Author's Note:
Ok, it seems like there was a bit of a mix-up. This chapter was actually meant to be released on Wednesday, the nineteenth, but I decided not to double-check my writing and got the date wrong because of it. So I would like to apologize for posting the chapter so late. Because of my mistake, I had to scramble to get this chapter published on time. And in order to do that, I've decided to cut this chapter into two parts, not really something I wanted to do, but it was the only way I could deliver on the promise while also keeping the quality of my writing somewhat decent.
Part two will be released on Sunday, the twenty-third. And yes, that is the actual date this time.
Ok, now on to the chapter.
POV: Issei Hyoudou
You know what I find funny?
The fact that people of this futuristic Japan have to go to special hero schools in order to be heroes "legally".
Which I guess makes sense on a social standpoint. Can't have a bunch of wackos running around claiming to be heroes. But do they have to go so far as to label anyone who doesn't have a licence a villain?
Or my personal favorite, a vigilante?
And to add insult to injury. If you don't have this special Licence, and you defend yourself with your quirk, you could still face problems with the law. But luckily, that rule isn't as heavily enforced, so there is still some amount of leeway.
Now you may be asking yourself, why would I even know any of this? Afterall, none of what I just talked about had anything to do with girls or breasts. So what's even the point of remembering it?
Well, information like that would be stuck in anyone's brain after hearing about it frequently, especially if someone kept bringing up similar topics for the past ten months.
That's right, ten months, that's how long it's been since I woke up in that cramped alley. Well, ten months and a couple of days, but it's the same thing.
Back to weird Legal knowledge.
After living with Izuku and his mom for the last ten months, my head has sorta been filled with a lot of random quirk and hero information. And you know what, I'm actually fine with that. And while it may have taken a week or two, I managed to accept this strange new life I find myself living.
Now, when Izuku and I find ourselves with nothing to do, nine times out of ten, we usually find ourselves talking about heroes. Which ones we preferred, and which ones we thought could beat the other.
I picked female heroes because I thought they looked hot, while Izuku picked stronger, more flashy heroes, mostly because he found their quirks interesting, or their beliefs in heroism inspiring.
This shared past time of ours had the added bonus of making our friendship stronger. He was more relaxed when we spoke, even working up the courage to argue over topics he's interested in more frequently. And while I can never have the same talks, or mostly arguments, as I did with Matsuda and Motohama. I actually find myself enjoying these debates. Though if Izuku ever manages to understand the glory that is boobs, I'll be more than happy to talk about that. But as of right now, superheroes are the go-to.
All that aside, over these past few months, I managed to form a pretty solid routine for myself.
Every day, I would wake up early with Izuku to train with All Might. After that, Izuku would get dressed for school, and I would walk him there. Partially because Inko asked me to, and partially because I was hoping to ward off any bullies that may be harassing Izuku on his way to school. Once that was done, I returned to the apartment and did some basic chores to ensure the place wouldn't look like a mess when Izuku and his mother came back.
And in the event that Inko is busy with work, I proceed to run some errands while she finishes up. Once I completed all of the errands, it would usually be around the time for Izuku to be getting out of School, so I head back to pick him up so we can head to the apartment together. For the exact same reasons.
And with the afternoon to myself, I usually just sit around the apartment watching hero news with Izuku or helping Inko in the kitchen.
Now, at first, she was very resistant to the idea of my helping around the house. But after a while, she began to warm up to the idea. She finally came around to the idea after coming back from work, seeing the apartment nice and tidy. But she drew the line at preparing meals. At one point, I offered to start cooking dinner so she wouldn't have so much to do after coming back from work. She shut me down before I could even put up an argument. She was surprisingly assertive when she wanted to be.
Life was good. I had a place to stay, given three meals a day, and a friend whose family treated me like I belonged.
Though if I had to name a complaint, I would say my poor sleep quality would be to blame. Every morning for the past three months, I have been waking up in a cold sweat, and for some odd reason, I have the feeling that I have forgotten a very important fact. But then Izuku comes in and tells me to get ready, and then suddenly I'm ready to start my day.
I tried to find the cause: bad sleeping posture, eating right before bed, or maybe even sleep paralysis. But nothing seemed wrong. So after a while, I just got used to it; in fact, it was actually helping me wake up early.
So, bonus, I guess.
But while all this was going on, I was blissfully unaware of one major fact about my training. I wasn't training to be a hero, I was training for an Entrance exam. That's right, every piece of trash I collected, every lap I ran, every sore muscle I felt waking up was all so I could try out for an entrance exam.
But here's where it gets better. This entrance exam wasn't for just any school, no. This exam was apparently for the most famous school in the world, A school whose notoriety came not only from the fact that less than one percent of the applicants passed the exam, but due to the simple fact that a majority of the current top ten heroes of Japan went to this school, including All Might.
And the name of such a legendary school happens to be none other than U.A. High. Dont even bother asking me what the"U" or the "A" stands for, cause I dont know and dont care nearly enough to ask. But I will tell you this: the conversation me, Izuku, and All Might had when they found out that I didn't know what U.A. was. Has to be in the top ten most exhausting conversations I've ever had in my entire life.
Which brings me back to my first thought. People here live in a Japan where actual superpowers are just an everyday thing, and yet in order to use them, you have to get the superhero equivalent of a driver's license. Now that's a funny joke.
A fucked up joke, but a joke nonetheless.
And yet, despite how silly such a system seems to me, it doesn't change the fact that now, several months later, both Izuku and I are standing before the large blue gate of the one and only U.A.
The gate resembles a large letter U flipped upside down, and as big as the gate itself seems, the walls that border it on either side look bigger. But somehow, both of those things were dwarfed by the large building directly behind them. The main building was actually made up of four large rectangular towers that were connected via corridors that looked over the entire campus.
The school was huge, and that's not an exaggeration. Everything we came across so far has been big, from the gate, the walls, even the pathway we are walking over right now. The place radiated an air of grandeur, I dont even know what that word means; it's just the only way I can describe the feeling I'm getting off.
This had the downside of making me even more intimidated than I already was
"Are you a hundred percent sure we need a license to be heroes"?
I grumble out the words between quivering lips. My hands constantly felt like they were being dipped into a tub of ice water and then exposed to open air. Luckily, this jacket covered the rest of my upper body; otherwise, I would probably be in the early stages of hyperthermia.
I was not built for the cold. Why in the hell did the exams have to be during the coldest damn season of the year?
"It's either we get a license or we're labeled as villains," Izuku's answer came from my right. He wasn't really focused on what I was saying; it was clear between the two of us that I was complaining for complaining's sake. " Besides, can we not talk about doing anything Illegal while we're at U.A., a school famous for its staff being Pro heroes!"
"Why? It's not like anyone is listening to our conversation. They are too focused on trying not to fail their exams to care enough about what other people are saying, let alone us."
He didn't respond to that.
Mainly because he and I were the exact type of students I was talking about.
Izuku never said it out loud directly, but it was obvious that he was nervous about coming here today. And it's not hard to imagine why. He's spent his entire life wanting to be a hero, and now he finally has a chance to make his dreams come true, while being given the opportunity to try out for the world's most sought-after school for heroes. A school that his teacher, his idol, went to. So I can understand why he's nervous.
I, on the other hand, was only a tad bit better than my green-haired friend. For starters, I don't share the same admiration that Izuku does with this school. So while I'm still nervous because of the school's reputation, it doesn't consume me like Izuku. No, I have my own little set of worries to deal with.
I've spent the last ten months training to be a hero. And even if I don't like that also means attending a hero school and getting licensed. But the problems arise from the fact that this entire time, my training has been reliant on the fact that I make it into U.A.
And while there are other Hero schools, believe me, I checked. They all either have an entrance fee. Or the window for applications to said school has already closed.
So that means it's either I get into U.A. or I'm gonna have to kill my hero dreams for good.
Ok, that's a bit dramatic. But yeah, I dont really like the Idea of not passing.
And while I have the advantage of having already gone through my own high school entrance exam. I can easily say that the Kuoh exams didn't have shit on U.A's. Kuoh only had the toughest entrance exam in our immediate area. And even then, I only barely scraped by. So I dont think it will come as a surprise if I say that I dont have much confidence in my abilities to get through this.
Luckily, there is one saving grace to this entire situation.
One day, while we were cleaning the beach, All Might decided to give us a hint about what we should expect. He told us the entrance exam was broken into two sections, one being the written portion, and the other being the practical portion. Both are important regarding a person's final score. So here's where my plans come along. You see, even with my own personal studying these last few months, and with the help of Izuku. I'm still not sure I can pass. So, in the event I bomb the written portion, as long as I excel in the practical portion, it should be enough to get me through.
There was only one problem, the fact that I dont know what the practical exam is or even how I'll be graded. I tried to look for any clues online, but only received drastically different answers or nothing at all. All Might wasn't any help either; he refused to speak about the topic anymore, even going so far as to give me extra training if I continued asking about it.
Those training sessions were my least favorite.
So, with nothing I could do about it, I decided to just go about finishing the exams to the best of my abilities.
"Come on, Izuku, if we move any slower, we're gonna end up being late for the exam." Grabbing Izuku's arm, I decided to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible. Following the crowd of hopeful applicants, we were led to an entrance sign.
Before we walked in, I saw blonde hair approaching us out of the corner of my eye. I feel my already tense mood worsen. Before Izuku could ask questions, I pulled him towards my left side, causing someone to bump into my right shoulder.
I already had a pretty good guess on who it was, but looking over to my right confirmed my suspicions. Glaring red eyes stared back at me. The eyes belonged to Katsuki Bakugo, who is apparently Izuku's childhood friend. And the same kid who was being suffocated by the sludge villain.
I already disliked blonde-haired assholes, but somehow this guy managed to piss me off even more.
His most notable feature had to be his spiky blonde hair, quickly followed by his constantly angry red eyes, and, to finally top it all off, his permanent sneer. In the short interactions I've had with him, I can safely say I've never once seen any other expression on his face
He wore the exact same Middle school uniform as Izuku, but unlike Izuku, he actually managed to fill it out with some muscle. And to finish off the look, he wore a tan scarf around his neck.
"Something on my face, you small fry." His voice came out harsh, and his sneer shifted into a full-blown scowl.
"Na, just trying to tell you to watch where you're walking." I shot back just as harshly. Never was one for confrontation, usually if a guy actually managed to piss me off to that level, I'd prank their ass and call it a day. But there was just something about this guy that ticked me the wrong way.
"The fuck you say?" Clearly, my words also struck a nerve cause if his face looked angry before, now it looked downright demonic.
"I SAID, watch where you're going, pal. Or were you not the dumb ass that bumped into me?"
Did I have to be this rude to a guy who was three years my junior? No. Is it very immature of me? Most definitely.
But it's not my fault, this guy's supposed to be Izuku's childhood friend, his only friend if what Inko says is correct. And yet throughout the entire ten months I've stayed with them, I never once saw this guy. And to make matters worse, when Izuku had his fifteenth birthday, he never showed. It was only me, Izuku, his mom, and All Might. Though he couldn't stay long due to a villain attack happening in a nearby city. He at least gave enough of a fuck to show up; this guy couldn't even be bothered to send a letter.
"You got a death wish." It seems like I pushed a bit too far, cause Bakugo got into a stance that clearly said he was ready to throw down. I saw a mini explosion begin to pop from his hands, which meant this guy was either trying to scare me or was actually gearing up to fight.
Either way, I wasn't about to face this guy unprepared. Getting into a stance of my own, I was just about to summon my quirk when Izuku decided to get between the two of us.
"Go...good morning, Kacchan. Are you excited about the exams today or what?" Izuku was a nervous wreck from the way he stuttered to the way he kept swaying his arms like a manic. What made the scene even more awkward was due to the fact that Izuku refused to look either of us in the eye. Instead, choosing to look around frantically, as if hoping that the solution to this little problem of ours was going to magically fall out of the sky.
Which actually seemed to be the case. Izuku's attempt at small talk took the wind out of Bakugo's sail, since he dropped the stance and began walking towards the entrance. But not before leaving one more remark.
"Tsk, just stay the hell away from me, Deku. And while you're at it, tell your lame ass guard dog the next time he decides to bark at me, I'll put his ass in the dirt." To emphasize his point, he let off a couple of mini pops in his hand before finally leaving.
POV: Izuku Midoriya
ONE HOUR LATER
Today is gonna be a long day.
Not that I'm trying to sound ungrateful.
I mean, I'm actually here at U.A.
The world's greatest school for training the next generation of heroes. Throughout these sacred halls. The best of the best have studied here. including All Might himself.
The place is way bigger than all those pictures made it look. If I weren't so nervous, I probably would've enjoyed the walk around campus even more. Though that argument between Issei and Kacchan wasn't the best, I at least managed to solve it before they started fighting, so that's nice.
But as if to add insult to injury, I somehow managed to trip over my feet just as I was making my way inside the building. Thankfully, there was a kind girl who stopped me from face-planting. Apparently, I had a huge smile on my face afterwards, a fact that Issei teased me relentlessly for.
I even got through a decent amount of questions on the written exam fairly easily, so I dont think I'll have to worry about the written portion too much. After I completed the written portion, they led me into a large auditorium with several rows of seats. In the center of the room lay a huge stage with what looked to be a round desk in the center of it, and even more striking was the gigantic screen that had the U.A. logo displayed right behind it.
Slowly, I feel my anxiety about the whole exam start to fade away. Maybe I was too quick to judge, cause so far, besides the minor hiccups, this day's starting to turn out great.
I hadn't seen Issei since they separated us when the written portion began, but assuming there was no problem with his test, he should be somewhere in this room. The only problem was that I couldn't find him. Eventually, I had to give up when the staff began ushering people into their seats.
Apparently, the school assigned them beforehand.
"I just hope whoever I'm sitting besides isn't too intense."
I mumble out loud while looking for my seat. Thankfully, they gave every student a temporary ID with their seat number written on it.
"Ah, here it is," I squeezed past a few students in the aisle before finally coming to my own. It was then did I managed to get a good look at my seatmate.
"Hey, that guy kinda looks like Kaccha..."
I take back what I said. Today's gonna be a long one.
POV: Issei Hyoudou
ONE HOUR EARLIER
"Alright, take your test sheet and head to your assigned testing seat as written on your ID."
I was handed a decently sized packet. Based on how thick it looks, I'd say there were no less than a hundred questions. That might be a problem, but as long as I remain confident and trust my instincts, I'll manage just fine.
Finding my seat, I was instructed to wait for all the other applicants in my testing room to get situated before starting.
"Remember, Issei, you don't need a perfect score, you just need to not completely bomb this," I mumble to myself as people begin finding their own seats.
"Ok, you can begin testing now. Remember, if we catch you eyeing another student's testing sheet, that will be grounds for immediate disqualification."
Chanting a quick prayer before the test officially begins. I took three deep breaths and flipped to the first page.
"Let's see what I'm wor...."
That's strange, it seems like whoever made this test decided to make the first question super difficult.
"No worries, I 'll just come back to that one later after I finish the rest."
If the first question is hard, that must mean the remainder should be easy pickings.
That's weird, it seems questions two and three are just as difficult. Maybe they decided to have all the hard questions on the first page, odd but not unheard of.
"I'll just skip to page two.. no, these ones are also hard. Ok page thre.. nope."
I kept flipping through pages, hoping to find even a single question that I understood. Before I knew it, I had already flipped through all twenty pages. And I couldn't even make sense of a single question.
"I'm fucked."