Author's Note:
HOOOO BOY
I'm back at it again with some self-indulgent fanfiction! Anyways thanks for stopping by and giving me your time.

Disclaimer:
I do not own the My Hero Academia IP.

Ever Upward, Always Forward

[A My Hero Academia Fanfiction]

Chapter 1

Daffodil

Today's the day.

Pearlescent locks danced and fluttered in the air as the head swayed back and forth as steady footsteps brought them to a pristine doorway. Glass filtered sunlight reflected from bright hair, causing the figure to stand out.

Not that it mattered at the slightest.

Standing there was a young man, donned in heavy gold earrings and hands encrusted with the same material. There he shone like a trophy. However, he cared not for the curious stares and gawking from passing students as he was headed to his destination.

He was here and it was through his own merit.

Breathing in an air of confidence, he slapped both his cheeks in reassurance. This is the first day on his journey, his first step to being who he wants to be; a Hero. As he took another breath whilst reaching for the door handle, the young man's ears detected a pair of footfalls coming his way. It seemed that this person was in a rush and coming closer at a quick pace. Turning towards the sound he was greeted with a panting student holding a big yellow backpack. The class hasn't started, but it seemed like 'yellow bag' was frazzled to no end.

"A-Ah! This door's humongous!" Yellow bag exclaimed off-handedly, "O-Oh!? You must be in class 1-A too?"

The flashy young man nodded.

"W-well… we should head in…" Yellow bag cautiously and shyly opened the door revealing a loud and lively classroom. He visibly stiffened at the scene, he seemed to be in shock of the commotion that was right in front of him. Another pair of boys were arguing over the basis on proper sitting postures. It all seemed to go in on the flashy boy's ear and out the other he wasn't paying attention. Besides, it wasn't a conversation he wished to participate in. Yellow bag seemed to shrink away behind his flashy companion, only to be spotted by one of the boys — a bespectacled fellow who seemed to be well put together.

"Hello, I'm Iida Tenya from Soumei-" The glasses boy started only to be cut off by Yellow bag.

"Oh yeah, haha… I kinda overheard you mentioning that earlier... Nice to meet you, Iida, I'm Midoriya!" Yellow bag — who's name is now Midoriya awkwardly replied.

"Midoriya… I must hand it to you. You figured out the actual nature of the practical skill exam didn't you?" Iida started, piquing the interest of Midoriya's companion. "I was blind to it! And I completely misread you! I hate to admit it, but you were the better man!"

"Wait, what did he do?" The still-unnamed boy spoke. He wasn't exactly listening in as much as one should, but at the mention of the school's practical exam intrigued him. Before either Iida and Midoriya could reply to another new voice cut through the conversation.

"Ah! It's you, Curly Hair! I'm glad I found you!" A bubbly girl made her way through the doorway. "You made it! Just like Present Mic said! Yay! Go You! That punch was out of this world!" Now the flashy boy was curious, he assumed that these three must have met in the same testing arena.

The girl went on for a bit as Midoriya muttered dismissing statements countering her compliments. All the while the flashy boy watched in interest at their interactions, how easy they just spoke to each other, not exactly friends yet — but he can tell these three would be there in no time. He internally mused as this new chapter of his life opened, it was refreshing. It was a new start in a way. Better put his best foot forward as well.

"Oh! I'm Uraraka Ochaco!" The bubbly girl spoke to the three boys.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all, my name is Iida Tenya."

As the flashy boy listened, his mind must have wandered off to possible situations of how his day might go, not realising that the other three were waiting for his response. His eyebrows plucked up in at their expectant stares.

"Oh, my name's Kaneshiro Tatsuya."

"W-wait… You mean—" An impressed gasp pulled his attention to his left.

"If you're gonna be making friends, do that somewhere else." A stern but tired voice interrupted Midoriya's reply. The group flinched and slowly turned to the source, "This is the Hero Department, not a get-together."

Four pairs of eyes — all varying in degrees of shock — watched the man stand up and shrug off the sleeping bag, like a weird greasy black butterfly coming out of its cocoon. Corners of Tatsuya's mouth twitched as he stared at this homeless-looking fellow continue on his lecture.

"Hmm… It took you about 8 seconds to quiet down… Time is precious and rational students know not to waste it... I'm gonna be your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Pleasure meeting you." Now fully out of his cocoon of a sleeping bag, he spoke — never moving from a monotone drawl. It was slightly daunting to Tatsuya, who was never used to a teacher this… dishevelled.

"Right, let's get things going." The boy smiled politely as everyone watched the older man's actions. Reaching in his sleeping bag, he fished out the school's gym uniform."Put these on — they should be under your desks. Then head over to the P.E. grounds, immediately."

For a moment Aizawa stood impassively, staring them down, before Iida and the rest of the group shuffled to their seats with urgency. Tatsuya made his way to a seat right next to a peculiar looking girl. Her eyes were glassy and her tongue was poking out cutely. She looks like a frog. Giving to her in a polite nod as a greeting, he grabbed the uniform ready to seek out the bathroom to change.

"Being late on the first day of school doesn't say anything good about you..." Tatsuya overheard, looking up only to see another student at the doorway. She was panting like a mad dog, her hair — white similar like his — was in a horrible state probably from running to class. Cheeks flushed, probably from embarrassment and the failed attempt to catch the first bell. "Get ready and follow the others. I'd expect you to be early next time."

And with that, Aizawa saw himself out. Leaving a rather flustered girl to scamper to the only available seat; which was sandwiched between the flashy boy and Midoriya. She was wearing a childish pout as she hung her bag on her seat and gathered the uniform.

Tatsuya studied her for a fleeting moment. She was small, even smaller than the frog looking girl that was next to him, who was now out of the room to change. Her hands patted down in an attempt to tame white locks, her skin was dark akin to varnished teak wood complimented her hair well. Her eyes... were looking right at him.

Oh, I've been caught.

"A-ah… sorry about staring." He raised a hand apologetically, "I'm Kaneshiro Tatsuya. It seems like we're going to be seatmates."

"Oh! I'm Sumitomo Tsubaki!" The girl beamed. It seems as though it might be hard to dampen her spirits. "I'll be in your care."

Shooting her hand towards him, her big bright eyes sparkled. Tatsuya smiled as she shook her hand, a firm and confident handshake. That he liked to see.

"Well… Seatmate Sumitomo, we better get going. Everyone else got a head start."

The P.E. grounds weren't much of a distance from the classroom. Tatsuya made quick work changing and walking to the designated area. It looked like a normal sports field, though it was significantly larger than most middle school or regular high school. One can make the argument that it might be just as big as those in universities. Yuuei with its prestige must have the budget to splurge on their many facilities.

The grounds were a testament to that notion.

"Ne~ Kaneshiro-san." A voice piped up from his right, turning to see a familiar face of Sumitomo looking up to him. It seems that she managed to get changed and scamper her way to the grounds earlier than some of the students. The class was finally gathering, though some weren't all that enthusiastic about missing the opening ceremony guessing from their gaits. "Man… I always wondered how it's like to sit in Yuuei's opening ceremonies. I wish we could attend." She quietly whined, knowing to refrain from gaining the attention of their teacher.

"I doubt we're missing anything worthwhile…" Tatsuya looked around. The class is finally here it seems. "It's always the same in every school."

"Maybe… But it's still Yuuei…" She spoke in a dream-like tone, excited and giddy that she's attending this school. "Anyways! What do you think Sensei has in store for us?"

"Well, that's good that someone finally asked," Aizawa interjected, his gaze on Tsubaki. "You all will be doing a Quirk Apprehension Test."

A chorus of voices echoed the last few words that came from Aizawa in disbelief. Probably caught unawares at the sudden test on the first day of school, on their first year of enrollment, nonetheless. Faces all varied in expressions, from outright shock to disinterest. This is an interesting class.

I stand corrected. Yuuei isn't like every other school.

Tatsuya scratched the back of his ear, not exactly worried about the test. He passed the entrance exams close to the top, and that wasn't even much of a problem. Why should the others be worried unless they can't back up their spot in the school? The young man was looked unaffected and was bored, itching for something to happen.

"B-but what about the ceremony?" Uraraka asked. Another person is so concerned about it. "And the guidance counsellor meeting?"

"If you want to be heroes, we don't have time for frilly niceties." Aizawa started, tapping his tablet to life. Monotone as sin, he glanced towards the class as a whole. "You all understand the school's reputation for freedom on campus. Well, that 'freedom' goes for us teachers too."

No one dared to reply.

"Physical tests you know from middle school naturally banned the use of your quirks. The country still hasn't gotten around standardising those sorts of records or keeping track of 'average' performance levels." He continued, "Bakugo, how far could you throw a softball in middle school.?"

"67 meters." A rough-looking blonde answered without hesitation.

"Try using your using your quirk this time round." The teacher tossed a ball at the boy — who easily caught it with one hand. "As long as you don't step out of the circle, anything goes. Don't hold back."

"You got it." A wicked grin spread across the boy's face, as he stretched his throwing arm in preparation. Without even a pause for breath, the boy lurched forward his arm being dragged along akin to a catapult. Even if quirks weren't allowed in this test; based on Bakugo's form it might snag a respectable distance.

"DIE!" A huge explosion propelled the poor ball skyward, just like a cannon. Tatsuya watched with furrowed brows as he took in the raw power displayed. It was indeed a stellar performance and honestly intimidating to anyone else watching, but one thing was bugging him.

Why the hell did he say "die" for?

"Before anything else," Aizawa's voice demanded the attention of Tatsuya's wandering mind, "one must know what they're capable of. This is a rational metric that will be the basis of your Hero Foundation."

21 pairs of eyes landed on the tablet now turned towards the class; 705.2 meters. It was miles above the first record Bakugo put forth. It was insane. The class erupted in impressed chatter, all of them now fired up and ready to showcase their "awesome" quirks.

"This looks fun!" Some voice exclaimed in the crowd. A mistake was made.

"This looks fun…you say?" His monotone voice echoed, however, the students felt a slight danger to his tone. "So you were planning to spend your three years here having a good ol' time? What happened to becoming heroes?"

Tatsuya felt someone inch closer to his side — it was his seatmate; now wearing a fearful face. His looked back at his teacher, not wanting to waiver under his presence. He was taught to be better than that.

"All right then." The teacher's voice held a sense of finality and left no room for arguing. "In that case, new rule: the student who ranks last in total points will be judged as 'hopeless' and be instantly expelled. We don't need to waste time on those who won't prove they can't make the cut. The teacher's "freedom" means we can dismiss students as we see fit."

Everyone steeled themselves as the stakes just became higher. They were also cursing the person who managed to let that statement out. They might have avoided this if they kept their mouth shut.

"Welcome, to the Hero Department."

—

The 50-meter dash.

An easy one really. It tests a person's sprinting speed, how fast they could accelerate for a short distance. Easily one of the tried and true fitness tests for any old school, but not Yuuei.

Yuuei's different.

"3.04 seconds!" A robotic voice resounded from a marker bot, as a blur of blue whizzed past it. Iida stood unfazed by the explosive performance from the dashed line. Hands readjusted his glasses as he looked back to his competitor; the frog girl coming in 5.58 seconds. Impressive time for someone who was just hopping. The bubbly girl, Uraraka, managed to come in at a seemingly mild 7.15 seconds.

Tatsuya and Tsubaki watched the class go through an aspect of the apprehension test. The boy watching in curiosity as he took little notes about the quirks of his classmates. It was a habit of his — watching people. He calculated how fast he might be in comparison to his previous time of 7.08 seconds.

"They've pretty cool huh?" The girl initiated her gaze towards Bakugo and Midoriya at the starting line.

"Oh yeah definitely…" Tatsuya watched as Bakugo use his explosions as a form of thrust; 4.13 seconds. He faces melted from a passive gaze, slightly frowning at Midoriya's normal sprint coming in at a 7.02 seconds.

"It's really nice to see our classmates' quirks. I never got in through the exam…" That caused him to look to her, still watching the second pair ready themselves. It was a boy sporting hair with a vertical split between white and red and a girl who looked like a traditional Japanese beauty, sharp eyes and jet black hair tied in a neat and graceful manner.

They looked like the epitome of sophistication. He wondered how that was possible for a bunch of first years, but here it was proving him wrong. Tatsuya's eyes widened as he saw the girl pull out an electric skateboard from her body.

"You're one of the few recommendation students huh?" He replied, now watching the pair take their marks.

At the beep, the electric skateboard whirled to life, its threaded wheels grabbing the ground for added traction for quick acceleration. It was impressive, but her partner somehow stole her limelight. Glistening ice instantly covered the ground on his lane. Two-tone was basically speed skating rather than sprinting, it was graceful as it was swift. The boy claimed the timing of 3.36 seconds — only about half a second behind Iida, while the girl skidded to a stop with 4.45 seconds.

"Whoa… that was pretty…" Tsubaki spoke before snapping back to her conversation with him, "Yeah… I think they're recommendation kids too. It figures. With how easy they just made it look."

"Yeah… You said it." Crossing his arms Tatsuya left out an impressed huff as he watched Two-tone thaw his ice sheet, leaving the track to where he started with.

"Oh… Kaneshiro-kun looks like we're next." Tsubaki skipped to the starting line, still bouncing between her two feet. Her hair now in a puffy ponytail bobbed from her fidgeting.

A thought crossed his mind as they made their way to the markers. Tatsuya wasn't all that miffed at the prospect of racing against a recommendation student, he knew he could hold his own. However, looking at her one might not expect much in the way of raw power nor ability. She just looked like a pretty young girl with a bouncy personality — not that was a bad thing. Giving her a smile, he assumed starting position as she did the same.

Competitor or not, both were equally curious about how what the other has in store. Tatsuya never did see any of his classmates in his exam area. Or maybe the invisible girl was with him, but given her quirk, he must've not noticed just like anyone else.

Ready.

Set.

Tatsuya's eyes flashed to life with a magenta glow as he focused on the ground on his feet.

Now!

BEEP.

He felt the ground push violently against his feet for a moment, before his body was catapulted through the air easily clearing a few meters in a single bound. It left, unnatural prongs of the earth exactly where his feet were. Preparing for another, the flashy boy's ear picked up a soft landing right next to him.

Eyes snapped to the other lane.

There she was — a step or two ahead — in the middle of a step. Looking as though everything was in slow motion, Tsubaki's foot slammed on the ground. As contact was made and her weight shifted on to that limb, the air snapped as if someone cracked a whip. With that, she propelled herself on another impressive bound.

Tatsuya was not far behind. Repeating his first move, he moved forward. The ground pushing up against his feet, like a springboard. However, the girl was far ahead. She looked like she was… flying.

Amazing…

3.16 seconds!

Small feet landed past the finish line with a gentle tap. Tsubaki's hair fluttered down as she let out a few relaxing breaths. It looked as if she's done this a million times — which was probably the case. Not far behind her came Tatsuya, barreling towards the finish line. More emphasis on power rather than looking cute.

They were polar opposites.

5.72 seconds!

Just like the pair before them, these two made it look effortless. As expected of recommendation students, though Tatsuya wasn't actually one of them. He could easily count as one given his performance stacked against the other three.

"Whoa! Kaneshiro! That was so cool! You too girly!" Uraraka complimented the pair as they melded back into the crowd. The boy gave her a polite smile whilst scratching the back of his neck. He didn't really felt like he deserved such praise for a small demonstration.

"Yeah! Kaneshiro-kun you were so cool looking the way the ground just went POW!" The white-haired girl backed her up.

"Not only that. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I overheard that you came into Yuuei through recommendations, right?" Uraraka placed a quizzical finger on her chin.

"O-oh! Yeah. I'm one of them, I heard it's an even split between the two classes." Tsubaki answered, "I believe it's three each, which means that there are six of us recommendation students."

Uraraka made a hum of understanding as she processed the information. Feeling like he was going between a budding bond between two girls, Tatsuya opted to stand next to the boy he first met. As he stood next to Midoriya, he couldn't help but feel an air of panic around him.

Looking to his left he picked up on how shoulders hunched inward as if to make him look smaller. How his hands fidget, probably restless. The clearest tell was his expression; a look of fear laced with determination bleed through every pore of his. There were probably hundreds of thoughts racing in that boy's head on how he can get a leg up on this situation.

Surely he doesn't think the expulsion was real, right?

—

Toe touch, side steps, long jumps, and the grip strength tests flew by without a hitch. However as the class moved from one to another, Tatsuya couldn't help but notice Midoriya wasn't exactly using his quirk at all. Holding back is one thing, but outright refusing to use a quirk for a test that was meant to assess it is something worse. Eyebrows furrowed as the flashy boy watch Midoriya still looking lost in thought. It didn't really affect him at the slightest, but the boy wouldn't want him to neglect the importance of self-analysis. However, the expression didn't show hints of that; it showed something else. Fear was there, but there was an inkling that this broccoli haired boy was trying his damnedest to keep afloat.

Tatsuya sighed, his eyes closing in slight annoyance over why he'd given this so much thought. It was unlike him — at least the person who was him 3 years ago. Was he becoming a nosy person? Keeping down a shudder from that concept, he tapped Midoriya's shoulder to get his attention causing the stressed boy to flinch.

"Hey, you good?" A weak start but he can work with that. "You sure you've been using your quirk, Midoriya? You're not doing too well—"

Another chorus of amazed noises erupted from the class. Both boys looked up to see Aizawa hold up an infinity symbol, bright on the screen. That insane score belonged Uraraka. It easily dethroned Bakugo's softball throw — or any other attempt to break it.

"Kaneshiro! You're up next." Their teacher chucked the ball at the taller boy, who caught it with both his hands.

On the moment the ball made contact with his bare hands he could feel the coolness of the metal sensors that wrapped around it. Though it may be an ordinary softball, the sensors added a significant amount of additional weight. Not like that mattered when quirks were in play. A small smile graced Tatsuya walked up to the circle, he nonchalantly tossed the ball up and down familiarising himself to its weight.

It had to have metal.

Rearing back his left arm, hand gripping the ball tightly, he let out a steady breath. Maybe he shouldn't hold back. Maybe unlike the other tests, he should show the others what it means to actually be somewhat serious. Maybe, it was to bolster some kind of encouragement for a certain boy he's been observing. But those don't need to be answered with his words alone, Tatsuya just has to show them how it's done.

He lurched his body forward, just like Bakugo from before. The same magenta glow emitted from his eyes, however, it seemed to be much brighter than before. They looked like it was illuminating his face. Tatsuya felt the ball more specifically; the metal. Each and every molecule of it and how it exists in space. It was second nature to him at this point, now he just has to move it as much as possible.

Letting go of the ball he could still feel the metal. Could still push it further. It was still within his range, he can add speed or even change its direction. He can pump in as much power as he wanted. As much power to make an impression. That he did.

Using some invisible force — his quirk. He boosted the ball's velocity as soon as it left his physical hands. He can still feel the solid molecules clearly just then, but as the ball moved further and further from him his mental hold and control of those molecules felt weaker. However, even if it escaped his area of control, Tatsuya was confident the ball will soar far and high and fast for long enough.

1204.3 meters.

Uraraka was a tough act to follow but it looked like he stacked up well to her record. Not as explosive as Bakugo, but he did manage to break the sound barrier with relative ease, just like the explosive boy. A smile found its way on his face as he glanced to Aizawa's tablet.

I should've let on a bit more effort.

Tatsuya let out a breath as his face melted back to a neutral disinterest. His eyes landed on a frightful Midoriya. It seems that his display didn't do much in encouragement. A mistake on his part for showing off too much. Forcing a wave of shame down he placed a hand on a shaky shoulder.

"Just do your best okay?" His voice and tone soft and guiding — but he couldn't help but feel like he wasn't practising what he preached. It was low enough to not be heard by unwanted ears. Midoriya seemed to snap out of this nervous trance and looked towards his companion. A gentle smile graced his lips as he looked down to the shorter boy. Showing a soft reassurance, though Tatsuya wasn't all too invested into this test he could feel his acquaintance's drive seeping out of every pore. He just couldn't help but feel for him.

"Y-yeah…" The shorter replied as he walked up to the circle. His turn was next. The tone was different from before, a hint of determination and confidence showed through. Maybe the flashy boy did something after all. The unnatural mixture of magenta and electric blue watched the boys form imitate every starter pose that has graced this circle. As if powering up his arm he lurched forward — just like Bakugo and Tatsuya — and let the ball fly.

"46 Meters" a robotic voice announced. Must be reserved for those who threw it under 50 which never happened in the duration of the test. Not only that but, this was painfully anticlimactic. With that windup, it was sure to be somewhat stellar, or at least something above 50 meters. Midoriya looked equally shocked as his face blanched at the abysmal throw. Small sounds of muttering spewed from his mouth trying to grasp the situation at hand.

"I erased your quirk." The class snapped to the teacher, black locks now standing on end. The scarf around him unravelled and it looked like it swayed in the nonexistent wind. In that mess of fabric, a pair of yellow goggles peaked out. The only sign of a support item, so it seems as though this plain black tracksuit was Aizawa's hero costume. "The judges in the entrance exams must be foolish to think you have the right to get into this academy."

Murmurs erupted from the class as they placed two and two together. Aizawa Shouta; Pro Hero: Eraserhead, was their homeroom teacher. Not many knew much about him, due to his distaste of media attention. 'It interferes with work' so he told the public.

"From what I see, you don't have any control over your quirk's full power or even use it without hurting yourself. Did you actually believe someone will save you every single time you cripple yourself? Pathetic." Reprimanding words came out from the teacher as he used the scarf dragging the poor boy to him. "Nobody is in the position of coming to your aid, especially if you're the hero that's there to help. There's a certain insufferable idiot that made his name on saving thousands of lives all by himself. I get that you might have brute strength as he did, but you running around like that… How can you save others when you're the one who's in need of saving the moment you use your quirk. Face it, your power will not help you become a hero like this."

The teacher's hair fluttered down as he let go of the boy. Aizawa sighed as he took out a small bottle of eyedrops, "I gave you back your quirk. You still have two chances. Let's get this over and done with."

Worried eyes watch the exchange though not able to pick up on the conversation from that distance. He could hear Iida giving out his insight on what has happened. Though Tatsuya would have to disagree, their body language didn't seem to say that it was mere coaching — especially how Midoriya was holding up. Frowning the observer couldn't help but feel a pang of concern for the boy. He blamed it on how that boy held himself in such a passive manner, it borderline to self-deprecating if you thought negatively about it.

So that's what you did in the entrance exam.

Tatsuya watch as Midoriya stood for a moment, most likely thinking about Aizawa's words and muttering to himself. Seconds passed as he expectantly waited for movement. It was slow as if time itself crawled at a snail's pace. Every movement that Midoriya made was amplified and was held for longer than normal — or so it seemed. He can tell this was it. That this run was going to be serious. A smile graced his lips as he watched the ball fly.

And fly it did.

His smile widened as he felt the powerful shockwave pass by them and the ball went hurtling to the sky. The flashy boy didn't remember the last time he felt this amazed but there he stood eyes wide and in awe. Eyes snapped from the sky to Midoriya.

"Sensei" The boy turned to Aizawa, his voice reaching the class. "I can still move!"

Midoriya, 705.3 meters.

"Yay! Way to go Midoriya!" Uraraka cheered next to Tsubaki, who was clapping her hands in amazement. "A record fit for a hero!"

"Your finger…" Iida pointed out, Tatsuya gave him a curious look. "It's swollen like the entrance exam.."

Hearing that, the white-haired boy couldn't help but raise a well-groomed brow. That is a peculiar quirk. Or at least a repercussion of one. Bones and muscles grow back stronger and over time they perform better than when one first started. However, what Midoriya showcased was strange indeed. It seemed like his power output was far too much for his body at this stage as if he can't contain it. Tatsuya hummed in thought. This was his first time seeing a quirk do that, but he was thankful that he seemed alright in the end. That's what matters. Right?

As he mused, a sudden blast of air whipped his hair to the side causing the boy to flinch. His multicoloured eyes spotted a blonde — Bakugo speeding towards the test taker.

"What the hell is that! Deku!" He spat, as he still barreled towards the poor green-haired boy Tatsuya watched in abjected horror as he witnessed this happen in front of him. "Fucking Deku! Explain what the hell you just did! You fu—" Bakugo's voice was suddenly cut off as his body was jerked back.

"W-what the hell, I can't tear through this…" The boy was bound with similar bands of fabric, trying his damnedest to break free. It looked like a feral dog clawing his way out from a snag.

"Don't bother trying. It's made out of special carbon fibre and steel alloy fabric. People stronger than you couldn't even tear through it, you'll just be wasting your time." Aizawa's voice sounded annoyed, though it still seemed tired as it has always been. "Why do you people force me to use my quirk. I have dry-eye dammit."

There was a pause, as the class watched their teacher reprimand the blonde. Sighing he loosen the grip around Bakugo and deactivating his quirk nullification over him. "We're wasting time. You lot prepare for the next trial."

—

So Tatsuya was right on the fact that there would be a huge gap in skills within the class. However, he wasn't exactly accurate on how big the gap was, nor the distribution of students and who they were. Looking at the class ranking he glanced to the others, intently looking for their name before he looked for his own name.

Ah… There it is.

Spotting his name at the top percentile, he hummed in satisfaction. It wasn't really something he was too worried about. He did the job and he wasn't exactly going 'Plus Ultra' on these tests. His mixed eyes glanced over a trio — the same people he just met earlier in the classroom — a pang of shame manifested as he saw their faces. They put their heart into this and maybe he shouldn't have taken this thing too lightly, especially when there were people who put in all their effort into this.

"Nene~ Kaneshiro-kun!" A soft but excited whisper brought his attention to another person he just met today, "You placed 4th! That's great!"

"You placed 7th, that's pretty good too." He looked away from her, "Plus you have a cool quirk, I'm guessing it has to do with movement?"

"Ah! That's a close guess! I can collect and store kinetic energy." Sumitomo whispered back. Her tone held a bit of sadness as she seemed to be hung up on the results. "It's not as flashy as that Bakugo, Mr 3rd rank. Man… It's kinda embarrassing since I'm a recommendation student, and to place below top five is pretty bad..."

"It's only the first day of school, you can claw your way up in no time," Tatsuya spoke, nonchalant and not really caring for class rankings. He just doesn't understand why do they need to bend over backwards to prove something this early. "It's good not to show all your cards too early."

Looking back to rankings he spotted a familiar name; Midoriya Izuku.

"Oh by the way… I lied about the expulsion threat." Aizawa's voice cut through, "It was just something to motivate you to put in effort in this test."

Just like that a chorus of dumbfounded noises and the word "What!" Tatsuya didn't react as much as the others, he scanned the class and spotted a few who were equally unfazed as he was. However, the trio looked like they were the most affected about this. And the thought hit him. These people actually fell for that blatant lie.

"Anyways… We're done here. Your syllabus sheets are back in class, head back and read through them by tomorrow. The real work starts then. Oh, Midoriya." He continued while fishing out a permission slip. "Take this to Recovery Girl, get yourself patched up. You'll need that for the next day."

"Wait…" Tatsuya walked up to them, along with a relieved Tsubaki — probably believe the teacher's lie as well. "You guys actually fell for it?"

"You didn't!?" The four of them replied in exasperation, making Tatsuya flinch back.

"A-ah… Sorry I didn't tell you guys…" The boy replied awkwardly, trying to shy away from four glares.

—

A mixture of blue and magenta spotted two familiar figures amongst a crowd of students. Following the test, the day went on swimmingly. Teachers introduced them to the class and set expectations and explained their respective syllabus. It felt just like a normal school, aside from that scare in the homeroom period. The flashy boy adjusted his bag's shoulder strap.

"Hey! You two!" Tatsuya called out to the two boys. Seeing them turn he waved and jogged to catch up. "You don't mind me walking with you guys—"

"Boys! Wait up!"

"Yeah! You guys hold up!"

The familiar voices of Uraraka and Tsubaki grabbed their attention.

"You guys are going to the station right?" The short white-haired girl asked, "Oh! My name's Sumitomo Tsubaki, by the way."

Corners of the flashy boy curled. He looked towards the small group forming, a feeling of warmth started building within him. This felt foreign to him. It wasn't the luxury he had in spades; the start of a friend group. But that isn't his concern right now. There's no shame in enjoying the moment as it is, right?

Lagging behind the shorter ones, Iida caught a longing smile plastered on Tatsuya's face.

Put your best foot forward, you bet your ass I'm doing that.

—

Daffodil:

One of the earliest flowers to bloom in Spring and often found in yellow, this particular flower is often associated with the meaning of rebirth and new beginnings. That is why it is often a popular pick for gifts around New Years.

The Daffodil also represents joy, happiness, and friendship.

Author's Note:
Thank you once again for stopping by!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please feel free to drop a review if you want!