Izuku was preparing for his first day as a student of UA. He should be filled with a whole flurry of emotions.

Happy that he got into one of Japan's top schools. Nervous about meeting his classmates and teachers. Or even sad that he wasn't in the hero course.

But as he prepared for his day, his mind was calm. Calmer than he'd been in years.

He thought about this, why was he so relaxed?

Because I'm not going back to Aldera.

Oh. That could be a factor.

Aldera Middle School.

Izuku remembered when he was a first-year student. He had thought it would be different from Elementary. He'd thought that maybe kids would realize that he was just as good as everyone else.

He'd thought that he'd be able to talk to other students, make friends, possibly even go on dates.

Instead he was targeted by his peers and neglected by almost every adult in his life.

He went into the bathroom and got ready for a shower.

As he took off his clothes he looked in the mirror.

Contrary to what his demeanor and appearance would show, he now had a very athletic body.

He was still thin, but he now had well defined muscle to make up for that. He still looked like a twig when he wore his clothes though. But still, the difference from less than a year ago was staggering.

Unfortunately, all that change couldn't take away from the scars.

Being used like a training dummy for the more potent quirks of his peers has left its mark.

He had small scrapes littering his limbs and torso, cuts on his forearms from those times he tried to protect his face.

But the most common and prominent marks were the burns left by explosions.

Some were older than others, but most of them were gained during his Middle School tenure.

The only people to see all of them were Izuku, and his school's nurse.

The nurse didn't ask how he got them when he had to get his check-ups, so Izuku never told her. Beyond that, he just let his mom know about the lesser scrapes on his arms and hands, and convinced her it was due to chronic clumsiness or general bad luck.

He decided to hurry up and get out.

As he reentered his room, he looked on his bed and saw his new uniform laid out on top of his bed.

He managed to dress quickly, but he hit a roadblock.

How do ties work?


Nedzu was very excited for this year.

The new students of Classes 1A and 1B were very promising.

Both classes had obvious powerhouses, like the son of Endeavour or the boy with the sentient shadow demon.

But there were also those with less obvious, but far more versatile quirks, like Yaoyorozu with her Creation, or Monoma's Copy.

Then there were those with the quirks made for underground heroics and espionage. Like that Shinso boy that Aizawa has taken a keen interest in since seeing the boy's file.

But that wasn't why Nedzu was so excited.

Nedzu was excited because for the first time in a long time, a human had pleasantly surprised him.

You see, Nedzu may have his own misgivings with the practical portion of UA's entrance exam, but he didn't have full control over that.

The part he did have control over was the written portion of the exam. The written portion involved every subject taught in school, as well as others.

The reason that the entrance exam took almost a full day to conduct was because the written portion took a few hours, due to how comprehensive it was.

It was all in order to gauge where each individual student stood so they could have additional help in order to succeed.

One does not become the highest ranked school in Japan by letting it's students fall behind in certain areas.

But the thing about the written portion was that it was supposed to cover concepts and subjects that most wouldn't learn or even be aware of unless they were attending college. Nedzu had done this so he could see where even the top students stood.

So, nobody should be able to ace a test that's impossible to know all the answers to.

And yet, there was one who managed to defy this logic.

Izuku Midoriya.

Nobody had ever gotten 100% before. Nedzu was still thinking about this when the practical had ended, before a brown haired girl limped out of the clouds of smoke, guiding the floating body of one unconscious, and horribly injured, Izuku Midoriya.

They had gone over the footage from that area, but the judges were unable to find out how he'd ended up in that state. The only thing they could confirm was that the girl, later found out to be Ochako Uraraka, had used her quirk to help move the boy while she was also on a hurt ankle.

With no further information, the judges concluded that Midoriya had gotten himself severely injured, and Uraraka had used her quirk to move him safely. They then awarded the girl 45 rescue points for her actions and moved on to the next hero-hopeful.

But Nedzu couldn't let go of this mystery.

Just who was Izuku Midoriya?

So after the entrance exam was finished, Nedzu decided to hold his own investigation.

He looked at the footage from the testing hall that Midoriya had taken the written portion, and he was able to see that Midoriya didn't cheat, so his score was authentic.

Nedzu then looked at the boy's school transcripts to see if his genius was consistent, but that led to a whole new host of questions.

Midoriya's grades showed that he was in fact gifted as a child in his early years of elementary school, but then his grades slowly fell until they became average. But the strangest thing was that his grades suddenly soared near the beginning of his third year of middle school, putting him in the top of his class.

Next Nedzu looked at the rest of the boy's record for clues. He had an awful lot of marks for disruptive behavior and incidents of fights. Nedsu took this and decided to compare this portrait of an apparent juvenile delinquent to the footage he had from the entrance exam, starting from the moment the boy walked through the gates.

Thankfully Nedzu made a point to invest in the best surveillance technology he could, so he was able to see and hear every detail of the boy's experience in glorious high definition.

What Nedzu saw was a very socially awkward boy who made a point to be as unnoticeable as possible. From his interaction with a very explosive blonde, a fall saved by a familiar Gravity Girl, to his repeated interactions with the young Iida boy. Even when interacting with the staff, the boy made a point to be as courteous and polite as possible. He even waited in the infirmary to thank the robots who had carried him from the testing site! Who does that?!

None of this matched with the description from his school record.

But what was the reason? What could be the cause of such blatant discrepancies?

And then Nedzu saw the one word that answered his questions.

Quirkless.

Sometimes Nedzu hated humanity.

With that, the Mammalian Mastermind knew exactly what to do with Izuku Midoriya.


Izuku was standing in front of the biggest door he'd ever seen in his life.

I guess it's for students with mutation quirks that increase their size.

But beyond the door was Izuku's class; Class 1C.

Izuku was still sad he couldn't make it into the hero course, but the mysterious 'N' had said that he needed to be patient, so all he could do was keep moving forward.

Unless his legs refused to go forward.

Come on legs! Move!

"You okay there?"

Izuku jumped a little and turned to see who had spoken.

It was a woman in her twenties with short swept hair. She was wearing a simple short-sleeve button up that had broad vertical stripes, and thick gloves that covered everything below her elbows. She was also wearing large yellow sneakers, similar to Izuku's signature red ones.

"O-oh! Yeah, I-I'm fine."

"Well, class is about to begin, and I doubt you want to be late on the first day." She said as she opened the door and went inside, moving towards the large desk situated in the front of the class.

I guess she's my homeroom teacher. Why does she seem familiar?

Izuku followed the woman and as he entered the class, he saw a bunch of average students. Some had minor mutations that affected things like skin and hair colors. There was even one guy with long pointed ears.

Izuku found his desk and decided to just sit tight until class started, and promptly pulled out his notebook.

Eventually the bell rang, and the woman stood up to address the class.

"Good morning, and welcome all of you to UA." She said with glee as she addressed the new students.

"So we'll begin with introductions, then we'll go over one or two… or 5 ground rules for my class, before all the new first years will meet in the auditorium for orientation." She waited a few seconds for the information to set in.

"Now for introductions, my name is Anan Kurose, but you may call me Kurose-Sensei. Now I'll go through the roll and introduce yourselves when I say your name."

The rest of the introductions were lost on Izuku, because he was using all his willpower to not geek out right now, and was furiously putting his thoughts in his notebook.

My homeroom teacher is The Space Hero: No. 13! She's Japan's premiere rescue hero, using her quirk, Black Hole, to remove debris and other hazards from the field.

That's why she's wearing those thick gloves, to contain her quirk while she's out of her costume. So apparently her quirk is constantly active, so her hands must simply be black holes with some semblance of a shape.

"Izuku Midoriya."

Is it only her hands, or does it affect her whole forearm? Or maybe it's just her fingers, seeing as her hero costume only has the caps on the ends…

"Midoriya!"

Izuku jerked, looking surprised. The entire class was looking at him with varying levels of concern, some for Izuku, but most of them were worried because of him. He'd been doing his muttering again. Kurose-Sensei looked concerned, but she didn't seem surprised by Izuku's habit.

"Yes?" He squeaked in a barely audible voice.

"If you wouldn't mind introducing yourself to the class."

Shakily, Izuku managed to stand, and glanced around the class, until he focused on the wall.

"M-my n-name is I-Izuku Midoriya, and I umm…"

His mind blanked, he blanked so hard that monks would be impressed by just how much he was able to make his mind blank.

He sat back down, his cheek bright red, realizing how much he just embarrassed himself.

They continued introductions, and Izuku prayed that he could make it through the rest of the day without any more humiliation.


Well, shit.

This was all Hitoshi could think to sum up his current situation.

He'd just witnessed a very explosive teen (in more ways than one) launch a ball of 700 meters with his quirk. Which they were all supposed to use to get decent scores.

"This is going to be fun!" One of his classmates said. Her name was Ashido, wasn't it?

Their teacher turned, glaring at the girl.

"Fun, you think this is supposed to be fun? Well, let me tell you, this isn't a game for your enjoyment, this is supposed to test your limits and where you stand. You're supposed to be the next generation of heroes, and I refuse to teach anyone who doesn't put in the effort. That's why the person who shows the least potential will be expelled."

Well, double shit.


Excerpt from the UA Student Handbook

Chapter 5: General Studies Course

Every student of UA is expected to take part in the core curriculum during the first half of the school day, with no exceptions.

Unlike students from other courses, General Studies students don't have any scheduled classes covering the second half of the day, such as Combat/Rescue/Quirk Training classes for Heroics or Workshop Time for support.

Instead, General Studies students have a choice of multiple Elective Classes, and can take up to 4 during the second half of the day. Elective Classes do not follow any set lesson plans, so syllabuses and coursework is left to the specific instructors.

Due to multiple Electives being taught by Pro Heroes, they may be called to assist in specific exercises and lessons for the Heroics Course, and a Substitute will be contacted to take their place.

Handout: First Year Elective Classes List (Term 1) and Sign-Up Form

Introduction to Foreign Cooking- Taught by Lunch Rush

First Aid- Taught by Recovery Girl

(Depending on student's performance and aptitude, Student may be eligible for further training and volunteer work in the school's infirmary under Recovery Girl)

Introduction to Support Items- Taught by Power Loader

(Depending on the student's performance and aptitude, students may be eligible for more support classes and possible transfer into the Support Course)

Choir- Taught by Present Mic

Psychology- Taught by Hound Dog

Self Defense- Taught by Ectoplasm

Quirk Theory- Taught by Nedzu


Izuku did a double take when he saw the last class on the list. Not just because it was a class that Izuku 'might' be interested in, but because it was taught apparently by the principal that was giving the orientation speech.

Izuku had heard of Nedzu before, and had studied about him like a lot of other pros, but seeing one of the smartest people on the planet was different. He looked a lot softer in person.

I wonder how he keeps his fur so luxurious and shiny. Is it Keratin?

It'd been awesome to see all the pro heroes that he would be teaching him.

I mean, who would believe that Cementoss would be teaching me Modern Literature? Or Mathematics from Ectoplasm?! So cool!

But Izuku's good mood was soured when the school's new Heroics teacher was introduced.

All Might, the Symbol of Peace, was going to be in charge of instructing the first year hero students.

All Might then went and gave a speech about how he was honored to be back to her, but as a teacher instead of a student.

The crowd was abuzz with this news. Who wouldn't be excited to be learning in the same school that the number one hero was teaching in.

Izuku was not one of those people. He still had very bitter memories from his last encounter with him.

He must be taking a position here due to his dwindling time as a hero, so he wants to make sure that there are enough heroes here to take his place when he eventually retires.

As much as Izuku didn't like All Might now, he also couldn't deny that he was a good hero. His existence acts as a major crime deterrent for Japan.

Instead of listening to the rest of All Might's welcome speech, Izuku decided to finish signing up for his electives.

His choices were First Aid, Intro to Support Items, Self Defense, and Quirk Theory. Hopefully those classes will help with his goal of becoming a hero alongside the others.

Speaking of the others.

Why is only one of the first-year hero classes here anyway? There's an entire class just absent, and from the placing it looks like class 1A.


Last place.

That is what it said on the holographic display.

Hitoshi came in last place in almost every test. The only one he'd been decent in was the endurance run, but that was because he was used to running away from his more physical tormentors from school.

But in every other event? He might as well have been quirkless. Sure he could have sabotaged his classmates, but that would have only proved all those people right.

He didn't want to win because he pushed others down with his quirk. It wouldn't be right.

But his peers at least used their quirks to their advantage, like Uraraka with the ball toss, Asui in the long jump, or Iida in the 50 meter dash.

Hell, even the purple ball guy did better than him, with his surprising side jump score.

Well, it was nice while it lasted. At least I got to pretend I had a chance for a little. I guess I'll just go get my…

"Where are you going Shinso?" Aizawa called out as Hitoshi turned to leave.

"Um, I was going to get my stuff. I thought you said the person who came in last was expelled?"

Aizawa let out an annoyed sigh.

"I never said that. So get back here."

"Bullshit! That useless bastard didn't even use his quirk, how's he supposed to be a hero?" Bakugo yelled.

Aizawa's eyes glowed red and his hair stood up, and he glared in the explosive teens direction.

"Bakugo, another outburst like that and I'll see to it that you're placed in General Studies, got that?"

Bakugo looked like he wanted to yell, but he wisely shut his mouth and nodded, scowl still present.

Aizawa's hair fell back down into its usual state and his eyes dimmed.

"Anyway, as I was say; I never said the one who comes in last would be expelled. I said the person with the least potential would be expelled."

"With that in mind, Mineta go get your stuff and go home."

"WHAT?! WHY?!" The purple midget cried.

"Because throughout the entire test you were harassing the female students and saying perverted comments. I was willing to let you off with a warning, but then I heard what you said when Yaoyorozu made her scooter."

Mineta looked like he was about to argue, but Aizawa's eyes lit up again, and then his scarf shot out and wrapped up the boy's torso.

"I can assure you nothing you say can change my mind, so I suggest you hurry and vacate the premises as soon as possible. Maybe another hero school will make the asinine decision to let you into their hero course, but you have no place here."

He loosened the scarf, and the Grapist fell to the ground. The boy then hurriedly scrambles towards the main building, tears streaming from his eyes, and muttering obscenities under his breath.

Aizawa turned back to the class, who were still shocked by the latest events.

"All of you go change and head back to class. You're dismissed."

Hitoshi looked at the other students and how they were handling it.

Most of the girls looked relieved by Mineta's dismissal.

Yaoyorozu looked shaken, saying something about 'it not being a trick'.

Most of the boys looked mildly surprised, or indifferent in Bakugo's and Todoroki's cases.

The electric blonde, Kaminari, looked nervous, and seemed to be cautiously avoiding any of the girls for the time being.

Hitoshi?

He was ecstatic!

He wasn't going home, and was still going to be a hero!

But he was still thinking about his placing in the test. He knew he was behind physically, but this much?

"Shinso, stay back for a moment."

Shinso turned back to see Aizawa gesturing for him to come over.

"Uh, yes Aizawa-Sensei."

"I wanted to talk to you about your score."

Oh. Hitoshi looked down.

"I know you came in last, but I think I know a way you can improve."

Hitoshi looked back up, meeting Aizawa's eyes.

The man still held an air of indifference, but Hitoshi could swear he could see a hint of empathy in his eyes.

"Tell me Shinso, why do you want to be a hero?"

Hitoshi thought about it for a second.

"Well, a couple months ago I would have said spite, maybe? I've spent my whole life being told that I have a villain's quirk, and that I couldn't be a hero. I wanted to prove them wrong."

"What changed?"

"Someone helped me, even though they didn't have to. He told me the reason he did it was simply because he could."

Hitoshi clenched his hands into fists at his sides.

"That's what I want to be, sensei. I want to be a hero so I can help anyone I can!"

Aizawa was silent for a moment.

"Are you willing to work hard for that desire, to dedicate yourself to overcoming your limitations?" The disheveled man asked.

"Sensei, I'll do whatever it takes to become a hero." Hitoshi declared with steely resolve.

Aizawa's face suddenly broke out in a wide, shit eating grin.

"Then let's get started."


Nedzu was very pleased.

He was pleased that he had been right.

He was pleased that he had gotten such high quality cameras and microphones.

He was pleased with his tea.

But most of all he was pleased with Izuku Midoriya.

Nedzu was currently in his office, sitting in front of his computer, going over security footage from today.

Specifically the footage pertaining to a certain emerald teen.

Many things had surprised and impressed Nedzu about the boy's actions.

As predicted, he was a bit nervous and seemed extremely socially awkward.

Unexpectedly, he was able to discern Kurose's hero persona simply from her gloves and mannerisms. And he then went into an impressive bout of mumbling.

Most people present during that were unable to understand exactly what the boy was saying, either because of his volume or due to how fast he was speaking.

But Nedzu had very good footage.

It also wasn't the only time Midoriya did this.

The boy's thought process was simply astounding, the way he was able to break down people's quirks. Nedzu would have to ask about his notebooks (that seemed to just spawn out of nowhere).

It was honestly amusing how the boy reacted to every pro hero he saw, the sheer joy that the boy radiated.

Except for one notable outlier; All Might.

When the Symbol of Peace walked out on stage during orientation, Midoriya's mood just plummeted, and then he just decided to ignore the man.

Nedzu saw a look of familiarity in Midoriya that went beyond simply recognizing the number one hero. They had a history of some kind.

Nedzu decided to pull up the boy's schedule, see if he'd picked the ones Nedzu had predicted.

Huh, he went with First Aid instead of Psychology.

Nedzu was pleased that the boy had decided to sign up for Quirk Theory. How strange none of his classmates had that class listed on their course choices. Very strange.

Nedzu was very excited for this year.


(A/N) First day's out of the way!

And I got to introduce one of my favorite side characters in MHA: No. 13! Now my reasoning for making her the General Studies homeroom teacher is because in cannon, she only seems to teach the students once at the USJ, but then she never shows up until the Finals. So, she's part of the staff, but what does she do when not teaching Rescue stuff? And I decided to have her teach Izuku!

I applied that line of logic to the rest of the staff, and hence Elective Classes! If you look at the classes Izuku signed up for, you might be able to guess why he did.

For manga readers, you might recognize 13's description and outfit from her Bio Page that Horikoshi uses as chapter breaks.

Until next Chapter!