"Midoriya!" Iida called out to me on my way out of the school later that same day. He caught up to me, resting a hand on my shoulder. "That was very impressive, keeping up with all of us the way you did."
"Ah! Um… thanks…"

"Expelling someone…" Iida put a hand to his chin, motioning with the finger of his other hand animatedly, "At first, I couldn't believe our own instructor would do such a thing, but I suppose that's how it is at the top!"

I didn't get it. Why…? Why come up to talk to me? It's not like I knew this "Iida" guy. 'Maybe… It's just cause we left at about the same time, so he spotted me in the crowd…?'

"You two!" Uraraka came running up next. "Headed to the station? Wait up!"
"Ah, Infinity Girl!" said Iida.
She looked surprised by the nickname, "I'm Ochako Uraraka! Um, you're Tenya Iida and Midoriya… um… Deku! Right!"
"Deku?!" I exclaimed.
"Hmm?" She looked confused, "During the test, that Bakugo guy said 'Damn you, Deku!' right?"

Sweating nervously, gesturing wildly, and avoiding eye contact with the too cute girl, I managed to stumble out an explanation, "Um… my real name is Izuku… 'Deku' is just Kacchan being a bully…"
"A derogatory pet name then?" muttered Iida, clearly bothered by that.
"Oh gotcha! Sorry!" Uraraka apologized, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. But then, clenching her fist in front of her and smiling brightly, she continued, "But 'Deku' well… It just screams, 'Do your best!' I kinda like it. The way it sounds."

'Oh, man… Too cute…!' Judging by how hot my cheeks felt, I was blushing even more deeply now. 'This changes everything!'

"Deku's fine!"
Iida tried to talk me out of it, but I ignored him. Because… if even the name "Deku" could become something I could wear proudly…
And regardless of the way the other students looked at me, or the way our teachers treated me…
If Uraraka could still smile at me cheerfully…

'I just might like it at this school after all.'

…

"I HAVE…!" the students heard a voice call from down the hallway.
We all knew that voice. And I knew it better than most… I grimaced slightly, but I couldn't deny I was still a little excited. 'He's here…'
With a gust of wind, All Might was suddenly leaning into the room from the door frame.
"... COME THROUGH THE DOOR, LIKE NORMAL!"

My classmates muttered to themselves and each other, excited and freaking out over the Number One Hero.
All Might whistled a tune, marched to the front of the room, turned his back to us and posed exclaiming, "Hero basic training! The class that'll put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes!" He faced us again. "No time to dally. Today's activity is BATTLE TRAINING!"

From the seat in front of me, I heard Kacchan mutter "battle…" with a grin in his voice.

All Might continued, "And for that… you need these!"
Parts of the wall to our left slid out with a rumble. There were containers inside with numbers on them.

It was our costumes. Specially made for us thanks to U.A.'s uniform subsidy.

Mine was a simple, thin, reinforced body-armor. I hadn't been able to decide on a design, though, so the company had just given (left?) it a plain black.
It had holsters and compartments for all the weapons Master had given me.

"As promised…"

I stared, wide-eyed, at the assortment of weapons, armor, and other additions to my costume - many which I didn't even recognize. Let alone know how to use!
"K-Kurogiri-sensei… This is…"
'This is too much!'

"You'll start training to use them immediately. But as for what you'll take to school with you…" Kurogiri-sensei pointed to a selection of four items, "These should be sufficient for most situations."

There was an extendable/retractable bo staff, smoke pellets, net-grenades, and a trick-gun. Although, I had a simple grapple-gun, instead of the trick-gun at the moment, since it still needed to be approved. Once it was, though, I could discard the grapple-gun in favor of the trick-gun's grapple setting. One less thing to carry.
The suit covered my entire body, including my head. I could see and breath through the part covering my face, although I wasn't sure what the material was. All-in-all, it was… not really a look that suited me, in my opinion. But it would do for now.

Until I… actually figured out what look would suit me…

...

When we made it to the training grounds (a faux-city), I was surprised to see an older student next to All Might. Apparently, he was "Mirio Togata," All Might's teaching assistant.
"Don't mind me!" he said, waving and smiling at the class, "I'm just here to observe for now."
All Might explained the rules of our "indoor anti-personnel battle training," and we drew lots to determine the teams.

I ended up teamed with Uraraka ('Seriously? I can barely say two words to her…! Jeez, where's that plant when I need it?!') and, just my luck, facing off against Kacchan (and Iida) in the very first matchup.
As All Might was encouraging the two boys to "adopt a villain mindset" and "not hold back," Kacchan bragged about how "certain his victory" against us was.

Uraraka and I waited outside while the villains prepared for the battle.
Strangely, strategizing for a battle, preparing to face unfair odds in order to train… to get stronger…
It almost felt like I was back with Kurogiri-sensei and Master.

"So that's you Deku? Cool costume! Real practical-looking!"
I didn't answer her, instead staring at the blueprints of the building we were to infiltrate.
"..." Uraraka stared at me, at my face that was only just barely visible through my mask. "... Are you worried?"
"-hm?" I looked up at her. "No. Why?"
If anything, she was the one who looked worried. "It's just… Bakugo, he's… the one who bullies you, right?"
I lowered the blueprints. "Yeah. We'd better be on guard."

'Actually… yeah. Why aren't I worried? Since…'

"Kacchan may be a jerk, but he's amazing… He's stronger than me in almost every way. Iida too. Their quirks…" 'Are only tools.'

"... We should come up with a strategy!" Uraraka smiled at me, pumped.

'Kacchan is sure to come straight at me. So…'
I smiled back. "I… have a few ideas, actually."

Back in the monitor room, All Might was distracted. He'd been distracted from the moment he recognized the two boys in his class. Well, he'd known they'd both gotten in, but… with Aizawa's reputation, he'd expected that green-haired kid to have been expelled already!
He was worried. He'd found out when he'd saved Bakugo that the boy had a nasty temper. And his quirk was incredibly strong! And, he might've been imagining it, but… there seemed to be a dangerous tension between the two boys.

But… as the teacher, he couldn't…
'No. Midoriya is just another student. A quirkless student… but a student. Someone I'm meant to teach and prepare to become a hero. If the kid has made it this far on his own, then he can handle himself.'

… But there was no need to let things get out-of-hand, right?

When we got the signal to start, Uraraka used her zero-gravity on me, and, grabbing her, I I grappled us to the top of the building.

While we couldn't be certain of where the "villains" were holed up, it was likely to be higher, rather than lower.
-"Higher ground is easier to defend," said Kurogiri-sensei, "This is a natural human instinct, as well as a fact of battle."-

'And also,' I thought to myself 'by coming from the top… we just might catch them off-guard.'

A sneak attack wasn't just our best chance, but, really, our only chance.
-"Even when you're outclassed and outmatched, the element of surprise can even any odds."-
So it was unfortunate that we were up against someone with enough speed to, potentially, counter that key advantage.

.~*~.

I had been right: Kacchan had already headed downstairs to try and attack me directly. But there was only one entrance into the room containing Iida and the weapon.

Uraraka and I tried to circle around and inside through the windows, but Iida spotted us just in time.
"Bakugo! They're up here!" he yelled into his micro transceiver.
He rushed at me, since I was closer to the weapon, but Uraraka managed to slap his shoulder as he passed her.

He floated into the air. He'd lost his speed advantage!
But before we knew it, we could already hear the sounds of explosions closing in on us. There was no time!

I barely managed to hide myself against the wall containing the door before Kacchan came barreling through it.
-I rushed through a portal, only to be grabbed from behind and pinned to the ground.
"When entering a new space," Kurogiri-sensei said, "people will rarely look to the side in those first few seconds."-
Without even pausing, Kacchan charged at Uraraka, who was about to touch the weapon. But before he could land a blow, I threw one of the net-grenades, and-
*ki-ching!*
-he found himself trapped in a net!

He tried to blast out of it, but I knew the net was too strong for that.
Unfortunately for us, Iida managed to use his recipro burst to reach a wall and-

All four of us stood in a line in front of the rest of the class, our masks removed. Kacchan was literally smoking with rage, muttering about a "fluke."

"Well, I'd say… The V.I.P. of this battle was Iida!" exclaimed All Might, "I wonder why? Anyone know?!"
"I do, All Might-sensei," said Momo Yaoyorozu, her hand shooting up. "Not only did he capture both heroes, but he stayed focused on his goal and found a counter-strategy when facing an attack from an unforeseen direction."
"Very good, Miss Yaoyorozu!" All Might congratulated her.

But, from next to the teacher, Mirio cut in.
"I dunno…" he said, thoughtful. "I think the V.I.P. was Midoriya."

My gaze (everyone's, really) shot up from the floor to look at him. My jaw was on the ground in shock.
"I mean, the Hero Team shouldn't have stood a chance of winning, yet Midoriya showed ingenuity in that sneak attack of theirs. It should have guaranteed them victory! They only failed because the Villain Team had a card hidden up their sleeve."

"... Yes … You're correct…!" All Might was sweating nervously, "But I'd, um… also add that the Hero Team should have kept their eyes on both opponents, even if they believed them to be immobilized!"
Mirio nodded. Still smiling, he turned to us, "Yeah, true. It's hard to do in the middle of battle. But, as you found out, it's best to stay aware of all your surroundings!"

All Might quickly got the next match moving after that and, freed from the awkward tension, the other students started crowding around me.
"Cool moves, man!" "I wouldn't have thought to go from outside!" "Where'd you learn to fight like that?!"
Even Todoroki stopped to give me a "Well done" before leaving for his own match.

I did my best to laugh off their questions (I couldn't tell them about Master, after all), and, thankfully, they were distracted when the next match started.

Kacchan was still smoking. But when he saw how quickly Todoroki's power ended the match-
-he stopped.

I noticed the look in his eyes.
But when I saw Kacchan leave early… I didn't feel any desire to go after him.

Really, I didn't.

I…

Didn't…

… Right?

Do you like my writing? Do you like AU's? How about time travel or dimension hopping? Stories about vampires? Or even reimaginings of classic books?
Do you think I'm "jumping the shark" by including all of these things in one book? ;)

Then you should check out my original book, Crossroad of Infinity, which you can read FOR FREE on my website (just remove the spaces and add a dotcom to the book's title, or look in my profile for the link), on Tumblr, and on AO3!