At 14 years old, Percy Jackson could safely say that his opinions on many things change, often enough that he wasn't comfortable saying he was sure about much. One thing that he felt he could say with sheer certainty, however, was that Percy Jackson Fucking Hates His class in Aldera Junior High. He shared the class with two of his closest friends in the world, yes, but the rest of them? Gods above he despised the lot of them.

He glanced around the room, watching the small groups of students chattering amongst themselves. His eyes caught Katsuki, in the seat 2 places in front of him, leaning back so far Percy was surprised he hadn't flopped over yet. He sighed, and glanced to his immediate right, where Izuku was sitting. The Broccoli haired boy was writing rapidly in his notebook (The one that Percy knew for a fact had a page or two about him, no matter how much Izuku denied it) He hated how his friends had drifted apart over the years. As much as he tried to stop it, when Izuku didn't get his quirk, Katsuki began treating him as some sort of second-class person. He knew there was a point up until a few years ago where He was just directly bullying him about it, atleast until Percy knocked some sense into him. Now they mostly just ignored each other, sometimes tolerating each other's presence for his sake.

While he was lost in his thoughts, their teacher walked into the room, holding a stack of forms that Percy recognized as their career choice forms. He shifted in his seat, a rare moment of him paying attention in class. He absentmindedly slapped Izuku on the back of the head to alert him to their teacher's presence, eliciting a small yelp of surprise, before he too straightened up and looked ahead.

The teacher waited for the rest of the class to settle in, before greeting them as per usual, and picking up one of the forms

"Now, as you have probably noticed, I have your career choice forms here for you to fill out today."

He paused, before grinning and throwing the stack of papers into the air

"But I know you all want to be heroes right!?"

The class shouted their agreement in response, showing off their quirks and yelling in excitement. All of them spare Percy, Bakugo, and Izuku. The former two out of exasperation and boredom, and the latter due to embarrassment.

The teacher let out a small chuckle. "Also, for the first time in many years, we have more than one student from a year applying to U.A High, all of whom are from this class!"

"Wait, the top school?"

"The competition there is crazy!"

"Isn't the standardized rank score super high? That's gonna be hard!"

As soon as he heard what his teacher said, and the murmurs around the class, Percy fully expected Bakugo to say something stupid, aggressive, and confrontational, for no reason at all, and groaned internally when his fears were realized.

"Don't lump me in with the rest of these extras Sensei! Percy and I are the only real deals here, the rest of them would be lucky to end up as a sidekick to a D-List loser!"

Percy slammed his head onto his desk in exasperation, he hated when Bakugo looped him into his superiority complex.

The rest of the class reacted very differently, with Midoriya pointedly ignoring the statement, and the others taking offense to the fact, and began yelling at Bakugo about his arrogance.

This seemingly got to him, as he leapt up on the table, his hands beginning to crack and spark as he began to growl "Shut UP, YOU EXTRAS! We aced all the mock exams from U.A, and we're the only ones who are qualified enough to get there!"

For what felt like the millionth time, Percy had to wonder to himself, What the fuck is sensei doing? He was just letting this go on. Teachers like this were the reason Bakugo's head was as inflated as it was, and he knew it. As if reading his mind, the teacher spoke up, but not in the way Percy would have liked.

"Well, you're not entirely right about that Bakugo-kun. You two are certainly applying to U.A, but so Is Midoriya-kun"

Percy would, for years after this, swear that, upon hearing this, Bakugo's face had heated up so much it put Endeavour's stupid fire beard to shame.

"WHAT THE HELL DEK- "

Was as far as he got into charging at Midoriya, who had squeaked and stumbled back out of his chair, before he was gently pulled back into his seat by a tendril of water that had appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Sit down Katsuki. He has as much of a right to apply as you or I do," Percy said softly. He smiled slightly when Bakugo simply huffed and stayed in his place, albeit still throwing a glare at Midoriya.

Percy simply shook his head, before once again tuning out of the world and waiting for the day to end.

And end it did, which Percy was always grateful for. He had to meet with the head of the school, he needed a letter to send to U.A, explaining his Dyslexia, which would give him a little more leeway with the entrance exam. As he walked back into the class, letter in hand, he saw something that made him want to smack his lifelong friend upside the head.

Katsuki, along with two of his friends whose names Percy had never cared to remember, had grabbed Izuku's' book, and were laughing at him. 'Alright, that's enough of that'. Percy activated his quirk, feeling the familiar pull in his gut as three tendrils of water formed behind Bakugo and his friends, two of them grabbing the goons and pulling them away, while the third took the book out of Bakugo's hand and put it on the table. He then walked forward and grabbed him by the back of the uniform and dragged him out of the classroom.

"I told you to lay off him. Is it really that hard?"
"He has no right to go to the hero course for U.A! He doesn't even have a quirk, how can he be a hero?"
"He has just as much of a right as you or I do, and you know it. He doesn't have a quirk, so what? He's still trying to be a hero isn't he? In my eyes, that makes him braver than either one of us. We're both lucky enough to get powerful quirks, so powerful infact that we basically had a heroics career gift wrapped for us. He knows he'll have to work ten times harder than either of us will, but that doesn't stop him. Will he succeed? That's up to him, luck and whatever else you believe in. But you have no right to stop him from trying."

"Tch. Fine. But he's not getting in."
"You don't know that, I don't either. We'll find out."

As he said this, Bakugo's two friends came out of the room, looking rather nervous, and, seeing Bakugo begin to walk away, followed him, very pointedly ignoring Percy. He walked back into the class, where Izuku was sitting at his desk, putting his last few books into his bag.

"You know, I'm surprised you still put up with him, for how much shit he gives you"

Izuku Jumped, not having heard Percy Enter the classroom, and sighed

"He's still my friend. He and you are my only friends. He's mean, but he still cares right?"

"Well, it's for you to decide if you continue to put up with him. I can only hope he gets a little less arrogant, he's going to get in trouble if he tries to be a hero with that mentality. Come on, let's get out of here."

The two friends walked in silence for some time, before Izuku spoke up

"Percy… Do you think I can be a hero, even though I don't have a quirk?"

Percy knew this was coming. He was surprised Izuku hadn't asked earlier. He knew what he was going to say

"There's no reason you can't"
Judging from Izuku's reaction, that was not the answer he expected at all.

"Will it be harder for you to do? Undoubtedly. But it's possible, I'm sure of it! Infact, if you want to get in, you better start training. I know you can do the written exams just fine, without a doubt, but you should try to get stronger, it'll make any practicals easier for you. I have full faith in you, if you put in the work, I know you can do it!"

Izuku had tears in his eyes and was smiling so much Percy was half afraid he'd break his jaw. At this point, it was time for them to part ways, and Percy grabbed Izuku by the shoulder.

"Don't be concerned about what others say about you. What matters is that you know what you want, and work towards it."

With that, Percy grinned at him one last time, and turned away, beginning to walk back home. He was too far away to hear, in the tunnel that Izuku had gone down, the shifting of the manhole cover that signalled the arrival of the sludge villain that would change the course of the world, and his best friend's life, forever.

Alright, chapter two. Not much to say here. Hope you enjoyed, tell me what you think. Cheers till next time.