Author's Note:

Hello to those of you who've made it this far! I'm happy to have provided something you seem to be enjoying. Feel free to let me know your thoughts, questions, anything, in the comments below.

Have a nice read,

~The Cursed One

Our rankings were placed on the board. I came fourth, after Bakugo, someone named Todoroki, and Kirishima. I allowed myself a little smile.

Until I noticed Izuku Midorya was last. Ah, damn it. Of course it was the nicest of the bunch.

"I'm… I'm last?" He looked absolutely destroyed. My heart twisted in a knot, and if I were more awake, I'd likely have been even more upset.

"That's right." Mr. Aizawa confirmed, and let the tension sit for a moment, "But lucky for you, I lied."

"WHAT?!" The class cried, effectively waking me a bit more.

"I knew the stakes had to be high or you wouldn't actually give it your all. I was never going to kick anyone out." I wasn't sure if I believed that, but I was relieved nonetheless. The bell rang, "That's lunch."

"Thank god." I wailed, slumping forward onto my desk.

.

I knew I was in trouble when I woke up, because it was much dimmer than it should have been. I sat up groggily, looking around the empty classroom. Was this a dream?

A figure moved beside me and I jumped, startled. It was a boy from class, Todoroki, and he had a bored expression on his face. His hair was half white, half dark red. He placed some papers on my desk.

"You missed it."

"Missed what?"

"First day."

My senses returned to me and I swiveled to look at the clock. Five Thirty.

"Oh, damn it!" I scrambled out of my seat, cramming books into my bag without really knowing which ones I needed. Todoroki calmly placed some sheets of paper on my desk.

"These are the class outlines for Literature and Math, that's all we had. Ida saved them for you, but I'm last out the door, so here."

"You're a lifesaver." I made sure those two subjects had made it in, "Man, I need to apologize… who were the teachers?"

"Present Mike and Ectoplasm." I wrote them down so I wouldn't forget.

"Got it. Thanks, Todoroki."

"Yeah, good luck."

I waited until my back was to him to let my frown show. I was furious at myself.

One sprint later, I made it to Ms. Joke's classroom to pick up Moe. He dropped what toy he had immediately, letting it clatter to the floor, and ran into my arms.

"Hey buddy." I gave him a quick hug and set him down, "Sorry I'm late. Go pick that up, okay?" He quietly walked back to pick up the toy and get his things.

"He was a little shy, but he adapts quickly." Ms. Joke told me, "I think we'll get along great."

"Thank you so much." I told her, "You're amazing. I'm so sorry, I won't be late again." She waved away my concerns, assuring me that the kids were always picked up at odd hours, "I have to run, I'll see you in the morning." Moe came quickly and I looked at him, "I need to stop by the teachers lounge. Up for a bit of a run or do you want to go piggyback?"

He was up for running.

So back into the hallways I went, up stairs, until I found the teachers lounge. I was just dreading having to go inside, now that it seemed pretty crowded, but I saw Present Mike just walking out with Ectoplasm. Great, two in one. I'd rip off the bandaid.

"Wait here." I told Moe, then ran over to them. They stopped when they saw me. I tried to catch my breath.

"Manderly?"

"I'd like to apologize!" I said, "It was rude to sleep through your classes, I'm very sorry. I've already gotten the syllabi and I promise I'll catch up on what I missed."

"Hey, hey, you had quirk assessment in the morning." Present Mike said, "We're used to seeing students looking more dead than alive after the first class with Aizawa."

"Just see to it that it doesn't happen again." Ectoplasm agreed, also unconcerned.

"Yes, sir. Thanks for your understanding." With a respectful nod, I jogged back over to Moe, who was watching, perplexed. I scooped him into my arms and sighed heavily.

"It's a long story."

That evening, I ate a big dinner, thanked Ida for looking out for me, then read ahead in my textbooks, taking meticulous notes. I figured out the coffee machine since I got the feeling it was about to become my new best friend.

Moe had a little bit of homework, and he refused any help I offered. Once it was dark out, we showered, climbed into bed, and I drifted off for real.

When the alarm went off, I finally felt decently rested. I got dressed, helped Moe, we ate breakfast, I chugged coffee, and off we went. I was ready to show the teachers how prepared I was now. How yesterday would not be a trend.

Then All Might walked into the classroom.

"Combat training day!" He exclaimed and I wondered if Mr. Aizawa would be summoned like a ghost if I tried to hide and skip class. I was not cut out for this.

We went to one of the model towns that UA apparently had lying around. I didn't see any robot wreckage so I figured that either this hadn't been a testing chamber, or UA had an incredible cleaning crew.

We stopped in front of a narrow three story storefront. All Might pointed to it dramatically.

"Today we'll be simulating a battle between heroes and villains!"

"Um, excuse me." Kaminari raised his hand, "But, aren't you gonna teach us how to fight first?" I liked that objection; I was hoping for a solid foundations course in stances and balance and such, that would eventually move onto some sick moves. This seemed… less good.

"The best way to learn is by doing!" The hero boomed.

UA definitely gave its teachers way too much liberty.

"You'll be in teams of two." He continued, "And be randomly assigned the title of hero or villain. On the top floor of this building, there's a device; villains are tasked with protecting their weapon at all costs and keeping heroes at bay for a minimum of ten minutes, or simply incapacitating them. Similarly, heroes are seeking to retrieve or destroy the weapon, likely by incapacitating the villains. Clear?"

"Yes, sir." We chimed. At least there was a little more nuance to it than throwing fists.

"Now get into pairs." He pulled out a clipboard which, much like everything else he held, looked comically small in his hands. Ugh, I felt like my internal organs were squirming. I'd never been a fan of searching for pairs. I wasn't any good at it. I knew a few people, though, so maybe I could…

"Hey, narcoleptic." I turned, blinking to see none other than Bakugo addressing me, "You're with me, got it?" I blinked, both flattered and mildly annoyed at his insistence.

"If you call me by my name, sure." I shot back. He gave a scoff, and I was sure he'd walk away, when he growled,

"Jeez, what a pain! It's Manderly, right?"

"That's it!" I confirmed cheerily, "I'll go draw from the hat."

"Yeah, alright."

I told All Might my pair, then stuffed my hand into the hat, pulling out a piece of paper. I grinned and held it out for Bakugo to see.

"This should be fun." I said, crumpling the word villain into my pocket.