Uraraka takes a deep breath as she stands before the door to her new classroom. 'New city, new school, new friends. Just be friendly. But not too friendly. Cool. Yeah cool. I can be cool.' Grabbing the handle, she softly slides the door open, trying to minimize the sound. Though with how loud the blond and blue-haired boys in the front were already talking she could probably blow up the door without anyone noticing.

She wasn't the only one drawn to the conflict. Before her stands a thin boy around her length with curly green hair. The notion of being cool is immediately forgotten as she skips towards Izuku Midoriya and happily taps him on the shoulder. "Zero! You made it."

The boy goes rigid and spins around, pulling his shoulder away from her touch at once. "Ze... zero?"

Realizing her mistake, she quickly waves her hands before her. "Ahhh I am sorry it's just that-""DEKU! Why the hell are you here?"

She is cut off by the shouting of Bakugo Katsuki, but before either of them can respond the blue-haired boy turns around and charges at them. "Good Morning. I never had a chance to introduce myself at the exam. My name is Tenya Iida. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I am Izuku Midoriya. I uhm… I need to find a seat." With that Izuku quickly walks past Iida and takes a seat diagonally in front of the blond.

"Take a different seat nerd. I don't want to spend all day looking at you" "But this is the last free seat at the front."

Before another argument breaks out, Iida and Uraraka are again at Izuku's side. "Choosing your seat in order to study better. I truly underestimated you before Midoriya." "I think everyone did until Zero blew that big robot to pieces." All conversations in the room come to a crashing halt as everyone's' attention turns to the green-haired boy.

The silence is broken by a small giggle that comes from the doorway as Miura Hanako walks into the room. She is tall, toned with heavily worked muscles, and walks with an air of absolute confidence around her. She brushes her long auburn hair behind her ear as she passes Izuku's table. A small iron band is wrapped around her wrist. Her steely grey eyes shoot him a glance "Already trying for a new nickname Deku?"

Hanako takes her seat diagonally behind him and to the left and starts talking to the pink-skinned girl beside her. Izuku looks away embarrassed and mumbles under his breath. "I wasn't asking for them." He isn't able to hide the red hues on his cheeks from Uraraka however.

"As I was saying before," Iida continues on, brushing over what just happened. "I must apologize to you Midoriya. You saw right through the exam and its hidden objectives where even I wasn't able to."

"Hidden objectives? Do you mean the rescue points?" Uraraka starts smiling brighter as the topic comes up. "Is that how you managed to pass the exam?"

The boy shrugs his shoulders almost not caring about the topic. Iida however picks up for the lack of response. "I am sure it did. It must have shown our teachers your potential as a hero."

Uraraka clasps her hands together in joy. "That's great to hear. Now I am really glad that you saved me!"

Instead of the gratitude she expected, Izuku's face turns into a scowl. "I didn't know about the rescue points. Even if I did that wasn't why I helped you." His words have an edge to them that makes Uraraka instinctively step back.

"Now there is no need- "Iida is cut off by the opening of the door where a tall caterpillar looking man walks into the room. "If you are just here to hold tea parties you are in the wrong place. Grab one of those uniforms from the desk and gather on training ground B." All the students stare with wide eyes at the man. "Now!" Everyone scrambles to the desk before running out of the classroom.

'And I was looking forward to the entrance ceremony.' The group was halfway through the assessment test and the stress was starting to get to the rose-cheeked girl.

"You look a bit stressed Ochaco. Kerro." Her new friend Tsuyu Asui places a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry. Others are performing far worse than you."

Some of those people around her flinch at the bluntness of the frog girl. Uraraka can only chuckle awkwardly as she doesn't want to offend anyone. "Thanks, Asui."

"Call me Tsu." With that, the frog girl goes back to watching the next person performing the long jump. 'At least my classmates are nice. Well, most of them' Speaking of the devil, Bakugo walks up to the sandpit ready for his long jump. 'That means…' Uraraka makes sure to covers her ears with her hands. As the explosion user takes his position, her eyes drift off to the side where Izuku stands next to Koda and Shoji. His hands wrung together, his body trembling faster by the minute, as he tries to make himself as small as possible. If Uraraka is nervous, he is an absolute wreck.

But just like every time where it was Bakugo's turn to go, Izuku takes a step forward and in front of the closest person around him. This time it was the boy Koda. Of all his weird behavior that day this was one that confused her the most. 'Is he scared off the explosions hitting someone?'.

Her frustration was clearly showing as Hanako steps up beside her. "Don't worry about it. He always does that." Uraraka jumps in surprise at her sudden entrance, drawing laughter from the other girl. "The test getting you all tensed up?"

"Hanako, you scared me." This just causes the girl to chuckle again. "I... I'm fine. Just trying to focus that's all." Hanako doesn't respond, keeping her gaze locked on the field ahead.

"You two knew each other already?" Uraraka sneaks a look from the corner of her eye but Hanako's expression remains neutral, uncaring.

"We went to Middle school together. He and Bakugo go further back though." It isn't until she ends her answer that any sense of strong emotion creeps in. "And he has been playing human shield for as long as I know him."

Uraraka wants to respond, 'Is that a bad thing?' but Aizawa calls Izuku forward. This boy jumped dozens of feet into the air to save her before, this shouldn't be a problem for him. Still, he walks to the pit with shaking legs. 'Come on you can do this Zero… Deku…. whatever. Just show them your power.'

Instead of the incredible jump, she saw at the entrance exam he barely makes it a few meters before crashing down into the sand. Mummers of relief arise from the students around Uraraka. It seems the group has found the sacrificial lamb to be expelled. Uraraka starts to feel the same sense of relief creep ever closer. She watches as the green hair boy slams his fist into the sand in frustration before stalking back to the sideline.

'Why are you holding back?'

This would continue for the remainder of the tests. No matter what they were supposed to do, the boy still didn't use his quirk. Was something stopping him? Is he trying to make a point? Uraraka wasn't sure why he was doing this. And if she was honest, she was starting to become relieved seeing him fall further behind in the ranking with each event.

She grimaces at the thought. 'No that's the stress talking. I want Zero to make it!' "Anytime Uraraka." Their teacher gives her an annoyed glare as she stands in the circle holding the baseball. "Sorry sensei!"

Taking a few deep breaths, she activates her quirk on the ball. 'He will make it. He punched a giant robot so he can toss a baseball.' She reels her arm back and closes her mouth for the upcoming nausea 'That just means I need to show them what I can do too!'

With that, she slings her arm back forward and releases the ball seemingly too soon. It shoots higher and higher into the air, gaining more height than distance. Uraraka presses the palms of her hands together, making sure that the fingertips don't touch. Already she feels her stomach act up. 'Not yet.' She snaps her eyes shut, engaging her core muscles. Tensing her body to fight the increasing nausea. 'Not yet.'

Her body starts to spin in an empty void but still, she holds on 'Not yet.' For a split second, she loses her balance but manages to catch herself. 'Not yet. Not yet. Not yet' With a gasp for air, she grasps her hands together and relaxes her body. Holding her stomach, she turns back to Aizawa sensei. 'That was so short. It can't have made it far. What if I-

"Congrats Uraraka, you might have potential." Uraraka's eyes widen as she reads her score. 'I scored... infinity?'. The rest of the group is going wild at hearing her score as she joins back with them. She chuckles sheepishly as they crowd around her.

"That was so awesome, Uraraka." The pink skinned Ashido gushes. Next to her Kaminari jumps in. "How can you even get a score of infinity, did your quirk mess with the ball?"

Uraraka takes a step back and puts her hands up defensively. "I am not really sure how I did that. My quirk only takes away gravity as long as my fingertips don't touch."

The group is caught off guard by rapid mumbling behind them. Turning around they find Izuku quickly scribbling in a beat-up, light blue notebook. "Uhm Zero what are you doing?" With just those few words Uraraka sends the boy flying into the air. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"No... no problem Uraraka. I was just trying to figure out how you go that score and got a bit distracted." Izuku slowly steps further away from the group of people when he stumbles back into the redhead Kirishima.

"Then what did you think got her the record?" Kirishima picks the notebook out of the boy's hands. Looking at the words and numbers written down he rotates the book around trying to make sense of it all. "Uhm dude why are you doing math homework?"

This draws the attention of the rest of the group who start watching along over Kirishima's shoulders. "Wow, those are a lot of numbers." Ashido states as she stares at the notebook before a teasing grin takes over. "Also, nice drawing. You got one for all of us?"

Uraraka starts blushing harshly as she sees the drawing of her using her quirk. 'Do I always look this intense?' Izuku snatches the book back and hides it behind his back with one hand while using his other arm to cover his flushed cheeks.

"Not all of you but...I... ahhh" He shakes his head dropping that frame of thought and deciding to go for a diversion. "To get infinity she would need to send the ball past earth's gravity. After that, it won't stop until it burns up. I was just trying to figure out how much force that would take."

"Wait!" Kirishima's eyes sparkle in excitement. "You're saying it went into space? That's so manly Uraraka." Again, all the attention is back on her with everyone trying to get to know the girl who literally threw a ball into space. Well almost everyone.

A small explosion makes the entire group jump and turn around towards Bakugo. Only for some of them to find their sight obscured as both Kirishima and Izuku have immediately stepped in-between the group and the explosion user. The former hardening his arms in preparation, while the latter shakily holds his ground. "Tsk nothing special about that. She's lucky that her quirk fits the test well enough. She would probably get kicked out if Deku wasn't here." His glare moves straight to the green-haired boy who takes a step back.

Aizawa breaks up the conflict with a simple and disinterested, "Midoriya, your turn. Hurry up." The boy slowly moves into the circle. Uraraka wants to call out for support but stops herself. 'I can't distract him. He needs his focus'.

She and Kirishima are surprised when Hanako steps up beside him. "Charming as ever Bakugo. You do know you won't become number one just by winning fights. Or by picking them."

"Tsk neither will just being popular." The two of them just stare ahead towards the circle as Kirishima and Uraraka look at each other, silently communicating 'Are they friends or are they going to fight?' "So why are you defending Deku? Planning on making him your lapdog with Wheels out of the way?"

"As if. He won't even make the afternoon if he keeps playing around." Hanako has a scowl on her face. Something is really making her angry.

"Do you mean Midoriya is holding back?" Kirishima looks at her confused. Uraraka agrees with him even if she already knew he wasn't using his quirk she has no idea why. "How do you know?"

"His muscles. He isn't exerting them to their max. Like he is afraid to tear them or something." Her gaze is locked on the boy taking the ball from Aizawa. Staring at him like she can see right through him.

"Is that why he isn't using his quirk?" It clicks for Uraraka. 'He hurt himself pretty badly last week. Maybe he hasn't recovered yet?'

"What are you talking about round-face? Deku is quirkless." Right as Bakugo says that Izuku throws the ball with a scream. It does nothing as the ball only lands a few feet away. "See, just a quirkless nobody."

'Quirkless, but I saw him-' "Uraraka." Her thoughts are cut off by Hanako. The tall girl stares directly at her with an intensity no one can break away from. "Why do you call him Zero?"

"Yeah, I thought you didn't know him before?" Kirishima cuts in like a detective wanting answers. "Zero isn't a manly nickname you know."

"Ahh! I... Well... He was in the same entrance exam as me." Uraraka talks a mile a minute. Like a guilty kid trying to convince you they are innocent. "He never told me his name though. So, when I told my parents about how he saved me from the zero pointer I just called him Zero. I guess I just started calling him that in my head so when I saw him again in class that name just came out!"

"How did he even safe you from that thing?" But before the brunette can respond a scream tears through the field "SMASHHHHHH!"

A powerful blast of air forces everyone to brace and shield their eyes as sand and dust is blasted into the air. All but Uraraka stare slack jawed to the center of the blast where Izuku stands clutching his injured hand with a feral grin. Uraraka sends Hanako a satisfied smirk before taking off to meet Izuku halfway. "That's how he saved me."

"Zero!" Izuku jumps back as Uraraka suddenly appears before him. "That was so cool. You finally showed them how awesome you are!"

"A…Awesome?" Izuku blushes scarlet at the praise and struggles to get a reply out.

"DEKU" An explosion cuts him off and Uraraka feels herself being grabbed and pulled back. Blinking she suddenly sees Bakugo suspended in the air by a piece of cloth. The boy shouts and flays to get out but is completely mobilized. Between the two stands Izuku his back facing the blond as he stands over Uraraka as a shield 'He is taller than me'.

With that thought, Uraraka walks a little bit in Izuku's shoes as she suddenly starts blushing madly. "Z… Ze… Zero?"

Izuku's eyes shoot open and he jumps back so quickly, Uraraka is certain he used his quirk to do so. "Ahh, I am sorry. He just... I was..." But before he can explain himself Aizawa releases Bakugo.

"If anyone tries to attack their classmates again, you're out. Understood?" A chorus of yes sirs and a grunt from Bakugo is enough to appease the teacher. "Alright now everyone on to the long-distance run."

"Alright, I am so pumped up. Let's go!" pushing his arms into the air, Kirishima quickly takes off after Aizawa. The rest of the class follows after him a bit more subdued, but none can't escape this newfound energy. There is more determination, more drive in their steps. The complacency of being sure they would avoid last place is gone and they all know they need to give their all until the end. Uraraka's gaze falls on Hanako, whose steel gaze is aimed directly at Izuku. Examining every little detail of him as if a new competitor just joined the ring. 'Good. Don't underestimate us anymore.'

"Will you be fine?" She nudges Izuku with her shoulder, shaking him out of his embarrassment and getting a slow hesitant nod in return. 'He really should just go to the infirmary.' She doesn't like how it took him a second but their teacher is forcing their hands so it will have to wait. "Good, because everyone is now out to get you Zero." Uraraka says before quickly joining the rest of their class. Izuku eyes follow her until they land on to the group of students following behind Aizawa. She is right as every few seconds one or more of the students look back at him. Everyone one of them silently saying the same thing. My turn.

Uraraka quickly glances back at him just when he balls his fists and with a pained grin full of determination quickly makes his way over to the track field. 'See, you can be cool Ochaco.'

"ZERO! How did you end up in last place? I was sure you would at least end higher" After their assessment was over and the teacher's trick 'Logical ruse. Ha that was just plain lying!' was revealed, Uraraka decided to wait until Izuku came back from the infirmary and congratulate him on passing the test in a calm and collected way. "Why didn't you use your quirk more? You could have ended at least 15th if you used it in the final event!" Yeah, real calm and collected.

"Uraraka-san?!" Jumping in loudly had the boy jump out of his skin and immediately grab at his chest to stop his heart from bursting out. Years later, Uraraka would still deny that this wasn't part of her plan. "W… Why are you here?"

Tilting her head to the side she gives him a look like he just asked her the weirdest question in the world. "Huh. Why wouldn't I? Ohh is your finger okay now?"

After the boy nods his head in confirmation, she picks up her bag and starts making for the exit. "That's great. Recovery girl sure is amazing." Izuku starts following her, just as she hoped. "Hey, are you going to the station? Because if you do, we can walk together! That's way more fun than walking alone."

"Wait, I never introduced myself, did I? Hehe" She spins around to face him and scratches her cheek in embarrassment. "I am Uraraka Ochaco. It's nice to formally meet you Zero. I hope we can be friends."

The boy just looks at her, with a blank expression. It's so quiet all Uraraka can hear is the sounds of the passing wind. 'Ohh no he doesn't want to be friends? Wait is it because I called him Zero? It could be kinda mean after all. But it fits him so well. NO WAIT THAT IS REALLY MEAN!'

Snapping out of that tangled up web of thought, she begins waving her arms in front of her in a panic trying to save the situation. "Ahhh I am sorry. I just jumped that name onto you. I get it if you don't like it. Can I just call you Midoriya like the others do or maybe Deku like Hanako?"

"Don't call me that." The nervous trembling mess of a person is no longer there as Izuku's words are filled with anger that makes Uraraka take a step away from him. Before she can apologize to him the boy is hit on the head with a rolled-up magazine.

"Now you suddenly care about that name?" The culprit, Hanako, unrolls the magazine as she gives Izuku a look of basic disinterest. "Acting like a less intimidating Bakugo won't get people to stop you know."

'Is she helping him or bullying?' Confused, Uraraka clears her throat to try and get back into the conversation. Hanako immediately turns away from the boy to address her with a friendly grin. "Don't mind him Ochaco. People always call him Deku to say that he is useless, but it seems he doesn't like it anymore. I gotta go, see you tomorrow. Ohh and Deku don't make the poor girl walk home alone now." With that, the pretty heroine in training ends the conversation and takes off towards home.

'That's what it means?' Shocked Uraraka turns around towards Hanako. Angry and confused she shouts back after the girl. "Then why do you call him that?"

Hanako stops for a second and turns back. Her steely gaze stares straight through Uraraka and into her soul. "Because it's his name." With that, she walks out of the gate and out of sight.

Uraraka looks back towards Izuku, who's watching Hanako walk away. "Ze… Midoriya. I am sorry I didn't know that it meant that. They shouldn't be calling you that."

He glares back at her as if ready to lash out, but he holds himself back as she sees recognition in his eyes. Of what she doesn't know but it helps shake him out of his funk. Continuing on his way he walks past the girl. "You still want to walk to the station together?"

"Of course. Let's go!" With renewed vigor, she follows after him. "You can keep calling me Zero. You know if you want to." The words are spoken quietly and filled with doubt, But still, Uraraka smiles. They might not have gotten off to a right start but maybe they can still become friends? Not today but perhaps tomorrow.

Exhausting. If there is one-word Izuku would use to describe his first day at U.A it would be that. 'Why did all three of us have to be in the same class?' He couldn't be sure of the rest of his class yet but all of them did point to him as the one to fail straight from the beginning.

'Well, maybe not all of them'. He was contemplating his rose-cheeked classmate as he walked up the stairs off his apartment complex. Running their conversations through his head searching for signs that she was just putting up an act. It wouldn't be the first time after all. 'I just need to be careful.'

"I am home." As he opens his front door someone immediately throws their body at him into an embrace that sends both of them tumbling to the ground. "Sayuri I told you to stop that! You could get hurt."

"You finally went to U.A Izuchan! You have to tell me everything!" Nakajima Sayuri, a petite girl the same age as Izuku with bright blue eyes and long wavy blond hair, completely ignores his concern as he crawls out of her embrace. "Was it as hard as they say?"

"Even harder. They gave us a test right at the start of class." Instead of helping the girl up, Izuku walks past her and puts the girl's wheelchair back on its wheels.

"No way. What about the entrance ceremony?' Sayuri pulls herself up and into the chair as Izuku holds it steady. "They did let you go to it right? No wait did you pass the test? Is that why you look so tired?"

"I passed... barely. It was a long day." Sayuri sits up in her chair and looks back over her shoulder in concern. That simple act immediately breaks through Izuku's defenses. "Bakugo and Hanako are also in my class." Hearing that the girl's smile instantly fades. Knowing she will otherwise stay here until he talks, Izuku grabs the handles of her chair and pushes her into the living room where Inko and Sayuri's parents are already sitting at the dinner table.

"Ahh, you're finally home sweetie. They kept you awfully long for your first day." Inko motions for him to sit down, clearly excited and worried to hear everything that happened to her poor baby boy.

"The man of the hour. You already look more like a man in that uniform son." Sayuri's father calls out to him smiling while raising his drink. "He is right Izuku. You look really handsome in it." Adding to the praise is Sayuri's mother.

Izuku can't help but blush at that. "Thank you. Uhm I… I like the jacket a lot" Pushing through the embarrassment and ignoring the laughter coming from the table, he helps Sayuri to her spot before taking his seat beside her. "I'm sorry, I am late. I walked with someone to the station and missed my train."

Sayuri's eyes immediately light up as she starts shaking his arm. "Really!? With whom? Are you classmates? Seat neighbors? Friends?"

Izuku would spend the rest of the night answering dozens of questions from the girl to her delight and often his embarrassment. After the Nakajima family left, he started to help his mother with the dishes. "So how was your first-day sweetie?"

He gives her a tired smile. Tired but genuine. "It was good mom. I am just glad to be home."