Chapter 4: Hi, High School!

Several weeks later, Ochako began her first day at U.A. High. Having moved to an apartment close to the campus, she walked to her school, thinking of her new classmates. Wonder if anyone I've met got in. 'Specially that green-haired guy. Her question would quickly be answered when she got to her homeroom and saw the individual in question just inside.

"Hey! You're the guy who saved me during the entrance exam! I was worried that you didn't get in when you said that you didn't get a single point and all, but you're here now. I mean, sending that huuuuge robot flying with one punch, incredible!" As she mentioned his superhuman feat, her right hand became a fist and swung up and down.

"I-aah, err…"

Were she not busy gushing over what Izuku did, Ochako would've noticed that he was undergoing a nervous breakdown over talking to a girl again. (Again, he didn't say a word.)

"If you're done with the chitchat, sit down. Class is about to start." Their admittedly one-sided conversation was cut short by a ragged man inside a yellow sleeping bag lying down on the floor behind them.

"Wh-who are you?"

"My name is Shouta Aizawa, and I'll be your homeroom teacher. Put on your gym uniforms, we're heading outside." Once outside, he continued speaking, "Up until now, society has restrained you from using your Quirk in order to make things 'fair' for everyone. Now, that changes. Now, you will have to find ways to use your Quirks to enhance your physical performance. Oh, and one more thing. The person who places last… will be expelled from U.A."

With the possibility of expulsion on the first day, Ochako thought, I'm not about to let Sensei or Tomura down! Thankfully, Zero Gravity gave her fantastic results from the long jump and the softball throw, with the ball registering an 'infinity' because she overdid her Quirk and sent it into orbit. She made mental notes of her classmates' Quirks, such as the sheer speed Tenya Iida, younger brother of the pro hero Ingenium, had due to his Engine Quirk or the propulsion the blond from the entrance exam, whom she now knew as Yuga Aoyama, had when he fired his laser. She also noticed how Izuku refused to use his Quirk and ranked poorly as a result. I wonder why that is. Shouldn't he be able to control his power output? Then, during his turn at the softball throw, Shouta stopped Izuku from breaking his arm with his Quirk. As it turned out, Shouta was the pro hero Eraserhead, able to suppress one's ability to use their Quirk as long as he could stare at them.

Shouta said, "You were about to break your entire arm just to throw that ball as far as you could, and then you would've gone to Recovery Girl to get it healed. Is that what you were planning, Midoriya?"

The teen stammered, "I-I…"

"I've seen you perform at that idiotic entrance exam. As a hero, your job is to save others. You have power, yes, but you'll make a poor excuse for a hero if you require saving shortly after recklessly using your Quirk." The man closed his glowing red eyes before staring at Izuku with his normal black eyes. "You have one last try. Make it quick."

When Izuku wound up for his next pitch, he thought, I can't let All Might down! Unlike the others, I had this Quirk for far less time! They spent their lives honing and controlling their Quirks. If I want to stand by them, I'll have to work harder than any of them in order to catch up! Now, focus my energy into one point, the last point of contact between the ball and my hand, and… "Smash!" The ball shot through the sky at an impressive velocity before landing 705.3 meters away, barely besting Katsuki Bakgou's throw.

Worried over the state of his body, Ochako glanced at his right arm. She gasped when she focused on his hand. She thought, This time, he only broke his finger, but he was still able to throw it farther than most of us! Where does he get all that power?

Even with that impressive throw, Izuku was still ranked last out of the twenty students, but as it turned out, Shouta's threat of expulsion was a "logical ruse," as he put it, to encourage them to do their best. Lunch was served by the hero Lunch-rush for little to no cost, which thrilled Ochako. As she ate, she started to take down notes and sketches of her classmates on a piece of loose-leaf. She thought, It'll be hard to remember all of them by the time I talk to Sensei. Better write what I know now, and then I can update this later. Perhaps I should invest in a separate notebook for this.

A voice behind her asked, "You analyze Quirks too?" Ochako panicked and covered the paper with her arms, nearly spilling her lunch in the process. When she turned to look at the speaker, she saw the same boy she met earlier, Izuku.

After a brief moment, Ochako rubbed the back of her head and responded, "Well, it's just that our class is full of interesting people. I can't help my curiosity of how their Quirks work and can be used."

Izuku's eyes began to shine upon hearing this, and he became excited. "I know, right? I mean, have you seen Iida run? And then there's your infinity throw. And don't get me started on Kacchan's Quirk!"

Ochako was confused for a second before asking,"Wait, who's Kacchan?"

"M-my bad. That was my nickname for Bakugou. We've known each other since childhood."

"Really now? Has he always been this hostile to you?"

"He only started to look down on everyone, especially me, after he found his Quirk and everyone praised him for it."

"Wait, how can he look down on someone like you, born with such an awesome Quirk?"

Anxiously rubbing the back of his head, although he disguised it as embarrassment, he responded, "W-well, I only discovered it last year." He thought, Well, that's not too big a lie. It was about a year ago when All Might told me the secrets of One for All.

"Seriously?!" Izuku could've sworn that Ochako's eyes grew as big as the plate on her tray.

"Yeah, I still haven't gotten full control over it, as you saw back at the Entrance Exam. Before then, everyone thought that I had no Quirk whatsoever, or that I had one that was completely useless."

Nodding her head, she agreed, "I feel ya. I was six when I finally found out about my Quirk. Must've been too weak to float anything until then. Anyway, back on the matter of nicknames, did Bakugou have one for you?"

Izuku looked pained, a first for the conversation, and he muttered, "It's Deku, based off my first name, Izuku. Kacchan said that it meant 'good-for-nothing,' and he's called me that ever since we were four."

Before speaking, Ochako thought, I can't shake the feeling that I've had this conversation before. Then, she said, "Well, I've heard that 'Deku' can also be interpreted as 'I can do it!' with different characters."

Izuku was surprised before he put on a wide smile. "Really? Thanks, Uraraka! You have no idea how much I've wanted to prove Kacchan wrong! I haven't shown you my Quirk analysis notebook yet, have I?"

"I'd be thrilled to take a look, Deku!" She noticed that the finger he hurt during the physical exam was already patched up.

As he pulled out his notebook, Izuku blushed and thought, Man, it already sounds better when she's saying it. "Here it is. I meant to work on it during lunch, but right now, I only have a section about Kacchan in there."

"Wow! It's very detailed, down to how it really works. Nitroglycerin sweat, huh. How'd you do it?"

"Well, I've known him for years. I've been writing these journals since I was four. I have thirteen other notebooks on pro heroes alone."

Ochako slammed the table and leaned towards Izuku, who leaned back in response. "Thirteen?! Sound's like you've been busy. Mind if I help you write these?"

"S-sure!"

…

After the school day ended, she texted Kurogiri her new address so she could be warped to the bar. She thought, No doubt Sensei would want to hear about my first day at U.A.! However, as the black mist dispersed around her, she made out an unfamiliar muscular figure facing her, easily towering over her. W-what is that? Once her vision was clear, she stared into the eyes of a black humanoid wearing khaki shorts and skull knee pads. It had a bird beak for a mouth, had scars across its arms, and its brain, having eyeballs embedded into the folds, was exposed. Caught off guard, Ochako let out a shriek that shattered a nearby glass, and she jumped over the counter behind her. Kurogiri sighed and looked for a dustpan to sweep the broken glass up.

While in hiding, Ochako heard Tomura laugh. "Scary cool, right? He's called a Noumu."

"Not funny, Tomura!"

Tomura's joy immediately became frustration. "Don't call me that! You don't have the right to say my first name just because you have Sensei's favor. How would I know whether or not you were planning to turn us over to the police?!"

"We've known each other for eight years! Besides, I came here to tell you about my first day!"

Having cleaned the broken glass, Kurogiri decided to step in. "Calm down, you two. Now, Ochako, Sensei is currently undergoing yet another operation, so please tell us your story so we can tell him later. Afterwards, Shigaraki can tell you about Noumu, Sensei's latest project." He tapped on one of the stools. "Now, please take a seat. Ochako, I assume you would like some green tea."

"No. Just water, please."

She then told them about her classmates and the Quirks that they exhibited. Tomura had some choice statements to make over some classmates.

"Wait, you mean to tell me you have Endeavor's son and Ingenium's brother as your classmates?"

"Yeah. Todoroki seems to be as cold as his Quirk, I suppose, and Iida is a rather dutiful person."

"You also got Eraserhead as a teacher. Heard he expelled an entire freshman class last year because he didn't see potential in them."

"Wh- really?! We could've been expelled?!"

"Yeah. Some of those ex-students are criminals now. Anyway, how about that boy, Midoriya? Is he that pointless loser back at the entrance exam? Tch, seems like a waste of time if you ask me. How do you plan to get anywhere if you can only throw one or two punches before having to call it quits?"

"He's getting the hang of it, though. He only broke one finger!"

"Whatever." Tomura shrugged, but in the back of his head, he thought, That Bakugou sounds like real villain material, what with his personality. Wonder if we can convince him to change sides? Wait, can we even trust what she's saying? As Tomura thought for the future, Kurogiri turned to him.

"Shigaraki, now that we've heard Ochako's story, why don't you tell her about Noumu?" When Tomura got Noumu from Sensei, he was like a child who had gotten a new dog. His enthusiasm persisted into his explanation of the creature.

"Noumu here is only one of five, each one very unique. This one is the best one yet, the bioengineered Anti-Symbol of Peace, designed to crush All Might himself into dust."

Hearing this intimidated Ochako, but the fear quickly transformed into confusion. "Wait, Sensei made this… thing? I thought he dealt with Quirks, not genetic engineering."

"Well, what I heard from Sensei is that Noumu is the result of a person's body violently rejecting a Quirk given to them, to the point of destroying their ability to think for themselves, but not their ability to take orders. They become powerful puppets, so to speak. Noumu has tow Quirks: Shock Absorption and Super Regeneration, minimizing and negating any damage All Might could do to this thing. Watch."

Tomura laid all five fingers on Noumu's shoulder for a second. The skin and muscle instantly began to crumble away, exposing white bone as Noumu shrieked in pain yet did nothing to stop Tomura. He let go, and a few more seconds, the lost muscle and skin regrew, practically removing any and all evidence of damage, save for the scars that were present on its past skin. Despite his claims of not trusting Ochako, Tomura was telling the truth when it came to Noumu's Quirks.

Ochako felt disgusted at the sight, but she was practically an expert on resisting the urge to vomit, at least when she didn't exceed her limit. "We've been here a while, huh. I'd better get back to my apartment, Kurogiri. Thanks for having me over!"

"No problem, Ochako." After Kurogiri warped her, he walked over to Tomura to discuss their plans. "Now, how will we go about killing All Might?"

"We get our hands on a U.A. schedule and attack when All Might is away from the main building. Simple enough."

"And how do we plan on obtaining a schedule?"

"Uraraka said that All Might's now teaching, right? Someone's bound to tell the news reporters, who'll be moths drawn to All Might's sickening glow. I'll let them through the front gate and swipe a schedule in the chaos."

Kurogiri nodded in understanding and approval."Hm. You're more cunning than I give you credit for, Shigaraki."

"Well, maybe if you'd stop treating me like a child, you'd see just how cunning I can be." He pulled out a rubber ball from his pocket and whistled for Noumu before tossing the ball across the room. "Noumu, fetch."

As the monstrosity chased after the toy, Kurogiri thought, Nevermind, he's still a manchild.

…

A few days later, Ochako came in again to tell Tomura, Kurogiri, and Sensei about the Battle Trials held under All Might, where teams of two would face off against each other Heroes vs. Villains style. She was paired up with Izuku to face off against Tenya and Katsuki, hoping to secure the 'nuclear weapon' to win. They did indeed win because Izuku created an opening for Ochako to secure the weapon, but in the process, Izuku broke his arm again and Ochako lost her lunch yet on this, she thought, Another 20-yen coin to the "Vomit Due to Overusing Your Quirk" jar, I suppose. Sure, I'm already pinching pennies, but a physical representation of emergency cash is always nice to have on hand, she thought.

After hearing her tale, Sensei was the first to ask a question. "Wait, did you just call one of your classmates 'Deku', as in, good-for-nothing?"

Tomura immediately butted in. "See? I told you that name is an insult!"

Ochako responded, "Yeah, you did say that, but I know it can be used in the sense of 'I can do it!' When I told him this, he kept the name. He's really good at analyzing Quirks, especially Bakugou's. They've known each other for years, but they're not on the best of terms." After seeing a replay of their fight, Ochako knew that this was an understatement.

Sensei nodded. Katsuki Bakugou. I swear I've heard that name before. "Thank you for telling me this. Now, please go home and get ready for school. You have a big day ahead of you, Ochako."

Once Ochako passed through Kurogiri's Warp Gate, Sensei spoke to Tomura.

"The Quirks she mentioned are in line with the story she told you, right?"

"Yeah. I'd still say that she's lying, but she was right in saying that All Might became a teacher at U.A." He waved the newspaper in his hand. "Everyone's going crazy over this."

"Judging from her description, Midoriya is the next bearer of One for All, which means that All Might can only work as a hero for less and less time."

"I don't see what the fuss over his successor is. Kid can't get into action without breaking some bones."

"Don't underestimate one's fighting spirit. Emotions are the one aspect I cannot possibly account for, and the last time I underestimated one's willpower? Take my scar tissue as a warning. Also, you didn't tell me one of the five prospects you've captured for the Noumu project was Quirkless."

The news alarmed Tomura. "H-he is?!"

"Yes. I found out when I tried to take away his Quirk to test its capabilities. Regardless, I gave him both a mutation Quirk and a transmission Quirk during his sedation. He didn't turn into a Noumu. When he woke up, he took to his newfound Quirks well, too well. On the bright side, I can extract Quirks from dead bodies." Sensei hadn't mentioned that when he took away the mutation Quirk, the physical changes caused by the Quirk quickly reverted. Had he taken it from a person born with a Quirk, regardless of whether or not it was theirs to begin with, the unusual body parts would remain, no longer function, and then atrophy, causing great harm to the individual. Come to think of it, I never thought of giving a Quirkless person multiple Quirks before, nor have I taken away a mutation Quirk from them.

"I could've sworn that he had a Quirk."

Kurogiri said otherwise. "I kept telling you that he was one of those street performers, using sleight-of-hand instead of a Quirk."

"Shut up, Kurogiri! I know what I saw, and what I saw had to be the work of a Quirk!"

"Silence," spoke Sensei. "Now, shouldn't you be getting the schedule so you could plan your invasion of U.A.?"

Sensei didn't have to wait long for an answer, for that day, newscasters crowded in front of U.A.'s front gate in hopes of interviewing the students for their opinions about All Might, much to the students' annoyance.

As Tomura planned, he created an opening for the newscasts by disintegrating the front gate, and while chaos ensued as reporters flooded the campus, he snatched a schedule left carelessly alone on the grass and stuffed it into his pocket. According to the paper, it belonged to a man named Toshinori Yagi. The fool must've been in a rush and dropped this. All Might has Uraraka's class for a rescue lesson soon, huh. Tomura began to grin wider and wider until he couldn't stretch it anymore.

Perfect time to kill All Might and test where Uraraka's loyalty lies.

A/N: Hello, fellows! I apologize for not posting this on Saturday, but I was caught up in a big graduation party for the entire day. I still plan to revise and upload the next chapter by Tuesday, though. Silenthawk170, I don't see romance being a big part of the story unless I find a way to neither have it derail attention from the plot nor make it feel forced. I'm sorry for those looking for that, but who knows? I'm not shutting out the possibility of having some romance between characters. Maybe I'll surprise myself again as I keep writing the story.