A lot of things happened after the quirk evaluation test—U.A. was everything, and more, that Izuku imagined it to be. Iida ended up elected as class president (after a lot of commotion and indecisiveness, including a false intruder alert after the press somehow got onto school grounds in their desperate attempt to gain some scoop on All Might's new teacher's position) with Yaoyorozu taking the position as vice-president. Seeing as they both possessed strong discipline and high intellect, both desirable traits for such an important position, filled Izuku with a sense of comfort. Iida took to his new responsibilities like a duck to water, even if his earnestness, while appreciated, sometimes got the better of him.

Then there was the battle simulation. When All Might burst through the classroom door (in his silver age costume no less!) Izuku made an undignified yelp in an attempt to choke down his squeal of excitement. Fortunately, the class erupting into delighted shouts and cheers drowned out his embarrassing fanboyism. The hero just laughed heartedly before announcing today's lesson: the Trial of Battle. As if that wasn't thrilling enough, they were also instructed to don their hero costumes, bringing the volume in the classroom up to worrying decibels.

"Please quiet down! I know we are all very excited, but it would not do for future heroes to damage their sense of hearing!" Iida attempted to calm his classmates, overlooking the fact that his own voice only added to the commotion.

When All Might recognised him and Kacchan, he gave them a short greeting of recognition. "I was glad when I saw you two applied for the Hero Course! You both did very well!" he complimented, flashing them an All Might trademarked smile and a thumbs up. Then he glanced to Izuku. "You have a lot of gut and determination, my boy!"

Seeing everyone's costumes were almost as exciting as observing their quirks for the first time. Kacchan scoffed when he saw Izuku's, complaining it was "too wimpy."

"I can't even tell if you're supposed to be a bunny or All Might," he said, gesturing to the antennae like protrusions sticking up from Izuku's hood. But in his own opinion, Kacchan's costume was way too extreme, even if it did look cool on him... Still, the blond put way too much emphasis on explosions; it was almost worrying. He really hoped those grenades on his belt weren't real. The rational part of his brain told him that there was no way that U.A. would ever agree to equip their students with something so dangerous, but being the worrywart he was and knowing Kacchan, he couldn't help but wonder.

Nevertheless, the freckled boy wouldn't trade his hero costume for the world, dorky as it may be. Not when his mother had been kind enough to sew a large part of it herself. He decided to combine his outfit with the red weighted gloves gifted to him by Kacchan—at least that part the spiky haired boy approved of.

After everyone dressed up in their costumes and All Might finished praising their sense of style, he begun to explain today's exercise for them. They would fight against each other in teams of two, with half of the teams serving as villains and the other half as heroes. A team of heroes would battle a team of villains to secure a fake nuclear weapon. To win, the hero team had to either capture both villains or touch the pretend bomb. They had fifteen minutes to complete this task. Similarly, the villain team could achieve victory either by taking the heroes out or hold on until time was up.

The teams were randomized, along with who would be playing good or bad guy. Izuku ended up paired with Uraraka, playing the role of heroes, going against Iida and Kacchan. The match had been a close call as the balance of skill between both teams were fairly even. After so much practise together, the blonde and the freckled boy could read each other's moves like an open book.

But out of the two, Kacchan was the teacher and Izuku the student. And aside from his superior experience and natural instincts, the spiky haired teen had the advantage of being able to fully utilize his quirk, unlike the shorter boy. Even with his weighted gloves, it did little to even the situation, as the heavy grenade like gauntlets that decorated the blonde's arms worked in a similar fashion to lend power to his explosive punches.

Most eyes focused on the battle between the two childhood friends. Their eyes were glued to the screen as they watched the explosive teen and the boy who could see the future grapple with each other, throwing punch after vicious punch, spitting blood and even a tooth. And even though the fighters couldn't hear them, they still cheered them on, wondering who would come out on top.

While the boys fought, Uraraka closed in on Iida. But when she arrived, she was met with the unwelcome sight of a room completely void of clutter or any loose objects she could use her quirk on. Iida apparently had the foresight to remove anything that could be used to the gravity girl's advantage, and without anything to float, it was easy for him to thwart any and all attempts to secure the bomb, despite her best efforts.

Izuku only fared slightly better. After executing an impressive overhead throw and narrowly avoiding some way-to-close-for-comfort explosions courtesy of Kacchan, the blonde finally got a significant hit in. It dazed the green haired boy long enough for the taller teen to deliver a headbutt with enough force to send Izuku into the all-too-familiar arms of unconsciousness.

When he eventually came to, it was to Kacchan carrying him out of the exercise area in his arms.

"Morning, loser," he smirked down at him. The heroes lost. Uraraka reprimanded the blonde for using excessive force with nods of approval from Iida, but Izuku didn't mind (though he did frown disapprovingly when Kacchan told them to "fuck off").

He was disappointed that he lost, but not surprised. In fact, he had expected this outcome from the start. But even so, he put up as much of a fight he could without resorting to using his quirk, as did Kacchan, but didn't hold back in the quirk department. Kacchan never held back against anyone, and he hated it when people didn't give him the same courtesy, as Izuku eventually learned. If anyone ever dared pull their punches against him, he saw it as a personal slight and as proof his opponent was looking down on him. The only exception was Izuku, but only when the boy couldn't get away with using his time rewind for one reason or another.

Izuku understood his friend's point of view, even if he didn't completely agree. Still, he didn't mind the ruthlessness displayed by the other in battle. Kacchan didn't brag against his victory or hold it over him, which seemed to surprise everyone else.

"This one doesn't count," he reminded the freckled boy. He nodded in understanding; unless they both could go all out, victory meant nothing. Uraraka and Iida shared confused looks, but Izuku just gave them a secretive smile in response.

But despite all the excitement—despite finally living his dream, and despite the judging looks Aizawa kept throwing his way, nothing, and he means nothing, could have prepared them for the trip to the USJ.

The bus ride to the USJ was a jovial one. It was the day after Iida was elected class president, and everyone chattered excitedly about what they thought today's lesson would entail, along with talks about their respective quirks and abilities. Izuku did his best to answer any questions thrown his way; even if he was used to lying about his powers, he never got over the feeling that what he did was wrong.

He giggled when Kacchan was ribbed by their classmates; it was so unusual to see the short fused blonde being on the receiving end of teasing words and playful jabs. Back in middle school, even after Kacchan began to hang out with 'that loser Deku', it didn't make people any less terrified of his explosions and snarling threats.

Izuku hoped Kacchan would make some new friends at U.A. He already got along well with Uraraka himself, and though he still found Iida slightly intimidating, he could tell that the boy meant well.

"What are you laughing at?" Kacchan grumbled and flicked Izuku's forehead in irritation when the freckled boy couldn't stifle his chuckles, but this only caused him to laugh harder. Kacchan crossed his arms and scowled, and it was almost cute just how grumpy he looked.

When they finally arrived at the USJ, the class was practically brimming with excitement. Izuku wasn't the only one to start gushing when the space hero, Number Thirteen, greeted them out the front doors and informed them he would be joining them as a teacher this lesson.

"Ooh, it's the gentlemanly rescue hero, Thirteen! I really admire him!" Uraraka exclaimed, bouncing in place excitedly. Izuku nodded wildly in agreement and fought to restrain himself from entering his Nerd Mode (as named by Kacchan) and list all the facts he knew by heart concerning the space suit wearing hero.

But there was one teacher, who should have been here, which noticeably wasn't—as pointed out by Aizawa.

"Where is all Might?" he questioned. Thirteen shook his head in response and held up three fingers in the air—what they signalled, Izuku wasn't sure. The two heroes conversed privately for a moment in hushed murmurs, while he himself leaned his head to whisper to Kacchan.

"What do you think happened? I hope All Might is okay…"

Kacchan shouldered him lightly as he replied. "It's All Might. Of course he's okay."

Izuku nodded. He's right; All Might is the number one hero, there's nothing he can't handle! The world could throw itself at him, and he would still come out on top, smiling.

I hope me and Kacchan can be like that someday… he thought longingly, a small smile playing across his lips.

His thoughts were interrupted when Thirteen called for their attention. A hush swept over the room, ready and eager to learn why they were here.

"As I'm sure you all already know, my quirk 'Black Hole' turn whatever it sucks in into dust."

After the students nodded to show that they were listening, the teacher continued.

"And I'm also sure you understand that a power like this can easily be used to harm someone, intentional or not. Much like your own quirks."

Izuku mulled over that while a quiet murmur spread through the crowd of students. It's true, he supposed. Killing someone using his quirk would be exceedingly easy… if he wanted to, that is. It's not something he could ever achieve by accident, thankfully, but a more destructive quirk like Kacchan's could easily cause injuries if handled incorrectly. The small, faded burn marks that littered the skin of blonde's body from days long past when his quirk first manifested was proof of that.

Thirteen continued his speech for a while longer, explaining the roles of quirks in today's society and topping it off with "By the end of this lesson, I hope you all leave it knowing that your quirks exist to help people, not harm them."

He wrapped it up with a bow, to the cheering and praise of his students. Izuku modestly joined Iida's exaggerated clapping, but refrained from raising his voice to add to the blue haired teens shouts of "Bravo! BRAVO!". Instead, he settled for quietly thinking Pro heroes really are something amazing!

Kacchan stood idly by his side. He didn't join his classmates cheer, but his red irises were trained on Thirteen. His fingers ran absentmindedly over the bumps and dips of an old and faded scar on his arm. It was one of the bigger ones, from a hot summer day back in kindergarten. It was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking, but even the volatile blonde couldn't be immune to such well delivered and inspiring words.

When the noisy heroes-in-training calmed down, Aizawa spoke, causing any further comments to still and the class to settle down. No one dared speak over the dead eyed hero.

"Alright, now that that's done with, let us…" he began, but his tired voice trailed off into silence as he noticed something in his peripheral vision. Turning his head, his attention shifted from his students to focus completely on the sight of swirling black mist right in the heart of the USJ plaza. Izuku, along with the rest of his classmates, were noticeably confused and unnerved by the grim expression that shadowed their usually nonchalant teacher's face. A hand—actually, there was more than one, many more than was natural (one two three… Izuku counted)—appeared out of the ever shifting void; a void that was increasing in size and growing larger by the second.

After the hands came a face, with pale skin and a glaring red gaze that reminded Izuku of Kacchan, partially obscured by the disembodied hand attached to his face and his stringy, ashen hair that fell messily into his eyes and peeked through thin, dead fingers. He stepped out of the—portal?—to gaze lazily around the spacious building, pausing on the mass of students near the entrance. But it didn't just stop with the one terrifying stranger; more and more, they continued to flood the plaza, continuously pouring out the black mist until they filled the floor in a thick horizontal line, advancing toward them. Izuku's brows furrowed. Who were these people? Heroes? If they were, they must be really obscure, because he didn't recognize any of them. In fact, they were dressed more like villains if anything. But that couldn't be right… could it?

"Deku." It was Kacchan. He latched onto the green haired boy's sleeve, pulling him closer with a harsh thug, only a moment before Aizawa whirled around to yell at them—and Izuku realized he had never heard his teacher raise his voice above speaking level before.

"Stay close and don't move!" he shouted, whipping around to face Thirteen without wasting a breath. "Number Thirteen! Protect the students!"

A pit of worry grew in Izuku's stomach, growing into a dark void much like the one the villains arrived with, because that's what they were—villains. Actual, real life villains.

Of course, Izuku had seen his fair share of villains before—but this wasn't the sludge, or any of the other criminals he observed his favorite heroes battle, before they eventually reached victory and took the evil doer down. This time, he wasn't just a bystander watching from the sidelines. It wasn't just a lone criminal against him and Kacchan. And there wasn't an All Might here to save them.

Just two teacher's against what looked to be hundreds of villains.

Izuku's finger's twitched, his brain working overtime to analyze the situation. How long had it been—if he rewound time now, would that just be a waste of his powers? Was there something he could do? No, of course not, fifteen seconds wasn't nearly enough to somehow convince Aizawa and the rest that they had to evacuate the building immediately—

"Stop mumbling," Kacchan interrupted his racing thoughts. His hand had moved from his sleeve to grip his shoulder tightly, while the other was raised in the air, ready to fire off a blast at any moment. "Keep your eyes on the villains. Don't use your quirk if you don't have to."

"But Kacchan, if there's something I could do—"

"Shut up. There's nothing your shitty fifteen seconds can do here."

A deep voice that Izuku didn't recognize broke off any further arguments. "Eraserhead and Number Thirteen…" it spoke, and it was only then that Izuku realized that the dark mist from earlier was sentient, complete with two glowing slits for eyes as the only indication of where it's face was. "The schedule we obtained said that All Might would be here, but…"

All Might? What did these villains want with All Might? Surely they weren't here to…

Izuku swallowed hard. All Might was undefeatable. He's number one, the Symbol of Peace.

This was the line he set on repeat in his head, replaying it over and over, like an unstoppable mantra. Whether it was to reassure himself or give him courage, he didn't know.

Aizawa stood in front of his students protectively, one arm raised to hold back any of the more rebellious spirits, and to shield them from the criminals in front of them. "As I thought," he said, hard eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You were behind yesterday's events, weren't you?"

The inquiry went ignored as the man covered in hands, the first one to step out the portal, began ranting loudly to himself. "All Might… where is he… He was supposed to be here, and after all the trouble we went through… you're telling me he isn't here?" Frantic fingers scratched his neck violently, and his rough voice continuously rose in volume as the rant went on. Izuku winced at the small trickle of blood that ran down his pale neck where nails broke skin.

The villain paused for a second. "I wonder…" His red eyes, creased in disdain and just about visible through the fingers of the hand covering his face, snapped up to stare at the students. They were filled with such hate and contempt that Izuku couldn't help but flinch, bumping into Kacchan behind him. I take it back—his eyes are nothing like Kacchan! He couldn't suppress the panic welling in him, filling him like cold, icy water that exited his pores in rivulets of sweat, when the man uttered his next sentence.

"Maybe he will show up if we start killing the kids?"

Izuku didn't even notice when he began shaking, until Kacchan slapped a heavy hand down on his shoulder. "Chill the fuck out. If you have a panic attack now, you might as well offer yourself to the villains on a silver platter."

His voice was confident, tone even, but when Izuku craned his head to look at him, it was to meet a face too obviously schooled to look as impassive as possible for it to be natural. The blonde didn't even notice the green eyes fixed on him, to busy focusing his own gaze on the intruders. And when Izuku's gaze lowered to land on the hand that wasn't currently locked like a vice around his shoulder, he saw it clenched tight in a fist. It was trembling.

"Kacchan…"

The next moments were a blur of movements and words. Aizawa (Eraserhead, his mind supplied, finally recognizing the underground hero when his trademark yellow goggles wrapped around his head) jumped into the fray of enemies, leaving Thirteen behind to protect the students. Izuku's heart beat loudly in his chest, filled with worry and fear—for his friends, for his classmates, for his teacher, for Kacchan and himself—but watching the hero at work demonstrated the chasm of difference between a pro and an amature and brang comfort to his weary nerves. No move was wasted, and villain after villain fell before the hero as he worked, gliding over the battlefield in a mortal dance and a flurry of movements. It was to the tugging on his shoulder by Kacchan that Izuku was reminded why their teacher was fighting in the first place.

Turning, reluctantly, he along with the rest of his classmates followed behind Thirteen in a mess of a crowd. They ran, aiming for the exit, when a dark cloud materialized before their eyes, blocking their way through and sealing them inside. It was the same villain from before, who appeared like dark fog in the middle of the USJ and spewing out one monstrosity after another.

Warp quirk, Izuku realized. A rare, but incredibly useful power.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," the mist said, much too calmly. It sent spikes of icy cold shivers down the boy's spine. Yellow eyes looked down on them, aglow with what could only be interpreted as malice. Despite being made of fog, he was somehow dressed in an expensive looking suit, and Izuku had to wonder how it even stayed on in the first place. Something like that should be impossible, unless…

"I apologize for the intrusion. We are the League of Villains, sent here to U.A. on a mission to extinguish the so-called Symbol of Peace, All Might." Despite the apology, the villain did not look sorry in the slightest. At least he confirmed Izuku's previous suspicion; that the goal behind this attack was to take down All Might himself. How—he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Hm… It would seem that contradictory to the information we received, the hero in question is missing. Such a shame…"

He felt it before it happened. Kaccan's body tensed beside him, before the furious teen launched himself at the smoky villain. A violent and enraged warcry ripped out his throat, hands readied to unleash his quirk and set of a devastating blow as soon as he was in range.

"Kacchan!" Izuku cried after the spiky haired blonde. But Kacchan wasn't the only one with the same idea; a redhead named Kirishima joined the other boy mid air, the skin on his body hardening in preparation for his own attack. The villain was visibly surprised when he saw two teens flying toward him at break neck speed. Kacchan made contact, and the man was consumed by an incredible explosion, the resulting bang ringing throughout the building.

Izuku squinted hard as his eyes were suddenly assaulted by bright lights. For a moment, he thought they had done it. But the smile forming on his lips died as soon as he saw the villain rematerialize behind the screen of smoke left behind by Kacchan's quirk, unharmed.

"That was quite close, but I guess it is to be expected from students of such a prestigious school as U.A.," he commented with a light chuckle. Kacchan growled and bared his teeth in a furious scowl. Kirishima, meanwhile, stood beside him with tense shoulders, quirk still active and his skin covered in soot from the close proximity to his classmates attack.

"Stay back! Don't try to fight him, just run!" Thirteen shouted at them, preparing his own quirk, Black Hole, to be used, aimed straight for the intruder.

They watched as the smoke of the villain began to fluctuate, quickly growing in size and spreading rapidly. It surrounded them on all sides, leaving no means for escape and closing them off from the rest of the world.

Without thinking, Izuku ran up to his childhood friend, calling his name. "Kacchan!" he cried, grabbing onto the blonde's arm with a firm grip. He felt weightless as he was absorbed by the villain's quirk, and with no light to penetrate the blackness, he was left floating in a dark void. He couldn't even see Kacchan, but he could still feel the warmth of his body, held tightly in his gloved hand. He clenched his fingers as hard as he could, refusing to let go. The flesh would probably be dotted with bruises from how hard his fingers pressed into the muscles, and it was very likely to anger his blonde friend, but Izuku was willing to risk it. The thought of being left behind was far more terrifying.

His mind ran a mile a minute, analysing the situation as fast as he possibly could. Once again, he thought of using his quirk, but the risk was too high. Even if he rewound now, he doubted that there was much he could do to prevent this situation.

I'd have to make sure the warp quirk user is disabled before he have time to use his powers… There's no way I can do that in just fifteen seconds. Even Kacchan's explosions had no effect!

Floating in the mist, he heard the villain's deep voice penetrating his eardrums and echoing loudly in his head. "You will be scattered."

Izuku pulled Kacchan closer to him. I could attempt to avoid the warp altogether… but what then?

"And tortured."

He clenched his teeth. I have to preserve my power.

"And slain."

He braced himself, for suddenly he wasn't floating any more. He was falling. With a grunt and a hiss, his body crashed down on hard ground. Kacchan, still secured in his unrelenting hold, touched down beside him, cursing loudly.

"That warp freaked fuck! I'm gonna fucking kill him!" he screamed, flailing angrily on the floor. Izuku finally let him go, and they both pushed themselves up from their uncomfortable position on the ground.

Standing up, and rubbing his smarting back with a groan, Izuku took in his surroundings. It looked like they were transported to the interior of an old and decrepit building, and he wondered if this was still part of the USJ. He sure hoped so. But more worrying than the half crumbling walls and the too hot air that stifled his lungs, were the unfamiliar faces encircling them on all sides. His heart skipped into his throat and he stumbled backwards, right into Kacchan who cursed lightly. Cruel smirks and callous glares stared back at them.

V-villains!

His friend was muttering strings of curses behind him, browsing through his colorful vocabulary and adding a few new words while he was at it. His hands raised, ready for anything. "Deku," he said, pausing his swearing for a short moment. Izuku didn't look at him when he answered, not daring to take his eyes off of the enemy, radiating animosity, for even a second. He was sure that they would pounce the moment he relaxed his guard.

"Y-yes?!"

"Get ready." The blonde widened his stance while his palms began to heat up; the scorching air only adding fuel for his explosions. "Don't hold back."

Izuku started and his eyes opened wide. "You mean…?" he trailed off, taking a small step back from his advancing opponents. If he turned his head, he would see Kacchan nodding. But even if he couldn't see his friend's confirmatory head shake, he heard his voice loud and clear.

"It's time to get fucking wild."

AN: Sorry for the delay. The latest chapter got a lot longer than I planned; the USJ was just going to be one chapter, but uh... I decided to divide it into three chapters instead. So the next chapter should hopefully be out soon? Also, writing the USJ arc is a bitch. Why? I dunno. I guess it's because a lot of this just follows canon without that many differences, and just rewriting what happens in the manga/anime is pretty boring. Like. We all know what happens. But I still gotta write it, or else I'll ruin the pacing. Which is also why I try to rewrite the dialogue, so I don't just straight up copy the manga because, again, we all already knows what happens. We don't need to hear the same shit over and over.

I'm kinda worried that it may seem like Deku and Katsuki thinks about each other too much? But like, it makes sense if they do, since neither party really hung out with anyone else prior to entering U.A., so who else are they supposed to think about? Katsuki was Deku's only friend for the longest time, and Deku was the only one Katsuki really 'acknowledged' since he deemed everyone else's quirks too trashy.

Ah yes, speaking off, that's also why Katsuki doesn't have his mental breakdown after the Battle Trial. I mean, one, he won. And two, he was freaking out because, suddenly, his quirk wasn't the very best there ever was. But you know, in this timeline, he already sorta had that revelation when Deku showed off his quirk.

And I hope you don't mind be sorta skimming over the Battle Trial-but nothing really interesting enough happened for me to spend more time on it.