Incident Zero

by Ya Boy Guzma

One fateful day that changed the world. One fateful day that changed the life of Izuku Midoriya. In a world falling into darkness, where only a few Heroes stay true and where villains run rife, one boy who inherited a Quirk that takes the Quirks of others tries to change the world... AFO!Izuku.

30. It Sounds Scary At Midnight

A/N: A quick PSA from me before I say anything else. I should be celebrating making it to 30 chapters and celebrating the stats, as well as saying thanks for some of the lovely reviews (most of them have been really nice to read). Instead, I just want to keep this part brief. I never mind constructive criticism of my writing or story, but personal insults aren't constructive, and nor is a PM or guest review telling me to kill myself (or threatening to do it for me) because of a narrative choice I make. I will block anyone who tries that again, and just generally, I ask people refrain from personal attacks and if criticising, be rational and constructive. Thanks.

Anyway, shout-out one this week goes to Ky, Bakubye on AO3, who is a gem and frankly hilarious company on the Ignite Discord where Incident Zero has its channel (as ever, PM me for a link if you want to join and talk about this fic). Ky is hilarious and a good writer and has some really exciting projects upcoming which I've had a sneak peak of- can't wait to plug those in future.

Shout-out two is to Invictus Icarus, who writes Through Trial And Error, one of the best Izuku1B fics I've seen out there. I've obviously got a very mixed Class 1A in my story, with canon 1B kids in amongst familiar 1A faces, and because of that I've enjoyed writing some of the 1B crowd. If you like 1B, and haven't read TTAE... you're slacking! Get on with it!

Anyway, Izuku and 1A ended last chapter with Midnight getting scary about Quirk Apprehension Tests. Time we bit the bullet and did the tests, don't ya think?

Enjoy!

(***)

Despite everything, Izuku took a moment to bask in the feeling of wearing a UA gym uniform for the first time. It was just as good as the feeling when he put the school uniform on and tried to tie the famous UA tie, with the added bonus that he felt ready to take on the world in the gym tracksuit. These were the clothes All Might had worn when he announced himself to the world all those years ago at the Sports Festival; the clothes of all the great winners of history, known across the world now like the Olympic athletes of old. This outfit was a symbol of potential, of the future, of greater things to come and someone for people to look up to.

It almost felt wrong, him wearing it, considering everything he had been through.

He adjusted the cuff again, and smiled nervously at the person falling into step beside him, who was walking alongside him and fiddling with the cuff of her tracksuit. It had been almost a little weird how well his tracksuit had fitted him, as if tailor-made to fit his body like a glove; in comparison, her skinny arms left her with drooping sleeves, and a frown as she tried to find a way to button them up tighter. "H-Hey. You got changed quickly too, huh?"

"Don't get me wrong, I wanna make friends and get to know people, but..." Himiko pursed her lips, as she stared across the field where their teacher was waiting. "It's kinda hard to be all chatty when Midnight gets in the zone about a Quirk Apprehension Test and tells us she'll expel someone on day one, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know what sort of tests they'll have us do." Izuku frowned too, thinking back to all those years at Aldera and a few too many years of being left in the dust as others laughed at him. "I... guess they'd most likely stick to general exercises now. Speed, strength, stamina, flexibility-"

"Oh I'm fast! And don't get me started on flexible." Himiko smirked as Izuku felt the tips of his ears go red in embarrassment, but she didn't push it- clearly the test was weighing enough on her mind to tease. "I guess that's it though. Everyone in our class is gonna have weaknesses to some or all of these tests. It's just... gotta be a little worried when my Quirk can't exactly do much for me in any of them, huh?"

"I..." Izuku shot her a little look, knowing what she was talking about. Her Quirk could do a lot, but the crucial ingredient would be blood. She was skinnier than a lot of people, so for a theoretical example she could try to become one of the larger-built members of class for a strength based challenge (the tall boy Shoji with six arms, for instance), but... not without his blood. Izuku hoped that their class would be understanding and help, but they didn't know anyone well enough yet to know for certain if they'd react badly to the knowledge of what her Quirk did, let alone a request for a gift of blood.

Still... "I don't think you'll need your Quirk to do well."

She snorted. "Oh sure. Always so optimistic, Izuku-"

"I mean it." He hadn't meant to sound firm but it appeared to jolt her out of snarking at him, and he gulped as her yellow eyes focused on him. "Y-You remember fighting that Yakuza back along? You did that with no Quirk to help you. You're probably the most fit of our group, and one of the fastest, and I wouldn't be able to say I have good reflexes without sparring with you. So... just do your best, okay?"

For a moment she stared at him, the sound of the slightly cracked turf under their feet and the cool breeze blowing across the field- she hadn't let her hair down, but Izuku was briefly mesmerised by the sight of one strand blowing in the wind- before she smiled. "... You're too good at this, Izu." She reached over and gave his hand a squeeze, before letting go and rolling her eyes as she could hear the squeal from Midnight even at a little distance. "Imagine if I'd actually kissed you."

"I-I don't think I'd m-mind-"

"Oh! Izuku Midoriya, you are a bold one." Something twinkled in her eyes as she grinned back. "I'll bear that in mind."

"Oh no..."

"Relax, we're at school! I'll be PG-13, promise." Himiko laughed to herself, suddenly, humourlessly. "Hey, you know one thing? At least if my Quirk doesn't do much good here, that Monoma kid won't try and copy it."

"Huh..." Izuku was still a little bit shaken from that conversation in the classroom, before they headed to get changed and wander on out. Monoma had shot him some looks, before heading to the other side of the room and holding a furtive conversation with the boy with a bandana, Awase. He hadn't realised just how extremely the blonde would take his reaction. "You think I got it wrong? The way I reacted?"

"You heard what I said, right?" Himiko's eyes hardened just a little. "Even if that is his power, that's not you make friends. You don't just wander in and tell someone they should be okay with you borrowing their power. Quirks are personal, right?"

"Right..." Izuku's voice caught a little. Quirks were enough of what made a person exactly who they were, and he had the power to take them. It was an incredible burden to place on someone's shoulders.

And a gift, in equal measure.

His thoughts made him snap back and realise that Himiko had picked up on his start. "O-Oh, sorry, I-"

"Don't sweat it, Izu," she said, and she beamed at him in that bright Himiko way. "We'll be fine. If he wants to be a dick to you then fine, but Monoma knows you won't let him-"

"What's a Monoma?"

"Gah!" Izuku nearly leapt out of his skin, and he shouldn't have done; he was more than used to moments like this after a lifetime growing up with his cousin. Maybe the Monoma argument was weighing more on him than he thought, if he'd been completely oblivious to Setsuna's floating head dropping down to join the conversation. "H-How long have you been-"

"Just got here!" Setsuna's head dropped, and Himiko caught it, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she held the head without being bothered in the slightest. "Heh. Thanks. You should see some of their faces back there with my body walking along."

"Lemme guess," Himiko asked, sly smile on her face, "you did the whole walking under a branch thing?"

"Hell yeah I did! That shit never gets old!" Setsuna cackled, before she perked up, her head actually jumping a little in Himiko's grasp. "So, fill me in. Monoma? Who or what is that?"

Izuku kept it as brief as he could; the fact they were nearly within earshot of Midnight, who was stood expectantly with one hand on her hip, and the fact that the rest of the class were catching up meant he needed to be brief. Setsuna, rather obviously, was surprised by the story of how the boy had been around them, and Izuku could tell she had taken it in and was being serious. Usually in any form of serious conversation, Setsuna would find a way to punctuate it with a wisecrack or a poorly timed joke. Her silence meant she understood well enough.

"So he just assumed you'd be fine with him using your Quirk, and you giving him all you know on other people's Quirks?" Setsuna asked, when he was done, and made a face. "I get his Quirk's gotta be less than heroic to use sometimes, but he can't expect you would just be comfortable and say yes to a guy you know immediately."

"Right?" Himiko bounced on her heels, happy she agreed. "It was almost like he was trying to pressure us-"

"He's probably a little desperate to get started, if he's relying on what other people can do to get ahead." Setsuna shot him a little look from her head's position, and Izuku understood what she meant. "We've gotta be careful. He could cause a lot of trouble."

"Y-Yeah, I know." There wasn't much more to say about that- the threat of someone being able to copy a Quirk that stole other Quirks, exposing Izuku and giving Monoma access to powers even more open to abuse, spoke for itself. Izuku nodded to her as Tenko turned up, along with the silver-haired boy. "You ready for this, Tenko?"

"Depends what you mean." Tenko cast a look over at Midnight, whose innocent smile back was just a bit too unbelievable. "We don't know what she's planning for her little. Given the mix of Quirks here, you've got people with max speed, strength, agility, defence. Whatever she makes us do, everyone's gonna suffer on something. But..." He brushed his hair out of his face and grinned, a little too maniacally. "We've come too far to come last, right?"

"That's what I was saying on the way here!" The tall, silver-haired teen boomed from behind Tenko, as Setsuna floated her head back onto her shoulders and clicked her neck. "Whatever we're facing, we do it together, and do the best we can! Super manly, Shimura!"

"Oh right, no introductions huh?" Setsuna flicked a lazy wave in the general direction of the silver-haired boy, who gave a toothy grin almost like hers. "This lump of scrap is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu-"

"Who are you calling scrap, scale brain?" Tetsutetsu cried, with a laugh, before extending a firm handshake which nearly crushed Izuku's hand. "So you're Tokage's cousin, huh? Shimura said on the way here you're kinda the party leader-"

"Party... leader?" Izuku looked at the towering boy with wild eyelashes and a not-insignificant amount of brawn, and looked over to Tenko. "He called you manly?"

"That's just Tetsu's way of saying he finds something awesome," Setsuna explained, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, you get used to it."

"Hey, it's not just me! That Kirishima guy says the same thing too!" Tetsutetsu said, pointing to a red-haired boy who waved in their direction as he arrived. "He might be my fated rival, but he gets what it means to be a man!"

"... Fated rival?" Izuku asked, lost.

"Trust me, having spoken to both of them before we came over here, you'd get it," Tenko said, trying not to chuckle. "They've both got hardening Quirks for max defence, both call stuff they think is cool manly, and both are kinda intense about doing their best. They're rivals because they're basically the same person! I swear, someone got lazy on character design if these two both made it here into Class 1A-"

"As much as I'm enjoying your little chit-chat, we're here for you to prove yourselves. Gather round, Class 1A."

The sound of a whip crack and the call of Midnight's voice signalled that everyone had arrived now to start whatever fiendish tests she had planned, and Izuku looked around at those who had gathered. It was hard not to try to spot Monoma, who was muttering with Awase towards the back of the group- perhaps they were old school friends? Iida had arrived and sent a friendly wave in his direction, while talking to Shiozaki and to the black-haired girl with the ponytail from the back seat. Tokoyami took his place besides Izuku and nodded to him stoically, and the black-haired girl in the seat besides Izuku planted herself besides him and Himiko and gave him a curt nod, her face giving nothing else away. Perhaps she was nervous about the test too, as much as he was.

Midnight's whip remained pointed at them for some time until the brief background chatter died down, but even as she lowered it, her smirk didn't die. "Good. Glad to see you can all behave when you need to. I must say, those uniforms look good on you. It would be a shame to lose someone from the class when they fit so well."

Izuku gulped. She really was going to carry out the threat. If someone wasn't good enough across all of her tests... they would be out. He couldn't let the hard work go to-

"Of course, I'm not really going to release you from the school for one bad test on the first day." Midnight laughed to herself, the tension in her stare evaporating. "Seriously? You think I'm that harsh? I just wanted to get you all to squirm a little and be ready to give it your all!"

"You're kidding?!" Tetsutetsu howled from behind their group, and Izuku jumped, not used to his presence. "You got us all worried for nothing?"

"It seems so extreme," the black-haired girl besides Shiozaki said aloud. "To threaten to expel us on the first day"

"I couldn't agree more, Yaoyorozu! Such underhand tactics to try to motivate us?" Surprisingly Iida was on the same track as Tetsutetsu, from across the way, and his arms were chopping frantically as he fumed besides the now-named Yaoyorozu. "This is unbecoming of a school of UA's stature-"

"Now now, settle down!" Midnight stared back at them again, and to their horror the sadistic edge had returned. "Old colleagues of mine would have taken that step and kicked you off the course on day one. I'm not going to do that, because these are hard times and you've all put in hard work to get here. But... I still have high standards. You're all going to do these tests, and the last three people are going to be punished as I see fit." She licked her lips, a genuinely terrifying sight. "I won't have people falling behind on day one, not on my watch."

"So what's the test, teach?" A lipless boy asked, seemingly unfazed by the prospects of failing or facing Midnight's wrath. "Mind telling us what we're expected to do to impress you?"

"I'm glad you asked, Honenuki!" Midnight gestured, and from a slot in the ground beside her a solid concrete wall rose up beside her. "Now, when I called it a Quirk Assessment Test, I'm using the old term for it, and maybe that isn't exactly the best way of describing the tests. After all, we have all sorts of different Quirks in the class, and different people have different skills. So to that end, I've got just about ten different tests to test your physical abilities, where you're allowed to use your Quirks as best as you can to help-"

"Just like we thought," Himiko breathed, next to Izuku. "This is gonna suck-"

"We've got this," he whispered back, and squeezed her finger quickly with his hand. "Promise."

"And it's the average at the end that counts. Now I know what some of you are thinking..." Midnight dropped the cocky look, and Izuku saw something in her eyes he wasn't expecting; it was almost maternal, in a weird way. "Some of you are worried that your Quirks won't be useful for some of the tests. I did that on purpose. Any guesses why?"

"I'm guessing because even as a Hero, there's times you might be out of your depth," called an orange-haired girl, who didn't look worried by the test. "We can't always choose what we have to deal with, so we've got to know how to make the best of a bad situation."

"Good work, Kendo!" Midnight said, as Kendo beamed. "And can anyone tell me why I'm only giving you one chance at this?"

"Because when we go out in the real world, we won't get a do-over." Surprisingly it was Himiko who piped up, and the way she said it was surprisingly resigned. "If someone doesn't get saved, or a villain gets away... we have to deal with that. We can't ask them to go back so we can try and kick their ass again."

"Spot on, Toga." Midnight seemed pleased, but Izuku looked at Himiko with some concern- as much as she understood, it was clear there were still some nerves about how she was going to do. "Real actions face real consequences. I don't want you to not give your all in training, because when you graduate and deal with real problems, I want you to understand just what you're up against. Treat each session with me like you're out on duty, do your best, and you'll be ready for the real thing."

"Makes sense, I guess," Tenko muttered, on the other side of him. "Pay attention to the tutorial rather than try to cheese it, and we actually know what we're doing in a real level? It's a good way to learn."

"I thought she was just being a dick, but..." Setsuna trailed off. "She knows what she's doing, for sure."

"And there's one other thing, since you all seem to be a little more on board with it now," Midnight called. "Sometimes you don't get a heads-up before you're thrown into the action. Yui Kodai? You're up first here!"

"Damn." Himiko whistled, as the black-haired girl in the seat behind Izuku was finally named and stepped forward, looking completely unconcerned about being called forwards. "Kinda cool how little she's bothered by it. I'd hate to be first up-"

"What do you think the test is gonna be?" Tetsutetsu looked excited to see what they would be up against, and Izuku marvelled that even as Midnight had threatened expulsion, he had appeared to be excited for the challenge. "Using a wall like that-"

"Has to be strength-based," Izuku said, looking over at Tenko and nodding. "I don't think it's agility, or we'd be facing something more obvious for us to jump."

"Right. Perhaps she wants us to destroy it-"

"Perhaps she'd tell the whole class if you boys stopped muttering your guesses about the task." Midnight's sarcastic comment shut the pair of them up, to laughter from Setsuna and the apparent disappointment of Iida. "You're right, though, so well done on being perceptive. Points out of ten, graded on how much you can destroy, efficiency in doing so, and of course, showing some restraint. You're Heroes in training after all, not wannabe Villains." She turned, satisfied. "Kodai, are you..."

The teacher had trailed off watching the composed girl, and it wasn't hard to see why. Kodai's pale face was emotionless, as she walked around the concrete wall, running her fingers over the surface, but her eyes told Izuku a different story- she was calculating. However cool she was on the surface, she had been checking the wall's dimensions and seeing if demolishing the object was within her powers. "... Hm."

What happened next was remarkable. As Kodai stepped back and pressed her fingers together, the space where the wall had been was suddenly empty. It had taken Izuku a second, blinking, to look down at the floor and realise that the wall had been shrunk completely, going from nearly ten feet high and a foot deep to being an inch high off the ground. Kodai simply stepped forward, brought a foot down on the wall, and ground it into dust under her heel, to the murmurs of the class. As people began to gasp, she released her fingers, and the dust spread across the floor beneath her feet, the wall completely destroyed. "Done."

Five finger activation. Clever power. Very useful.

"Holy shit..." Tenko breathed, before laughing to himself. "And I thought I was guaranteed top marks on this one. Damn. We've gotta step up."

"Woah..." Himiko was staring at her, impressed, just as Izuku was. "That's not gonna help her with any form of fitness test, but that Quirk is nuts."

"Good work, Kodai!" Midnight reached into her top where she had been keeping her whip, and Izuku had expected her to bring it back out again. What she brought out instead was a tablet, sleek and black, on which she began to record notes. "Quick use of your Quirk and only dust left, with no collateral. I'll give that top marks."

"Okay, anyone else got questions about where she's keeping that tablet?" Tenko asked, aloud, as Yui nodded and wandered back to her spot near Izuku. "Like, the whip was bad enough, but there's no way that thing fits-"

Izuku ignored his best friend's confused ranting, as Midnight called Shiozaki forward and Kodai approached, taking her space near to their group. The girl seemed to be distant from a lot of the class, but considering he was genuinely interested in learning a little more of what she could do, Izuku saw no harm in reaching out to her. If it meant she was less lonely, he would do it. "H-Hey, Kodai, right?"

"Mm."

"That was really c-cool, you know?" Izuku didn't see anything in her face to say that she didn't want to speak to him. "C-Can you use your Quirk the other way? To make it bigger?"

She appeared to appraise him for a second, before nodding. "Mm."

"Woah... that's so versatile. You could make such a difference as a rescue hero." Izuku really was impressed. "You could carry things with you and make them bigger, and get rid of debris by shrinking it... the potential is-"

"Mm." Something seemed to flash in her eyes, a little bit of pride, a little bit of happiness. "... Thanks."

"Do... do your parents have similar Quirks? Did you take more after one of them or did their Quirks combine to..." Izuku trailed off, as he saw a look of discomfort pass over her face for just a second. "O-Oh! I'm sorry, I-I didn't-"

"Mm." She looked like she was chewing something over, as Shiozaki's vines finished their assault on the wall, before making her mind up. "... more like my father. I never knew him. Left when I was young."

"... Sorry." Izuku swallowed, and met her gaze. "I... lost my dad in Incident Zero. If your mom has been anything like mine, raising you alone... she must be amazing."

Izuku was good at reading people, and even where Kodai had been quite inexpressive, he could tell that had surprised her; the breath she took in, and the brief raising of her eyebrows, gave her reaction away. "... Mm. She is." She nodded. "Midoriya?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"... Thanks."

"A-anytime." Izuku turned back towards the group, to see Tenko and Setsuna debating still where Midnight had been keeping her tablet, and the look on Midnight's face as she realised that two of her students had been completely lost. "Oh no."

"Look, all I'm saying is that if she's kept that there, what else is she keeping-"

"SHIMURA!"

At the sound of a whip crack from their teacher, Tenko leapt out of his skin and went ramrod straight in a second. "Gah!"

"Since you seem quite happy sharing your view," Midnight said, looking at him coolly, "maybe you want to be the next volunteer up here?"

"Oh, that? Sure. I might be a little OP for this little side-quest though." Tenko rolled a sleeve up of his tracksuit, fitting better than his school uniform, and made a show of taking one of his gloves off, before pressing all five fingers against the new concrete slab which had emerged for him. As Decay took hold, and several people gasped at how quickly the concrete wall crumbled into dust, Tenko dusted himself off and grinned at Midnight. "Full marks? Or are you taking some off me for talking shit before hand?"

"Well... I won't be too harsh. That's a very useful power for a rescue hero, and even for combat, provided you can learn to control yourself around villains and not go overboard. You're a Hero in training, after all." Midnight smirked, tapping a couple of notes into her tablet. "Although I did tell you to go Plus Ultra and give it your best shot, so doing that with just one hand? Not quite full marks, kid."

"Ah come on." Tenko shook his head, and wandered back towards their group with a huff, rolling his eyes at Izuku. "Talk shit, get hit, huh?"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure your Quirk gets the full marks it deserves."

Izuku's head whipped around at lightning speed. He hadn't realised that Monoma had circled around to the group, and by the time he turned to see the blonde, Monoma had already clapped Tenko on the back and wandered past him towards Midnight. "H-Hey! Monoma!"

"That's the guy?" Setsuna asked, whipping her head around to him. "Where the hell did he even come from?"

"The guy?" Tenko was oblivious, having not been with Setsuna at the time that he and Himiko filled her in on what had happened. "Izuku, this someone you met earlier?"

"Tenko, you don't understand!" Izuku lowered his voice, and stared at his best friend. "He can copy Quirks."

Tenko picked up on the meaning behind that, eyebrows raising, but his poker face held for the most part. "Shit. Unexpected potential mini-boss. Has he said he has a limit?"

"Not yet," Himiko muttered. "We kinda pissed him off before he told us exactly how it works. All he said was that he has to touch someone to get hold of their Quirk, and, well..."

"He's copied mine now. Great." Tenko leaned into Izuku, and whispered. "So it's an inferior version of yours?"

Smart as always.

Izuku ignored that thought, and whispered back. "It's too similar-"

"I know. But with all the cheats your Quirk could give you, you still hold back. It shows you're a good kid, Zu. Don't forget that."

"... Thanks." Izuku allowed himself a little smile, before nodding over in the direction of their teacher. "I didn't mean to upset him, I just... didn't want to share my Quirk, you know?"

"So now he's targeting your friends to get back at you? Seems like a stand-up guy." Tenko straightened up, ignoring a look from Himiko, and glared at Monoma. "Fucking hackers. If he gets my Quirk wrong, then he's gonna hurt someone, bad."

"Copying Shimura's Decay?" Midnight raised an eyebrow at the lanky blonde who was too busy staring at both of his hands, and tapped her foot. "I'm surprised you committed so early to taking a Quirk and using up one of your slots. You don't know what the rest of my tests are going to be, and that's not going to be all that useful in some scenarios.

"Better to try than accept defeat, right?" Monoma looked up at her now, and the defiance came off him in waves. "I'm just making sure I can pass. Hope you don't mind."

"By all means, go ahead."

"Sure."

"Wait..." One of the other students, the girl with pink skin and hair, stared with her mouth wide open. "So, like, Monoma's Quirk lets him copy other people's Quirks? "

"That's correct, Ashido," Midnight said, answering the girl. "It's dependent on what Monoma here understands about the Quirk-"

"I know enough." Monoma reached out, flexing his fingers, and stared at the slab. "I saw what he did. Five finger activation, just like Kodai. Now I understand the gloves, but without them..." He touched the slab. "... Huh?"

"... Interesting." Tokoyami's bird-like head was fixed in a frown as he stared at the concrete, and the completely unaffected slab that remained intact in front of them. "An unexpected twist."

Ashido put a finger to her lips, as nothing happened even more. "So Monoma copied Shimura's Quirk, so... why isn't it working?"

"I... I don't understand." Monoma stared across to Tenko, his mouth curling up as his gaze passed over Izuku. "What's up with your Quirk, Shimura? I copied it, but..."

"Not working, huh? Shame. Cheat codes can only get you so far." Tenko unfolded his arms, and patted Izuku on the back. "How about next time you wanna copy my Quirk, you ask me first, and then I can tell you to fuck off before you embarrass yourself?"

"T-Tenko!" Izuku hadn't been ready for that outburst, and as much as Himiko and Setsuna were laughing, a fair few of the rest of the class looked shocked by it. "You can't just say that-"

"You can tell you're Midoriya's friend," Monoma replied, scoffing at Tenko. "All high and mighty about your own powers, thinking yourself better than people like me. There's no harm to you, but even so you're too selfish with your own Quirks to share, and actually be heroic-"

"You're the one who took my Quirk without asking. Don't blame me if it's above your level cap." Tenko took off his other glove. "Talk shit about Izuku again. Go on. See how it ends for you."

"Speaking for him, are you?" Monoma tutted, and glared at Izuku now. "Too afraid to hide behind your friend? Too embarrassed to share your Quirk? Keep hiding like a coward, Midoriya. Are you a Hero at all, or are you just useless?"

... He really said that. Of all things? Are you going to stand that, Deku?

"Boys!" One word from the teacher shut them all up, as a few of the class started to speak up in agitation. It was probably helped by the threat she was making, one hand clutching at a sleeve ready to rip it open- anyone who knew anything about the Hero society of Japan knew about Midnight's Somnambulist Quirk, how quickly the sleeping gas could spread and neutralise anyone. Tenko and Monoma looking ready to go toe to toe was enough to bring that threat out, it seemed. "Shimura, that's points lost for your comments. Speak to me after class. Monoma?"

"Sensei?"

"I'm not letting you completely derail my teaching so I'll say this. Your situational awareness has scored you points- you knew you couldn't face the required task without using Copy to borrow from someone else, and adapted your tactics. But for whatever reason, you failed to use Shimura's Quirk, and now you're picking a fight with another student. You're staying after class too." Midnight's scowl was piercing. "And I'm not playing. Do you understand, boys?"

"... Yes, sensei." Neither of them had the nerve to risk anything more, not with the rest of the class on edge around them because of the confrontation. That wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Show him what you're made of.

Midnight took a deep breath in, released her sleeve, and stared at the tablet. "Now, the next student is-"

"Me." Izuku's voice wobbled, but he took the plunge. "I'll do it."

"Izu..." He heard Himiko's concern, but he couldn't look up as he stood there practically vibrating, years of tension in his head. Years of being looked down on, years of hearing the laughter of people who believed his dreams to be forever out of reach, years of being dismissed as the weakest of the group. "You're sure?"

Now he looked up, and he felt the sparks tingle on his arms beneath the tracksuit. "Please. I want to."

"Get him, Zuzu." Setsuna's smile had completely gone, replaced by fierceness borne of understanding of why that comment had gotten to him. "You've got this, Small Might."

Midnight paused, staring at him with a look that seemed to go right to his soul, before she made some notes on her tablet and stepped aside. "Go ahead, Midoriya. I won't stop you."

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as the class retreated behind him to clear a path to the concrete slab. The sparks began to tingle, the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to rise as he felt the familiar pressure building in his palms of Air Force charging up a blast. Monoma's words shouldn't have got to him like they had, but years of hearing it had given him all the more reason to prove that he deserved his place at UA and would make the most of it. To prove he had worth.

You're not useless, Izuku Midoriya... and you have more than just Air Force to prove it.

As the energy churned, a pit growing in his stomach, the realisation of what he had just thought had hit him. The energy... it felt different somehow. Like a champagne bottle about to burst its cork, overflowing and wild and pent-up as if it had been holding back for years.

... Kinetic Booster.

Two words echoed in his skull, and as he drew his arms back he felt it, even more powerful than ever before.

BOOST!

He wasn't useless!

BOOST!

He wouldn't let anyone call him that anymore!

BOOST!

He would prove himself!

BOOST!

He would be a Hero!

"SMAAAAAAASH!"

Izuku was well used to what Air Force could do. So he had thought, anyway. What he unleashed from the palms of his hands was unlike anything he had ever managed before, however. With an almighty crack of noise in the air, the concrete slab in front of him disintegrated and blew away, dust on the wind, but the devastation didn't stop there. Behind the slab, and for some considerable distance, Izuku's air blast dug a trench through the very earth, and even where the furrow had stopped, the air blast managed to shake the trees at the very edge of UA's boundary fence, dislodging a branch on the other side to fall onto the sidewalk off campus. The sound of tinkling glass in the distance simply punctuated the stunned silence that followed, a full stop to devastation.

Oh... that felt good.

Izuku turned to Midnight, ignoring the looks of the class, and exhaled, feeling sparks of energy still rippling through his arms and strangely through his hair. "... Sorry. I... may have got carried away."

Midnight stared at the furrow in the earth, adjusting her glasses with her mouth wide. "That... that was-"

"SUPER MANLY!"

Whatever Izuku had been expecting, he hadn't been expecting that shout from Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, the two all-too similar boys yelling excitedly from the group of gathered students. "Wh-wha-"

"I knew that was gonna be cool, but that was crazy!" Tetsutetsu yelled, his entire arm solidifying into steel as he cried.

"Talk about setting a bar high! I'll do my best to keep up with you, Midoriya!" Kirishima cried, his whole arm also hardening into rock.

"Mmm." The corners of Kodai's mouth had twitched up into a faint smile. "Not bad."

"While I cannot condone wanton property damage even in a training exercise... Midoriya!" Iida's arm chopping had blurred at this point. "I won't hold anything back now I've seen you give your all! It will be a privilege to train with a Hero as committed to doing their best as you!"

"What a mad banquet of darkness, indeed." Tokoyami nodded at him, a glint in his eyes. "Challenge accepted, Midoriya."

"I suppose there's no excuse now," Kendo said, shooting a smirk at him. "Midoriya kinda threw a gauntlet down to all of us. Looks like he's the one to beat for top spot-"

"And I for one am not backing down from the challenge." Yaoyorozu too, the girl who hadn't spoken to anyone except Shiozaki and Iida, looked at him with a trembling fist clenched. "If Midoriya is going Plus Ultra, then I shall too!"

The chorus of cries from the class made Izuku nearly well up with tears, but it was the looks from those closest to him that made it worth it. Setsuna was whooping with Tetsutetsu like an idiot, Himiko's fanged smile was wider than ever, and as Monoma slunk away from Tenko, his best friend could only smirk and hold up a peace sign, just like All Might did in the glory days. Izuku... had made it.

"This kid..." Midnight's composure revived itself, as she tapped in some figures onto her tablet. "You know, Midoriya, as much as I'm deducting you points for the unnecessary damage... it looks like you were the spark to get a few people to really push their hardest here."

"I..." Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I didn't mean-"

"Don't you apologise. Every class needs someone to do like you do at the start. So thank you." Her warm smile faded quickly. "Just don't think I'm going easy on you for the rest of the tests. You've still got a lot to prove to make it to the top, young man!"

"R-Right! I'll do my best!"

"Oh, that I don't doubt." Midnight gave him one final nod of appreciation, turning towards the rest of the class, and called out. "Okay, students! So much youthful energy in the face of what Midoriya just did, so tell me! Who wants to go next?"

(***)

The rest of Midnight's tests had been as close to hell on Earth as possible.

Izuku had not been ready for the variety of practical assessments which the teacher had prepared; something at the back of his head told him that whatever her main subject was (Modern Art History, if he remembered correctly), she had set that aside and allowed her sadistic hero persona to take over in planning this one. That was the only explanation he could provide for how much his sides hurt, how much his palms were aching, at the end of their Quirk Apprehension. It was almost as if the lesson itself was the punishment, and not that the punishment followed afterwards.

If there was one thing he was grateful for, it was that his prediction had been correct and logic had been able to take over. Whatever her reasoning behind making some of the tests so brutal- Izuku had dropped out of the long distance run fairly quickly, to his general embarrassment- Midnight had realised that the class she had was incredibly diverse, and needed to be assessed in a way that reflected this. To that end, while there were tests which clearly benefited some people's Quirks, others allowed inherent fitness to take over and shine.

Himiko, for her part, had been scared about her Quirk not being helpful, but between the announcement that nobody would be expelled and the announcement of some of the later tests, she had thrived. Sparring with her in their warehouse had helped Izuku realise that she was unnaturally agile, benefiting from training with her guardians at home, and so when Midnight announced a rope climb test and side step tests to push people's flexibility, it was no surprise to see her score so highly. Seeing her come top of the leaderboard for Midnight's obstacle course, and the hug he received when she saw her score, lifted a huge weight off his mind.

Tenko's physical fitness had seen his scores suffer, and while Decay gave him good scores in a couple of physical tests (including breaking a grip tester so the reading error messaged at the max setting, somehow giving him a tie with Kendo and the six-armed Shoji for first place), the running and jumping exercises had ruined him. Setsuna had done amazingly well on those, even pushing Himiko in the obstacle course, but the concrete wall had been an obstacle she refused to splash herself against.

Izuku had surprised himself with being able to adapt to a large number of the tests, although those concerned with physical strength had caused substantial issues. Nothing in his arsenal could improve his natural skinniness and generally feeble punches, and Midnight had made it clear to him that he needed to start to try to train his hand-to-hand combat better in case of emergencies. It was brutal feedback, but constructive, at least. A weakness to be worked on at UA.

She seemed a lot more impressed with his approach generally to the fifty metre sprint when he had taken his turn. Previously on the long jump, Air Force had been able to give him a huge boost to take top spots, but while watching Asui and her Frog Quirk in action for the sprint, he had made a decision to try to repeat his jump for the sprint. As he explained to Midnight when asked, Asui's sprinting involved a number of leaps by her on all fours- rather than launch himself forward on Air Force in a sprint, and face plant, Izuku simply launched himself higher into the air so that he was effectively jumping the entire sprint. He travelled further with the jump, but was able to land safely and post a good time; the knowing smirk and pat on the back from the teacher was all he needed to realise he had made the right call.

Not all of the supposed ingenuity from Class 1A had gone down as well. Yaoyorozu's Creation Quirk had been genuinely terrifying the first time she unveiled it, because her idea of going Plus Ultra to take on Izuku was to make an entire cannon for the wall destruction test; creating a scooter for the long-distance run had actually cost her points because Midnight disapproved of her doing none of the exercise in the test. Setsuna had actually posted a good time for the sprint by launching herself in a barrage of scales over the finish line, but at first she had claimed a time equal to Iida's; Midnight had not been prepared to accept that smuggling several of her separated body parts into Iida's clothes pockets counted as an attempt. Iida had remained a little traumatised the whole afternoon.

With the final test done, Izuku felt Tenko slide into place besides him on the floor, offering him a water bottle from a gloved hand. "Shit. Who knew tutorials could be this intense?"

"Where did you get that?"

"Oh, this?" Tenko jerked a thumb at Yaoyorozu, who noticed and sent a beaming smile their way. "That girl's too pure. And she's made of strange stuff, I swear. She made a whole cannon and scooter earlier, and she's still got enough in the tank to make us bottles of water."

"... Wow." A small part of Izuku's brain rebelled. "She... made you water? Her Quirk runs on her fat cells, so-"

"He's drinking Yaoyorozu? Yeah, I was kinda a bit off about that too." Setsuna slammed down with them, looking nearly broken and taking a swig from her own bottle. "She didn't make the water, if that helps. I just flew over and filled up from a fountain once she made the bottle."

"R-Right." Izuku gratefully took the bottle and took a swig of the cool water, relieved it wasn't as weird as he feared. "Thanks-"

"Hey, save some for me!" Himiko snatched the bottle from his hands and collapsed, leaning her head against his shoulder; Izuku prayed he wasn't too sweaty. "Thanks, Izu. Man, how does she still have energy to make bottles for us like this?"

"Don't tell Monoma she's still going." Setsuna gesticulated at the blonde, all anger and fire gone from earlier. "He won't take that well at all."

The blonde was slumped, looking a lot more gaunt and pale than he had earlier, against Tetsutetsu's side. When Midnight had mentioned copying Quirks, Izuku had noticed that she seemed to mention him not being limited to one Quirk copied at a time. During the course of their assessments, two more had been acquired- Tetsutetsu had become one of his favourites for giving him Steel for the strength tests, and Yaoyorozu had been too polite to say no to lending Creation. What the Copy user hadn't accounted for was the impact of her Quirk, converting fat cells into other matter. Himiko had rather politely realised that Monoma was way too skinny to use it properly; Setsuna had been far more blunt in describing why Yaoyorozu could use it better. Either way, Monoma's fat reserves had tanked, and he was paying the price now, drained and apparently without the energy to even glare in Izuku's direction.

Whatever the result of today, Izuku could be proud. The training had been exhausting, pushing him to the limits, and yet... he felt he belonged. He felt he really could go Plus Ultra.

"Whatever happens," Izuku said, tearing his eyes away from the boy trying to make himself his new nemesis and smiling at the group, "we did well. We all deserve to be here."

"Heh... I don't know how you're so positive or how I put up with it." Tenko held out a fist to bump. "But you're right. Good job, musketeers."

"You're actually using that as a team name?" Setsuna asked, rolling her eyes. "I was joking when I called us that, but-"

"Hey I'm not seeing any better names!"

"If you're all done..." Everyone, despite the varying states of agony and blistering and exhaustion, despite the conversations ongoing, went very quiet when they heard their teacher's voice. "That's me done for the day. I've counted up your results and got you all in order."

Now they all leaned forward. The most competitive among the group, Kendo and Setsuna, Tetsutetsu and Kirishima, shared grins with each other, healthy competition and rivalries already established. Kodai and Asui, as expressionless as they had been all day, shared a look, and the nerves from certain others in the group were palpable. Izuku couldn't help but perk up and stare in her direction too, waiting to see where they had all come in their group, hoping he hadn't come somewhere to let the side down...

"Oh, please. The look on your faces is adorable. You think I'm telling you the full rankings?" Midnight snorted, and tucked her tablet away, prompting noises of disbelief from Tenko. "All I said was that I'd make sure the last three people were punished. Awase?"

The bandana boy groaned, his face not at all surprised. "Saw this coming a mile off."

"Hagakure?"

"Dammit..." The invisible girl's uniform slumped at the shoulders. "I really picked up with the agility tests too!"

"And Yanagi."

"It's a shame." A quiet grey-haired girl who Izuku had barely noticed until now sighed. "I don't think I was able to use my Quirk to assist me with much at all, today."

"You and me both, Yanagi," Himiko murmured, at a volume only Izuku can hear. "That could have been me, Izu, but for one test-"

"I appreciate what you're saying, Yanagi, and for that I apologise." Midnight bowed her head slightly at the girl's comments. "For those of who came in the bottom three, I hope you know that I remain unconcerned about your place here. You made it through our application process, after all, and either or Sir Nighteye saw enough potential with your Quirks. Just because your Quirk may not help with one thing, it doesn't mean you don't have the skills- they may just lie elsewhere. Hagakure's Invisibility, for instance, doesn't help with some of the tests today, but in a Battle Trial? Anyone here will be lucky to have an invisible teammate to fight their opponents with."

"You heard it here first!" Hagakure's uniform bounced, and Izuku was amazed she still had such energy. "Pick me for your teammate people! We'll be sure to be number one!"

"Such exuberance! I love it!" Midnight's face was a picture at that comment, before she returned to a less passionate smile. "That's exactly the attitude I want you all to have, whenever something does go your way. And that's why I wanted to not share your overall leaderboard results right now- I want you all to bond as a class. I want you all to pick up those who fall behind and help them out, and grow together."

She gestured around at the various courses and exercises they had carried out. "All of you have strengths, for sure, and all of you have weaknesses, things to work on while you learn here at UA. You can learn from us, for sure, but you can learn from each other too. So to that end..." She paused, and winked at them. "I'll share your results later on in the month, when you've had a chance to learn and put that into practice doing the tests again. I don't mind competition, it's healthy and full of youthful spirit, but let's judge properly when you've got to grips with the course and see how far people have come, right?"

She looked at her wristwatch, and cracked the whip, making a few people jump from their prone positions. "That's it for the tests. We've got a lot of the rest of the day to cover, so head on back. Shimura, Monoma, you're with me to have a talk. Awase, Yanagi, Hagakure, come swing by after school for ten minutes when you get the chance. The rest of you... get moving! Present Mic's English class is next on the agenda!"

"Nope, that's a shower for me," Setsuna said, sniffing herself and scowling as she stood up with the rest of them. "After that mess of a morning-"

"Way too much information," Izuku groaned, before looking over to Tenko with some concern. "I hope it goes okay-"

"Me too. Promise I won't get myself expelled on day one." Tenko gestured to the group vaguely as he hauled himself upright, jaw set. "Catch you in English."

Tenko's usual sarcasm wasn't present in his comment, and he said nothing more as he turned away from Izuku. Izuku couldn't help but find himself hoping his friend would be alright, given the heated argument which had happened earlier and how intense things had gotten. He regretted not being brave enough to stand up for himself sooner, and now Tenko was paying the price for fighting his corner for him. He owed his best friend just a little more.

Still, as he and Himiko and Setsuna hobbled back towards the changing rooms together, as their class ached and groaned their way across the playing field, Izuku felt at home. Imposter syndrome was very real, and something Izuku thought he would struggle with among the best and brightest teens in the nation, but there was promise. He hadn't yet been able to speak to all of his classmates as much as he wanted, and he would need some time after getting changed to pour so much of the Quirk knowledge bubbling up in his head into his notebooks- he would have to start a whole new one on his classmates to get anywhere near the level of detail he had collected. Their skills were incredible and yet... Izuku didn't feel out of place. In fact, he felt like this was exactly where he wanted to be.

This is where you belong.

That was all he could ever wish for, on his first day at UA, and they hadn't even got properly started on the course yet. There were plenty more twists and turns, and bits of excitement, to come...

And he couldn't wait to face them all.

(***)

A/N: And there we go. I realise just how many writers who have UA as part of their fics write the Quirk Apprehension Test, and so I haven't dwelled on the whole thing. This is partly because we never saw the majority of the tests in canon (mostly focused on the ball throw) and so I did the same with the wall test, and partly because it would be bloody long doing each assignment. Hope that helps.

I've also not done rankings for each student yet because I want those to come up later. Midnight is a sadist in her hero persona, but she's not Aizawa- in a reduced class which acts as the whole of that year's Hero Course intake, she's much more determined to bring them all up together as one effective unit. I also wanted to reflect a more round picture of each student's strengths and value and not release the ranks yet- Hagakure being a prime example of this. She's got nothing to help with any of the tests, but ironically she struggles with the Quirk Apprehension Tests despite her Quirk being arguably one of the best for hero work. Figure that out.

So yes, there's been bonding and there's been conflict. I want my Class 1A to have legitimately fleshed out characters because I don't want them just to be window dressing in the background while the whole story happens to the Four Musketeers. I can't promise all of them will get arcs, and I certainly won't distract from the key four of Izuku, Tenko, Himiko and Setsuna, but honestly? They're fleshed out in canon and they will be here. Iida, Monoma, Tokoyami, Kodai, and more will follow as we develop the story. I hope you enjoy them all.

Next chapter is going to be a not-quite villain chapter, with some villainy at the end I believe (I need to work out what I'm doing with one particular cutscene). Just because Izuku is now at UA, does not mean half the world stops for him to get educated. No sir. Chaos this way lies.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a review- I will respond to all the reviews last chapter this week, and I apologise for not getting there sooner (blame work irl. I certainly do). As I state above, I will not tolerate flames, but whether it's constructive comments or whether it's lovely praise (some of you are way too kind), please feel free. If you haven't, feel free to favourite and follow as well, and check out my other work. I've got a couple of pilot chapters for new fics you may like...

Until next time, ya boy out.