Somehow, despite doing great in every trial, I ended up in third in that damn Quirk Apprehension test. Two losers ahead of me, whose names I didn't remember.

We got a pretty clear routine going at UA after a few days. Regular classes in the morning, Hero course in the afternoon. And teaching the course was -

"I AM HERE - COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

All Might. In all his power and glory, up in front of us in a Hero Costume, announcing the start of our Combat Training.

Combat Training - exactly what I'd been born for. Finally time to suit up and show these UA extras just who the new number one Hero was going to be.

My costume was something I got to design myself. I made sure it would accommodate my quirk and look as best as possible. I started with a flashy spiked headgear, black half mask. Black top with a red X, meant to expose my chest and upper arms to show off the muscles, gauntlets meant to store up sweat to use as a weapon. Belt with explosive grenades, and some way to kill with my knees. They pretty much nailed it. Everything I wanted. Some weird detail gave me two black dots on the red X near my neck though. I walked out, I happened to be walking next to Round Face and noticed her outfit had the same pattern. Two black dots near the neck. She was wearing some kinda space suit with giant boots, lots of pink and black and a helmet. I think her quirk does something with gravity.

Deku showed up last, wearing the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen someone try to pass for a superhero costume. Seriously. Like giant bunny ears over a hood and some weak-ass bodysuit, gloves and his same dopey red shoes. HE looked like a kid playing dress up. I thought I even saw All Might cracking up at him. Round Face seemed to like it, though.

All Might was saying, "You'll see, in fact, take two steps and you'll be there. This will be an indoor battle trial! Villain cleanup is usually seen out in the open, but statistically, the better part of it is an indoor job. Most acts of villainy are committed indoors. Imprisonment, house arrest, the black market. In this hero saturated society, any villain with intelligence is lurking in the shadows. For this test, you'll separate into 'villain' and 'hero' groups for a two on two team battle."

A frog-faced girl asked "What about the foundational training?" like someone like me needed training wheels or some shit. All Might grinned and announced "This is foundational training. Only this time, there won't eb any robots it'd be ok to just destroy!"

"Is it OK if we just blow them away?" I asked, amid a chorus of other questions, like Tall Ponytail girl asking "How do we determine losses?", Round face going "Will we be expelled?" and glasses asking "How will groups be determined.

All Might looked annoyed, and got out a small cheat sheet to explain. "For this training, we'll have some 'villains' guard a nuclear weapon they intend on deploying. The heroes must stop them and their nefarious scheme before it's too late! If the heroes capture the villains, or reach the nuclear core before the time runs out, they win. If the villains keep the core the whole time, or capture the heroes, they win. Your opponents will be chosen by lottery."

Lots were drawn and I ended up somehow on the same team as Glasses. He looked about as thrilled as I did. Deku was workin' with Round Face. And before I knew it, All Might had drawn our two groups to go first.

My team as the Villains side. Deku and Round face as the Heroes side.

"This scenario has the villains inside the building first. Then, after five minutes, the heroes will be let in as well. Everyone else will be able to watch what unfolds through the surveillance cameras. This will allow young Iida and Bakugou to get inside the heads of villain kind. This is a practical training exercise, so go all out without fear of injury. Though naturally, we'll cut it short if things get out of hand."

That was helpfully vague.

A few minutes later, me and Glasses were standing in the top floor around a mock Dummy Weapon.

"It may just be a training exercise, but it still pains me to be a villain, though I suppose we just need to defend this thing," Glasses was yammering, knocking the weapon. I was thinking on task about tactics. How to beat them. How to beat him.

"Yo, so Deku's got himself a quirk after all, right?"

"You saw it for yourself, didn't you?" he asked me, after a bewildered pause. "That herculean strength? It looks pretty high risk, but…why is it you seem to be extremely angry when it comes to midoriya?"

Were you really fooling me all this time, you damn nerd?

The start whistle blew and I moved. I needed to know, had to see just how much he'd lied to me our entire lives.

I found him and Round Face on the 3rd floor, and got the drop on them with a big surprise attack, aiming a blast at the wall, which Deku dodged, pushing her out of the way.

"Dammit, Deku, don't dodge me," I said, annoyed. If you've got such a great quirk, why are you running?

"I figured you'd try to get me first," he was saying, like he somehow knew exactly what I'd do.

"I'll blow you away, but just sort of getting interrupted!" I told him, heading right at him, prepared to hit him with just short of everything I -

He grabbed my arm and started pulling me over his head. What the hell? Did that damn nerd just - read me?

He pulled me over his head and judo-tossed me over and onto the floor, smacking my back into the ground. "Kacchan, you always lead with a big right swing. I can't count how many times I've seen you do it. I analyzed and took notes on all the heroes I thought were amazing, including you. The same notes you blew up and tossed away. I'm no longer the same helpless, defenseless kid anymore. From now on, I'm the Deku who never gives up!"

He was standing there, arms raised. Shaking in his boots in fear, and yet looking up at me as if he was really gonna beat me.

"Deku. You're shaking in your boots, you're so scared. But you wanna right me anyway. Now I'm really pissed!" I yelled at him. And he still kept on looking at me like he was really gonna beat me. This was war.