5th of March, 20XX – One week after the U.A. entrance exam

05:24 p.m. at the entrance of the Bakugo household

Izuku had a natural penchant for nervousness, but seldom had he experienced the meaning behind this seemingly innocent word as intensively as he did right now, waiting for Katsuki to open the door already while having the letter from U.A. clutched tightly in his right hand. His mother was just as anxious as he was and bursting to know the result, but he and Katsuki had agreed upon opening their letters together. So here they were.

"'Bout time you come along, Deku," Katsuki greeted, feeling slightly tense. He was sure he passed; he'd scored 80 points at least, for fuck's sake, but he wanted certainty.

And said certainty laid in an envelope on the coffee table, looking identical to the one Deku had received (save for the address), so he was somewhat impatient.

"This is it, Deku!"

The two of them had adjourned to Katsuki's room because "the moms can wait five minutes longer for our fucking scores." On edge, Izuku nodded.

Their scores. They would make or break them, right now.

Both of them ripped apart their envelopes at the same time, and hell broke loose.

"I a-" "Greetings, I-" "… projection!" "… young Bakugo…" "… wondering…" "… about your… "… 39 villain points…" "… appear…" "… judges…" "… attitude…"

After they had managed to quiet their respective holographic screen and their ears had stopped ringing, Katsuki scowled. "We won't talk about this. Ever again." Izuku nodded. This was not how they'd imagined the most important point in their school lives going.

"Alright, second try, I'll start," Katsuki decided and activated his projector. All Might appeared on screen.

"Greetings from the Number One Hero, young Bakugo!"

"Wait… now that I'm thinking about it – why is All Might in the vid-"

"Shaddup, Deku!"

"Now you surely ask yourself: Why does All Might appear in your U.A. message?

Well, the answer is: BECAUSE I AM GOING TO TEACH AT U.A. HIGH SCHOOL THIS YEAR!"

"NO WAY!" Izuku exclaimed stunned. "All Might is…"

"SHADDUP, DEKU!"

"Regarding your score: You managed to destroy 43 robots, racking up a score of 82 Villain Points in total, which is the highest amount of villain points in seven years! But there's more to it than that! You see, the judges of the exam also awarded so-called 'Rescue Points'! For heroic behavior like defending other participants, damage containment and more! Although you are still mostly focused on yourself, you did take heed of your co-competitors and thereby earned 11 Rescue Points, which make you come to 91 points in total!"

All Might smiled blindingly.

"Young Bakugo, you passed!"

Bakugo smirked. "Of course I did." Despite his outward confidence, Izuku could clearly see how his shoulders relaxed in the course of All Might's speech, but decided to keep quiet.

He activated his own projector, somewhat self-conscious. He knew he couldn't touch Katsuki's absurdly high score, but he didn't know the assessment standard, and…

"I am here… as a projection!"

All Might's booming voice effectively shushed him.

"Since you already heard young Bakugo's video, I will get right to the point!"

Izuku blinked.

"How on earth did he know we would hear them together?"

"Probably 'cause we talked about it right under his fucking nose, now…"

"A-and how did he know we would hear yours first?

Katsuki shrugged. True, he did feel a little irritated about being so predictable.

"Now that you have finished wondering about how I could know this, let's talk about your score."

Okay. That was just creepy.

"You, young Midoriya, destroyed 27 robots, earning impressive 39 villain points! But even more impressed the judges were with your decision to help young Yanagi, quickly rushing in… without thinking, huh?"

All Might laughed boomingly.

"For your courageous conduct in this dire situation, you were awarded 49 rescue points! That's 88 points in total, placing you at number two in this year's ranking. Young Midoriya…"

All Might paused dramatically.

"You passed!"

Katsuki cursed as Izuku's eyes started to flood his room, showcasing once more the impressive capacities of the Midoriya tear glands.

08:02 p.m. at Dagobah Municipal Beach

All Might awaited Izuku at the now completely cleaned beach in his true form. The smile he sported was far less impressive than the one his hero form possessed, but to Izuku, it was the greatest smile ever.

Genuine.

He gave him a high five (All Might gave him a high five! He wouldn't wash hands ever again!) and congratulated him on passing.

"But, All Might! You, a teacher at U.A.! That's…"

"Wait, All Might? No way! Where?" someone in the distance exclaimed.

"Oh shit. Young Midoriya, repeat after me: Just my eyes playing tricks on me!"

"Just my eyes playing tricks on me!" Izuku bowed apologetically.

Both of them unwound a bit. "Careful, young Midoriya." The boy nodded. "Oh, lest I forget, I was neither part of the jury nor have I told any of them about our relationship. Favoritism and all that. Just to ensure you that it was you, and you alone, who got that place at U.A."

Midoriya nodded gratefully. "T-thank you very much, All- Yagi-san. Though… U.A."

Toshinori looked at him questioningly. "What's eating at you, my boy?"

"Well..." How could he put this without sounding unappreciative? "After I found out you'd be teaching at U.A., I realized that you did that because you originally wanted to pick your successor among the students, right?"

Toshinori nodded. He also now had the faintest idea about where this conversation was heading.

"And… I feel sort of as if I stole those other students their chance to prove themselves to you. You ran over me just by chance, and… during the entrance exam, I used One for All without protection. Just because I wanted to save one person. Not only that…"

"But you did save her, right, young Midoriya?"

Izuku looked up at him, confused. "What?"

Yagi smiled. Again, a scary, bony, off-putting, genuine smile. Then, he actually laughed (coughing up some blood in the process, but nobody's perfect). "Of course you couldn't handle it right from the beginning! You also weren't able to fully use Matter Adaptation when you first got it, right, my boy?"

Izuku nodded hesitantly.

"There we are! As it is right now, you can only do all or nothing. But with continued training, you will be able to use One for All more and more freely. So do not worry, for everything is going to be ALL MIGHT!"

With that, he changed into his muscle form and twisted the drinking can he held in his hand into a spiral.

Then…

"Oh my god, it really is All Might! AMAZING!"

Shit.

So they ran away, but Izuku suddenly felt a lot warmer.

At a bar, somewhere else…

Kurogiri patiently watched Shigaraki rant about All Might becoming a teacher. Ever since "Sensei" had brought up that detail, the young man had been in an especially foul mood.

The bartender proceeded to polish the glass in his misty hands with just a little more force than necessary. In all honesty, he could barely stand the unstable villain if he was calm – or what counted as calm with Shigaraki – and was downright repulsed by him if he was angry.

It was not like he had much of a say in this matter. All for One had instructed him to take care of him, and one simply did not turn down All for One.

"Do not worry, Shigaraki Tomura." Kurogiri was mildly surprised by the cordial tone All for One had adopted. Apparently, he had made some sort of progress.

"Soon, you will be able to fulfill your aim. Not only is our special creation nearly finished, we also have some promising allies."

Allies? Kurogiri's hand moved even faster than before, virtually sterilizing the glass.

"Sensei…"

Faced with Shigaraki's petulant whining, Kurogiri found himself lamenting the long-gone days of contently observing his customers, of bar fights he'd end by teleporting the transgressors outside. The days where he would come home and…

Kurogiri realized that the glass would be of little use in the future if he continued tormenting it like this.

"Soon", All for One promised warmly, "you will be ready. Soon, you will annihilate the Symbol of Peace."

10th of March, 20XX

04:09 p.m. at the Midoriya apartment

"I'd recommend three smaller canisters," Izuku pondered. "Those big gauntlets will make easy targets."

Katsuki nodded begrudgingly and erased the problematic part. "How far are you?"

Izuku looked at his sheet thoughtfully. "Since my costume will have that special feature, I have to send my sketch in tomorrow. So I'll probably stick with this."

"You still don't want to put in more materials?" Katsuki asked doubtfully. "You could easily fuck up if you forgot something."

Izuku shook his head. "Most of the materials I could add now would only be useful under special circumstances, and I don't want to risk adapting the wrong one in the heat of the moment."

Katsuki shrugged. "Alright." He smirked. "Though your costume did manage to surprise the shit out of me. I mean, seriously, Deku. It doesn't match your Quirk at all!"

Izuku gave him a deadpan look. "I don't want every obscure villain to instantly figure out what my Quirk is. They'll have a hard time with this one."

"If you think so… I still think you should've gone for the lab coat."

Izuku finished his drawing and put it into an envelope. "The lab coat was a close second. Besides, you can't say this doesn't look cool."

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"Don't do that so much, Kacchan!" Izuku quipped. "One day they'll get stuck and you'll spend your days looking at the back of your head."

"Was that you being sassy, Deku? Quit it."

9th of April, 20XX – Day of the U.A. opening ceremony

08:03 at the Midoriya apartment

Izuku had everything packed, his lunch ready, his uniform on, and he was nail-bitingly nervous.

He was going to go to U.A. right now. It wasn't just a child's dream anymore; it was something real. He was about to do his biggest step so far on the road to becoming a Hero, the step that'd bring him closer to his dream than all the ones beforehand. His mother smiled and encouraged him, trying her best to calm him down, but still… it was a bit much.

And he was about to be late.

As soon as he realized that, he snapped out of his stupor. One last time: Pocket tissues? Check. Handkerchief? Check. U.A. ID? Check. Uniform? Check. Schoolbag? Check.

He took a deep breath. "Bye, Mom."

With that he headed towards U.A.

08:22 at U.A. High School

He couldn't find the way. He was at U.A, and he couldn't find the way in this blasted labyrinth. 1A, 1A, 1A…

"Oi, Deku! Over here."

Izuku turned his head around and took a moment to contemplate the concept of irony. He had literally stood right in front of the (suitably intimidating) classroom door.

"'Bout time you come along. It sucks being with this stuck-up and the other extras."

Izuku facepalmed. Katsuki had his feet on his desk, with an irate Iida chastising him for his "unbecoming behavior".

Izuku sighed, took a seat next to Katsuki and tried to reconcile. As soon as Iida had noticed him, he did these weird hand motions (again!) while stating: "My greetings, Midoriya-san! I must acknowledge that I was indeed in the wrong, calling you out like this! You were truly superior, as you demonstrated by figuring out the exam's criteria! Unfortunately, I myself was unable to perceive the hidden grading system…"

By that time Izuku's face had taken on the grey of his uniform, and he hastened to explain that he didn't notice anything when suddenly…

"If you're here to socialize, go home."

…a giant caterpillar appeared in the door.

A few students yelped as it spoke.

Then the most wasted-looking man Izuku had ever seen outside of a homeless shelter emerged from the caterpillar/sleeping bag, sucking out a juice pack.

"It took you six seconds to calm down. Obviously, you all severely lack rationality," he drawled. "I am Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher. So far, I'm not pleased to meet you."

Then he took out a P.E. uniform and stated: "I know it's sudden, but put these on and follow me on the training ground outside. If you're late, you'll be expelled."

With that, the man left.

Instantly, everyone in the class hastened for the door as soon as the shock their homeroom teacher had induced began to wear off. After all, he hadn't specified what exactly "late" meant.

Down at the grounds…

"A QUIRK ASSESSMENT TEST?" the class collectively exclaimed.

"But what about the entrance ceremony? Guidance sessions? We didn't even get timetables!"

Aizawa shrugged. "No time for that if you want to become heroes. If you think this is all fun and games, go home."

Apparently, their teacher was not a fan of lengthy procedures.

"You are familiar with the eight standard gym tests, yes? Softball throwing, standing long jump, 50-meter dash and so on. The country still insists on prohibiting Quirks while collecting the records. That's not rational. Here at U.A., we have a 'freestyle' educational system. That especially applies to us teachers."

In the course of Aizawa's explanation, the students had become increasingly uneasy. Theoretically this promised to be fun, but he talked about it like it was going to be their execution.

"Bakugo. How far could you throw a softball in middle school?"

The blonde smirked. "Seventy-one meters."

"Great," Aizawa said, in a tone that made it clear that he couldn't care less. "Do it again, but use your Quirk. Do whatever you need to, just don't leave the circle."

Izuku looked at him in surprise. Most of these exercises favored students whose Quirks would to some extent increase their strength, speed or durability. This was odd. The range of Quirks in this class seemed to be quite widespread; how was someone whose Quirk made them invisible supposed to compete against Katsuki in a test like this?

The blast from Katsuki explosion effectively grounded him again.

"It's important to know one's limits. That's a rational method to find out what kind of heroes you'll be." Aizawa held up the device in his hand.

"709, 8 meters".

"Awesome!"

"We'll get to use our Quirks!"

"The Hero department of U.A. is great!"

"This'll be fun!"

At the last comment, Aizawa smiled.

Instantly, everyone fell quiet.

Aizawa Shota had the most evil smile most of them had ever seen. The aura their homeroom teacher emanated was downright demonic. "Fun, you say? You hope to become heroes, an aim for which you only have three years to achieve, and you think it'll be fun?"

Now the class had started to physically back up, as their teacher's aura changed from merely dangerous to borderline psychotic. "Alright then," he announced. "The one with the lowest score in all eight disciplines will be considered hopeless and be expelled."

At that, most of the students screamed something akin to "WHAAAAT?"

But Izuku had understood it right now.

"Your fates are in our hands! Welcome to hell, also known as the Hero Course at U.A. High!"

"But that's not fair! It's the first day of school!"

Yes. That was it.

"Natural disasters, highway pileups, rampaging villains. Calamity is always right around the corner. I'd say that Japan is full of unfair things. Heroes are the ones who correct all that unfairness. If you were hoping to slack off here I'm not sorry at all when I say this: For the next three years, U.A. will put you through the wringer."

The test wasn't fair. It wasn't designed to be fair. It was designed to assess their creativity and flexibility – they wanted to know how well they could use their Quirks in an adverse environment, and if they knew when to drop it.

So it wasn't just the last one who would be judged hopeless. Everyone who didn't show enough potential was out.

Izuku readied himself.

The main problem was that applying One for All would be a no-go, since he still hadn't managed to control the power output satisfactorily. If he used it without having adapted at least something with the hardness grade of iron, he would either injure himself or even risk that his limbs splintered, if he used wood, for example. So he'd have to rely on Matter Adaptation for this one.

50-Meter dash

Izuku watched the other students with a hint of unease. His own Quirk was quite versatile, but it wasn't cut out for these disciplines like Iida's Engine or Ashido's Acid.

Never mind! He at least had something that vaguely resembled a strategy (if you squinted). So when he and Katsuki were next, he adapted the rubber of his shoes in his legs in hopes to get a head start, bouncing off the starting block like a… well, rubber ball.

"5.23 seconds" the training robot squawked. Izuku sighed with relief. Not too bad.

Grip strength

He knew that some students had Quirks that made this test easy for them, but come on! Shoji Mezo had used his dupli-arms to get 540 kg! Yaoyorozu Momo had actually created a hydraulic press for this test! And, oddly enough, the skinny Tokoyami Fumikage had somehow managed 313 kg without breaking a sweat.

Izuku however had doffed his shoes for this one (yes, he knew it looked silly, thank you very much, Kacchan) and adapted the concrete of the floor. Should he use One for All… no, if he rendered his hand useless now he wouldn't stand a chance with ball throwing or seated toe touch. So he just used his concrete-strengthened hand and got 104 kg out of it. That was… pretty decent.

Standing long jump

While Izuku couldn't hope to fly past the grove like the pint-sized Mineta Minoru (who made some sort of trampoline out of his hair-balls) or Sero Hanta (who had shot tape out of his elbows to a nearby tree and then hauled it in again while jumping), his rubber technique did serve him well once more, getting something just over four meters.

Side-to-side stepping

He wouldn't talk about this. Ever again.

Ball throw

Uraraka Ochako's infinity was somewhat exaggerated, but well. This really was her discipline. Also Koda Koji, who seemed to be more on the quiet side, somehow persuaded a bird to fly away with the ball, resulting in a four-digit score.

Izuku had strengthened himself by adapting the material of the floor, but there wasn't much more he would be able to do. So he just awaited his turn, readied himself for the throw… when suddenly his arm changed back into default mode.

Izuku looked at his limb in confusion. "W-what? But… I adap-"

"I erased your Quirk", Aizawa stated tersely. The students were in perturbation almost instantly. "What?"

"Erased?"

"But how?"

"I know who he is! Those goggles! He's the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead!"

"Eraserhead?"

"Oh, right! An angler-type hero who avoids the media presence!"

"But what did he do wrong?"

"Yeah, so far it all went smoo-"

"What you are doing is not rational", Aizawa interrupted. He seemed annoyed. Or rather, more annoyed than before. "Your Quirk description states that it is also possible for you to unleash a significant force in addition to matter adaptation. You did not make use of this skill once so far. Take this seriously, Midoriya Izuku." Aizawa came closer and spoke softer. "Your reckless attitude is exactly why I voted for you to get zero Rescue Points at the entrance exam. Find a way around your self-destructive tendencies, or quit."

Meanwhile, the extras were chatting excitedly about the revelation that Deku's Quirk included strength augmentation. Katsuki looked at him intensely. Don't you dare to fuck up here, Deku! Don't. You. Dare.

"Wait, so he basically has two Quirks?"

"So manly!"

"That's broken! Physical power and this rare adaptation Quirk?"

Izuku felt indeed broken. This was bad. If he tried using One for All while only having adapted the floor's material, without being able to modulate it… no, that was not even an option, and there was no way he'd be lucky enough to manage it at this instant.

But if he didn't pull it off, Aizawa would be fast to expel him since he hadn't used his Quirk's potential to the fullest, which was what this test was all about. So what to do now? He couldn't fail, not like this! He couldn't have his Hero career cut short before it had even begun!

Wait.

Izuku casted his mind back to the first time he'd tried and used One for All. At that moment, he had… yes, that was the solution!

Izuku adapted once more, channeled One for All, electricity prickling under his skin – only in the finger, only in the finger! – and WHAM!

The pain really was nothing in comparison to what he'd experienced at the entrance exam. Granted, his muscles were still ruptured and of course it still hurt, but it was only the tissue of his finger, not his whole arm. He deactivated his Quirk… okay, he took it back, now it hurt. The concrete hadn't been strong enough, apparently, and subsequently splintered.

"423,8 meters."

"WHAT?"

"Okay, that's just unfa-"

"Wait, look!"

Aizawa examined Izuku, who clutched his maltreated finger, and raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"

Izuku clenched his fist. "It…" Quick, a subterfuge! "It happens, er… if I use the boost without a material strong enough to back it up. In that case the backlash disrupts the material and I get injured. That's why I only used it in my finger, and only adapted the concrete in bones and joints."

Aizawa looked at him, expression inscrutable. Izuku squinted under his piercing glare.

"Well, then. Next one."

"JUST LIKE THAT?"

While Mineta went for his turn, Izuku found himself surrounded by a crowd of excited students.

"I'm Kirishima Eijiro! Your Quirk is totally manly!"

"Aren't combinations like that said to be really scarce? Damn you got lucky!"

"Indeed, Midoriya-san! You can be proud of your efforts! You will surely make a great hero one day!"

"Weren't you in that one video with the Sludge-"

"ALRIGHT, SHUT IT! GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF HIS ASS ALREADY AND TRY TO STOP BEING SUCH FUCKING LICKSPITTLES!"

Izuku wasn't sure if Katsuki had just reacted on the mention of the Sludge Villain, but he was grateful nonetheless. While he had nothing against his new classmates so far, some of them were pretty… energetic, and he had his hands full with Katsuki as it was.

Some students, though, did not participate in the cheering. They were just in the back seats and watched.

Endurance running

Izuku most definitely didn't excel in this one. The pain was distracting, and his Quirk could only do so much when it came to endurance. He placed somewhere in the middle of the class (his stamina was decent, but he didn't stand a chance against Todoroki Shoto, who changed his run into a skate, or Sato Rikido, who was absurdly fast after having ingested noticeable amounts of sweets).

Upper body strength

Not much to say about this one, though he was definitely better now that the pain had subsided somewhat. Also, there weren't many students whose Quirks supported them here, and changing his body into concrete definitely helped.

Seated toe touch

While the bludgeoned finger made this one especially painful, this was a test that did fit Izuku – fabric and rubber were both perfect for the job.

"Alright."

After the last event, Aizawa had them all gather together again and stated: "Since there's no time to waste, I won't bother to explain all of the results in detail. So here's just a list with the final rankings."

The list appeared, and Izuku searched for his name… "I'm eighth?"

"Damn, you beat me!" the red-haired Kirishima stated good-humoredly. "Close one, Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku nodded dazedly, glad that he took it so well. Kirishima seemed really likeable and was super-friendly (even Kacchan had only yelled at him two times during the test).

At last place was a miserable Mineta Minoru, who'd started wailing once he'd seen his placement when…

"Also, I was lying about expelling someone. It was a rational deception to bring out the best in you."

"EEEEEEEH?"

"That's unbecoming for a teacher of the prestigious U.A.! We shouldn't need such cheap persuasion methods!" Iida complained.

"Is it? I can still change my mind."

"No!" Mineta shouted anxiously. "We're all perfectly fine with the rational deception!"

Izuku looked at Katsuki, who just shrugged. So he'd figured it out too – as opposed to some of the other students (the invisible Hagakure at place nineteen seemed quite relieved, too).

"Well, then. Go home, everyone. We're finished here. Grab a timetable in the class if you feel like it. Ah, Midoriya? Go see Recovery Girl. It's not going to be easier from here. And Todoroki, come to the staff room in twenty minutes. I'd like to have a chat with you."

After that, Aizawa retreated into his sleeping bag again and lay down in the middle of the school yard.

When Izuku came back, dog-tired (Recovery Girl's Quirk was great, and gross, but most noticeably draining), he was… surprised.

In front of the schoolyard, he found Iida and Katsuki waiting for him, arguing about Katsuki's choice of words, which Iida thought was "improper for an aspiring hero". The indigo-haired boy apparently had waited to ask about his finger and to bring him his timetable, while Katsuki… either he was here because of Izuku, or just because he enjoyed spiting Iida.

Izuku was happy nonetheless.

A/N: Longer chapter today, yay!

This paragraph will deal with Mineta, and why I didn't make Aizawa expel him. If such content offends you, move on to the paragraph that starts with "Next time".

So yeah, I am aware of the popular opinion that Canon!Mineta is basically human scum. And in all honesty, he is a decision on Horikoshi's part I honestly don't understand - not only does he represent the stereotypical, horny and absolutely unashamed anime pervert, but he legit never ever changes his behavior or faces the repercussions for it. Character developement? He don't know her.

In spite of that, think about the following: Aizawa stated explicitly that he'd have expelled anyone in the class without potential (something I seized in this chapter), and that wouldn't necessarily have meant "the last one". However, he did not expel Mineta at that time. This leads me to the issue that Aizawa seems to have seen something in him. Well hidden. Very well hidden. And that, actually, is my main issue with stories in which Aizawa expels Mineta after the Quirk apprehension test - it simply does not fit his statement that he wouldn't have hesitated to expel those he believed to have no potential. Therefore, I will deal with Mineta, because I don't necessarily think he's bad to the core, just that he needs some serious work. Splendid.

Next time: Midoriya and Bakugo... make friends! (Wow.) Also, Midoriya's costume, and the Battle Trials begin!

Keep those reviews coming; they bring mirth and delight into my dull life!

As always, constructive criticism is welcome, flames aren't.

Remember to go beyond...

PLUS ULTRA!

Ramses, over and out.