12 April 2179

"See you later, Mom!"

"Good luck today, stay safe!"

The door closed, leaving Inko sitting alone at the kitchen table.

Inko had hoped that U.A. would be a clean break, that the new school would finally allow Izuku to make friends.

But she certainly hadn't expected a friend over for dinner after only the orientation day.

And she certainly hadn't expected the friend to look like a teenage version of the husband she hadn't seen in six years.

It could only mean that the boy was one of his .

But Inko would not hold that against the boy, after all it meant that he and Izuku were brothers.

Although, she would not be telling Izuku that.

Gripping the mug of tea Inko smiled. Watching Izuku and Mikumo pouring over the latter's designs last night had reminded her of a time when Izuku was little, when they had planned to have two children, not one.

But times change.

What has been done could not be undone.

Sneakers slapped the pavement as Izuku jogged down the street, weaving past pedestrians as he made his way towards the U.A. campus.

After breaking his arm and legs in the entrance exam Izuku had redoubled his focus on his physical training. The more muscle mass he built the less backlash he received from One For All, even if Izuku did manage to find and copy a regeneration quirk, he wouldn't be able to rely on it for every punch.

"Morning, Midoriya."

Izuku smiled and waved to Yaoyorozu as he came to a halt.

"Good morning, Yaoyorozu!"

Yaoyorozu nodded, slipping on her shoulder bag as the limo drove away.

The two hero aspirants fell in step as they entered the U.A. campus, thankfully unaccosted by reporters due to their earliness.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question about your quirk?"

Yaoyorozu pointed at herself. "My quirk?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Sure."

Izuku smiled. "I just wondered since I saw you creating that bicycle for the long distance run yesterday, does your quirk have a limit? On size and material composition?"

Yaoyorozu tapped her chin with her finger as she thought. "Hm, in terms of physical size I am limited by the area of my skin it's produced from. As for composition I have to know the molecular structure of what I am creating. But I am also limited by the lipid content of my body."

"So your quirk transforms the lipids in your body into other materials, right?"

"Yes, it is why I need to eat so much, to replace it. Why do you ask?"

Izuku looked bashful. "Oh, er, I was asking for a friend really, h-he's part of the support course here at U.A., but some of the materials he needs are beyond the budget support students are given."

"I see, if you introduce me I would be glad to lend him my aid."

Izuku beamed. "T-Thanks. I'd better go get washed and changed, I'm not sure Aizawa would appreciate the unique odor I've currently got."

Yaoyorozu hid a chuckle behind her hand. "Sure, I will see you in the classroom."

With that, Izuku set off for the changing rooms, quickly peeling off his sweaty workout gear and hopping in a shower.

As he soaked under the stream of hot water Izuku allowed his mind to drift back to what Bakugo had said the day before.

Don't think you can act like me just cause you copied my quirk.

It had barely bothered Izuku at the time, but hours later when he was in bed, trying and failing to sleep, it had come back to him.

The second Izuku had activated Explosion on the train a wave of confidence and bravado had surged through him. After that realisation sleep had evaded Izuku entirely.

Instead, Izuku had spent hours experimenting with his quirks, cataloguing the effect each had on his personality. Similarly to Explosion, Zero Gravity had boosted his confidence, while also filling him with a frank honesty.

Attraction had made him nervous, and even more prone to crying than he already was, while Heal had augmented his compassion and protectiveness. Initially, when testing the effect of Quirksmith on his personality Izuku had found no effect.

That was until he realised the effect was an urge to analyse quirks.

Finally, Izuku had tried One For All out of curiosity, finding it had no effect except odd green sparks when he held the power in his arm without using it.

Drying off, Izuku pulled on his uniform, fumbling with his red tie until it looked halfway decent, albeit very short and very wide. Checking the time, Izuku's eyes widened into saucers.

He was going to be late.

Grabbing his back, Izuku activated Attraction, pulling himself along as he raced toward the 1-A Homeroom.

"Help me make babies!"

Mikumo flushed red as he leapt into the air.

"H-Help y-you do what-t?!"

"Make babies!"

"I-I was w-worried that was w-what you-u said."

"Hatsume, can you please stop referring to your projects as babies."

Mikumo's head turned, it was Power Loader who had spoken.

"Why's that?" Hatsume tilted her head in confusion.

Power Loader sighed before muttering to himself. "Oh god, it's going to be one of those years."

Clearing his throat, Power Loader composed himself. "Hatsume, why are you bothering Akatani? This is free workshop time."

Hatsume nodded. "Right, you never said we couldn't work together. I wanted to ask Mikumo if we could."

"Mikumo, eh? That's pretty forward of you." Power Loader chuckled. "Fine, I'll allow it, that is if Akatani agrees of course. Just keep the explosions to a minimum."

"I make no promises."

Hatsume grabbed Mikumo's arm and pulled him over to her workstation.

"I didn't agree."

"Shh, that doesn't matter."

"Help."

Power Loader smiled wryly as Hatsume dragged the poor boy off to his doom. Those two, working together, was going to be interesting to watch.

"I call this the Wire Arrow! It was my submission for the U.A. Exam."

Mikumo looked down at the invention, a silver, metal harness with two grapples either side, the straps red and gold. If he had to guess, Mikumo would say the grapples would be located either side of the user's stomach.

"It looks good, although any sudden pulling could cause the user a back injury"

"Hm, maybe I should incorporate the Wire Arrow with chest armour, increase surface area, decrease the backlash."

"Y-Yeah, sounds like a good idea."

Hatsume smiled, making a chill go down Mikumo's spine. "Good, cause you can help me do it."

"Me? Help you do it?"

Hatsume nodded. "Well, we are going to be working together."

"We are?"

"Of course, silly. We're going to have to work together if you want to get that Power Suit of yours built in time for the Sports Festival."

Mikumo blanched. "How do you know about the Power Suit?"

"I got the designs out of your bag and read them when you went to the bathroom."

"You stole my designs?!"

Hatsume shook her head. "It's only stealing if you take something, I put them back."

"But-"

Mikumo paused, he had no answer for that.

"So, why do you want to help me? What are you getting out of this?"

Hatsume beamed, she almost had him. "Publicity, think of all the support companies clamouring after me if I help you become the first ever Quirkless U.A. Hero student."

"W-What? H-How? What?"

"Your designs had 'Hero Suit for my future' written on each page."

Mikumo wasn't satisfied. "How do you know I'm quirkless, you're not s-stalking me, are you?"

Hatsume laughed, a wild sound that only managed to terrify Mikumo more.

"Of course I'm not stalking you," Hatsume paused. "Which, of course, is exactly what a stalker would say."

"Then h-how do you know?"

"The train, yesterday afternoon, I was at the other end of the carriage, my quirk, Zoom, let's me see upto five kilometers like I'm right there!"

Mikumo nodded, before dropping into thought. He had known that he didn't have the time to build the entire suit by the festival. He'd been planning on focusing on the gauntlets, boots, chest armor and visor, with the hope it would be enough.

But now, with Hatsume's help, he had a chance to get it done.

A chance to be a hero.

Just like Midoriya had said he could be.

Mikumo nodded, smiled. "Alright, I'm Mikumo Akatani, and I'm in."

Hatsume grinned, her eyes almost looking like they were glowing. "Great, I'm Mei Hatsume, your new partner. We're going to make so many babies together!"

From the other side of the room Power Loader sighed.

Izuku placed his backpack down next to his desk and sat down, fiddling with the hem of his gloves.

The morning had dragged by, not to say that Izuku wasn't excited to have a Pro Hero like Midnight teaching him Modern Hero Art History, but after the orientation day it felt almost anti-climactic.

Lunch was good though. But now, it was time.

Hero Basic Training.

"I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

He's here!

All Might burst through the doorway, filling the room with his sheer presence.

"Wow, it's still so amazing that All Might is teaching us to be heroes!" Kaminari's grin was nearly as wide as Izuku's.

"That's his Silver Age costume."

"So retro, so manly!"

All Might flexed in front of the digital whiteboard.

"HERO BASIC TRAINING!" All Might's voice rattled the windows. "This is the class that'll put you through your paces! All sorts of special training will mold you into the heroes of the future!"

"THEREFORE! Today you shall begin with a bang! Quite literally in your case, Young Bakugo."

Bakugo rolled his eyes.

All Might paused, allowing tension to build.

"BATTLE TRAINING!"

The class cheered.

Izuku gulped, watching as Bakugo's grin grew disturbingly manic.

"And so, you will be needing these!"

All Might pulled a remote from his eye-searingly red costume and pressed a button.

Four racks whirred as they extended out of the far wall of the classroom, revealing five metal briefcases set in each rack.

"Using the quirk registry and the special request forms you submitted when you applied to U.A., costumes were developed for each of you, created by a design agency associated with the school."

"Costumes!"

"Hell yeah!"

All Might cleared his throat, silencing the class with his presence. "Now, once you've changed, meet me at Ground Beta."

"Now, looking spiffy is all well and good my young zygotes, but remember! From this day on-"

"-YOU'RE ALL HEROES!"

Izuku's heart felt like it would burst, a few stray tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

Steeling himself, Izuku wiped them away, slinging his backpack over his shoulders and grabbing his case, Number 18, with his classmates.

"This is so exciting, I hope they got my costume right!" Sero retrieved the case marked with a 13.

"Me too!" cheered Mineta, case 19 in his grip.

"Look, Mineta's case is almost as tall as he is!" Kaminari pointed to the struggling Mineta.

Izuku watched as Mineta deflated, somehow making him look even smaller than he already was.

"Now, now! Chop, chop!"

At All Might's prompt the rest of the class retrieved their cases and made their way towards the changing rooms, splitting by gender.

Izuku set his case down next to his backpack, opening the latter to reveal a handmade costume. The costume his mother had created for him, in her words, it was her apology for not encouraging him in his pursuit of becoming a hero.

But to Izuku it symbolized something entirely different, his mother's love and support.

How could he wear anything else?

However, he had commissioned one piece of gear from the U.A. designers. After all, he didn't want to be copying the quirk of every villain he fought. Removing his U.A. uniform, Izuku pulled the costume on, before pulling the gloves off his hands.

Izuku opened his costume case.

In it rest a pair of thick, white gloves, with royal blue palms. Izuku had asked for the same gloves as Bakugo, allowing him to use Explosion, with just one change, a thin, gold-colored membrane over his fingertip pads, allowing him to use Zero Gravity and Heal.

"They're perfect."

"Midoriya, you're the last! Hurry up before you're late!"

Izuku jumped at the sound of Iida's loud voice and spun around to find the changing room empty, the door slowly swinging shut.

Damn it, he must have been muttering.

Pulling the gloves on and securing the wrist straps, Izuku pulled his mask and mouthguard into position, before sprinting off after his classmates.

At Ground Beta a patient All Might waited for Class 1-A to emerge from the tunnel in their costumes. As much as he wanted to conserve his time with One For All, All Might had to stay in his hero form, he couldn't afford to be caught off guard by a student.

"They're certainly taking their time."

All Might coughed up blood, almost deflating in surprise.

"Aizawa, what are you doing here?!

"I'm not here to check up on you if that's what you're worried about." Aizawa sighed. "I'm here to keep an eye on Bakugo after his behavior yesterday."

"Ah, yes. Now I see why."

The sound of many footsteps reached the two Pro Heroes, before Class 1-A entered Ground Beta, each dressed in their Hero Costumes.

All Might scanned the gathered hero aspirants, finding it was missing Young Midoriya.

Where could he be? Is he absent today? Did I not notice?

All Might turned his head to ask Aizawa, but found only empty space where the teacher had been.

Izuku sprinted into Ground Beta, the horns of his mask fluttering.

He wore a pale teal jumpsuit, with white strips sewn onto it, a matching ski mask, a black and white mouthguard, black elbow and knee pads and a red utility belt, pouches filled with various supplies.

All Might coughed, noting the resemblance to himself.

"Shall we begin, my wards?" All Might smiled and struck a pose. "Who's ready for some Battle Training?!"

The class cheered.

On the roof of a nearby building, Aizawa rolled his eyes and sighed. After all he'd done to light a fire of seriousness under this class, All Might was undermining it with one of his silly grins and a flex of his muscles.

This class showed potential, definitely more than the last lot, hence their expulsion. At least this class was interesting.

Especially the problem child.

Of course the problem child.

The ghost of a smile slipped onto Aizawa's lips.

Back on the ground the members of Class 1-A were admiring each other's costumes.

"Deki, looking good!"

Izuku looked to see Uraraka approaching, her costume pink and black with large gauntlets and boots, as well as a visored helmet, the jumpsuit was skintight, making Izuku's cheeks flush.

Why would the U.A. designers do that for a fifteen-year old's costume? It's kind of worrying.

"D-Deki?"

Uraraka nodded. "Like Yaoyorozu said, Dekiru is similar to Deku, but Deki is just easier to say. That's okay, right?"

Izuku smiled, he'd never had a non-offensive nickname before. "Of course it is. Your costume l-looks great too."

Uraraka smiled. "Thanks, it's a bit tighter than I asked for though."

"Mr. All Might!"

Turning, Izuku and Uraraka watched a silver suit of armor approach their teacher, the arm chopping the air making it very clear that Iida was inside.

"Yes, Young Iida?"

"This is the same area that the entrance exam took place in, are we going to be performing cityscape maneuvers again?"

All Might beamed. "ABSOLUTELY! Not."

"Today you will be moving on to step two, indoor anti-personnel battle training."

Everyone waited on bated breath.

"While the vast majority of villain attacks occur outdoors, the truth is that the villains you face indoors tend to be far more dangerous and deadly."

Izuku's eyes strayed to All Might's left side, looking at where he knew a starburst scar marred the No. 1 Hero's skin.

"Therefore you'll be split into hero teams and villain teams, and face each other in a two-vs-two style. Unlike all your previous experience, you will be facing living, breathing, thinking opponents, who can adapt to your actions organically. Now, any question?"

"What about basic training, kero?"

"Does this cape look tres stylish?"

"Are you going to threaten to expel someone like Mr. Aizawa?"

"How are teams selected?"

All Might struck a pose, silencing the class. "Now, now, one at a time, I don't have super hearing like Young Jiro here."

The questions were repeated, allowing All Might to listen and reply.

"This is your basic training."

" Oui ."

"Not at all."

"By lots."

Iida's arm reached maximum chopping speed, making Mineta duck. "By lots? Is that really the best way?"

"In the real world we won't get to choose who you team up with, you just have to adapt."

"Right you are, Young Midoriya!"

Izuku blanched. "I-I said that out loud?!"

All Might drew a sheet of paper. "Listen up! The villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout building, and the heroes have to go in and take care of it! Each round is fifteen minutes long, if the heroes capture their opponents or touch the bomb, they win. If the villains capture their opponents or run out the clock, they win. Understood?"

The class murmured in agreement.

All Might clapped his hands together, the sound almost deafening. "Excellent, now, let's draw teams."

Producing a box with the hole on the top, All Might passed it around the class, each member taking a white ping-pong ball from it, a letter from A to J written on them.

Izuku turned his ping-pong ball around, reading the letter A. He just hoped he wasn't paired with Bakugo.

Or worse, fighting Bakugo.

"Looks like we're a team, Midoriya."

"We arrrrr-"

Izuku's brain overheated at the sight of Yaoyorozu's hero costume.

Or lack thereof.

Izuku averted his eyes. "Y-Yaoyorozu, where's the r-rest of your costume? Aren't you cold?"

Yaoyorozu shrugged. "I need the exposed skin for my quirk to work, although it was supposed to have a pair of shorts."

"Don't worry, Yaoyorozu, I love your costume! Wanna switch teams, Midoriya?"

"Be quiet, you pervert." Tsuyu slapped Mineta with her tongue.

"Thank you, Asui." Yaoyorozu smiled at Tsuyu, but shifted uncomfortably nonetheless.

"Call me Tsuyu."

"A zipper!" Izuku exclaimed suddenly.

Yaoyorozu tilted her head. "A zipper?"

"Y-Yeah, that way you can unzip it when you need to make something."

"Traitor!" Mineta glared at Izuku, earning himself another tongue slap from Tsuyu.

"That's not a bad idea, thank you, Midoriya."

"Y-You're welcome."

"The first match will be…"

All Might pulled a ball out of two different boxes.

"Team G versus Team C! Kyoka Jiro and Tenya Iida will be the heroes. Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta will be the villains!"

Kaminari turned to Mineta and gave him a thumbs up, before being surprised to see the small boy glaring at him.

"Team C! Head on into the building, you have five minutes before the heroes begin their assault."

"HEROES, BEGIN!"

Mineta removed another ball from his scalp, completing the line of spheres across the doorway to the bomb room. Closing the doors, they stuck in place against the balls, before another line was placed along the seam between the doors.

"Oi, stop ignoring me!" Kaminari waved his arm wildly. "Jiro and the glasses guy are already in the building and we haven't discussed strategy yet!"

"Here's a strategy for you, follow mine."

"What's your problem with me?" Kaminari grabbed Mineta's shoulder. "Hey, Shorty, I'm talking to you!"

Mineta spun around, punching Kaminari in the kneecap. "Don't call me that!"

"What the hell was that for?!"

Kaminari hopped around the room, holding his leg.

"Shut up."

"You're pretty strong for someone so small."

Mineta growled, punching Kamnari's other knee.

"Shut up, moron."

"Hey, don't call me that." Kaminari continued to hop around the room, alternating his leg each time.

Finally stopping, Kaminari rubbed his now aching knees, glaring at Mineta. "You've got no right, all you do is go around leering at the girls."

"Like you're any better."

"There's a difference between flirting and just being a pervert, you make them uncomfortable."

"What's wrong with me showing my appreciation of them?"

Kaminari snorted. "Cause it's creepy the way you do it."

"And what are you, Casanova?" Mineta retorted. "You got shut down by Jiro and Ashido just this morning, pathetic."

"Pathetic?" Kaminari jabbed his finger in Mineta's shoulder. "Well I'm not the one the whole class hates, even Midoriya gives you a wide berth, and he's an absolute cinnamon roll!"

Mineta's face flushed red with anger. "Then at least they're noticing me!"

That made Kaminari pause. "You're a pervert, to get attention?"

"Of course I do, what else have I got? I'm three and a half foot tall and wearing armor that looks like a diaper."

Kaminari had no reply for that.

"I didn't even ask for it, you know, they added it to 'improve the appeal of my child-like appearance', do you know embarrassing that is? I'm fifteen. My entire life I have been mocked and dismissed because of my height, I'm so short I'm not even allowed on roller coasters. Just last week, someone asked me if I was excited to be starting middle school!"

Kaminari shrugged his shoulders, trying to deflate the situation. "Surely you're just a late-bloomer, maybe you'll have a growth spurt soon."

Mineta snorted in disbelief. "Sure, maybe then I can be four feet tall instead."

"Hey, I'm just trying to cheer you up!"

"I don't need your pity!"

"I'm not pitying you!"

Mineta glared at Kaminari. "Of course you are, pitying me and my weak quirk, like yours is any better."

Kaminari recoiled. "My quirk is weak?! All you can do is stick a few balls to the door, I'm the lightning rod badass!"

Jiro continued to listen in on Team C's argument, enjoying the show those two idiots were putting on.

"They're an absolute mess, though Mineta has stuck the door shut though."

Iida nodded. "I shall smash through the door with a kick and capture those bickering ne'er-do-wells."

Jiro smothered a laugh at Iida committing to his role, before removing her earphone jack from the wall.

"Iida, you go in first, grab Kaminari and stick him to some of Mineta's balls, wow I feel gross just saying that."

Iida frowned. "How so?"

"Iida, so pure." Jiro smirked. "I'll take the Purple Pervert."

Team G set off for the fourth floor, the sound of muffled shouting reaching Jiro's enhanced ears on the second floor and Iida's on the third.

Reaching the door to the bomb room, Jiro and Iida could hear every word Mineta and Kaminari were yelling at each other.

"Ready, Iida?"

The armored teen nodded in reply, before igniting his engines and launching a kick directly at the doors.

They smashed off their hinges, still stuck together, as Iida landed in the room, finding it empty apart from the bomb.

"Those dastardly villains must have run off in fear of us!" Iida made to walk towards the bomb and claim their victory.

He couldn't, his feet were stuck.

Looking down, Iida saw purple balls stuck to the floor of the entire room.

"Jiro, it's a trap!"

"Like those two idiots are that dangerous."

Jiro made her way into the room, before extending an earphone jack and plugging it into the wall.

"NOW!"

Kaminari dropped from the wall above the doorway, a purple sphere stuck to the inside of his palm, before grabbing the wire of Jiro's earphone jack, sticking them together.

"Indiscriminate Shock! 5,000 Volts!"

Electricity ran up Jiro's earphone jack, shocking her and sending her to the ground.

Mineta let go of the spheres stuck to the wall above the doorway, landing and throwing five spheres at Iida, sticking them in a line up his back.

Kaminari smiled. "Turns out Mineta's balls-"

Mineta sniggered.

"-are really good at conducting my electricity."

Kaminari slammed his hand down on one of the spheres stuck to the floor.

"Indiscriminate Shock! 10,000 Volts!"

The lightning surged through the spheres, jumping from one to the next and up Iida's back.

Iida groaned and fell backwards, his armor smoking.

The speakers in the building crackled into life.

"VILLAINS WIN!"

In the basement surveillance room, the gathered members of Class 1-A watched as Team G and Team C entered, the former commiserating and the latter celebrating.

All Might clapped his hands together. "Can anyone offer any suggestions on why the Villains won?"

"Ears and Glasses underestimated them."

"Correct you are, Young Bakugo, although you would do well to refer to your classmates with respect."

"Tch, when they earn it."

All Might paused, wasn't really sure how to respond to that.

Yaoyorozu raised her hand.

"Yes, Young Yaoyorozu." All Might pointed to the girl, seeing an out from the awkwardness Bakugo had created.

"While Team C's plan did actually work, if Jiro had used her quirk to scan the building again before Iida entered they would have discovered the trap. Hence, Mineta's strategy required a lapse in judgement a Pro Hero would not make, Kaminari's attack required Jiro to not heed Iida's warning of a trap."

"An excellent point." All Might beamed, the teen had said it even better than he could. "Who do you think should be the MVP of the match."

Yaoyorozu tapped her chin. "Hmm, the MVP should be Iida."

"What?" Iida was taken aback.

"He kept his head throughout the match, and acted to the best of his ability and information he had been given."

All Might gave a thumbs up. "Well said, Young Yaoyorozu. The MVP of Match 1 is Young Iida!"

A smattering of applause sounded for a shocked Iida, with Uraraka and Izuku the loudest among them.

"Now, onto Match 2! Team B versus Team I! Toru Hagakure and Shoto Todoroki will be the heroes. Mezo Shoji and Mashirao Ojiro will be the villains!"

Teams B and I left the surveillance room, chatter breaking out among the students, Iida breaking off to approach Izuku and Uraraka, while Jiro moved to stand with Tsuyu and Yaoyorozu.

"Mineta, what you said during our fake argument, that was made up right?"

"Yeah, it was." Mineta walked away, leaving Kaminari standing alone.

Jiro watched as Mineta melted into the background. "His heartbeat, Mineta lied."

Tsuyu followed Jiro's line of sight and tilted her head. "Kero?"

"How do you think we should do this, Sho-chan?" Hagakure struck a pose, appearing as nothing more than a pair of gloves and boots.

"Don't call me that." Todoroki remained impassive as the seconds ticked by, leaving Hagakure feeling awkward.

"Shouldn't we have a plan?"

"HEROES, YOU MAY BEGIN!"

Todoroki walked towards the door to the building. "You should stay out here, it's going to get very cold inside, I'm not sure your costume would be well suited to it."

With that, Todoroki took one step inside the building and slammed his right foot down.

Ice grew out from the impact and up the building, encasing it entirely.

Hagakure wrapped her arms around herself as chill seeped into her bones, even at the distance she was away from the building.

"Team B has secured the bomb. HEROES WIN!"

Hagakure sighed, this was supposed to be her first chance to actually be able to make use of her quirk. For the tests the day before she'd had to fall back on her natural abilities, which were far less impressive when compared to her classmates than she'd been expecting.

"The MVP s-should be Todoroki, in a real life situation a hero should do all they can to e-end the fight as quickly as possible. A villain attack isn't a chance to show off, it's about protecting civilians from harm."

"Right you are, Young Midoriya. The MVP of Match 2 is Young Todoroki."

Hagakure's gloved fists tightened as she stood next to Todoroki in the surveillance room.

This was supposed to have been her chance to show off, to establish herself as a budding hero-in-training, an honest, ditzy girl with no hidden depths. It was vital that she do so.

Her mission depended on it.