Clouds That Fall

Entrance Exam (Physical Exam)

Izuku should have expected this. He had always been a bother but he never expected to disturb a whole group. He splashed water on his face before dragging himself to the auditorium. The bullying had been quiet lately due to the entrance exams starting soon so Izuku could finally relax without worrying about being jumped whenever he turned a corner. Guess he relaxed too much. It was his fault anyway.

He trudged to his seat and pointedly ignore the swivelling heads and the almost comical shock on one Bakugou Katsuki's face. Izuku kept his head down and hugged his backpack tighter. He could see the erratic blinking of a hidden camera from the corner of his eye but he didn't think he could face the principal right now. His face looks normal now, he's sure of it but Izuku doesn't think that he can keep up the facade if he opens his mouth. His prayers seemed to be answered because almost immediately, Present Mic strutted on stage. The soft chatter deafened instantly.

"HEYYY LITTLE LISTENERS! CAN I GET A YEAHHH?"

Silence.

"YOU GUYS ARE TOUGH NUTS TO CRACK HUH?? ANYWAYS, LET'S GET ON WITH THE PRACTICAL EXAM! YOU ARE ASSIGNED A BATTLE CENTRE WHERE YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT FAUX VILLAINS! THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES! YOU GET POINTS BASED ON WHICH AND HOW MANY VILLAINS YOU DESTROY!"

The silence stretched on and Izuku wanted to melt into his chair. Then a brave hand struck out from the sea of examinees.

"Excuse me! I have a question!"

Ah. It was the Ingenium lookalike from earlier.

"ASK AWAY LITTLE LISTENER!"

"On the printout, it says there are four types of villains! If this is a mistake then it is unbecoming of a prestigious school such as U.A!"

Izuku didn't miss the small glance sent his way.

"DON'T WORRY LITTLE LISTENER! THE LAST VILLAIN IS NOTHING MORE THAN A DISTRACTION! IT'S WORTH 0 POINTS AND GOES CRAZY IN SMALL SPACES!"

That was reassuring Izuku suppose.

"I see, sorry for my interruption!"

"ALRIGHT LITTLE LISTENERS! YOU ARE GIVEN TEN MINUTES TO CHANGE INTO YOUR WORKOUT CLOTHES! AFTER THAT, PLEASE GO TO YOUR RESPECTIVE BUSES LABELED ON YOUR PRINTOUT! THERE ARE DIRECTIONS IF YOU GET LOST! GOOD LUCK LITTLE LISTENERS!"

Izuku hastily jumped from his seat and was one of the quicker examinees to exit the auditorium. Usually, he would stick to the middle of the pack, but Bakugou looked like someone told him his quirk sucked so he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Izuku kept an eye on his surroundings while navigating to the locker rooms. There were already a few students there but no Bakugou or the Ingenium lookalike in sight. That was a relief.

He waved to those in the locker rooms and entered a private stall, locking the door behind him. Izuku hung his backpack on a hook and looked around. It was luxurious in a way but then again, this was U.A. There were no cameras because that would be unethical and the stalls were built in a way that you can't look in from anywhere besides the door. Izuku reached down and let his hand enter the peaceful darkness which was his shadow. He felt around the shadow for a while before finding what he was looking for. His hands curled around a small fluffy cloud and Izuku let it coil around his fingers for a while. Izuku opened a portal, dropped the cloud inside and snatched his workout clothes that popped out the portal. Yes, public quirk usage is illegal but what the government doesn't know can't hurt them.

Izuku changed into his workout clothes, which was a pair of tights and a tight long sleeved shirt, and thought about his quirk. Izuku had always been fascinated by quirks but his was always interesting. The attraction and repelling part came from his mother and the other part came from Hisashi, but there was always one part that didn't add up. The cloud bit. If Izuku had a more enhanced version of Hisashi's quirk, then it would be similar to Kuro-nii's quirk. Izuku's quirk was more complex. Open a portal, portal absorbs something, something turns into a cloud, cloud gets put into a portal, portal releases something. It was always the same song and dance which would have been simple if not for the cloud bit. Which led Izuku to believe, did Izuku have a relative that had a cloud quirk of some sort?

Izuku shook his head. He was muttering again and even if he did, his mother was an only child and Hisashi had cut off all contact with his family. No time to deal with whatever his family's problem was, he had an exam to go to. He swung his backpack over his shoulders and slid the door open. There were many people in the locker room now and almost all the stalls were closed. Izuku crept to a sink and washed his hands and face. Drying himself off, he gave himself a mental pep talk. Izuku was just about to leave before a firm but gentle hand gripped his shoulder. He squeaked and turned around. The Ingenium lookalike was there but in workout clothes this time. A huge sense of deja vu washed over Izuku. The chatter died down a little and the lookalike steeled himself before falling into a 45° bow.

"I sincerely apologise for assuming the worst of you! I hope you can forgive me!"

That drew the attention of some of eavesdroppers. Izuku didn't know what to with the apology. No apologies given to him were genuine with the exception of his mother and brother but that wasn't the point.

"E-Er, I f-forgive you and I'm s-sorry for earlier?"

The boy looked up and gave him a smile which prompted him to smile back.

(Many onlookers shielded their eyes from how bright it was.)

Izuku encased himself back into his fog and bowed to the lookalike. He then proceeded to run out the locker rooms because he noticed that their 'private' conversation was being invaded by many others. He hoped the boy doesn't think of him as rude because of his quick departure.

(One Iida Tenya was still recovering from the brightness of the smile and listened to others complaining about how it wasn't fair taking the test blinded.)

He darted on his respective bus and chose a seat near the middle. This would ensure that he wouldn't get stuck or slowed down. He sat down patiently and looked out the window. He hoped the faux villains were easy to defeat.

                                                           -0oOo0-

[A tall figure towered over Izuku. He was 6 again and suddenly defenceless. Izuku backed away from the figure and knocked into a wall. There was no escape. He curled into a ball and his eyes flickered around the room. This was familiar. His mom wasn't here. She was gone. She was never here. Kuro-nii. Where was Kuro-nii? He wasn't here. He was suppose to be here. No. The figure growled at him and slowly stalked towards him. Kuro-nii wasn't suppose to be here. If he was here, he would just get hurt. Izuku didn't want him to be hurt. Kuro-nii was out. He was dead.The longer, the better. It was better if he was hurt instead. The figure raised his arm and Izuku shut his eyes. The blow was inevitable. Izuku only hoped he would get it done with before Kuro-nii came back.]

Izuku's eyes snapped open. His body stiffened and his eyes darted across the bus, scanning every single person on it. Bus? That's right. Izuku was safe. He was at U.A and is going to take the entrance exam. He was safe. Nothing could hurt him here. Hisashi couldn't hurt him anymore. He shook his head. The bus slowed to a stop and he exited in an orderly manner. He stopped when the pack stopped and noticed they were standing in front of a battle centre. Izuku took a deep breath. This was his only chance. He couldn't mess this up.

"GO!"

Years of training honed his instincts and Izuku rushed forward. No hesitation. His brother had drilled that into his head and Izuku would utilise that lesson. The faux villains were robots. That was fine. His quirk was well suited to this type of exam.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE! GO GO GO!"

Izuku heard the thumping of the stampeding examinees but that wasn't important now. He let himself slip into 'battle mode' as dubbed by his brother and focused on the mechanical whirring of the robots. It was simple. Izuku would open portals and cut them off halfway, effectively destroying them. Then Izuku would open a portal on top of other robots and direct the clouds into it, crushing them with its weight. A few clouds were directed to steer examinees out of the way. It would have been quite dangerous if it wasn't an exam. That didn't stop Izuku from saving them though. Soon enough, Izuku ended up with 31 points.

Izuku mentally tallied up the points. It wasn't enough to get in the exam and there was too little time left. He had to find more robots. The floor shook. Multiple screams rang out and Izuku whipped around. When he said he needed more robots, he didn't mean to attract a robot the size of a building. Izuku turned around and was about to run but then he heard it. A cry for help. He whipped around again and this time, he saw her. A brunette stuck under some debris. Which was right in the path of the zero pointer.