"Looks like he didn't do well," Sabo sighed. Ace nodded, and put his phone away. "Should we go see him? Maybe bring him something?" Ace thought it was a good idea, and they went to his favorite ice cream place and got him a milkshake he liked. They flew to his apartment, Ace as a dragon again, sky colored like usual.

When they got to his door, his mom answered, and Ace just gave her the drink. "Tell him we're open to talk when he's ready." Inko smiled sadly and thanked them. Then they left, not pressing to bother him or be pushy. They walked to the train station instead of flying, just to talk longer.

Ace had his credit card and paid for the ticket since he never used the train. They sat next to each other and talked about their separate experiences in the rings, not wanting to mention Midoriya's clear failure, based on his behavior.

"Marco is actually my neighbor. But he doesn't know that. Nobody knows I live there. It'll be weird to have you come over, though, if he makes it into school and knows you."

"We'll just say I'm a relative," Sabo said casually. Ace smacked his forehead. "You didn't think of that?" he asked in amusement. Ace shook his head, and said he was so used to being alone that even the concept of family never crossed his mind. Sabo frowned sadly at that. "Well, I'm your family. Want to go to your place? I've never been there and I'm curious."

They both wanted to be in the same place for when their friend called them. Ace nodded, and they headed to his place, going the very long way. When they got there, Ace turned into his female counterpart, both heading inside. Marco didn't see them, and Ace locked the door behind them, nervous about what he'd think of his apartment.

He looked around and whistled. "This totally looks like an apartment from a well off person. Heh, and you make money by drawing porn."

"Stop bringing that up! It's embarrassing!" Ace said, his face red.

"It's still so cool you can live like an adult. Not that it sounds fun." Ace shrugged. It was nice controlling his life, but being an adult was really tiring. Especially on the days he had to go shopping and run a bunch of errands. It was just lucky he didn't need a car to get from place to place.

Sabo looked in Ace's office, and walked to his tablet. "This thing is huge."

"It cost half of one month's salary," Ace said. Sabo asked if drawing was actually that expensive. "Well, the supplies can be. I pay $20 a month for Photoshop, but that's not that bad. But the tablet was definitely worth the money." Sabo asked if he could try. "Well… No," he settled, Sabo raising his brows. "It was just really expensive and I can't risk having it break."

"No worries, I get it." He wandered into Ace's room. It wasn't what he expected it would be. He expected more posters and colorful things, more personality. Ace didn't know what to say, because he agreed. He just couldn't find anything to make his room feel like his room. Probably because the whole apartment was his space. He didn't need to escape anybody. No family, no roomates.

Sabo asked if he wanted to play some videogames, since Ace had a good collection, though he didn't play much anymore, at least by himself. So they did, playing some first person shooters. Sabo was good at screen-peeking. It was their fifth round when Ace's phone rang. It was Midoriya. They paused the game and both sat on the couch, facing one another.

Ace didn't waste time and answered, putting it on speaker phone. "Hey… sorry I took off," Midoriya said. "And thanks for the milkshake. That was nice." He sounded so dejected. "Did you guys do okay?"

"We both got bots, yeah. But it might not mean we passed," Sabo said. "I hope so."

"I think I passed. I got a lot of bots, though there might be somebody in that ring that got more than me. He could turn into a phoenix. I think, that's what he looked like," Ace mentioned, wanting to change the subject from how many bots they got. "There were a lot of interesting people there, huh?"

Midoriya made a noise of affirmation. "I met a nice girl. I did save her, but I got zero points. I even broke most of my limbs trying." Their faces both fell. Sabo said that he saved somebody in a bright voice. "But I still didn't get any points. I'm sorry. I wanted all of us to go together, and I couldn't do that."

Both teens pitied him. "Maybe you can transfer next year if you develop a quirk!" Ace suggested. Midoriya said maybe. The conversation was very sad. Their friend was destroyed inside, hopeless. And neither of them would give up their hope of UA. "Well, even if we don't go to the same high school, we'll still keep in touch. I mean, I can quickly come over and hang out anytime, right?" Ace pointed out.

"True," Midoriya admitted, though he was still very down. "Are you guys hanging out right now?" Sabo said they'd wanted to be together to talk to him after he called. "I see." The conversation sort of died after that, and Midoriya said he was tired and was going to try and take a nap. They let him go, both of them much more down now than they had been before.

After the call was over, Ace looked at his hands. "Is it wrong to be very happy you passed over him?"

"I feel the same way. So I don't know. We've been best friends for almost three years. We've been friends with him a month. It's only natural, I think," Sabo said, Ace agreeing with a nod. They both looked out the window. Well, Ace just hoped both made it in together. Ace couldn't deal being alone again, not when he finally had somebody who understood, knew him and his life.

Sabo ended up staying over. His brother Hack was super laid back and trusted Sabo to make good decisions. Though he didn't know about Sabo going flying on a dragon's back. But he didn't need to know that, so they would keep that a secret.

-x-

Ace's washing machine broke two days after the exam, and so he had to go out and buy a new one. He didn't like spending more money than necessary, but this was obviously necessary. He was just glad this place had an in unit washer and dryer. Only washing boy's clothing in a communal laundry room would be suspicious.

So he ended up just ordering one, not wanting to go out to do it. He was sad. Midoriya has been on the phone with him, and had honestly cried a little bit, though he tried to hide it. Ace could just hear it in his voice. He was ashamed that he just made friends, and now he wasn't strong enough to even be at the same school as them.

So, Ace was in a very bad mood, feeling very sad for his friend that always tried his hardest in everything, but always felt like a failure, just because he was quirkless. He wished UA would make an exception, but that might be even worse for him. Only getting in because of pity or something.

When the installers came in, Ace sat on the couch quietly in his adult alias. He tipped the guys and they disposed of the old one for him. After they left, he tested a load of laundry and felt like an old person when he exclaimed that it ran smoothly with a grin. Shouldn't kids his age be excited about things other than a quality laundry machine?

He sighed and flopped down on the couch. He was an old person in a young body who pretended to be in an old body. He messaged that to Sabo, who sent a laughing emoji at him. Ace decided that day to go and see Midoriy in person. He finished the laundry and folded everything before leaving out the window.

He flew to Midoriya's house and landed on his windowsill, pecking at it as a bird. He opened the curtains and Ace moved a wing in a way that a normal bird wouldn't. The window was opened and he was let in. He landed on the bed and turned back into his human form. "Hi, Ace."

"Yo. I wanted to hang out in person," he said. "And show you something cool, if you want to see it," he added brightly. He had a plan to distract the teen. He was so upset, his dream school was not possible right now. But he looked interested, and sat in his desk chair.

"Is it with your quirk?" he asked, not sounding bothered by learning more about quirks. He was always fascinated with them. Even though he didn't have one, he'd always been interested. Ace nodded. He beamed, and then turned himself into Midoriya, clothes and all. His jaw dropped in shock. "You can shape shift into other people, too?!"

He immediately got out a notebook and started to write. Ace nodded. "I don't use this as much, but sometimes I can sneak into R rated movies by aging myself," he said. It was true, he'd done it before. It just wasn't what he usually used it for. "I can turn into anything I want to, anybody I want to. Nobody knows about that but Sabo. So you have to keep it a secret."

"I will!" Midoriya said, glad to be in on a secret. "Can you really turn into anybody?" Ace nodded. "Can you turn into All Might?" Ace did, flexing. "It looks weird frowning." Ace grinned, and wondered how the man smiled this big as often as he did. "That's amazing! I can't imagine anyone at UA being stronger than you!"

Ace sat down on the bed as himself again. "I wouldn't say that it's strong, more like useful. And I bet there are people stronger than me for sure. At least in a different way," he amended. "If I'm accepted, I'll tell you all about them so you can write it in your hero books for later. Then once you apply again somehow, it'll be fine. Besides, you could always enrol in the general studies if you're not accepted, and then just switch over when you're ready, right? Then you're still at UA, taught by heroes!"

Midoriya's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He'd never considered that. Well, Ace hadn't either. It just came to him right then. "I'm doing that right now!" he said, and opened his laptop almost violently. He wrote out an email to the school right then and sent it. He'd already given his transcripts and all, and if he passed the written exam, he was a shoe in to be in the general studies.

"I've always wanted to go there, and be a hero. But being in the general studies does give me the option to transfer over later!" Ace didn't know how he'd transfer as he was quirkless and all, but he had hope, which was a very nice change. "I'm so glad you're my friend, Ace!" He was a bit bashful about it.

Ace admitted, "I never really had friends either, for home-life reasons. Sabo's my first ever best friend. I was just never good at making friends. I was mean and impatient, unlikable. I like that I've changed since then." He smiled about it. "So even if we did meet earlier, a couple years ago, we wouldn't have been friends then because I don't think I was capable to have a close friendship."

"That's nothing like how you are now! I think you'll make a great hero," he said with his fists closed. "And a great friend." Ace grinned and nodded. It was nice hearing people being happy they knew him. Only one other person had said that, his current and closest friend. Ace asked if he wanted to see something stupid. Something with his quirk.

Again, his friend was more than happy. Ace turned into a pikachu. Midoriya blinked once, and asked what that was. "What?! How do you not know what pikachu is?! He's a pop culture icon! For decades!" Ace said in shock. "He's a pokemon. You know what pokemon are, right? It's a video game and anime, and cards, too?"

The other freckled teen bristled, and said he knew what pokemon were. Ace had no idea how he didn't know what pikachu was, it was unthinkable. "Well, I've found I can turn into any that I want. They are more realistic and all, but still pokemon."

Midoriya brought up a list of pokemon on his computer, and he and Ace spent the next two hours with him changing into different pokemon. "Can you imagine a halloween costume being a pokemon? That would be the best costume. Sorta. Ahhh, Sabo's gonna laugh his ass off," Ace joked. Inko ordered them some take-out, and Ace spent the night at his house, the two watching scary movies in the living room like kids.

He was glad his impromptu visit was so emotionally beneficial to his newer friend. It made him happy to see Midoriya actually smile.

-x-

"Ready?" Ace asked, the three of them in Sabo's treehouse, all with the UA letters in their hands. They were heavy, so with something other than a paper letter. They all opened them, and each had the same round metal thing. Sabo said they were projectors. "Who goes first?" Sabo volunteered, and so he pressed the button on his.

The screen popped up and showed a woman in a very seductive hero costume: Midnight. Ace knew she taught at UA. She had one of those sex whip... things. Ace doing his graphic research showed these quite often. God, his mind was completely ruined by all of the sights he'd seen. He wished sex didn't sell that much.

She explained that the rankings were based on how many points, and the top fifty people ranked would make it into the hero course. Midoriya didn't look dejected or depressed, so Ace and Sabo felt fine to be excited if they got in. She moved aside to show the ranking. Ace was third! He got up in the top three!

First was a guy named Trafalgar Law, then Newgate Marco, and then Portgas D. Ace! Bakugo was fourth. Sabo ranked tenth, not bad either! They were both so happy! But then their eyes fell on one name they did not expect to see. All of them were shocked, and the two whirled around and demanded to know what this meant.

He'd said to them he got zero points, and here he was at number 7, with 60 points! "I-I wasn't supposed to get any points! They said the big bot was zero points!" Both turned hostile, demanding to know how the hell he took out a big bot. Midoriya suddenly looked guilty and nervous.

"The morning of the exam, I sort of got a quirk. I'm ashamed of it, though. I was… I didn't want to tell you guys because I can't use it. It wrecked my legs and arm when I used it." Both Ace and Sabo were angry that they weren't told this important information. And a little hurt. Ace told him the secrets of his quirk, yet he didn't even mention he had one in the first place.

Ace shoved his projector into his pocket and got up to leave. "Ace, wait," Sabo said sternly, grabbing his hand to stop him. "Understand his feelings. We have useful and strong quirks with promise. He finally got a quirk and it destroys his body. He's new to the friendship and might think we'd see him differently now."

Sabo was always good at reading people. "He didn't keep it a secret to jab at us. Not all secrets are meant to be hostile or negative." He was referencing Ace's own secrets. He stopped, and his posture relaxed. Midoriya apologized sincerely for not saying anything. It was like Sabo said. Ace sat down with a sigh. Maybe it wasn't fair to have him keeping secrets and to get mad at Midoriya about his own.

Sabo took his projector out, and it was the same recording, same scores. There wasn't a reason to watch Midoriya's. But they were all so happy. Ace moved on from his hurt and irritation, knowing it wasn't right to be upset about that. He was happy Midoriya had a quirk, but not if it endangered him the way he said it did.

"Well, we have a lot of summer left. You know what that means, right?" Ace asked with a grin. He looked at Midoriya, who blinked and raised his brows. "Training, of course! We all have to be much stronger when we get there!" Midoriya and Sabo nodded, both determined. They would train and get stronger no matter what! Even if it was only a little bit better, they should be at the best of their abilities when they get to school.

They spent the summer going on trips and training in different places, getting to places like the beach and parks by flying on Ace's back as a dragon. They each got stronger, even if it was only in new ideas and not able to do them. While Midoriya's training was mostly physical, Ace and Sabo were more hypothetical and learning more about the limits they had.

Sabo took weather classes online to widen the scope he could do with his clouds. Ace scoured animal books, mostly trying to be able to use the attacks of animals, too. He wanted to be able to secrete venom as a snake. As much as he dearly wanted to, it was just impossible for him at the moment.

He could only change his body's appearance. He couldn't change the inner workings of himself. At least, not yet. So venom wasn't possible as he was now. But they trained their butts off, Ace and Sabo getting stronger physically with exercise. Midoriya was surprisingly fit considering how awkward and skittish he was. Though he slowly got more comfortable with them.

His quirk didn't improve drastically, and he still had to be very careful, but he admitted he felt mentally stronger and more prepared for the uphill battle he was going to face at UA. His mom was super happy he had two best friends, too.

So, soon enough, school was approaching, and they all got their new uniforms. Ace would be picking both of them up for school as a dragon. Awesome! And it would save money for all of them.

Since school would make things busier, Ace drew a lot of the next month's work beforehand, over the summer. That gave him time to do other things and not have to worry about not having anything to put on his account. So, he had everything all set. Things were on automatic to be paid, so he didn't need to focus on when to pay the bills.

Rent was due at the beginning of the month, the electric and utilities middle of the month. The phone bill was near the end. So, things were all set. He only had to focus on school. He got a good night's sleep the night before, taking a hot bath before bed to help him sleep. Maybe he should have worked harder to have a normal sleep schedule. He was lucky that night, apparently.

In the morning, he washed his face, scrubbing it pretty much until it was nice and clear. He brushed his teeth and got dressed, putting everything in his backpack, making sure he had everything three times. He was surprisingly nervous about this. Maybe because he was in the top three, and everyone had to know that. Maybe he was worried about being a disappointment.

He slapped his cheeks and left out the window, going up to the roof and flying off. He waited until he saw Marco fly away through the window. He was going in the opposite direction, as he didn't have two people to pick up. He left pretty early. Ace headed to Midoriya's place first, since it was closer.

He picked him up, and then headed to Sabo's. "I'm nervous," Ace said honestly.

"Why? You're really cool!"

"What if I don't live up to expectations? I was number three. So not number one, thankfully. But what if people expect me to be awesome and I'm underwhelming?" Ace asked. Midoriya was surprised by the insecurity. Ace always acted pretty confident in himself.

"Well, I think everyone will feel that way. Nervous they won't fit in, that they were judged too good from UA. Maybe they all wonder if they deserved to be accepted? Only one out of three hundred passed. The spots could have gone to other people that might be more worthy." He knew exactly how Ace felt, so he wasn't alone. Midoriya was at number seven, yet he couldn't control his quirk at all.

Sabo was lucky for being number ten. Not too near the top, but still the top ten. He was in a more comfortable range. "Don't worry so much, this is just the beginning!" Midoriya was in a great mood. When Ace landed, Sabo climbed on. Ace wasn't pretending to be the sky anymore, and flew across the sky and to UA, landing in front of the gates obnoxiously.

He made sure not to land on anybody, though. He got a lot of attention as he shifted into his normal form. The shape shifter took a deep breath, holding the straps of his backpack tightly. He didn't want to mess up. Sabo linked his arm in his. "We're all in this together," he said with a smile. Midoriya nodded beside him.

The three walked forward, glad they were in the same class. It was lucky and convenient. They didn't know where their class was in the building, so they found a map of the place, and made their way there. When they came across the door, it was quite tall! Maybe there were really big people here, people of all sizes.

Ace looked forward to seeing more quirks that were strong enough to land them in UA. Only the talented came. Or the lucky, like Midoriya. The three entered the room, and found most were already there. The seats were taken. The three couldn't sit next to one another, so Ace took the seat between Marco's and a very giddy looking kid with a straw hat and a wide smile.

It seemed some people were already friends beforehand. Ace was glad he was, too. He didn't need to make new best friends to hang out with. "Hey, Ace," Marco said brightly. "So, are you the school bus here?" Ace chuckled and said it saved money for all of them. "I wish I could fly with other people like that," the blonde said.

Bakugo walked in, scowling at Ace. His eyes were very narrowed. "Hey! You look really grumpy, huh? Shishishi!" the boy next to him said, a tick appearing on Bakugo's forehead. A green haired teen, lighter and shorter than Midoriya's, scolded Luffy.

"Don't piss people off on the first day," he scolded. Luffy just giggled again. Ace wondered what his quirk was. There were all kinds of people around and Ace could not tell the quirks for most of them.

"So, I wonder which guy is Law, who got more than we did," Marco said conversationally.

"You're Marco and Ace?" a guy with spiky red hair and sharp teeth asked. They nodded. "You guys got almost the exact same number of points! How'd that end up?" Marco laughed and said they were flying around and destroying the bots at the same pace. But Marco won. They both really wondered what kind of guy the number one placed guy was.

Ace's eyes were drawn to a guy in the back, reading. He had a spotted white hat on, and dark circles under his eyes. He seemed completely detached from them all. The same could be said for the kid directly across from him. He had red and white hair, and was looking out of the window in disinterest. All sorts of people were here.

He felt relaxed. Everyone was different in appearance alone, he could only imagine the diversity of their quirks. Sabo was smiling and talking to a girl who fit the appearance of Koala, the one who could pause time for objects. Not people, but objects. Sabo had a friend already, too. Midoriya did as well, talking to the girl he saved.

Even sitting apart, they weren't awkward and alone. Maybe this was better. To branch out more. Make more friends. "So, I've been wondering. Can you turn into a phoenix, too?" Marco asked curiously.

Ace said, "I can change into the appearance of one, but I can't use and power that might come with it."

"Good, you can't steal my quirk, then," Marco replied, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up on the desk. "I hope there are some really strong people in this class," he added, grinning.

The teacher came in, a slightly angry looking man with a fluffy scarf around his neck, hiding some of his mouth. He had dark purple hair and sharp eyebrows. He wore a shirt with a vest over it and black pants with boots. He looked like a tough and possibly scary guy. The class quieted at his appearance.

"Hello, you can call me Katakuri-sensei. I hope you all don't expect for this school to go easy on you," he said, getting right to things immediately. "You're here because the teachers deemed you good enough, which means you have to live up to expectations for yourselves."

His voice was deep, and Ace wondered what kind of teacher he was. The very first thing he told them was to get out a piece of paper and write down their quirks. This surprised some, who didn't understand why they were writing them down. "It's not for the others to see, I want information straight from you about your quirk's abilities so far.

"Just judging from your entrance exam and formal explanation isn't good enough. I want to know everything as soon as possible. Try to hurry but be detailed," he instructed and sat down on the chair beside the podium he was speaking at. Ace looked at his piece of lined paper and wrote down that he could transform into any shape he wanted. He deliberated writing about his ability to turn into other people.

But this was going to his teacher. Maybe it was safe to say that. And hiding things about your quirk to a hero teacher might not be the best. But ultimately, he decided to hide that aspect of his quirk. Or at least not say it outright. He finished writing and saw some people were writing much longer than others. Either going into extreme detail or just having a very talented and versatile quirk.

Marco was finished writing his before Ace's, Sabo, too. Ace knew Midoiya was just going overboard writing his since the words "enhanced strength" was all he needed to say an it would be enough. Once the writing was finished, the teacher giving them longer than he seemed he was going to, they passed the papers to the front and he collected them.

Then he said, "I want everyone in the class to go around and give your names. Whatever you want to be called by. Starting with you," he said and pointed to the furthest seat in the back on the left side. Everyone gave their names, and the one who placed top, Law, was the bored guy with the spotted hat.

Ace could tell things about some of the students just by the way they spoke. Kirishima was a positive guy, and Luffy was a completely bubbly personality. Bakugo was cranky to everyone, of course. Iida sounded like he had a stick up his butt, and a girl named Yaoyorozu seemed proper and smart.

He wouldn't remember everyone's names for a while, but that was how it always was. Katakuri seemed very no-nonsense from what Ace had seen so far. But not a bad guy. He listed off the events they'd be doing that semester that were planned so far. Field trips to other places were dotted throughout the semester.

A summer camp and, of course, the sports festival and provisional license exam. So it sounded really fun! "This sounds like it'll be fun."

"That depends on your definition of fun," Katakuri replied to Marco's statement. "None of this will be easy." After he left, somebody mumbled that he didn't sound like the nicest guy.

"Better than the other guy. Apparently he punishes his students' misbehaviors with expulsion," Zoro said, planting his feet on the desk while they waited for the next teacher to come in. The schedule was boring but for the hero training. English and math were a given, and art history was sort of surprising. Ace had never taken that kind of class before.