Sky, Sea, and Light

by BlitzJV

Umi Joku is a teen that wanted to be strong. His father was in prison, his mother's location was known, but he couldn't visit as he would be captured, and he was trained under the Vigilante, KnuckleDuster. He had a mission to complete, and that mission was to be strong, and not just for himself, but for everyone around him.

3. Flowing Waves

Umi looked straight at Nezu with a blank face, not willing to cave in to the savage look that was on Nezu's face.

"What is it that you wish to speak about, Principal?" Umi said calmly as Nezu turned around and motioned for him to follow. They both walked in, Umi collecting himself and refusing to submit to the intimidation. He walked through the empty hallways, getting a scope of the building's schematics and also using Air Search subtly to see if there were any people in the building besides himself and Nezu, and found multiple people. He opened his eyes and looked straight at Nezu, who looked back at him and saw that Umi's eyes never strayed from his own, his hands tensed by his side.

"I assure you young Joku, I have no intention of doing anything besides asking questions about you. You shouldn't tense yourself." He turned around and continued to walk as Umi asked while continuing to walk, "Will these questions have anything to do with my usage of my quirk during the Entrance Exams?"

"They very well could, however I will save that for when we actually get to my office. There is no need to be ready for a fight, after all…" Nezu stopped and turned around, staring Umi directly in the eyes as he said, "You've done nothing wrong."

Nezu's bone-chilling tone put a stop to Umi's voice as he nodded and they continued to walk. Umi noticed how Nezu's posture was quite relaxed, however his eyes told a different story. Nezu wanted answers, and his eyes displayed a sense of curiosity as well as predatory, as if he was going to get answers no matter what.

"I need to be as direct as possible when he asks every question. If I try to answer each question with elements of truth instead of the whole truth, he'll know. He's the only person who I can't realistically lie to, as he'll see the signs that I am answering them without truly giving him a real answer." Umi thought as they arrived at Nezu's office. Nezu went to his seat and sat down before gesturing to the seat right in front of him as Umi then sat down. Nezu had two glass cups as he offered one to Umi.

"Chamomile Tea, it helps to calm the nerves and relaxes the stress that you carry."

Umi took the cup and sipped it calmly, not taking his eyes off of Nezu as both held cups in their hands, Umi with a blank face and Nezu with a wide smile.

"Thank you for the tea, I appreciate the sentiment." Nezu grinned as he responded with, "It is no issue young Joku, I want to be as welcoming as possible to a future student, so I offered it to you as a sign that nothing drastic will be done." Nezu quieted down and looked at Umi, who knew right then and there that he had to reveal some things that he was hiding, as Nezu held a duplicitous smile with furrowed eyes.

"So…" Umi put down his cup of tea as he closed his eyes before opening them again and asking, "What questions do you have for me, Principal Nezu?"

"You want to get right into this, I figured you would at least want a couple more seconds to gather your thoughts."

"It wouldn't matter, as I know that you especially would see through small details that show that I'm skating around a question, so I would rather be as direct as possible, at least with you." Umi said with a straight face as Nezu laughed and said, "You are knowledgeable of the fact you won't be able to spin your way out, good. While I may be a master of detecting emotions, I am the least bit knowledgeable about how an immature teen would react to my questioning. I see you are far more mature than you make yourself out to be, considering your father was arrested 5 years ago."

"There it is." Umi sighed and looked at Nezu with a calm face, not giving in to the temptation to dispute it considering multiple heroes had confronted his father before, and if anyone was to find out about his heritage, it would be Nezu.

"Yes, even if my father was captured, I still was able to grow incredibly well without his influence in recent years. I may miss him, incredibly so, but I was still raised to be rational."

"It's good that you acknowledge he is your father off the bat, I thought you would dispute that point at the first chance you had." Nezu put down his tea and put his paws on the table, watching Umi's face freeze as he showed no emotion.

"You miss your father however, would you care to explain that?" Nezu asked as Umi responded with, "My father was always in my life, despite his former job as a hero and then a vigilante. It's not like he hid his job to me, in fact he told me, 'I may respect the heroes, my son, but that doesn't mean I'm not one. If you save someone, you are a hero. The only thing that separates a hero from a vigilante is a license, laws, and title.' He was always affirmative and spoke his mind about the state that society was in, but that never changed the fact that he loved me more than anything, and I loved him. I haven't seen him in 5 years since that day, so why wouldn't I miss him?"

Nezu stared at Umi as he stared back, before nodding and saying, "It sounds like you admire him, quite a lot in fact."

"He was my hero and mentor before he got arrested. He told me stories back when he was a hero about people that he saved, and when he became a vigilante, he taught me a lot about society and the way the world works, while also training me. He balanced all of this with his vigilante work, while keeping the true dark side of it all away from me, hoping I wouldn't be exposed to it early." Umi said with no lies as Nezu replied, "I see. Would you like to see him again? I could book a meeting between you and him with a supervisor that I will have watch over you." Umi nodded silently, before Nezu continued with, "Now, you've acknowledged your father. But I have another question, and this is about your quirk. You have quite a lot of skill with your lightning, and the quirk that I received from your profile is 'Bolt Strike,' but there is a problem." Nezu turned on the projector behind him, and footage of Umi at the Entrance Exams started playing. It was slowed down to a point where a person could see every possible surrounding. The footage played for an agonizingly long time before it showed him close his eyes, stop his lightning, and open his eyes again before turning and wall-jumping.

"Now, as you can see, you have a lightning quirk, or at least one part of your quirk is lightning. However, at this point right here, you can see the lightning dissipate before you close your eyes and suddenly open them again, almost as if you are sensing something, and this is without your lightning. I saw you do this during the walk here as well, shutting your eyes very quickly before opening them again without getting noticed. Truth be told, you hid it well, but the evidence is there. So I ask you this, Umi Joku, what is your real quirk? You have more components that you are leaving out, so explain to me what your quirk truly is, and I'll give you a response."

Umi stayed silent for what seemed like an eon, before taking his tea and drinking it slowly. He put his tea down eventually and looked at the screen again, seeing himself closing and opening his eyes slowly before turning to wall-jump. He couldn't deny the evidence, considering he was watching the footage of himself. He slowly turned his head to meet Nezu's eyes, using what his father taught him.

"So long as you can meet my eyes without fear or shame, there is nothing you can do to disappoint me."

"You're right, it's not just a lightning quirk. Would you like an explanation, or a demonstration?" Umi asked simply as Nezu stared back at him, a straight face applied on both of their faces.

"I would like the demonstration first then, considering you will explain after. Knock yourself out." Nezu's face contorted into a mixture of curiosity and excitement as Umi nodded silently before standing up and making room for himself. Nezu watched as purple arcs of lightning surrounded Umi's body as he used his Lightning Armor. He then stopped the flow of electricity on both of his arms, before the space around Umi began to phase into existence as water molecules gathered around his right arm, covering it in water before spinning wind burst into the room, focusing on his right arm. Nezu watched with complete silence as Umi gathered the water into a bubble, stopped the rotating wind and ended the flow of his lightning as he sat back down, the water bubble floating beside him as he held his hand out.

"My quirk's name is Storm Surge, and I can use lightning, water, and wind for multiple uses, inside and outside my body. You've seen some things that I can do with lightning from the exams, but nothing from my wind or water." The water disappeared back into the air, vanishing as Nezu said, "Interesting, very interesting. You've been hiding something of great magnitude it seems." Nezu grinned and typed something in, and it appeared on the projection screen. It was a new profile of his quirk, one that was labeled as staff-only.

"I would like to hear what your quirk entails, as well as the weaknesses considering a quirk of that level based on your skill using your lightning must be draining." Nezu asked as he wasn't shocked, but more thrilled if anything. Umi sat back down and drank more of his tea, almost finishing it before putting the tea back down gently.

"I can control lightning, wind, and water at will. Whether it be to augment my body and some of my limbs, are to gather it from the outside and send it at an opponent. For example, I can pull water out of the air and shoot it out of my hands and mouth, but for my water I'd be more at suit if I was by a location with lots of water. For lightning, as you know I can control it inside my body and outside, making armor to speed myself up, or using it as a projectile. For wind, I can speed myself up, give myself more moves using the air around me to push, pull, stop, redirect, and even sometimes suffocate. I have multiple uses for each one, and I must keep them in balance. If I don't, the others will grow weaker and weaker. If I use my lightning too often, I will neutralize my limbs more and more, basically becoming numb. With my wind, I can cut myself if used incorrectly and can experience whiplash. With my water, I will become more and more waterlogged as I get more and more immobile, barely being able to move. Adding on to those is the physical strain I have to endure if I use all three, being able to put myself in a coma or even die if I go too far. I've trained almost to the point of passing out every day to combat these weaknesses, and it has gotten to a point where I can control each by themselves really well. But with all three at once, I have a time limit before I knock myself out from strain. I can handle the strain, but if I go further, I could die." Umi finished as Nezu typed everything out, keeping up with what Umi had said.

"Am I wrong to assume that the water and wind came from your mother's quirk?" Nezu asked with a raised eyebrow as Umi shook his head and said, "No, you are correct."

"Are you able to see your mother at the moment?"

"No, I do not know where she is." Nezu saw how Umi was losing control of himself judging by the tone of his voice, even if his face still hadn't changed from the tranquil look he gave.

"I see, I'm sorry to hear that young man."

"It's fine, I've already accepted me not knowing where she is" Nezu could see that Umi was conflicted on that thought, but carried on.

"Have you told anyone else your true quirk?"

"My caretaker and his family, but I moved away from them two years ago during my days at Nakamura at my request, due to the fact I was holding them back from moving to America. The mother took me in and they treated me like I did not differ from the children, who I still consider siblings." He left out their family name and told Nezu that lie so he wouldn't ask about that part of his past.

"Alright, one last question. Why did you hide your quirk?" The point-blank question had been fired, and Umi responded in kind. "I hid it because my mother wanted to protect me. There was an underground villain group I don't know the name of that continued to pressure my mother to hand me over to them, due to finding out about my true quirk from stolen hospital records. It was implied that I was going to join their ranks and be brainwashed, because my mother told me, 'Don't let people force their ideals onto you, and be someone everybody can love,' before she helped me run away while she stayed behind, as she recognized that if both of us were to leave the city, we would've been hunted down. So she helped me escape, and she stayed behind herself, and now I don't know where she is, or if she is even alive. So, I refused to trust people that could try to exploit me, and that led to me hiding my quirk. I planned to use my full quirk here since it is a place full of heroes that spend their time getting future heroes ready, but was going to feel out my class and see for myself first." Umi refused to show tears as he tightened his eyes shut, before finishing the last of his tea and taking deep breaths. Nezu looked at the teen, showing distinct displeasure as well as understanding before saying, "I see, well your mother was a true hero if she sacrificed motherhood for a chance to keep you safe. I'll search multiple databases to see if heroes could find her, and if you could name the city that you lived in, it would help a lot as well." Umi calmed himself down and replied ominously, "The city I escaped from was Deika City, and her full name was Zari Tanaka."

Nezu paused himself suddenly before writing that down, making a keen note of the fact. Deika City was the home of Detnerat, the company which provided a lot of hero support items that many heroes still use, and is known worldwide. However, before that, it was the home of Chikara Yotsubashi, the infamous Destro, one of the most renowned and well-received villains of all time, as well as the group he was the leader of, the Meta Liberation Army. Chikara Yotsubashi declared himself a patriot for Quirk Usage when they were getting relegated by the government, and his book sold in the millions to people with his ideology. His last stand was broadcasted to the thousands, and to hear that an unknown group was rising from that same location was alarming.

"Deika City, I'm surprised you escaped there. Considering the fact that security there is almost airtight and normal heroes aren't allowed to go through under normal circumstances, as they have their own heroes and watch over. If you are telling the truth, it seems something is going down there." Nezu's eyes glazed over as the information he received from this young teen who seemed far beyond his years was very interesting to say the least.

Nezu released a breath and looked at the teen, who stared back at him. "I will share your quirk information with the staff, however what you have told me about your past will stay between us two until you feel more people are trustworthy, and I can do enough research, or you ask me to tell the staff of heroes. You don't seem to be lying about anything you have said so far, so I'll let you out. I'll also give you a chance to see your father again in his prison, considering you are a promising hero candidate who has a clean record as well as rational thinking, so I'll call you to discuss that. Now go on, you don't need to be in school anymore. Make sure you aren't late for the first day and make sure that you don't make any decisions that could derail your choice to come here." Nezu cackled as Umi nodded and walked out of the building, slowly walking back to his house as the fresh air of the outside calmed him down significantly. He held many things back, like information about the vigilantes he knew, who his caretaker really was, and the name of the group that wanted him, but he answered everything else that he predicted would be asked. Now, he would just wait until his school year began, so he could finally start on his mission to see himself become better. On the way home, he got a call from someone and looked on his phone to see that Setsuna had called him.

"Hey Tokage, how are you right now?" He said with a stone face as she responded with, "Hey Joku, you get your results back from U.A?"

Umi's frown moved slightly as his lips quirked upwards. No matter what, Setsuna's energy could get him to smile, even on the phone.

"Yeah, I received second place with 89 points. First place went to someone named Katsuki Bakugo, who had 90 total points. I'm in Class 1B."

"Wait, I'm in 1B too. Are you sure you aren't playing with me?" He could hear the excitement in her voice as he said with a smirk, "I'm not playing with you, at least not yet. I'm in 1B, how you take that information is up to you."

"I can't wait then. I want to fight you no holds barred since you keep embarrassing me in our spars." He could picture her pout as he snorted and said, "I give you many tips on how to improve your stance and attacks and you say you want to hurt me, I'm astonished."

"THAT'S CAUSE YOU KEEP SHOCKING ME AND SLAMMING ME TO THE GROUND DURING EVERY FIGHT. AT LEAST SAVE THE SLAMMING FOR THE BED."

He chuckled softly and got to the apartment complex, telling her, "I shock you because you try to use your quirk. So now when we fight at UA, I'll shock you twice as hard since usage of them is allowed in spars if we ask permission."

"You're no fun Umi, I need my confidence boosted again." She lamented as he shook his head and said, "Alright, I'm going to take a shower. See you soon, angel." He heard a cheer from the phone and hung up before she could start bragging. He shook his head once again and went inside the complex before walking past the Midoriya apartment as no one was there considering Izuku left earlier and Inko went to work at her job. He went back to his room and got a tin foil pad before starting the stove and making something that he grew to love during his time in Mustafu, which was onigiri. He took a shower before putting on a black undershirt and purple silky shorts before going back to the kitchen and sitting down, thinking about his talk with Nezu.

"Looks like all of UA's staff will be aware my quirk. I hope Principal Nezu holds up his end of the bargain, considering it was one of the first times I truly talked about my mother with someone besides Uncle Oguro. I had to tell him to get him to trust me, no matter how much it hurt. I wonder, will I hurt Izuku or Setsuna if I continue to deceive them about my quirk?"

He knew Setsuna would take it alright, considering she met him a week ago, but they had already grown close. Izuku was a whole different matter entirely, considering his secret quirk.

"I trust them, and they trust me. I know it'll be alright." He said to himself as he looked at the stove and saw that his onigiri was finished, so he let it cool down for a few before eating some, deciding to save some for Inko and Izuku. He looked at his hand, which sparked before smiling and looking outside, seeing that the sun was setting and the sky was once again painted orange. He began humming an instrumental of an ancient song he always listened to, considering that in the last year he had finally begun to enjoy his time while making a balance of training. He trained as hard as he could still, but now also enjoyed multiple genres of music. He looked up on his phone, "Symphonies Instrumental by Kid Cudi and Dan Black," and listened to the melodic voices as well as the drum sounds that continued on repeat. He looked in his mirror as the song continued to play and let both of his eyes be shown, his lilac and purple eyes shining as he just smiled and took deep breaths, letting his arms go free.

He got tin foil and wrapped the onigiri so he could deliver it to the Midoriyas. He walked down and put it in front of the door, before going back to his apartment and laying down, staring at the ceiling. He got another call and looked to see it was Setsuna calling again, so he looked at it and saw that it was a video call and accepted it before turning his camera off.

"Aw come on, I wanted to see you. You didn't have to do that." He saw she was on her bed laying down with a green T-shirt and green shorts on, her room was full of LED lights, it had a TV, as well as multiple stuffed animals.

Umi sighed before saying, "I'll turn my camera on in a second. I just need to check something… You look good." He said softly while turning on his TV and turning to the news.

"Thanks, I called to just see if I wanted to talk. I could tell by your voice from before that you weren't feeling that well, so I thought I could see if anything was okay." She had a frown as she looked at the camera and tilted her head.

"I'm alright, it was a stressful day though. I went to a meeting at U.A to discuss something with them, an interview if you will." He said with his normal calm tone as he turned on his camera.

"Damn, I'm sorry. That's why I'm here though cutie, to cheer you up!" She threw up two peace signs as Umi smiled slightly and looked towards the TV.

"I appreciate the concern Tokage, right now I'm just looking at the news and seeing what went down." He saw multiple reporters talking about how UA was to open soon as well as All Might's greatest escapades.

"Well, why wouldn't I have concern, you are my first great friend. Most of the people at my old school only cared about my looks or quirk and how I used it. You didn't even know about my quirk and befriended me, and while you compliment my looks, we both know that it doesn't matter if we are ugly or not. UA is a clean slate for me to make new friends, so I can't wait to meet new people, as well as see you there."

"UA is a new era for almost everyone around, as they look to the future. We all aspire to be top heroes, and some of us will most certainly get there, but the ones who will have to have the mentality of wanting to be at the top, to be strong. Also, don't forget you are keeping my secret of cleaning the park safe when you didn't know me, so you will always have my thanks for that. Add onto the fact that you don't care if I am a little detached or don't show a lot of emotion normally, you just befriended me when you didn't have to. "

"Thanks Joku, I'm honestly shocked that we grew this close so fast. I'm still waiting to beat you up, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." She grinned at him through the camera and Umi found himself smiling back, both of his eyes free as both him and Setsuna couldn't take their eyes off their phones.

"Woah, check the news out. Apparently UA is opening optional dorm rooms." Setsuna told him as she pointed to her TV and he looked up from his phone to see a reporter talk about how UA now has a dorm facility that students can live in. The dorm was divided into sections depending on department and grade, so the facility was massive.

"Are you thinking about going? It honestly could be cool, I know I wouldn't mind." She asked him as he thought about the pros and cons before saying, "If I'm going, it'll probably be later in the year. I'll go when I'm more comfortable with everyone."

"I guess that makes sense, but what if we could share a room? Imagine the scenes!" She wiggled her eyebrows and giggled softly while he snorted and said, "They will probably also make the dorms separate by gender, but it would be nice if I could head to your dorm at midnight. They'll probably have us on lockdown though." He shook his head as Setsuna laughed, and then he heard a knock on his door.

"Hold on Tokage, someone is knocking on my door."

"Ooou, you should take me with you. I want to see who's talking to you other than me."

Umi rolled his eyes and got up to open the door, and he saw Izuku there with a bowl in his hands.

"H-hey Joku, my mom cooked up some katsudon, and we got the onigiri that you cooked, so she thought you deserved some too." Izuku pushed the bowl into his hands as Umi nodded with a slight twitch of his lips.

"Thanks Midoriya, I appreciate it. It's nice to see you both care."

"Hey, don't forget me too Joku! And now I figure out you're making food for someone else, I can't believe you!"

Izuku looked around for whoever said that before Umi sighed and said, "Sorry Midoriya, it's a person I'm on the phone with." Umi pulled his phone out and showed its screen to Izuku, "This is Setsuna Tokage, we met at a park."

"Aw, he's so pure! Look at his freckles and how shy he is." Izuku blushed up a storm while Setsuna laughed and Umi just grunted.

"Uhm, h-hello t-there. It's really n-nice to meet you." Izuku stuttered his way through his greeting as Setsuna waved.

"Hey there, Midoriya. It's nice to meet a fellow green cultist. I hope we can become friends in the future." Izuku gave a thumbs up back and said, "S-sure, I hope for the s-same."

Izuku then looked at Umi and asked with a quiet voice, "Joku, is she your g-girlfriend?"

"I can still hear you Midoriya! That's not even a whisper!" Izuku began apologizing profusely while Umi just looked at him with a pacific glance as he replied with, "No Midoriya, we aren't dating." "At least not yet!"

Izuku snickered and said, "Well, thank you for the onigiri Joku, and have a good night. Same to you T-Tokage." Izuku walked off as Umi waved slightly while Setsuna giggled.

"HE'S SO PURE! WHY CAN'T YOU EVER BE LIKE THAT?"

"Shut Up."

A comfortable silence then took its place as Umi laid back down on his bed while Setsuna got under her covers. Both still had their phones in their hands as they got into comfortable positions.

"Are you planning on going to sleep soon? You seem ready to rest."

"Yeah, I'm gonna sleep soon. My mom's probably going to want me to sleep soon, even if I don't really have a curfew. Got to get my sleep schedule ready for UA." Setsuna yawned before shutting off her TV and laying down. "See you in the morning!" She gave one last smile before he gave one back and ended the call, letting her get the rest she needed before he laid down, arms spread out as he looked to his right hand before catching a glimpse of a violet spark changing to a lighter color, the same color of his lilac eye.

"Interesting, seems like I'm ready to get even stronger." Umi said with pride as he made a fist and held it tightly, before conjuring some winds and seeing that it was more forceful before grinning wildly and looking at his notepad, giving it a melancholic smile as he added one more thing to his to-do list.

xXx

Umi woke up the next day to the sound of the news and looked up to see news about Endeavor circulating through every news network. He shook himself awake and rubbed his eyes to gain control of his eyesight as it was still blurry before he went to the bathroom and washed his face and brushed his teeth before going back and seeing what was going on. It was a press release by Endeavor who sat in front of the cameras with the same scowl that he always had while being asked questions by the media.

"Endeavor, the Hero Killer Stain continues to avoid you, always escaping your grasp. May you explain how he continues to escape you?"

Endeavor's eyes burned as his scowl turned to gritted teeth as Endeavor seemed to think about the Hero Killer's escapades.

"The Hero Killer is a goddamn coward. He has continued to avoid me simply because he runs away in the middle of our fights, unwilling to commit to true justice. He gets away every time because I tend to the civilians who are within the area of our fights, making sure that they are alright." Umi snorted at that as the media nodded.

"What about your son, Shoto? He should be going to UA this year, correct? What do you expect to happen to him?"

"Shoto will dominate at UA, that I have no doubt in my mind about. Shoto is the future number #1 hero and will be the strongest in the world, I have that much confidence in my son." Endeavor kept the same angry tone as he seemed conflicted on something before Umi turned off the TV and shook his head with contempt.

"The way Endeavor speaks about his son, it's like he's forcing his ideals onto him. It's unhealthy." Umi said to himself and looked at his clock to see that it was around 9 AM. He knew UA was going to be started soon and wanted to get some last-minute training done, and now he couldn't train at the street park, so he looked up any landmarks and found one, Dagobah Municipal Beach, which had been cleared up of all of its trash.

"Perfect for some combo moves, sounds good." He then stopped himself and saw the past and present photos and how it was full of trash before becoming a natural beauty once again. He then remembered that at the same time that he was cleaning the street park, Izuku had been heading out as well and gained more muscle mass as well as martial arts practice.

"I wonder if Midoriya was the one to clean the mess? It wouldn't surprise me, considering he was conveniently heading out at the same time I was and came back around the same time as me." Umi said with a smirk before deciding to head straight there. He heard Izuku and Inko talking in their apartment and went out, heading to the beach immediately to train.

xXx

Umi stood on the beach admiring the purging of all the trash that had been collected and thrown away. He traced his right hand through the sand and felt how soft it was before sniffing and moving towards the sea. He stood over as he watched the waves crash against the sand, moistening it up as the clear sand and water mixed. He looked around for people and saw nobody around him before breathing deeply and walking into the water. He then controlled the water and allowed himself to stand on it, feeling his legs start to tense before breathing out and feeling his legs stop tensing as he stood on top of the water. He then created a wave from the water and rode on top of the wave back to the shore. He then made a fist and tightened it, creating a wave that rose from the side and jumped, sliding on it like a grindrail as he jumped from wave to wave that he created before coming to a stop on the water. "Wave Riding and Aqua Stepping, complete."

He then gathered wind in his hand and then water gathered around the wind before launching the combination attack into the sea and seeing a water spire erupt from his move, spreading around the area as water droplets pounded against the sand and the ocean water. "Pressure Cannon."

Both of his arms were surrounded by violently rotating winds as water moved in a whirlpool around him before he slammed both of his arms into the ground as the water spread around him in a 360 degree cone, massive waves being spread from this attack. "Shockwave Tsunami."

He then pushed his arms out as a large wind blast was made and when it hit the beach, it created small tornados that gathered sand and made sand tornados before they eventually stopped. "Gale Surge."

Umi stopped before looking at his arms and seeing what type of damage was done to them. It showed multiple small cuts from the wind that were phantom pains, but still noticeable to the naked eye. He gathered water from the air around him as he couldn't use the salt water of the beach, and it spread around his arm and healed all the cuts.

"Looks like I've gotten better at resisting the pain, but it could change at any date." Umi closed his eyes before riding back to the shore on a wave and looking around to see what he had done to the area, as many puddles were formed on the beach and large ditches were created by his wind blasts.

"I would've done way more damage to the beach if I wasn't on the water. It's a good thing I decided to practice Wave Riding." Umi stared ahead before sighing and looking around the beach before gathering lightning in his right hand and shooting it into the water, making it spark with electricity. "Shock Pool."

The water sparkled with violet lightning before Umi left the beach, jogging away with the first day of UA approaching quickly.

xXx

Umi put on his school uniform with haste before heading out of the door with his school bag, walking down the halls of his apartment complex and seeing Inko give Izuku a bear hug before kissing his forehead softly and leaving for her job, giving him a wave on the way out. Izuku turned and saw Umi behind him and gave him a smile before walking up and stopping.

"Hey Joku, we really did it! I-it's just so surreal seeing that I'm going into my dream school after everyone doubted me." Izuku gave a small smile full of confidence that Umi noticed before giving a small one back.

"Hey, everyone who accomplishes one of their dreams deserves to feel proud. You did good Midoriya." Izuku gave him a look of appreciation before they both went out.

"It sucks that we won't be in the same c-class." Izuku said before Umi responded with, "Yes, but it only causes more suspense. After all, if we were put in the same class, they wouldn't be able to handle our camaraderie and power." Umi's straight face while saying this made Izuku laugh, but he kept his mouth shut as he knew Umi was strong, but he still wasn't able to control his quirk at all. He couldn't let Umi see him as a waste of a quirk that was strong, as he needed control over All Might's quirk to be the future number 1, and he wasn't anywhere close.

"You know Midoriya, I'm always open for training if you wish. I could help you with your technique and fighting style. Just because we are in different classes doesn't mean there should be a rivalry between the both of us, at least not yet." Izuku was confused by this before he understood what Umi meant.

"I want to be strong, Izuku, and help anyone that needs my help." He remembered what Umi told him about that day and understood. He looked at Umi, who gave him a stare back as both looked at each other and saw their eyes glow with power. There was going to be a rivalry between the two, both having different reasons for creating it.

"He sees me as someone strong. I can't let him down. I can't let anyone down. Not Mom, not All Might, and not him." Izuku thought to himself before stepping back and apologizing for glaring, the trance ending as Umi chuckled softly before apologizing as well. They looked forward and saw the building that they'd spend a majority of their time for the next couple years of their lives. They both walked forward before Izuku shrieked as two hands covered Umi's eyes before someone yelled, "REALLY? YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE ME BEHIND?" Izuku heard Umi mutter something before shocking the hands and hearing that same person curse before they jumped down and Izuku saw Setsuna in all her glory, standing in front of Umi with a massive glare that promised to burn through his skull if looks could kill.

"Joku, I thought we would be walking to school together." She said with her sharp teeth showing as Izuku cowered and Umi rolled his eyes.

"Tokage, we are still a couple blocks away from the school, and I promised to meet you somewhere close to here. Midoriya wanted to walk with me, so we decided to walk together. I hope you don't mind." Umi shook his head before Setsuna looked at Izuku with a grin, who meekly lowered his head before raising a hand as Setsuna gave him a hard high-five.

"Nice to meet you, Midoriya! Sorry if I startled you. Joku here doesn't seem to take a hint on how to treat a lady." Umi snorted before Izuku stuttered, "N-nice to meet you too, T-Tokage. How did you detach your hands like that?" Izuku asked as her quirk seemed really interesting, while Umi knew what was going to happen next and waited.

"Oh, it's my quirk, Lizard Tail Splitter. It allows me to detach limbs from my body and control them. I can split my body up into a maximum of 50 pieces and if a limb gets hurt, I can regenerate it." Setsuna removed her head with no trouble and spun it around before reattaching it and watching Izuku dive into a muttering storm while pulling out a notebook and writing her quirk. Setsuna raised an eyebrow with a nervous smile as she looked at Umi, who simply smirked and said, "He loves quirks, so he writes them down into a notebook and documents their usages, weaknesses, and innovations that they can do." Setsuna peeked over his shoulder and saw what he had written and grinned before she looked at Umi and asked, "What class is he in?"

"He's in 1A, our sister class." Umi said as Izuku snapped out of it and asked, "W-wait, both of you are in 1B?" It was more of a question to Setsuna who grinned and jumped on Umi's back before locking her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck before looking over his shoulder as Izuku looked shocked while Umi just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, Joku will never part with me." She laughed as Umi just silently muttered, "Stalker."

"Midoriya, let's just head to school. We're going to be late if we don't start walking." Umi and Izuku started walking with Setsuna deciding to hang onto Umi the whole time, both unaware that she was tightening her hold and he was exerting a soft breeze that collided against the three, each feeling the serenity of the wind before finally getting on the block straight across from UA.

xXx

Umi and Setsuna split off from Izuku when they entered the building, both walking alongside one another as Setsuna looked around the halls.

"Wow, this whole place is fucking huge! I know you said the halls were massive, but I didn't think it'd be this big." She saw the many doors and how large each was before Umi pointed down the hall. "1B's homeroom should be directly up ahead. We have an orientation soon, so we just get our seats and wait until it's finished."

"Do you think we'll have assigned seats?" Setsuna asked as Umi nodded, "Considering how UA is the most prestigious school in the world, I wouldn't doubt them putting assigned seats. In fact, I would probably guarantee it." They walked forward and eventually came to a stop in front of the door that was marked as "1B."

"Well…" Setsuna gave Umi a grin who gave a nod back, "Let's start." Umi opened the door and both of them walked in to see kids at all the desks before seeing that some desks were empty and taking them. While on the way to their designated seats, Umi saw Tetsutetsu and gave him a nod of respect before Tetsutetsu looked at him and gave him one back. Setsuna waved at someone who she recognized from the recommendation exams, who gave a short nod back. They both took their seats and waited silently for their teacher to come so they could go to the orientation before a tall man with a red suit walked into the room, looking to see if every student was here while there were students who recognized who he was and were getting excited.

"Well, it seems all of you are ready to go. For those of you that don't know me, I am the Blood Hero: Vlad King, and you can refer to me as Mr. Kan or Sensei." The kids in the classroom started muttering as a person who was well known and respected amongst the community was going to be their teacher. Umi looked at the man in total silence before Kan stopped and looked at the whole class.

"Orientation will begin in 5 minutes, for now, introduce yourselves to the class so we can get a sense of familiarity." He sat down at his desk and started to read a book before a boy with slick-blonde hair stood up and bowed to the whole class before speaking with an eloquent tone, "My name is Neito Monoma, it is a pleasure to meet my new classmates for the first time." Umi saw his hand twitch for a second and looked to see his new classmates' reactions to the greeting, as they all appreciated it.

"Same here. My name is Itsuka Kendo. It's nice to meet you all as well." An orange-haired girl with a ponytail and blue eyes stood up and bowed before everyone started to greet each other. Umi noted every name that was thrown around as well as the cadence of the voices that came with it, like Yui Kodai's perpetual silence, Togaru Kamakiri's aggressiveness, or Pony Tsunotori's American accent. He could also see some mannerisms that they produced, such as Ibara Shiozaki's constant prayer form or Reiko Yanagi's hands when she stood up. He tried to see whether any of them seemed to be strong before focusing on a couple. Juzo Honenuki had a look of confidence and competitiveness in his eyes before giving a greeting, Hiryu Rin's posture described him as ready to fight at all times, and Jurota Shishida's appearance made him a lot more interesting. He stood up and looked at the crowd who were waiting for him to speak before revealing both of his eyes to the class and introducing himself.

"My name is Umi Joku, may we all have good fortune in our next years as a class." He nodded to them before sitting back down, not willing to reveal anything that could make him readable by the class. He looked forward as Tetsutetsu looked at him with a grin before going himself. "Name's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, and I will be the strongest one here!" His boldness resonated with the class as he looked at everyone before coming to a stop straight at Umi before looking away and sitting back down.

"Interesting, seems like their collaboration at the exams may have already played a factor here. It seems our first challenge is approaching." Kan thought to himself before looking straight at Umi and wondering if he was going to reveal his real quirk.

"Nezu told us, but he told me to let Joku decide whether or not he should reveal his quirk." Kan was conflicted on it, but ultimately accepted the notion. He didn't want his class to hide stuff from each other, as he wanted his class to be united, but Nezu told him not to interfere.

"This may be the year where Class 1A doesn't overshadow 1B. I hope this class can prove themselves at the sports festival." He looked around the class and saw how some people were already forming bonds, as Tetsutetsu and Togaru were arguing while Yanagi and Kodai stayed together in silence while Kendo spoke with everyone in the class. The bell rang for orientation, and everyone walked out in a line before breaking off for the auditorium. Umi walked alone for a majority of the time before Setsuna walked up next to him.

"Nice greeting you had back there, are you sure you're detached?" She asked smugly as he shook his head and said, "I made sure they don't think ill of me. I didn't offer any information that could be used against me like others did." Setsuna frowned slightly before saying worriedly, "You need to lighten up sometimes, go make some new friends." Umi looked up for a moment, contemplating what she said before nodding and saying with a hushed tone, "I'll think about it..." Setsuna grinned before they walked together to the auditorium and walked inside to sit next to their class before Umi noticed the distinct lack of Izuku as well as Class 1A.

"Weird, where's 1A?" He looked around before being pulled forward by Setsuna, who dragged him straight to their seats next to Kendo.

xXx

Izuku kneed on the ground, panting at the amount of work he was forced to do by his teacher. He looked up as saliva dripped out of his mouth before he spit on the floor and brought himself up, looking at himself before checking his surroundings and seeing his teacher glaring directly at him before shaking his head.

"I still haven't used One For All yet, I need to figure it out! At this rate, I'll be last place." Izuku thought to himself anxiously while looking around and seeing how everyone else had no problems using their quirks and grit his teeth. He got through almost all of his tests without All Might's quirk, producing average scores he knew he wouldn't have gotten if he didn't train correctly using tips from Umi and his mom, getting a better running form and practicing cardio much more along with breathing exercises and cleaning the beach with All Might.

"Kacchan is doing amazing, as expected. He's proving himself just as he said he was going to do back at Aldera." Izuku frowned slightly, remembering how Bakugo accosted him in an alleyway before looking and seeing red lines flow throughout his arms before stopping as the energy began to grow too much for him. He cursed to himself as right beside him, a violet-haired girl heard his curse and looked at the person who saved her back at the exams. She saw his struggle as he wasn't using his quirk in any way and going through the whole exams without ever attempting to use it, something that put the whole class on notice. But she knew why, as well as multiple others there. She saw the injuries that had tormented him and how he broke his whole body apart with his quirk and inwardly winced at how much it would hurt. Every time he did a test, their teacher Shota Aizawa would get more and more annoyed judging by the massive glare he held onto the boy every time he refused to use it.

"He doesn't deserve to be glared at if his quirk hurts him that much." She looked at the ash-blonde haired boy with a constant glare that was aimed directly at Izuku's head that promised pain as well as the look of pity that he was receiving from the girl with the brown bob cut and frowned heavily before the next event came.

"Alright, it's time for the ball throw. Izuku Midoriya, you're up." Their sensei said with a tired drawl as Izuku looked and walked up with chills going down his spine as the whole class looked at him with confusion. In the background, a large man with a massive grin on his face and yellow suit tried to hide while looking at his pupil go through his exams.

"Come on, Young Midoriya. You need to find a way to use your quirk properly." The man said as he saw Aizawa's fixed glare before narrowing his eyes slightly with the grin still plastered on his face. He and Aizawa never got along, considering their vastly different approaches when it came to teaching and heroism.

"Alright Midoriya, you saw Bakugo's attempt earlier. Stand in the circle and throw as far as you can." The tired man said with an edge in his voice as Izuku shivered slightly from the tone before gulping and looking at his different classmates. He saw it all; Confusion, Pity, Anger. But then he saw something that shocked him, and that was a face of understanding. He looked away right before he got caught staring for too long, but he marked their face down and burned it into his memory. He took his throwing position and started the wind-up before channeling One For throughout his arm, determined to put this ball into the stratosphere before the ball left his hands and then he heard Aizawa's angered voice overtake Kacchan's laughter at his expense as well as others chuckling, "56 meters." Izuku then felt something wrap his arm before whatever wrapped his arm got his whole body entrapped, and he watched helplessly as Aizawa walked up with gritted teeth and glowing red eyes.

"Kid, you can't be a hero." The brutal statement shocked Izuku as he began stuttering, "W-what…?"

"I erased your quirk, that's why your arm isn't broken into pieces and why that ball didn't go that far." They were only talking loud enough for the other to hear as Bakugo yelled to the class, "He's a fucking quirkless loser, why do you think ball went that far?"

"If he's quirkless, as you say, then why is 'Eraserhead's' eyes glowing like he's erasing a quirk." Bakugo looked around in anger as he saw the violet-haired girl look at him with a disgusted face as he then heard, "Yeah, besides Deku saved me and her with his quirk at the entrance exam." The girl with the bob cut defended her new friend as the navy blue-haired teen added on, "I concur, considering I saw this happen right in front of me at the city we were placed in." Bakugo looked confused and incensed at even the thought of Deku having a quirk as Aizawa and Izuku continued their heated conversation.

"From what I've seen kid, you can't control your quirk at all. Do you expect someone to just save you at any time?" He received no reply as Izuku looked down, refusing to look Aizawa in the eye as he continued, "You're talentless, a lost cause. Your quirk will not matter if you don't use it correctly, if anything you're a liability. You would have been better off being quirkless." Aizawa held nothing back on the tongue-lashing as Izuku clenched his fists tightly, blood coming out as his eyes furrowed while the violet-haired girl listened in.

"I'll give you one last chance to do this again. Make sure you take this opportunity and use it correctly, otherwise you'll be out and you'll never be a hero. This is a serious business and we can't have liabilities on the workforce, so get yourself together." Aizawa let Izuku go as he noticed that his capture gear was stained red before looking at Izuku's hands and seeing blood, narrowing his eyes as he heard the boy whisper, "You're wrong." Aizawa looked at the boy as he glared back, meeting his eyes directly as he said through clenched teeth, "Everyone who doubted me has been proven wrong, and you'll be no different."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the teen's sudden change in personality and passion that was suddenly brewing before blinking and turning off the effects of his quirk, Izuku walking to his ball without hesitation before walking back.

"I will be a hero, and I will save everyone with a smile…" Izuku looked at Bakugo, then looked at Aizawa and said to himself, "But there's a selfish reason there too. I want to show everyone who tried to decide my fate for me that my words aren't just words…" The violet-haired girl listened with wide eyes as Izuku's timidness was replaced by a look full of pure passion.

"They are fact."

He remembered Umi's description of what he could with his quirk and what he said to him that day that stood out. "I can use short-bursts of lightning and shoot it out of any part of my body."

Izuku looked down at his hands before beginning to wind up his throw. "If I can make this into a short burst..." Red lines spread through his arm as Aizawa prepared to take action, the class watching on with interest.

"Concentrated into a single point…" The red lines traveled down to his right hand and spread to his index finger.

"This burst of power will send it into the sky!" He released his quirk as air pressure surrounded him, the ball being sent into the air by the power of One For All within his finger. A smoke trail traveled through the sky, following the ball's journey as the class grew shocked at the power Izuku held while Aizawa grinned. Izuku held a proud grin before looking down his finger and seeing that it was in pain before absorbing the pain and concentrating on something else. "Thanks Joku, even when you're not here you're still helping me." He looked at Aizawa with a grin, no tears being displayed as he created a fist and held it, pointing it at Aizawa.

"N-never doubt me." His stutter in-between didn't matter as Aizawa gave an approving grin and marked his results down before revealing it to the class.

"Izuku Midoriya, 816 meters." He winced at the pain of his finger before looking again at the class and seeing the shocked faces of some and the angered face of Bakugo. He then looked for the person who gave him that look of understanding and saw her.

"Kyoka Jirou." He replayed her name in his mind as he blushed slightly before giving her a nod as she nodded back with a slight smile, recognizing the message he was sending before she heard an explosion and turned to see Bakugo ready to pounce. He got up and started sprinting while shouting at the top of his lungs, "YOU QUIRKLESS DEKU, HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET A QUIRK?" Izuku grew scared before Aizawa stopped him, All Might looking on with the proudest look he could conjure up.

"Young Midoriya, you're getting stronger and stronger every day."

Izuku didn't care to look at anyone else after Bakugo had been controlled. He just looked at himself before staring into the building. He knew he would be fine with the rankings, considering he did better than Toru Hagakure in most things as well as Minoru Mineta, but he was focused on one thing.

"Joku, I'm getting closer and closer to rivaling you." His white-haired friend popped up in his mind before Izuku once again closed his fist, ignoring the pain that erupted from his hand as the results for his class came up.

1. Momo Yaoyorozu

2. Shoto Todoroki

3. Katsuki Bakugo

4. Tenya Iida

5. Fumikage Tokoyami

6. Mezo Shoji

7. Mashirao Ojiro

8. Eijiro Kirishima

9. Mina Ashido

10. Ochaco Uraraka

11. Koji Koda

12. Rikido Sato

13. Tsuyu Asui

14. Yuga Aoyama

15. Hanta Sero

16. Izuku Midoriya

17. Denki Kaminari

18. Kyoka Jirou

19. Toru Hagakure

20. Mineta Minoru

"Oh, the expulsion threat was a lie." Aizawa grinned at them as the class grew angry before Yaoyorozu said, "Oh, I thought you guys already figured it out." The whole class glared at her before Izuku started walking back inside with them, heading to the nurse's office before he found himself walking to Uraraka and Jirou.

"That was an amazing throw Deku, how did you do it?" Uraraka questioned him with a smile as he blushed before looking away and stuttering, not giving a coherent answer.

"Don't pressure him too much Uraraka, he needs to head to the nurse's office to get his finger right before he comes back to class." Jirou looked at Izuku and saw he was stumbling before Uraraka agreed and Izuku walked to the nurse's office to heal his finger. Izuku bowed and apologized before walking off, not noticing the looks he was getting from the two girls, one in amazement, the other in wonder.

xXx

Umi walked back to his classroom by himself from the orientation, which he left early. He personally found it unnecessary, considering their teachers would've been able to give a syllabus before immediately heading into the course. He looked over the schedule that was given to them and saw that every other day would be hero lessons before scoffing and putting the schedule in his bag.

"I see you decided to skip out on the orientation." A deep voice called to him as Umi turned to see Kan waiting at the door with a contemplative look.

"Yes, I didn't find it very necessary, although the added booklets about the school rules were a nice touch." Umi said truthfully as Kan nodded and sighed.

"Nezu told you about how he was going to debrief us on your quirk, correct?" Kan asked with narrowed eyes as Umi didn't look away, just staring at the man before nodding.

"Yes, and he also said that I will tell my classmates when I want to. I don't plan to hide from them for long, as I don't want to seem like I am taking advantage of my classmates. I came to this school purposely to avoid untrustable people, considering your reputation as the finest hero school in the world. I should assume that you think I have bad intentions, Sensei?" Umi questioned him with a look as Kan shook his head before responding, "No, none of the sort. Despite what other teachers have said, you are now a student of UA and my student specifically, so I trust you, even considering who your father was, one of the strongest people I've ever seen in action." Umi nodded in respect to Kan before he continued, "Nezu wishes to speak with you after school about visiting your father. Right now, we will wait for the rest of the class to come." They both sat down and waited before other people walked into the room, the first being Kodai and Yanagi with Honenuki following behind. The rest of the class soon came in before Kan explained what was happening next.

"Alright, so now that you've completed orientation, we must get a grasp on your quirks. We are going to do a Quirk Apprehension Test for the class in which we will test multiple physical activities using your quirks. Meet me outside in 10." Kan stood up and walked out before they all went to the locker rooms and changed. Umi changed into the gym outfit before walking out with Kojiro Bondo and Nirengeki Shoda. They all walked out to see Kan there with a large tablet in hand. They all stood at attention for what was going to happen as the rest of the class came outside. Umi stood still before slightly moving to the right, feeling something almost swipe his arm before looking to see Monoma looking back at him. Umi raised an eyebrow as Monoma looked away before making sure that he didn't try again to do whatever he was doing.

"Alright, so there will be multiple tests that will see what you can do with your quirk. First up is the Ball Throw. Setsuna Tokage, you will go first." Setsuna stepped up confidently before looking back at Umi with a smile and stepping up to plate, getting in a throwing position.

"Alright, you may begin." Setsuna grinned and winded up before her arm split off from her body. Eventually her whole body split apart before they floated in mid-air, sending a bunch of body parts into the air along with the ball before they returned without it.

"204.9 meters, nice." Her body got put back together and looked around to her classmates, who looked very weirded out by her quirk. She didn't care though, as she scanned the class for one face that mattered to her and saw it. The look of respect and pride that Umi gave her was all she needed to feel confident before she walked back to the group and stood next to him, giving him a confident glance as he looked back to the teacher.

"Tokage, you did good. You may rely on your quirk too much, but I can see you're getting better at using it." Umi thought, while also thinking that their training without their quirks was having good effects, as it seemed easier for Setsuna to split herself up.

"Maybe if we continue, she'll be able to separate into more pieces and have a faster reaction time."

"Alright, next up, Hiryu Rin." Rin walked up with closed eyes before grabbing the ball, green scales surrounding his arms before he threw the ball and fired the scales at the ball, sending it high into the air.

"Interesting, he probably could cover his body with those scales if possible." Umi looked at the scoreboard before it was revealed to be 427 meters and shook his head slightly. He thought about whether he would use his full quirk, but heard his name called up. He walked up slowly, thinking about what to do before getting an idea. He looked at the class and saw all of them waiting with anticipation, considering most of them saw how he was second place in the Entrance Exams. He looked at Tetsutetsu, who had a grin on his face before looking at Setsuna and seeing her give him a thumbs up. He closed his eyes before violet lightning exploded from his body, crackling with a boom as it spread around him, smothering him with ease before throwing the ball up and down a little.

"Let's see if I can mask this." He thought inwardly with a smirk before he winded up his throw and as the ball prepared to leave his hand, he channeled all of his lightning to cover his arm and subtly created rotating wind in his right hand before sending a blast of wind that was masked by the lightning following the ball in the air. "Tornado Daze." The ball traveled for a long time before coming to a stop and his score was revealed to everyone, who had shocked looks on their faces.

"Umi Joku, 1.4 Kilometers." Kan hid his surprise, instead focusing on what Umi did. "He's a genius, masking what he really did using his lightning. I would've been fooled if I weren't at this angle. He created a wind blast that sent the ball into the sky combined with his lightning, interesting. I haven't seen his quirk in action, and I do not know how strong he could realistically be, but this makes me optimistic."

The rest of the class had differing opinions on the throw. Some were impressed, others were giving Umi challenging looks as he walked back with his eyes closed before Tetsutetsu stepped up and said, "Was that supposed to scare me?" He gave Umi a grin that widened as Umi opened one eye and said, "No, but it was supposed to prove something."

"And what the hell would that be?" Kamakiri yelled to him as Umi got back in line with Setsuna, who grinned at him.

"That I still need to improve on some aspects of my quirk." Umi said with a shrug as Kan knew what he was talking about as they both looked at each other.

"I see, he was referring to me seeing his attack. I understand his thought process, considering wind is an element you don't see, and I caught a glimpse of it, even if it was a glimpse. Even if the other students hadn't seen it, it wouldn't have mattered as if it was a villain attack, I could've warned them of the faint." Kan gave an unnoticeable nod to him as Juzo looked at him before nodding in respect, noticing how Umi wasn't satisfied and wanted to get better, even if he already had shown he was strong.

"You did good Joku, you multiplied my score by 7." Setsuna praised him as he slightly smiled before shaking his head and saying softly, "Not that impressive, considering I know I could do better." He knew she wouldn't be able to hear this, and she thought he took the compliment in stride.

"You did good as well, Tokage. Considering your quirk doesn't improve your strength, you did well to use skill in that situation." He gave her a compliment as she gave him a soft smile before Kan called the next person, who was Monoma. He walked up with an arrogant smile on his face before grabbing a ball. Umi looked at him, seeing how his hands twitched every so often before he threw the ball into the air normally, before an explosion in mid-air occurred.

"Wait, that's my quirk!" Shoda yelled out as the ball traveled and he gave Monoma a weird look, to which Monoma responded with a sorry face as he apologized for it.

"I see, so his quirk allows him to copy others' quirks. No wonder he tried to swipe me there, if I hadn't moved he would've exposed me." Umi's lilac eye stared down Monoma before looking away and waiting for the other trials to come. Every student eventually went before the next trial came, which was the 50 meter sprint. Umi had his eyes shut while thinking about everyone's quirks so far and what they had shown. The people that interested him the most were Juzo, Kosei, Monoma, Jurota, and Hiryu.

"Kosei Tsuburaba has a quirk that can control air, but relies on his lung capacity instead of hurting him whenever he uses it. Juzo Honenuki can soften the ground and any wall to make it permeable, Neito Monoma can copy quirks by touch, Jurota Shishida can become larger and more beastly, and Hiryu Rin has green scales he can use as projectiles. I already know about Tetsutetsu and Tokage, as well as a decent grasp of the others' quirks." Umi thought while Kan lined the first pair up for sprinting.

"Kinoko Komori and Pony Tsunotori, get ready." Kinoko shuffled up while Pony cheered and got ready to run, her horns facing the finish line.

"GO!" Kinoko sent spores into the ground before growing into mushrooms, jumping on them to get to the finish as quickly as possible while Pony used her horns and grabbed onto them, sending her across the line.

"Pony Tsunotori- Time: 4.73 seconds. Kinoko Komori- Time: 5.92 seconds." Kan's voice resonated with the two before the next pair was decided.

"Umi Joku and Juzo Honenuki, you're next." The two stepped up and waited at the start line before they looked at each other and nodded with respect.

"Good Luck." Juzo's voice rang out to him as Umi responded in kind. "You too."

"GO!" Violet lightning once again sprung off of Umi as he dashed toward the line at high speed, nearly unseen by the naked eye as Juzo went into the ground.

"Umi Joku- Time: 1.46 seconds. Juzo Honenuki- Time: 4.13 seconds." Both nodded and walked back before Umi heard Juzo's voice. "You're not bad." Umi turned to look at him as they both fell silent before Umi nodded and said, "Thanks, you're not bad yourself."

"Next up, Neito Monoma and Itsuka Kendo." Kendo walked up past Umi and Juzo and gave them both small smiles while Monoma walked past while letting his arms hang at his side. Umi moved to the side to avoid the swipe while Juzo had been swiped slightly on the arm. Juzo looked ahead and glared at the smug smirk on Monoma's face before Umi grabbed his shoulder.

"Calm down, he's trying to make sure his position in this test is at its highest point. I understand he didn't ask, but were you really going to let him copy your quirk?" Umi shook as Juzo said with a sigh, "I know, but it still annoys me." They both walked back and stood by each other, waiting for everyone else to finish up before they started once again. Monoma did the same strategy as Juzo while enlarged her fists and held them out before sprinting.

"Neito Monoma- Time: 5.16 seconds. Itsuka Kendo- Time: 5.47 seconds." Kan nodded as the two went back to the group.

"I have to ask…" Umi looked at Juzo, who looked back at him with an interested glance, "How were you not a recommended student? From what I've seen, you're very skilled and you acknowledge you can get even better." Umi simply nodded and said, "I didn't know anyone that could recommend me. I'm guessing you and Tokage were the recommended students put into 1B?" Umi asked as Juzo replied, "Yeah, we are. Shoto Todoroki and Momo Yaoyorozu were from 1A." They looked at the next pair that was going, which was Tetsutetsu and Ibara as Tetsutetsu just started running full speed while Ibara used her vines to carry her across.

"Ibara Shiozaki- Time: 4.27 seconds. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu- Time: 6.78 seconds." Tetsutetsu shook his arms as he knew he couldn't use his quirk for that, as it would only slow him down even more. He went back and looked at Umi before walking up to him and Juzo.

"Yo Joku, what's up?" Tetsutetsu asked him as he and Juzo turned around. "Tetsutetsu, how have you been since the entrance exams?" He asked in his calm tone as Tetsutetsu pumped his fist at him.

"Been great ever since that day. We stood off against that beast like it was nothing. Now we're in the same class, so I know there's gonna be some people other than me that are strong here." He exclaimed as others looked at him before Juzo asked, "What happened at your entrance exams?"

"There were robots of varying difficulties that we each had to take down. Turns out the one that cost zero-points was the largest among them, coming close to the height of a building. Tetsutetsu and I took it down with ease." Umi explained as Tetsutetsu grinned and nodded with eagerness. They then heard Kan say, "Setsuna Tokage and Shihai Kuroiro."

Umi waited for Setsuna to go up while she had a look of confidence on her face, while Kuroiro's face didn't indicate what emotion he was expressing. Both got ready to run before they started sprinting, with Kuroiro turning to shadows and Setsuna keeping still. She knew she couldn't use her quirk in a situation like this, but she was still quick even without her quirk.

"Setsuna Tokage- Time: 6.24 seconds. Shihai Kuroiro- Time: 6.50 seconds." Tetsutetsu had a wide-eye look at how Setsuna outran him before she walked up and smirked at him before she gave a thumbs up to Umi, who just shrugged as she had a tick mark on her face.

"How the hell did you beat my time?!" Tetsutetsu yelled out as Setsuna pointed at him with a smug grin and said, "I'm just better!" Tetsutetsu almost turned his arm to steel to punch her before Juzo stopped him while Umi calmed Setsuna down.

"Tokage, no need to antagonize him. He's very temperamental." Umi held her shoulder while she just took a deep breath, Tetsutetsu muttering, "I'm not…" behind them.

"Oh shush Joku, let me have my fun. Besides, it's not like he'll hurt me." Umi just gave her a look that she returned with bared teeth as he gave her a slight shock. She glared at him before he shut his eyes and gave her a quick one-armed hug before anyone could see. She looked at him with pink dusting her cheeks and before she could say anything, they moved onto the next trial and eventually, the trials ended with multiple people dominating certain events. Jurota, Yui, Kendo and Tetsutetsu controlled the grip strength test. Umi, Setsuna, Reiko, and Sen had the long jump down. Bondo, Umi, Yosetsu, Monoma, Juzo and Togaru had the seated toe-touch dead to rights for the boys while Pony, Kendo, Kinoko and Setsuna did well on the girl's side. The results eventually came to Kan, who gathered everyone together as some were panting while others looked zombified. Umi looked unaffected by it all, but felt a little numbing in his right hand, so he squeezed it in a fist to get rid of it while Kan smiled at his class.

"Well done, everyone. You all have proven that you have the skill to become heroes and deserve to be in this class. The rankings have been finalized, so have a look." The class held their breaths as they looked at the final rankings for the first day and while some people were happy, others were not.

1. Umi Joku

2. Setsuna Tokage

3. Juzo Honenuki

4. Jurota Shishida

5. Itsuka Kendo

6. Ibara Shiozaki

7. Hiryu Rin

8. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

9. Neito Monoma

10. Kosei Tsuburaba

11. Reiko Yanagi

12. Pony Tsunotori

13. Sen Kaibara

14. Yui Kodai

15. Kojiro Bondo

16. Yosetsu Awase

17. Togaru Kamakiri

18. Nirengeki Shoda

19. Kinoko Komori

20. Shihai Kuroiro

They all walked back inside, with Umi and Setsuna at the end of the line.

"So Joku, why did you do that earlier?" She eyed him before looking away with a soft blush.

Umi just hummed a song before he stopped walking, Setsuna stopping with him as the class continued to walk. They both just looked at each other before Umi brought his hand up to her cheek and held it there before smiling and walking away with closed eyes, with Setsuna sporting a massive blush and yelling at him with a smile on her face as she grabbed onto him and hooked her legs around his waist. Umi was unaffected as he continued to walk while Setsuna held her face over his shoulder, catching up with the class as they looked at both of them weirdly. While all of this was going on, Juzo gave Umi a challenging look, Tetsutetsu held a grin, and Monoma held furrowed eyes at how Umi had avoided his quirk multiple times.

---

Notes:

Nezu: Umi told most of the truth but kept some things hidden, as I'm sure he wouldn't want to let it be known that he knows where Knuckleduster is at that very moment. Why didn't He tell Nezu about the MLA, it'll be explained.

Arashi: He will be shown very, very soon. Just know you don't mess with him. As for why Nezu allowed this to happen, cause he is insane.

Setsuna and Umi's relationship: It's getting closer and closer, but I want to make it seem organic enough. Setsuna is getting more and more comfortable, and Umi trusts her more and more.

Izuku: Izuku is the Deuteragonist of this story, so his POV will be brought up on occasion. Izuku is vital to this story, as Umi and him are friends, but Umi knows Izuku has crazy potential and wishes to experience that in a fight. Izuku wants to prove himself more in this story, and he looks up to Umi as a person and as someone strong.

Endeavor: He talks about the Hero Killer, since Stain is very important for future development. He also brings up Shoto, and I put this in because I want to make it clear that Umi and Shoto are very similar yet vastly different characters.

Kan: He earns Umi's respect in a way that fits. Some people may just see him as a second Sky God, but Kan trusts him. Kan is someone Umi can rely on, in a way.

Juzo: Like I said in Freedom is Always With You, Juzo can be an excellent rival and is a hugely underrated character. I'm also hyping up Kosei and Rin because Kosei has an air quirk and Rin's quirk can be very strong.

QOTD: Who is a under-utilized character that you want to see more of in My Hero?