Izu's stomach growled aggressively, waking her from her fitful sleep. She struggled to open her eyes. She didn't want to think about life right now. She was too ashamed. Her stomach growled again. A small amount of pain shot through her abdomen. Her mouth was dry, and she felt heavy all over. She raised an arm to her forehead. It wasn't overly warm. 'I don't think I'm sick…'

She sat up, slowly reaching for her phone as she rubbed her eyes. Distracted, she ended up knocking her phone off the nightstand. It fell to the floor with a soft clack. She let out a weak sigh, knowing that she'd have to get out of bed now. After some brief convincing, her body listened and she sat up. Everything hurt. She felt... really weak.

'I… what am I doing…' Her palms rested on her legs. She glanced down at her hands, they glowed briefly with green electricity. She sighed again, almost surprised that her power still worked. 'I. I did it again. This time… I missed a day of practice. I broke my promise. I promised mom...' She grabbed her phone from the floor in order to confirm the truth she already knew. She pressed a button. The time and date appeared on the screen. A pained noise escaped her as he eyes traced over the text "Sunday: 11:23am". Brief images from yesterday flashed before her eyes. She'd been awake during Saturday. There's no way she didn't wake up. But… she did nothing.

She remembered waking up a few times. Glancing around her room and sniffling quietly. Each time she'd laid back down, feeling sorry for herself. Each time she'd convinced herself it made more sense to remain in bed. Getting up is what signaled the start of a day. If a day never started… then it couldn't harm her. Her stomach growled again. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was devoid of saliva. Tears fell freely from her eyes.

'I missed a day of food. Again. Mom always made sure I ate, whether I liked it or not. But here… no one will come and check on me.' She stepped out of bed, walking over to her bathroom sink on unsteady legs. She cupped her hands and took small sips from the tap. She glanced at herself in the mirror. She couldn't look for more than a few seconds. Dark thoughts clouded her mind whenever she saw herself like this. she finished drinking, drying her hands on her boxers. She stood in the doorway of her bathroom, debating what her next course of action was.

'I'm… hungry. But I don't think I can go out without showering.' Realizing she didn't have a real choice in the matter, she silently stripped out of her undergarments. She winced as she smelled herself. 'Lying in bed for 36 odd hours will do that to you, idiot.' She turned towards the shower, her eyes landed on the toilet however. A strange feeling washed over her. 'Oh. Yeah... I guess I ignored that too.' A blush crept its way onto her face. She had to pee. Badly.

Izu was awake now, regardless of how much energy she actually had. She stepped out of the cold shower, shivering as she reached for a nearby towel. Her movements were slow and inaccurate. She didn't properly dry her hair, nor did she bother to comb it. She had no patience for that right now. She threw on her usual outfit and quietly opened her door. She peered outside. Thankfully no one was in the hallway.

Izu walked towards the elevator at the other end of the hall, wringing her hands all the while. The elevator stopped on the fourth floor. The guy with the head of a raven got on the elevator. He looked at her for a moment, before simply nodding and turning to face the door. She silently thanked him for not starting a conversation.

Getting off the elevator, she sauntered out of the building, pointedly ignoring anyone on the first floor. Food was the only thing on her mind.

Izu returned to the dorms carrying four plastic bags, filled with various components and ready-to-eat meals. 'I'm going to need to keep food in my dorm… I can't miss days of training. Or… eating.' She put two bags down in front of the main entrance, digging through her jacket pocket for her student ID. She scanned it on the door handle, and after a brief pause the door clicked open. She picked up her bags again and started to walk forward, when she had to jump backwards; someone else had pushed the door open.

Jiro stood in the doorway, her hand on the inner handle. "Hi, Midoriya."

Midoriya paused, unsure how to respond.'Earlobe girl… Crap I don't know her name.'

Thankfully, Jiro seemed to pick up on the meaning of her delay. She smiled. "Jiro." She poked her chest with her thumb. "I would shake your hand, but you seem occupied." She glanced down at the plastic bags.

"Y-Yeah. I… Sorry, my hands are full." Izu shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"Smart of you to go shopping so soon. I still have to pick up some food to have in house." The greenettes stomach growled in response. Jiro stifled a laugh with her hand. Izu lowered her head in response. Muttering about missing breakfast. "I'll let you get to it then. See you tomorrow in class." Jiro waved as she walked outside. Midoriya caught the door with her foot, pausing to watch the girl leave briefly.

Izu elected to stay inside for the rest of the day. Eating and completing her basic training in her room, away from any potential distractions. Eventually the day came to an end. She laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. Wondering what tomorrow's start of class would bring.

Class started at 8:00am. Izu walked into the classroom at 7:30am, hoping to arrive early and pick a good seat. She paused just outside of 1-A's door. It was massive; clearly made to fit heteromorphic types of all kinds. She slid the door to one side and walked in. Her eyes landed on the blonde haired boy. He was the first to arrive, it seemed. He briefly glanced at her as she walked towards a seat. He chose to sit in the front leftmost seat, while Izu chose the back leftmost seat.

'I definitely don't want to sit in the front. Being here means I can… well. Be an observer?'

There was a fair amount of time before class was scheduled to start. Izu settled into her seat, gazing out the window to her left, her head resting on her desk. She was too engrossed in her thoughts to notice Bakugo's approaching footsteps. He said something to her. Still oblivious.

He slammed his palm on her desk in frustration, just behind her head. That certainly got her attention. She whipped her head up, hair falling to either side of her face. She stared up at him, wide eyed.

"Did you hear me. Yes or no." He seemed very unamused.

Still recovering from the surprise, Izu took a moment to right her thoughts. She eventually answered, "Uh. N-No? What did you say?"

"You better not half-ass your power today." She gave him a confused look. He continued. "The student handbook says all students complete a Quirk Apprehension test on the first day of class. To test our limits. Limits." He emphasized the last word, repeating it while glaring at her. "Show me what you can actually do, Green. That way I know if I have to care about you at all. That Half and half guy made it real simple." He walked away without any further comments, muttering something about recommendation students.

'Half-ass my power? Does… does that mean I go 100%? I can't imagine Aizawa would approve of me injuring myself. Plus… I'd rather not? Injure myself…' She lost herself in her thoughts again as students slowly trickled into the room.

Izu was once again pulled from her thoughts, this time she caught what the voice next to her had said. "Y-You don't have to ask… me to sit there." She turned to look out the window again, trying to avoid conversations as much as she could. Jiro simply smiled in response, taking the seat to Midoriya's right.

Izu was vaguely aware that the pink girl… Ashido? Had sat in front of her and was occasionally glancing back her direction. Eventually, all students arrived, and Aizawa walked into the classroom at 8:00am on the dot. The room was bustling with noise, multiple conversations were happening. Some students were standing beside other desks. Aizawa fixed all of this at once with a simple word.

"Sit." His tone and volume sent shivers down the spines of those he was addressing. Anyone who was standing quickly took their seat without a word. His eyes scanned over all the students, lingering for a tad longer on a select few. After his brief pause, Aizawa began an introduction.

"Welcome to UA's Hero Course. As you should already know, being in the hero course means you have extra activities alongside the regular highschool curriculum. There will be days exclusively dedicated to hero lessons, but this does not mean you can slack on your academics. Many of the hero exams will have both practical and written portions. In order to pass overall, you must pass BOTH parts. Of course tests will be administered for other classes as you take them. And Midterms are fairly standard; a multi-day long test that covers all classes. Any questions?"

A few looked intimidated by all this talk of tests. Izu was slightly bored, having already read all this information in the student handbook. Aizawa waited a beat for any hands to raise, but none did. He continued, "No questions? Good. Everyone go to the locker rooms and change into your gym uniforms. They will be in your assigned locker, which opens with your student ID. Meet down at the field directly outside to our left in 5 minutes. Go."

Izu's mind raced as she followed the other girls towards the locker room. 'Changing? I hope theres… a stall or something I can change in.' She wasn't sure how comfortable she was changing in front of her peers. 'I barely even know them yet…' Arriving in the locker room confirmed her fear. No stalls. The showers must be in a separate room from the lockers. 'People would notice if I left the room just to change…'

Izu found her locker, which of course happened to be in the middle of the entire room. She grimaced at the location. She opened the locker with a wave of her ID. Inside was a small unlabeled box. Inside was the new design for UA's gym uniforms. It was… essentially a blue tracksuit with white strips across the chest and arms. 'At least the material is nice…' Izu thought as she rubbed the clothing between her fingers.

She glanced around her, immediately wishing she hadn't. Many of the girls were busy changing into their uniforms. 'Everyones so pretty...' She blushed furiously, covering her face with the uniform in her hands. 'Ahhh! I need to change, I can't be late for our first lesson! Suck it up, dummy! No one here cares about how hot you aren't!' Izu stripped out of her shirt and sweats, trying to do so quickly without seeming… odd for being too fast.

She finished and shoved everything into her locker for later, keeping her ID in a pocket, before hurrying out the door.

Everyone was lined up on the sidelines of what looked like a baseball field. This suspicion was only increased when Aizawa pulled out a baseball. He wasted no time, beginning his explanation. "Today you all will complete various fitness tests to learn your limits. Of course, what makes this different from the ones you did in middle school is that you can use the full extent of your Quirks. Use them however you see fit to increase your scores. Be creative."

Izu had to suppress a grin. 'Okay. This sounds… good. I should be able to do really well in these kinds of tests.' Aizawa added a small extra detail to his explanation

"Oh also. Whoever places last overall will be deemed to have no potential, and will be expelled on the spot. So I encourage you all to push yourselves." A tense silence descended on the class. Everyone was glancing at one another, thinking similar thoughts. Expelled? Who would place last? Can I do well enough to come out on top? Among other things.

Izu wasn't exactly surprised by this revelation. While she certainly didn't approve of this kind of hazing, she could grimly understand why UA implemented tactics like this. They had to be cutthroat. She wasn't worried. If Friday was anything to go by, she was already well above most of the class in terms of combat potential. There were maybe two or three people she had to be cautious of in combat trials…

Aizawa interrupted everyone's chatter. "We will begin with the standard ball throw. Come up one at a time, starting from this side of the line." He pointed at one end of the line they had formed. This ordering meant Izu was sixth. Bakugo stepped up to the plate first. Aizawa tossed him the ball. With no delay, Bakugo reared his arm back and let the ball fly. He propelled it with a large explosion, screaming as he did so.

"DIE!"

Many jaws dropped as the students on the sidelines watched the ball soar high into the air. It took numerous seconds for the ball to travel its full arc. Landing far out of sight in the trees. Aizawa held up a phone, a number appeared on the screen.

"706.3 Meters?" Multiple people shouted in surprise at once. That was a hard number to compete with. It was especially intimidating considering he was the first to go. Bakugo took his place back in the line smirking as he did so. Aizawa produced another ball from somewhere, tossing it to the next student. The four next students were rather uneventful, all landing far under 100 Meters. The only slight surprise was the Frenchman, who blasted the ball forward with his laser, landing at just under 90 Meters.

Finally Izu stepped up to the plate, looking a little confused. She still wasn't sure how much power she should use. 'Should I go for my regular limit of 40ish percent for singular attacks? I did reach 50% recently, but I doubt I could tap into that power again without… getting emotional. Plus I'd rather not injure myself… It's been a while since I've actually hurt myself with One For All, and I remember it wasn't fun when I was doing it almost daily.'

She slowly walked over to the plate, stopping halfway to quietly ask Aizawa a question. "Um. Aizawa-sensei? I… have a question."

He gave her a stern look, peeved that she was delaying the tests. "Make it quick." His arms crossed.

"I know you said we should complete this test to the best of our ability, so that we can learn our limits… But if I truly use all my power I always end up injuring myself… badly. Should I still just… do that so we can record data on my true limit? I mean I'm wi-" He interrupted her by bringing his hand up, signaling 'stop'.

"It would not be logical to injure yourself at the moment. Push yourself to use the most of your power you can without injuring yourself." She nodded in response, though a worried look still rested on her face. She glanced over at the line of students.

'They're too close… If I use upwards of 35% the wind can get oppressive. Especially if you aren't expecting it…'

"Er. I think… they should… move farther back? I don't mean to sound… overconfident. But if they aren't expecting it, the force of my movements can surprise people." She started wringing her hands. Not liking this situation one bit.

Aizawa paused to think. 'Mmm. That didn't cross my mind. I'd assumed that her escape from Iida was the extent of her powers. It was far faster than any of her movement during the training session. But she's capable of producing winds that she worries would surprise people? What exactly does she mean by "surprise people"? She mentioned injuring herself with higher extents of her power…'

Aizawa glanced over at the line of students. His eyes tracing the distance between them and Midoriya. Finally he spoke, "Fine. I will move them back. But if it was not needed, there will be consequences. We are on a tight schedule."

She nodded at him, walking over to the spot where everyone else had stood. 'Well fantastic. There's my motivation to try. Now if I don't live up to what I said, I get in trouble.'

Aizawa walked over to the rest of the class, ushering them farther away. "1-A! Move back to the far wall. Midoriya requires bystanders to be farther away in order to safely utilize her power."

The class begrudgingly moved back to the wall Aizawa pointed at. Everyone was now quite far away. Izu was barely close enough to pick up on the chatter of the class. She stood in a neutral position, trying to relax as best she could. She looked at Aizawa, who nodded at her. She closed her eyes and breathed out, focusing on her power.

Small wisps of green electricity surrounded her small form as she remained motionless. Many of the class turned to watch as they noticed the green surrounding her. Numerous students had pegged her as one of the strongest in the class, thanks to her performance during the practice on Friday. Even though she lost the match, all were aware she had swiftly defeated each enemy by herself.

The electricity surrounding her flared aggressively, extending outwards. It arced off the ground, occasionally raising dust. It reached as far as fifteen feet away at times. Aizawa was taking detailed notes in his mind, interested in figuring her out. Everyone watched with bated breath.

The electricity flared again, coating itself around her arm. She began the motion to throw, a determined look on her face. 'One For All: Full-Cowling, 43%!' She screamed in her mind. Aizawa's adrenaline spiked, his instincts screamed at him. Danger. Time seemed to slow down, Aizawa's eyes narrowed. He'd experienced this before… In a battle many years ago.

The sensation was extremely brief, fading as quickly as it appeared. Even then, it left an impact. Aizawa had no time to think on it. A monstrous explosion of wind went out in all directions from Midoriya. The shockwave traveled fast, thankfully dissapaiting in intensity before it reached the students. To them it just felt like an intense rush of air.

Aizawa braced himself, knee bending as he shifted his body to prevent being blown over. He was standing far closer than anyone else. He understood now. Anyone unprepared or not paying attention would have been shoved backwards multiple feet. 'This certainly could have led to injuree's. Not bad, Midoriya. I'm glad you're aware of the effect your power has on the world around you.' He recalled her Quirk's name, "Energy Augmentation". 'That's too broad. I need to ask Nezu about her. Her incredible physical capabilities, and what she's told me so far… Just who is this girl? Where is the weakness?''

The ball soared high, in no time at all it was too far away to see with the naked eye. The intense wind persisted for a second before dissipating. The air sat calm again, no one was speaking. Many of the class were gobsmacked at the display of power.

Aizawa held up his phone, a four digit number appeared on screen, but many were too far away to properly read it. Izu seemed satisfied with the number, whatever it was.

"Damn." Was all Kirishima had to say as Midoriya started walking back to the group.

"I'm glad she told us to move away. That was pretty intense even from this far away. Crazy…" Ashido commented. A few nodded and voiced noises of agreement.

Bakugo had a crazed look on his face, and a smile to match it. 'So she can go even higher. Can she keep growing? What is her limit? Her enhancement Quirk is, without a doubt, one of the strongest I've seen. There are only a few heroes I know of that could probably beat her in raw strength. All Might being one of them. I… I need to come up with a way to compete with her. As much as it stings to admit, I'm no match for her right now. I can see myself beating the Half and Half guy, but her speed has me worried. Fine, Midoriya, you got me. I'm interested now.'

Izu sighed as she finally sat down against the wall. Sure people were talking and looking at her… but she cared more about her own performance. She was simply proud of herself at the moment. Glad she performed when it mattered. Her arm ached though… That certainly was a lot of power to use, and so suddenly without a proper warm up. She'd probably have to tone it down for the remaining physical tests.

Izu encountered another… interesting problem with the extent of her power during the grip strength test. This test was rather quick to complete, as the measuring devices were passed out to each student. All around her she could hear students talking about their numbers. Two students seemed to out class all others so far. The Sato guy from Friday got just below 400 Kilograms of force. Shoji, the multiarmed guy also from the same exercise who'd impressed her, had scored 540 Kilograms. Sero made this known to the entire class, as he shouted in excitement. It was the highest score in the class so far.

Aizawa walked around to each student, writing down the number displayed on their device, then collecting it and placing them into a bag. He approached Midoriya, noticing she still hadn't registered a number on her device. He raised his eyebrows at her as he approached.

She gave him an embarrassed, apologetic smile. 'Once again I'm causing delays because of questions of how far I should go. I squeezed the device but it stopped before I could get very high with my power. I'm not exactly sure how these devices work, but I wasn't sure if I should keep pushing it…'

"Um… Sensei, I didn't want to potentially break the device…"

He chuffed at her. 'It's been more than three years since someone in class, hero or not, maxed out one of these grip measurers. I'll just… tell her to go all out.' He glanced at her hands, they shook slightly as she held onto the measuring device. "It is fine if the device breaks. Please just complete the test so I can move onto the next student."

Izu gulped, slightly worried by that answer. She'd kept Aizawa waiting long enough. A large portion of the class had finished the test, scoring average numbers. They were looking at her and Aizawa, waiting to move onto the next test.

The greenette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Just do it, Izu! Ignore everyone else. Just do what you came here to do!' Green electricity surrounded her hand as she squeezed. Almost instantly the device maxed out at 2000 Kg of force, letting out a beep. But… Aizawa had told her to keep going. She could feel the metal handle protest under the force of her grip. It was slowly giving way, bending under the pressure. After a brief moment of squeezing harder…

CRUNCH! The device shattered in her hand, falling to the ground in a heap of pieces.

Aizawa's hand flew to his forehead. And he did something many never thought they would see. He laughed. A true, unfiltered laugh from teacher many had placed as "stern and emotionless". He composed himself after a few seconds. He scribbled something in his notepad, then bent down to collect the pieces of the destroyed measuring device, putting it in the bag on his side.

"Well done." Was all he said to her as he turned towards the next student.

Izu heard a whisper off to one side, but didn't turn to look. Her cheeks were ablaze with red tint. She looked down at her feet, trying to make sure her hair covered her face as best it could.

"Over 2000 Kilograms? That's insane…" Someone quietly commented.

The rest of the tests passed in a blur. Izu was able to score the top spot on most tests, except for a few where other students obviously had an edge over her raw physical prowess. For example, the last girl to throw the ball scored infinity. Infinity!

Finally Aizawa ushered everyone inside. The students changed and returned to the class room, where the results would be shown. Izu was worried… but not for herself. She didn't want to see someone be expelled. She couldn't help but imagine her own reaction to learning such a thing. It would be… crushing, to put it lightly.

Everyone took their seats and waited patiently. Aizawa fiddled with the small device in his hands before a list was projected onto the blackboard at the front of the room. Everyone scanned the list for their own name. Many glanced at the top and bottom spots afterwards.

1 - Izu Midoriya

2 - Katsuki Bakugo

3 - Shoto Todoroki

4 - Momo Yaoyorozu

5 - Tenya Iida

6 - Fumikage Tokoyami

7 - Tsuyu Asui

8 - Mezo Shoji

9 - Hanta Sero

10 - Eijiro Kirishima

11 - Mashirao Ojiro

12 - Rikido Sato

13 - Ochako Uraraka

14 - Mina Ashido

15 - Yuga Aoyama

16 - Koji Koda

17 - Denki Kaminari

18 - Minoru Mineta

19 - Kyoka Jiro

20 - Toru Hagakure

A mixture of sighs, gasps, and cries of outrage echoed throughout the classroom. Aizawa quickly interjected, hoping to quell the emotions in the room.

He raised his voice slightly, ensuring he would be heard. "Attention, everyone. Know that… no one is being expelled. It was a rational falsehood in order to push you beyond your normal limits."

Iida's loud voice was the first to spread throughout the room. "WHAT! Sensei, are you saying you lied to us?!"

The floating set of clothes was the next to speak… or shriek. "AAAHHHH. I'm so glad! I can't believe I was almost expelled on the first day!" Despite not being able to see her movements, slams echoed out from her direction, no doubt from pounding on her desk.

Yaoyorozu spoke in a quiet voice, only those around her able to pick up on it. "I thought it was obvious that he was lying… no way would they expel someone on the first day without learning what they are truly capable of."

Aizawa looked over at Iida, responding with a bored tone. "It was the most logical way to ensure you all tried your best. A sense of urgency is a real motivator, as I'm sure you'll come to learn."

Iida grumbled from his chair, still seemingly peeved at the teachers lie.

'I was completely convinced…' Izu thought, feeling embarrassed she fell for the teachers ploy so easily. Not that it mattered, considering her placement. Murmurs continued to be heard throughout the classroom as people commented on their placement, and how other students did. Many took note of the top 5. Noticing how closely it matched Aizawa's team placements on Friday. Iida was the only outlier, but even then no one could deny he performed well during the battle training.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Class 1-A was introduced to the teachers for other subjects at UA. Math, History, English, Hero law, and chemistry. Supposedly after the halfway point some classes would swap. They were given some basic introductory homework assignments, then released at 4:00pm.

'Quite a late release. A long school day indeed. I guess we really do just have Hero activities plastered on top of a regular high school schedule. It makes sense though that our days have to be longer. Friday is reserved exclusively for hero classes, afterall.

A majority of the class walked back as a lump. Chatting about the days activities, and guessing what tomorrows hero lesson would be like. Izu followed behind the group, walking just within earshot. She heard a grunt-like noise from behind her, turning to see the blonde boy heading right for her. He wore an… odd look on his face. Kirishima followed behind him, looking a tad… worried?

'Bakugo was his name. He placed just below me on the Quirk Apprehension tests. I don't know by how much, though. Aizawa didn't give us points, just a ranking. It could've been really close. Truth be told I didn't pay that much attention to anyone else's performances. Sure I watched people use their Quirks whenever I could… but unfortunately missed the placements of many during their tests. All I have to go off of is peoples rankings. Plus I'm still learning people's names...'

"Green. Come spar with us." Bakugo stated as he neared. It wasn't a question. It was… an invitation?

'Okay. Again not what I was expecting. He certainly seems smart and strong… but sparring? I haven't sparred with anyone in… well months actually. It's been a while since I've seen Gran Torino. Plus I haven't talked to All Might in weeks… I know he's a teacher at UA now, but havent seen him around.' She paused, still deciding on how to respond. Kirishima spoke up after noticing her pause.

"We're trying to prepare on our own for the coming hero training events. Bakugo talked to an upperclassman and they said that battle training classes always occur on Fridays. The weekdays are typically reserved for individual training or practice rescue operations." He paused to gauge her reaction. She gave little to none, but turned towards him. The redhead continued, "We want to get regular battle training in. Afterall, the sports festival is only a month away."

She lost herself in thought again, trying to be quick to not keep them waiting. 'It would be nice to do battle training… but I'm confident in my current abilities.' She recoiled backwards at the thought, mentally slapping herself. 'My classmates are all trying to do extra training to better themselves… to become better heroes. I can't let myself fall behind. I need to jump at every opportunity I get if I want to live up to All Mights expectations. I can… I can work to overcome this fear of working with others. Right? This will be a good first opportunity to do so… sparring.'

The green girl nodded. She had to force her mouth to form words. "O-Okay. We can spar. I… I'm... I've only ever sparred with my mentor before… so it may take me some time to adjust… P-Please bear with me." 'Is this me following through on what I said to them earlier? Last time we were at the gym? I… I actually am going to the gym with them again…'

Bakugo simply returned her nod, continuing towards the dorms with his hands in his pockets. Kirishima smiled at her, glad she came around. "Alright, Midoriya! We're gonna crush these battle trainings, just you wait!" He pumped his fist in the air, accentuating the end of his sentence. She fidgeted with her hands, unsure how to respond to his enthusiasm.

'Well. Here goes nothing.' She closed her eyes. 'Out of my comfort zone. Come on Izu, you can do this. Even if you can't… you have to learn to. You have to.' Opening her eyes, she stared forward at the backs of her two classmates as they walked ahead of her. Determination coursed through her. Her drive to be a hero wrestled with her inner insecurities, a never ending battle. She was silently glad to see which was stronger, at least for right now in the moment. No doubt that she would have to address this other side of her. That would come in time, she grimly reminded herself. Something like this… couldn't be fixed immediately. She slowly followed after the two males.

Although Bakugo would never say it out loud, he was glad Midoriya accepted the invitation. He needed to get better, and quickly. UA had attracted a much stronger crowd than he expected. Middle school was nothing. Those in his class now were the creme of the crop, the top hero candidate students from all around the country. He couldn't… WOULDN'T slack off. He had to maintain his track record of being at the top. If that meant working alongside a potential rival, he would do it.

Bakugo pondered the upcoming situation. 'I have to learn to fight against my natural counter. My Quirk is extremely versatile, and can be utilized in countless different situations, especially as my control grows and my arsenal of super moves increases. However… an Enhancement Quirk of Midoriya's level is capable of overwhelming me. The ice guys Quirk may be just as strong, but my mobility and the heat of my explosions give me options against it. Kirishima has undoubtedly realized the same thing. He too needs to learn to fight against someone like Midoriya. If we were to encounter a villain with similar abilities to her, we'd be no better than helpless.'

Bakugo thought back to his encounter with the sludge villain. How the heroes on scene had to simply wait for someone with a more suitable Quirk to show up. Thankfully All Might showed up in the nick of time. But... even pro's were helpless in the face of a Quirk that naturally counters theirs. They weren't strong. He had to be better than them, so something like what happened to him would never happen to someone he showed up to rescue.

He clenched his fist as he walked. 'Midoriya… don't let me down. You also have issues, I can tell. Yours are diametrically opposed to mine. While you seem to have an all encompassing Quirk that covers many potential weaknesses… your mind is your problem. She is certainly smart. But... heroes can't panic. Heroes can't hesitate. I've seen you steel yourself and act when it matters. But Kirishima told me how you broke down. I will try to help you… if you help me.'

She had to force herself to calm down. Repeatedly. Across from her stood Kirishima and Bakugo, who were discussing what ruleset they should use for the coming sparring session. Izu was listening to them throw points back and forth, but couldn't bring herself to add anything to the conversation. She'd simply go along with whatever they decided… 'I hope I don't regret… that.' She thought grimly.

She missed the ending of their conversation. Bakugo turned towards her, while Kirisima went off to the side for now. The mats they were standing on was ten feet long and wide. That didn't give them much room to move around while sparring. Then again this wasn't an official sparring location.

Izu briefly debated the merits of sparring inside vs outside. 'We could spar outside… but getting thrown to the ground wouldn't be so fun without the mats covering the ground… And It's a little too late in the day to reserve a training room somewhere else on campus. Guess we'll have to make due with the limited space for now.'

Bakugo approached her while asking, "How would you describe your fighting style?"

She paused, lacing her fingers together as she thought. 'That's… a hard question to answer. I don't have any formal martial arts training…' She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she answered. "I-I'm not sure. I haven't had any martial arts training… if that's what you mean. I kind of j-just… brawl?"

"Hmm…" Bakugo rubbed his chin. "That's no good. You should have some gameplan or general strategy for different types of opponents. You should also pick and study a martial art. General purpose is probably the best bet for you. The techniques will be useful against opponents who can muster strength similar to yours."

He paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts before he jumped into explaining the brief rules for this sparring session. "We're going to forego Quirk usage for now and focus on one-on-one fights. We'd need a larger space to use our Quirks safely anyway."

Kirishima spoke now, having finished what he'd been doing for the last minute or so. "Okay, these machines are all setup, we just have to add weights." He gestured towards to benches with bars above them. "We should all do a basic warm up before we begin." Bakugo walked over without a word, lying down on one of the benches as Kirishima spotted him.

Izu stayed put, unsure when or if she should step in for a turn. She kept glancing over at the two boys. 'Bakugo has such nice arms…' She immediately purged the thought from her mind. Shaking her head and turning to face away. After some amount of time she heard the familiar clanking of metal.

Kirishima called her over. "Bakugo's gonna do some stretches. Why don't I spot you for the time being, Midoriya?"

'Oh boy here we go… I guess I'm not supposed to use my Quirk for this. How… how long has it been since I've actually lifted weights? I have no idea how much I can handle anymore.' She hesitantly approached Kirishima, wringing her hands all the while. She laid down on the bench, her hair falling to either side of her head. She hated that her face was visible…

The bar still had the same weight on it from when Bakugo was lifting. She tested the bar, Kirishima standing over her with a watchful eye. Her sleeves fell down her arms as she got into position. She… couldn't lift it. It budged slightly, but she wasn't ready for something this heavy yet. Not without One For All at least. She gave Kirishima a defeated look. He took her meaning and swapped a plate on each side for a lighter variant.

She tried again. This time she was able to lift the bar from its default position. She held it above herself, her grip rock solid. Her muscle memory kicked in; she'd done this many times before. Slowly she lowered the bar, stopping as she felt the bar press against her chest, just below her collar bone. She heaved, pushing it up slowly, eventually returning the bar to its original resting position. Kirishima let out a whistle of approval. Bakugo glanced over, raising his eyebrows slightly.

She paused to catch her breath, her hands still in position. She began again, completing the motion a few more times before returning the bar once more and sitting up. Kirishima gave her a thumbs up and asked, "Nicely done. I knew you'd done this before. You okay to spot me this time?"

She nodded at him. Kirishima added a few more weights to the bar, then they swapped positions. The trio completed a basic warm up regiment for the next 15 minutes in relative silence. 'This… actually isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Then again, we haven't even started what we came here to do. This is just… the beginning. Literally.'

After some time, Bakugo called off the warm up. It was time to start sparring, for real. Izu saw Bakugo looking at her. He scanned her up and down, frowning as he did. "Green, your outfit sucks for this. You should take off the sweatshirt at least. Next time don't wear sweatpants, either."

She paused. What he said had a lot to unpack. 'First off… next time? I… He's so sure there will be a next time… And I know my outfit sucks. I was going to, begrudgingly, take off my sweatshirt anyways. It's too hot for it down here.' Izu fidgeted nervously. She needed to deflect so she could think. "O-Okay. Note...ed. You and… Kirishima should go first?" She cocked her head to the side as she finished, hoping they would agree. Bakugo simply shrugged. The two males walked to the center of the mat, standing arms reach from each other.

Izu took a seat against a wall as she watched her classmates begin their sparring session.

Three minutes later…

Bakugo had Kirishima pinned. The redhead struggled for a moment, trying to break free of Bakugo's hold. Izu had to force herself to stop staring at them. Again. 'They're so… intense. Plus it seems Bakugo likes to… grapple a lot. I… uh. Well I can't exactly ask him to not do that… right?' She wrung her hands, her nervousness only increasing as her classmates stood up and shook hands. Bakugo turned towards her, beckoning her over with a nod.

Panic shot through her. 'I… I still don't feel ready for this. I should leav-'

"Green. Come on. Don't keep me waiting." The blonde tapped his foot to emphasize his impatience. Bakugo caught her gaze, holding eye contact briefly before she looked away. He knew what was about to happen. He walked up to her. She seemed so small, sitting against the wall with her legs curled to her chest. He extended a hand down to her. "No going back on what you said."

She looked up at him. His gaze… wasn't the same as earlier. He seemed… expectant and… almost patient? Something clicked in her. 'I feel… I feel like I can trust him.' She slowly extended her hand. He closed the distance, hauling her up without warning. Her breath caught as their hands met. 'Ahhh! Even the slightest contact makes me freeze up... How was I expecting to spar with him?!'

As she panicked, her hands reached into her pocket. She silently began tying her hair back. Slowly but surely, her body was picking up on what was coming. Combat. Izu was oblivious to the subtle changes she exuded as she prepared for the match. Her worry slowly left her, and her demeanor changed. Less fidgety. Less glancing around the room. She could focus. She was… in the zone.

Bakugo watched her in silence. He didn't miss the changes. 'She… almost seems like a different person. Almost unrecognizable from her just a minute ago.' He returned to his spot on the mat, pointing to a space across from him. Without realizing it she moved over to the spot, turning to face him. Kirishima smiled from the sidelines. He'd been slightly worried Midoriya would leave before they actually got to do anything.

Bakugo nodded at her. She returned the gesture. He leaned back slightly, bending his knees and bending his arms. A basic fighting stance. Izu recognized it, but didn't know where from. She slowly morphed into a… well. It was something. Not exactly a stance. Kirishima chopped his hand through the air, signaling the start of the match.

Bakugo lunged at her and…

Izu grunted as she was thrown to the ground… again. Bakugo clicked his tongue at her. "You're leaning too hard on your left leg. It's locked in place when I'm pressuring your right side, so you can't pivot off of it without taking a step back with your right foot."

All worry, panic, and anything else had left her mind. She had a goal. She was focused and completely in the zone of combat. Contact with others… was just par for the course. She scowled as she picked herself up again. Her confidence was bruised after being downed so many times by Bakugo. She'd faired a little better against Kirishma. The redhead was a little stronger than Bakugo she reckoned, but the explosion user had far superior technique and reflexes.

"Why don't we take a breather." Bakugo didn't wait for an answer. He collapsed in a sweaty heap next to his bag, fishing out a bottle of water. Izu laid down on the mat; her eyes shut as her mind wandered. Bakugo didn't bother trying to hide his stare. He puzzled over the green girl sprawled out on the mat in front of him. 'She really is like a different person when it comes to training… or seemingly anything hero related. It's like she instantly focuses, ignoring any fears or insecurities she usually has holding her back. This is the second time I've seen her do that. Why… why is she normally...' Bakugo searched for the right way to describe the girl. 'A nervous wreck…'

Kirishima caught his attention with a wave. He pointed at Midoriya, then at Bakugo himself. The redhead raised his eyebrows to silently ask the other boy a question. Bakugo shrugged. "You know what?" Bakugo began, "Why don't we stop here. We can continue another day. Plus I have to meet with someone today still."

Kirishima nodded in response and made a noise of confirmation. Midoriya raised a hand up slightly, not opening her eyes. She hoped Bakugo saw her sad attempt at a goodbye. She heard Bakugo's footsteps slowly get further and further away until they were gone. She heard Kirishima shuffling around. Eventually he spoke, breaking her out of her trance.

"I'm really glad you came today, Midoriya. We should definitely do this again. Bakugo would never say it out loud, but I can tell he's glad you came. We all can learn a lot from each other in terms of combat. Next time we spar, we should schedule a training room and fight with our Quirks!" His enthusiasm was contagious. A small smile crept onto her face; clearly visible due to her hair still being tied back.

The room was silent for another few minutes. Izu was still lying on the ground, simply relishing the downtime and silence. She heard Kirishima fiddling with the exercise machines again. No doubt dismantling what he had set up earlier. She finally opened her eyes when she heard him walk over after finishing putting away the weights and bar. He stood over her, looking down at her exhausted form.

Their eyes met and she sat up immediately, her knees pressed against her chest as her arms wrapped around her legs. 'Aaaand she's back.' Kirishima thought, chuckling slightly. "You should eat lunch with us sometime. I didn't see you in the cafeteria today." Izu made a grunt like noise in response.

'Wow very feminine of you, dummy.' She glanced up at him, their eyes meeting again. She glanced away, hoping he didn't notice. 'I forgot my hair was down… can't just look at whoever I want undetected.' Her hands quickly found the hair tie, taking it off and shoving it in a pocket.

"Well I finished cleaning up everything, so we're all good to go. I'll see you tomorrow then, yeah? Don't forget to stop by if you ever wanna hang out!" He turned to leave. Izu remained stoic until he was out of sound range. She let out the sigh she'd been holding in. Her cheeks were flushed. Her whole body tingled as she replayed Kirishima's last sentence. 'He… wants to hangout.' She buried her face in her hands, unable to get rid of her dumb smile.

'This was… fun. Just being able to lose myself in the training. I… I still don't know if I'm ready to interact with them… outside of… sparring?' She mentally shrugged at herself. She was too tired to think. She realized she didn't even know what time it was. They were released from class at 4:00pm. So... they had to walk here, set up the machines, warm up, spar… the list went on and on in her mind. Eventually she stopped listing small steps and went over to her jacket to check her phone. It was 7:08pm.

'Huh. Guess we sparred for longer than I expected. Class starts early, so I should go to my room to eat and start winding down for bed. I can do some basic Quirk exercises in my room. Nothing too intense.' Izu gathered her things and made her way up the stairs Bakugo and Kirishima had climbed earlier. Her mind drifted as she walked, but she was vaguely aware of something. Even though her body ached with a familiar soreness, she felt… content. 'It's… nice.'

Authors note:

Hi.

I ended up deleting and rewriting several thousand words in this chapter. I didn't like how it flowed from scene to scene. So I hope this is better.

Please let me know your thoughts and/or suggestions!

As always I'll update the chapter occasionally as I catch typo's.

~Till next time!

Review responses:

tiguylerobot: Dunno. We'll have to see how stuff pans out o_o

MIKE202303: Well thanks. Any other thoughts besides that? :D

lemonfactoryxx: I'll try to stick with it! I'm certainly enjoying writing it, and I'm nowhere near close to what I want to cover. I'm going quite slow with these chapters so far. This might end up being quite long.

Shadowhell1992: Noted. I'll have to see how things pan out in terms of relationships. I'm kinda winging it until we reach some more major events. And also yeah backstory will be covered. Just takes some time.