Izuku had been feeling dazed even before he was shoved into the side of the school building. It was the day after the incident with the slime villain and Izuku had been up late figuring out how best to prepare for the UA entrance exam. After waking up so groggy the next morning he put 'follow a regular sleep schedule' as a top priority.

The whole school had found out that Kacchan had been involved in the slime villain attack, so everyone kept asking him if he was okay. Kacchan obviously didn't like that, because he got more and more irritated every time someone brought it up. So Izuku wasn't exactly surprised when Kacchan cornered him after school and pushed him back against the wall.

"Listen up Deku." Kacchan growled. "I didn't ask for your help with that stupid villain. I was doing fine on my own! You think you can look down on me? Huh?! Is that why you ran up there and went begging to the heroes?!"

"No! No Kacchan I just-I was scared! And...you looked like you needed help." Izuku muttered the last bit. Kacchan slammed his hands onto both sides of Izuku.

"You didn't do anything for me! You're a quirkless loser and you didn't do shit yesterday! You got that? I don't owe you anything!"

Kacchan abruptly turned and left, and Izuku stared after him. That had been surprisingly tame for one of his after school encounters with Kacchan, and he couldn't help but wonder what that meant. He already knew Kacchan didn't owe him anything, as far as he was concerned Kacchan couldn't owe him anything. So he wasn't sure what Kacchan was going on about.

Izuku couldn't dwell on it for long though, he had an entrance exam to pass. During his last year of middle school, Izuku devoted himself to studying. He also started following an exercise program. While putting together his study plan Izuku found several articles describing how regular exercise could help someone become a better student. They claimed that exercising at the start of the day could help class material stick better, and that taking exercise breaks while studying helped one stay alert and focused.

So Izuku started jogging just before school each day, and scheduled ten minute exercise breaks into his study plan. He was amazed by how much it helped both his studying and his day-to-day life. He was able to study for longer, and was sleeping more soundly. He was pretty sure his stamina was improving too because he was also getting better at running away from his bullies.

When the day of the entrance exam finally came, Izuku knew he had done everything he could to prepare himself. That didn't stop him from being incredibly nervous though.

Izuku made it all the way to the front gate before he gave in to the anxiety thrumming through his veins. He gazed up at the imposing building, wondering if this was really a good idea. Here he would walk the same halls that so many amazing heroes had before, and take classes alongside future pro and support heroes. All the teachers here were heroes too, even for the Management and General Education departments. Could he really stand among them? Did he deserve to?

Izuku shook his head. He'd made his decision. He was going to dedicate himself to helping others, and he was going to do it by supporting the pro heroes. It wasn't about whether or not he deserved to be here. This was something he had to do to fulfill his dream, to redeem himself, and UA was the best place to learn how to do it.

Izuku focused on his conviction, making sure it did not waver as he walked toward the doors. In fact, he was so focused on it that he barely reacted when a loose stone caught his foot and sent him pitching forward.

Izuku instinctively threw out his arms at the last second, but they never touched the ground. Instead he found himself hovering a few inches off the ground. He blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Sorry about that!" Someone said from his side. Izuku turned his head and saw a girl his age, with short brown hair and rosy cheeks. "I know it's rude to use your quirk on someone without permission, but I didn't want you to fall just before the exam. That would be bad luck, right?"

The girl said all this while she helped Izuku right himself in the air. Once he was vertical again the girl clapped her hands together and his feet finally touched the ground.

"Um, m-maybe? I mean, I probably wouldn't have been hurt too bad, but even a little distraction would be a bad thing today." Izuku was trying really hard not to stammer or start rambling. Other kids always got so annoyed when he did that.

"Definitely! We've got to be at our best today." She said with a bright smile. "I'm Uraraka Ochako. Nice to meet you." She gave him a slight bow, which he returned.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm-"

"DEKU!"

Izuku paled. There was no mistaking that voice, or that nickname. Without a second thought Izuku bolted for the entrance. Kacchan had gone a bit easier on Izuku ever since the slime villain incident, but Izuku wasn't taking chances today. He did not want to take the entrance exam with bruised skin and burnt clothes. Izuku made it all the way to the registration table before he stopped, panting lightly.

"Wow! You move pretty fast!" A breathless voice said behind him. He turned to once again find Uraraka watching him.

"You followed me?"

"I thought you heard the bell ring or something. I didn't want to be late! But it looks like we still have some time left." She said, glancing at a clock on the wall. Her brow furrowed a bit when she looked back at him. "Do you know that yelling guy?"

"Oh, yeah, we went to the same school." Izuku said, wringing his hands.

"Ah...then...were you running in here to save a seat for him or something?" She sounded strangely disappointed. "I mean, you certainly can if you want. It's just that no one from my school is coming here, so I don't have anyone to sit with. So I was kind of hoping that we would-"

"Yes."

"Huh?"

"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, I was just gonna say that I'll sit with you."

"Really? You're friend won't mind?"

"No, he won't." Calling Kaachan his friend was probably a stretch at this point, but he wasn't about to dump that mess onto her. "He's pretty independent. N-not to say that you aren't independent! The fact that you came here on your own proves that, but it's not unusual to want to sit with someone you know in such an unfamiliar place. I mean, I don't really know you, we barely introduced ourselves, but that's enough for something like this, right? It's...I...I'm sorry." 'Dammit, I told myself I wouldn't ramble!' Izuku bowed his head to try and hide his blush, which only increased when he heard her giggle. She was laughing at him already!

"You're sweet." She said, and Izuku's head shot up. He'd expected scorn or condescension, but instead she seemed pleased. She went and put her name on the sign in sheet, and Izuku did the same. She looked down at the name once he finished writing it.

"Midoriya, is that right?" Izuku nodded. She smiled at him and bowed, much deeper and more formal this time. "Thank you for agreeing to keep me company Midoriya. It is most appreciated." Then she straightened up. "Shall we go in?"

Izuku followed Uraraka into the exam hall. He was blushing again, but this time it made him feel light rather than heavy. While they walked she chatted with him about the upcoming exam and what she had done to prepare for it. He told her a little bit about his study plan and how he'd gotten into exercising, and she actually sounded impressed.

They found a place to sit in the middle part of the left section. They went down the row as far as they could, to make it easier for other people to file in. This resulted in Uraraka on Izuku's right and a stranger on Izuku's left. Izuku glanced at the stranger while Uraraka was digging through her bag for a pencil. His neighbor was a boy, and he looked very tired. He was slumping in his seat, he had bags under his eyes, and his purple hair went in all directions. Izuku wondered if the boy had been nervous too, and had a hard time sleeping as a result.

Izuku must have looked a little too long, because the boy's eyes suddenly turned to him. Izuku froze, unsure if he should look away, apologize, or do something else.

"Hey." the boy said, his tone matching his looks. Izuku gave him a small, nervous smile.

"Hi."

That's all the interaction they had time for before they had to cover their ears. A high pitched note loudly sounded throughout the room before being abruptly cut off.

"Sorry about that everyone." A tall man in a tan trench coat stood at the head of the room. He had a dark helmet covering his head, making his eyes seem blank and his teeth fixed in place.

"OH MY GOSH THAT'S PRO HERO ECTOPLASM!" Izuku fawned as quietly as he could. Ectoplasm had halted his introduction to fix the microphone, muttering something about Present Mic as he did so.

"It's pretty impressive that all of UA's teachers are heroes too." Uraraka admitted. Izuku nodded enthusiastically.

"I know! They all have so much real life experience. You see the way Ectoplasm's legs end in a point while he's in costume? That's because their specially made prosthetics; he got them after he lost his legs to a villain."

"Really? I had no idea...pro heroes put a lot on the line don't they?"

"They do, but that's what's so amazing about them. They go through so much, fighting villains and helping with disasters, but they don't let it beat them down. They keep going out there to help people, and help future heroes by teaching here."

Uraraka had previously been looking at Ectoplasm with wide eyes, staring his prothetics. But after Izuku finished speaking her gaze softened and she leaned back to take in the hero's whole frame.

"You're right, that is pretty amazing."

Conversation ceased when Ectoplasm finished with the microphone and proceeded with his introduction. He explained how everyone applying for UA entry would be taking the written exam now, and that after it was done there would be a short break before those applying for the Hero course would transfer over to a different exam hall. There would be a separate exam for those applying for the Support course, and anyone applying for Management or General Education would be free to leave after the written exam was finished.

Ectoplasm turned around to write on the chalkboard behind him, listing off the room numbers for the Hero and Support exams.

"You wanna sit together during the intro to the Hero exam too?" Uraraka asked in a whisper. Izuku's skin suddenly felt a little too tight.

"W-well, you see, I'm not-" Izuku cut himself off as he, and everyone else, jumped at the sight of multiple Ectoplasms appearing at the front of the room.

"Clones! That's what his quirk is! I've never seen him use it in person before!" Izuku gushed. Uraraka moved a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. The purple haired boy finally sat up straight.

"My clones will now hand out your exams. You have exactly one hour to complete it, and you must do so on your own. My clones will be patrolling down the aisles and between rows to make sure no one is cheating."

The clones glided up and down the aisles. They handed a pile of papers to the person at the end of each row, and that person would pass them in toward the center. Izuku was handed his exam by the purple haired boy.

"Good luck." Izuku said as he took the two tests. The boy looked startled, but it passed quickly.

"Thanks. You too." He said in that same tired tone. Izuku nodded, then turned and gave Uraraka her test.

"Let's do our best Midoriya!"

"Yeah!"

For the next hour the only sounds were scratching pencils and shifting paper. Every now and then a clone would pass behind them. The footsteps were so light you could only hear them when they were right behind you, but Izuku also noticed that the clones gave off a low pitched hum. You could usually hear that before the footsteps.

Izuku had thought that the whole hour would be harrowing, with him constantly wondering if he was giving the right answers. But after he got started the nerves that had plagued him since he'd woken up began to fade. The multiple choice answers were first, and those came to him the easiest. He began to feel uneasy when he got into the short answer and essay questions though, since he became self conscious of his wording and hand writing. He did his best to shake it off, and remind himself that he'd had more practice writing than anyone he knew.

Eventually, Izuku's anxiety faded and he found himself lost in the familiar ground of analysis. He was just finishing his last sentence when Ectoplasm called out that time was up. Izuku let out a long breath and put his pencil down. Now the only thing to do was wait.

Chatter picked back up as the Ectoplasm clones gathered up the tests. The purple haired boy got up as soon as he handed his test over, and headed for the exit. Izuku wasn't in any hurry, and took his time putting his things away.

"How do you think you did?" Uraraka asked him, twirling her hair anxiously.

"It's hard to say right now...but I think I did okay? I mean, I feel pretty good about the multiple choice, but I didn't have enough time to go back over my essays like I wanted to."

"At least you finished the whole thing. One of the short answers was tripping me up, so I skipped it. But I never got a chance to answer it before time was up!" Uraraka fretted, her face scrunching up.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. But y-you know if you did well on the rest you should still have a good score."

"I know, but UA is infamous for being strict! I just hope it doesn't come back to bite me..."

"Well, you said you were applying for the Hero course right? That means the written exam won't be the only thing they're looking at." Izuku tried to sound comforting, and just like that Uraraka's bright smile was back.

"You're right, this just means I'll have to do my very best during the practical exam!" Uraraka suddenly jumped out of her chair. "Come on, let's get over to the Hero course lecture hall!"

"Uraraka, wait! Hold on a sec!" He said, running after her. "I can't sit with you during the Hero course exam!"

She paused just after getting out the door, and turned to look back at him.

"Why not?"

Izuku took a deep breath. "Because I'm not applying for the hero course."

"Oh," Uraraka looked startled for a moment, but then ducked her head in embarrassment. "of course. There are three other departments here after all. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. What course are you here for then?"

"It's fine." Izuku replied. At this point he was just glad she wasn't asking why he wasn't trying for the hero route. "I applied for both the Management and General Education courses."

"That means you get to head home now, right? Lucky! I get to be nervous for at least another hour!" She said with a mock pout. Izuku chuckled.

"I may not be there, but I'll be cheering for you." He held out his hand for her to shake, and she did. "Good luck Uraraka."

"Thanks Midoriya, I hope we'll see each other at the start of the school year!"

With that she was gone. Izuku stared after her, wondering if he had just made a friend.


A.N.

I'm finally back! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than some of the previous ones, but this just seemed like a good stopping point. I've got an outline of the next couple of chapters figured out, so I'll start working on those as soon as I can.

I really enjoyed getting to write Uraraka Ochako for the first time. She's such an upbeat character, and I really like the relationship between her and Izuku in canon. So I wanted to make sure they made a connection with each other here. He can't exactly save her from a giant robot in this AU after all.

Yay! First appearance of Shinsou! We'll be seeing more of him in the next chapter, don't worry.