Before heading to Ground Beta, Mei helped Izuku put on his makeshift disguise. She made sure all his curly green hair was tucked into the beanie, the goggles were securely in place, and even rubbed some soot over his freckles for good measure. When asked where it came from, she simply said that any 'good' inventor always had some soot on them.

With one last check of his bag and a goodbye to his friend, Izuku headed off to Ground Beta. It took him a little while to find it but he managed to get there before any of the students arrived. Not even All Might was there yet. Must be giving some kind of explanation back in the classroom still. Not wanting to wait out in the sun, he decided to step inside the observation room in the meantime.

There was a huge screen on one wall with different windows open showing various camera angles inside and outside of a building. There was a panel of buttons and switches with some chairs next to it. Izuku sat down in one that had a small table-like surface attached to it.

He took out his notebook and a pencil and eraser from his pen case, which he placed on the table, before putting the recognizable All Might themed case back in his bag. He then hung his bag and jacket on the back of the chair. Once done, he turned his attention to the tech setup in front of him.

As he scanned over the panel in front of him, the door opened and someone entered the room. Izuku turned around to see that All Might had entered, decked out in his Silver Age costume, who then 'deflated' like he had on the rooftop almost a year ago.

Great observational skills there, All Might. Did he even check to see if anyone else was in the room?

The boy made a noise to alert the Hero to his presence. The man froze and slowly turned around to look at him, his costume pooling around his skeletal form. He paled and started to sputter in panic. Izuku quickly ran up to him, hands gesturing frantically, attempting to calm the Hero.

"All Might! It's okay! I already know! This isn't the first time you've deflated in front of me!"

The sputtering came to a screeching halt at that. The Number One Hero began to search his face for anything familiar. Izuku pulled off his goggles and beanie to show his green eyes and green hair in all its messy glory. Recognition slowly dawned in the man's deep-set blue eyes.

"It's…it's you. The boy I met a year ago. Young …?"

"Midoriya Izuku," he offered with a small smile, a bit happy the Hero did actually remember him. "Yeah, uh, h-hey All Might. Long time no see?"

All Might let out a huge sigh of relief, placing a hand over his still rapidly beating heart. Clearly relieved that he hadn't reveal this form to a random student, he addressed the boy, "Young Midoriya, you gave me quite a shock. What are you doing in here?"

"D-did they not tell you?" the Support student asked, fiddling with the beanie and goggles nervously. "Maijima-sensei s-said that he wanted me to observe the combat training so I can t-take notes on the students' Quirks. I-I was told it was okay-ed by the homeroom teachers for 1-A and 1-B."

"Notes? Ah yes, that notebook of yours," the teacher said, hand on his sharp chin as he remembered. "I happened to glance through it when I was signing it the day we met. Your notes were interesting. Being able to analyze is a useful skill. I'm guessing he wanted you here to practice that? Now that I think about it, I do recall him mentioning another student coming to observe."

The greenet nodded in confirmation and said, "Y-yeah, I'm really excited to start!"

This wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be.

"Well then, I look forward to working with you," All Might said as they exchanged bows.

From the other side of the door, the pair could hear the sounds of approaching students. The two scrambled to collect themselves before the others tried to entered the room. All Might puffed up into his muscle form while Izuku quickly shoved the beanie on his head, tucking in any stray hairs, and fixed the goggles over his eyes. The man gave him a questioning look and he merely shrugged.

"You have your ways to stay anonymous, I have mine. Um, if you could, please call me Hiro? There's a certain student I don't want knowing I'm here. I don't want our 'issues' to disturb the other students."

All Might raised an eyebrow in question but simply nodded to say he would.

"Thanks," Izuku said with a sigh, relieved the Hero would help him with his secret. "Also, please let me handle talking about my Quirk status. As a personal favor?"

The Support student received another nod in answer and they both walked outside to greet Class 1-A. As the Hero Course students approached, Izuku's eyes sparkled as he took in everyone's Hero costumes. Not that anyone could see that with the goggles over his eyes. There were so many different colors and designs. One was even outfitted to look like a knight! Though, he could already see some features on various costumes that could possibly use a fix. His hand was itching to begin writing.

He scanned the crowd and easily found his friends, who waved in greeting. Uraraka's costume reminded him of an astronaut. He thought her wrist guards didn't have to be so big though, and wanted to know what use the heels on her boots served. Kirishima's costume was clearly a homage to Crimson Riot to go along with his hair, though he wondered what purpose the gears on his shoulders served. All these questions and more were mentally noted to be written down and looked into later.

Izuku made a point to not look in Katsuki's direction for longer than a passing glance. Though he couldn't help but think, are those gauntlets even comfortable? Thankfully, the blonde didn't seem to even register he was there or anyone really, seeming to ignore even his own classmates.

Though he doesn't seem to have that same pompous look he had back in Aldera, Izuku thought, sparing another quick peek at the blonde. Katsuki stood with his usual scowl and self-assured stance, but the greenet could see he looked the slightest bit humbler from before. UA is the best of the best. Perhaps here he'll finally learn that his Quirk isn't the be all end all and that there are others that can beat him.

"Greetings, students!" All Might beamed at 1-A with his signature smile. "Now that you all look the part, let us start our first Hero Basic Training! Joining us today is a special guest. Please introduce yourself!"

What?!

Izuku blanched at having to do so in front of all the other students all of a sudden. Even though he knew two of them already, other than Katsuki, it didn't help his nerves much. Taking a deep breath to settle himself, Izuku stepped forward, not missing how much smaller he looked standing next to the towering figure of the Symbol of Peace.

"H-hello! I'm from the Support Course in Class 1-H," Izuku greeted the class, trying to keep his nerves in check.

At the sound of his voice, Izuku saw Katsuki's shoulders stiffen in recognition. The greenet forced himself to calm down and put faith in his make shift disguise. He could feel those burning red eyes on him as the blonde studied him for any signs of who he was under the hat, goggles, and soot. But, thankfully after a few tense scrutinizing moments, hidden green eyes watched Katsuki seem to come to a conclusion with a shake of his head and dismissive huff. Internally, Izuku let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm h-here to watch your training and take notes on your Quirks," the disguised greenet continued, still nervous but pressed on. "Please c-call me Hiro. Nice to meet you!" He bowed as he finished as the class greeted him as a group.

"Now that introductions are over," All Might said, taking back the class's attention. Izuku had to restrain himself from facepalming when the man took out a cheat sheet. "I will explain in more detail on how this Battle Training will be done. Today we will be…"

As the Hero described what they would be doing, Izuku walked over to Uraraka to say hello. Izuku looked around and noticed something odd. After the initial awe of seeing the costumes, he counted the students and only came up with eighteen when usually 1-A had twenty students.

"Uraraka-san," the Support student whispered, not wanting to disturb the teacher's explanation. "Why are there only eighteen students?"

"Oh, that. Well…," she replied quietly, rubbing her head nervously. "While everyone else went to the entrance ceremony, our homeroom teacher, Aizawa-sensei, had us do a Quirk Apprehension Test. Someone said it would be fun which made him decide to expel the student whose overall score came in last place. Yaoyorozu, the girl with the ponytail, and some others thought it was just a ruse, but he really did it. The one who did place last tried to argue it wasn't fair but Aizawa-sensei said they didn't take the tests seriously and we couldn't expect to coast through his class."

"Harsh," Izuku commented, frowning slightly. "What about the other one?"

"It was this short boy with purple balls on his head," Uraraka continued. "I think he came in second to last place? Anyway, he was expelled after he was caught peeking into the girl's locker room through a hole in the wall of the boy's locker room."

He looked at his friend in concern. That was such a creepy thing to do. "Are you alright, Uraraka-san?"

"I'm fine, Hiro-kun," she assured him, smiling warmly and patting his shoulder lightly. "He was stopped pretty quickly so it's okay now. Thanks for your concern."

They turned their attention back to the teacher. The student dressed like a knight addressed the Hero and asked, "Sensei, if we are having two-on-two battles, how will that work with only eighteen students? Wouldn't that make an odd number of nine groups?"

"You are correct, young Iida," All Might replied. "Since your number has been reduced to eighteen, the last group will face two students from any of the losing teams. Think of it as a redemption round. Now that everyone knows what we're doing, it's time to draw lots to decide your teams!"

"Is that really the best to decide that?!" Iida questioned incredulously.

"If you think about it," Izuku piped up, suddenly making everyone look to him. The soot hid his blush for the most part. "Pros o-often find themselves in situations where they have to t-team up with Heroes from other agencies. It's good to learn to a-adapt to working with new people."

"Ah, I see! A way to practice for the future," Iida said. "Thank you for your insight. I apologize for the interruption!"

"Now that that's cleared up," All Might interjected, pulling out a box with a hole in the top. "Let's figure out our teams. Step up and take a number!"

...

(A/N: Made an edit to this chapter. Added Katsuki semi-noticing Izuku because of his voice. A weirdness pointed out by a commentor, iluvstorys, on AO3. :) )

Blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic

Notes extension: post/626547992804147200/chapter-15-1-a-battle-training-hiro-kun-meets