As the students made their way out of 1st Year Classroom A, there was a notable tension in the air as two of the guys locked eyes. The first was Izuku, and the second was Katsuki. In the middle, slightly nervous and moving his gaze between the two of them, was Kirishima, who only had a faint idea of the two's relationship. That tense moment soon passed, however, as the two boys' silent conversation concluded. The message was simple- it was a (hesitant, at least, on Izuku's side) declaration of war, a call to compete for top score. Inwardly, Izuku sighed- Bakugou is an actual rival now, sure, but he hoped for a more friendly rivalry.

I can't win them all, I guess. Well, not for the time being. Kirishima, who kind of sensed his plight, sent his own mental message to Izuku. Well, if he wants to play peacekeeper and middle man, why not? Until me and Kacchan are on easier speaking terms, I might as well ask him to be one. After receiving the OK from Izuku, the Hardener immediately introduced himself to Bakugou and offered a friendly hand which the Explosion user gruffly shook off. As the Hardener attempted to befriend- or at least be-acquaintance- Katsuki, someone came up to Izuku. It was the blue-haired teen with engines in his legs.

"Hello again, fellow student! As expected, you passed the exam, didn't you?"

"Ah, yeah. So, we never got to introduce ourselves. I'm Izuku 'Deku' Midoriya."

"Deku?"

"A childhood nickname. Originally, it was an insult that guy over there," he hiked a thumb in Kacchan's direction. "Came up with, meaning 'Defenseless Izuku.' Despite that, I think it sounds enough like 'dekiru'- 'you can do it.' I've turned his insult into words of encouragement."

"I see. It's somewhat similar to how Heroes, even ones like All Might, have to juggle their popularity with those that both like them and dislike them. Speaking of which! That person over there has absolutely no respect. First he places his feet on the desks we share with our predecessors, and then he says he'll crush me! And now I've learned he has come up with such a nickname. Does he really intend to become a hero?"

"Well, uh… before I say anything else, can you tell me your name?" The other teen's hands went in odd, angular directions as he tried to handle his embarrassment from forgetting to introduce himself.

"Of course! How forgetful of me! I am Tenya Iida, aspiring hero. Pleasure to meet you."

"Same here. Now, regarding what you said about Kacchan… He may be rough around the edges, but he's absolutely determined to become the next Number 1 Hero. His pride and competitiveness are second to none, although it has caused him to develop a bit of a superiority complex and a delinquent attitude."

"I do apologize for saying this, but that seems a little difficult to believe. In any event, I believe that you seem more likely to be a top hero than him. After all, I saw your actions during the entrance exam. The way you aided others like that, and then in your final attempt to protect that girl from the 0-pointer… not only do you have compassion, but also insight. You saw the true nature of the entrance exam. I highly doubt that person could hold a candle to you in that regard." Izuku smirked.

"Just watch, and you'll see there's more to people than meets the eye. Err, by the way, what do you mean by true nature of the exam?"


Uraraka was stretching her arms over her head with a nice, content smile on her face.

"It's a great day outside! It's a bit sad that we're going to have to miss orientation and the entrance speeches for this Quirk Test." Around her were the other students, all in their standard-issue blue-and-white U.A. gym uniforms. They were standing in a training field, complete with a track, a field, and some heavy items. In front of them, standing in a white circle, was their homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. He yawned.

"If you want to be Heroes, then don't waste time on things like those." He narrowed his eyes as he heard several groans from the class. "Get used to my style of teaching- as you all know, U.A. is known for the 'freestyle' education its students receive. However, teachers get to be 'freestyle' in their education, too. We get to tailor your education as we see fit." As he talked about physical tests and rationality, Kirishima leaned close to Izuku and whispered in his ear.

"So, you know this guy, Midoriya?" Weighing his options, Midoriya decided to whisper back to the red-head while their teacher kept on talking.

"Yeah. Underground Pro Hero Eraserhead. His Quirk, Erasure, allows him to temporarily cancel out the Quirks of anyone he makes eye contact with."

"Scary! How come I've never heard of him?"

"I'm not surprised- he's not known for liking the spotlight, and he mostly works at night. Now stop whispering, we might get in trouble." The Pro suddenly pointed a finger at Bakugou.

"Bakugou. Back in middle school, what was your farthest throw?"

"Tch, junior high! And it was 67 meters." The Hero just grunted.

"Go stand in that white circle over there." He tossed a ball at the Explosion user. "Use your Quirk to throw that ball as far as possible, so long as your feet don't leave the circle. Use all you have."

"Heh heh…" The teen limbered himself up, as well as causing his hands to sweat a little bit more than normal. He reared back, and threw the ball with an added boost from an explosion. "DIIIEEE YOU SHITTY BALL!" While the other students recoiled a little at his choice of wording, he simply stared as his projectile sailed into the distance. When he couldn't see it anymore, he turned to Aizawa, who was using a device that would tell him how far it was launched. Without a word, he showed Bakugou his score- an impressive 953.45 meters. "AW, FUCK YEAH!"

"It's important you know your own limits," their teacher said as he pocketed the device, "As it's the first step to your growth as Heroes." The class erupted into a series of cheers. Excitement was abound, as many felt they could finally stretch their bodies a bit and work with their Quirks. One person even called it fun. An angry tick mark appeared on Aizawa's face. "Fun? Awesome? I can't let any of you enter the world of Heroes with such naive trains of thought. To do so would stunt your potential.

As such, the person with the lowest score in today's series of exercises will be judged as having zero potential, and will be expelled." All the students' hearts stopped. Uraraka began panicking and protesting.

"That's totally unfair! It's only the first day!"

"Life is unfair," Aizawa countered. "Vehicular accidents. Natural disasters. Villain attacks. These are all unfair; it's a Hero's job to to correct all of them. To prepare you for all that, you're going to have to cancel evening plans to hang out at a cafe, or karaoke bar, or wherever else, because this school and all us teachers are going to press you all flat." His face widened into a grin. "Use your strength to go beyond all that. That's the real 'Plus Ultra.'"

"A trial by fire…" Iida mumbled. Izuku agreed. He wasn't looking at just Kacchan anymore. Now, he was looking at everyone else, too. The tone in their teacher's voice suggested absolute seriousness- it wasn't a ruse, it wasn't a trick. It was a real threat. Here, he would have to compete with others just to stay in U.A. Not only was this a test of Quirk ability, but also a test of wills, each one fighting to keep their spot, each spirit clashing. Izuku cracked his neck a little.

Let's go.


Izuku took the last few notes he wanted on his classmate's Quirks as the Quirk Apprehension Test ended. He brought his notebook with him, and was able to learn a good amount of information about his classmate's abilities whenever it wasn't his turn to do one of the tests.

The teen was definitely one of the highest-ranked people in the class, even though he limited himself only to using 7% Full Cowl and short Boosts of 12% power for the entirety of it. He briefly wondered what it would've been like had he used a 100% Boost, but shook those thoughts from his head- if he wasn't ready for it yet, he would not use it.

In any case, he was mostly comfortable with how he did during the test- 4th place, right behind a Shoto Todoroki, a Momo Yaoyorozu, and, of course, Kacchan. With Bakugou, he was more-or-less tied, if only slightly behind, in most of the subtests- he had his raw strength from One For All and his flexible body from his training to match with Bakugou's higher speed and agility, but he could see how he needed improvement.

That being said, he was also interested in how he fared against the rest, and not just his childhood friend. In terms of strength, he wasn't the strongest- a Rikidou Satou and Mezou Shouji edged him out. He wasn't the fastest- other than the Explosion user, he had to contend with Iida. He matched flexibility with a Mina Ashido and Mashirao Ojiro, and his endurance was level with Kirishima, Satou, and Ojiro. And he wasn't even the best thrower- Uraraka managed to reach a score of infinite meters.

But, in terms of all-around ability, he most definitely deserved his 4th-place spot. Him, and Yaoyorozu and Todoroki. It almost seemed like their bodies and abilities were tailored specifically to excel in things It was probably true- he recognized Todoroki's last name, since Japan's No. 2 Pro Hero was Enji Todoroki, Hero name Endeavor, meaning he was groomed for this. Meanwhile, he kind of heard about the Yaoyorozu family- they were rich, so if their daughter was going to be a Heroine, of course she'd be given a strict regimen since a young age.

That wasn't even taking into account their Quirks. Yaoyorozu could create things, and cleverly used several devices to help her get through the exam, from scooters to a cannon. Todoroki, on the other hand, had cryokinetic abilities- control over ice and anything cold. It struck Izuku as odd, considering how much pride Endeavor showed in his pyrokinetic Hellflame Quirk, that his son would have something that was the polar opposite of it, but what the heck.

Hmm, is it ice generation or can he manipulate the molecules around him into lowering their temperatures?

They weren't the only interesting Quirks he could see and take note of, however. He noted Satou's superhuman strength (linked to consumption of some white powder), Mina's ability to shoot out globs of liquid (Composition? Viscosity? Ph level?), the frog-like abilities of a girl named Tsuyu Asui (Strong legs, long tongue. Sensitivity to environment?).

He noticed Tokoyami's shadowy partner (Where do they connect to each other?), the electric power of a Denki Kaminari (Wattage? Voltage? Amperage?), the sticky purple orbs of a dwarf named Minoru Mineta (sticks to anything but himself). He took notes on everyone in the class, and revised notes on Quirks he had already seen. He had gotten some looks for doing it, sure, but he knew this information could come in handy. A good Hero needed good brains and brawn, after all.

Disregarding his love for Quirks for a bit, he was surprised when Aizawa brought up the scores for the class. Rather than having just one last-place-person, there were actually three people tied for last- Mineta, Kaminari, and a girl with an Invisibility Quirk named Tooru Hagakure. He wasn't surprised by the fact that there were three last-placers, he was surprised by what Aizawa said.

"Hmm… Normally, I would follow through with my promise of expulsion, and would have expelled all three of our last-place finishers. However, you showed me you had potential to be somewhat decent Heroes. So, I won't be expelling you."

"WOAH!"

"W-w-wait, that really wasn't a logical ruse?"

""YAHOO! I MADE IT!"

"My life flashed before my eyes for a moment there…"

"Good job on showing him what you're made of, man!"

"Tch, you side characters are loud as fuck."

"However," The seriousness in his voice brought all the attention back on their teacher. "Keep in mind that you're starting near the bottom of what you all can grow into. Those in the bottom half, see this as a message to improve yourselves- for those in the top half, use that as motivation not to fall behind." Everyone nodded to his message. "Go change out and come back to the classroom to receive your curriculum documents. Class is dismissed."


"... Then there's Present Mic's class. You'd think such a boisterous hero would keep his personality like that even while teaching English grammar."

"I know, right! When I saw him I thought the class was going to be fun, too! Well, English is a cool language, anyway, so I guess this should help us a bit in coming up with attack names. What attacks can I make with my Acid?"

"I already have one- Reddo Gaunturetto! Supa strongu panchu!"

"Kirishima, you should say 'It is a super strong punch.'" School had ended, and now the students were on their way back home. After a long day of classes, Kirishima had met up with Izuku at the front yard of U.A. High to ride the train home together. They were greeted by Mina Ashido, who had decided to accompany them on their train ride- her house wasn't that far from Kirishima's anyway.

"Ah, hello there!" A fourth voice reached their ears- they turned around and saw Iida approaching them. He looked to the Hardener and the Acider. "Your names were Kirishima and Ashido, right?"

"Right! And you're, uh, Iida, right? Nice work during the Apprehension Test, man- you sure are fast!"

"Thank you! Your ability deserves some praise too, you know. The defensive capabilities of such a Quirk are great for Hero work and protecting innocents." Ashido butted in.

"Hey! Don't discount me and Mido over here! We're pretty cool too, you know! Especially Mido- his Quirk is strong!"

"Ah, you gave me a nickname already, huh?"

"HEY!" They heard another new voice and turned around to see Uraraka waving at them. "If you guys are headed to the train station, let me come too!" As she approached, Iida made an odd handshake-like gesture with his hand.

"You're the Infinity Girl." That made the pink-skinned horned-girl laugh.

"Yeah, yeah! That's me! And you're Iida."

:And I'm Ashido!" As the group conversed and the students hung out with each other, Izuku let out a content sigh. He was smiling happily at this development.

Due to his Quirklessness, he really didn't have friends for the past 9 or so years. He had acquaintances, but no one whose shoulder he could really cry on, no one to support him other than his mother. The past ten months, however, have been great for him. Look at the people in front of him- there were two people he could already call friends, and two more that were working their way up that ladder. Then there's the fact that Bakugou doesn't see him as a pebble on the road anymore, and since he now has a Quirk the people in class won't have a reason to distance themselves from him.

He knew he'd have to fight his way through U.A.'s rigor. But making friends?

That was more than he could ask for.


A/N: "You really could have benefited more from including the actual Test. I know what you're planning, but honestly, this is just boring."

"It ain't boring! It may not be exciting, but it's interesting to read!"

"Don't delude yourself. It's not bad, it's just boring to read. Just like these ANs."

... I'm not boring... sniffle...