Izuku stared blankly at the little capsule that had been delivered to his and his mother's house that day. It was just over a week since the exams and he had been stewing on his shortcomings so much in the meantime that he could barely recall anything that he had done right.

For a long while, Izuku hovered his hand above the power button of his letter, unable to bring himself to face his results. He could feel more than hear his mother waiting on the other side of his door, eagerly anticipating the outcome, and it was that comforting presence that enabled him to press that little metal disc on the desk in front of him and look up into the projected eyes of his potential mentor: Power Loader.

"Good day, Midoriya. I hope that this message finds you well despite our long silence regarding your results at the U.A. Support Course entrance exam. There were many dozens of applications to sift through and schematics to evaluate. Nevertheless, here I am now, speaking to you by means of this recording."

As Power Loader spoke, Izuku felt his heart beat faster and faster. His pulse pounding in his ears and nearly drowning out the hero's voice.

"I am pleased to offer you a seat in this coming year's first year Support Course class at this prestigious school where you will work in tandem with myself and some of the most promising young heroes of both today and tomorrow."

Izuku's heart soared and he let out a heaving breath of relief as his mother barged into the room, ready to either congratulate or console him, and at the look of relief on his face, her own smile broke out in exuberance.

Power Loader's recording went on to detail a series of documents that he would need to submit to the school to finalize his acceptance and get him cleared to work in the sensitive and volatile field of hero work and the adjoined field of the development of support items, but for the moment, the Midoriya family could do nothing but sob uncontrollably into each other's shoulders.

The recording had long since come to an end, suspending a freeze-frame of Power Loader's stoic visage staring reassuringly at a space somewhere along Izuku's back wall, when the two finally pulled apart, Izuku's mother gently wiping a tear trail from her son's cheek and she managed to put together a coherent sentence, voice quivering all the while.

"Katsudon tonight, Honey. Do you want homemade, or would you rather go out to celebrate?"

"Homemade, please, Mom."

–

"I know you want to keep an eye on the kid, sir, but is accepting him into the school the best idea if his ideas seem to be rooted in yakuza dealings?" The small man speaking wore only a set of work pants to cover himself as he addressed the little, white animal seated at the desk before him.

"Higari, I've already done a cursory background check. It's not by any fault of his character or smear in his history that there is similarity between the yakuza's and his own product. Anyways, him being here will give us the chance to ensure that he stays on the path to heroism as well as keep the yakuza's eye off of him and his design."

"Come now, Nezu. You really think the yakuza would take an interest in him after he applies to go to school here of all places?"

"There is no doubt in my mind. Whether they find that he's improved the initial design or just that he is building something similar, do you think they would hesitate to move against his family? If there was even the slightest possibility that Midoriya came across some bit of evidence of their experimentation?"

"No, sir."

"There are only two casings that have been recovered from the yakuza operations thus far, and both of them seemed to be primitive in their design, rough around the edges." The little animal stopped for a moment to take a sip of a steaming mug of tea. "If they found out, they would either try to recruit him for research, or, in the event of failure in such an endeavor, eliminate the poor boy. Regardless, you can't deny that he has talent. Even if it wasn't put to good use in the practical exam, that little shield he made is of an ingenious design, and given the right materials to work with, it could become an indispensable weapon for many of the more mobility-centric heroes of Japan."

"Yes, sir."

"If you still have reservations, you're welcome to conduct your own research into his history. You still work here, and if you are worried about a potential threat, you have full reign to look into it and work to neutralize it. All I ask is that you give Midoriya a chance."

"Thank you, sir."

–

The time between receiving his acceptance message and the true first day of U.A. flew by in the blink of an eye. Izuku spent much of his time working on blueprints for some of the more prominent quirks he'd seen during the practical exam.

Over his break, he managed to hammer out two schematics to the point that he'd be comfortable building a prototype and he'd begun the outline for several more, though most of them weren't past the concept stage.

Of the two that he'd managed to make substantial work on, the first had been for the young man he'd seen with the engines in his calves. He had designed a malleable coolant system that could be set over the leg and inside the exhaust ports to better circulate heat to the surroundings by convection through the air as the wearer hurtled through space at high speeds.

The second idea, he was particularly proud of, he had designed a set of knuckles that could possibly be applicable for the dark-haired boy that had taken down Izuku's own robot during the exams. Judging roughly by what he had seen of the student, he was able to harden his body to withstand considerable punishment, but he might not be able to deal out the same level of power as he could take, and thus the idea for these knuckles had been born. The idea was similar to that of Izuku's darts, a series of small spines along the knuckles could extend on command and administer a dose of his signature nitroglycerin compound to either disorient an opponent, or in the right circumstance, generate an impressive explosion to back up the wearer's strikes.

With these blueprints in hand, he walked into school on the first day with pride in his heart. He wandered the halls for a while before classes were to start before he began to earnestly look for the classroom for Class 1G with whom he would be studying.

He filed in and sat in the second row along the window side of the room. Around him, a couple of other students were already there and it didn't take long for the others to begin to file in after him. It was a small class, only nine students were present when Lunch Rush stepped through the door with an obvious attempt to disguise some of his more recognizable features with a set of civilian clothes and addressed the assembled students.

"Good morning, students. For those that don't know who I am, you may call me Lunch Rush. I will be your homeroom teacher for the duration of your first year in the Support Course here at U.A. I am going to go over attendance quickly before you will head to orientation on the front lawn of the school, after which I will bring you to your class's assigned workshop where you will work with Power Loader and truly begin your career as a support hero."

The class collectively perked up at the mention of the workshop, but quieted again as Lunch Rush began to go over names.

It didn't take long, and Izuku didn't manage to catch everyone's names during introductions, but of those he did manage to catch there was Matto Tatami, a reedy looking boy who looked vaguely like he wanted to roll himself up; Nageruhito Enkyori, a girl with abnormally long, powerful-looking arms and a rough expression; and Kurieita Moeta, another girl with brilliant blue hair and hands that seemed to glow with barely restrained energy.

Soon after completing attendance and lingering for a moment on the fact that while she was meant to be here, Hatsume Mei was apparently already downstairs in the workshop, we were ushered out onto the front lawn of the school to listen to the principle Nezu go through a short speech about expectations of greatness and that we do our best to make the world a safer place.

That was followed up by Kayama Nemuri, who Izuku recognized as Midnight, even without her costume on. She spoke of the beauty of youthful inspiration and innovation and something about how she was feeling as she looked out over the gathered students, but Izuku didn't manage to catch much of what she tried to say because the mic was snatched away from her as she was talking.

There were a couple more speakers, though they seemed to be more angled to the hero students that were present. One of them was a large, fanged fellow that Izuku recognized as Vlad King, but the others didn't ring any bells. Regardless, it wasn't too much longer before the gathered students were ushered in their respective directions to their subsequent classes, and Izuku's classmates were shepherded down into the bowels of the school to their workshop.

–

Upon entering Development Studio 1, Izuku found himself speechless as he looked out over all the cutting edge equipment and materials laid out over the many tables and workbenches. His gaze also caught the form of Hatsume bent over an amorphous blob of nuts and screws on her own workbench. She had grease and oil smeared all over her face and work clothes and she fiddled with some sort of dial that protruded from the top of her project.

To his surprise, Power Loader ignored that she was here unsupervised and turned to the rest of the gathered class.

"Alright, students. Welcome to your first Support and Development class. In this room, you will each be tasked with designing and creating support items for your peers in the hero course sections as well as for some of the lesser-known pro's in the surrounding area," Power Loader's bored voice carried clearly through the gathered students despite the occasional twang or beep from Hatsume's station.

A light spattering of muttering arose from Izuku and his classmates, but it was quickly quelled when Power Loader continued his speech.

"You each submitted ideas for possible support items during your application period and examination for admittance to this school, which leads us to your first projects for this course. You will each be finalizing and perfecting our designs that were used during the exams, or, if you would rather start with something new, you may inquire with me as to any new ideas." Power Loader seemed to think to himself for a moment, before ending his lecture with a short "Any questions?"

"No," came the resounding reply from the gathered students and with a wave of Power Loader's hand, Izuku and his peers dispersed to their own, labeled workstations.

Izuku took his seat and withdrew his notebook that detailed the schematics for his expanding shield and he took a moment to evaluate the shortcomings of his original design and how he could make it better given the new equipment at his disposal. Then, with an eager smile, he got to work.

–

The days passed quickly, his neighbors were conveniently the three student's whose names he remembered from homeroom on the first day, Matto, Nageruhito and Kurieita. He spent his time in the workshop slowly finalizing the schematics and inquiring with Power Loader as to how he could work carbon fibers into a state with which he could easily manipulate them, though where they could be hardened and shaped into the shield that he was so proud of.

It took him well into the second week of classes to finalize his project and hand it in to Power Loader. He had spent most of his time in the workshop working on it, but he had still done some group work with his neighbors.

"Hey, Midoriya, do you think I could implement a charging function?" Matto inquired from his bench. "Apparently when Kaminari overuses his electricity, he fries his brain or something. If I can harness any expended energy to recycle and recharge him, could that counterwork his drawbacks?"

"That's a good idea, it might work, but it would be best to see if he could be recharged by any other battery. If you're trying to recharge from his expended electricity you will need to work out some way to prevent your battery from overcharging and exploding if it tries to charge too quickly."

"Hmm, you're right. Maybe if I could create a system that sets lots of little batteries in parallel I could divert most of the electricity into littler portions so as not to overcharge any of them."

"Matto, while you're thinking, could you flatten this for me a little more? It's hardening a little too much and I don't want to crack anything now that I'm so close and your quirk will make it easier to manipulate."

"You got it." Matto replied cheerily as he stepped over to Izuku's table and set his hands on the slightly rounded and interlocking plates of carbon fiber on Izuku's desk.

As they refined the shield, from their other side, Kurieita approached and spoke up to the two of them.

"Do you think you could give mine a quick look over before I hand it in to Power Loader? I really want my first project to do well." Her voice was quiet and seemed to crackle faintly as she spoke like smoldering coals at the bottom of a fire pit.

"For sure, just as soon as we're done with this step," Izuku responded.

Kurieita's project was some sort of armored, heated jackets that she had designed for Todoroki Shoto from the hero course. He had a powerful cryomantic quirk that let him generate towering ice floes by touching solids or liquids. Kurieita had noticed during one of Class 1A's hero work sessions that he seemed to suffer the effects of some frostbite after using the quirk and thus the idea of this kind of heated body armor was born.

Once the two boys had finished shaping Izuku's project to where he was satisfied, the two of them turned their attention to their classmate's project. It didn't take long for Matto to find an issue.

"This isn't sustainable, for something so hot to be applied to frostbite will cause burns. It might be better to design this more as an insulator to be used to charge up a big attack. If you can raise his body temperature above what he might reach normally, he might be able to withstand more cold," Matto suggested helpfully.

"That's a good idea, though I would like to make something that can help him with his recovery after attacking," Kurieita muttered more to herself than to the two boys.

"Maybe you can design a system that will heat the jacket quickly as the surrounding temperature drops. That way it might be able to counteract the blowback from his attack as it happens and minimize injury. That way there will be less frostbite, and it won't be applying heat to already injured skin."

"Good idea, Midoriya, I'll look into it!"

Doing his best to ignore Matto nudging his ribs teasingly as Izuku flushed at Kurieita's thanks, Izuku turned back to his own work to do his final check. He gently lifted the carbon fiber tower shield that he had designed and carefully fitted the braces to his arm. Tightening the fastenings, he shook his arm thoroughly so as to make sure that the device wouldn't come unstuck.

Izuku flicked the mechanism that deactivated his shield and with a light sound of metal clicking against metal, the plates of the shield collapsed in on themselves and spun around his arm to create his first successful Aegis Bracer.

"Yes!" Izuku exclaimed quietly to himself, pumping his arm in the air. Unfortunately, his celebration was cut short as, in the corner of his vision he saw a pink and brown shape dive to the floor and shout out to her classmates,

"Cover!"

The call was well-headed by the vast majority of the class, as eight others dove to the floor, dragging half-finished projects to the floor with them and out of the line of fire as the mechanism that Hatsume had been working on ignited and blasted apart.

Izuku, still on his feet with his bracer strapped to his arm, stared as the fire erupted from the machine and billowed towards him. He could see, between him and the explosion, as Matto tried unsuccessfully to pry his delicate battery system from his worktable, and without thinking, Izuku dove forward.

He twisted around Matto as he tugged on his project and Izuku raised his arm in front of them, activating his shield and interposing himself between it and his friend. With his off hand, he grabbed Matto's shoulder and yanked him down so as to be fully behind cover as the shrapnel from the exploding machine across the room smashed into the shield.

Izuku, with his slight frame, was driven back into Matto, who was, in turn, driven into his work bench. The heat of the fire rolled over the two of them, but the shield held firm, keeping the two of them safe from the most dangerous part of the burst.

Nobody moved for a long moment as the volatile machine hissed and popped, promising violence, but eventually, the smoke cleared and people began to pick themselves up off the floor. Izuku and Matto, laid still a moment longer, slumped against the latter's bench as the shock wore off. A moment later, Matto clapped a hand to Izuku's shoulder and managed to choke out a rattled,

"Thanks for that."

"N-not a problem." Midoriya shakily managed in response.

Kurieita got up from her spot on the floor and shakily made her way over to the two of them.

"Are you guys okay? I saw that hit you guys. It didn't look like a little tap." Kurieita's voice was as shaky as Izuku's own, but she managed to spit it out a little quicker. She reached out and grasped the sides of Izuku's head for a moment as she looked carefully in each of his eyes, either unaware or uncaring of the prominent blush rising on Izuku's face. She made a sound as though she was satisfied with what she saw before moving on to Matto. She repeated the process before addressing the two of them together. "I don't think either of you have a concussion, but I'd still recommend going to see Recovery Girl at some point, just to be sure.

As she finished talking to them, Izuku looked out over the room at his peers as they evaluated the damage done to their projects that they hadn't been able to pull to safety, and Power Loader moved from student to student to check that they weren't hurt. As he moved towards the three gathered students, Izuku waved him off as he didn't feel hurt and he couldn't see any sign of injury worse than a bruise on Matto.

An expression of outrage cracked over Power Loader's face as he turned to Hatsume as she stood over the wreckage of her project, a broad grin splitting her face from ear to ear.

"Hatsume!" Power Loader bellowed, "What the hell are you thinking? You have had no approval to build anything with such a destructive yield!"

"I know," she quipped back cheerfully, "I didn't pass this blueprint by you, sir."

"I beg your pardon, miss. Did you say you were working on an unapproved project? In my workshop? At risk of endangering your classmates?"

For a moment, Hatsume seemed to realize her misstep as she looked over her peers, before she turned back to Power Loader, grin back to dominating her expression.

"Yes, sir. Bakugo from Class 1A commissioned it. He wanted me to design something for him to be able to throw for him to use in conjunction with his quirk."

"No, miss Hatsume, you do not work on unsanctioned projects in this classroom, and you certainly do not use components that could be used to create such a destructive yield."

"I understand, sir."

"I don't think you do," Power Loader's reply was full of venom, despite how he had managed to school his wrathful expression. "There will be no more workshop privileges for you until you write each one of your peers an apology and a five-page paper detailing your shortcomings in maintaining safety standards with your experiments. This isn't the first time in so many weeks that something you've made has blown up. Make sure it's the last."

Hatsume's eyes widened in shock as Power Loader spoke, and she bowed her head in resignation as he finished.

"I understand, sir."

"Get out of the studio, and don't come back until I say that you can."

Izuku watched as she turned back to her station and packed her things, taking note of how she pocketed more than a couple tools and materials and stashed them in her bag. She then scurried out of the studio as Power Loader continued to pass among his students, checking more thoroughly for any injuries that might need first aid, or a trip to visit Recovery Girl in the infirmary.

–

Later that day, Izuku was at the shopping center with Matto and Kurieita. They had been joined by Nageruhito, who they had spotted exiting a Seven Eleven on the way to the mall and had invited to join the three of them. Matto and Nageruhito were chatting about some sort of retro television show called Fullmetal Alchemist which they both apparently watched, and Izuku was left to talk with Kurieita as the group stood in line.

"That was pretty brave of you," Kurieita spoke quietly to Izuku as he resolutely stared ahead. "Jumping between Matto and that explosion must have taken some guts, especially since you hadn't really tested your shield against any substantial impacts."

"O-oh. Thank you," Izuku managed back.

"I should have helped too, I was just as close and the fire wouldn't have hurt me thanks to my quirk, but when I heard Hatsume yell 'Cover' I just hit the floor. No questions asked."

"Really? I've seen that you don't normally use gloves when working with any of the torches or other open flames. Is your quirk heat resistant?" Izuku questioned, distracted from the fact that he was conversing with a girl by the prospect of discussing quirks with his classmate.

"Pretty close. My uncle says that I'm related to Endeavor," she started and Izuku had to mentally hold himself back from geeking out. "Apparently, I'm his third cousin twice removed or something. Means that my great grandmother was cousins with his mom, or something. No, that doesn't sound right." She stood in silence for a long moment, looking contemplatively at nothing in particular. "Anyways, I can heat myself up pretty hot and am pretty much immune to burns as far as I can tell."

"That's really cool!" Izuku managed to squeak out. "You'd make a great firefighter with a quirk like that."

Kurieita smiled brightly at him and Izuku's blush rose all over again.

"Aww, thanks, Midoriya. I wanted to be a hero as a kid, but I really can't get so enthusiastic about the physical strain that comes with a job like that."

"But you have such a useful quirk. If you wanted to be a hero, was physical strain really what stopped you?" Izuku inquired. The concept of someone not pursuing a dream to be a hero because of exercise of all things seemed a little strange.

"I don't mean just getting tired and stuff like that. I did well enough in sports and things like that, but sometimes when I got excited I would heat up as a kid and burn my friends. One time, when I was in early middle school, I kissed a girl and lost control of my temperature. I burned her. I melted her lips together by accident and now she still hates me for what I did."

Izuku could do nothing but stare in surprise that she was opening up to him so directly. Maybe Kurieita took it the wrong way as her expression steeled for a moment as she looked him in the eye and spoke again, with a much harder voice.

"Yes, a girl. I don't just find guys attractive."

"No! No, it's not that," Izuku stammered. "There's nothing wrong with that part of the story!"

"Oh," she responded with one eyebrow raised. "Ok." She then proceeded by shrugging and continuing her story. "Anyways, it's that day that really turned me from being a hero or a firefighter. Sometimes when I'm scared, I still start to heat up. I changed my shirt after class today, but I actually burned a couple of holes through the sleeves on the shirt I was wearing this morning. But it was that hatred that she still bears for me to this day that makes me reluctant to put myself in the line of fire. If I were to burn someone as I tried to rescue them, I would never forgive myself. I still haven't forgiven myself for burning Aiko."

The two of them were quiet again for a while before Izuku managed to summon the courage to break the building silence.

"But why tell me? I mean, we've only really known each other for the last week and a bit."

"I don't know, maybe you just seem earnest. Telling you feels safe, I guess. It just feels right to get it off my chest."