章 37: Chapter 37: Public exams (I)

"So? What do you think?"

"These two are especially powerful. We'll put them in class 1-A. As for the other two, put them in class 1-B. Reject the others. I don't need someone who would attack their own teammates in my school." A small mouse said mercilessly.

"Alright then. Who would be the teacher of class 1-A and 1-B this year? Principal Nezu, please don't tell me it's the duo again..." A voluptuous woman in a white body suit said.

"I already planned for them to take that class. For class 1-B, let's have Sekijiro be their homeroom teacher. Shido would be the assistant teacher in 1-A along with Aizawa, it's not like he can teach anything else apart from fighting anyway." Nezu sipped tea calmly as he analysed the videos that were taken from the 'villains'' point of view, showing each and every action of every examinee. Their heroic actions, their not-so-heroic actions, their behaviours, their courage and so on. Everything was processed inside his brain, allowing for fast and correct decisions to be made.

"Sigh, I pray that this year's class would be up to their standards. Otherwise..." Nemuri, or more commonly known as Midnight, sighed and did not continue her sentence. Nezu heard her and nodded as well. He didn't want to expel any more students.

'Maybe it was a mistake to let Aizawa have that privilege.' He couldn't help but think, but after having second thoughts, he just shrugged. 'Meh, I trust his judgement.'

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Two months later, at 8.40 am, a young blond-haired boy could be seen walking with a mean expression. It wasn't that he was angry. It was basically his default look.

As he walked, he could hear the voice of those background characters talking about the incident with the sludge villain and how incredible his quirk was. Those praises didn't please him. They pissed him off. The thought about that nerd saving him pissed him off so much.

He put his hand in his pockets and continued to walk with anger brewing in his stomach when he heard the voice he didn't want to hear the most.

"Hello, Kacchan!"

This voice, he could remember it hundreds of time, he turned while screaming,"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT YOU FUCKING N...erd?"

His voice died down as instead of looking down like he usually did, he had to look straight at the green-haired guy in front of him.

"Deku?"

"Hello, Kacchan. It has been some time since we last saw each other."

The first thought that went thought his mind was 'Who the fuck are you?'.

The second thought was 'Am I dreaming?'.

And the third was 'Is someone playing a prank?'.

In no instance did he ever think that it was truly Izuku that was standing in front of him.

After another two months of intense training with One for All, Izuku now stood at a solid 175 cm. 10 cm taller than he was 10 months ago. Bukago stood at a solid 174 cm.

Izuku let out a bitter smile at the reaction of Bukago before saying,"It's really me."

Anger rushed down Bukago's head. 'What the fuck? What the actual fuck?'

"YOU!!!"

He sent out a fist without thinking. Frankly, he didn't intend to hit Deku, he just wanted to scare him a little bit. But then, he saw the sky and the ground reverse.

'Huh?'

Boom!

'Shit!'

The pain finally made him snap out of his daze. He was thrown? By Deku no less?

"KACCHAN! Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to do this. Please forgive me. Are you alright?"

Those words nearly made something snap in Bukago. But he had enough good sense to not fight with his quirk here.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" He swatted Deku's hands that were trying to help him before getting up and sullenly walking away. At that moment, his head was boiling hot, but at the same time completely cold. It wasn't that he didn't see Deku change, but perception is a funny thing. When you see someone gradually changing, you cannot feel those changes. It's only when some time has passed before seeing him again that you can feel how much the person changed.

He didn't know what prompted those changes in Deku. He always thought that he was growing because of puberty, but now after getting flipped by him, his thoughts about him changed.

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"Sigh..." Izuku sighed as he looked at the departing back of Kacchan. He really didn't mean to put Kacchan down. During his training, sometimes he would be attacked even when he was eating or washing. Being able to react was a must. He also learned some Aikido from Melissa. Still, to think that he could do this.

'Was Kacchan always this small?' The thought went past his mind before he discarded it immediately. He looked at his hands in wonder. During training, he never really felt strong. He was basically the punching bag of the team. He remembered how Eri-san beat him down like nothing. He didn't know what her quirk was, and had zero idea since he never saw Eri used it on anything. He only knew that it was powerful from Shido's words.

He clenched his fist,"I'm different from before."

"Ano...are you alright?"

"Huh?"

He turned around and saw a girl standing in front of him.

'C-Cute!'

He couldn't help but blush. The girl was a little short but she had a very feminine build. She had brown, curved shoulder-length hair. Izuku blushed a little before asking while scratching the back of his head,

"S-Sorry, w-what do you m-mean?"

"Ah, sorry if I misunderstood. It seemed like you were fighting, so I asked if everything was alright."

"This, no I mean, n-nothing happened. H-He is a friend from middle school. I-I mean not r-really a f-friend but you see."

He stuttered incoherently while waving his hands in a flustered way.The more he tried to explain, the more nonsense he started sprouting. Finally he stopped talking and hid his face behind both his hands.

'So embarrassing!!"

"Ahaha! You're a weird boy!"

'Her way of laughing is so cute!!"

"I see! Still, you seem pretty strong. You must be confident in yourself."

"Huh?"

"In my case, I'm pretty nervous. Let's do our best! See ya!"

She began to run ahead while waving her hands, a large smile on her face. Izuku looked at her, with a transfixed expression. Finally, a dork-like expression appeared on his face,'I talked with a girl who isn't violent!'

He nearly cried at this beautiful thought. After months of training with Miliena and Melissa, as well as his occasional meeting with Eri, he had begun to wonder if all the girls in this world were sadistic and barbaric monsters.

'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!'

He thanked all the gods he could think of for not creating such a nightmarish world.

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"FOR ALL OF YOU EXAMINEES LISTENERS TURNING IN, WELCOME TO MY SHOW TODAY!"

Ina barely lit room, the brightest source of light was a very large screen on a podium. On the podium, a man stood with his back facing the examinees seated in the room. Finally, the man turned and said,"EVERYBODY SAY HEY!!"

"..."

The silence that greeted him was deafening. Still, the man, Present Mic, as if used to such reactions, didn't lose his smile and continued his presentation,"WEL, THAT'S COLL, MY EXAMINEE LISTENERS!! I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE GUIDELINES OF YOUR PRACTICAL!! ARE YOU READY?!"

"..."

Once again, silence prevailed as he shouted all by himself,"YEAHH!"

'Kyaa! It's the voice hero: Present Mic! Wow..." Izuku was sitting alone and watching this scene with stars shining in his eyes while muttering about how much of a fan he was of Present Mic and all the pro heroes working in UA. He was a fan of the voice hero.

At the same time he was daydreaming, Present Mic was still talking,"This is how the test will go, my listeners! You'll be experiencing ten-minute-long 'Mock cityscape manoeuvres'! Bring along whatever you want! After this presentation, you'll each head to your assigned testing location! Each site is filled with..."

*****************

"Sigh, as usual, no one cheered for Present Mic...how sad." Shido sighed in pity as he saw the awkward silence that appeared again and again. He almost didn't want to watch Present Mic host the entrance exam anymore. In fact, he didn't even want to come today, but he was a teacher and he was required to be present.

He wasn't helping out since principal mouse didn't think anyone would be able to fight against his quirk, and Nezu didn't want everyone to be eliminated.

Another reason for why he was here is because of Izuku. Shido admitted he was wrong about his resolve, but everything else...that was a different story. He was at the top of the building staring down at Izuku as he 'conversed' with a girl, and the result was not satisfactory.

He agreed with Butler Sebastian. Does Izuku have two personalities?

From behind the screen, he could see everything that happened within the dark space clearly. He saw Izuku getting reprimanded by another student for 'mumbling loudly', causing Shido to snicker at his plight.

After seeing him train so hard, there was no doubt about his resolve, but his personality was a very big problem. Before the practical exam could even begin, he was already scolded once, by a fellow examinee no less, for a stupid reason.

'Sigh, such a problem child...' He thought to himself, not realising that he himself, together with Eri, were also considered as 'problem children' in the eyes of the other adults and pro heroes. Truly the case of a pot calling the kettle back.

*****************

"Huge!"

Izuku looked with astonishment at the large structure standing in front of him. Just how vast was UA for a city to be built in it?

Izuku and the other examinees were standing in front of a very large bronze oor. They all discarded their middle-school uniform for clothes that allowed for easier and larger movements. Some even wore special equipment that helped them in using their quirks. Izuku saw one guy with twinkling eyes wear an equipment similar to a large belt.

He took a deep breath before firming his expression. 'It's time to show what I have learnt from my training during those ten months. I will become the hero I always dreamed of becoming.'

An unprecedented feeling of calmness washed over him. He remembered what the cute girl told him this morning.

'I see! Still, you seem pretty strong. You must be confident in yourself.'

He looked at his own clenched fist and opened them, revealing a palm full of sweat. Confident in himself? Not particularly.

He didn't believe in himself. He believed in those who believed in him.

That was why he was so seemingly calmer than usual. Those ten months were nothing short of torture to someone like him who hadn't touched any workout till then. What's more, the 'training' was done by a group of pro heroes who were specialised in their respective fields. He had gotten the best of the best training out there. A training that not many can pay to get.

Therefore, when those professionals said he was ready, he believed that he was ready. He couldn't afford to lose or do badly.

While looking around he saw the cute girl not far away from him. Since he was by himself, he decided to go say hello to her. Of course, if she was trying to concentrate he wouldn't bother her.

Just as he was about to walk towards her, he felt a presence behind him before a hand was placed on his shoulder. He nearly acted on instinct before remembering what happened this morning with Kacchan.

He slowly turned and was faced with the guy who called him out earlier. Although he was slightly rude and blunt with his harsh words, Izuku felt that his thinking was right, but his actions were slightly...impolite. However, he didn't like useless conflicts, so he decided to ease the tension a little.

"Oh! You're here too?"

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A/N: "You were the girl with the picture book back then, weren't you?"

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