* AN: Great thanks to my friend Skelekitty for his help in polishing this chapter.


Disclaimer: I DO_NOT own "Boku no Hero Academia". No profit is being made.


Boku no Hero Academia :: The Assistant Professor

Hizashi Yamada, better known by his Hero name 'Present Mic', surveyed the devastated street, his eyes moving from cratered asphalt to sidewalks littered with broken glass and other rubble to downtrodden things dropped by fleeing civilians. He hadn't been there when the fight happened, but it was clear that the patrolling Heroes bit more than they could chew when they confronted a mighty villain known as 'The Sharkmaw'. Miraculously, the novice trio managed to keep him away from civilians - several people still needed medical attention, but none because of the attacks the villain or the heroes threw around. Panicking crowd was the cause of their injuries - and lasted until Gang Orca arrived on the scene, bringing enough firepower to finally apprehend the evildoer.

Anyway, it somehow ended with Hizashi being stuck doing the after-battle clean-up. Which, among other things, included picking personal possessions like mobile phones or documents that were dropped by fleeing civilians and returning them to their rightful owners. It wasn't the most glamorous task, but it was still a part of a Hero's job, so Hizashi didn't complain out loud. Especially since he wasn't there to assist the fight and prevent all this damage in the first place.

Putting someone's now-broken phone into a small plastic bag, Present Mic went on to pick the next thing that might find its way back to its owner - a trampled upon notebook, likely dropped by some school student who was on their way back home when the fight broke out. And as he was about to put it into yet another plastic bag, Hizashi saw the title of this notebook: 'Hero Analysis for the Future, Vol.6'. Curious, the Voice Hero flipped through the notebook, immediately noticing amateurish but very detailed drawing of various Heroes and literal pages of notes on them. Whoever wrote all this was definitely a serious Hero nerd.

Then, near the end of the notebook, he found an entry about himself. Now even more curious, he started actually reading. Not only the breakdown of his current abilities was pretty accurate, but the author also made a few suggestions that the Hero himself hadn't thought of but which sounded worth trying.

Flipping back to the front page, he finally saw the name of the author: Midoriya Izuku. Hizashi couldn't recall having taught someone by that name at UA but, damn, the boy had some real talent for Quirk analysis. And while he might be a little bit biased towards his alma mater and the school he was currently teaching at, UA was the best place to nurture this talent. He absolutely needed to show Nezu this notebook, even if doing so would require bending the Hero operation protocols quite a bit.


"Hey, hey, hey, principal!" Hizashi announced himself loudly as he walked into Nezu's office. "You totally need to see what I've found during the post-battle clean-up today!" He said then, slamming the notebook onto his employer's desk.

"Aren't you supposed to surrender personal things with identifiable owners to the Police?" The principal of UA asked. Nevertheless, he picked the notebook and started flipping through it. And found himself greatly impressed by Quirk analyses written inside. "This is incredible!"

"See! The listener who wrote this is great!" Present Mic voiced his own thoughts on the notebook's contents. "I haven't even thought about trying to modulate my voice's frequency. Imagine what my ultrasound shout might be able to do! I've totally got to try it!" Nezu, however, wasn't even listening to him. The UA's principal was already rapidly typing on his computer, searching for any and all information about the author of these Quirk analyses.

"Midoriya Izuku, age twelve, quirkless?" Nezu read from the results of his query. He honestly had expected these notes to be made by someone older, possibly even a young adult. The fact that Midoriya-san didn't even have an intelligence Quirk made the boy even more impressive in his eyes. He really wanted the boy to join UA. And possibly not just as a student. Scrolling further down through the boy's profile, the High Spec user noted that Midoriya-san had good, though not perfect, grades. He also had a rather long list of reprimands for class disruption and provoking other students, but in every single case it looked like his 'target' was someone named Bakugo Katsuki. Bringing the other boy's profile up, Nezu immediately noticed that it was spotless, absolutely clean. No child ever got through school without even a single reprimand unless the school itself whitewashed their profile. And, a quirkless kid tormenting someone with a moderately-powerful explosion Quirk? That just smelled fishy.

Quickly writing a note to The Commission that Aldera Junior High school needed to be checked for Quirkless discrimination as well as for possible connections to the Meta Liberation Army terrorist organisation, Nezu returned his attention to Hizashi.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Midoriya-san would be a great addition to UA, should he choose UA as his High school and pass the entrance exams..." No, Nezu stopped himself. Waiting for three years would be way too long. Even the greatest of talents could be smothered and killed off if that person didn't believe it was anything worthy. And given what Nezu saw in the Midoriya-san's profile, Aldera Junior High definitely didn't encourage the boy to hone his analysis skills and might actually be trying to turn him into another one of those boring and unremarkable humans instead. "On the second thought… I believe it would be better to fast-forward Midoriya-san's education so that he can join UA earlier. Assuming he accepts this offer of course." Nezu was sure that his colleagues would help teaching the boy, but even if they didn't, he was good enough. "For now, though, we need to return this notebook to its rightful owner."

"I'm coming with you!" Hizashi called. "I got to meet with this young listener!"

~/ *** \~

Midoriya Inko was greatly surprised when the doorbell rang. She wasn't expecting any guests today. She was even more surprised when she saw who her guests were. Indeed, it was an odd duo: a tall, lanky man with long blond hair whom she was sure she had seen on TV once or twice and a sharply-dressed chimera creature. Before she could even say anything, her son peeked from the kitchen and immediately recognized the strange duo.

"P-Present Mic? Principal Nezu of UA?" Izuku said, clearly just as surprised by their visit as his mother. "It's a h-honor to meet you."

"Hello, young listener!" Hizashi greeted in his usual, loud manner.

"The pleasure is ours, Midoriya-san." Nezu said. "May we come in?" Inko, who was still recovering from shock, simply nodded. Stepping inside the apartment, the UA principal continued. "First of all, I believe we ought to return this to young Midoriya over here." He said while producing Izuku's notebook from ...somewhere.

"My n-notebook? But-... I thought I l-lost it." The young greenette stammered.

"That you did." Nezu said. "But my colleague over there found it while doing a post-fight clean-up. Normally it would be returned to you through the Police channels, however Hizashi decided to bring it to me instead. And seeing your Quirk analyses left me impressed. You have a great mind, young Midoriya-san."

"You m-must be mistaken. It's just a h-hobby of mine. It's n-nothing special." Izuku replied, clearly not used to being praised for something he did.

"I do make mistakes occasionally - everyone does - but this is definitely not one of them." Nezu replied. "You have a talent for analyzing Quirks, Midoriya-san, and it is something that should be nurtured to its full potential. In fact, I believe that having someone of your skill helping people master their Quirks would be a great boon to any Hero school."

"Y-You want me at UA?" Izuku asked, not believing what he had just heard.

"Yes, though I'd rather you are older and more able to assert your authority over others when you join my school." The principal of UA replied. "And I do not mean as a student - though, I'm sure, teaching someone with a mind like yours would be a pleasure as well."

"D-Don't I have to be a Hero to work at UA?" The green-haired teen asked then. "C-can someone like me even b-be a Hero?"

"It's a tradition that every member of UA's faculty is a professional Hero, but not a written rule. And even if it was, I, as the principal, can make exceptions for individuals with outstanding abilities and talents." Nezu replied. "And your Quirk analysis, once honed to perfection, would be one such talent. You can save many lives of young Heroes by making them more prepared for the challenges of the real world. Even if you aren't a professional Hero, you can still become a hero to others. After all, a hero is someone who helps people in need because they can."

"That is good and all." Inko cut in. "But right now Izuku-kun is just a child and as his mother, I'm the one responsible for his well-being."

"Of course, of course." Nezu agreed. "As I said, young Midoriya still has to gain some more maturity of mind and body before he is ready to perform the duties of a Quirk Development Counsellor for UA. He isn't ready for the job right now, but I believe he will be one day."

"Mom, please, let me do this! Please, this is my chance to be a Hero." Izuku begged. It didn't seem to work at first, but the green-haired boy continued until his mother finally gave in.

"Alright, alright." She said to him before turning her attention to the guests from UA. "Am I right to believe that you had something in mind for Izuku, should we agree to your proposition?"

"Indeed." Nezu nodded. "And the best one has me taking young Midoriya-san as my personal student in order to accelerate his education. I will not lie and say that it will be easy, but this will be the fastest way we all get what we want."

"I would help the young listener too, and so will my colleagues." Present Mic chimed in. "If the young listener agrees to this plan, of course." He then added quickly.

"I… L-Let's do this." Izuku said after thinking about it for a few long seconds. "This is my b-best chance to become a Hero."

"A-Are you sure about that, sweety?" Inko asked him.

"Y-Yes." Her son said with as much confidence as he could muster. The woman let out a sigh.

"Alright." She said finally. "What do you need me to do?"

Katsuki Bakugo wasn't stupid and knew that something was going on when Deku suddenly stopped coming to school. Nothing like that had ever happened before. Still, he had better things to do than to worry about what the useless nerd was up to, so he quickly put this oddity out of his mind.

A little over a month passed - still with no sign that Deku still existed in this world - and Aldera Junior High got visited by Heroes. They, however, weren't there to tell stories about how they beat up stupid villains to save the day. Instead, they arrested the vice-principal and several other teachers, including the homeroom teacher for Katsuki's class. The details were scant but, apparently, these people were suspected to be agents of some terrorist organization.

And as if this disruption of the educational process that threatened his future successes wasn't enough, Katsuki was forced to talk to some stupid government-appointed counsellor who asked him a bunch of idiotic questions about Quirks and their role in societal order. The rest of the student body had to go through this bullshit as well, but those extras could afford such a waste of time. Unlike him, the future number one Hero.

Unfortunately, those government agents found some fault with his answers and demanded he attend some stupid counseling sessions, forcing him to waste even more of his precious time - time that he should be spending on training to become even stronger.

No, things weren't going well for Katsuki Bakugo.

~ *** A Year Later *** ~

"Settle down, problem children." Aizawa-sensei greeted his class, shrugging his yellow sleeping bag off as he stepped into the classroom. "And do try to stay awake for the homeroom this time, Hadou-kun." The blue-haired girl let out an unintelligible mumble as she was roused from her nap. Once everyone was paying attention, the man continued: "The Sports Festival is over, and thankfully there weren't any serious incidents this year." Here, Eraserhead looked pointedly at Togata Mirio, the worst student of the class. Having one of their students lose their clothes on national television was something that UA could do without. "There is no time for you to relax, though. Starting next week, you will be interning under pro-Heroes to get your first field experience. Here is the tally of internship offers you've received." As he said that, a list appeared on the whiteboard.

"Look, even Mr. No-Pants received an offer!" Someone called, drawing attention to the single offer Mirio received. The said student was immediately silenced by Aizawa-sensei's glare.

"You can compare your results later. Wasting homeroom time on that is irrational." The teacher continued, bringing the whole classroom back to order. "For most of you, you will have to wait until next Monday to meet the Heroes you will be interning under." Making a brief pause, Aizawa focused his attention on Mirio. "As a part of an experiment the principal wants to run, you, Togata-san, will meet with yours later today. Your internship still starts next Monday."

"Yes, sir!" The blonde boy replied enthusiastically.

"Good." The perpetually-tired Hero continued, once again addressing the whole class. "To intern under a pro-Hero you will need a Hero name of your own. And picking one is what you will be doing right now. While it is possible to change your Hero name later, I suggest you consider your choice very carefully. Midnight will be there to help you avoid making mistakes." And with that he walked out of the classroom while the R-rated Heroine stepped in.


Mirio was understandably apprehensive as he walked up to the conference room where he was supposed to meet with the pro-Hero he would be interning under. According to what Aizawa-sensei had told him in private, despite his failures during the Sports Festival, he somehow managed to draw the attention of Sir Nighteye, former sidekick to All Might himself.

With a mental shout of 'Power!' to give himself countenance, Mirio opened the door and stepped inside. He was immediately greeted by the sight of a tall man in a gray business suit arguing with a boy who looked too young to be attending UA about All Might and his many achievements, all the while principal Nezu was doing some paperwork and drinking some freshly-brewed tea.

"Ah, Togata-san, thank you for coming here." The principal said while setting his paperwork aside. "Let us do the introduction first before I explain what I have in mind for you." At Mirio's nod, he continued: "Whether you think of me as a dog or a mouse or a bear or maybe even something else entirely, I'm Nezu, the current principal of this institution." Nezu introduced himself, even if that was completely unnecessary. "Next is my apprentice, Izuku Midoriya." The small boy greeted Mirio with a friendly hand wave. "And Mirai Sasaki, better known as pro-Hero Sir Nighteye."

"Tell me a joke." The man in the business suit addressed Mirio bluntly.

"Huh? Uhm…" The blonde Hero Course student was caught completely by surprise by this request. "Ah… Why does the teacher wear sunglasses? Because his students are so bright!" He finally joked lamely.

"Acceptable." Sir Nighteye said, even though his mouth didn't even twitch.

"And finally." Nezu cut in, continuing the introductions, now gesturing towards the blond Hero-in-training. "Mirio Togata of Hero Course class 1-A."

"Thank you for taking time off your busy schedules for me." Mirio said with a bow.

"Now, let me explain what we all have gathered here for." The principal continued. "While your performance during the Sports Festival was not the best, Togata-kun, some people saw great potential in you and your Quirk. This potential is the reason why Sir Nighteye picked you for the internship."

"Thank you, Sir. I hope I can live up to your expectations." Mirio said. The man acknowledged him with a small nod while Nezu continued.

"Similarly, my protege believes that, once fully mastered, your Quirk will make you a remarkable Hero, someone who can easily be in the top fifty if not top ten in the rankings. And seeing how Midoriya-kun is going to take the position of the Quirk Development Counsellor here at UA in the future, helping bring out the potential of your Quirk will be a good test of his abilities."

"And I must admit that when it comes to analysing Quirks and determining their possible uses, Midoriya-san, despite his youth, is better than me." Sir Nighteye spoke up. "Thus, in accordance with the agreement I've reached with principal Nezu, for the duration of your internship at my agency your physical and legal training will be overseen either by myself or by one of my sidekicks while Midoriya-san will be responsible for your Quirk training."

"Understood." Mirio replied.

"Can I have you clarify a few things about your Quirk, Togata-san?" Izuku asked. "I have an idea of what it can and might be able to do based on your performance during the Sports Festival and the Hero Course entrance exam, but..." Mirio gave him a big smile.

"Alright, ask away."

"Your Quirk is called 'Permeation' and it lets you turn your body intangible. While you are intangible, you are unable to breathe or perceive the world around you." The green-haired boy read from his notes. "Your Quirk can't affect your clothes unless they are made of special materials that incorporate your DNA." Mirio nodded. "And it also appears to be unable to affect other people."

"I don't think I've ever actually tried that, but my guess is that it won't. My father has a similar Quirk and he can't affect others." The older boy said. Izuku nodded and striked something out of his notes before scribbling a few words elsewhere.

"Your Quirk, when deactivated, will eject you from any solid objects your body would intersect." Mirio nodded again: this observation was completely correct and he, in fact, was already using this property of his Quirk to gain brief bursts of speed. It wasn't a polished technique by any means, but it was something that let him pass both the entrance exam and Aizawa-sensei's Quirk apprehension test. "Is that something automatic or is it somehow dependent on your intent?"

"Automatic." The Hero-in-training replied.

"Alright." Izuku said as he continued adding more notes on his paper. Once he was finally finished, he handed the paper over to Mirio: "Here's the list of my suggestions for the development of your Quirk as it is now, and the directions that I believe should be explored. Please don't go experimenting without supervision."

The older boy quickly scanned the document and found himself surprised by how detailed Midoriya-san's notes were. The principal's apprentice had made a great breakdown of his current abilities and his suggestions for how 'Permeation' could be used… Those were something else. Granted, many of the ideas relied on partial intangibility being possible for him, but there were a few that didn't and Mirio couldn't wait to try them out.

There also were additional suggestions that weren't directly related to developing his Quirk, but which could still help him better utilize it. Like learning how to hold his breath for longer to extend the time he could be intangible, or undergoing specialized training to better deal with disorientation and nausea caused by near-complete sensory deprivation - he could feel nothing but the sensation of endless falling - he experienced whenever he used his Quirk.

"These are great! Thank you, Midoriya-san! Now I'm really looking forward to working with you!" Mirio then remembered that he was in presence of the very pro-Hero he will be interning under and quickly amended himself: "And, of course, it is a great honor to be an intern at your agency, Sir Nighteye. I know I will learn much under your tutelage."

Over the next half a year Mirio showed great progress under the tutelage of Sir Nighteye and Midoriya-sensei. Yes, despite being two years younger than him, Izuku-sensei had taught him many things about his 'Permeation' and more than deserved that honorific. Of course, Mirio still had a lot of things to learn before he could claim to have mastered his Quirk - while partial intangibility was indeed possible for him, it still required entirely too much concentration to achieve to be usable in the field. Yet, even with what he had learned by now he rose from near-bottom of his class to near-top.

Anyhow, Mirio could tell that Principal Nezu appeared to be quite satisfied, both with his progress and with the role his 'sensei' had played in it. To the point where a month ago the chimera decided that Midoriya-sensei should take two more students and help them achieve their true potential. And these students were the always-tired blue-haired beauty Nejire Hadou and Mirio's sociophobic friend Tamaki Amajiki.

Nejire's main problem was her lack of stamina to use her Quirk effectively, so that was what Midoriya-sensei had her working on most of the time. He, of course, also pointed out a few novel ways her Quirk could be used, such as increasing the force behind her punches with well-timed bursts from 'Wave Motion' or using constant energy release to hover in the air. It didn't look like there was any way to make those energy waves move faster, but the green-haired teen was still trying to come up with some clever trick to correct the sluggishness of Nejire's waves.

With Tamaki the situation Midoriya-sensei had to deal with was a bit different. The brunette already had an impressive control over his Quirk - 'Manifest' - and was held back from using it at its full potential by his social phobia. Well, from using it at what Mirio and Tamaki himself believed to be the Quirk's full potential: Midoriya-sensei theorized that that 'Manifest' could combine properties from different animals within a single transformation and while Tamaki wasn't able to achieve such transformation yet, no indications that this theory was wrong have been found.

Still, as dealing with psychological issues was not Midoriya-sensei's area of expertise, he directed Tamaki to Iuni-sensei (better known as pro-Hero 'Hound Dog') in hopes that the UA's Lifestyle Guidance Counselor would be able to instill some self-confidence into the dark-haired teen.


Principal Nezu was indeed very proud of his apprentice's achievements. Not only was Izuku-kun already finishing syllables for the second year of High School - something that put him three years ahead of his peers academically - but he also did well on his test-run as a Quirk Development Counsellor for Mirio-kun. No, the chimera knew that his apprentice wouldn't be able to handle guiding more than a handful of students right now, but he was positive that in a couple of years Izuku-kun will be ready to fill the post and offer his expert advice to every student that attended UA. Nezu even contemplated integrating some measure of Quirk Analysis into the Heroics course: being able to quickly get even a basic understanding of what your allies and/or enemies could and couldn't do was crucial for a successful Hero.

Of course, academics wasn't the only thing Izuku-kun was learning here, at UA: being determined to become a Hero, if only to uphold the Academy's traditions, the green-haired teen was also undergoing physical and combat training. Aizawa-sensei was the one in charge of it - they've actually gotten to the point where Izuku could use the man's signature capture weapon rather effectively - but other members of the faculty were helping as well. Add in Izuku-kun's regular spars against Mirio, and Nezu was sure that his apprentice could actually take some of the Hero Course students on and win, regardless of whether they were allowed to use their Quirks or not.

Yes, his apprentice had made many achievements already - with more surely coming in the future - and Nezu couldn't be more proud of him.

~/ *** Another Year Later *** \~

"I hope I'm not late?" Izuku asked as he stepped into a conference hall. Most of the UA's staff was already there, but the academy's newest Quirk Development Counsellor could see that a few faculty members weren't there yet.

"No, you're right on time." Nezu told him. "Snipe's actually not coming today, so we're waiting only for Chiyo and Ken to arrive." Once Recovery Girl and Cementos showed up a minute or so later, the principal began the meeting: "Good morning everyone, and thank you for taking time off your busy schedules for this meeting." After a brief pause he continued: "I believe, you've all heard by now that Oboro-sensei, who has been teaching Foundational Hero Studies for the past decade, has decided to retire." The said Hero nodded. "And today, I'm going to introduce you to the man who will take up his position next academic year. Please come in." Nezu called.

"I'm coming in like a Hero!" The unmistakable voice of All Might announced the arrival of Japan's number one Hero. And a moment later the man himself stepped into the room, curiously wearing a yellow business suit rather than his usual Hero costume. "Good morning everyone and thank you for having me here. It's nice to be back at UA. As Principal Nezu has said, I'll be taking over the Foundational Hero Studies course starting next year with the aim to pass my knowledge and experience to the next generation of Heroes." His short speech received a round of polite applause.

"In addition to that." Nezu continued, intentionally skipping the part where he would reveal All Might's real name to the staff so that the man could keep the anonymity of his weakened form for the time being. "Starting the next academic year, Midoriya-sensei will be teaching classes on Quirk identification and basic analysis as a part of Foundational Hero Studies for all students attending Hero Course." Izuku buried his face in his hands as the faculty members congratulated him on being promoted to a part-time teacher. Or, in case of Aizawa-sensei, pitied him for all the extra work he'd soon be doing.

"Moving on..." Nezu spoke as he began explaining a few other changes that will be implemented at UA starting the next year.


As the meeting came to an end, Izuku gathered all of his courage and approached All Might. Having spent the past two years around many pro-Heroes - as well his training for his own provisional licence - had somewhat cured him of Hero-worshipping, but the number one Hero was still an imposing figure one could hardly talk to as if he was your equal. And while he was busy being anxious, All Might noticed him and decided to ask his young colleague what he wanted:

"Young… Midoriya-san, right? You must be really great if you're a teacher at such a young age." The giant man said. "Is there something I can help you with?" Izuku nodded.

"Y-Yes, All Might, Sir." The teen-aged now-teacher began awkwardly. Taking a moment to steel his nerves, he continued more professionally: "Seeing as Nezu-sensei decided to slot my classes into Foundational Hero Studies - a subject that you will be teaching the next year - I believe we should coordinate our lesson plans."

"That is a splendid idea, Midoriya-shounen." The number one Hero boomed. "I will have my secretary and trainer, one Toshinori Yagi, mail my draft when I finish it. Can I have your mail address?" He asked then, while secretly hoping that he still had enough time on his buff form to get away without revealing his secret to anyone who didn't already know. He really should have saved more time for this meeting. But he just couldn't NOT help those people.

"Here." Izuku said as he handed All Might his business card, identifying him as a Quirk Development Counsellor for UA.

"Thank you, Midoriya-shounen. I will have Yagi-san send you the documents as soon as possible." All Might said. "Now, if you excuse me, a Hero's duty never waits." And with that he ran away, moving so fast that he left an afterimage behind.


After he was done with his duties for the day, Izuku decided to look up this Toshinori Yagi. The man would be his contact person with All Might as they ironed out the lesson plan. And what he found was quite interesting, to say the least.

Officially, the man indeed was a personal secretary and trainer to Japan's number one Hero, but there was more. Toshinori-san was registered as having a strength-enhancing Quirk and had studied at UA for a single year a little over two decades ago before dropping off the face of Earth. He then reappeared seemingly out of nowhere five and a half years ago, exactly when All Might himself returned to his duties after being suddenly missing for several weeks for an undisclosed reason. Toshinori-san also had the same hair and eye colors as All Might, and the two of them were never seen together.

Could they actually be the same person?

He'd need to ask Nezu-sensei about that.

~/ *** Several Months Later *** \~

Since he was now a teacher - an assistant one, but nonetheless - Izuku was invited to observe the entrance exams into the Hero Course, both the private for student-hopefuls with pro-Hero recommendations and the public one anyone could try their hand at.

The former one was actually less interesting to watch. Sure, the people there had powerful and well-developed Quirks, but… A simple obstacle course race just doesn't compare to a mock-war against robotic foes that the applicants from the main batch got to experience. Of course, such an exam had its own flaws.

Like putting those with Quirks that affected minds at a great disadvantage.

"That boy on camera B-14, Hitoshi Shinso." Izuku whispered to Aizawa-sensei. "According to his file, his Quirk is verbal response-activated mind control. I don't see him passing this exam at his current rate, but I really hope he will manage to get into another department. His Quirk has a great potential for Heroics and it would be a shame to waste it."

"Indeed." The perpetually-tired teacher replied. "But he needs to shape up if he wants to become a Hero." Indeed, Hitoshi-san didn't appear to be very fit. And all Heroes, even those who specialized in rescue like Thirteen, had to be in great physical shape. Furthermore, the purple-haired teen showed no signs of even wanting to cooperate with others or help them in any way and, thus, earned no rescue points to boost his score.

Izuku nodded.

"Perhaps, we should give him a few pointers, if he gets into another department." He said. "Just a few pointers on what he needs to work on to get into the Hero Course through the Sport Festival promotion, though we'll have to see if his attitude improves." Aizawa was silent for a few seconds, before agreeing.

~/ *** \~

Hitoshi Shinso knew he should be happy for being accepted into UA's General Studies, but he just didn't feel it. He still wasn't over failing the Hero Course exam - and not because others taking the exam were all-around better, but because his Quirk, capable of affecting only human minds, had simply been useless for it.

He was about to throw the acceptance letter into his drawer when he noticed a note attached to it. Curious, he opened it and read.

Good day, Hitoshi Shinso.

First, allow us to congratulate you on getting into the General Studies department. This might not be the Hero Course you originally tried for, but don't lose your hope for becoming a Hero just yet. Every year, UA holds a sports festival and students from General Studies, Business or Support departments who make a good showing of their abilities may earn a chance to be transferred to the Hero Course department.

And someone with your Quirk can make an excellent Hero. Diffusing hostage situations, stopping crimes without bloodshed, calming people during the times of crises, you can do a lot of good. Unfortunately, the rather illogical entrance exam didn't let you showcase your potential properly. It did, however, reveal a few shortcomings that you will need to correct before you can join the Hero Course properly.

One, while your Quirk indeed has a lot of potential, a Hero is more than just their Quirk. A Hero needs to train their body as well if they want to keep up with the rigors of the job. And you, unfortunately, aren't quite there yet, Hitoshi-san. You need to improve your stamina at the very least. Learning some martial arts would also greatly benefit you if you are aiming to transfer into the Hero Course.

Your other problem is lack of cooperativeness. While the exam asked you to combat robots for combat points, it shouldn't have made you forget what is the true goal of a Hero: to help others. No Hero academia would turn away a student who embodies the spirit of a Hero. And, indeed, as you've probably seen in your Hero Course rejection letter, there is such a thing as rescue points. Those are awarded by the panel of judges not only for explicitly rescuing those in trouble, but also for helping your fellow examinees in other ways. In fact, someone who goes out of their way to assist others can earn up to seventy rescue points, which is more than enough to earn a spot in the Hero Course without scoring even a single combat point. Of course, not every Hero values cooperativeness so highly, but it is expected of them to be able to work with others when the need arises. And if you want to become a Hero yourself one day, you need to learn to be more open towards cooperating with others.

Improve yourself, go Plus Ultra, and we will be happy to see you in the Hero Course.

Sincerely yours,
Midoriya Izuku, UA Quirk Development Counsellor,
Shouta Aizawa, Hero Course 1-A homeroom teacher.

Unable to help himself, Shinso smiled. There were people who believed that his Quirk was fit for a Hero. Someone who believed that he could be a Hero.

~/ *** \~

"And that's it for today." Aizawa said, concluding the morning homeroom. "You have Foundational Hero Studies next, right?" Not even waiting for his students to reply, he continued: "Please change into your gym uniforms and head to the training grounds Beta. Your teacher will be waiting for you there." A few students nodded, but no one actually moved. Letting out a tired sigh, Aizawa pushed: "And stop wasting time, the class starts in fifteen minutes." This finally prompted his students to act.

Twelve minutes later, the faster ones - led by Iida Tenya - began pouring into a large hangar-like building that was training ground Beta. And they couldn't see anyone who could be their teacher anywhere. The only person other than them in here was a green-haired teen of about their age, dressed into blue jeans, white shirt with no tie. Instead, he was wearing a long thin scarf in UA color scheme that definitely resembled Aizawa-sensei's capture weapon. There also was some sort of a business card attached to his shirt, but none of class 1-A students paid attention to it.

"You should leave, a class will take place here in a few minutes." Iida said as he took a few steps towards the mysterious teen. "And I have to remind you that uniforms are mandatory for all students at UA. You are disgracing the academy with your blatant disrespect for its rules!"

A few steps behind him, one Bakugo Katsuki was having a weird feeling that he knew who this mysterious teen currently berated by the four-eyes freak was. That he damn knew this extra for years. But try as he might, he couldn't remember anyone worth his attention that fit the bill.

"While your determination to uphold order is admirable, you shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly. I might indeed be much younger than my colleagues, but I'm still a trusted member of UA staff despite my youth. Now, if you excuse me, I can see that everyone is finally here and I can finally start my class." The green-haired teen said as he moved away from stunned Iida and walked towards the center of a plaza class 1-A had gathered on. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Midoriya Izuku and I'm UA's Quirk Development Counsellor and Assistant Teacher."

Now Katsuki was damn sure that he knew who this 'Assistant Teacher' was. He had definitely heard that name before, and pretty often. But he still couldn't put it together with anyone of any importance he knew. And someone holding a position at UA had to be important - UA was the best damn Hero academy in Japan and they would never hire some useless extra. Meanwhile, the teenaged teacher continued:

"I will be giving you a few lessons on Quirk identification and analysis as a part of your Foundational Hero Studies class. Normally, you should've had a class with your primary teacher, All Might, first, but for some reason the Principal decided to adjust the timetable." The students broke into excited whispering now that they had a confirmation that All Might himself would be teaching them how to be a Hero. Izuku gave them a bit of time, then he continued his introduction: "Anyway, I will be teaching you how to quickly identify common traits of Quirks, their strengths and weaknesses as well as how to use this knowledge to your advantage."

"So, some useless nerd stuff? I'll be better off training on my own. This class is going to be a waste of my time." Bakugo exploded. And before Iida could berate him for disrespecting their teacher - even if he himself had some doubts about Midoriya-sensei's abilities - the young teacher already had a response.

"So, you believe that I don't have anything to teach you, Bakugo-san? Why don't you prove that you indeed know everything about your Quirk and how it can be used in every situation a Hero might find themselves in?" The explosion user wasted no time accepting the challenge.

"You're on. And if I can beat you, you will excuse me from this waste of time." He demanded with a blood-thirsty grin as small explosions cracked against his palms.

"Thank you for agreeing to be a demonstration for my lesson." The teenaged teacher replied, not looking very concerned about the explosions. 'Did he have some really incredible Quirk', almost every student of class 1-A thought.

"Get ready to excuse me from this useless waste of time you call your class!" Bakugo shouted as he launched himself at Midoriya-sensei, using small explosions to propel himself forward at incredible speed. Apparently, that wasn't good enough as a moment later the teacher's scarf wrapped itself around his midsection, pinning his arms to his sides. He was then swung around like a giant angry yo-yo before being slammed onto the ground a good dozen of meters away from his intended target. And the green-haired fucker didn't even look like he had even exerted himself.

"And this is how having an idea of what your opponent's Quirk can do might help you in a fight against them." Midoriya-sensei said to the remaining nineteen students of class 1-A, all of them stunned by the ease their teacher dealt with an attack from one of the strongest fighters among them. "Arguably I did have a bit of an unfair advantage in the form of video recordings to study Bakugo-san's Quirk and fighting style from, but..." He trailed off, before continuing a seconds later: "Before I explain what I did in this little hassle and why I would like you to tell me what you know of your classmate's Quirk." After a brief pause he added: "And if I were you, Bakugo-san, I'd listen to your weaknesses we are going to highlight and find ways to correct them."

"Well… Bakugo-san can produce explosions using his sweat." A shortish brown-haired girl, Ochako Uraraka, said, earning a nod from Midoriya-sensei.

"Correct, Bakugo-san can produce explosions using his nitroglycerine-like sweat." He said. "So, what can you do to avoid these explosions?" The explosive blonde's angry growl was ignored.

"Since he uses sweat to produce explosions, reducing the amount of sweat he has at his disposal will reduce his ability to use powerful explosions." Iida replied.

"Alright. And what can you do to achieve that?" The teenaged teacher asked then.

"You can wash his sweat off with a stream of water." Someone suggested.

"Or cover him in something that absorbs sweat." Another student offered their suggestion.

"Reducing the temperature around him will cause his body to produce less sweat." Todoroki Shouta said while using his Quirk to briefly summon a small amount of ice around his right hand.

"Good." Midoriya-sensei said. "Anything else?"

"While loud and bright, Bakugo-san's explosions will not do much damage to you if you keep your distance from him." Momo Yaoyorozu supplied. Then, she decided to elaborate her point: "Since it doesn't appear that Bakugo-san can shape his explosions, their effectiveness is inversely-proportional to the square of distance between him and his target."

"Also correct." The green-haired assistant teacher said. "And, indeed, this is what I did in my 'fight' against Bakugo-san. Now can someone guess why I've restrained him in this specific way, with his arms against his body and his palms facing inwards?" He asked then. There was a pause, before the first idea was voice:

"So that his explosions are directed primarily at himself." Someone from the back of the class said.

"Yes. Even if Bakugo-san is completely immune to his own explosions, their force will be greatly reduced if most of their energy goes towards his body." Momo agreed. What went unsaid was that if Katsuki wasn't actually immune - and he wasn't - then any explosion he made would hurt him more than they would hurt his target. And in places he would rather avoid hurting too.

"Good." Midoriya-sensei said, finally releasing the explosive blonde from his bindings. The said teen stomped his way back to his classmates, fuming with anger. Thankfully for everyone, Katsuki wasn't stupid and while he loathed the thought of not paying back for this humiliation, the nerd teacher did incapacitate him entirely too easily. He needed to gain more power - in secret - before he could have his revenge. The said green-haired teen, meanwhile, continued his speech: "As you can see, being able to understand someone's Quirk lets you combat them more effectively if it's your opponent or synergize better with if it's your ally. Analytical skills are important for all kinds of Heroes, and I will be helping you develop these skills." Midoriya-sensei made a small pause, before continuing: "Now let's move on to the subject of today's lesson. And today I would like to talk about Heteromorphic Quirks, often referred to as 'Mutant-type Quirk' and the traits commonly displayed by people with such Quirks."


It was near the end of lunch when Katsuki finally puzzled together the identity of the Assistant Teacher that dared to humiliate him during his very first Foundational Hero Studies class. It was that useless Deku that had mysteriously disappeared from his life three years ago. Now, the question was how that little bastard managed to get into UA before him? And as a damn teacher no less!

Alas, the lunch break was nearly over by the time he got this epiphany and so his confrontation with the shitty Quirkless nerd would have to wait until after his classes were over for the day.

So, after suffering through Math, History and then Biology, Katsuki finally made his way to the Quirk Development Counsellor's office, ready to confront stupid Deku. And as much as he wanted to just barge in and show the Quirkless loser his place, the explosive blonde knew better than to turn his actual teachers against him, so he made sure that the shitty nerd wasn't having anyone with him before kicking the door open.

Apparently, Deku's office had been sound-proofed. Because he most definitely wasn't alone. Instead, there was an older girl with very long light-blue hair, who was using some sort of energy spirals coming from her hand to levitate a cup of water.

"Very good, Nejire-chan. Your control has definitely improved. A little bit more, and I believe you're ready to try that idea out." The teenaged Assistant Professor commented while making a few notes in one of the many files lying on his table. Done with that, he finally graced Katsuki with his attention. "Good afternoon, Bakugo-san. Anything I can help you with?" Before Katsuki could say anything, though, the strange girl was already right in front of him.

"You're one of Aizawa-sensei's new students, right? Right?" And she wasted no time bombarding him with questions, each one nudging the explosive blonde close to, well, exploding. "You're the one that makes all those explosions? Is that why your hair looks like it exploded out of your head? And what about..."

"Hadou-san, what did I tell you about pestering people?" The hyper girl immediately lost some of her hyper-ness and directed a pout at the green-haired shitty nerd.

"But, sense-e-e-e-ei!.." She moaned. It wasn't very effective. Letting out a huff, the Nejire girl deflated. "You're no fun, sensei."

"DEKU!" Katsuki roared, finally getting fed up with being ignored.

"Oh, is that your nickname for sensei? Do you know him? What about-..." The blue-haired girl began asking questions again only to quickly shut up as Deku sent her a small glare.

"Kacchan." Izuku said as calmly as he could while eyeing his once-childhood-friend.

"Don't play games with me, Deku." Bakugo growled. "How did a Quirkless loser like you get into UA? Much less before me?"

"If it really helps, I never was a student of UA. You're still the only one from our old school to get into the academy." Izuku offered. It, of course, didn't placate the explosive blonde any. "Alright, alright, Nezu-sensei personally scouted me for my talent in Quirk analysis and groomed me for the Counsellor's position I currently occupy."

"So, that stupid rodent decided to take pity on a useless nerd like you?" Katsuki asked with surprise. There was a short pause, before he spoke again. "You know what, I don't care anymore. Just don't get in my way, you shitty loser." Izuku let out a sigh.

"Well, you are, of course, free to ignore the services I offer as the Quirk Development Counsellor, but I'm also your teacher and I cannot excuse you from my classes. And as it is my duty to ensure you become the best Hero you can be, I will be bringing your attention to any mistakes and shortcoming of yours that I can see." He said as he gave Katsuki a determined glare. "And don't ever call Nezu-sensei that. You don't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath, trust me there."

"Tch, whatever." Was all that Bakugo said in response. "I will attend your stupid classes, Deku, but don't ever think to attribute any of my future achievements to your nerd rubbish. I don't need your help to become the number one Hero." And to make his point clearer, he created a series of small explosions in the palm of his right hand.

"As you will." Izuku replied with a shrug. This response caught Katsuki completely by surprise and he didn't even know how to react to this new Deku. In the end he settled on letting out a guttural roar and marching out of the nerd's office, not forgetting to slam the door shut behind him. Still, he didn't march away and just rested himself against the wall, his mind refusing to fully comprehend this new reality he found himself in.

~/ *** \~

"Good morning, everyone." Izuku greeted class 1-A as students had gathered on a plaza-like clearing near the entrance to the training grounds Beta. "First of all, good job on your first combat exercise yesterday. Most of you used your Quirks well and for those who didn't - I'm sure Aizawa-sensei already pointed out your mistakes. That said, some of you have made questionable choices when designing their Hero costumes. And since having a good costume that compliments one's Quirk is important, we will talk about those today. I'll continue my lecture on Heteromorphic Quirks next time."

The class let out a rather unintelligible sound that could be translated as an agreement with his plans for the lesson, so the teenaged teacher continued:

"I'm going to apologize in advance for publicly highlighting the mistakes you've made while designing your costumes, but everyone here needs to learn how to spot such mistakes so that one day they can apply this knowledge to help sidekick and interns at their agencies or their own students if they decide to become teachers. Mineta Minoru!"

"Y-yes, Sir?" The short boy with purple balls for hair replied nervously.

"I'm sorry, but what the hell were you thinking when you designed that?" Midoriya-sensei asked as he pulled a tablet computer with a paused footage from yesterday's combat exercise on the screen, showing Mineta's costume. "A Hero is supposed to be the beacon of stability and authority in the time of crisis for people around them. They need to be taken seriously by others if they are to do their job properly. You're already at a disadvantage here due to your short stature. And here you go and make it even worse by wearing what looks like an armored diaper. People will have trouble taking you seriously because of that. Furthermore, this armored thing also takes away one of the few advantages your small size gives you."

"What do you mean, s-sensei?" Mineta asked, clearly shaken by how his teacher had just torn his costume's design apart.

"Because of your small size, you can traverse narrow spaces most Heroes can't fit into. Your hairballs are also sticky enough to hold massive things together. This means, you can be a great assist during rescue operations in urban areas by ensuring there is no further collapse of buildings - but that would be possible only if you can place your hairballs in the right places. And this metal thing you decided to wear will likely get in the way of that."

"I see..." Mineta said after being silent for a few seconds. As much as he liked his current design, Midoriya-sensei brought up some valid points against it. "I... will try to redesign my costume without the bowl."

"Please do so and let me have a look at what you come up with before you pass it to the Support department." Receiving a nod from the perverted teen, Izuku turned his attention towards his next 'victim'. The said 'victim' - a girl with invisibility Quirk - let out a small gulp as she readied herself for the young teacher's discontent with her Hero costume. "Tooru Hagakure, you should consider wearing more than just gloves and shoes as your Hero costume. You don't seem to have any natural resistance to elements, so your current ...accessories leave you quite limited to the situations you can safely operate in."

"But wouldn't more clothes nullify the advantages of my Quirk." The girl countered "I can't make anything but myself invisible, so any clothes I wear will give me away."

"There are special materials that work with transformation Quirks. How do you think Heroes like Mt. Lady or Ryukyu don't end up naked every time they grow big? I know such materials are rarely available to civilians, but you are a student of a Hero academy. You should've considered such an option. And, yes, while your Quirk is Heteromorphic, the Support department will find something that works for you." Tooru visibly shrunk. She indeed hadn't even thought about asking UA to make her a costume using those materials. "Also, since your Quirk doesn't appear to grant you any defenses aside from being invisible, I suggest you go for a costume that compensates for that. Kinda like those super-spy catsuits you see in movies. A full mask would also help as some people might find talking to a body with invisible head a little disconcerting."

"Alright, sensei." Tooru replied.

"Yaoyorozu-san, while it isn't as critical in your situation, you should probably consider a costume made from a material that works with your Quirk as well. Flashiness is important for Heroes, but wouldn't you rather it comes from your skill instead of how much of your skin has to be exposed?" The tall girl nodded. A costume that she didn't need to remove to create big things would be nice. "Speaking of which." Midoriya-sensei continued. "I have a few ideas for your Quirk that you might find interesting. However, that is not the topic of today's class and I'm sure you'd rather I don't expose your trump card to everyone, so I won't talk about those here. We can discuss those some time later." Momo nodded.

"Of course, sensei."

"Todoroki-san, your costume is alright, but you really should reconsider encasing half of your body in ice armor. Even if you were immune to cold, it is still a rather unsettling sight, making people you're trying to rescue less likely to accept your help." Shouto nodded but didn't say anything. Besides, Aizawa-sensei told him something similar not an hour earlier. "Rikido-san, Kaminari-san."

"Yes?" Both teens asked simultaneously.

"While your costumes themselves are fine, you should look into support items to minimize the negative effects of your Quirks. As the things are right now, once you reach your limit, you are pretty much dead-weights. Kaminari-san, you should also find a way to focus your discharges on a specific target, be it through a support item or by training your Quirk. Indiscriminate attacks have an unfortunate problem of hitting things you don't want to be hit in the heat of a battle."

"Alright."

"Now, Yuga-san." The twinkling boy stopped checking himself in the pocket mirror and turned his attention towards Midoriya-sensei. "You should redesign your cape. As heroic as it is, it should be easily detachable in case it gets caught in something. You don't want to be caught by a collapsed piece of rubble like it happened during your combat practice, do you? The same, actually, goes for you, Minoru-san, and anyone who might want to include a cape into their costume: a cape is just a piece of cloth, it shouldn't be compromising your safety."

"Magnifique idea, mon professeur." The twinkling blonde replied.

"You should also look into support items that can give more options for your navel laser. Right now it is a bit predictable as you can fire it only directly ahead of yourself. For example, something that can redirect or split your laser would greatly increase your options, Yuga-san. Ideally, it should be integrated into your costume, but even a discardable item would be really helpful."

"Definitely." The Hero Course student agreed. "I can't wait for the moment I twinkle even more!"

"Finally." Midoriya-sensei continued. "You should have the Support department build you a backup belt so that you aren't completely out of action for a long time in case something happens to your current one. They might also be able to improve the belt's design and let you use your Quirk more freely." Aoyama nodded.

"Another magnifique idea." He said. "I will visit the studios dès que possible." The young Professor nodded.

"Moving on." Midoriya-sensei continued as most of class 1-A listened to him intently, wondering what other faults he had found in their costumes and what ideas he might have to improve them.