The First Test is Not the Final

By: bunnyscribe (AO3)

The door of classroom 1-A stands tall in front of him. It stops at the ceiling, but for Izuku it feels like it reaches much higher. An obstacle in his way reaching all the way up to the high heavens, impossible to climb over or avoid entirely. The only way through it is the same as it's always been, forward.

He knows this all too well, learned this lesson a hundred times, but even then Izuku still hesitates. His hand's half stretched to the door, fingers carrying the slightest bit of tremors. He can feel Mob's stare on the back of his neck. It's not a judgmental gaze, nor is it pitying. It doesn't feel like anything but a slight pressure.

"Hey," Izuku says, trying to ignore the shaking in his voice. "Mob-kun?"

Mob hums.

"Do you think…" The weight of the question sits on Izuku's tongue, personal enough that he hesitates to ask it. He glances over his shoulder at the other boy, meeting his expectant eyes with a nervous look of his own. He looks away. "...we'll make friends here?"

Silence hangs in the air. Behind the door voices chatter amongst themselves, muffed by the door between them and their future.

The longer the silence continues, the faster Izuku's heart starts to beat. His palms feel sweaty by the time he finds it within himself to look up at Mob again.

He shivers under the intensity of the look Mob's giving him. Izuku can almost see his mind turning over the question, at that slow and steady pace Mob always seems to work at, as if he's really considering the answer. The thought actually helps to settle his nerves, if only slightly. At least whatever answer he gets will be an honest one.

"You're a kind person," Mob starts slowly. "For the little bit of time I've known you, I've seen that. You've worked very hard to get here and the people here will look hard enough to see it, I think." He nods, more to himself than Izuku. "Someone will look hard enough."

Izuku starts to feel water start to collect in the corners of his eyes, his lip wobbling. He brings up an arm to furiously rub away the tears. His grin's still shaky when he directs it at Mob, but if the other boy notices he doesn't comment.

"Yeah," Izuku says, voice thick. "I think you're right."

The door slides open easily after that, the first embers of courage licking at the inside of his chest. He's already made a friend with Mob, he thinks, and with any luck, he'll be able to make more. A fresh start, a blank slate, the first steps to becoming a hero.

Whatever hope he had is quickly snuffed out by a familiar, yelling voice. Just his luck.

Kacchan and the scary glasses boy who told him off before the exam are apparently both in his class. They don't seem to notice him at first, engaged in a loud discussion about the ethics of Kacchan resting his feet on the desk.

Kacchan notices Izuku first. His eyes drift away from the glasses boy as he introduces himself, no doubt thinking he's not important enough to commit to memory. Instead, he finds Izuku and his scowl immediately deepens. He pointedly looks away after a beat.

The glasses boy notices him next and marches towards him with a level of vigor that draws attention from the rest of their classmates. "I am Iida Tenya!" he says. "I am from Somei Priv-"

"Ah, I heard!" Izuku exclaims, waving his hands around. Iida stops dead in his tracks with his arms held up in mid-swing, his body tense in a way that reminds Izuku of the mechanical movements of the testing robots. "I'm Midoriya Izuku," he continues. "It's nice to meet you!"

Iida gives a curt nod. His mouth opens to say more, but something he sees when he glances over a Midoriya shoulder makes him pause.

Izuku turns his head to figure out what it is and almost smashes his face into Mob's. He yelps, surprised at both the sudden closeness and the fact he hadn't felt the other boy's approach at all. As he's recovering from the shock, he remembers Mob's about a half a head shorter than him and they shouldn't be eye level like this.

Izuku looks down to find Mob standing on his tiptoes. He stifles a giggle and side steps to allow Mob to stand more comfortably.

"Thanks," Mob tells him, still staring at Iida.

Iida seems flustered at the interruption, his arm going up and swing down in pivoted motions. "Apo-Apologies, I didn't notice you there!"

"It's ok," Mob says, tilting his head. "Most people don't." He doesn't let the implications behind the sentence sit for long, sticking his hand out towards Iida. "My name's Mob."

Izuku watches as Iida seems to visibly gain back his composure, the introduction seemingly throwing him back into familiar territory. "My name is Iida Tenya!" He grabs Mob's hand, shaking it up and down with such force that Mob's entire arm bounces with it. This time Izuku isn't able to stifle the laugh, hiding it behind his hands. "It a pleasure to meet you!"

Mob nods, "Likewise."

Iida eyebrows furrow, looking pensively at Mob. "That is a rather strange name though, is it your family name? Or is it your first name?"

"Neither, it's a nickname my classmates gave me."

"O-Oh, I see...Well!" Iida's hands come up again, moving in that familiar chopping motion. "If you would be preferred to be called that, it can certainly be accommodated! But I feel it's extremely important that we know you're actual name as well going into our first day here, as that's what you'll be officially known as on the rosters and if you were to get lost or injured it be best to-"

"Oi, hey! It's you, the bowl cut kid!"

Iida sputters, "Bowl cut kid?! Wh-"

Izuku turns to see a boy with black spiky hair standing at his desk, the odd one out among of a mass of sitting students. A wide grin spreads naturally across his face as though it's supposed to live there. His eyes are focused on Mob. "I haven't seen you since the entrance exam!" he says as he hurriedly makes his way to stand beside Iida. "How have you been?"

Mob tilts his head, looking the boy up and down as the seconds drag on.

"I'm sorry," he finally says. "Who are you?"

The boy's faces pinches as he hisses, but even that quickly turns into a laugh. "Ooh, that stings a little," he says, before brushing the statement off with the wave of his hand. "Don't worry about though, 's been a while since then so I get it. I'm Sero Hanta, the one you save from that big robot at the exam. Y'know?" Sero raises his hands as high as they will go, moving them in a box shape that's a poor imitation of one of the test robots heads. "That one?"

Izuku looks over at Mob, trying to school the shock out of his features. It had been near impossible not to hear about the second zero pointer being destroyed. Even if All Might hadn't told him first, the U.A. hero forums had quickly swept up the event as 'groundbreaking history'. He knew Mob's quirk was powerful, probably even on level with Kacchan's, but could it really be that powerful?

Unaware of Izuku's dilemma, Mob stares at Sero till his eyes spark with recognition. "Yes, I remember now," he says, "How's your head?"

"It's fine! Just a minor concussion, so I was out of the game for a few days but that's it."

"So!" Iida interrupts before either of the two of them can say anything else. His intense focus is directed at Mob, and Izuku can't help but be grateful it's moved off of himself.

"It appears then that you also discovered the true nature of the exam...Mob-kun," Iida says, stumbling over his name. It only stops him for a second though, and then he's right back to gesturing between Mob and Izuku. "And to think! I had no idea the entire time! I truly misjudged the two of you."

"Aww, don't feel too bad man," Sero says, clapping Iida hard enough on the back that it sends him stumbling a step forward. "It's not like I thought of rescue points either."

Izuku feels his cheeks warm. "N-No! It's not like that, I really didn't realize anything! I just did what I thought was right!"

Iida squeezes his eyes shut and clenches his fist, bringing it up to his chest. "And so modest as well! You truly are the superior hero in training here."

"Ah, I don't think that's true," Mob says, and for the first time ever Izuku can hear an almost assertive tone creep into his voice. "No one here is better than anyone else, we're all just students."

From his seat Bakugou scoffs and for the first time in a long while, Izuku agrees with the reaction. He's long since learned that every person is not born equal, despite anything that his elders might have said throughout his education to try and sweep his bullying under the rug. He feels a pang in his chest as he realizes Mob has probably been too powerful his entire life to have been taught that lesson.

He doesn't get to dwell on that depressing thought for long though. A feminine voice behind him loudly exclaiming "Curly hair!" puts him into a conversation with the nice girl from the exams.

A second later, a pro hero Izuku's never seen rolls into the classroom in a sleeping bag and hands them all gym uniforms. And Izuku's day just goes rapidly downhill from there.

.-.-.

Katsuki has racked up a lot of problems in a relatively short amount of time, mainly with the people around him. The extras are as annoying as always, but, while inconvenient, they've never really been an issue. He knows for certain he's above them, they're nothing more than stepping stones that he will use to carry himself higher. He has always won against them and in the end, he will always come out on top, these are facts much in the same way the sky is blue.

He stands out of the way of all of his classmates in the changing room for those exact reasons. None of them are worth talking to, he thinks as he pulls on his gym clothes. At the end of the day, this entire school is in competition and anybody who wants to try being buddy-buddy with him should think twice.

He pulls on his gym clothes with more aggression than necessary, pulling the fabric taught to the point of almost tearing. When he's finished, he notes that it doesn't quite fit right. The shirt's baggy and the pants are sagging, both just a little too big his frame.

Across the locker room, Deku starts laughing.

Katsuki's head snaps up to find Deku and Bowl for Brains standing close together, chatting casually. Bowl for Brain still looks as boring as a blank sheet of paper for all his facial expression changes but Deku looks grossly cheerful enough for the two of them.

No, the extras haven't been an issue. At least, not in the same way Deku has become recently. The weepy brat had started standing up to him again, showing some spine for the first time since grade school. Katsuki has no idea why Deku keeps acting like his equal when it's so obvious that he's so useless compared to Katsuki. Even backed into a corner, Deku still denied him an answer, spewing some bullshit about someone believing in him.

He slams his locker shut and makes his way out to the athletic field, followed shortly by rest of the students. Katsuki keeps a close eye on Deku, who now sports an entourage of bright eyed idiots. Bowl for Brains and him are still attached by the hip.

There's also the issue of how Deku fooled the school into admitting him in the first place. He claimed to have earned his spot in the class, but a weak, quirkless bastard like him would've been no match for those bots. Yet, here he was, standing across from Katsuki in the open field. The apparent holder of the most rescue points across the board, talking to their peers all chummy like they're all on an equal level.

This was supposed to be his fresh start damnit! He was the only one who was supposed to leave their shitty little school and actually make something of himself. And now Deku had to go and take that away from him too, trailing behind him like always.

He can't even celebrate getting into U.A. the way he wanted to since someone went ahead a swiped the top spot out from beneath him.

Katsuki looks over his class again with a more critical eye. None of them look like much, certainly not enough to claim the top spot in the exams, but looks are apparently deceiving if Deku's any indication.

The creepy teacher appears out of nowhere, going on about doing the same physical exams they've been doing since junior high and how they're going to use their quirks for it now. Katsuki doesn't really care much, but at least he'll have an official measurement for what he can do with his quirk.

"Kageyama," the teacher says. Katsuki perks up at the name and in the corner of his eyes, he can several of his classmates doing the same. "You finished first in the practical exams, correct?"

"That's right," Bowl for Brains says with a nod.

Katsuki's jaw drops.

.-.-.

"You got the top score on the exams?!"

Mob winces at the shrillness of Midoriya's voice right next to his ear. He blinks only to find everyone's eyes on him, all watching him with different levels of disbelief. He looks down at his feet, starting to sweat.

Fifty-one.

"Dude," Sero says somewhere behind him. "Nice."

"But he's so plain?" a girl mutters. "I thought it was like the stronger the quirk, the more presence the person has?"

"My, my," says one of the boys. "Can his abilities really shine that brightly if his appearance can not?"

Fifty-two.

"Oi," Aizawa says. The irritability lining the single syllable enough to draw the entire class's attention to him. "We don't have all day. Kageyama, what was your record on the ball toss in junior high?"

"Forty-six meters," Mob says, still eyeing his feet. A ball comes soaring through the air towards him and he fumbles to catch it.

"Try it again, and use your quirk this time," Aizawa says. "You can do whatever you want, but you can't leave the ring."

Mob hesitates before entering the chalk circle in the same way a spirit might hesitate before entering one made of salt. With the vague instructions, he can't help but feel like this is some sort of test and he's never been very good at those. Regardless, he pushes himself forward because there's nothing left to do.

He steps into the center of the ring, raises his arm up to throw the ball, and then stops completely. Using his quirk to its max potential, he could probably toss the ball way off campus and what if it hits something important? He imagines it crashing directly into someone's head, sending them down just like Sero during the exam, except this time he won't be there to help. He drops his arm and stares at the ball.

"Kageyama," Aizawa says. "Any time now."

"This won't," Mob starts, glancing up at Aizawa. The man raises an eyebrow, the impatience visible enough on his face enough to make Mob sweat harder. He looks back at the ball. "Will this hurt anyone? If it accidentally goes off campus?"

"...No," Aizawa says. "The direction you're facing leads to a large forest, it'd be illogical for anyone to be out there now. And even if they are, the ball will more likely hit a tree than any person. Now, throw the ball."

Mob slowly nods, turning over the answer a couple times before he finds it acceptable. He reels his arm back again and this time he sends the ball flying. He catches it with his powers at the last second, giving it an extra push that propels it forward with a blast of air. The following boom echoes through the field.

A stunned silence follows, the students all staring at Mob with a variety of different unreadable expressions. Mob purposefully doesn't look at them.

Aizawa stares at the counter, watching as the number ticks up the further the ball goes. It takes a couple minutes for it to stop, and when he finally shows it to the class, the final number reads nine hundred and fifty-two meters.

.-.-.

Izuku stares at his friend as if he's looking at him again for the first time, body sagging in shock. His new classmates are much the same from what he can see, some staring at Mob with wide eyes and others looking up to where they could last see the tiny dot that was the ball ascending.

Sero whistles, appearing next to Izuku. He keeps one hand over the top of his eyes, shielding them from the sun as he looks up. "Damn," he says, "It's one thing to see the aftermath, it's a whole 'nother to see that in person."

Izuku had known Mob was powerful. That much was had been made obvious even from the few times he had used his quirk on the beach, but this amount of strength is something he couldn't have guessed at. He's probably even stronger than Kacchan and the thought strikes an uncomfortable note within Izuku.

They meet eyes. Mob looks away from him first, his cheeks a slight pink.

"Knowing your maximum capabilities is the first step in becoming a pro hero," Aizawa says. "In order to strengthen your quirks and better yourself, you must know your limits first, that is the only rational way to do it. However." He grins, pulling back his hair to reveal a downright manic look. "You lot don't seem to be approaching this very rationally. Alright then, whoever places last will be deemed to have no potential and be expelled."

Blood rushes to Izuku's ears, drowning out any protests the other students might've had. Years of analyzing allows him to quickly break the situation down in his head, and he finds his odds of getting through this with anything but last past very slim. He's no match for kids who have been learning to use their entire lives when he's only had a few months. Could he really lose his spot right at the starting line?

One look at the Aizawa's face informs Izuku that he's deadly serious.

When the events start, Izuku tries to rely on his training with All Might, pushing him to do the best he can't without relying on his quirk. Those months of public service can't be for nothing, they have to at least help a little. But in every instance, during every test, someone's there to do better him and get a score worthy of a true hero to be. His classmates' quirks are just too versatile compared to his own physical strength.

The only person who doesn't use their quirk during any of the other tests besides Izuku is Mob.

At first, Izuku thinks the other boy might have pushed himself too far with the ball throw, but Mob doesn't seem winded. In fact, he seems to use to these kinds of tests, getting higher scores than Izuku even with neither of them using their quirks. Izuku can't decide whether it's just that Mob doesn't think of using his quirk or if he just doesn't want to, and it's not like his blank face reveals any answers.

There's not much time to dwell though, Izuku speeding through the tests with mediocre scores until he finds himself at the ball toss.

This is his only chance to make an impression, he thinks as he glances at Aizawa's impassive face. He can't get kicked out on his first day, he refuses to let all that he's worked for go to waste. He has to do this, not only for himself but for All Might, for his mom, and for Mob. His only option is to go all out.

He winds up his pitch, feels the power of One For All surge into his arm like lightning from a cloudless sky, and sends the ball flying.

It lands a few pathetic meters in front of him.

Aizawa's voice cuts through the following silence. "I erased your quirk," he says. Izuku feels cool panic raising in his chest, fingers twitching at the sudden loss of energy.

"What?" Izuku asks flatly, too dumbstruck to add any inflection to his voice. The realization of who exactly his homeroom teacher is hits him a second later and he takes a sharp breath in. "You're Eraserhead."

Eraserhead doesn't even bother responding, his hair gently billowing upward, his eyes red-rimmed and stare piercing. His scarves ripples around him, as though trying to drift off without him. "You can't control your quirk properly can you?" he says coldly, stepping forward. "What? Do you expect someone to come and save you when you're incapacitated?"

The scarves dart forward, wrapping themselves around Izuku's wrists and pulling him forward with a startled yelp. "Face the facts, Midoriya Izuku," Aizawa says, looming over Izuku. "In your current state, you're more likely to cause casualties than to save anyone."

The scarves drop and the moment passes, despite Izuku's racing heart telling him otherwise. Aizawa tosses the ball back into Izuku's hands. "You have a second try at the ball toss," he says, already walking away.

Izuku brings a hand to his chest in a desperate attempt to calm down. He has to calm down because he has to think straight. He can't give up here. He has no other choice than to use everything he has.

Even if it means walking away from this down a finger.

Kacchan rushes Izuku the second the score is announced, demanding answers with fire in his eyes and in his palms. Izuku can feel that old instinctive fear rise up in him through the pain and the hints of pride. He scrambles to move away.

Suddenly, a purple glow envelops Kacchan and, before Izuku can blink, he hits the ground with a large smack.

Izuku looks over at Aizawa first, but the teacher seems as surprised as he is. One of his hands wrapped around his capture weapon, his hair ruffling outwards like waves. Izuku follows his eyes over to the cluster of other students.

Mob stands at the forefront of all of them, hand stretched out and glowing a steady, hazy purple. His hair flows upwards in the same way Aizawa's did when he had used his quirk. The thing that really catches Izuku though is the look on Mob's face. It's as unreadable as it usually is, but there's an edge to it now, sharp enough to cut.

Kacchan immediately pushes himself up, movements jerky from his rage. "Do you want to fucking go?!" he shouts at Mob.

Mob's hand goes down, his hair falling back into his face. "Don't use your quirk with the intent to harm others," Mob says, voice firm. "It's not right." His eyes flicker over to Izuku. "Especially when someone is already injured."

Kacchan screeches, making to move towards Mob now. This time Aizawa catches him within his scarves.

.-.-.

Izuku sees Mob's name in fifth place on the scoreboard first, easy to catch now that he knows it. Kacchan's in third, which is surprising, Iida in fourth, Uraraka in tenth, Sero in fifteenth. His eyes keep scanning downward, praying that he finds himself somewhere in the middle of the board, but even that hope is quickly smothered.

Midoriya Izuku, twentieth place.

He can feel his world shattering around him, his stomach churning with an oncoming slate of nausea. He feels eyes move onto him, all staring him down, watching him fail, and honestly, it just makes this whole thing that worse. What is he going to tell his mom? What's he going to tell All Mi-?

"By the way," Aizawa says, clicking the scores off the screen. "No one's expelled, that was only a logical ruse to draw out your best performance." Then, after pushing a note to go to the infirmary into Izuku's hands, he saunters off.

"Wa-Wait!" Uraraka shouts after him. "You can't just leave after saying that!"

"Wasn't it obvious that it was just a trick though?" the girl in the ponytail asks, one finger pressed against her lips. "No reasonable teacher would expel students on the first day."

The sudden whiplash leaves Izuku feeling faint. But then Mob's hand presses against his back, a steady anchor to reality.

To be continued…

Some little facts about this chapter and AU in general:

*A lot of you expected it, but Mob took Mineta's spot in the class. Mineta is now either bothering some other hero school or has just given up on his hero dream in general. Perhaps he's put some thought into why he failed to get into U.A. and is now attempting to be a better person, we can hope.

*The main reason Mob doesn't use his quirk during the quirk apprehension test is that he honestly doesn't think to do so. He's done this test so frequently with the Body Improvement Club, he's honestly used to just using his base physical strength that it just comes naturally to him. The only reason he used it on the ball throw is he was outright asked too.

*Yaoyorozu scores top on the tests still, I don't know if that's gonna come up yet, but I just want to point it out. She knows how to apply her quirk to any situation and she deserves recognition for that.

*You know those little official stat things that all the characters have? Well here's Mob's:

Power: 6/5

Speed: 4/5

Technique: 2/5

Intelligence: 2/5

Cooperativeness: 4/5