likely. Yagi was probably All Might.
But… even so, the simple possibility of theory three was very scary.
It was unlikely… but if something like that had taken place, it was very serious.
On that point, it would probably only be responsible for Izuku to make sure he was correct and that an imposter hadn't infiltrated UA… but the only way to confirm that UA knew about what was going on was to ask them. Asking them… I really ought to do it… besides, a few questions couldn't hurt, right?
But who would he ask?
Izuku sighed and put his notebook down.
He didn't want to look stupid in front of Nedzu if he was wrong, so he'd just ask Aizawa-sensei since he had immediate access to the guy. And Aizawa-sensei could erase the imposter's quirk if it turns out theory three was in fact the case.
I might have time to ask him before school if I show up early enough… Izuku thought to himself, grimacing. Oh well. Guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.