Izuku was thankful nobody brought up the scar as he was getting changed, though he noticed Honehuki giving it a glance along with a very distinct white and red haired boy with massive scar tissue over his left eye. He had a familiar air about him, but wasn't certain about anything. He was the first out, encouraging everyone to hurry up (and ignoring Bakugou's yell of him to 'SHUT THE FUCK UP').

Yaoyorozu was the first to accompany him, followed by Bakugou, followed by a large group including his newer friends. A short boy with purple hair and the invisible girl were the last to the scene.

Their instructor was out of his sleeping bag, and in familiar black and gray garb to Izuku. And if one was imperceptive, you'd think he was giving the air of someone lazy and too good for this. But most of the students felt the sharpness in the air around him. He was a teacher at U.A. Of course he wasn't a schmuck.

"I can't say I'm impressed by your time to get here as a whole. You are supposed to be the best of the best. But I suppose I am putting the cart before the horse. Does anyone have a guess as to what we are doing here?"

A girl with phone jacks for earlobes looked around and spoke up. "Well, sensei, I guess we are skipping the orientation or whatever. Is that okay?" A few voices in the crowd muttered aloud in agreement.

"Indeed Miss Kyoka Jirou. If you are lucky, you will see that U.A. allows it teachers much flexibility in how they teach their classes as long as they pass their finals and show results." Aizawa explained coolly.

"If we are lucky?" She asked barely loud enough for those around to hear, as if confirming what she heard. The short boy looked at Izuku and had a moment of clarity of what that could mean. With an expression of fear, he turned back towards the teacher.

"Wait, was he telling the truth then? That you expelled your entire class last year." He pointed to Izuku, who became the center of attention.

Aizawa gave him a look. He didn't like the look, especially since he wasn't sure what it meant. "Midoriya, do you intend to reveal all my secrets to the class? This is not a game you want to start." He ominously commented.

Izuku gulped instinctively. "Uh, well, the class seemed to be confused by your entrance into the classroom. I just said it so they would know to take you as seriously as they take their futures." Obvious pandering, but he was speaking to everyone with that line.

Aizawa paused for a moment and Izuku thought he was going to crack an amused smile, but instead saw his sensei's eyes refocus to the class. "What we are doing today is an extension to the physical fitness tests you took in middle school. Eijiro Kirishima, please step forward to me." As Aizawa pulled a softball out of seemingly nowhere.

Kirishima was instantly distinct, with shark teeth and spiky red hair. Izuku would have never known of the importance of him being chosen if it weren't for Bakugou and Honehuki both muttering aloud, one angrily and one interested, 'Number One.' So this was the guy who scored number one on the Entrance exam. He couldn't help but be interested.

The red head was obviously confused, as he asked Aizawa, "Yes, sensei?"

"Tell me, what was your record in the softball toss in middle school?" He asks as he casually tosses the ball to him.

He almost fumbles it, but gets a handle on it. He still looks confused. "Um, it was like 61.5 meters or something."

"An unremarkable number for sure, and for good reason. The department of education for some reasons sees fit to not challenge you with seeing the limits of your quirks, forcing everyone to compete on a field they deem equal. I find this ridiculous. Some people have mutant quirks that make them exceptional no matter what they do, and everyone deserves to understand their limits. That is why, this time, Mr. Kirishima, I want you to use your quirk during the softball throw."

"Use my quirk, sir?" Kirishima asked to confirm, already thinking. Behind him, Deku heard whispers of people excited at the prospect.

"Did I mumble, Mr. Kirishima?" Aizawa asked with an air of annoyance in his voice.

Kirishima shook his head as he began to walk towards the circle. "No, no sir." All eyes followed him as he set his feet in the circle and turned around. "It's just… my quirk doesn't really help me with this."

"Then make your throw and get back into the group. The softball contains an indestructible chip that will record your throws distance." His voice was still annoyed.

Izuku saw in Kirishima's eyes that he didn't like Aizawa's tone. It was dismissive, as if the effort he had put through to get number one meant nothing.

Kirishima readied himself, getting ready to chuck the ball. And hesitated. Hesitated some more. Izuku's and everyone's eyes shot to Aizawa as they felt negative energy radiating off him, displeased by what he was seeing. They all saw his mouth open and-

"Explain the rules again. Please. I just want to make sure I'm not missing something." Kirishima's voice cut into the tension. Aizawa stopped whatever he was going to say, and glared at the red head.

"Throw the ball, and the distance from the circle where it touches the ground marks your softball throw. It isn't hard." Aizawa explained.

"Huh." Izuku heard a voice from over his shoulder. "That is an oddly specific interpretation of the rules." He knew that voice to be Yaoyorozu's.

"It's deliberate." Izuku quickly responded. "It has to be with Eraserhead." He thoughtlessly used the teacher's hero name.

"Deliberate?" A boy with a french accent cut in. "It is my opportunity to shine." He had a grin, like he had cracked a secret.

The same one Kirishima was wearing.

"Alright then sensei. Here I go." Kirishima took a moment to stretch his shoulder out before… throwing the ball in the air. A cacophony of confused noises was followed by Kirishima rapidly swinging his arm around him and it visibly changing to a denser, sturdier appearing material. His arm quickly met the falling softball.

CRACK!

The ball went soaring in the air and a fair distance away landed and bounced.

There was a pause before the other blonde boy cheered, "Home Run!" It broke the tension and relieved some of the pressure in the air. Some of the class began cheering for Kirishima, while others (like Bakugou) didn't appear to be impressed.

Aizawa had pulled out a phone that was displaying a number in meters. 138.8 "Next time I expect you to catch on quicker, Mr. Kirishima. Though perhaps I should blame an education system that has stifled your comprehension thinking." He then turned his attention to the class as a whole. "As you can see with this demonstration, I am going to have everyone perform eight types of physical fitness tests with your quirks being able to be used. They will range from the ball throw to the 50 meter dash to sit ups. Your performances in these tests will be compared to one another and ranked based off of a system I developed in order to do so."

"Sensei, may I go next in the ball throw then?" One of the hulking figures in the class asked, a familiar looking guy with large lips. His huge frame made It seem like this type of test he would excel at.

Instead, Aizawa pulled out a small batch of papers hidden in the bundles of his scarf. "No, Mr. Shoji, the continuation of the ball throw will be later in the program. I just felt it was most suited for the demonstration needed to explain the optics of these activities. I already have an order for all of the tests, starting with the 50m dash, located right behind you all. I would like Shoto Todoroki and Yuga Aoyama to take their places at the start of the lanes."

Most of the class was surprised by how quickly they were jumping into things, but the two called out individuals made their way from the group towards the lanes. Izuku quickly realized Aoyama was the flamboyant blonde, because the name Todoroki was no secret to an hero otaku like himself. And with that half of red hair, Todoroki had a strong presence. A very aloof one, but still a presence. Izuku couldn't help but be curious about the younger Todoroki, having had a… unique set of encounters with the elder. Most of which involved either a trash can or running. It was a long story.

"I wonder how he will incorporate his quirk?" He heard Yaoyorozu mutter aloud, gaining his attention.

"Whom?" He asked.

"I was speaking of Todoroki. He took the recommendation exam along with me, and I saw the might of his ice. I'm curious if he will use the energy to propel himself, or to skate along the track."

"Ice? Not fire?" That was surprising.

"Indeed, though he did show the ability to summon flames in the aftermath to undo the ice. It seemed there was a tension with his father. Given the reputation of Endeavor as strict and demanding, one can assume why." She was quieter as she spoke, making sure only Izuku heard her. It was sensitive information, borderline scandalous, and he was the only one she knew. However, the closeness of her over his shoulder did not go unnoticed.

"Green haired nobody. Why is the prettiest girl all on him?" The short purple haired boy commented aloud. No one was really paying attention.

"First fucking smart thing I've heard all day." A familiar growl was heard. Almost no one. Izuku had to ignore the glances of Sero that were knowing. Fortunately, no one else jumped in to make it worse as the duo stood ready to run. Well, if you didn't count Aoyama looking the other way. For the first time, Izuku really noticed the belt he was wearing. Was it part of his quirk?

"I will show everyone here my sparkle!"

"Let's get this over with."

"Indeed. Robot, please begin the race." The robot at the end of the track seemed to note Aizawa's command and begin speaking. As it counted down, Aoyama bent his knees while Todoroki placed his right behind him. At 'Go!' the two shot forth. Aoyama sent a giant laser beam from the belt propelling him backwards, outpacing Todoroki who was running while gaining momentum from shooting off giant icicle's to push himself forward. Until he fell on the ground, his laser beam coming to a stop. Todoroki flew by as Aoyama stood back up, jumped in the air, and shot again.

"4.12 seconds!" "5.51 seconds!" The robot exclaimed as the two participants passed the end line. This time, Aoyama caught his feet and stayed standing. Then with a dramatic turn to the group. "Alas, I might have lost, but you all saw my sparkle, didn't you?"

"I saw you fall on your butt." The blonde foreign girl bluntly admitted, gaining a few chuckles from the crowd.

"So is this a laughing matter to you all?" Aizawa's voice pierced the air as everyone shut up instantly. Izuku wanted to speak but wasn't sure what to say.

"Bimbo made some of the extra's laugh. Who fucking cares?" Bakugou said what was on his mind. He also apparently had a nickname for the foreign student that was pretty rude.

"I care, Mr. Bakugou. I care because I want people who care about the opportunity they are being given." Aizawa turned his attention to the whole class. "If for one second, I do not think you are putting your full effort into one of these tests, you will score a 0. You do not want to see what happens if you score a 0. Do you understand me?" The crowd of students nodded quickly, as most of them were worried about the prospect.

The rest of the 50m dash flew by as everyone became hyper focused on having the best score. Izuku could only curse at himself, wishing he had brought his boosted shoes with him. Because of technicalities of having everything 'safety tested' all of his gear was in the U.A. support system, so he was fully and truly limited to his own physical abilities. And had this been two years before, before his time patrolling the streets, he would have been in decent trouble. But between his time 'on the job' so to say, and the effort he put in after last year's failure, he thought he could do well for himself. His 6.44s time was far from the best in the class, but he had gone full out and finished 13th.

The next test everyone took was a grip strength test, which Izuku felt disappointed in finishing under 60kg, at 59.5. While he wasn't near the bottom, he was nowhere near the top. The teen he recognized from the exam as having selfishly helping him to safety finished with a score of 460 kg, with another boy with some sort of beast quirk named Jurota Shishida finishing at 444.2kg. He was becoming more and more worried of Aizawa giving him a 0, as he was hoping he understand he did not have his inventions. The lackluster showing in the standing long jump which saw half the class clearing the box did nothing to help manners. As soon as he heard that the next test was repeated side steps, inspiration struck.

"Yaoyorozu, would it be a bother to ask for you to create a 2 inch sharp blade for me?" He asked out of nowhere as Todoroki and Aoyama was set to start at the side step station.

Without a thought, she summoned it. While Izuku had been aware of her quirk, (and if he hadn't her performance during this exam would have made it abundantly clear), it was the first time he asked her to use it. "I don't mean to pry, but what are you trying to do?"

Grabbing it from her, he began to take off his shoes, allowing his socks to stain with the dirt of the testing ground. He began to slowly cut off the bottom of his shoes while talking. "I had to give U.A. my current shoes which had the kinetic technology I use for testing, but these old shoes should still have…" The sole plus a rubber filling removed, scraps of technology and wires and springs were plain to see., " the prototype tech! I took some of it out, but I think I have enough here to craft basic springing mechanisms to help me with this test." Without really thinking of how it looked to everyone else, he plopped himself on the ground. "Could I also have a small tube of superglue, if you know the composition? And if it isn't taxing to your lipid storage?"

"I see, I was wondering why you hadn't used anything earlier. It would make sense that the school would want to verify the safety of them." Yaoyorozu processed as a small tube of superglue was placed on his knee for his use. Using the blade, he began to remove the components necessary for the adjustment.

"What in the world are you doing my dude?" The pink skinned girl was hovering and looking in on him sitting on the ground. She was not alone, as a few others couldn't help but be curious.

"Your shoes remind me of a steampunk wasteland. What are you brewing?" The raven headed boy asked, peaking as well on his actions.

Izuku was working furiously to get his plan into motion before his turn. "If I can properly balance the spring mechanisms, I can reduce the muscle strain on the side steps and allow me to last longer."

"Is that even allowed?" One of the voices in the crowd that he didn't see piped up.

The voice indirectly led to the gathering getting the attention of Aizawa, who saw through the mass of legs Izuku sitting on the ground. "Midoriya, what are you doing on the ground like that? Don't tell me you are tired!"

"He's fixing his shoes!" Sero chimed in, with a neutral comment that hopefully wouldn't draw the ire of the teacher. Even he wasn't sure if this was allowed.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow and wandered closer to the group and got a better view of what Izuku was doing. "I thought you gave your tech to the school for clearance?"

Izuku, not bothering to look up because he knew time was of the essence, answered. "I did Eraserhead-sensei. This is the old prototype for my shoe design. I refitted them for everyday use but I left in a bunch of things for weight balancing purposes. I figured it would be okay if I reconfigured them to help me with my tests."

Aizawa groaned as his student called him by his hero name absentmindedly, which sparked triggers of recognition by a few of the students.

"Eraserhead!"

"Wait, I think I heard of him."

"Eraserhead? The quirk canceling hero?" The boy with the large tail asked aloud. He continued his thought process by looking back towards Izuku. "How did you know which hero our sensei was? Eraserhead is an underground hero and his identity isn't obvious." He looked back towards the sensei.

"Sorry Aizawa-sensei! Slip of the tongue!" Izuku was rushing through the work on the first shoe and trying to get to the second.

The disgruntled look on the outed heroes face would have given Izuku pause to his thoughtlessness, but his attention was focused elsewhere. "Well Mr. Ojiro," Aizawa began to explain, "after Midoriya failed the entrance exam last year, he associated himself with a group of vigilantes I have had the matter of interacting with for years now."

Izuku ignored the chill that ran down his spine as Aizawa outed most of the things he had expected to tell his classmates overtime and ignored Bakugou cackling at the situation. His impulse to correct him because, technically, he had joined them before he attempted the exam was also completely curled even more so into a ball as he worked on the shoe, pressing down the base he was using to help the springs stay in place. As soon as this set, he was done working on it.

"Dude, you were a vigilante? How do you not tell a guy that! I saw she worked as one, but I thought you were just her music manager!" Sero asked, confusion in his voice.

"They let a vigilante into the course? That seems irresponsible." The girl with the frog quirk bluntly assessed.

"They let people repeat the exam? And your a first year, did you really wait it out?" Izuku could assume the invisible girl asked the question as he focused on refilling the shoe with some of the rubber filling and resetting the sole. Instead all he gave was a nervous chuckle.

"No but seriously, if he was a vigilante why is he allowed in the school? Shouldn't he have a criminal record or something?" The girl with earphone jacks for earlobes, Jirou, asked their sensei seriously.

Yaoyorozu finally came to his defense. "Midoriya never used any quirk during these activities and is thus exempt from many of the laws that prohibit vigilantism. Good Samaritan laws also are strong enough to protect him in most cases. Legally he is in a gray area, but that doesn't mean he should be barred from professional licensing!" She checkmarked most of the things that legally protected him in the last year and a half.

"Okay, but how would you know all of that! Are you a vigilante aficionado?" Jirou counter-questioned.

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "No, I do agree that it is a ill-informed path to take in life and should not be supported. I do, however, support the idol Pop Step and her career. Since he was a sidekick of hers and the Crawler, it is not a surprise I would not be aware of his part in this misdeeds."

"Pop Step! You like the bubblegum techno trash?" Jirou was aghast by Yaoyorozu's music preference. Judging by her aesthetic, it wasn't a surprising feeling from her. She seemed more into punk and other forms of rock.

"I bet you haven't even listened to a full song of hers! Don't judge the music based on your bias!" Things were beginning to get catty, and Izuku was tempted to step in.

Instead, Honenuki did on his behalf. "Music preferences aside, it seems obvious to me the school is fine with his past deeds if they admitted him. If you don't wish to befriend Midoriya because of them that is your prerogative, but I honestly feel like we have more important things to worry about."

"It is good to hear someone with sense speak up on the matter. Next time if you want to go on an inventing kick Midoriya, pass it through me. I will allow it this time since it is a result of your abilities, but do not expect this grace in the future. Now, I believe I need the next two to begin their sidestepping. Katsuki Bakugou and Pony Tsunotori, get to your stations. Everyone, get focused." Aizawa quipped.

The group around him began to disperse as they refocused their energies. The frog girl lingered, still looking over Izuku's shoulder. "Ribbit. Did you really fail the test last year?"

Izuku was busy removing the rubber packing, so he felt like he could divert his attention. "Uh yeah. I was totally unprepared and did terrible. But uh, yeah. I decided I should give it another shot. It didn't help I didn't apply anywhere else last time." He confessed.

"Hm, interesting." The girl seemed to ponder for a moment before walking away. The only person left crowding him was Sero, as Yaoyorozu seemed to be continuing the discussion about music with Jirou in a less heated manner.

Sero didn't say anything, but just watched as Izuku tinkered. Izuku knew he was curious but was trying to be respectful. As he was prying out spring components, he spoke to his tape quirked friend. "It kind of just sprang up, you know? I was actually more interested in meeting Captain Celebrity who used to be the number one hero in America when I met Kazuho who is a friend of his and was working on a movie set with him. I became friends with her and her boyfriend, and I found out what they did and couldn't help but be interested. I wanted to help people, and they were helping people. I understand why it is usually against the rules, which is why I didn't really bring it up, but I figured mentioning who I was working with would have been a big enough clue."

He had to wait a few moments for Sero to respond, but he did. "It's no biggie. It isn't like we have known each other for years or something. I still have stuff about me I haven't told you about. Did I mention I have two half-sisters? They are like, ten years older than me but yeah, I'm not an only child." Izuku shook his head, as Sero had not mentioned that. "Yeah, and I bet you still have something up your sleeve in regards to secrets." Izuku had to suppress a chuckle there, considering how right Sero was. "But seriously though, that is kind of cool. You have probably the most experience of any of us with this stuff. I bet you are going to do great."

"If I don't get a bunch of zero's because I don't meet Aizawa-sensei's expectation and get expelled, of course." Midoriya morbidly pointed out.

"True. I guess that means I should really let you get back to that huh?" Izuku simply nodded as he was getting to the difficult bits. "Alright, you better blow me out of the water then in this event!"

Izuku completed his shoe adjustments with time to spare, and was happy to thrive in side-stepping event. He even finished in the top 5! Know he just had to figure out how to use his know-how to improve his scores in the other events. Lovely.

Of course, he could do very little to boost his ball throw. The most he could think of was jumping while he threw, and it got him a distance of 67 meters (which he happened to know was Bakugou's record in school.) The technology he had on hand was far too inefficient to be useful for throwing things. Plus, after the invisible girl Tooru 'borrowed' the cannon Yaoyorozu summoned to use for her ball throw with a compelling argument how it was tactically legitimate, Yaoyorozu was banned from creating things for anyone else. (Though Midoriya swore he saw Aizawa grinning as he gave the invisible girl the score she earned, though he wasn't sure if it was 402 meters the ball traveled or a 0.)

However, the second Aizawa told the class the next step was a 2 kilometer run and to set up, he began adjusting the springs to be centrally located in the shoe instead of aimed for the sides. It nearly cost him 30 seconds of run time as Aizawa did not wait for him, but the spring in his step and months of running away from the scene of the crime made his time respectable coming in under 8 minutes and finishing in the top 10. He passed a few people in the last moments to secure his position, and almost immediately began working on adjusting his shoes. The people watching him immediately noticed the bottoms of his white socks were stained slightly red, which they definitely had not been before the race.

"Oi Deku, what the fuck happened to your feet?" Bakugou showed what could be construed as empathy for his plight.

"Oh my, your feet are bleedy." The foreign girl pointed out in almost accurate Japanese.

"Hey, I'm bleeding too!" The short purple boy yelled from the track, blood slowly coming from his head as he ran down the home stretch, behind him a minefield of balls he had bounced off of and everyone made note to avoid after Tokoyami attempted to see if the bounciness would help him run quicker… and promptly had to run 1.5 km without a shoe. Everyone swore they heard snickering coming from somewhere around him, but no one could place where it was coming from.

"I'm guessing your shoes spring design backfired?" Honehuki asked, concern on his face.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I was putting too much pressure on the center of my feet and the spring base kept pressing into my feet. I ignored the pain as long as I could but… I don't know what else we are going to do but I'm not going to have springs for it. If I had more time or materials I could fix the issue, but it is what it is."

"The logistical limitations of an intelligence quirk must be annoying, isn't it?" Honehuki asked sincerely.

Before Izuku could respond, Bakugou cut in. "Intelligence quirk? Deku has always been this stupidly fucking clever with his bullshit, even when we were kids. Deku doesn't have a quirk in the first place."

Everything sort of changed in the air when Bakugou said that. It wasn't subtle at all, as everyone had to take a minute to comprehend what he said. Izuku shot a look of 'WTF?' towards Bakugou, since he had been planning on being lowkey and Bakugou usually didn't point out his quirklessness. He could also see Aizawa out of the corner of his eye deliberately ignoring the situation.

"I passed the exam. It doesn't matter if I have a quirk or not. I'm going to be a hero like everyone else here." Izuku took initiative in the situation. He knew he had too. Everyone else had been shocked silent, it was the only chance he had to do so.

It would be a lot more convincing if he was looking at everyone. Or if his voice hadn't cracked on the word 'matter'. Or he stuttered on 'everyone'. He was busy fumbling around with his shoe, doing terribly in opening it while people had their eyes on him.

The first to speak up was the beast quirk boy, Shishida. "Isn't that a bit reckless? It is immediately clear you could be a sidekick with your base intellect, but you seem the sort to be aware of the perils of heroism." Izuku had to admit he had judged the boy a bit too harshly, discounting his possible intellect.

"I mean, it seems like you have to rely on equipment to have any success. Wouldn't it be better for a quirked hero to use it?" Ojiro pointed out bluntly. Izuku ignored the muttering of Bakugou, which sounded alot like, "Obviously."

Izuku refocused on his shoe. This wasn't the first time he had been questioned. "Every hero has a limitation. You can't put Endeavor in water, or Death Arms in the air, or expect much from Ingenium in short, narrow hallways. That is why we have so many of them in the first place. I don't see why I can't be one of them. And I know the things I build better than anyone and what I can do with them. Maybe I can't be All Might, but I can still help people."

"So manly. You are so freaking cool, Midoriya!" Izuku gave a glance to who said that, and saw it was the guy who got number one on the practicals, Kirishima. He had was showing off his dangerous teeth with his smile. "I could totally see you as a hero with that kind of attitude! Who cares if you don't have a quirk!"

"So this guy is a year older than us, a vigilante, and quirkless. Why did people think it was a good idea to put him in our class?" Jirou asked aloud. Again, Bakugou seemed to vocalize agreement.

"Because he earned his way here, just like everyone else." Yaoyorozu quickly responded with. She was smiling at him, which forced him to smile back at her. He was happy to see she didn't turn on him for holding that back from her.

"I mean, I totally get it," Ashido cut in, gaining the attention of the group. "When you said you know about your gadget stuff better than anyone. I remember, after the exam, I found a girl I accidentally burned the shirt off of and saw she was wearing your shirt. At least, it must have been you. You gave her your shirt because hers was acid soup, and then turned some sort of fire extinguisher foam into a grenade! She said it was really cool. And if you can do that, why should we doubt you until you prove otherwise?"

"The manliest!"

"Ribbit, it doesn't really matter what we think, now does it? The school will either keep him or kick him out if he doesn't live up to the standards of being a hero. Personally I think it will be too hard, but that is likely because I never thought someone quirkless could become a hero." Tsuyu had her say.

"Dude, any more secrets?" Sero jokingly asked.

"They can be saved for next time, Mr. Sero. You can all stop playing 20 questions with Midoriya here and follow me to the next station for the seated toe-touch." Aizawa cut the conversation short and had everyone following him, with Izuku at the rear as he awkwardly tried to put together his shoes. After all the abuse, he would probably have to retire them after today. Next to him, to his surprise, was Yaoyorozu.

"You know, I sort of figured you were Quirkless." She told him, looking him in the eye.

"Really?" He shouldn't have been surprised, she was smart enough to see it.

"Yeah, even if it would have gotten you in trouble, you would have used it in an instant to save one of your friends or a civilian. You are too good of a person to let the rules get in your way if someone was in jeopardy."

He nervously laughed. "Yeah, you are probably right."

"Well, as long as Aizawa-sensei doesn't expel you for some reason, you will prove to everyone you belong here. I can't wait to see that." She smiled again at him.

He nearly tripped up, she was way too cute when she did that. Plus she believed in him! She was a jackpot of a friend. "Yeah, me neither."

She let out a sigh, and shook herself off of something (probably nerves). "Let's rock this last two tests. You know, if you hadn't said anything, I would have sworn sensei was lying about expelling people. It seems ridiculous to do that to brand new students, but I guess he only wants the best. So let's give him what he wants."

Izuku nodded in agreement. He was going to give their sensei the best he had for the rest of the exam. Which, it turns out, was hard when your feet have giant cuts in them. His seated toe-touch was torture and among the worst in the class, and he ended up bowing out of the sit-ups early by his standards (but in the top 7 anyway) because of the discomfort of his feet. He was praying neither score turned into a 0, but he never knew with Eraserhead.

Finally, after Shoto Todoroki finally finished his sit ups, Aizawa began fiddling with a computer. After a few tense moments of that, a holographic screen appeared with the title of TEST RESULTS with the even more menacing sidebar title of # of '0' scores.

"So, what everyone wants to see. Here is your rankings and number of 0 scores. I'm going to give you a minute to process it, then we will discuss." And with a single button press, the list came up.

Izuku immediately scanned the list for the names of people he knew and himself. Yaoyorozu got number one, much to her obvious delight, while Kacchan got third, to his obvious displeasure. Honenuki finished in 4th, and Sero managed to secure 14th. Which was just a hair ahead with him at 15th. Beneath them were the group of Aoyama, Kaminari, Jirou, Mineta, and Tooru. He was kind of surprised to see his name so high considering he had a 1 underneath the title of those with 0 scores, along with Tokoyami (who finished 10th), Kaminari and Tooru. He had an idea of which test got him a 0, but only had the faintest clue as to why the other 3 grabbed a 0.

"Now, first off, congratulations to Yaoyorozu and Todoroki who have demonstrated that perhaps they did deserve their recommendations. A few others exceeded my expectations, which is good for your sakes. First, I want to say I am slightly disappointed in your scores, number one. You finished in sixth, and might have fallen to seventh if Tokoyami hadn't sabotaged his own scores. What do you have to say about that?"

Kirishima flinched, obviously having been fine with his score and not expecting to be called out. Kirishima searched the ground in an attempt to figure out what to say. His face went stone as he looked back up. "I didn't come here to be the most physically fit. I came here to be the best hero I can become. I came here to become the best man I can be. You can be disappointed in me here, but I will more than prove to exceed your expectations once we get to why we are, sensei."

Everyone in the class was stunned by that response, including Kirishima. He had just called out his sensei on why this didn't matter. Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "It seems you know why you are here. Good. Principal Nedzu wouldn't like it if I expelled you on the first day, among others in the faculty. Now, to those with 0's, can you explain yourselves?"

Izuku spoke up first. "I took myself out of the game by ignoring my health for a higher score. I can't help anyone if I can't walk. I don't know if you docked me for the run, the toe touch, or the sit ups, but I probably deserved a 0 for all three. I already have enough setbacks. I don't need to make myself new ones."

"As the oldest, of course you are aware of what you did wrong. Even if you do graduate from U.A., everyone will doubt you just because of what you lack. Don't give them anything. Next?"

Kaminari, hesitantly, spoke. "Um, sensei, if I'm honest… I don't know why I have a 0. I'm guessing that means I uh, I'm not thinking with my quirk enough. Or something?"

"It's good to admit when you don't know. It means you are willing to learn. If you don't know, I want you to figure it out." Aizawa looked to the other two.

Tokoyami sighed, before speaking up. "I must guess that my 0 came from the toe touch. Since I didn't use Dark Shadow?" Izuku was thoroughly impressed by his quirk in the execution of him using it. It seemed to be sentient, and among the most useful and versatile quirks he had ever seen.

"No, it was for the grip strength. You simply let Dark Shadow do it for you, instead of trying to even think of ways to enhance it together. All of your other uses of Dark Shadow were a cooperative effort, but this demonstrated to me perhaps you are in danger of being too reliant of your quirk. Do you want to be the hero, Mr. Tokoyami, or does Dark Shadow?" He turned his head to Tooru.

"Was it the cannon?" She asked, her body gestures making it obvious she was feeling guilty.

Aizawa shook his head. "No, that was clever, making use of the environment. The 0 is for the long distance run. You attempted to cheat on the corners, which is something I give you credit for, but I do not care about your ability to cheat. I care about how you can use your abilities and your quirks to fulfill the tests I gave to you. If it weren't for the cleverness with the cannon, I would be expelling you. But you showed the potential to adapt and overcome. As long as you show potential, I will help to nurture it. If I don't see potential, I will find someone else who I can see it in."

It was obvious that Tooru's legs were shaking. Quickly the tailed boy Ojiro came to her side and helped keep her steady. Not that Izuku could blame her, when she had come so close to getting kicked out of U.A. His hands were feeling antsy after having a brush himself with failing.

"So, no one is getting kicked out yet. That's interesting. Your day isn't over yet, so I want you all to get dressed and return to class. I will meet you back there." Then, Izuku noticed Aizawa begin walking towards the side of the building, and not towards the main door back into class. Odd.

"You friggin' bag of secrets. Got anymore you are holding out on?" Sero had grabbed his shoulder with Honehuki and Yaoyorozu by him.

"One or two, but those I'm legally obligated to keep quiet." Izuku said with a stone face.

The three of them looked at each other, and back to Izuku.

"Considering everything we know about you, I actually believe you." Honehuki confessed.

"I was thinking the same thing." Yaoyorozu admitted.

"So was this supposed to be a big secret you were going to hold onto all year or what?" Sero asked as they walked towards the doors of the locker rooms.

"I mean, I figured either sensei or Kacchan would spoil it but… I was kind of hoping to prove myself capable to the class first." Izuku admitted to them.

"They were a tough crowd. Some of them, at least." Honenuki pointed out.

"Yeah, but I think you will be able to do that once we get into hero exercises. I saw you with Pop Step a few times, and I know you are more than ready." Yaoyorozu reassured him.

He smiled at that. "It's good to know somebody thinks so." The four of them made it to the locker rooms, their first major event at U.A. passing by mostly smoothly.

…..

So, yeah, here is an update. I have no excuses except, I would pull this up and I just would get distracted and not focus on this. But, big surprise, I've been like this for the 7 ½ years I've been on this site. Hopefully I can get more out sooner rather than later. Plus, there is a thing I kind of want to write. It's an abomination, nearly to the levels of Deku x Nomu, but I kind of think it is brilliant. Of course, having a dozen ideas of things you want to begin writing but have no clue how to finish has been my problem forever.

Ignoring all that, tell me what do you think is coming. Do you like what I did? Something tells me ignoring the fact that Deku is obviously quirkless in this until the end of chapter 5 was stupid but C'est la vie. I like where I am taking things, and I hope you do too. Peace out until next time.