"Well, this is quite the happy occasion~."
Izuku sat between the two beauties: his grumpy childhood friend who seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason unknown to the young man, and the nervous, fidgeting brunette girl that had accidentally fallen into him just before.
And these three were among the few of many aspiring UA applicants now seated inside the large, grand auditorium of UA University... a tense, quiet anticipation in the air for the upcoming orientation.
"U-uhm... n-nice to meet you again, uhm... D-Deku, was it?"
Izuku blinked at the brunette girl's timid greeting... then smiled.
"Nice to meet you again too~, but 'Deku' is actually my nickname though~," he greeted back cheerfully, with a light chuckle accompanying him. "The name's Midoriya Izuku."
Then, with a casual motion of his thumb toward the girl beside him, he added, "And this grumpy gal right here is Bakugou Katsuki."
Katsuki didn't bother responding with words—she simply turned and threw a sharp side-glare toward the nervous brunette girl—!
"Eep—!?!"
It wasn't supposed to be anything extreme... but the sheer intensity behind the blonde girl's eyes was more than enough to make the poor brunette girl jolt slightly in her seat.
The latter quickly averted her eyes away from the former—towards the smiling, friendly handsome guy that was waiting for her response.
"—U-Uraraka! Uraraka Ochako...!" she introduced herself in a hurry, bowing her head politely toward Izuku.
"That's a cute name~."
"E-Eh?"
Ochako's face turned intense red again, not expecting the sudden compliment from Izuku.
The poor girl was left almost speechless, mouth agape as she tried her best to muster a response...
However, before she could even mutter a proper reply—
"WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE!!!"
A loud, booming voice erupted across the auditorium, shaking the very air around them all!
Everyone naturally jumped slightly from their seats in surprise—including the trio themselves—as bright lights suddenly flared to life across the massive stage ahead.
And there, standing quite proudly for everyone to witness, was a blonde man with a bizarrely unique spiked-up hairdo as he grabbed everyone's attention—!
"Oh? It's the Voice Hero, Present Mic~!" Izuku casually commented, revealing the identity of the flamboyant pro hero. "He really is one of UA's famous teachers, huh~."
The energetic hero-slash-teacher-slash-MC made an even flashier entrance as he greeted all of the promising future heroes in front of him—
"EVERYBODY SAY 'HEY'!!!"
His booming voice rang across the auditorium once more... but this time, everyone merely stared in awkward silence, frozen like deer caught in headlights.
They weren't sure if they were supposed to be hyped up or dreading the upcoming exam, and thus... the only thing they could do was just stare back at the eccentric Voice Hero.
Except—
"Hey~!"
Izuku waved his hand with a cheerful grin, responding without hesitation!
"I-Izuku—?!"
"M-Midoriya-kun—?!"
Both Katsuki and Ochako whipped their heads toward him in surprise, wide-eyed, along with many others nearby who glanced at him as if he had grown a second head—!
Present Mic, however, looked visibly delighted!
"NOW THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!!"
Pumped even further, Present Mic threw a fist into the air energetically, genuinely relieved to know that his energy wasn't in total vain.
"WELL THEN, I'll quickly present the guidelines for your practical exam! ARE YOU READY?!!"
"Yeah!!" Izuku responded back again without missing a beat, his energetic reply seeming to echo more loudly than it should in the giant space.
Once again, the entire auditorium was stunned into silence at the sheer boldness of this strange scruffy green-haired guy... wondering if he had nerves of steel or if he was simply a fool.
The blonde woman beside this green-haired fool, however, simply buried her face into her hand with a groan, clearly embarrassed by her childhood friend's antics, while the brunette girl at his other side gave a small, wry smile—unsure whether she should join in his little fanfare or just quietly sit still.
Nevertheless, Present Mic continued on enthusiastically before he gestured for the large display screen behind him to light up!
"AS IT SAYS IN THE APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS," Present Mic announced, throwing his arms wide open dramatically, "YOU LISTENERS WILL BE CONDUCTING A TEN-MINUTE MOCK URBAN BATTLE AFTER THIS!"
His booming voice echoed across the massive auditorium, reigniting the dreadful anticipation and nervousness among the gathered applicants... though of course, one particular young man was rather enjoying the spectacle of the Voice Hero in action.
"You can bring whatever you want with you!" Present Mic continued, jabbing a thumb toward the giant screen behind him, which now displayed a large diagram of the examination grounds.
The center of the map was marked boldly with a blinking "YOU ARE HERE" sign, with lines branching outward toward seven different sectors—battle centers where each applicant would take their chances to enter UA—each labeled from Site A all the way to Site G.
"After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, OKAY?!"
Present Mic grinned brightly as he pointed toward the screen, his energy radiating throughout the whole auditorium... though it was mostly met with a silent stare from the audience.
"Hmm~, how interesting~."
Except of course from Izuku who leaned forward in cheerful manner, contrasting with everyone around him that was feeling the buildup pressure... though Katsuki at his side was mostly just embarrassed by his rather nonchalant attitude while Ochako could only nod and smile weakly to it.
Izuku then pulled out his exam ticket from his pocket.
"Looks like I'm on Site-B," he then leaned toward the groaning Katsuki who was still hiding her face from embarrassment, "Kacchan, where will your test location be?"
"Ugh..."
Katsuki kept on groaning for a moment, before she relented and let go of her hands, pulling out her own exam ticket... though it didn't really lighten her mood.
"...I'm on Site-A."
"What? Aw man, so we're gonna be separate for the test, huh?"
"Seems that way. Probably to make sure that none of the applicants from the same school could work together."
"Hmm, I see," Izuku thought aloud, a bit let down from the separation, "kinda a bummer, though."
"Don't expect to mooch off of me, Deku," Katsuki retorted, shaking her head in exasperation.
"Haha~, I'm not, I'm not, just a bit bummed that we won't be together for the exam and all," Izuku laughed, scratching his cheek sheepishly.
However, this sentiment... brought a tiny, albeit melancholic smile from her, feeling a bit happy that her childhood friend was so hung up with their time together.
"...Yeah, it's a bummer," Katsuki muttered under her breath. "...W-well, I believe you're going to do great, so... good luck—"
However again, her mood would be dampened once more.
Izuku then turned away from her—completely missing the way her face slightly tensed up—and instead turned his attention toward the timid brunette girl who was holding on to her exam ticket with both hands tightly as she stared at the large screen—
"Hey~, where will your test site be, Uraraka-san~?"
"H-huh—?!"
Ochako jolted in her seat; startled! She'd been broken out of her anxious focus. Her attention was now on the smiling Izuku that was waiting for her response, and it took her a moment to register what he'd said to her—
"O-oh, yeah! I-I'm in Site B!" Ochako stammered quickly, holding her ticket up slightly as if to show proof.
"Really? That's awesome~!" Izuku beamed brightly, his face lighting up in excitement. "I'm in Site B too~!"
Hearing that, Ochako blinked in surprise... before a shy smile crept onto her lips, attempting to mirror his energy.
"Ahaha, that's great then," she laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "Maybe we'll run into each other later...?"
"I'd love that~!" Izuku chirped without missing a beat, but his eyes then had the same gleam of interest as before. "Actually, I was really interested in your quirk earlier. So... if it's okay, could you maybe show me a bit of it once we're at the site?"
"U-uh... sure," Ochako replied, her cheeks burning slightly from the sudden attention. She nodded stiffly, trying her best to match his cheerful attitude despite the nervous butterflies in her stomach.
However, just as she managed to calm herself a little... she felt it.
Another intense, almost suffocating glare directed her way—
The green-haired man's blonde female friend was glaring daggers straight at her, her eyes practically burning holes through her soul—!
"Eepp—!?"
"Whoah! What's wrong, Uraraka-san?"
Ochako had flinched hard in her seat once more, her entire body tensing in fear, much to the confusion of Izuku, who tilted his head slightly in concern.
But before anything else could escalate further—
Present Mic clapped his hands loudly, his voice booming across the auditorium once more.
"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP, LISTENERS!!" he shouted, regaining the attention of all the examinees. "THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FAUX VILLAINS ARE STATIONED IN EACH BATTLE CENTER! YOU EARN POINTS FOR EACH OF THEM BASED ON THEIR LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY!"