It wasn't often that Izuku would prefer invasive questions over silence, but this would have to qualify as one of those rare occasions. Despite his conversations with Aizawa, Toshinori, and Hizashi, Izuku hadn't gotten much sleep. Eventually, he had given up, spending the extra hours before school adding to his notebook the observations that he had made about his classmates and their quirks so far. It proved to be more of a reminder of the source of his anxieties than a distraction from them, but it was work that Izuku wanted to get done anyway and he was nothing if not adept at compartmentalizing when there was an end goal in sight.

When it was finally time to head to school the next morning, Izuku felt exhausted and had every intention of sneaking out before his mother could see the effects of his sleepless night. It wouldn't go any good to have her confronting Nedzu now, and there was no way that she would miss the fact that he had clearly been up all night. His plan would have been successful too, but he had forgotten something.

Never underestimate Hatsume Mei.

Already dressed in her uniform, her ever present goggles sitting on her head, Mei didn't greet him with her usual smile. She leaned against the wall across from his front door, arms crossed, an expression on her face that Izuku had never seen before. He closed the door behind him nervously, wondering if it was too late to go back inside and pretend that he wasn't home.

"Mei," he said, wincing at the high-pitched tone in his voice. This was his friend, and he shouldn't be afraid of whatever she had come here to say. Even if she could murder him and make it look like an accident. "I wasn't expecting to see you this morning. Did you want to stop to get coffee or?"

"Well, since you're leaving so early to avoid your mom, it seems like we have the time," was all she said and response and led the way down the hall.

"I wasn't-"

"We both know you can't lie to me, Izuku. Besides, those bags under your eyes speak for themselves."

They were quiet the rest of the way towards the stairwell until, "You heard?"

"Yeah, Izuku. I heard."

Talking to Mei helped, as it always did when something inevitably went wrong, but she could do nothing to erase his problems. 1-A was apparently a class full of gossips because news had spread about the mysterious fifth recommendation student by the end of the day that even Mei, already holed away in a lab with multiple projects on deck had heard about it. Izuku's identity was supposed to remain a secret so of course the entire school new about it within a handful of hours. It wasn't any worse than Izuku had been expecting, but it wasn't any better either.

Mei would have walked him all the way to his classroom if Izuku hadn't refused to take another step until she went to her own homeroom. She had grumbled under her breath but, seeing that Izuku needed a little time alone to pull himself together in the face of the onslaught that was coming for him, Mei had eventually wandered off after a hug and the demand to meet up at the gates after school. Izuku agreed easily. He would probably need to be distracted, and Mei would know just what to do.

The night before, Inko had suggested waiting until the last minute to go to class. If he was almost late, then they wouldn't have time to question him, and Aizawa could redirect the focus on the upcoming school events. Izuku had considered it at first, but ultimately decided against it. He appreciated her suggestion, but showing up at the last minute would do nothing to stop the staring or the questions. It would only delay the ambush, and Izuku didn't want to have to spend the morning worrying about what they were going to say to him. Better to get it over with immediately and move on to his next crisis. They still had to watch the video from the practical, after all. Izuku would get a more honest reaction from them now, then after they had seen his fight with Bakugou. If they had a problem with him being quirkless and getting in on recommendations, he wanted to know it now.

If he could avoid getting Aizawa involved, that would be ideal as well. The longer he could keep people from making the connection between their homeroom teacher and Izuku's unknown sponsor the better. Having Aizawa help Izuku avoid questions might not be enough on its own, but one too many breadcrumbs could lead to the truth, and the two of them weren't exactly as subtle as Aizawa wished. Adding Hizashi to the mix would only make things worse over time. They were all going to get tired from having to watch everything they did around each other, but this was one piece of evidence that Izuku knew he could avoid setting in place.

The buzz of whispers dropped as Izuku stepped into the classroom, much like the morning of their first day of school when Aizawa had made his dramatic entrance. Channeling his inner Aizawa, Izuku met the stares of his classmates head on. From the looks of it, Izuku was still one of the last to arrive. Bakugou sulked in his desk, but didn't turn to look in Izuku's direction. Once the silence was broken, Izuku knew he wouldn't get a break until the morning bell, so he quickly spoke before any of them could find their words.

"All Might was right. I did get into Yuuei on recommendations. I was involved in an incident with a villain attack when I first met my sponsor, and so it was decided that my recommendation status would be kept a secret," Izuku glanced around the room, gaging reactions. Most were only staring at him open mouthed, although whether it was from his explanation or the fact that he was addressing the elephant in the room on his own, he wasn't sure. Iida's stern expression didn't shift as Izuku spoke, his eyebrows drawn low as he listened as if he were committing every word to memory for future study. Izuku let his gaze skip past him and moved on. "I was going to tell you eventually, but Principal Nedzu decided not to inform All Might of the plan. As of this moment, my sponsor still wishes to remain anonymous in order to avoid any other villain mishaps. I hope that you all will respect my sponsor's privacy as well as my own. It's been decided for safety reasons, and I cannot tell you the identity of my sponsor without their permission. Are there any questions?"

Voices answered all at once, and Izuku sighed, wishing this conversation was over already. As members of one of the most competitive programs in the country, his classmates should have been able to handle themselves in a more reasonable manner. Aizawa was going to have to add more public relation lessons on the schedule if this was how they reacted when presented with an unexpected situation. Izuku was just deciding how to best get them to quiet down long enough for him to hear what they wanted to ask when a different voice spoke over the class.

"How do you expect him to answer anything like this?" Kaminari said, a spark of electricity bringing focus to his words in the booming classroom. Iida glared at him as if he wanted to comment on Kaminari's unauthorized use of his quirk, but Kaminari answered his glare with one of his own. "We're in the classroom. Raise your hand."

Izuku almost missed the first question because he was staring at Kaminari as he directed the chaos that Izuku had been dreading only moments ago.

"You didn't see me at the entrance exam because I didn't have to take it," Izuku said. "None of the recommendation students had to. We had a demonstration before school started as our final test, and we still had to pass the same written tests as everyone else."

"A demonstration?" Sero asked. "Does that mean that the other recommendation students know who your sponsor is?" Of course someone was going to make that connection.

"They do. But I would ask that you not bother them about it. They have been asked not to share my sponsor's identity because, and I'm stressing this again because it's important, there are safety concerns about my sponsor's identity getting out. Like I said before, I was attacked by villains shortly after starting to work with my sponsor because they were my mentor. I would prefer not to repeat the experience until I am legally allowed to defend myself."

"Why couldn't you defend yourself?" Kirishima asked. "I know the laws limit unauthorized use of quirks even in self defense, but if you don't have a quirk…"

Izuku almost laughed. "My gear is made by someone who produces tech for pro heroes, and some of it I wasn't allowed to even touch until school officially started. If I were to use them out on the street I would get in just as much trouble as someone using their quirk. Maybe more because I couldn't even argue that it was an instinctual reaction. We're watching the video from yesterday this morning. You'll see what I mean then." Not that how Izuku had handled the kidnapping was technically legal either-if anyone had bothered to ask how he and Bakugou had gotten away Izuku could have gotten in trouble for assault- but given how backwards some of the laws regarding self defense had become after the introduction of quirks to society, Izuku didn't feel the need to bring of those specifics.

Kaminari pointed again.

"How did Principal Nedzu find you?" Iida asked. His expression hadn't changed as Izuku answered their classmates questions, still watching Izuku carefully. Izuku thought that the way the practical had ended had managed to change Iida's mind about him, but he couldn't be sure in the way Iida was looking at him now, as if he were a puzzle Iida had just decided to solve. Really though, he thought that Iida would have been able to ask a better question than that.

"The same way that he found the other recommendation students. My sponsor got in touch with him and told him about what I had been learning. When Nedzu saw my skills in action he decided to offer me a recommendation spot. Since the other recommendation spots are specifically reserved for students who have shown significant control and development of their quirks another spot was created for me." Izuku glanced around the room again, meeting as many looks as he could. "I do want to stress though that although I did not take the same exam as you, me and the other recommendation students did have to prove our abilities to Principal Nedzu in his own way. He wouldn't risk his reputation or the school's reputation on any one of us if he didn't think that we would be able to handle what having a recommendation spot means."

"What it means?" This time it was Kaminari who asked the question although he looked like he regretted the words as soon as they slipped out. Izuku gave him a short nod to let him know that he didn't mind. Kaminari had to be just as curious as the rest of them, although Izuku appreciated that he was showing restraint in order to help him get through this. Maybe he really had meant it when he said all he wanted from Izuku was friendship.

"Increased media attention," Izuku answered simply. "The five of us aren't going to be able to just train quietly. People are going to be expecting us to justify why we deserve the spot that we were given, and they are going to be watching our progress carefully for any type of slip up. People who don't like Yuuei or Principal Nedzu. People who love Yuuei and want the school to maintain its reputation. We have check ins throughout the year with the board monitoring our progress, and it reflects back on Principal Nedzu and our sponsors."

"I hadn't thought of that," Kaminari said. "That's a lot of pressure."

Izuku shrugged off his concern, but didn't comment. Kaminari was right. It was a lot of pressure, especially when he would already be scrutinized for not having a quirk.

"If you have more questions I can answer them later. The bell is about to ring, so we should probably settle down already."

Class started shortly after Izuku's dismissal, and although he could still feel his classmate's attention on him it wasn't the distraction that he had worried it would be. The worst would be past him now that most of their curiosities had been addressed. There would be more questions, of course, the Kaminari had managed to make the initial surge bearable. Izuku would never be stupid enough to take Mei's friendship for granted, but it was nice to have someone else his age in his corner for once. His mother, Hizashi, and Aizawa would always do what they could for him, but it wasn't the same as having friends. Now that Izuku finally had one he realized what he had been missing out on all those years after his short lived friendship with Katsuki fizzled out. It felt greedy to want more after all that he had gained over the last two years, and so Izuku pushed that train of thought aside for further examination at a much, much later date.

Slowly, the morning inched by and it was finally time to review the footage from the practical. Even though everyone already knew the results from each round, the class was buzzing with excitement to see how everything had played out in the rounds they hadn't been a part of. Izuku was much less worried about this than he probably should have been given everything else going on. His performance hadn't been the issue with the practical though. Izuku had done his job. He had distracted Bakugou long enough for Iida to have the chance to go after the missile. It was Iida's overconfidence and his doubt in Izuku's abilities that led to them failing the exercise, and that would be fairly obvious when they reviewed the film. Aizawa and Hizashi had assured him of that the night before, and in the end their opinions were some of the only ones that mattered to him.

Quickly, and without saying anything, All Might had led them to an auditorium Izuku hadn't seen before. The video would be projected on the enormous screen at the front of the hall for all of them to see in high definition. As they entered the room, All Might exchanged a regretful look with Izuku. The pro hero was still obviously upset by the way that he had been used. Why Nedzu thought it would be a good idea to essentially manipulate the number one hero, Izuku didn't know, but he doubted this plan would end up working out the way Nedzu had wanted. Making enemies of his staff would get him nowhere.

As they filed into the auditorium, Izuku found Kaminari sliding into the seat on his right. Izuku would have to make time to thank him for his help that morning when school ended, but for the moment he simply returned Kaminari's thumbs up. The surprise came when Iida sat down silently on the seat to Izuku's left. Maybe he should have expected it since they were partnered for the practical, but his partner hadn't seemed all that friendly earlier. Izuku returned Iida's nod as well, and then turned his attention to where All Might had stepped in front of the viewing screen.

"While we are watching yesterday's film, we will not be discussing individual students' mistakes. I have compiled notes for each of you to take with you today that will discuss what you can improve on, but that was not the goal of yesterday's exercise. At Yuuei, you will have practicals like that one often. Yesterday's work was about getting your feet wet, allowing you to see the kinds of tasks you will be given as part of this program. At the end of class I want you all to share some of the general mistakes you noticed. Things that you saw more than one group do that had an overall effect on their performance."

They watched the film in the order they fought, and Izuku was glad to finally have a notebook and pen in his hand as he watched his classmates use their quirks. His notes from Aizawa's test hadn't been as fleshed out as he would have liked considering he had to go off of his memory after the fact. Todoroki's quirk, as expected, had left the class speechless. The other team didn't even have a chance to pull off a single step of their plan before Todoroki had come into the scene and it had all been over. It was impressive work, but Izuku wondered how Todoroki would have handled a more delicate situation. He jotted down a quick reminder for himself later.

With how fast the first round had ended, it was almost as if Izuku's group was the true beginning of the review. Izuku had already watched the film with Aizawa and Hizashi, and he didn't need to see it again to know how it would look to everyone else. The second Izuku managed to get Katsuki off balance, managed to get the upper hand in what his classmates had assumed would be a one sided massacre, Kaminari swore until his breath. No one else spoke as the fight unfolded on the screen, mirrored by Iida's attempt to find the missile and Uraraka's trap.

The film ends. The class stares.

"Well," Kirishima said, breaking the silence. "I see why you can't use those weapons in the streets." His comment gets a laugh from Izuku who nods, and then it's on to the next video. With his second trial of the day over, Izuku sits back more comfortably in the auditorium chair and settles down to take his notes.

All Might doesn't pause between videos for commentary like he said. He moves seamlessly from one round to the next, and although there are only a few people besides Izuku taking notes the entire class watches carefully. When the final video has ended, All Might steps in front of the screen again, looking at the class expectedly. This might be his first time teaching, but it's clear in the way he doesn't hesitate to be the center of attention that he's gotten use to commanding a room. "So what did you see?"

Katsuki is the first one to speak, and Izuku watches him with the same level of intensity that Iida had been watching his own actions. They haven't spoken since the practical, but that short exercise was enough to show him that something had changed in his old classmate. Izuku is curious about just how deep those changes go. Katsuki has always been smart, despite everything, and it's only a matter of time before their new class realizes it.

"Most of the plans sucked," Katsuki said straight faced, and it was a testament to the preparation Aizawa had shoved down Toshinori's throat that his only response to the comment was a slow blink and a tilt of his head.

"Would you please care to elaborate on that, my boy."

Katsuki shrugged, lounging in his seat. "Hardly anyone took their opponents quirks into consideration when they made their plan. Which they should have because we all saw everyone's quirks the first day."

"That's a very good point, young Bakugou," All Might said. "Although plans ended up working anyway, if you know what quirks you are facing easier solutions can be found by making a plan with those specific weaknesses in mind. What else?"

"People hesitated when using their quirks," Izuku answered after All Might acknowledged him with another nod. "If they were using their quirks on the environment they were mostly fine, but when it came to using their quirk against a classmate there was always a moment where they pulled back."

"Very good, Midoriya! This brings us to the other point of this exercise! You all have solid control of your quirks. Your performances at the entrance exam demonstrated that nicely. But there is a difference between using your abilities on a robot and using them on another person."

Izuku very carefully did not look in Katsuki's direction.

"This exercise was designed so that you would be able to use your quirks, but the mission could be accomplished with the hesitation in mind. As a pro hero there will be times you will have to use your quirk against a villain, and that villain is likely to get hurt. While we will always be as safe as possible in our classes here, that hesitation is an instinct that needs to be trained. You will need to learn when holding back is of the up most importance, but you will also need to reconcile this with the fact that hero work is dangerous and that sometimes this will mean that people will get hurt because of your actions."

Kaminari spoke nonstop as they left the classroom at the end of the day. "No, dude, you aren't understanding the perfection here. Coffee flavored ice cream is pinnacle of human creation here, okay? It's a dessert, but it's coffee? The two greatest things in the world combined into one unbelievable thing that you can actually just go out and buy? I feel like you are majorly missing out here, and that's something that we need to fix. Immediately. I'll buy. That's how dedicated to this mission I am."

Izuku laughed. "And I feel like you probably drink way too much coffee. Obviously mint ice cream is the best." Their discussion had carried them through the hallway to the main entrance, and Kaminari was already shaking his head again.

"And I feel," a voice said from beside them, "that you have been holding out on me, Midoriya Izuku. Who is this?"

"Mei, this is Kaminari Denki. Kaminari-kun, this is-"

"Hatsume Mei," Mei interrupted with a dramatic bow. "Tech genius extraordinaire. So what's this I hear about ice cream?"