Chapter 13

Foundations

Bright and early the following morning, Izuku slowly wanders down to the kitchen to find a few other hero-hopefuls already occupying the kitchen. Least surprising is Katsuki, who's been early to bed, early to rise every since developing his quirk. He's in the middle of devouring a cinnamon raisin bagel viciously enough to intimidate Hound Dog. Eijiro meanwhile is scarfing down some eggs and bacon he personally prepared, but the eggs appear a bit dry and the bacon slightly burnt on the edges. Tenya has come to join them, downing a tall glass of orange juice with a slice of toast and jam. Most surprising of them is Koji, who seems to be focused on peering out the window as the birds chirp away.

Izuku shrugs and makes his way to the fridge. "Morning, everyone. Guessing most of you are up for a morning jog?" He digs out a water bottle and a protein bar from the next cabinet.

Tenya nods. "Indeed! I should have expected a dedicated student such as yourself would have been up to do the same." He grins. "And the weather could not be better for it this morning!"

Bakugou huffs. "Hard to argue that. Last jog I took was in the fuckin' rain. But hey, not like rain is gonna stop patrols, right?" He grumbles. "Damn good thing I had my support gear made to protect my hands in rain and keep it from ruining my quirk."

Izuku chuckles as he takes a seat. "Still remember the first time you realized water shut you down so hard. I don't think I've ever seen you so angry since."

Eijiro hums. "Ya know, I don't think I've encountered anything that's a strict counter to my quirk besides the problems I have with ranged attacks and fliers. Mine's kinda simple, so it's more of a whole range of options that generally stumps me."

Iida grumbles and crosses his arms. "I too find my weaknesses more generalized, but I did encounter one… specific weakness that proved quite annoying."

Izuku hums through a mouthful of protein bae before swallowing. "Really? Should I update my notes with it?"

Tenya slowly turns an interesting shade of red as he recalls the incident. "While I was sleeping after a particularly strenuous training session, my brother decided to prank me by jamming a potato into one of my exhaust pipes."

Katsuki nearly chokes on the last of his muffin and bursts into laughter. "Holy shit, the jackass made you stall during a spar?!"

Tenya grumbles while Izuku and Kirishima struggle to hold back their laughter, only to break out into it regardless. "W-Well, it was a good lesson! Our exhausts are placed in inconvenient locations for maintenance and field of view, so we have to be vigilant of potential blockages slipped into place when our attention is drawn."

Izuku hums. "Maybe your suit could be modified to include a filter to prevent solid objects from entering and plugging them? Glue-like plugs would still be a potential issue, though."

Katsuki snorts. "God, remember that crazy fuck with the glue quirk who stuck Death Arms to a wall last year?"

Eijiro chuckles as he hunches over the kitchen island. "Took them three hours to get enough solvent to unstick him!"

Tenya grins. "Well, a wonderful suggestion! I suppose I should contact the support department for that today. For now, we should begin our morning jogs!" He marches for the door in an almost robotic fashion, pulling another snort from Katsuki.

"God, this guy's gonna drive me nuts."

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Hours later, everyone is lined up in the schoolyard, in various workout clothes, with Eraserhead- in uniform- standing before them. "Punctual. Good. For those of you who used your prior knowledge of the campus to lead the others here, excellent leadership. Now, we begin an opening exam to see just what all of you are capable of." He pulls a touchpad from his scarf. "You've all surely taken a wide array of physical exams in your prior schools, but illogically, the laws regarding quirks forbid the use of them in said exams, and we can never have record of your limits with their use included until you arrive here. Due to you arriving to the dorms so early, we can perform that test now, and I can develop a much better curriculum for you ahead of time." He pulls a metal ball from his pocket and tosses it at Katsuki. "Give it a throw, with everything your quirk has."

He hums and slowly grins as he turns it over in his hand. "Yeah, yeah… I've been waiting for a chance like this! No restraint, right?" He rears back into a textbook high-leg pitching stance. "THEN I'LL PITCH IT STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

The blast at the apex of his swing nearly throws some of the lighter class members off their feet. Izuku knew to brace himself properly, barely moving at all, only matched by the likes of Rikido, Tenya, and Mezo. The smoke trail behind the ball is a long and towering arc, coming to a stop far down the field and invisible to all but the sharpest eyes in the class. Shouta hums as he looks over the results. "Hmmm… 725.8 meters. Impressive. This is your new baseline to compare yourself to moving forward. The more you can improve your quirk and your skills here, the greater your chances of success as a hero. But for now, we need your baseline results in all fields. So, let's begin." He pulls out a stopwatch. "Let's begin with the 50-meter dash."

And so, the most critical physical exam of their lives began. Many took to every task with ease, largely those who withstood Katsuki's blast, although Rikido was lacking in flexibility and speed. Some lagged behind a good deal but clearly put forth their best, the greatest example being Shinso. He lagged behind most, but he was largely tied with the likes of Yuga and Toru, pulling slightly ahead of them both.

Izuku was interesting for them. When the first challenge was announced as the 50-meter dash, he immediately injected himself with Gran Torino's sample. He bolts through that event with ease, followed by the long jump and even the side-steps, although he gets visibly dizzy from the rapid momentum shifts. For push-ups, crunches, pull-ups, and so-on, he neglects using his quirk entirely and breezes by- up until he catches Katsuki's eye during the pull-ups and they start challenging each other with one-handed pull-ups and and even inverted crunches. They both score in the top of the class, but Izuku ends up beating Katsuki at most of it. The inverted crunches throw Izuku off eventually and he falls on his head, but Katsuki keeps going while laughing his ass off.

In the end, they make their way back to the pitch, and Izuku steps up with a grin as he gets out his red sample. "Hey, Kacchan, wanna give me a charge?" He peeks over to Shouta. "That's allowed, right?"

"Technically, because it's the capabilities of your own quirk putting in the work, it is. Impressive loophole." He hums as he inspects the vial, while Izuku injects himself. "Omnislash is a good choice, but I don't recall him using kinetic energy as a source often."

"Because it's hard to get a good disembodied source" Izuku chuckles as his helmet seals shut. "But when your best friend is a walking bomb…"

Katsuki reaches for Izuku's right hand. "Been looking forward to helping recreate the Blast Blade. You gonna go for a slash, or a stab?" His palm starts sparking as he prepares a blast equal to what he did before.

"Definitely a stab, more focused impact and better results."

Finally, Katsuki sets off the blast, and instead of flying everywhere, it compacts into Izuku's hand. He steps forwards and releases a nearly invisible blade, laced with a compact orange glow and a bit of fire, pulsating in his grasp. He then tosses the ball into the air and backs up. "Rapier Burst!" He thrusts forwards and stabs at the ball, detonating the sword in that direction and launching it at absurd speeds. Soon enough, it bounces and rolls to a stop as Shouta checks the records. "Hmm… 782.3 meters. Only beaten by Uraraka's infinite distance." He pockets his phone. "And with that, the exam has ended. You've all done excellently. You're clearly cognizant of your skills and limitations, several of you proved creativity in abundance, and not one of you has convinced me you have no future as a hero. All in all, I'd say you're one of the m ost promising freshman classes to come through here in many years." He closes his eyes and hangs his head slightly as they begin to cheer. "But make no mistake. Having that strength, that capability, means we will only have higher expectations for you, as will the world at large. You must push, fight, and struggle to become your greatest selves, the best heroes you can be, regardless of where your starting line is. Don't settle for good enough. Better yet, don't settle at all. You all know the motto by now."

Izuku punches into his hand as his suit sloshes apart. "Plus Ultra!"

He nods. "Plus Ultra. Class dismissed, feel free to tour the campus and facilities as you wish, or just return to your dorms. The rest of the day is yours."

Another round of cheers sounds, but he walks into the crowd. "Midoriya, I would like to speak with you about your quirk for a bit. If you could come with me for that, for just a short time, it would be highly appreciated."

"O-Oh, sure! He peeks back to Ochako and Katsuki. "I'll text you guys when I'm done, and maybe we can head to the support department after?"

"Of course!" Ochako holds her hands out for a quick fist bump, followed by Katsuki. "Tsu wanted to talk for a bit anyway, something about wanting to recreate a meme with my quirk."

Katsuki snorts as he walks off. "Oh shit, frog girl, what up?"

Tsu nods. "I be dat girl, and I already convinced Momo to make the unicycle."

Izuku almost breaks into laughter. "Please record that for me! We need to put that everywhere!"

Katsuki takes out his phone. "Oh, I'm on it." He waves Izuku off. "Go with the zombie, we'll see ya after."

"R-Right, later, guys!" He turns towards Shouta as they start walking towards the main building. "S-So, what did you want to ask, Aizawa-sensei?"

He hums. "Actually, I wanted to get you away without worrying your classmates. Nedzu wants to speak with you. Surely something to do with your ten months of training under All Might."

Izuku sighs. "Well, glad ya know about that. Yeah, I thought he'd wanna speak with me at some point, but… is he really as intimidating as I've heard?"

Shouta grumbles. "Only if you get on his bad side, or in his debt. You don't seem the type to do either."

"What about you?"

Silence falls for a moment.

"Sensei?"

"I lost a betting pool for the winner of last year's second term sports festival, because Amajiki couldn't get over his stage fright."

One laughing fit and a short walk later, Izuku is entering the office of the venerable Principal Nedzu. The affluent animal across the desk from him spins his chair to face the young man with a smile plastered across his face. "That was an excellent showing in the yard today, Midoriya. You've clearly not been slacking in your training! As to be expected, of the latest holder of One for All." He stands in his chair and pours a cup of tea. "Would you like some? It's an excellent blend of ginseng and oolong with a dash or dragonfruit. Something new I've been experimenting with as of late."

"I'd be delighted, Nedzu-sama." He bows and accepts a cup. He takes a quick sip and hums. "It's unique, soothing but also a little exciting."

"Ah, you have excellent taste!" He chuckles. "All Might never had much of a taste for it, far too americanized. His ideal tea is still a heavily-sugared black tea colder than Mirai's shoulders."

"Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with that either, but it would be good to expand his horizons. He's falling back on old habits now that he's got a working stomach again, though. I think he's at Might Tower now, enjoying a greasy meal at his own diner."

"No doubt, although I have sampled his menu, and it is quite impressive. His selection of burgers and sandwiches is superb." He hums. "So, how have you been adapting to One for All? I've noticed you using it very little this far."

Izuku sighs as he stares down at his hands. "It's… difficult. There's just so much power, trying to let just a little through the floodgates just breaks the gates. You saw the results with my Mugen Punch at the entrance exam."

"Indeed, although that was certainly one of the most stunning special moves I've ever seen. The backlash was startling, though. That will surely take some time to overcome. I believe your first route of training should be to speak with someone else familiar with the use of large amounts of power. Finding anyone on your own scale in that matter may be impossible, but I do have one route to recommend that is surprisingly close to you." He pulls a file from his desk. "Let's see… ah, yes. You may want to approach Mister Tokoyami. I believe you've already noted his difficulty controlling Dark Shadow in darker conditions. His own scale of power under such circumstances is comparable. Hearing his methods may inspire you to find your own."

Izuku hums and pinches his chin. "Yeah… yeah I can see that. He's a pretty cool guy too, once you get past him being so eerily gothic. I guess that's also part of why he's so cool, though. He just kinda... owns it."

"Oh, certainly, I highly respect the aesthetic. A difficult one to pull off as a hero, but I've seen his costume design, and his mannerisms are a respectful, but mysterious kind of darkness that only piles intrigue onto his hero persona. I'm sure he'll do excellently. Much of your class is impressing me, in many regards. You'll have excellent comrades after graduation, for certain."

Izuku nods. "I can already see it. They're driven, and they all have amazing quirks. With proper training, I have no doubt they'll all be incredible heroes."

"And how do you believe they will measure up to your own greatness as the ninth holder of One for All, hm?"

Izuku pauses. "Oh… well…" He crosses his arms and thinks it over. "... Logically, I know their combat potential and versatility, in most cases, can't match up to my potential maximum, if I manage to master my power… but I know they all have their own specialties I could never match. Underground, rescue, pursuit, defense, everyone has me beat in at least one area. I may be the most well-rounded, but so many of them will be amazing specialists. I can't be sure until I see a lot more, but I know they won't fall far behind."

Nedzu's grin slowly widens. "Midoriya, that is precisely what I was hoping to hear. Grounded, logical, yet hopeful and supportive. No hint of competition, just good will for the common people. You are dismissed, if you please. I've heard everything I need to."

"Oh, actually, if it's alright with you, I had a few questions for you as well."

"If any of them are about my species of origin, I will not be answering."

"Damn."
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A.N.: Well, it's a shorter chapter, but I'll admit, I've had a bit of a burnout lately, and still wanted to give you guys something. Sadly, my upload schedule from here is likely to slow down further, as I just found a new day job as well, and it's my first full-time gig, so it's gonna be quite exhausting for a while until I adapt. For now though, I have big plans moving forth, and seeing how the final arc of the manga is developing is only spurring me further! So, comment, subscribe, share this around, hyper up the finale on the way for the canon series, and go check out my other two fics and my youtube channel! I'm just about finished my Legends Arceus playthrough, and I have some animation planned for the final episode...