A.N.

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone reading for keeping up with this story despite the long breaks I tend to take, especially those who leave reviews. Seeing those and the traffic stats and all helps remind me how much people are enjoying the story with me and helps me find the motivation to keep going. 3


The episode started with Hatsume gushing about Izuku's choice to switch to using his legs more and how she was going to make all sorts of 'leg babies' for him.

Jirou's face scrunched up. "The term 'leg babies' just sounds wrong."

"You'll want to make sure whatever she gives you is tested well before trying it on." Uraraka said, eyeing Hatsume suspiciously.

Izuku could still remember how his spine felt when her power suit started malfunctioning and nodded in agreement.

As she turned to her work table, Izuku jumped to make sure she knew that he wasn't looking for an overhaul of his costume. Hatsume then spouted what sounded like a quote, about how a good designer would be able to meet their clients demands even if they were reckless, ignorant, or ill-advised.

"I feel like I should be offended, but I'm not sure I have a leg to stand on there." Izuku said. Uraraka snorted.

"Nice pun." she complimented. "I think it's kinda justified here though. I mean, does not wanting a whole overhaul really count as 'reckless, ignorant, or ill-advised'?"

"I suppose that would depend on whether or not the costume has been causing great difficulty for the client as is." Momo mused. "If it has, then refusing to change the base design could be very reckless. However, Midoriya's issues aren't really being caused by his suit, so I'm not sure such a change would be necessary."

"In either case, attempting to meet demands that fall under such qualifiers seems as though it would inevitably lead to danger and darkness." Tokoyami pointed out.

"Yes, it's one of humanity's failings that what they need is often very different from what they want, and trying to follow those wants can often lead to bad outcomes. However, I believe we are misunderstanding what Hatsume Mei is saying. I believe she means that a good designer will do their best to make it so that even irrational demands are being met in a way that is safe for the client." Nedzu explained.

"That's how Power Loader should be using that saying anyway. Whether or not she understands that remains to be seen." Recovery Girl added.

Hatsume gleefully asked if Power Loader would use the design she came up with. Her teacher said yes, as long as it was good. Izuku did not look pleased.

Hatsume then pointed out that focusing on the legs meant that Izuku would have to adapt to being a speed based hero. Hatsume wanted to make him something that would allow him to fight against an 'armored car' like Iida essentially was. She changed her tune when Midoriya explained Full Cowl to her. Uraraka watched the interaction, looking sad.

"Awwww, are you feeling left out and jealous?" Ashido teased.

"I...I'm not sure? I honestly don't know why I look like that. Maybe because I didn't think up any changes to my own costume yet?" Uraraka frowned at the screen.

"Well, if you're worried about that, we could talk about your costume some time and think of some potential improvements." Midoriya offered. "You told me once that those handles on your forearms are for weightless people to hold onto so you can transport them safely even if they're injured. But I've been thinking of a way you could have that function without the handles getting in the way and without hindering the use of your arms as much."

"Really? That sounds cool! Let's talk about it during the next break!"

The scene changed back to when Bakugo's attack had caused the cement slab to fall, indicating that the last scene had taken place a few days before this scene. The scene started to play out again, but this time Izuku's thoughts were shown. He thought about how he'd got the idea for these moves from both Kaccahn and Gran Torino, and to make them work he needed minimal gear with maximum affect. He put his new costume mods to full affect as he took out the cement chunk.

Bakugo had steeled himself when the scene first started, thinking that the fucking voice was gonna start taunting him again, but it didn't get a chance before he saw how Deku was thinking.

An age old part of him wanted to shout and snap at the nerd for copying him, but he stopped himself by latching onto how the nerd had also included Gran Torino.

'Deku isn't looking down on you. He takes in moves like this from people who inspire him, and he practically put you on the same level as Gran Torino just now, and he's a seasoned pro.' A more reasonable part of his mind said.

'Do you deserve that kind of admiration?' another part asks. He does his best to shove it to the very back of his brain.

"I wish I could learn that much just from watching people." Kaminari said wistfully.

"It's not just from watching, we've seen him practice a lot too." Ojiro reminded him. Sero snorted.

"Yeah, he kept throwing himself against a wall in the name of training before, remember?"

Izuku went to check if All Might was alright. Kirishima and Kaminari came over to praise Midoriya and ask about his new moves. Izuku explained how he learned from Iida how to move his body in a way that favored his legs and how the shoes made by Hatsume helped him. He called his new shoot style a stopgap, and All Might refuted him, saying it was more than that and good enough to be used at the license exam.

"Thanks for taking the time to train with me Iida, it's clearly been a big help!" Izuku said.

"Of course! A good hero and class president must be ready to give aid in all manner of things! Also, I don't doubt that the training was also a learning experience for my future self."

"I hope I've thought of something even half that cool." Kaminari said.

"Well, you were talking to Hatsume at one point. Even if she was shaking her head, it sounds like she's the kind of person that would have come up with something for you anyway." Tsuyu pointed out.

"Yeah, she probably took your brain frying as problem a challenge." Jirou teased.

Aizawa cautioned All Might about standing so close. Yagi apologized to him, then called up an apology to Bakugo. The boy stared blankly for a moment, than literally exploded and shouted for All Might to watch himself. Yagi contemplated the words, and thought about how people now saw him as someone to be protected.

While students giggled at Bakugo's eventual on screen response, the teachers talked.

"Hmmm, yes, I understand how the role reversal may be hard to accept." Recovery Girl said. "It's not quite the same thing, but I also had some difficulty when I transitioned from regularly being out in the field to mainly being at UA. As much as I wanted to help as many people as I could, I had to accept the fact that these old bones just can't handle travel as well as they used to."

"Ah, I hadn't thought about that previously." Yagi admitted. "I suppose we must all learn to deal with changing circumstances and new limitations as time goes on."

"Very true." She nodded, then smiled softly at him. "That knowledge may not make it easier to accept, but perhaps having someone to talk to about such things will?"

He looked surprised for a brief moment, then returned the smile. "I will appreciate that greatly when my own time to retire comes, I think. Perhaps even Gran Torino will have some insight."

Bakugo observed the conversation, quiet and thoughtful. Kirishima looked back and forth between his friend, the screen, and the teachers, trying to figure out what the other boy might be thinking or feeling.

Izuku went up to Kirishima and Kaminari and commented on their own costume modifications. They talked about how a lot of their classmates were changing their style, and pictures of different classmates were shown when they mentioned that. Kaminari started to excitedly talk about his own costume but was cut off by the arrival of class 1B, who had the gym scheduled for that afternoon.

The people who were shown when the costume changes were discussed perked up, curious to know what they had added or changed about their outfits.

"Oh, those headphones look cool! I wonder what kind of features they have?" Jirou wondered.

"Given what we've seen from Hatsume, they could have a great many, and some of them could be very unexpected." Momo said.

"Hey, cool face mask thing you got there." Sato said to Koda.

"It looks like it could be a kind of voice modifier." Tokoyami observed.

Koda gave them both a shy smile, and took a closer look at himself. He'd been working on projection at the training camp, but whatever tech was in that mask could probably send out his calls a lot further than he'd ever be able to naturally. He knew he'd have to work on his projection either way, but he would feel better if he had a back up and wouldn't have to push himself to be loud every time he used his quirk.

"Aw man, they couldn't have come in one minute later? I wanted to know what those things on my arms are supposed to do!" Kaminari complained.

"I'm sure we will see it's brilliance soon, mon ami." Aoyama said.

Ashido glanced at him, wondering again why he sounded so subdued compared to normal.

Vlad King told class 1A to hurry up and leave. Aizawa pointed out they still had 10 minutes of time left, and told Vlad he wasn't using his time wisely. Monoma spoke up and said that, since the provisional license exam had a 50% failure rate all of them should just fail. He laughed heartily at his own joke.

"I hope he's one of the ones that fails." Hagakure grumbled. Ashido nodded.

"Me too. And that wasn't even funny! If you're gonna go around insulting people that much you should at least be good at it."

"Oh yeah, definitely, the key to true comedic insults is creativity." Sero said with mock seriousness. Kaminari snorted.

"Yeah, and it definitely helps not to laugh at your own joke too."

Aizawa frowned at Kan's words and attitude. Had he always been this competitive with the classes, or had all the chaos this year made things different? 'Or am I just noticing it more because of how much I've come to care about this class?'

"Considering what we know about All Might's inevitable retirement, perhaps it would be a good idea to put more work into fostering teamwork between 1A and 1B. UA leading the way in more collaboration between heroes could really change hero society for the better in upcoming years." Nedzu said.

Kaminari asked about Monoma's outfit, and Kendo explained he had been going for something 'not especially eccentric'. Kaminari clearly thought he'd missed the mark.

"Yeah, if your going for practicality then wearing something that looks like old fashioned formal wear is kind of an eccentric choice." Ojiro agreed.

"Well, she just said 'not especially eccentric'. So maybe that meant he was going for just a little eccentric?" Tsuyu theorized.

"Seriously thought, he looks like he's the main character from an anime about a gentleman thief or something." Mineta said.

"Oh gosh you're right, he totally does!" Kaminari laughed.

Tokoyami pointed out that the classes would be in competition during the exam, so Monoma had something of a point. Aizawa and Vlad King explained that the two classes had applied to different locations, which was standard practice to avoid classes from the same school being in competition. For a moment, Monoma looked and acted relieved, but then he went right back into boasting about what a shame it was they couldn't take each other on.

"Why is he talking so much about something he doesn't want to happen anyway?" Shoji asked, confusion clear in his voice.

"I don't know, I guess it makes him feel better or something." Sato shrugged.

"If one is not willing to embrace darkness than one should not invite it across one's threshold." Tokoyami said.

"Still, I'm glad we won't be competing against the other class for this. I'd feel bad if my own efforts stopped one of them from passing." Momo admitted.

Sero said he hadn't thought about competing against all the other school before. Midoriya pointed out that their class was also trying to get their licenses faster than normal. Aizawa explained that few first years would be at these tests, and that most of their competition would be people who had been training much longer than they had. He didn't want them to get hung up on that though.

"It would be best if you could get your licenses during this time, so that you'll be better able to defend yourselves if the League attacks again." Aizawa said.

"But there's another test in September, so it's not the end of the world if some of you don't make it right away." Mic said, hoping to alleviate some of their stress.

'It could be if the League attacks again and they get arrested for defending themselves.' Aizawa thought. He didn't say anything aloud though, knowing that it wouldn't help the students in this room to be reminded of that.

Despite Present Mic's words, the students looked determined and resolute as they thought about the test. They hoped their other selves would pass the exam, since it seemed that the League attacking again was more a matter of 'when' than 'if'.

The scene changed to evening back at the dorms. The girls were all sitting around and talking about how tired they were or how their training was going. Hagakure asked Uraraka about her special move, and the girl just stared into space. She jumped when Hagakure poked her and asked what was up. Uraraka tried to brush it off at first, but then admitted that she was having some trouble because 'her heart had been stirred up recently'. Ashido immediately decided that it must be love.

The real Uraraka spluttered almost as much as the one on screen did.

"Oh come on! Just because I said it that way doesn't automatically mean it's love! I mean, a lot of things could, uh, make the heart stir..."

"Yeah! My heart stirs whenever I see something manly!" Kirishima declared.

Ashido thought about how often he had described Bakugo as 'manly' and filed that away for future theorizing before saying "It could be love though! The screen went all pink and bubbly and everything! And if it is then we all know who that's directed towards." she said the last part with a teasing lilt.

Uraraka glanced at Midoriya, who was very purposefully not looking at her, and found his face was just as red as hers felt. She buried her face in her hands and groaned while her classmates snickered.

Uraraka immediately started freaking out and trying to deny it. Ashido eagerly asked if it might be Midoriya or Iida, since she spent so much time with them. Uraraka was so embarrassed that she started to float away.

The snickers only got louder now, causing Uraraka's face to heat up even more.

"I would just like to say, that if you did reveal a crush on me, I would be flattered." Iida said.

Uraraka groaned again.

"Oh? Just flattered? You wouldn't ask her out?" Kaminari teased. Naturally, it flew right over Iida's head.

"I decided before coming to UA that I would focus on my training and school work above all else! There will be time for such things after I have made more progress."

"Aw, come on Iida! Live a little! If you keep up that mindset you won't have a girlfriend until after you graduate and then you'll be way behind your peers on the dating scene and that will make things harder for you later." Ashido said.

"I am certain that plenty of people did not date much or at all in their teenage years but were still able to find happiness and success in life regardless. But if things ever quiet down I will take your words under advisement."

The likelihood of things 'quieting down' for 1A anytime in the near future seemed very low, but no one wanted to think about that too much so no one brought it up.

Uraraka was just happy that the focus seemed to have shifted off of her a bit.

Hagakure, Ashido, and Jirou teased Uraraka a bit more before Tsuyu pointed out it would be best not to force things and Momo called on them to get to bed since they had to be up early. The others protested, and Uraraka said it wasn't like that and she didn't know much about these things. Just then, she saw Midoriya out the window, practicing late to try and get the hang of Iida's movements. Things went sparkly again.

"Oh it's 'not like that' huh?" Ashido crowed. She was almost loud enough to drown out the snickers that had started back up. Almost.

"Just when I thought I was safe..." Uraraka bemoaned.

"Um, sorry I, uh, blew your cover?" Izuku hesitantly apologized. That actually made her laugh a little.

"It's okay, it's not like you were trying to." after saying that, she lowered her volume to near whisper "Honestly, this is what I was talking about before, about not knowing what kind of feeling this is. I don't know if I just really admire how smart and dedicated you are or..."

Izuku swallowed, and matched her volume. "Th-thank you! But, yeah, I kinda get that. You, I, I mean, how do you tell the difference, you know? Especially if you're not sure you've ever felt that kind of thing before..."

Uraraka nodded vigorously in agreement, and they both laughed in relief, and maybe a little bit in confusion too.

The scene jumped ahead to the day of the provisional license exam. Everyone stood outside the building where it would take place, looking and sounding nervous. Mineta asked himself if he'd be able to pass. Aizawa told him it wasn't about if he could or not, and just told him to go get his license. Mineta immediately agreed.

The students were psyching themselves up and praying/wishing that their other selves would make a good showing and be able to pass. As a result, none of them took too much notice of what Aizawa said to Mineta.

But Present Mic and All Might certainly did.

"Shouta, Shouta. Did you just tell one of your students: Do or do not, there is no try?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You did! You totally did!"

Aizawa looked away from Present Mic, only to see All Might smirking at him.

"Both of you, shut up."

"I didn't say anything." Yagi held his hands up, the picture of innocence.

Aizawa addressed the class, saying that if they passed they would go from eggs to chicks, then bade them to do their best. Kirishima went into pep talk mode and started to do the UA cheer, only to have it be finished by an unfamiliar boy that had appeared behind them. The screen shifted to show three students from another school. One told the boy, Inasa, not to interrupt other people's huddles.

"That's just not right man, you don't interrupt another man's cheer! I was getting fired up and everything!" Kirishima said.

"Heh, yeah, if he wanted to do that motto so bad he should have gotten into UA." Bakugo agreed.

The other students were less affronted and more curious about the unfamiliar students. They couldn't help but wonder how other hero schools did things and what the students from them might be like.

Inasa apologized so hard his head slammed into the ground, freaking out several students. Aizawa seemed to recognize Inasa. The UA students realized that the new students were from Shiketsu, a school known to rival UA. Inasa went on a rant about how much he loved UA and wanted to be able to say the motto at least once. None of his classmates seemed surprised by this and just started walking in when he was done, aside from a girl who noticed blood on his forehead.

"Hm, if he loves UA so much but he's at Shiketsu, I wonder if that means he tried out for UA but didn't get in." Ojiro wondered.

"If he always talks about UA like that then that's gotta be awkward for his classmates." Sero said.

"How does his head not hurt?" Kaminari asked in bewilderment.

"Maybe he's done that so many times he doesn't feel it anymore." Mineta suggested.

Todoroki stared at the screen, wondering why Inasa felt vaguely familiar.

Aizawa said Inasa's name, which made Hagakure ask if their teacher knew him. Aizawa said he was strong, and that he'd scored the highest in the UA recommended test for this past year, but had turned down the position for some reason. The students were distressed at the clear praise Aizawa gave, knowing how much it meant. Izuku realized that this all meant that Inasa had scared even higher than Todoroki during the test, and wondered if that meant Inasa was stronger than Todoroki.

"He turned down going to UA? What the heck would make someone turn down going to UA after scoring that well?" Jirou asked in surprise.

"Perhaps he had a change in circumstances that made attending UA not an option?" Iida suggested.

Upon hearing that Inasa had been at the recommended exam, Todoroki thought 'Oh yeah, him.' then said. "I don't know if he's stronger than me. He did score higher than me before, but that was also before I was using my fire. Things have changed since then."

"Yeah, that's a good point, one score doesn't account for all types of strength. Plus it will depend on how you've both progressed since then. We know you've made some big changes, but don't know anything about what he's been doing yet." Izuku said.

"Either way, if Aizawa said he was strong even before the school year started, then we'll want to keep an eye on him." Tsuyu said. The class murmured in agreement.

The 1A students watched Inasa and his classmates leave, and commented on how weird it was for him to turn down his chance to go to UA despite what he said and how high he scored. Aizawa said he was the real deal despite that, but was cut off by someone calling out to him.

Aizawa ran a hand down his face and groaned. Mic smirked at him.

The pro hero Ms Joke walked up, saying it had been a while since she'd seen Aizawa in person. She asked him to marry her, and he flatly said no. Ashido looked on in glee despite this. Ms Joke laughed at his response. Aizawa just said she was hard to talk to.

Aizawa gave Ashido a look. "Do not make this a thing. It has never been a thing and will never be a thing. It's just a bad joke she always does."

"Y-yes sir!" Ashido said, not wanting to get on her teachers bad side.

Izuku giddily explained how Ms Joke fought by making others laugh and taking them out while they were impaired by that. Ms Joke tried to continue the marriage joke, and Tsuyu said they seemed close. Ms. Joke said that their agencies used to be close together and that made their love bloom. Aizawa flatly denied this.

"You really do encourage her, you know?" Mic said. Aizawa looked affronted.

"How am I encouraging this?"

"Do you really not know?"

"Know what?!"

"Shouta, you're being the perfect straight man right now. You giving those quick, flat answers is the perfect complement to her; you complete the comedy duo."

Aizawa's face went blank for a moment, then his eyes grew wide. He looked down at the ground like he was questioning everything he'd ever known. "...damn."

After teasing Aizawa just a bit more, Ms Joke called over her own class of students, who were from Ketsubutsu. The students seemed excited, and a black haired boy came and up took Izuku's hands, then Kaminari, and a couple others, all the while saying how much he admired them and their fortitude. The 1A students were dazzled by his brightness.

"Mmph, he's not nearly as sparkly as myself." Aoyama refuted.

"Meeting the other schools has been weird. First Shiketsu doesn't care about us at all, except for Inasa, then these guys are super friendly and everything." Sato said.

"The dichotomy is a bit jarring." Momo admitted.

Bakugo snorted. "Friendly? Yeah right."

The boy tried to talk to Bakugo and take his hands too. Bakugo smacked his hand away and said his words didn't match his face. A dark look passed over the boy's face before he was back to his warm smile. Kirishima yelled for Bakugo not to be rude.

A few students shivered, and Kirishima's eyebrows rose.

"Dang, you were spot on. I should have trusted your judgment."

Bakugo leaned back with a look that said 'I told you so'. Truth be told. Bakugo had been thinking that, if the boy really had felt that way about all of them, then his gushing would have looked more like Deku's. The others may have thought it looked about the same, but he'd seen so much of the nerd geeking out that he could tell when someone else was just faking it.

"I wonder why he would do that...Is it just to lure us into a false sense of security? Was he doing something to prep his quirk? He did hold a bunch of our hands and lots of quirks are touch based..."

Bakugo glanced at the muttering nerd and could only think 'case and point'.

A girl asked for Todoroki's autograph, saying how cool he was at the sports festival. When Todoroki didn't respond much, Mineta offered his own autograph instead.

"That was kinda cringey huh?" Mineta said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Could have been a lot worse, but it was a little, yeah. This time it's probably good she didn't notice." Kaminari said.

"So, was her excitement only a veneer as well?" Tokoyami wondered.

Koda fiddled with his hands, not liking the idea of these kids having some kind of ulterior motive. He had a hard enough time with people when he was sure about whether or not they liked him.

Meanwhile, Todoroki was actually a bit pleased, not that it showed much on his face. He'd thought she was asking him for an autograph because of his father, but she said it was because of how he'd done at the Sports Festival. It was always nice to have someone just acknowledge him and not immediately bring up his dad.

Jirou and Kaminari talked about how meeting people outside of UA reminded them of how differently people treated them due to the school's fame. Aizawa directed all the students to get ready, and the left to do so. Ms Joke looked concerned, and asked if Aizawa hadn't told them.

The students turned to look at Aizawa. The looks were varied, some holding curiosity, some suspicion, others concern, and a few were outright fear.

"I'm sure the show will tell you before too long." he deflected.

The students sighed or huffed in exasperation, but turned back to the screen.

"Hm, I didn't consider how staying in the dorms might make our group too insular. I'll have to organize outings so that we can be sure to interact regularly with the public!" Iida decided.

The scene changed to a big room that was packed with people. The students were in awe of just how many people had come for the test. The room quieted down when a very tired looking and sounding blonde man started to speak at the front of the room. He introduced himself as Mera from the HPSC, then went on a short rant about how short staffed they were and how sleep deprived it made him before he started the speech properly.

Some people chuckled while others looked sympathetic.

Todoroki wondered if Mera and Aizawa might be related somehow.

Mera said that the exam would basically be a free-for-all, and that the pro hero world was oversaturated. He went on to say that, ever since Stain showed up, there were more people with doubts about how the hero system was set up. This made Midoriya remember some of Stain's viewpoints.

Iida frowned deeply at the mention of Stain. While he could, grudgingly, admit that the man had a couple of good points, he was greatly worried and irritated at the idea of the man having so much sway on society. The man's views and actions had been far too extreme for his influence to lead to good things.

"I hope that those doubts being brought on by Stain, instead of the League, still eats Shigaraki up inside." Hagakure said.

Mera mused some more about Stain and his convictions before telling the gathered hopefuls that they were about to try for their license and be thrown into the rapids of the hero world. Those who couldn't keep up would have it rough, so this test would focus on their speed!

"So, he's saying the test functions on 'sink or swim' mentality?" Momo asked.

"Essentially." Aizawa confirmed. "If you can figure out how to swim here, there's a good chance you can make it out there. If you can't, and sink here instead, then you'll definitely sink out there."

"So, pretty much how you teach right Shouta? With your kids being used to that, I'm sure they'll make it through this test just fine!" Present Mic joked.

Personally, Aizawa liked to think of his more extreme lessons as 'swim tests', where he threw people in to see how well they knew how to swim. That way he could get a good idea of where they most needed improvement and could work from there. But he didn't feel like getting into all of that and settled for just rolling his eyes at his friend's jab.

Mera said that only the first 100 people would pass this test. A couple of students did the math and figured out that only 10% of the people here would pass.

"What?! But I thought 50% were supposed to be able to pass!" Mineta complained. Sato scratched his neck.

"Well, he did say something about being 'oversaturated' with heroes. They must be trying to fix that by letting fewer people pass tests like this."

"Hm. If what he says is true, then it would be better to have a few very skilled individuals pass than a larger number of more average skill. If someone with authority is poorly trained or skilled, they could spread darkness quite easily." Tokoyami pointed out.
"I wonder if they've taken into account how All Might's retirement will affect things...or maybe the higher expectations are actually in response to All Might retiring?" Izuku wondered.

"That could be. If people are doubting heroes, both due to Stain's rhetoric and All Might's retirement, then they may want to ensure that those who become heroes going forward are above reproach." Iida said.

"A distinct possibility to be certain. I suppose we'll have to see if they're attempts are successful." Nedzu said.

Todoroki took note of the fact that, if all of them were going to succeed, they'd have to make up 20% of those who passed the test. He wondered if that was possible, given how many people there were and their own range of abilities.

Mera mumbled a bit more about the test and something about luck before launching into an explanation about how the rules of the test.

The students paid close attention to the explanation. It'd be hard to tell if their other selves were doing a good job if they didn't know how the test worked.

"Dude, I know they said they were short staffed and all, but you'd think they could have sent someone who was a little more awake to this thing." Sero said. Kaminari and Mineta laughed and agreed.

Well, most of them were paying close attention.

Midoriya thought about how this test was similar to the UA entrance exam, but the rules were harsher and they would be fighting people instead of robots. With how many balls each person would be given, there would be incentive to 'steal' wins from other people if your original target got away.

"Maybe more like the Sports Festival then, instead of the entrance exam, since that had a lot more competition with real people." Shoji pointed out.

"Yeah, there was stealing in the Sports Festival too, with the headbands." Tsuyu pointed out.

"Good point, not sure why I thought of the entrance exam instead." Izuku admitted.

Mera said that they would 'open' now, and start things a minute after everyone had gotten their gear. Todoroki wondered what that meant, but it was soon made obvious when the walls and ceiling opened up to show that they were all standing in the middle of a big arena. It had a few different areas with different landscape types, making it similar to the USJ.

While the students when 'oooo!' and 'ahhhh!' in response to the room shifting and seeing the arena, Recovery Girl just sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Yagi asked.

"It just seems excessive to me."

"What does?"

"The room opening up like that, and where it's placed I suppose. I just feel they could have easily built that into the outer part of the building, and it would have functioned just as well for it's purpose and and would likely have been less expensive."

"Hm, I suppose I see your point, but perhaps it serves a purpose we haven't seen yet."

Present Mic chuckled. "That would be ironic though wouldn't it? That Mera guy complains about the lack of staff and then we find out that the reason they can't hire more staff is because they used up the budget on making the testing centers needlessly complicated."

The different landscapes were shown. Mera noted they would each have areas they liked or disliked, and bade them to use their quirks and do their best. Midoriya looked around, shocked, and thinking that the space was too big. Mera himself admitted it was kinda unnecessary and hoped things would progress quickly so he could sleep.

"If it were just us, then yes, it surely would be. However, since there are over 1500 people there, the great amount of space will likely be necessary." Momo pointed out.

"Yeah, it'll give the extras space to get out of our way so we can show what we can really do!" Bakugo said with a grin.

Recovery Girl felt a bit vindicated that someone else thought the testing facility was clearly excessive.

As much as Aizawa empathized with Mera's wishes, he also wished the one leading such an important exam for his students was a little more focused.

In the stands, Aizawa and Miss Joke were sitting near each other. She kept trying to make jokes while he did his best to ignore her. Miss Joke said she was surprised to learn he hadn't expelled anyone this year, and asked him if he liked his class. He said not really. Miss Joke laughed and told him not to be so embarrassed.

"Awwww! It's okay teach, we know you love us deep down!" Kaminari teased.

Aizawa turned and glared at him, which made Kaminari instantly whither. Many students laughed or giggled at the interaction, and quickly tried to hide it when Aizawa's gaze was turned on them.

"You don't have to hide it Shouta! Everyone picks up some favorite students over the years, you just happened to find an entire class of them!" Mic cooed. He was immune to Aizawa's glare, much to his chagrin, but he was not immune to an elbow to the stomach.

Miss Joke slyly asked why he hadn't told his class about 'that'. People were shown running out and getting into place, and Midoriya's voice was placed over the scene. He realized that, with so many competing for so few spots, that most schools would try to team up with their own classmates and work against the other schools. Aloud, Midoriya urged the class to stay together. Bakugo immediately rejected this and went off on his own, despite Kirishima's protests.

"Raise your hand if you saw that coming." Jirou called and raised her hand. Many hands went up, but not everyone joined, which made for fewer raised hands than when she first did this.

Nonetheless, Bakugo scowled at her and told her to shut it before looking back at the screen. 'I have to make a good showing here. After what happened...I have to show I still belong here. My other self is probably thinking it will mean more if I do it on my own.' After all, the last time he had needed to rely on help, it lead to the end of All Might.

"That's another thing that will be like the Sports Festival then." Tsuyu said.

"You mean about how 1B tried to gang up on us during the cavalry battle?" Shoji asked.

"Kero." she nodded

Kirishima followed after Bakugo. Todoroki also said he'd go on his own, since he needed more space for his quirk, and ran off despite Midoriya calling after him.

Jirou's brows rose in slight surprise. "Didn't really think about it before, but it makes sense. Raise your hand if you saw that one coming."

It took longer than for Bakugo, but many hands raised for Todoroki as well.

Threads of annoyance and gratitude tangled in Bakugo's heart when he saw Kirishima run after him.

"I guess I can see your point, but still, it couldn't hurt to have people around to watch your back." Midoriya said softly, sounding a bit hurt as he watched the other Todoroki leave.

"...you have a point. I will have to take that into consideration when we reach this point in real life. Perhaps if I work on finer control earlier, then I could stay closer without as much risk."

Izuku's expression brightened back up and he started muttering about possible ways to train for that with Todoroki's quirk. Todoroki felt something his chest settle at the sight.

Mineta urged them to go, since the test was about to start, and they did. As they ran, Miss Joke talked about how, due to the Sports Festival, the UA students had already lost the advantage of surprise. Everyone else already knew their quirks and something about their preferred fighting styles. Midoriya realized this too, and explained it to his classmates. It dawned on them that the other classes would be coming after them. Miss Joke said that if Aizawa really did like this class, he should have told them about how crushing UA at the start had become something of a tradition.

"Or, as was just shown, I have enough faith in my students' abilities and trust you would realize all that for yourselves, or be able to deal with the affects even if you didn't." Aizawa said to himself. The show was even proving his belief to be well placed right away, since the class did figure out to team up for the most part. Even with the couple that had gone off on their own, their quirks and fighting skills were strong enough that they might be able to manage.

"So, this is sort of like when Bakugo purposefully pissed people off with his speech at the Sports Festival to make things more challenging for himself?" Shoji asked.

"Kind of, kero."

Those that had stayed with the group steeled themselves, and looked on with excitement. They'd seen their other selves band together to take on bigger threats than this, and they hoped that they'd all make it through this new challenge too.

Kirishima looked a bit nervous, as he remembered he was off with Bakugo. Both Bakugo and Todoroki stared the screen down like it was the one challenging them, rather than the people being shown.

The dark haired boy from before called out that he recognized Izuku as the one with the superpower that broke him, and targeted him because of that.

"Not anymore it doesn't! Guess someone has out of date info!" Uraraka said gleefully.

This raised the students' confidence about the whole test. While their quirks weren't a surprise anymore, and they were taking this test earlier than normal, they had other factors on their side. They had gone through a lot since the festival had occurred, with internships and training and exams and the summer camp. Their competition only knew some of what they could do; they didn't know what they were truly capable of!

The class ran as a hail storm of balls was thrown at them. Midoriya remembered what All Might had told him about his new shoot style, and launched himself into the air. He kicked one ball away so hard that the shockwave of it sent all the other balls flying away from him too.

Students whooped and cheered at the sight. Seeing Midoriya pull off a move like that without getting hurt at all, just after the other student mocked him for his bone breaking quirk, felt inspiration. Like that move symbolized just how much he and the rest of class 1A had grown since the Sports Festival.

Aizawa told Miss Joke he didn't have a particular reason for not telling the students about the tradition of crushing UA, but he did say that him telling them wouldn't change what they needed to do: overcome everything.

"AWWW! Shouta, look at you having so much faith in your students!" Mic teased him gleefully.

"Hush." Aizawa muttered back, sinking into his seat a little more.

The other 1A members were shown using their new moves to avoid or deflect the balls. Uraraka flew high above them all, Dark Shadow reared up to throw them away. Ashido, Sero, and Mineta found ways to wield their quirks like whips. Momo protected herself, Hagakure, and Tsuyu with shields. Iida ran through the hail storm and didn't get hit.

Some students cheered while others looked at their classmates or other selves in awe. They all looked so freaking cool!

"Thanks for looking out for us, kero."

"Yeah, thanks a bunch!"

Momo smiled at the girls. "Of course. It's no trouble at all, and it's important we stay united as we meet challenges like this."

Ashido and Sero were already talking about how they could try training together to see if they could figure out those moves early, while Mineta wondered if he'd gotten any training from Midnight for those moves.

"You're both doing amazing!" Izuku gushed after watching his two friends avoid the hailstorm.

"So were you with that kick!" Uraraka said with a laugh. She was surprised by how little nausea she felt. She must have been able to improve here quirk a lot if she felt it so little while using it on herself.

"I agree with Uraraka's praise, and thank you for your words!" Iida said. He hoped that he'd be able to inspire or protect the class as this test went on, the way Yoayorozu and Midoriya had, and not just focus on himself.

Aizawa said that a hero should be able to turn a bad situation around, and that people would know their quirks when they become pros anyway. UA was looking further ahead than just this test.

"And now we're looking even further ahead!" Kaminari joked. After his own words sank he put his hand on his chin and muttered to himself. "I wonder just how far ahead we'll end up looking. Are we gonna see ourselves become pros before we got back to our own time?"

Midoriya's thoughts showed he was confident that they could make this work. The results of his and everyone else's training was clearly being shown, and they would use it to get through this. He called on everyone present to move forward like this. Everyone shouted agreement and stood confidently beside or behind him.

The episode ended there.

Determination blazed through the room. Kirishima pouted, a part of him wishing his other self was there with the rest of the class. Both Bakugo and Todoroki wondered for a moment if they'd made the right decision to go off on their own. Todoroki decided he'd have to wait and see, while Bakugo stubbornly told himself that he didn't need that much back up and that so many people would just get in his way.

Yagi looked at young Midoriya with a proud smile. The young man was already showing so much leadership, so much ability to inspire people, and found himself once again incredibly grateful that he and Midoriya and crossed paths all those months ago.


During the break, Midoriya and Uraraka ended up bent over one of Midoriya's notebooks, talking about how she could more efficiently incorporate the handles her current costume had.

"You remember how I mentioned you could have something that let you direct puffs of air to maneuver like astronaughts do?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, if you had some kind of backpack for that, then you could attach something to that that could also let people hold on while you use your quirk on them. That way they would be behind you rather than attached to your arms."

"That's a great idea! I'd have to remember to be aware of them all the time with them out of sight, but I could get used to that. Oh! What if it was something retractable? I could let them float up higher that way to avoid stuff closer to ground if there was a lot of rubble."

"That could have a lot of great uses! We'd have to figure out a way to make it so you can easily control how much line they get, but I'm sure the support department could help with that."

"Oh gosh, I just pictured it and it looked like I was carrying people around like balloons! Or trailing them behind me like water skiers!"

The pair both laughed at that image.


While his successor was busy elsewhere. All Might found himself approached by someone unexpected.

"Ah, hello, young Bakugo. How are you doing?"

"Fine."

"That's good to hear."

"..."

"Did you have something on your mind?"

"You told me before that not being number one didn't mean that what I did was worthless."

"I did, and I stand by that."

"Well, that means that you aren't lesser or anything either."

"Hm?"

"You can't use your quirk anymore, so you aren't number 1 anymore, not officially or anything. But that doesn't mean, you aren't still All Might, you know?"

Yagi looked down at the boy, noticing how uncomfortable he looked, and realized how much effort Bakugo must be putting in to try and be comforting. He smiled softly and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I think I see what you're getting at. Don't worry too much about what happened with that cement block or anything. My new role will take some getting used to, but I'm sure I'll find my own way to make it great, especially with support from people like you."

"...so you aren't mad?"

"About what?"

"I almost hit you with that block."

"Ah that? No, no, of course not! Training accidents happen, and I really should have been more careful of where I was standing. I guess I'm still a little to used to being able to shrug things like that off, which is another adjustment I'll have to make at some point. But again, it's one I can manage."

Bakugo nodded stiffly before walking off. Yagi was quite touched by the boy's concern for him, which was why he felt a little bad. He got the feeling he hadn't reassured young Bakugo as much as he'd hoped to.


A.N.

Ashido, with a back up of several classmates:

Who do you think you're kidding?

He's the earth and heaven to ya!

Try to keep it hidden.

Honey we can see right through ya!

Girl you can't conceal it

We know how you feel and

who you're thinking of!

Uraraka:

No chance! No way!

I won't say it, no, no!

:P

Also, I didn't catch the whole 'Cami noticing the blood' thing the first time around. That's a nice, subtle bit of foreshadowing.

I believe I read the idea of Uraraka trailing people behind her on lines like that somewhere on tumblr, but I don't know when I saw it or who might have posted it. My apologies. After reading so many posts and fics it can get pretty jumbled together, you know?