Chapter 35 - U.A. Entrance Exam 4

(A/N: You know, whoever said that Toga will stay in U.A. as Mineta. And who said he'll still be sane/alive after she's done w him :>)

Izuku sat atop the building, watching everyone scramble for any remaining points. After 5 minutes, Izuku noticed there were almost no robots left to destroy. The majority of them were left scattered on the outskirts and hidden in obscurity.

Basically, anyone who hadn't grabbed a few points in the first few minutes or followed Izuku's path is fucked, because Izuku crushed every robot in his field of vision, no matter how far away. He only stopped after 50 because getting more would be pointless.

Sitting atop the building, other than as a leisure activity, was also an added safety measure. If he felt there were actually too many robots, then maybe he'd crush some more.

"Oh, I can see Toga and everyone else from here…" Izuku overlooked every movement of every candidate from above. Although he doesn't have super eyes, he knows his eyes, or rather, every part of his body, are better than others.

Toga was basically doing the same thing as Izuku but atop a pile of smashed robots instead of a building. Izuku then saw the tense and uptight guy running around at superspeed, scrambling for leftover points.

Izuku also saw his newly made acquaintance, Ochaco Uraraka, standing in the middle of multiple floating robots who suddenly fell as gravity mercilessly crushed them completely. It was a unique sight to see, but Izuku felt it was and will always be like that with quirks; unique, too unique even.

Izuku looked at the yawning Lin and laughed. She had already accustomed herself to the height in less than a minute and is now ready to sleep as if this is normal. Just as he was about to let Lin sleep through the rest of the test, he felt a rumble from the edge of the city.

Far away, Izuku saw a building starting to move. As it turns out, it wasn't a building at all, it was a camouflaged zero-point robot being activated! Disregarding anything, the newly awakened robot tore through the replica city as if it was butter, destroying everything in its path to follow the nearest gathering of candidates, scaring them all away.

It worked, of course, as most of the candidates scrambled away from the robot, frantically running as they already forgot about their initial task of fighting and killing robots. In the face of overwhelming power, they could only run from it.

Izuku could only sigh at their stupidity. As if it wasn't obvious enough as to why the school added this zero-point robot into the test.

They're applying for a hero course for fucks sake, show some heroism for the camera at least! Don't just run away with your tail behind your legs, run away carrying someone injured or clear a path for others or at least guide them to safety.

The point is, don't cower in fear or show your pathetic side since if even the hero gives up, who will feel safe?

"Well, I can't say a lot since I'm not doing much myself but I have enough points while you don't…" Izuku mumbled, looking at the crowd of runners who had reached the center of the city, ie, the building he was on top of.

Izuku saw the clock and they had barely 2 minutes left. He decided to parkour his way through other buildings and got down to see how big the robot is from the ground.

It looked massive from the sky, it will surely be even more so from below. Its height surpassed even the tallest buildings as it crushed everything in front of it like how a cookie crumbles.

Izuku stood dozens of meters in front of the massive robot. Even if he was far away, it will only take a few seconds for the robot to trample Izuku like an ant.

Under the inquiring gazes of the fleeing crowd, Izuku walked toward the giant robot, unsure of what he wanted to do. He even noticed the guy with the tense glasses running by and stopping to look at him too.

All of the candidates were aware that their lives were never in danger, but the rush of fear that persisted after their initial panic had been replaced by a curiosity about Izuku's next move.

"Oow…"

Izuku heard a small whimper in front of him. He searched over and saw Ochaco trampled beneath a pile of robot scraps. The big robot must have knocked on one of the ones she floated in the air, and it unluckily fell on her.

Izuku saw no one swooping in to be the hero as the robot slowly closes in, as if it were the harbinger of death, inching closer to take Ochaco's life.

'Well, I guess I'll take her then,' Izuku decided, not wanting to take any chances. No one was willing to give up what little time they had left to help someone, or perhaps, they lacked the courage to help someone in front of the giant robot and their time crunch.

Izuku used his quirk and pulled Ochaco after shouting at her not to resist. If she did, it'll only make things much harder for him. Ochaco's body has turned weak anyway so she followed Izuku's instruction and felt a gentle force pulling her body towards him.

Thinking it'll make it easier, Ochaco used her quirk on herself and lightened her body, surprising Izuku as the amount of force he used didn't calculate for her quirk. Ochaco suddenly sped up and crashed down into Izuku, smushing Lin in between them.

"Oww…" Ochaco rubbed her head slowly in pain as she tried to move her body up, only to fall back down. The debris had hurt her body and added to the crash, it was anything but easy for her to move.

Izuku picked Lin up before she could get smushed in between the two again and gently let Ochaco lay on the ground, holding Lin.

"Sorry for the trouble," Ochaco said, smiling sheepishly as she took Lin into her arms. She knew her use of quirk brought in more trouble than help.

"It's fine," Izuku patted Lin's head and told her to stay before laughing the whole thing off, "At least my sword didn't pierce you or anything,"

"A…ahaa," Ochaco noticed Izuku's sword stabbed through a rock right beside her arm and gulped her saliva. Just a few unlucky inches away and it could've been her body.

"Pfft," Izuku laughed, seeing her believing it was a coincidence. Of course, he wouldn't let her get hurt, at least not until she bleeds, or else he might get points deduction. Just not being able to move is plenty enough.

"Anyway, can you lighten my body?" Izuku asked, wanting to feel what it is like to be affected by another quirk. Ochaco nodded and used her remaining energy to lighten Izuku's body.

Izuku felt his body about to float but forced it still to stay on the ground. He jumped up and down as he saw the robot was about to reach their position.

"Hey hey Izuku-kun, shouldn't we run from that?" Ochaco hurriedly asked, afraid they were going to get trampled. She wonders why the cat in her arms isn't panicking like she is.

Izuku shook his head and easily dispelled Ochaco's quirk from his body using Shinra Tensei, much to her gaping surprise.

"Stay here and hold Lin, I want to test something," Izuku said and dashed away from the dumbfounded Ochaco. She wanted to try and convince him they should run but he had already left.

A flash suddenly appeared beside Ochaco as she noticed a tense and tight guy arriving. "Can you move? I'll carry you if you can't,"

"Ah…" Ochaco looked at the fleeting figure of Izuku and Lin in her arms before rejecting him, "I think I'll stay. I believe in Izuku-kun," she said. She didn't know what he wanted to do rushing into the robot like that but there was no way he'd left her and his cat in danger.

The guy saw Ochaco's belief on Izuku, who's basically a stranger to her, and followed her stare as he watched Izuku's figure dash in between the robot's legs. Only one thought appeared in his mind, 'So this is what a hero is…'

Izuku stopped as he reached the center of the robot's two tank-like wheels. The loud shifting of gears rang through Izuku's ear like a tornado as he crossed his two open palms in front of him and used his quirk.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

Izuku made a grasping motion as he pulled all the necessary components from the robot's legs. He wasn't well educated on mechanical machinery, but pulling the seemingly important cogs, belt and gears of the wheels should do the trick of stopping it in its tracks.

Izuku debated on instead pushing its two legs off of their limbs but rejected it since that could cause unwanted casualties, which could include him if the robot collapsed due to abrupt instability.

Sure enough, although the robot was still shifting its gears, it had stopped completely in its tracks, unable to move even an inch closer to the nearby Ochaco and Lin who watched him dumbfoundedly. It did still flail around its giant arms so Izuku wants to get out of the area ASAP.

"Oh, you're here," Izuku greeted the tense guy and took Lin from the wide-eyed Ochaco. He grabbed his sword and sheath it on his waist before offering his hand to her.

"You still can't walk right?" Izuku asked. Ochaco took his hand as Izuku took her in and helped her walk by her shoulders. Izuku saw the tense guy wanting to help but stopped at the last moment as he left the two in contemplation.

"He's too uptight, don't you think so–"

"UGweuWue" Ochaco suddenly vomited all her breakfast when she took her second step. Izuku quickly prevented it from touching their clothes since he probably still needed to carry her out to get those saving points, if it even exist.

'...I'd be surprised if they don't calculate acts of kindness,'

"Are you okay?"

"I..I'm fine," Ochaco turned to Izuku with a tired but happy smile. Though, she leaned her body closer, feeling even more tired after vomiting, "Are you sure you want to carry me? There's still time to get poi–,"

"THE TEST IS OVERRRRRR~,"

"nts–...Sorry I wasted your time!" Ocacho immediately tried to bow down as she realized what she had done but instead only managed to burden Izuku even more as he had to put Lin into his hoodie chest pocket and pick Ochaco's body up in a piggyback ride, preventing her from doing anything excessive.

"Geez, just stay down already." Izuku laughed her apology off and patted her right thigh twice, causing her to blush, "You've been under a debris and crashed into me, just take a rest for a bit,"

"But…didn't I trouble you? Right! You can have some of my points you would've gotten if you hadn't stopped and rescued me!"

"...If you want to repay me, hold Lin still so she won't fall, okay?" Izuku nudged his head towards Lin as Ochaco complied and hugged her arms around Izuku's neck, holding Lin from falling. She felt a lick on her finger and giggled as she saw Lin's black eyes looking back at her.

Ochaco felt warm as she was piggybacked by Izuku. She didn't mind the gazes of the other candidates. Whether it was directed towards her or Izuku, she didn't know. What she did know, however, is that even though they had never had a proper conversation before this, he had already somehow made her feel safe to be around him.

"Thanks for saving me Izuku-kun…" Ochaco weakly said. She didn't have much energy left, but the least she could do is thank her hero.

"Well, that's what a hero does right?"

"..." Ochaco was silent as she finally realized what the test could actually be about and wondered whether Izuku knew about it all along. Although she wanted to talk more, her body was at its limits and she could only let out a small, "Un…"

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