Izuku opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and the scent of antiseptic in the air. Hospital? An infirmary? He sat up slowly, noticing his tender arms and the bandages wrapped around them. His memories returned bit by bit, his mind piecing together the events that had led him here.

"The girl!" Was she alright? He was so weak and lightheaded after tearing off the Obstacle's arm that he'd barely had the strength to throw up that final shield to protect them from the shrapnel. Had it been enough? He could never have forgiven himself if anything happened to her.

"Oh, she's quite all right dear. Now why don't you lie back and get a little more rest; I'd like to keep you here at least another hour for observation." The kindly voice drew Izuku's attention to the other side of the room, where a short woman who looked old enough to be his grandmother sat at a desk organizing some papers. Izuku recognized that uniform from somewhere…

"Th-The Youthful Hero: Recovery Girl?" he concluded after a moment's thought, receiving a nod from the heroine, who turned to face him after double-checking her work.

"Why yes, dearie. Quite the surprise; I didn't think the younger generation paid much attention to us old fogies."

Izuku shook his head.

"Of course I would know you! Your healing skills are legendary, said to be unrivaled even among the modern generation of support heroes; not to mention two doctorates and an extensive medical background in surgery and medicine."

"Aww, you're going to make an old woman blush, talking such sweetness." Recovery Girl put a gloved hand to her cheek, smiling widely. "All true, however. That said, we do have more important matters to discuss: how are you feeling, Midoriya-san?"

"I feel…" Izuku took a moment to take stock of himself, trying to move his limbs to various degrees of success. "Tired, but otherwise I'm not in any pain."

"Good, good." Recovery Girl noted something on a chart that she procured from the foot of the bed Izuku rested on, visually looking him over all the same. "Those arms of yours were the most injured; I repaired the lacerations with my quirk, Heal, but the energy it sapped from you will keep you off your feet for a bit longer." She walked over to the infirmary's medical cabinet, procuring a bottle of multi-colored gummies from a shelf. "Take two of these; they'll help restore your energy. Then again, looking over your chart, it may be more efficient for me to start keeping around blood vials for you."

Izuku took the bear-shaped vitamins without complaint, popping them in his mouth and beginning to chew. His face fell when Recovery Girl mentioned keeping blood for future situations.

"That probably won't be necessary, Recovery Girl," Izuku smiled sadly, running a hand through his hair, "I'm pretty sure I didn't pass."

"Oh?" Recovery Girl gave him a strange look, eventually shaking her head. "Shame, then. From what I heard you were quite heroic, saving Uraraka-san the way you did."

"Was that her name? I didn't have the opportunity to ask." Izuku's gaze dropped to the floor at the mention of heroics. He didn't feel very heroic, barely surviving and passing out after failing the exam. Caught up in his self-pity, he didn't notice the soft look the Youthful Hero gave him.

"Ochako Uraraka, yes. A few bruises and a sprained ankle, nothing I couldn't fix with my quirk. She left for home soon after."

"I'm glad."

He wondered if she'd gathered enough points to pass while he'd been running around searching for more bots. To at least know that someone else's dream could live on due to his actions made everything worth it. It looked like Ochako had a strong quirk, too. She'd probably make a great hero.

Izuku was silent for the rest of his time in U.A.'s infirmary, Recovery Girl seemingly having picked up on his mood and leaving the boy to his thoughts. An hour later, the elderly heroine finally gave him permission to leave, with a recommendation to get more rest and not strain himself for a few days.

"Oh, and don't get too discouraged, dear. Your quirk's the dangerous type, but you still put yourself out there and applied. Even if you didn't earn enough villain points, you're that girl's hero for today; those kinds of things are important too, you know."

He thanked Recovery Girl for her treatment and kind words, departing with a bitter smile on his face.


"-zuku? Izuku?"

"Huh?" Izuku snapped to attention, catching the worry in his mother's eyes.

"Are you alright, dear?" she asked softly, looking nervous. He worked his cheerless smile into an honest grin to quell her worries. She'd been doing so good for herself lately; less nervous, happier, relaxing more. He didn't want to do anything to ruin that.

"Yeah, everything's fine, mom." He told her, taking a bite of his lunch. She continued to eye him down, giving him the 'disbelieving mother' look that told him he'd gotten no better at lying since elementary school. He was worrying her again.

"You've been quiet all day and you haven't even touched your lunch." She said, pointing at the offending food with her chopsticks. "Are you still worried about the results? They're supposed to come today or tomorrow, right?"

"… Yeah." Her encouraging smile, trying to make him feel at ease despite her own reservations about his chosen profession, disheartened more than comforted him as he recounted his self-scoring of the written exam and added it to his twenty-five points on the practical half. His chances were slim at best.

"Well, I think you're amazing for even applying. Your poor mother would never make it as a hero; all that stress... I'd rather cheer you on." She continued, still trying her best to lift his mood.

"… Yeah. Thanks, mom." At least she'd made him smile. The two finished their food, Izuku washing the dishes before he moved to the living room to sulk on the couch, idly flipping through tv channels to the news and zoning himself out. He barely registered the sound of his mother leaving to go get the mail, leaving the station set to the news while his thoughts turned to his mentor.

'I'm sorry I couldn't live up to the potential you saw in me, Stendhal-sensei. Then again, you'd probably tell me what I did was exactly something a hero should do… 'that license is just a piece of paper,' right?'

The front door being nearly thrown off its hinges brought Izuku's attention to his mother as she barged in, stuttering and nervous.

"Izuku! Izuku! I-It's here! Your letter!" She held up an envelope with the U.A. seal pressed on it. He blinked slowly, took a deep breath, and then stood up to bring it to his room, his mom following him silently all the while.

"I'll just be a minute." He told her, closing the door behind him to face his rejection in private. His mother's pacing was audible from inside the room, the light pitter-patter of her small feet moving in a fast-paced rhythm. He stared at the envelope under the light of his desk lamp, steeling himself for what he knew was coming.

'Let's get this over with.'

He ripped open the envelope unceremoniously, a small metal device falling onto the desk from inside. Once it settled, a projection was lit up on his wall, showing the face of All Might, the number one hero.

"I am here as a projection!" he announced, face pressed close to the camera.

"A-All Might?" Izuku nearly jumped back in shock, double-checking the envelope to confirm that it was, in fact, from U.A. 'Since when does All Might work for U.A.? The news would have been all over this!'

"Izuku Midoriya, I believe we've met before!" All Might's voice boomed. The camera zoomed out to show more of him; the pro hero had abandoned his costume for a yellow striped suit for this formal occasion. "You couldn't have known at the time, but I actually came to this town to begin the paperwork for my new position teaching at U.A.!"

'All Might is going to be teaching at U.A.?' Izuku didn't feel like he could be any more shocked. The number one hero teaching at a hero academy? It posed a lot of questions for his career and the logistics of functioning as a hero and the symbol of peace at the same time as a teacher. Then again, this was All Might he was talking about; if there was anyone who could do it, it was him.

"Listen, young Midoriya… you and I should really speak some time about what I said to you, that day." All Might's smile dimmed somewhat, a serious tone overcoming him. "I've seen the footage of your practical exam, and don't think U.A. doesn't have the resources to find out about your 'activities' four months ago on Seventh Street."

He turned pale. All Might just meant the rescue, not the use of his quirk… right?

Whatever the number one hero was about to say, it was interrupted by a hand that came into frame on the side of the screen and made a few gestures at All Might.

"Hm? What is it?" he asked, prompting more gestures, "I'm running out of time?" The hand held up a few fingers in indication. "But this is important…" Another gesture, a different number. "It's going to push everything else back? All right, no problem. My apologies."

All Might turned his attention back to the camera and smiled brightly.

"Well, that just means we need to get right to the important bits! Young Midoriya, even if you passed the written exam with flying colors, you earned a less impressive twenty-five points on the practical exam, just shy of the lower limit. That, of course, means that you did not pass." All Might explained, confirming Izuku's assumptions. His fingers clenched, digging into his thighs as a wave of frustration came over him. He'd already expected this outcome, but for some reason it still hurt to hear those words from the man he'd looked up to for so long, even if that admiration had taken a blow after their conversation all those months ago.

"… is what I would say if that's all there was to it." Izuku stopped, looking back up at the projection to see All Might still grinning, his hands on his hips in a heroic pose. "Suspense is a major part of every production, you see! I am an entertainer as well as a hero! First, take a look at this video:" he pulled a remote out of his pocket, pointing it towards a screen behind him. It beeped and then showed the perspective of a camera, with Ochako, the girl Izuku had saved, coming into view.

"Excuse me, the boy from earlier, the one who protected me from the giant robot, did he pass?" Ochako asked. It turned out she was talking to Present Mic, who turned around to face the girl. The video paused, All Might's face replacing the camera view.

"You, whose quirk is regarded by many in society as 'villainous,' rescued one of your peers in a situation where it did not benefit you in any way; in fact, it cost you valuable time which you could have used to earn enough villain points to pass the exam. That peer in the aftermath worried for you and wondered about your well-being." All Might was smiling once more as he pointed back to the camera view, opening his arms wide. "A well-guarded secret from hopeful examinees: the U.A. entrance exam is not merely graded on 'villain points!'"

'I… What?' Hope began to well up inside Izuku's chest and he didn't know what to do with it. He couldn't think, it was all too much. All he could do was continue watching and hope the feeling was right.

The video un-paused, Present Mic answering Ochako.

"I know exactly why you're here, little listener, and I can tell you that you couldn't have given him your points even if you wanted to. I will, however, tell you that the twenty-five villain points that he earned during the exam were not enough to pass."

"I…" Ochako seemed shocked at that, "But that's not fair! Someone who's as strong as that is just going to get rejected from the program? He saved my life!"

"Hey, hey, no worries, little listener!" Present Mic took a step back, waving his arms in front of himself. "I only said his villain points weren't enough to pass! You have no reason to give him any regardless! After all-"

"'How can a hero course reject people who save others and do the right thing?'" All Might asked, finishing Present Mic's sentence. "Call that lip service? Bring it on! Heroism is a job that requires risking one's life to put that lip service into practice!"

A clip of Izuku holding up his hands and blocking the Obstacle's punch with a shield of blood played briefly on-screen, Ochako trapped below him with her eyes shut tight.

"Rescue points!" All Might declared, "Given by a panel of judges consisting of U.A. staff during the practical exam; the heart of heroism is the other basic attribute we look for in a candidate besides combat ability!"

A readout with Izuku's name overlayed itself on-screen, the section with villain points marked with twenty-five as expected, but in the 'rescue points' category…

"Izuku Midoriya, for helping multiple peers in their own battles and rescuing Ochako Uraraka from the zero-point villain: eighty-five points!" He motioned to the screen behind him, where Ochako and Present Mic stood frozen in time, "Ochako Uraraka, for assisting her peers in their battles: twenty points! You both pass!"

Those words that he had hoped to hear but never thought could become reality passed through All Might's lips and suddenly tears were trying to escape from his eyes. He'd done it, somehow. He'd actually achieved his dream of getting into U.A. High.

He almost missed All Might's congratulations and goodbye, the projection terminating itself once the message was complete. But really, how much did that matter after everything else that had taken place over the course of the last few minutes?

"Mom! Mom, I passed! I'm in!"

Izuku barreled out the door and straight into his mother, wrapping his arms tight around her and practically lifting her up in happiness.

"That's great, Izuku! I'm so proud of you." Inko wrapped her arms around her son in turn, thanking whatever deities she could that her son's dreams finally seemed to be coming to fruition.

[line]

"So, did the classes at Somei involve learning how to shove that stick up yer' ass or were you born with it?"

Certainly not the first words Izuku thought he'd be hearing upon stepping into his classroom on the first day of high school at U.A.; then again, Katsuki never was one for the plans of others.

Ignoring for the time being the two arguing on the other side of the classroom—apparently the stern boy from the exam, 'Tenya Iida' as he introduced himself to Katsuki, would also be in his class—Izuku took a look around. Everything seemed fairly standard so far aside from the huge door and high vaulted ceilings—both most likely a design choice for those whose quirks increased their size beyond standard human proportions.

Sweeping his eyes over his classmates, Izuku recognized a few from his exam, all of whom looked at him strangely. He wondered if it was because he took out the Obstacle or if it was because of his quirk. Maybe both.

"Hey, it's you! From the exam!" someone said from behind him, reminding Izuku he was blocking the classroom's only entrance. He quickly stepped inside and turned around to apologize, his eyes widening as he recognized the girl.

"Uraraka-san?"

"Oh? You know my name?" Ochako tilted her head in confusion, bringing a finger to her chin, "Did we introduce ourselves?"

"U-Uhm… no, sorry." Izuku shook his head, "Recovery girl told me your name after I woke up; I was worried you were injured." Ochako's eyes lit up and suddenly she was right up in front of him.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for saving me by the way! It was so awesome… and kinda' gross too! Took me like an hour to wash your blood out of my hair." If that fact was anything more to Ochako than an inconvenience, it didn't show on her face. She smiled the entire time, somewhere along the line moving into a rapid-fire reenactment of the whole situation, complete with sound effects and exaggerated hand gestures.

"Izuku-kun!"

Something small and fast launched itself into his side, Izuku's relative bulk when compared to the body impacting him the only thing that kept him from falling over. Turning his head to face the newcomer, he got an eyeful of red hair done up in high twin-tails, a hairstyle familiar to him at this point.

"Manami-san?"

She lifted her head to face him, her swirling eyes shining with mirth.

"The one and only! Looks like we're going to be in the same class." Manami unwound her arms from his waist before either could grow embarrassed by their proximity, stepping back far enough that Izuku could admire the way that U.A.'s uniform seemed to make the extravagant colors of her hair and eyes that much more vibrant, especially the matching red tie. He nodded dumbly.

"S-So it seems…" It took a moment for him to regain his senses, his surprise fading into happiness as his lips curled into a smile. "I'm happy you passed, Manami-san. I was rooting for you."

If he noticed the tinge of pink dusting her cheeks before she turned her head bashfully away, he didn't comment on it. Manami giggled, nervously twirling a pig-tail around her finger and using it to hide her face, a muffled 'thank you' making its way to Izuku's ears. Ochako looked between the two curiously, wondering how her two new classmates knew each other.

"If you're here to socialize, you're free to leave. This is the hero course, not happy hour; I have a class to teach."

The three students standing in the doorway startled, looking around for the weary voice that had reprimanded them. They found their target on the floor, a tired-looking man glaring up at them with all but his head buried inside of a sleeping bag.

He slowly unzipped his makeshift cocoon, rising to his feet at a similar pace until he towered over his students with a cold look in his eyes.

"You have exactly three minutes until class begins, yet none of you are in your seats. Students who passed U.A.'s entrance exam should know better than most that time is limited when you're aiming to be a hero. You kids aren't taking this seriously enough."

'This is our teacher?' Izuku looked the man up and down. Something about his pitch-black clothes and scarf resonated with him, but the words just wouldn't come to mind. However, if this man was in fact their teacher, there was no doubt that he was a pro hero—a strong one at that, even if his worn-out visage suggested otherwise.

"I am Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you." The tone in his voice suggested otherwise, but that seemed to be par for the course as far as he was concerned. He reached into his discarded sleeping bag, pulling a tracksuit patterned with U.A.'s colors from its depths. He tossed it to Izuku, who barely caught the garment in his surprise. "No more delays; we're heading out for your first assessment. Everyone find one in your size and head to the locker rooms to change."

He stalked off without another word, ignoring his dumbfounded students and their various questions.

[line]

Izuku's class gathered at the field their teacher had in mind, now clad in U.A.'s gym uniform. The long walk gave Izuku more time to wonder at his various extravagant classmates' various quirks. There was a giant of a boy with six arms somewhere to his left. A strength mutator? To his right, a pink-skinned girl with black sclera and horns. He couldn't even begin to guess at what she could do. Then there was Tenya and Ochako, whose quirks were known quantities, but he still wondered how exactly they worked. A look at Manami beside him even reminded the green-haired boy that he'd never asked what her quirk was. Maybe-

"When you're ready to quiet down, we can begin your quirk assessment test."

Izuku stopped mumbling, catching Aizawa's glare directed solely at him. He paled, stuttering an apology and looking around to see that most of his classmates were staring at him with various degrees of surprise on their faces. Manami nudged his side and smiled encouragingly at him, soothing his nerves somewhat.

"But we still haven't been to our opening ceremony or orientation." Ochako pointed out. Izuku remembered reading something about the events in the documentation sent with his acceptance message, but he'd been too overwhelmed to commit it to memory.

"If you're striving to be a hero, you don't have the time for such leisurely events."

The words, spoken so matter-of-factly, felt like a reprimand to the whole class for having expectations.

"U.A.'s main selling point over other hero academies is its free-form credit system. I'd recommend you drop whatever assumptions you made about what that entails; what it really means is that I, your teacher, have full control over your education for the next three years." Aizawa finally turned to face the class, now that he'd made himself clear.

He held up a tablet, written upon which were the standardized physical fitness tests that every child had been a part of since the fourth grade.

"You've been taking part in physical fitness tests for a few years now, haven't you? The caveat being you weren't allowed to use your quirks in normal public schools. When evaluating the public's physical fitness scores, the government still uses the averages taken from the results of students absent their quirks; it's not a realistic measure of your abilities." He turned to Manami, standing directly to Izuku's left. "Manami Aiba, you had the highest score on the practical exam, right?"

There was a collective gasp from the class, everyone's eyes suddenly glued to the red-haired girl, who didn't seem fazed. Izuku's eyes were the widest, but all the same, he felt proud for her; it was sure to have boosted her confidence.

"Yes." She affirmed. Izuku heard Katsuki's growl from his end of the mass of students. His childhood friend must have been counting on being number one himself.

"Your quirk is an exception to this rule since you can't use it on yourself. Furthermore, it would be possible to argue that your high ranking in the practical exam was a result of improper planning. You did not destroy a single one of the villain robots; you merely shut them down by hacking into their unprotected network. This technically counted as incapacitating them for villain point acquisition; you also earned hero points for 'saving' every student that was in combat at the time, raising your score exponentially. If U.A.'s engineers were more diligent, you would have failed without a doubt."

Manami shied away from their teacher's overwhelming gaze while the rest of the class looked on in fascinated horror as their teacher verbally tore into her. Izuku clenched his fists, remembering Stendhal's explanation of U.A.'s failings. How the school would only further point out his flaws, rather than bolster his strengths. He stepped in front of Manami, glaring their teacher down.

"That's not a fair assessment, Aizawa-sensei."

He ignored the gasps of his classmates behind him and Manami's soft plea to let it go. Aizawa matched his glare with an intense expression that still managed to look exhausted, something powerful burning behind his eyes.

"You aren't one to talk, Izuku Midoriya, considering your quirk is on a lower level than even hers." He looked down at the clipboard he'd brought with him, reading the line next to Izuku's name and then repeating it, "'Hemokinesis.' Manipulator, vampirism-class quirk. Requires the blood of others to activate. That's a drawback for a hero."

"It's only a drawback if I'm weak without it. A true hero doesn't need their quirk to be strong; they make their quirk strong by being a hero."

The corner of Aizawa's mouth twitched. Was he angry? Did he find that amusing?

"What a strange attitude to take." It seemed that Aizawa had settled on amused, his lips slowly curling into a wide smile. "Fine then, whoever comes in last place will be getting expelled. Show me that strength of yours, Midoriya."


Aizawa had launched them into their assessments without further delay.

Izuku wasn't worried about himself. Frankly, it seemed that the pro hero had vastly underestimated his abilities. Even if Izuku's muscles alone wouldn't earn him a seven-hundred-meter softball throw like Katsuki, whom their teacher had used as an example of quirk-enhanced fitness tests, he was still far stronger than his unmutated classmates, and could physically beat out anyone whose quirk wouldn't help them in any individual test.

What—or rather who—he was worried about was Manami.

She'd hinted at her quirk being less than ideal before, but at the time Izuku had assumed it simply wasn't as flashy or innately powerful as something like Katsuki's Explosion, which was universally lauded as impressive by everyone he'd ever met, and therefore had self-esteem issues relating to it. The fact that she couldn't use it on herself, whatever it was, changed the situation. She wasn't physically trained like he was, couldn't use her quirk on herself, and probably couldn't even compete with his less athletic classmates considering her small stature. Even the boy with purple balls for hair who was just as short as she was seemed to be able to abuse his quirk to manage an obscene score during the side-hops test.

With the last few tests upon them, Manami's ranking sinking lower until she sat at rock bottom, Izuku decided that something needed to change. If anyone was going to go down, it would be him.

Izuku stepped directly into the sand for the long jump and stood still when his name was called for the side-hops. If their teacher cared that Izuku had begun to throw every event, he didn't say anything about it.

"What do you think you're doing, Izuku-kun?" Manami glared him down when he walked back to the crowd of students, ignoring the looks he was getting from his classmates after a deliberately dismal performance on the fifty-meter dash. His last name being after Manami's alphabetically allowed him to curate his failings so that she rose in the ranking, his name descending to the bottom instead.

"I won't let Aizawa-sensei fail you because of some prejudice he has against support-type quirks. If he hates me for my need to drink blood, so be it, I'm more than used to people thinking that way. But there shouldn't be anything stopping you from following your dreams. I'll make sure of that." Maybe he would just become a vigilante like Stendhal. After all, only one day in and almost everything his teacher had told him about the school had come true. What did he really have to gain from coming here if Aizawa-sensei was the industry standard?

"You idiot!" Izuku blinked as a small fist bounced off of his bicep. "This was your dream way before it was mine. How do you think I'll feel if you fail because of me?" Manami's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. He knew exactly how devastated she'd feel. But he couldn't just let her get expelled either. Their conversation was cut short when Manami was called for the last test, the softball throw.

The red-haired girl threw him a heated look, tossing the ball with barely enough force to get it out of the ring, her name falling below his in the rankings.

"Ten meters." Aizawa called. Even with Manami joining in, it seemed he still wasn't going to put a stop to their sandbagging. Their classmates gossiped, but Izuku paid them no mind, intending to drop his throw directly in front of him, cementing himself in last place. Manami stopped him with a hand on his arm when his name was called, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"I won't let you do this. I'm sorry, Izuku-kun."

He smiled softly.

"I have to do this, Manami-san."

Izuku glared Aizawa down as he took his place in the center of the circle from which the softball throw would be conducted. His teacher's sarcastic smirk irritated him.

"Are you committing to this farce, Midoriya?"

"I'd rather you expel me than watch someone else's potential go to waste because you arbitrarily deem their quirk incompatible with hero work. I've had more than enough of that in my life already, sensei." Izuku spat the title like venom, turning away before he could see Aizawa's reaction. He prepared to 'toss' the ball underhanded, allowing it to rise and fall directly at his feet, but Manami's voice reached him mid-swing.

"I really like you, Izuku-kun!"

It was like drinking blood, but ten times more intense. Strength flowed through his body, his muscles shaking with the sudden strain. His eyes widened as his brain finally caught up to the consequences.

'I can't adjust the strength. It's going to go too far!'

The strength seeped out of him as suddenly as it had come, causing him to stumble. The softball continued on its enhanced course, but Aizawa didn't call out Izuku's distance.

'What… happened?'

"What a desperate act of self-sacrifice."

When Izuku looked up, Aizawa's hair was suspended in the air as if gravity had suddenly released its hold on it. Those glowing red eyes, those goggles. Something finally clicked.

'The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!' An underground hero who avoided the media like the plague, his quirk allowed him to temporarily disable the quirk of anyone he had in his field of vision. Izuku had once compared his secretive nature to Stendhal, whose public presence was nonexistent, considering what big news vigilantes tended to be in this day and age. The pro hero's gaze was fixed on Manami, who looked every bit as enraged as Izuku had earlier.

"Love: a quirk that allows you to enhance the strength of others by confessing to them, the boost being modified by how deeply you feel. I imagine even close friends could gain quite the amount. More than enough to put Midoriya over you in the rankings, am I right?"

Izuku's eyes widened. That strength he'd felt was Manami's quirk?

"Yes." The red-haired girl didn't back down, maintaining eye contact with their teacher, whose hair drifted back down to his shoulders as he disabled his quirk.

"You knew I had prior knowledge of your quirk. Did you think I wouldn't notice you attempting to use it under my nose in order to secure Midoriya's win? Or were you planning on getting found out so that I would disqualify you, making you the loser by default? Tell me, what is the point in keeping either of you around when you're so willing to throw away any chance of being a hero?"

The confidence in Manami's eyes faded at their teacher's harsh words, her gaze dropping to the ground. Izuku's blood boiled.

"Who says I'm throwing away anything?" All eyes turned to the green-haired boy, slowly standing up from where he'd fallen in the field. "You think I could call myself a hero if I just let you disqualify Manami-san for something outside of her control? I don't care how hard I have to work. I don't care about what restrictions my quirk places on me. Even if you fail me here, I'll find a way to become a hero. But there's no way in hell I'd ever forgive myself if I did nothing in a situation when I could have helped!"

"It's the same for me!"

Izuku turned his gaze to Manami, who'd rallied her morale under his words. He couldn't help but feel like he was being rescued. He felt warm. Two hero course students fighting so hard to save the other, even at their own expense. Wasn't this everything U.A. was supposed to be about?

"Is that so?" Aizawa watched in amusement as Manami moved to stand next to Izuku in a show of solidarity. They served him with matching looks of determination while he silently deliberated. "Well, it's a good thing I lied about expelling one of you."

"I understand. I'll just gather my stuff and—wait, what?" Izuku had been so prepared to be expelled on the spot that he'd barely even registered the fact that Aizawa's reprimanding stare had vanished, replaced with the same half-tired expression as when he'd first appeared. Manami, similarly, seemed completely baffled, looking from her teacher to her friend with wide eyes.

"You could call it a logical deception." Their teacher drawled, waving a hand to the rest of the class, "Your peers possess wildly different skillsets from yours, due to the relatively costless nature of their quirks. For them, these trials provided a limit test from which to improve, the threat of expulsion a means to force out the upper limits of their quirks. As for you and Aiba, these tests are not an accurate measure of your abilities, similar to the U.A. entrance exam, which values physical prowess over every other attribute. For you, this test was about your conviction."

Aizawa made sure the entire class was paying attention. Somewhere along the line his expression had become grim. He slowly pushed up his sleeves, revealing a multitude of scars that marred his flesh. Stabs, lacerations, burns… Izuku couldn't see a single type of injury not represented on the Pro Hero's skin.

"Being a hero isn't only about saving people when it's convenient for you. Sometimes it hurts. The reality is that you're all children right now, and in three years you're going to be shown the horrors of the world and be expected to face them without wavering. It will be twice as dangerous for you and Aiba, because if you find yourself in a situation where you can't activate your quirk you may as well not have one. I simulated that for you with the threat of expulsion so that I could see for myself whether or not you'd fight regardless or run away. You decided to fight for each other, so you passed my personal test."

Izuku couldn't believe his ears. It was like listening to Stendhal's long-lost cousin, except prone to mental sadism as opposed to physical. He'd been so sure that Aizawa was substantiating the vigilante's claims about U.A.'s corruption, but he'd suddenly swerved in the complete opposite direction.

"Alright, everyone calm down." Aizawa clapped once to get everyone's attention, the rest of the class apparently also having been worried over his ruse. "Change back into your uniforms and return to the classroom. Tomorrow you'll be put through more hero training, but for now it's time for that orientation we skipped out on earlier."

The class listened to him, Ochako grumbling about how she had been right about orientation after all, while Izuku and Manami shared a meaningful look before separating for the men and women's locker rooms with their peers. Aizawa walked in the opposite direction, taking the long way around back to the classroom.

He had an eavesdropper to deal with.

"That was quite the elaborate lie, Aizawa-san!"

"I thought I saw you watching, All Might. Don't you have a class to plan?" If the other pro hero's snooping bothered him, Aizawa didn't let it show on his face. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, closing his eyes as if he were taking a rest.

"'A logical deception' you called it, I think? Funny, looking over last year's roster it seems you expelled your entire class of first years for having no potential." The symbol of peace's smile didn't waver in the slightest as he called the other pro hero out for his dishonesty. "You're not the lying type, Aizawa-san; you really were planning on expelling those two. What changed your mind?"

"I wonder…" Aizawa pushed off the wall, walking away with his shoulders hunched. He gave All Might a wave as he walked off, leaving the symbol of peace with his final thoughts.

"Maybe I saw that his potential wasn't zero. Maybe I saw that hers wasn't either. Maybe I thought that they'd grow stronger together. Regardless, if that conviction of theirs ever wavers I won't hesitate a second time."


Aww, Aizawa you softie!

I took a few days off before cranking out this chapter. On the back of getting 2 months' worth of writing completed and posted within 7 days I was a little burnt out. Future updates may be moving closer towards my originally-intended 2-3 chapters per month update schedule; I hope it's not too big a disappointment.

I struggled for a solid portion of this chapter not to directly quote from the show, but these episodes are absolutely burned into my brain from how many times I've watched them, so dividing my memories from my ideas can be rough. Sorry if it's a little weird because of that. Now that we've hit U.A. I'm much freer to deviate from canon. That said, the plan is to hit the big canon events while adding non-canon stuff in-between. Possibly a brand-new arc or two; we'll see.

Aizawa's new reason for trying to expel Izuku is a very real concern that Izuku and Manami are both going to have to work to address, both with support items and their own ingenuity and training. It's a concern he himself has to deal with because his quirk doesn't work against mutations. Basically, he's speaking from experience.

We'll be seeing more of class 1-A in future chapters, specifically Katsuki, Todoroki, and another rarely-utilized BNHA girl that my brain had a fantastic idea for; there simply wasn't any room to write in detailed reactions since we're already pushing on 6100 words for this chapter (before this author note). Maybe I should consider upping the goal so I don't feel so bad when they go long…

Anyway! Next time on Bloodstained Hero: Manami finally Izuku have an important talk followed by combat training! We all know what's about to happen, right?

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I encourage you all to leave a review to feed my ego; it's very hungry this week!