Maybe if he slouched as much as possible and walked very fast, no one would notice him entering the 1-A dorm. Unlikely, but it seemed worth a shot.

There was really no particular reason for Shinsou to be so apprehensive about this. Aizawa said that they had moved his things from the 1-C to the 1-A dorm while everyone was in class. He belonged there as much as anyone, now.

Belonging on paper was different than actually belonging, he supposed. Mostly, he just didn't want anyone making a fuss over his change in living quarters.

He took a deep breath and reached for the door. It would probably be okay as long as he didn't immediately run into -

"Shinsou!"

Of course Midoriya was heading out the door at that exact second.

"Hey," he said, hoping that his face betrayed no emotions.

"Are you moving in?"

"Yeah."

"That's great! I didn't know. Well, I knew you were switching classes but I didn't know you were moving in today! I was going to get everyone to do a welcome party."

"I… really don't need a welcome party," said Shinsou, eyes widening in surprise.

"Sato could make a cake, and Yaoyorozu usually makes streamers and stuff, and I could get Uraraka to…" Midoriya was off in his own world, muttering rapidly. Shinsou briefly considered using his Quirk before realizing it wouldn't even activate – Midoriya was definitely talking to himself.

He didn't have a lot of experience handling people rambling on and on. He didn't have a lot of experience handling casual conversations at all, given how most people preferred not to talk to him unless it was strictly necessary.

Midoriya didn't seem to care in the slightest. Shinsou still wasn't certain if he was naive, trusting, fearless, or all three in equal measure. He had been paying attention to Midoriya ever since the Sports Festival. Despite not making the podium, it was beyond obvious that he was one of the most dangerous and formidable heroes in the entire school. Shinsou was going to need to rapidly come up to speed to match the others in the hero course, and he could do worse than follow Midoirya's lead.

It was also beyond obvious that he was the sort of guy who would jump on grenades to save his friends, which was admirable, in a way, but was definitely going to get him killed someday. That part wasn't something he intended to emulate.

"...to the gym. Wanna come?"

Shinsou suddenly realized that Midoriya had stopped talking and was expecting an answer to something. "Sorry, what?"

"A group of us are going to the gym to do some extra training. You should come with us! We can spar." Midoriya grinned, and there was more than a hint of mischief there.

This, at least, was a social interaction that Shinsou was fully equipped for. He had been waiting for a rematch with Midoriya ever since joint training. "Yeah, all right," he said, allowing himself a smile. "Let me go get my stuff. I'll be right back."

Shinsou entered the dorm, this time with purpose. There were a couple of kids watching TV in the common area, but they didn't seem to notice him. He ran up the stairs to where his room was supposed to be, entered it, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that his furniture and boxes had made it in one piece. His gym bag was sitting on top of the bed. He quickly checked inside to make sure his costume and support items were all packed, and headed out the door again.

"What, you live here now?" said an aggressive voice behind him as he closed the door to his room.

Shinsou turned around to see Bakugou standing in the hallway. He was probably not the kind of guy who would jump on a grenade. He was the kind of guy who would pull the pin and then hold onto it up until the last second to make absolutely sure the grenade would kill you. "Yeah," he said, not wanting to start a conversation.

Bakugou's eyes narrowed. "I just saw Deku with his gym bag. You going with him?"

"Yeah."

"What, you haven't gotten tired of being slammed into the dirt by a shitty nerd yet?"

"It's not surprising that Midoriya won at joint training. He has a lot more experience than me," said Shinsou, trying not to let Bakugou get the better of him. In a way, it was almost flattering that Bakugou was going out of his way to trash him, a sign that he had indeed arrived in the Hero Course. "I did just join the Hero Course this week."

"Pfft," said Bakugou, unimpressed. "How long do you plan on using that excuse?" He got directly up in Shinsou's face, as Shinsou tried not to flinch. "Now that you're in the Hero Course, you'd better stay out of my way. We really didn't need another shitty –"

Bakugou suddenly went silent as Shinsou activated his quirk. Shinsou said nothing, just staring at the frozen Bakugou for long enough to let it sink in before brushing past him and heading for the stairs. He released his Quirk just as he entered the stairwell.

"I'LL KILL YOU! YOU'RE DEAD!" Bakugou's voice reverberated off the walls. He didn't bother following Shinsou, though.

As much as he hated to admit it, though, Bakugou had struck a nerve. The excuse of being new definitely wasn't one he wanted to rely on for very long.

Well, at least he was going to have a rematch with Midoriya. This time, he was definitely not going to end up slammed into the ground.

"Hey, are you okay? I didn't hit you too hard, right?" Midoriya was holding out his hand to Shinsou, who he had just slammed into the ground.

"I'm fine," said Shinsou, trying not to let his frustration show too much. "Just broke most of my bones."

"What?!"

"I'm kidding," he deadpanned, getting up without the assistance of Midoriya's hand.

"Oh," said Midoriya. "I was worried for a second. You did great fighting, though! You nearly had me!"

"I really didn't," said Shinsou. Midoriya had actually been disciplined enough to not talk during the match, forcing Shinsou to rely solely on his capturing weapon. As much as he had trained with it, it really wasn't any match for Midoriya's frankly ridiculous strength and speed. It was difficult not to be jealous of his Quirk, perfectly suitable for heroism. Really, Midoriya would have been the perfect rival if he weren't so painfully nice.

"Well…"

Shinsou could tell that Midoriya was searching for something diplomatic to say about his thoroughly mediocre performance. He leaned against one of the nearby cement walls and waited. The gym was filled with fake cement mountains that Class 1-A had recently used for a training exercise. Nearby, he could see Yaoyorozu freeing a flustered Iida from a net, their sparring match apparently over. Asui was watching them with a mixture of amusement and concern.

"I mean, you're doing fine considering you just joined the Hero Course. I'm sure you'll catch up!" said Midoriya, smiling.

Shinsou groaned. "I don't want to use that excuse. What if a villain attacks? 'Sorry, but I've just enrolled in the Hero Course, so please go easy on me,'" he said mockingly.

Midoriya's face fell. "Yeah, I get that, but it's only been a week, right? You're definitely going to get better. You've gotten a lot better since the Sports Festival, right?"

"Yeah…" he said, toying with the end of his capturing weapon. He looked up, noticing that Midoriya was lost in thought, probably thinking about strategy.

"I lack options," he said, bluntly. He wasn't sure it was entirely wise to talk about his weaknesses with his new classmates, but he needed to address them if he was ever going to improve. "You know my Quirk and you weren't talking. That means all I have is this," he said, holding up the cloth around his neck. "Until I get much better at it, it's going to be rough trying to beat someone with a good combat Quirk."

Shinsou was surprised and mildly alarmed when Midoriya's eyes lit up like it was Christmas. "Actually, I was thinking about that!"

"Thinking about… my Quirk?"

"Yeah! I've got a bunch of ideas."

"For heroics, right?" Normally, when people told Shinsou they had ideas for his Quirk, they meant less than morally upstanding ones.

"Well, yeah!" said Midoriya in a tone of voice suggesting he had never even considered anything else. "Hang on, let me get my notebook. I think it's in my bag."

"Notebook…?" Shinsou watched as Midoriya sped off towards the locker room.

"He has notes on everyone. It's not just you." Yaoyorozu approached, neatly folding up a net. "I think he might actually have a plan to defeat any of us if we ever become villains."

"Really?" Shinsou tried and failed to picture Midoriya ruthlessly hunting down one of his classmates.

"Yes. Really," said Yaoyorozu, in all seriousness. "Anyway, I haven't sparred with you yet. How about it?"

Her Quirk is Creation, Shinsou recalled. If he was a one-trick pony, then she was an every-trick pony. He wondered if people like her ever really appreciated how lucky they were.

"All right," he said, getting into stance a few feet away from Yaoyorozu, trying hard not to feel defeated before they even began. He wasn't feeling especially confident about this matchup, but he needed the experience.

"Okay!" Yaoyorozu's confident smile didn't quite cover for her general aura of nervousness. "On the count of five. Five, four - ow!"

"Ow?" said Shinsou. "What happened?"

"I don't know, something…" There was a shiny object sticking out from her upper arm. It was a white, pointy tube, almost like a porcupine's quill. She pulled it out and looked at it. "I don't know anyone with this Quirk. We're being attacked."

"Attacked?! But –"

"I – I don't –" She wobbled slightly before falling to her knees, suddenly looking glassy-eyed and sick.

"Hey!" he said, running over and kneeling down next to her. "Are you okay? What's –" He felt a sudden sharp pain on the back of his hand. There was a quill sticking out. "Shit." He fought down his panic as he looked around for the potential villain. He couldn't even tell where the projectile had been shot from. "I can see where you are!" he bluffed. "Show yourself!"

Please answer, please answer…

"What are you trying to do? You're not going to get away with it."

No response. No-trick pony.

Yaoyorozu was looking as though she were going to pass out. "Go… get… get…"

"...help. Right." He tried to get to his feet but was immediately hit by dizziness. It wasn't happening.

Welcome to the Hero Course, he thought as he slumped over on the floor.