Chapter Text
Accompanied by a scattering of clouds and a gentle breeze, Fukuhara Akiko navigated their way through the dense crowd. They’d thought to leave early so that they would have some quiet before everything began - but unfortunately, Akiko slept in. Before rushing out of the house, the teen had quickly dressed themself in the clothes they had set out the night before; A black camisole top under a green plaid flannel top, with some light khaki shorts that were flexible enough for high mobility. They looked in the mirror, and brushed some stray locks of their violet hair to the side. The outfit was nice, it brought out the blue in their eyes and just felt good to wear. They chose to go without footwear - it would attract some strange looks, but was way more practical for the day ahead. Besides, there was no way they could afford the kind of expensive shoes that would allow them the tactile sensitivity to not get in the way of their quirk.
Walking up the many stairs and through the marble arches, Akiko felt a giddy excitement course through their body. This is it, I’m finally here. This is where it all begins! This is where I make a name for myself so I can put a stop to all the bullshit and make a real difference.
Lost in their own thoughts, Akiko didn’t really pay attention to the people around them. At least, not until they bumped into a boy of rather short stature. The boy had dark green hair, and he turned to reveal a startled and stressed expression. His whole body was tense, and he looked far more nervous than Akiko felt. “Oh, sorry about that!”
“Uh, it’s okay!” The boy replied, waving his hands placatingly about the place.
“Big day, huh? Don’t let the nerves get to you!” Akiko smiled back at him, putting out a hand. “Fukuhara Akiko. And you?”
“Midoriya,” the boy replied, settling down and scratching the back of his head after hesitantly shaking their hand. “Midoriya Izuku.”
“Well, Midoriya Izuku, I guess I’ll see you around? I’m going to head inside and get myself signed in. Good luck today!”
Akiko walked past Midoriya, leaving the boy behind as they moved inside the grand building to register their attendance. Once they’d checked in at the desk, Akiko was directed towards a gigantic hall with row upon row of desks set up. The space looked like it was designed for quirk training - Akiko could see various features all around the walls that could be used for all sorts of training regimes. They were given a number at the entrance to the hall, which they used to locate the desk for their written exam. Between school, working shifts at the local diner and helping out around the house, Akiko had barely enough time to study for the exam. Akiko and their mom made it work between the two of them - barely.
But Akiko’s mom understood how important this was to them, and made no complaints about the house falling into disarray in the past week so that they could cram. Akiko got a couple shifts off, and their mom took on some extra work to cover, too. It wasn’t ideal, but they only needed to pass the exam. At least there would be sections on physics, as well as hero ethics and laws, which Akiko didn’t need to study for. When Akiko’s dad died, that was the first time they asked the question ‘how can a hero get away with this?’, and they never stopped looking for answers.
Eventually the hall filled up. The exam started, and Akiko’s world was reduced to just the exam paper in front of them. They started with the sections they were more prepared for, so they had more time for the rest later. It was painful putting in answers on the ethics section they fundamentally disagreed with, but it was a small price to pay if they could get into the UA Heroics course.
Two hours passed, and the exam came to an end. But there was no break afterwards. Instead, all the applicants were directed to an even larger lecture hall for information on the practical exam. Akiko looked for a seat towards the back, where they could more easily keep to themself. Once the room was almost full, someone walked across the stage towards the pulpit. Probably someone famous, judging how others in the hall reacted, but Akiko wasn’t the type to pay all that much attention to popular heroes.
“I’VE GOT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE TOO, LISTENERS! ALL RIGHT, EXAMINEES... I’M GONNA GIVE YOU THE LOW-DOWN ON HOW THIS’LL GO DOWN! ARE YOU READY!?”
Akiko quickly put their hands over their ears as people began to cheer, partially muting the too-loud noise.
“NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, LISTENERS! WE’LL BE TESTING YOUR METTLE BY RUNNING A TEN-MINUTE PRACTICE RUN AT OUR REPLICA CITY-DISTRICT! YOU CAN TAKE WHATEVER YOU LIKE! EVERYBODY GATHER AT THE DESIGNATED MEETING AREA AFTER THE PRESENTATION, YA DIG?”
The obnoxiously loud announcer, who must have had some kind of vocal amplification quirk, proceeded to explain the rules of the entrance exam’s practical component, which was further detailed on a sheet of paper which Akiko had found on their seat at the start. It was a relatively straightforward scenario, involving mechatronic ‘villains’ to defeat in order to amass points. A boy sitting closer to the front stood up to ask an excellent clarifying question about the ‘zero-point’ enemy that wasn’t properly explained in the presentation.
The announcer explained that the purpose of the zero point villain was to be a trap; if too many people gathered, it would come out and attack. Supposedly it was stronger than the rest, and therefore to be avoided. Akiko suspected that there was more to it than that - it would probably appear at some point regardless of what people did, and they would be evaluating how candidates reacted to its actions.
The announcer concluded his speech, and all of the applicants were directed to their practical exam zones. The hundreds of candidates were divided up randomly between seven zones; Akiko was sent to Zone D. They weaved their way through the crowd, trying to find a somewhat open space to stand and wait. While moving, they spotted the boy they’d met earlier, Midoriya, amongst the crowd. They wanted to say hello before the practical exam started, but didn’t make it in time.
“AAAAAND START,” came the loud announcer’s voice from atop a large pillar. Nobody moved. “WHAT’S THE MATTER!? THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A COUNTDOWN IN A REAL BATTLE! RUN! RUUUN! CONSIDER THE BATON TOSSED!”
Everyone finally got the memo, and there was a mad rush as the entire crowd of candidates sprinted into the building complex. The only person who didn’t manage to dash in with the crowd, other than Akiko who had waited back on purpose, was Midoriya. The green-haired boy set off at a motivated run after momentarily panicking about being left behind, and Akiko ran alongside him.
“Hey, don’t let your nerves get to you,” Akiko advised encouragingly. “Just do your best. I’m sure the top hero academy in the country will look at more than just total points!”
Midoriya, who hadn’t seemed to notice Akiko running beside him, jumped, and almost lost his footing. “Ah! Um... thanks?”
Conscious that they needed to make their own best impression, Akiko gave Midoriya a brief wave and turned to run in another direction. They activated their own quirk, and allowed it to act on their body. Feeling the power course through them, waiting to be directed and fired off, Akiko began making larger steps, feeling their body push itself easily through the air at higher and higher speeds, until they’d caught up to a group of people racing one another towards a ‘3-Point’ villain.
A small grin spread across their face as Akiko ramped up the output of their quirk and flew directly towards the robot, easily outpacing the others. They pushed themself carefully in the other direction as they got within an arm’s reach of the robot, coming to a halt. Placing a single hand on the side of the robot, Akiko focused their quirk outwards. Manipulating the speed and direction of the robot, they sent it flying into the side of a nearby building. Due to the speed of the impact, the robot ended up severely crumpled and unable to function.
“Hey, what the hell?!” yelled one of the candidates who had been robbed of the points.
“As much as we should work together, there aren’t enough ‘villains’ for all of us. Gotta get in fast! On that note, bye bye!” Akiko grinned and bolted. They redirected their quirk inwards, manipulating their own motion vectors to regain their boosted mobility.
For the next ten minutes, Akiko dashed around the complex, finding robots to destroy. More than a few times, they stepped in to push other candidates out of the way of danger, or rescue those trapped under chunks of rubble or other debris. Once, they’d been beaten to the chase by another rescuer - an admittedly cute-looking boy with indigo hair and the deepest eye bags Akiko had ever seen had arrived first. Akiko barely just heard him say something to two fighters frozen in fear, and as soon as they responded to him, their entire demeanours changed. They started running away with unnatural motions, quickly fleeing the scene and finding somewhere safe to hide. As amazed as Akiko was by this bizarre phenomenon, they didn’t have time to stop and investigate. Still, they had a feeling they’d see this boy again.
Just under five minutes remained, and Akiko had amassed almost 40 points from destroying villains. They were certain that it was at the higher end of the scores, and they were glad. Usually, Akiko would have preferred to hide their skill and keep their head down; other kids at their old school didn’t like when they always had the answers and ‘showed off’ in class, so they learned not to. However, it was imperative that they pass the entrance exam, so they couldn’t hold back. It was exactly the right time for ‘showing off’.
Panting heavily, Akiko knew that they were almost out of energy now, with the way their quirk directly sapped their stamina. They’d probably be able to fight one or two more bots at best before they had to find a safe place to wait until the practical exam ended. A loud rumbling echoed throughout the testing grounds. Is that...?
Akiko ran towards the source of the noise. They avoided using their quirk in order to save energy for just in case their suspicion was correct. After all, the ‘0-Point’ robot had yet to appear… unless it did just then. Rounding a corner, Akiko’s worries were proved correct. The humongous robot had risen from below the ground, and towered over many of the tall buildings. Most of the candidates chose to retreat, and Akiko stepped out of the way to let them pass. Akiko would stay; they had enough energy to at least support anyone who wanted to fight it and keep them safe.
Once the area was clear, Akiko saw that only two other people remained. There was a girl trapped under some rubble nearby the towering robot. Beside her, Midoriya looked ready to pounce at the robot. Damn, he wants to take it on alone? I still haven’t seen him use his quirk... Oh well, guess I’ll back him up.
Before Akiko could shout out towards Midoriya, the latter had leapt up into the sky with incredible speed. The ground broke below where he’d jumped from, betraying an absurd level of physical force. Physical augmentation, huh? Probably just what’s needed to deal with this beast.
Once again focusing their own quirk inward, Akiko rushed towards the girl. They placed a hand on the largest piece of rubble above her and flung it away, freeing her to stand up. The girl thanked Akiko, and looked towards Midoriya. Somehow, he’d managed to strike the gigantic robot with enough force to break it into pieces and send it flying backwards. Then, he started screaming.
Midoriya was falling, and he didn’t have a way to land safely. A fall from that height would almost certainly be lethal, and Akiko wasn’t sure they could stop the boy’s fall with the energy they had left.
“Get me close to him,” the girl urged. “I can save him, but I need to touch him and my ankle’s too hurt!”
Wordlessly, Akiko picked the girl up and activated their quirk so that the duo could make it in time. Midoriya fell closer and closer to the ground, and Akiko was worried they wouldn’t make it in time. They pushed every last bit of their energy into their quirk, augmenting their speed as much as they could. They closed in as quickly as possible, barely just making it in time. The girl stretched her arm out, tapping Midoriya’s body just before he hit the ground. Midoriya stopped, and for a moment he hung in the air. The girl let out a pained scream, and then Midoriya safely dropped the last metre to the ground with a soft thud. With the last of their physical strength, Akiko dropped the girl’s body to the ground and finally allowed themself to pass out from exhaustion.
One week later
After cleaning the remaining dishes from Akiko’s latest bulk cookfest - the most reliable way for them to maintain a healthy diet - they stepped outside to collect the post. Inbound cloud cover suggested that it would probably rain soon, so Akiko was glad they hadn’t put off the mail collection for later. There were only a few items awaiting collection: an advertisement card for a local dry cleaning business, a business letter for Akiko’s mother and... an official looking envelope with the U.A. seal. Eagerly, the teenager grabbed the letters and stepped inside. They placed their mother’s letter on some open counter space where she would see it, discarded the junk mail and tore open the envelope from U.A. without further hesitation.
Inside were two things - a few folded sheets of paper and a small holographic projector. Goes to show just how much money they have to throw around, I guess, Akiko thought to themself as they pushed a button on the side of the projector.
“Hello, young hero-to-be!!”
A hologram appeared, showing the absurdly muscular figure of the world’s most famous hero, All Might.
“It is I, All Might! I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for study at the wonderful U.A. academy! Amongst many impressive candidates, you made a shining impression for yourself and so have been accepted into the academy’s hero program in class 1A. Enclosed you will find papers explaining everything you need to know prior to beginning your hero journey. As both the Symbol of Peace and a new teacher at U.A., I look forward to seeing you soon!”
Akiko exhaled. It wasn’t that they’d doubted their chance of being accepted. Moreso they had the niggling anxiety in the back of their mind that wouldn’t cease until they received proof that they’d passed. Now, it was confirmed. A wide, eager grin stuck itself onto Akiko’s face and refused to leave the whole time it took to read their acceptance papers.
“To think my child would be accepted into a hero academy! And not just any hero academy, but U.A.!” Fukuhara Kana squealed joyfully. She was a tall woman with long purple hair, a bright smile and even warmer presence.
“Mom...”
“I know you’re a teenager now, but let me have this moment, Akiko! You probably remember that, just like me, your father was quirkless, yes? When your quirk manifested for the first time, I thought that would be the happiest day of my life. But this? This deserves a celebration! Come on, let’s go get food at the diner. You’ve earned it!”
Akiko rolled their eyes, but smiled. Their mom had a way of gushing with her emotions in a way they could never really match. But they appreciated it all the same, and gladly followed their mother out to the local diner.
“The results of the practical skills entrance examination are here. This is a pretty interesting crop of kids. Fukuhara Akiko tied for Togata’s record at 80 points - the kid’s got potential. 40 villain points and 40 rescue points. We gave no instructions to collaborate and they went out of their way to keep all the other candidates safe.”
“And they’re not the only one - Bakugou Katsuki managed to place second at 77 points without a single rescue point. His temper is worrisome but his sheer offensive output is absurd! As if his score was unusual enough, there’s that Midoriya kid. Zero villain points and 60 rescue points? He took on the arena trap just to keep the others safe; didn’t even hesitate.”
“Sir, I mean no disrespect, but you’re giving those diamonds in the rough to Aizawa? ”