"Izuku, Quinn, you're going to be late!" Inko threw open the door to Quinn's bedroom. Quinn groaned as she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. From the time on her clock, there was still roughly 30 minutes before her alarm was set to go off. If Inko had been anyone else- especially Quinn's parents- she'd have launched the clock at them while empowered with One For All. As it stood, however, she couldn't bring herself to such violence. Especially not when the woman in question was carrying a groggy Eri. The poor girl looked like she'd gotten her first good night's sleep ever.

"I'll be out in a few, Inko." Quinn said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. She hauled herself out of bed and shambled her way to her closet. Given the time they'd gotten home the previous night, Quinn made sure to set out one of her spare uniforms. Unhooking the uniform and throwing it on her bed, she pulled open the closet door and began to pull together an outfit for the practical. Lavender track pants with 3 black stripes down the legs, a black tank top, and a white windbreaker were tossed haphazardly beside her uniform and it was time for a shower.

"It's about time, Quinn." Nikki said as she shrugged her gym bag off her shoulder, letting it fall beside the table with a satisfying thump. She gave her mom a too-wide smile that showed all her teeth. Arthur and Inko shared a chuckle as Quinn pulled a mug from the cabinets and poured herself a cup of tea, pointedly ignoring the pot of fresh coffee. It wasn't that she didn't like coffee, the hot bean juice just never really did anything for her. That, and the taste was just barely above-average at best. If she was going to drink something other than water, she'd like to at least enjoy the taste. She took her seat across from Eri and clapped her hands together in thanks as her mom slid an omelet in front of her.

Izuku stumbled into the kitchen, looking for all the world as if he'd been wind-dried by a hurricane. Eri took a single look at his tired features and wild hair and was transfixed. Quinn giggled as she watched the little girl's gaze follow her best friend all throughout the room before he plopped down into the seat next to Quinn. Her jaw was very literally touching the ground; however, Izuku didn't seem to notice. His eyes were half-lidded and it seemed like a struggle for him to stay sitting upright. Nikki placed down another omelet and had to practically feed Izuku before he got the memo.

"You stayed up late tinkering, didn't you?" Inko said, a hint of exasperated disappointment lacing her voice. It was a rhetorical question but Izuku dumbly nodded as he slowly chewed bites of omelet. Inko facepalmed just hard enough for a light slap sound to ring through the kitchen. "Oh, Izuku…"

Breakfast didn't last much longer and both Quinn and Izuku were thankful. Turns out they needed the extra time Inko had given them. Arthur double checked the train times for the day and nearly gave them all a panic attack when he revealed they were running late. Quinn wasn't worried about passing the written portion of the exams, but she still needed to be there to take them. To make matters worse, Izuku had forgotten his project and they needed to backtrack. Despite the mishaps, the 2 teens found themselves staring up at the gates of UA High School. Upon first hearing about the prestigious academy, most would think every part of campus would be opulent with marble, gold, and silver adorning nearly every surface. Most people, however, would be wrong. The walls surrounding the campus were easily 8 meters tall and likely 2 meters thick. They seemed to be made of simple concrete but there was really no telling what other tricks UA had built into its walls. The front gate was metallic and the inside was lined with lights and scanners that searched each applicant as they entered. Weeks previously, they'd received visitor's passes that were good for the day and time of the Exams only.

"This is it, isn't it?" Izuku gulped loud as he stared down the crowd making its way onto the campus. The vast majority of the students there were dressed in their Middle School uniforms. The odd teen or 2 without uniforms might've been homeschooled but there'd realistically be no way to know without talking to them. And Quinn wasn't exactly inclined to strike up conversations with random people. Izuku was enough of an extravert for the both of them- which was to say, not at all. Quinn jabbed her elbow into Izuku's side to break him out of his own head. He jumped a bit and gave Quinn a fake pout.

"C'mon, let's head in." Quinn said, giggling a bit as she took hold of Izuku's wrist. She let him go just as they made it through the gates and continued on, throwing a peace sign back at him as she went. Their written portions may be the same but UA had still set up multiple floors for testing sites. It was easy to see why, judging from the size of the crowd. She was on the 5th floor while Izuku would be on the 3rd.

Izuku gave his best friend a nervous smile and a small wave as she walked off. She'd gotten him through the gate, which would've been no small feat on his own. He'd have to thank her for that later. He sighed and spared the time to look at the crowd around him. There were tons of interesting Quirks that he wished he could study. Some would've been considered mundane- a guy with cylindrical elbows, a girl with headphone jack earlobes- but others were startling and… frankly, beautiful. He couldn't take his eyes off one girl, in particular. Her hair was just as messy as his own, though it was a pastel pink, and her skin was a brighter shade of the same color. She was walking alongside a relatively normal looking boy with spiked-up red hair that Izuku could've sworn might not have been natural. They seemed to be wearing uniforms from the same school and were talking amicably. Thinking about all the possible Quirks he'd come across only served to fire him up. His mom often said he'd have been an astounding Quirk Researcher. He couldn't exactly disagree. Quirks were so varied and unique in how they presented in each person. Vestigial mutations were often passed down through reproduction and could often have nothing to do with-.

"Get your head out of the clouds, Fuckface!" A surly voice barked from behind Izuku, pulling him from his thoughts. He started slightly, jumping to the side and out of the way. The voice belonged to a hunched boy with angry, red eyes and spiked, ash-blonde hair. It had been 10 months since Izuku had last seen that hair- and before that, it had been 8 years.

"Bakugo?" Izuku asked softly. The explosive blonde froze in place and met Izuku's gaze. It took more than a minute for recognition to dawn on the boy. Izuku couldn't exactly blame him. His hair was white now, after all.

"Deku?!" Bakugo Katsuki hadn't changed a bit. Well, maybe that was presumptuous of Izuku. Outwardly, nothing had changed. Even the infamous Sludge Villain Incident hadn't left as much as a blemish. His eyes, though… his eyes were different. The same fire from when they were kids was still there- still burning just as hot- but it seemed… somewhat tempered. More focused, Izuku supposed. Though, Bakugo wasn't one to change his attitude too easily. "The fuck did you do to your hair? You lose a bet?"

"N-n-no…" Old habits shown through as Izuku answered his once childhood friend. Truthfully, there wasn't much 'friendship' between the 2 boys even before Bakugo's Quirk manifested. Izuku shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Now wasn't the time to be lost in thought or waste time catching up with Bakugo. He ripped a piece of paper and a pen from his bag and quickly jotted down his phone number. Despite his faults, and their past, there was still a portion of Izuku that wanted them to be friends again. He placed the slip of paper in Bakugo's hand and started jogging towards UA's main building. "We can catch up later, Bakugo! Text me or something!"

~ W-o-L ~

Bakugo Katsuki was looking at the note in his hand with an odd mixture of anger, hatred, and nostalgia. He could throw the thing away. Hell, he wanted to. For some reason, though, he didn't. He slipped it into his pocket instead. It had been bad enough that Deku- the fucking Quirkless nerd- had ran out with his friend to save him from the Sludge Villain but now he was here. At UA, a Hero School. And with white hair that weirded Bakugo out. His hair had been its normal green during the Sludge Villain Incident, hadn't it? Bakugo remembered it being green, however, that didn't mean it was. Memories could be fickle and Bakugo was well aware his own wasn't photographic. Bakugo shook the pre-exam jitters from his hands and started to walk forward. He could think about shitty Deku and his shitty hair later, though. Right now, he was falling… 'WAIT WHAT?!' Before he could right himself, he felt a hand lightly tap his right shoulder blade. Unfortunately, his momentum hadn't been halted. Bakugo seethed in anger as he found himself flipping in the air.

"Ah! I'm so so sorry!" A girl behind him said. She had brown bob-cut hair, a brown winter jacket over her uniform, and permanently pink cheeks. It took her only a second to take hold of Bakugo's sleeves and right him. Once she was certain he wouldn't fly away, she steepled her fingers and breathed out a soft sigh. Bakugo landed securely on his feet as he felt the familiar weight of gravity settle back onto his shoulders. The girl in front of him was rubbing the back of her head and laughing nervously. If she was blushing in embarrassment, he couldn't tell. "Sorry for using my Quirk so suddenly. I thought it'd be bad luck if you fell but it looks like I just made things worse…"

Bakugo didn't answer, opting instead to turn and make his way towards his testing hall. Had that situation turned out a little better, he might've actually thanked the girl. However, he was starting to hear whispers and quiet laughter- aimed at him, no doubt- that only stoked his anger. And an outburst wasn't what he needed right now.

~ W-o-L ~

The Written Exam was piss-easy for Quinn. Well, the English and Science portions were. She was fluent in her first language, of course, and science had always come easy to her. Even Chemistry, despite the tedious math that came bundled with the subject. She was fairly confident that she'd passed the rest of the exams, though. Yagi and Izuku made her spend almost as much time studying as she did preparing for One For All. With only the practical left, Quinn felt her step lighten as she made her way through a large lecture hall. Unlike with the written portion, UA seemed to have decided on having all the Hero Course applicants in the same room for the pre-practical briefing. It was smart, if a bit crowded, especially since the students were organized by Middle School. The section for Rishi Junior High was rather small but not as much as Quinn had expected. She half-expected to be the only applicant from her and Izuku's school. Sitting to the left of her empty seat was a boy with medium length ashen hair and a skull-like face. The boy looked up as Quinn sat down and she offered a small nod as a greeting.

"You from Rishi?" The boy asked. Quinn nodded again as she leaned her chair back, balancing on its hind legs. Her new acquaintance seemed to be mulling something over in his head before recognition lit up his eyes. "Oh! You hang out with Midoriya!"

"Midoriya?" Another voice joined in from the boy's other side. Another boy leaned forward to look around at Quinn. He was short enough to be a toddler and had strange purple balls in place of hair. "That Quirkless guy? Why would a girl as sexy as you hang out with him?"

Quinn felt a vein bulge in her forehead. "Listen here, you little grape-"

"Ah, just ignore Mineta." The skull-faced boy interjected, stopping the fight before it could begin. "He has a… reputation for being less than appropriate."

"How does that not surprise me?" Quinn asked, sarcasm dripping heavily from her every word. She rolled her eyes and gave her attention back to the more-preferable of the 2 boys and held out a fist. "Valence Quinn."

"Honenuki Juzo." Honenuki answered, swiftly bumping Quinn's proffered fist.

The lights above died before they could get any deeper into conversation, leaving on just the stage lights. A man wearing rockstar clothes, a giant directional speaker on his neck, and sunglasses stepped out into the spotlight. His hair was stupidly tall and strikingly blonde. It made Quinn glad her own hair color was closer to platinum blonde. A mic stand rose up from the ground to meet the man as he finished his approach.

"WELCOME, LITTLE LISTENERS, TO THE UA HERO COURSE PRACTICAL EXAM LIVE SHOW!" The blonde man had screamed into the microphone, causing Quinn and several other applicants to wince and cover their ears. She kept her hands over her ears as the man took a deep breath and continued. "I'M YOUR MC FOR TODAY; THE VOICE HERO: PRESENT MIC! EVERYBODY SAY 'HEEEEEEY'!"

The silence that met Present Mic was deafening but the Pro Hero didn't seem to notice. Instead, he simply steamrolled through.

"Now, Examinees, the rules for this test are simple!" Present Mic pointed up as the large monitor above him displayed a very barebones layout of the exam area. In a semi-circle around their lecture hall were 7 areas labeled A through G. "The groups have been predetermined, but you'll all be split between the testing grounds! Your mettle will be tested over 10 minutes in each of our replica city districts!" The monitor changed to show 3 different types of robots with point values 1, 2, and 3. "Sprinkled throughout will be UA's patented 'Faux Villains'! Worth varying amounts based on their difficulty, your job will be to rack up as many points as possible before the buzzer! OKAY?!"

Quinn was half-expecting the same silence as before and was surprised to see a stiff, blue-haired boy stand with a hand raised high in the air. Above the boy, a singular spotlight turned on to highlight his display. There was an air of importance and seriousness surrounding him that drew all eyes in the lecture hall to him.

"Sir! May I ask a question?!" The blue-haired boy announced, holding up a sheet of paper. Present Mic, apparently too stunned by the interruption to speak, merely nodded. "The handout states 4 types of 'Faux Villains'! Has there been some error?! If that is the case, it is an immense embarrassment for such a top-tier Hero Academy, such as this! And you!" The boy spun in place, bringing his hand down to point unerringly at Quinn. Another spotlight flicked on above her as attention was drawn her way. "How can you sit in such a disrespectful way?! Do you think UA is some pleasant vacation?! If so, leave now!"

Though Quinn was blushing at being called out so suddenly, she was still made livid by the boy's words. He was assuming an awful lot just from her posture and she didn't appreciate it. A vein or 2 were bulging in her forehead as the blue-haired boy turned back towards their speaker. If it weren't for Present Mic's intervention, she'd have probably blown her top.

"Alright, alright. Thanks for the segue, Examinee 7111!" The Voice Hero straightened his jacket and cleared his throat as the spotlights refocused on him. "This bad boy", the monitor behind Present Mic changed once again to show a robot more than 20 meters tall, "Is the 'Zero Pointer'! With one in each arena, he's meant to be avoided! Now, that's enough from me! Remember, a true hero overcomes all of life's misfortunes! MAY YOU GLADLY SUFFER THE TRIALS TO COME! PLUS ULTRAAAAAAA!"

Quinn looked down to her test slip. Her arena was Ground A. She looked over to Honenuki and met his gaze. They briefly showed each other their slips and confirmed they were placed in different testing grounds. It seemed like a contingency to prevent friends and classmates from working together. Quinn could see the merit in the idea, despite the fact her only option for teamwork was taking the Support Course practical. They wanted to gauge their individual strengths. Quinn and Honenuki exchanged one last fist bump before leaving for their respective testing areas.

After quickly changing into her gym clothes- leaving her windbreaker unzipped- Quinn found herself at her area's gates. The crowd in front of her was, thankfully, much smaller than what had been in the lecture hall. It put her to relative ease and she began to run through her warm up stretches. Curious, she looked around at the various applicants that'd been assigned to her area. Obviously, she didn't recognize anyone, but there were some interesting characters regardless. The most notable people she could see were a mantis-like person with a lime green faux-hawk and pincers that looked to be blades, a boy in all white with white/red hair that was split down the middle, and a plain looking blonde boy with a muscular tail. Izuku must have rubbed off on her, as she was starting to theorize what their Quirks might be. Present Mic's omnipresent voice cut through the air and rattled Quinn's eardrums as she was shaken from her thoughts.

"BEGIN!" The sudden declaration stunned almost the entire crowd. The white/red headed boy moved at once, flawlessly cutting through the crowd that was gawking in surprise. Quinn slapped both her cheeks in order to refocus and flared her power to 3% as she broke into a sprint. Lilac electricity pulsed and arced around her body as One For All coursed through her body. Quinn could feel the enhanced kinetic vision she'd inherited tighten, its scope expanded. It was like a shot of pure adrenaline that made goosebumps prickle over Quinn's exposed skin. She could hear Present Mic calling out to the examinees behind her. "What are you waiting for?! Real fights have no countdowns!"

And just like that, there was a stampede behind Quinn as the rest of the applicants began moving. Extending in front of her was a street devoid of any signs of life- save for the massive ice spikes jutting up from the asphalt and through the Faux Villains. Quinn cursed under her breath and sprinted to the left; the opposite direction of a slide of ice that was cutting through the road. She didn't know his Quirk, but Quinn was certain that white/red head was to blame. He was the only person in front of her, to her knowledge. She'd keep away from him and ahead of the rest of the crowd. A 1-Pointer sped around a corner about a block in front of Quinn and locked onto her.

"Ha! Already?!" Quinn exclaimed, sliding to a stop in front of the robot. She took a second to appraise the thing before it could start towards her. It was lightly armored and seemed suited for speed rather than power. True to her assessment, the 1-Pointer burst forward with its wheel squealing against the pavement. Quinn jumped at the robot and swung a leg out at it. The thing's large arm came up to block, making Quinn push off it in an attempt to distance herself. She honestly doubted 3% would have the power to destroy the brittle robot but decided to try anyway. Quinn's eyes widened and she sprinted in a circle around it as the minigun attached to one of the Faux Villain's arms quickly spun up. It tracked her expertly and she was grazed by more than one rubber bullet. She was swearing under her breath as she moved to sprint through the Faux Villain's reach. Despite the speeds the thing was capable of, she found it surprisingly easy to break through her target's guard. She planted her feet and planted a palm-heel strike directly in the center of its chest. The blow did little more than raise it a few inches off the ground and dent its armor. "Tch, of course."

Quinn ducked a swing from the robot's minigun arm and jumped onto its side. She gripped the arm tight and pushed off hard with her legs. The arm ripped free after a few seconds of struggle. Jumping up, Quinn delivered a whirlwind kick to the robot's unguarded neck and severed its head from its body. She landed securely on her feet, looking over her fallen foe.

"There has to be a better way to do this." Quinn hadn't broken a sweat during the fight but if the 1-Pointer was difficult, she was dreading the 2- and 3-Pointers. Eyeing the robot at her feet, she got an idea. Applicants weren't allowed to bring in Support Items or weapons unless needed for their Quirks, but the rules said nothing about using the robo-debris as a weapon.

~ W-o-L ~

Several figures crowded a wall of monitors in a darkened control room. The central figure, a small rodent-like man with white fur and a scar across his right eye, studied the year's applicants intently. On his right and left were 2 Pro Heroes of vastly different countenances. At his right was a man dressed in a black combat suit, gray utility belt, and matching gray scarves surrounding his neck. His eyes were bloodshot and his eyebags had eyebags. To the left stood a man with spiked-up white hair, yellow visor, and a red and white bodysuit. His gauntlets were hooked up to opaque tubes that snaked up his arms, connecting at the base of his neck, and his lower canines were reminiscent to those of a bulldog.

"The harvest seems plentiful this year." The red-and-white hero said. Scratching at his chin, he turned to the small figure to his right. "What say you, Nezu?"

"Ingenuity." The central monitor changed to a view of a blonde-haired girl whose body sparked with lilac light. She methodically ripped free a portion of a 1-Pointer's armor and proceeded to use it as a weapon. "Using one's environment to their benefit."

"Agility." The monitor changed to view a blue-haired boy who seemed to have engines powering his legs. He was using his incredible speed to appear in front of robots before they could make a move. "Entering dynamically and finishing fights before they can begin."

"Judgment." The view changed to show a boy with indigo hair and familiar, tired eyes. He wasn't fighting any of the Faux Villains. Instead, he dedicated himself to pulling his fellow applicants out of dangerous situations. "Keeping a level head when outmatched and doing what you can."

"Finally, pure combat prowess." The screen changed one last time to show an ash-blonde boy exploding Faux Villains one after another, acquiring a large pile of victims. "This test gauges the applicants' grasp of these fundamentals. This year's batch seems promising, indeed."

"We'll see about that." The hero to Nezu's right droned as if he was in danger of falling asleep while standing. He leaned over and flipped open a plastic cover that protected a large, red button. The hero paused briefly, just long enough to get confirmation from Nezu, and pressed the button.

"The great equalizer of UA's Hero Course practical." Nezu mused as a monitor turned on. It showed the 7 arenas as they started to rumble, dust and loose debris shaking free from various buildings. The ground beneath the center of each of the testing grounds split open to reveal a behemoth of a Faux Villain as it rose to its full height. If the earthquake the event caused didn't rouse suspicion, the digital wailing of an enraged giant certainly garnered the applicants' attention. "Here is where one's true colors are shown."

~ W-o-L ~

The Support Course practical was odd, Izuku decided. While a panel of judges studied the gauntlets and greaves he'd prepared, Izuku himself had been tasked with troubleshooting a malfunctioning piece from one of Power Loader's personal projects. The novelty of seeing the Support Hero wore off quickly, however, as he mercilessly scrutinized Izuku's every assessment of the tech he was examining. He understood the need for it, as UA was the best Hero Academy in Japan and sported one of the best Support curriculums in the world, but that didn't dispel his anxiety. It didn't help that he also wasn't the only applicant in the studio. Beside him was a girl with crosshairs in her yellow irises wearing a black tank top, overalls with the top tied off around her waist, steel-toe work boots, and goggles atop her head. Her pink hair was situated in thick chords that somewhat resembled dreadlocks and tied back into a ponytail. She was shorter than Izuku by about 10 centimeters and had a seemingly permanent wild grin on her face. Watching the girl work was like watching a sculptor chisel at a block of marble. The sheer passion and skill she had for her work was staggering. She'd been the first of all the applicants to finish the written portion and beat everyone in the number of projects she'd brought; 19. Izuku was second to her, with only 4. Out of the rest of the applicants, most had only brought one with a rare few having 2 or 3. As Izuku glanced over the girl's inventions, one in particular caught his eye. It was a large, back-mounted jetpack with 2 thrusters jutting from the bottom on the left and right. It was angular and, judging from the lack of obvious fuel sources, seemed to work by compressing and releasing air. It was the type of Support Gear that facilitated hovering, rather than true flight.

"Do you like my babies?!" The girl asked excitedly, pulling Izuku from his ruminations. She'd bounced over to him and invaded his personal space, leaning into Izuku even as he tried to pull away. He found himself lightheaded as all the blood in his body rushed to his face.

"I-I? Wha-? B-b-babies? Huh?" Izuku was sweating bullets as he desperately covered his head with his arms in an attempt to cover up his embarrassment.

"My babies!" The girl turned and swept an arm out in the direction of her table, indicating her inventions. She was still dangerously close but Izuku at least had a bit of breathing room. He put a meter of space between him and the pink-haired girl as he stepped over to her table. She rushed after him and picked up the jetpack she'd caught him eyeing moments prior. "I modeled this baby after a Pro Hero's."

"Air Jet, right?" Izuku asked, beaming as the girl started to nod emphatically. "I used to live near his agency! My mom took me to tour it occasionally when I was younger and I saw him around Musutafu a fair bit!"

"I caught a glimpse of him during a riot a few years back and became obsessed with his support gear." The girl said. She placed the jetpack into Izuku's hands and quickly pivoted to grab a pair of bulky boots that seemed to have turbines mounted on the soles. "This is Baby #145: The Hover Soles!"

Izuku set the jetpack down carefully and took the boots from the girl. They weren't as heavy as he was expecting, which meant they were probably forged from a strong and light metallic alloy. "You know, if you made these adjustable, almost anyone would be able to wear them!"

"How didn't I think of that?!" The girl exclaimed, smacking her palm to her forehead. She ripped the inventions from Izuku's grasp and tossed them haphazardly onto the table. Before Izuku could question the action, the girl proceeded to dig the schematics out of the laptop bag that sat beside her table. They were well-detailed and seemed pretty close to professional. She pulled a pencil from one of her hair chords and began to scribble down more ideas. Her free hand- the right one- shot out towards Izuku to offer him a handshake. "Hatsume Mei, future CEO and CFO of Hatsume Industries!"

"Midoriya Izuku." Izuku blushed as he took her hand. "Wh-what's your Q-Q-Quirk?"

"I call it Zoom. Pretty self-explanatory; my eyes have a zoom function. If I strain myself, I can see up to 5 kilometers." Hatsume said, never taking her eyes from her schematics. She didn't seem to care, or even notice, as Izuku pulled out one of his notebooks and started to scribble down notes about his new acquaintance. However, almost immediately after Izuku's notebook was shut, she spoke up. "I told you mine, tell me yours."

"A-ah! R-right! I d-don't really have a… n-name for it, yet." Izuku looked down at his hands and started to play nervously with his fingers as he spoke. "It manifested recently and I'm still not sure what all it can do. I can eat fire and apparently use that energy to heal myself, but I'm unsure beyond that. I hope to be able to experiment more with it soon, but if I had to name it, I guess Flame-Eater would fit well enough." He looked up to see Hatsume staring him in the eyes and felt blood rush to his face once again. "I-I-I was m-muttering, wasn't I?"

Hatsume burst out laughing, drawing the entire room's attention to them and causing Izuku to hunch as he tried to sink into himself. His acquaintance didn't notice, as all her willpower was being directed towards curbing her enthusiasm. It took her several minutes, and more than a few grease stains from using her shop rag to dry her tears, to calm down enough to continue the conversation. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather study Quirk Science?"

"My mom says the same thing." Izuku said, visibly deflating. "I love analyzing Quirks, but it's more of a hobby than anything else. What I really want is to be a hero."

Hatsume blinked in confusion. "Then why aren't you taking the Hero Course practical?"

"My Quirk only manifested yesterday." Izuku raised a hand to forestall any interruptions as he saw Hatsume's mouth start to open. "It's exceedingly rare, I know, but it's true. When I was still Quirkless, my parents and a friend of mine convinced me that there was more than one way to be a hero. Hence, Support Gear became a passion of mine."

"So, is that armor for your friend? It looks a little too small to fit an adult." Hatsume asked, pointing over to the gauntlets and greaves sitting on Izuku's table. Izuku nodded before leading Hatsume back towards his own inventions. She picked a gauntlet up gingerly and inspected it with a critical eye. The butterflies in Izuku's stomach wouldn't settle down as he watched her. "Design is relatively simple but very solid; Shock absorption, integrated brace, and reinforced knuckles. Your friend has a strength enhancement Quirk, I'm guessing?"

"Uhm, y-yeah. At i-its higher outputs, it can severely injure her." Izuku said. Both teens were too engrossed in the conversation to notice Power Loader walking up to them. "She's taking the Hero Course practical now. The main goal is to mitigate as much recoil as possible without sacrificing her Quirk's power."

"Well, this design would definitely accomplish that, though there are many improvements that could be made. Better materials and such." Power Loader said, startling the teens. He was looking over the schematics for Izuku's gear, nodding in approval and understanding. "Midoriya, you and Hatsume seem to have the most potential of all this year's applicants. Unlike the Hero Course, I'm allowed to extend admission on the spot, if I like what I see. It'll be about a week before you get official letters of acceptance, but let me be the first to welcome you to UA's Support Course!"

~ W-o-L ~

{A/N}

I'd like to keep the length of chapters and update frequency about here, but that's more of a guideline than anything.

In other news, we see some appearances from certain characters and Izuku formally meets Mei!

I do plan for romance to be part of the story. A big part, in fact. Break ups, minor drama, maybe a soulmate or 2. Try and guess who'll end up with who!