I took the train because my Mom had to go into work early and I rode it all the way to the testing center. It was part of the UA campus and hundreds of other students were there as well. I walked up towards the main entrance and had to hold in a laugh at what I was seeing.
Izuku had his arms wrapped around a very happy Mei and their lips were locked in a passionate kiss. She even had one of her feet pointed out in a classic movie kiss pose. The best part were all the stares they were getting.
“Hey, guys.” I said as I walked over to them.
They broke the kiss, completely unrepentant of their public display of affection.
“Hey, Con.” Mei said with a grin. “Keep my guy out of trouble, will you?”
“I have to. They won't let us take your babies with us.” I said and she pouted.
“Stupid testing rules.” Mei grumped.
“Hey, you can still build my costume, remember?” Izuku reminded her.
“Oh, yeah! I have so many ideas!” Mei gushed.
“You need to wait for approval first.” Izuku said and gave her a gentle kiss. “Have fun at your test.”
Mei nodded and let him out of the embrace she had him in. “Good luck, you two.”
“See you.” I said and watched her walk away.
“Hey, Connor. Thanks for letting me spend time with Mei.” Izuku said and I turned to look at him.
“You would have done the same for me.” I said and put an arm over his shoulders as we started walking towards the building in front of us. “I didn't have much luck finding a girl like you did.”
Izuku gave me a sly smile. “You could have gone to see that girl we rescued.”
I stumbled slightly and coughed. “I don't know what you mean.”
Izuku chuckled. “She's not here, by the way.”
“What? Why not?” I asked and looked around.
“She got a recommendation and is already considered a student. She doesn't have to prove her worth like we do.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that.” I said and sighed. “It would have been nice to see her, though.”
“I'd agree with you if I didn't have a girlfriend.” Izuku said and then chuckled. “I think I'm falling in love with her, actually.”
There was a shriek of surprise off in the bushes beside the building and we turned to look. We saw a streak of pink hair and a girl running around the side of the building a moment later.
“You knew she was listening?” I asked and took my arm from over his shoulder.
“She put the microphone under my collar when we were kissing.” Izuku said. “I still mean it, though.”
I chuckled and we entered the building, side by side. “She's going to be freaking out for another half an hour, I bet.”
“Plenty of time before the test starts.” Izuku said and we moved down the amphitheatre to find some seats. “Hey, were not sitting together.”
I looked at my card and the seat was two rows up and to the right. “I guess they don't want us delinquents sitting together.”
Izuku nodded. “Good luck.”
“Who needs luck? We got this in the bag.” I said and offered my fist. He bumped it and I went up to my own seat.
What followed was a loud and obnoxious hero named Present Mic trying to get everyone excited. I had to laugh at him trying that for a written exam and then it started.
Izuku and I had the test completed in half an hour instead of the three hour time limit we were given. One of the heroes walking around gave us odd looks, took our papers, and handed us the cards on the front of the desks.
“The buses will arrive outside after lunch.” He whispered and pointed at the doors. “You're on your own until then.”
“Sweet.” I said and we left at a jog.
“That was the easiest test I've ever taken.” Izuku said and shook his head. “Why was it the easiest? I thought this school was the best in the country.”
“We're just that awesome.” I said and pointed at the cafeteria building. “Are we hanging out here or over there to wait for you know who?”
“The support tests are on the other side of campus, so it's your choice.”
“Light snacking until lunchtime it is.” I said and we went to the cafeteria building to hang out. Just before lunchtime, we grabbed three meals and headed for the side doors. We were just in time, because the main doors opened and the place filled up with students and became extremely crowded.
Izuku's phone beeped and he checked it. “South south west. Ten degrees off point.” He typed and we waited. Mei shot around the corner of the building and made a beeline right for us riding on a scooter with mechanical arms.
“I'm not even going to ask.” I said and Izuku chuckled.
Mei skidded to a stop beside us and hopped off as the arms dropped down and acted like a kickstand to hold the scooter up. “Hi, guys!”
“Hey, beautiful.” Izuku said and kissed her.
“S-stop saying that! I'm covered in grease and my hair's a mess!” Mei said and hid her blush.
“Like I said, beautiful.” Izuku said and hugged her, not caring about the state of her clothes.
“I'd pretend to gag if I didn't think you just earned a ton of boyfriend points.” I commented and held my fist up to get bumped.
Izuku did so and we sat down to eat.
“How did you do?” Mei asked after a bite of a sandwich.
“We finished after half an hour.” I said and kept eating.
Mei stared at me and her eyes zoomed in on my face. “You're not lying.”
“Nope. The hero checking for cheaters told us to get lost until the bus leaves.” I clarified for her.
Mei grinned and looked at Izuku. “You crushed it?”
“We crushed it.” Izuku confirmed.
“That's my guy.” Mei said and gave him a kiss, then kept eating.
We didn't say anything else until we were done eating and had washed up.
“They let you keep your latest baby?” Izuku asked.
“They did! They couldn't keep us apart!” Mei said and hugged her scooter. The arms let go of the ground and hugged her back.
“I thought the practical was this afternoon.” Izuku said.
“They switched it as a test.” Mei said and the scooter let her go as she climbed on. “It's a different qualification process for support heroes.”
The buses the heroes were waiting for pulled up and parked.
“That's us.” Izuku said and hugged and kissed his girlfriend. “I'll see you tonight.”
“Good luck.” Mei said and looked at me with her target eyes. “Keep your promise.”
“I wouldn't do anything else.” I said and she nodded, then she sped off. “You lucky bastard.”
Izuku nodded and we went over to the bus that was ours. We climbed on and waited for the others to board. Ten minutes later, it was full and pulled out with the other buses, everyone going to different sites and testing areas.
“I think we lucked out.” I said as I looked around at the people on the bus with us. “I don't really see any competition.”
“Excuse me! It's not polite to say things like that to your peers!” A guy with glasses said and his hand made a chopping motion for some reason.
“Who said you're my peer?” I asked, curious as to what his answer was. Izuku chuckled beside me and covered it with a cough.
The guy looked confused and couldn't come up with a proper explanation.
“I'm just messing with you.” I said. “I only meant that my friend and I have been training like mad for years to get here. Our muscles have muscles. Everyone else here seems to think their quirk will get them through the test without any physical fitness at all.”
The guy looked even more confused.
“Take yourself, for example. I see the exhausts on your legs and I also don't see any real muscle definition. Did you do any squats? Any lunges? Or anything at all that would strengthen your legs or give you more endurance?”
“I... no, I didn't.”
I smiled and pulled up my pants leg and the guy and a few other people stared at the thick muscles. “We've been exercising with massive weights on our limbs to strengthen them as much as possible. With the weights off, we feel as light as feathers.”
“I feel like I could fly.” Izuku said and flexed his fingers. “It's like I have a different body.”
“I know, right? It's amazing.” I said and sat back as I let my pants leg go. “Remind me to thank your girlfriend.”
“Hey! Lips off my girl.” Izuku joked.
I chuckled. “She'd kill me if I even suggested such a thing. She loves you too much to look at me for more than threats to protect you!”
Izuku chuckled as well and nodded. “She's really great.”
“I was going to ask her to play with my watch. Let her go nuts with it or something.”
“Actually, yeah. She would like to do that.” Izuku said.
I nodded and looked out the window. “We should be there soon.”
“About eight minutes if the bus doesn't slow down.” Izuku said.
“I'm not betting dessert again.” I said and he hit my arm. “I'm not.”
“Spoilsport. I like free desserts.” Izuku said with a laugh.
We waited until the bus arrived at the testing center and it had been eight minutes.
“I'll buy you a fudgecicle.” I said and Izuku laughed again as he followed me off the bus.
An oddly dressed man waved the students into the main entrance. “If you have costumes with you, the locker rooms are off to the right. The exam will start when Present Mic makes the announcement in fifteen minutes.”
Izuku and I went to the locker room and chose a locker to put our things in. We were going into combat and didn't want to damage anything like our phones and other bits of technology like our watches.
I looked at the hanger in the locker and thought about it. After a moment, I slipped off the jacket and hung it up.
“She gave it to you.” Izuku whispered and I turned to nod at him. “I'm happy for you, Connor. Really.”
“Thanks, Izuku.” I said and watched as he took off his jacket and pants to reveal a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt. “Did Mei reinforce your boots like I asked?”
“She's right that the competition rules are stupid to forbid her from helping us with tech.” Izuku said and tied the laces on his boots tightly. “We checked and the reinforcement is legal, because I could do it myself.”
“Then we're good to go.” I said and we left the locker room.
The shocked looks on everyone's faces as we walked by them was worth the years of effort. We cut impressive figures and they all stared at us. My buzz-cut black hair and my solid black t-shirt with the symbol of hope on the front, the trademarked red 'S' of my father, it really stood out. I also wore a pair of tight dark jeans made of reinforced carbon fibers. With my muscles on display like they were, I looked like a bad-ass.
Izuku with his closely cropped and spiky green hair, his muscle shirt barely covering his impressive chest, and his mid thigh shorts showing off his muscular legs and combat boots, looked just as bad-ass as I did. Neither of us looked like we took crap from anyone and they all saw it, which was the point.
“Oh, wow.” A cute brown haired girl said as we stopped at the front of the gathered group.
“Hey, there. I'm Connor.” I said and held my hand out to her.
“U-U-Uraraka.” She squeaked and then blushed as she shook my hand.
“I'd introduce the guy beside me, except he has a girlfriend and she'd kill him if he spoke to you.”
“Hey! She would only maim me if I said anything past hello.” Izuku said and took her hand next. “Hi.”
“Hi!” Uraraka said.
“This isn't a social gathering.” The glasses guy said.
“We're standing around and talking. That's the very definition of a social gathering.” I said and he shut up. “Until that loudmouthed guy Present Mic starts talking, anyway.”
Uraraka giggled and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry! I'm too old to giggle!”
“You're obviously not doing something right.” I said suggestively and she blushed.
“I... I... I...”
“Relax. We're about to go into a life and death situation. There's no need to be nervous.” I said and waved at the cityscape in front of us.
“That's a perfect reason to be nervous!” Uraraka said.
“You can stick with us if you want.” Izuku said.
“Oops! You spoke! Mei's gonna whack you good!” I joked and Izuku chuckled.
“She'll understand. We can't let a fellow hero lag behind, right?”
“No, no! That's okay!” Uraraka said and waved her hands in front of her. “I'm good working alone.”
I turned to Izuku and smiled. “We're gonna kick ass if they are all working individually.”
“This is it, everyone!” Present Mic shouted from a booth above the city entrance. “It's time for you all to see who can make it as a pro hero!”
“Are we still shooting for top points?” Izuku asked.
“You know it.” I said and fist bumped him. “Combat Team Up!”
Izuku grinned and we crouched down, then we took off running at our full speed.
“HEY! You can't go yet!” Glasses guy shouted after us.
“What are you waiting for? Someone to shout start? There's no start in the hero business! I already said it's time to show off! Move it! Move it! Move it!” Present Mic shouted and the other students realized that Izuku and I had a huge head start on them.
“I should have said yes!” Uraraka exclaimed and ran after us.
I took the train because my Mom had to go into work early and I rode it all the way to the testing center. It was part of the UA campus and hundreds of other students were there as well. I walked up towards the main entrance and had to hold in a laugh at what I was seeing.
Izuku had his arms wrapped around a very happy Mei and their lips were locked in a passionate kiss. She even had one of her feet pointed out in a classic movie kiss pose. The best part were all the stares they were getting.
“Hey, guys.” I said as I walked over to them.
They broke the kiss, completely unrepentant of their public display of affection.
“Hey, Con.” Mei said with a grin. “Keep my guy out of trouble, will you?”
“I have to. They won't let us take your babies with us.” I said and she pouted.
“Stupid testing rules.” Mei grumped.
“Hey, you can still build my costume, remember?” Izuku reminded her.
“Oh, yeah! I have so many ideas!” Mei gushed.
“You need to wait for approval first.” Izuku said and gave her a gentle kiss. “Have fun at your test.”
Mei nodded and let him out of the embrace she had him in. “Good luck, you two.”
“See you.” I said and watched her walk away.
“Hey, Connor. Thanks for letting me spend time with Mei.” Izuku said and I turned to look at him.
“You would have done the same for me.” I said and put an arm over his shoulders as we started walking towards the building in front of us. “I didn't have much luck finding a girl like you did.”
Izuku gave me a sly smile. “You could have gone to see that girl we rescued.”
I stumbled slightly and coughed. “I don't know what you mean.”
Izuku chuckled. “She's not here, by the way.”
“What? Why not?” I asked and looked around.
“She got a recommendation and is already considered a student. She doesn't have to prove her worth like we do.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that.” I said and sighed. “It would have been nice to see her, though.”
“I'd agree with you if I didn't have a girlfriend.” Izuku said and then chuckled. “I think I'm falling in love with her, actually.”
There was a shriek of surprise off in the bushes beside the building and we turned to look. We saw a streak of pink hair and a girl running around the side of the building a moment later.
“You knew she was listening?” I asked and took my arm from over his shoulder.
“She put the microphone under my collar when we were kissing.” Izuku said. “I still mean it, though.”
I chuckled and we entered the building, side by side. “She's going to be freaking out for another half an hour, I bet.”
“Plenty of time before the test starts.” Izuku said and we moved down the amphitheatre to find some seats. “Hey, were not sitting together.”
I looked at my card and the seat was two rows up and to the right. “I guess they don't want us delinquents sitting together.”
Izuku nodded. “Good luck.”
“Who needs luck? We got this in the bag.” I said and offered my fist. He bumped it and I went up to my own seat.
What followed was a loud and obnoxious hero named Present Mic trying to get everyone excited. I had to laugh at him trying that for a written exam and then it started.
Izuku and I had the test completed in half an hour instead of the three hour time limit we were given. One of the heroes walking around gave us odd looks, took our papers, and handed us the cards on the front of the desks.
“The buses will arrive outside after lunch.” He whispered and pointed at the doors. “You're on your own until then.”
“Sweet.” I said and we left at a jog.
“That was the easiest test I've ever taken.” Izuku said and shook his head. “Why was it the easiest? I thought this school was the best in the country.”
“We're just that awesome.” I said and pointed at the cafeteria building. “Are we hanging out here or over there to wait for you know who?”
“The support tests are on the other side of campus, so it's your choice.”
“Light snacking until lunchtime it is.” I said and we went to the cafeteria building to hang out. Just before lunchtime, we grabbed three meals and headed for the side doors. We were just in time, because the main doors opened and the place filled up with students and became extremely crowded.
Izuku's phone beeped and he checked it. “South south west. Ten degrees off point.” He typed and we waited. Mei shot around the corner of the building and made a beeline right for us riding on a scooter with mechanical arms.
“I'm not even going to ask.” I said and Izuku chuckled.
Mei skidded to a stop beside us and hopped off as the arms dropped down and acted like a kickstand to hold the scooter up. “Hi, guys!”
“Hey, beautiful.” Izuku said and kissed her.
“S-stop saying that! I'm covered in grease and my hair's a mess!” Mei said and hid her blush.
“Like I said, beautiful.” Izuku said and hugged her, not caring about the state of her clothes.
“I'd pretend to gag if I didn't think you just earned a ton of boyfriend points.” I commented and held my fist up to get bumped.
Izuku did so and we sat down to eat.
“How did you do?” Mei asked after a bite of a sandwich.
“We finished after half an hour.” I said and kept eating.
Mei stared at me and her eyes zoomed in on my face. “You're not lying.”
“Nope. The hero checking for cheaters told us to get lost until the bus leaves.” I clarified for her.
Mei grinned and looked at Izuku. “You crushed it?”
“We crushed it.” Izuku confirmed.
“That's my guy.” Mei said and gave him a kiss, then kept eating.
We didn't say anything else until we were done eating and had washed up.
“They let you keep your latest baby?” Izuku asked.
“They did! They couldn't keep us apart!” Mei said and hugged her scooter. The arms let go of the ground and hugged her back.
“I thought the practical was this afternoon.” Izuku said.
“They switched it as a test.” Mei said and the scooter let her go as she climbed on. “It's a different qualification process for support heroes.”
The buses the heroes were waiting for pulled up and parked.
“That's us.” Izuku said and hugged and kissed his girlfriend. “I'll see you tonight.”
“Good luck.” Mei said and looked at me with her target eyes. “Keep your promise.”
“I wouldn't do anything else.” I said and she nodded, then she sped off. “You lucky bastard.”
Izuku nodded and we went over to the bus that was ours. We climbed on and waited for the others to board. Ten minutes later, it was full and pulled out with the other buses, everyone going to different sites and testing areas.
“I think we lucked out.” I said as I looked around at the people on the bus with us. “I don't really see any competition.”
“Excuse me! It's not polite to say things like that to your peers!” A guy with glasses said and his hand made a chopping motion for some reason.
“Who said you're my peer?” I asked, curious as to what his answer was. Izuku chuckled beside me and covered it with a cough.
The guy looked confused and couldn't come up with a proper explanation.
“I'm just messing with you.” I said. “I only meant that my friend and I have been training like mad for years to get here. Our muscles have muscles. Everyone else here seems to think their quirk will get them through the test without any physical fitness at all.”
The guy looked even more confused.
“Take yourself, for example. I see the exhausts on your legs and I also don't see any real muscle definition. Did you do any squats? Any lunges? Or anything at all that would strengthen your legs or give you more endurance?”
“I... no, I didn't.”
I smiled and pulled up my pants leg and the guy and a few other people stared at the thick muscles. “We've been exercising with massive weights on our limbs to strengthen them as much as possible. With the weights off, we feel as light as feathers.”
“I feel like I could fly.” Izuku said and flexed his fingers. “It's like I have a different body.”
“I know, right? It's amazing.” I said and sat back as I let my pants leg go. “Remind me to thank your girlfriend.”
“Hey! Lips off my girl.” Izuku joked.
I chuckled. “She'd kill me if I even suggested such a thing. She loves you too much to look at me for more than threats to protect you!”
Izuku chuckled as well and nodded. “She's really great.”
“I was going to ask her to play with my watch. Let her go nuts with it or something.”
“Actually, yeah. She would like to do that.” Izuku said.
I nodded and looked out the window. “We should be there soon.”
“About eight minutes if the bus doesn't slow down.” Izuku said.
“I'm not betting dessert again.” I said and he hit my arm. “I'm not.”
“Spoilsport. I like free desserts.” Izuku said with a laugh.
We waited until the bus arrived at the testing center and it had been eight minutes.
“I'll buy you a fudgecicle.” I said and Izuku laughed again as he followed me off the bus.
An oddly dressed man waved the students into the main entrance. “If you have costumes with you, the locker rooms are off to the right. The exam will start when Present Mic makes the announcement in fifteen minutes.”
Izuku and I went to the locker room and chose a locker to put our things in. We were going into combat and didn't want to damage anything like our phones and other bits of technology like our watches.
I looked at the hanger in the locker and thought about it. After a moment, I slipped off the jacket and hung it up.
“She gave it to you.” Izuku whispered and I turned to nod at him. “I'm happy for you, Connor. Really.”
“Thanks, Izuku.” I said and watched as he took off his jacket and pants to reveal a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt. “Did Mei reinforce your boots like I asked?”
“She's right that the competition rules are stupid to forbid her from helping us with tech.” Izuku said and tied the laces on his boots tightly. “We checked and the reinforcement is legal, because I could do it myself.”
“Then we're good to go.” I said and we left the locker room.
The shocked looks on everyone's faces as we walked by them was worth the years of effort. We cut impressive figures and they all stared at us. My buzz-cut black hair and my solid black t-shirt with the symbol of hope on the front, the trademarked red 'S' of my father, it really stood out. I also wore a pair of tight dark jeans made of reinforced carbon fibers. With my muscles on display like they were, I looked like a bad-ass.
Izuku with his closely cropped and spiky green hair, his muscle shirt barely covering his impressive chest, and his mid thigh shorts showing off his muscular legs and combat boots, looked just as bad-ass as I did. Neither of us looked like we took crap from anyone and they all saw it, which was the point.
“Oh, wow.” A cute brown haired girl said as we stopped at the front of the gathered group.
“Hey, there. I'm Connor.” I said and held my hand out to her.
“U-U-Uraraka.” She squeaked and then blushed as she shook my hand.
“I'd introduce the guy beside me, except he has a girlfriend and she'd kill him if he spoke to you.”
“Hey! She would only maim me if I said anything past hello.” Izuku said and took her hand next. “Hi.”
“Hi!” Uraraka said.
“This isn't a social gathering.” The glasses guy said.
“We're standing around and talking. That's the very definition of a social gathering.” I said and he shut up. “Until that loudmouthed guy Present Mic starts talking, anyway.”
Uraraka giggled and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry! I'm too old to giggle!”
“You're obviously not doing something right.” I said suggestively and she blushed.
“I... I... I...”
“Relax. We're about to go into a life and death situation. There's no need to be nervous.” I said and waved at the cityscape in front of us.
“That's a perfect reason to be nervous!” Uraraka said.
“You can stick with us if you want.” Izuku said.
“Oops! You spoke! Mei's gonna whack you good!” I joked and Izuku chuckled.
“She'll understand. We can't let a fellow hero lag behind, right?”
“No, no! That's okay!” Uraraka said and waved her hands in front of her. “I'm good working alone.”
I turned to Izuku and smiled. “We're gonna kick ass if they are all working individually.”
“This is it, everyone!” Present Mic shouted from a booth above the city entrance. “It's time for you all to see who can make it as a pro hero!”
“Are we still shooting for top points?” Izuku asked.
“You know it.” I said and fist bumped him. “Combat Team Up!”
Izuku grinned and we crouched down, then we took off running at our full speed.
“HEY! You can't go yet!” Glasses guy shouted after us.
“What are you waiting for? Someone to shout start? There's no start in the hero business! I already said it's time to show off! Move it! Move it! Move it!” Present Mic shouted and the other students realized that Izuku and I had a huge head start on them.
“I should have said yes!” Uraraka exclaimed and ran after us.
