I don't own My Hero Academia or Kill la Kill, please don't sue.

7:30 AM. Right. First day of school.

Rolling out of bed, Ryuko Matoi quickly slipped out of her pajamas and put on Senketsu. Thankfully, UA accepted her petition to wear Senketsu in place of their standard school uniform due to the nature of her quirk, as long as she still wore the grey UA jacket over him.

She stuffed her school supplies into her guitar case, which served as an improvised briefcase/backpack. Uraraka was busy making breakfast for herself, but Ryuko just grabbed a lemon and left for school without her.

The school was pretty far away from her apartment, as it was built on top of a hill specifically so it would be removed from the rest of the city. Ryuko walked at a leisurely pace anyway, enjoying the cherry blossoms that lined the path to UA. She left home pretty early and hadn't seen many students on her walk, so she was sure she would get to class on time.

Speaking of students, Ryuko looked over everyone wearing a UA uniform, hoping to see one of her friends. She saw that Bakugo and Kirishima got accepted on the top ten list for the practical exam, but she hadn't heard anything from Mina.

"Matoi?" a familiar voice behind her cried out. "Oh my gosh I finally found you!"

Mina practically tackled her from behind, making Ryuko stumble a little bit. When she recovered, she saw that her friend was wearing a UA school uniform. So she had passed!

"Hey Mina! It's good to see you again! I see you passed the exam."

"Not by as much as you, Miss 155 Points!" she lightly punched Ryuko's arm. "I mean first place? You even lost points and still beat everyone by a landslide!"

"Heh, yeah..." Ryuko mumbled, still a little embarrassed about being the only examinee to actually lose rescue points. "Where's Kirishima? Isn't he usually with you?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know! He's been blowing me off all week!" Mina exclaimed. "By the way, so have you. Seriously, it was like you dropped off the face of the Earth ever since the exam!"

"Uh, sorry?" Ryuko apologized sheepishly.

Oh right, that. She did have to admit she got a little caught up on enjoying her acceptance to UA. So caught up she entirely forgot about staying in contact with Mina and Kirishima.

In her defense, she was still pretty new to the whole "having friends" thing. And she was especially new to having friends who didn't literally live with her.

"It's fine, we'll be seeing each other a lot in school anyway!" Mina brushed it off. "But you're giving me your phone number so this doesn't happen again!"

"Alright, you got it," Ryuko chuckled, handing her phone over to Mina. "Also, you wouldn't happen to know where Classroom 1-A is would you?"

"You got Class 1-A too? Awesome!" Mina exclaimed. "And no, I don't know where it is. Maybe we can ask that guy!"

Mina pointed to a boy wearing a UA uniform. He easily gave Present Mic a run for his money in the weird hair department with a hairstyle that looked like he glued a red hedgehog on his head. Noticing the two girls talking, he turned around and revealed his face to them.

No freaking way.

"Pffft! What happened to your hair Kirishima?" Ryuko covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep herself from laughing. And failed.

"Seriously, you have horns like me now! We could be horn buddies!" Mina added. "So is this why I haven't seen you all week? Got a new look for high school?"

"Yeah, so what if I do?" Kirishima defended. "I'm not gonna regret stuff anymore, not ever. I'll protect people like a hero! I'm not the pathetic loser I used to be."

"What happened that day, with the villain," Mina said, referring to some time they shared in middle school. "It was really tough on you, more than it was on me."

Ryuko finally got a hold of herself, but she still had no idea what they were talking about. Neither of them had mentioned anything about a villain to her before. But whatever happened that day, it must have been pretty serious if it was the trigger for Kirishima doing... that.

"So? What's it to you?" Kirishima tried deflecting.

"Just don't be too eager to change who you are!" Mina said, rapidly punching him in the arm.

"Hey that hurts!" Kirishima protested. "Actually, it doesn't but what the heck?"

"You know, I kind of like it!" Ryuko said, trying to make Kirishima feel better. "I don't know what happened when you were in middle school, but you stepped in for me back at the gym. A pathetic loser wouldn't do that!

"She's right, you're a hero Kiri! Or at the very least a hothead," Mina teased. "I'm being nice, so your secret is safe with me. Just make sure to stay on my good side, or your classmates are gonna find about about your little makeover!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you two which class you got!" Kirishima realized. "I'm heading to Class 1-A, do either of you know where that is?"

Ryuko and Mina smiled to each other and exchanged a brief glance before grabbing Kirishima by the arms and dragging him to class.

Class 1-A as it turned out, was pretty hard to miss.

The gigantic door with an equally large "1-A" on it was anything but subtle.

Everyone in class had an assigned seat, so Ryuko searched the classroom for hers. Unfortunately, Mina and Kirishima would be sitting on the opposite side of the classroom. At least she got to sit right in front of Bakugo, who she was glad to see in 1-A.

He wasn't the only familiar face in Class 1-A though. Mini Gamagoori was also there, sitting neatly at his desk on the other side of the classroom. Ryuko tried ignoring him as she turned her chair around to face Bakugo, who had his feet on his desk.

"Hey Bakugo! Glad to see you're in 1-A too!" she greeted him.

While Ryuko was happy to see her friend, she couldn't say the same for the reverse. Bakugo's face was twisted in a furious scowl and his angry red eyes were locked on her. It looked like he was a hair away from leaping out of his seat and attacking her.

"How did you do it?" he growled, staring into her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Ryuko asked.

"How the hell did you beat me in the entrance exam!?" Bakugo suddenly shouted. "You must have cheated! I was supposed to get into UA with the highest score in history, I'm supposed to be number one! Not you! So now you're gonna tell me how you did it!"

Ryuko was stunned by his... intense reaction. She knew from their first meeting that he was competitive, but he didn't have to be such an ass about it. So he got second place, big deal. Did the guy really think he'd be the best at everything he did?

Before she could make a retort, Mini Gamagoori marched over to Bakugo's desk, chopping his arms like a robot.

"Take your feet off of that desk now!" he demanded.

Both Ryuko and Bakugo glared at him, any resentment between the two being instantly overwritten by their shared contempt for the bespectacled boy. They both had a shared goal in that moment: Take that asshole down a peg.

"Huh?" Bakugo said in the most obnoxious voice he could.

"It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!" Mini Gamagoori scolded.

If she didn't hate the guy so much, Ryuko would have laughed. She'd seen a lot of his type at Honnouji Academy, but getting all riled up over the freaking desks was a first for her.

"You're kidding me right? Your old school put a stick up your ass or were you born with it?" Bakugo retorted, causing Ryuko to burst out in laughter.

Flustered that he was being laughed at, Mini Gamagoori decided to change tactics. "Let's start over, I'm Tenya Iida from the Somei Private Academy," he introduced himself formally.

"Somei huh? You must think you're better than me! I'm gonna enjoy tearing you a new one!" Bakugo taunted.

"You would threaten me? Your own classmate? Are you sure you're in the right place?" Mini Gamagoori, or Iida, asked.

Seizing her chance to join in, Ryuko stood up behind Iida and firmly slapped her hand down on his shoulder, making him flinch slightly. "What are ya gonna do about it? Call the Disciplinary Committee because your feewings got hurt?" she mocked.

"Disciplinary Committee?" Iida asked incredulously. "I would certainly hope UA does not employ such barbaric practices! Students should follow the rule out of respect for their school, not out of fear of punishment!"

Huh. Ryuko certainly wasn't expecting that. This guy wasn't so much like Gamagoori after all. Their conversation was interrupted by the distinct sound of the classroom's door opening, all three of them turning to see what had caused it.

Standing in the doorway was the green-haired boy who tripped at the entrance exam, the one who saved Uraraka's life by destroying the zero-pointer in one hit. And he was shaking in fear.

"It's him," Iida said, apparently recognizing the boy.

He walked over to him, leaving Ryuko and Bakugo alone. Uraraka arrived at the classroom door shortly afterward, striking up a conversation with Iida and the green-haired boy.

Ryuko sat back down in her seat and put her feet on her desk, relieved that it was all over. Something caught her attention though. It was Bakugo, who was now directing his angry glare at the green-haired boy. She could even hear his teeth grinding. What was his deal? What did the green-haired boy ever do to him?

"Ryuko, I'm worried about your choice of friends," Senketsu spoke up.

"What are you talking about? Kirishima and Mina are great!"

"I'm not talking about them," he replied. "I'm talking about Bakugo. He seems like a bad influence. I don't want you to end up like him."

"What's it matter to you?" Ryuko retorted. "Besides, I thought you'd be happy I'm making friends."

Before she could get too comfortable in her seat, a new voice made its presence heard.

"If you're just here to make friends, you can pack up your stuff now," it said, almost as if it were on cue. "It" being a man with scruffy facial hair lying down wrapped up in a yellow sleeping bag, making him look like a giant caterpillar with a face.

"Welcome to UA's hero course," he said, taking out a juice pouch and draining its contents with a single slurp, freaking out more than a few students. "It took eight seconds before you all shut up, that's not gonna work."

The man stood up and shed his sleeping bag, revealing his long, messy black hair and grey scarf. "Time is precious. Rational students would understand that."

Who the hell was this guy? The school's creepy old janitor?

"Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa. Your teacher."

Ryuko couldn't help but groan out loud. Great. So her homeroom teacher was another weirdo. She really just couldn't have a normal teacher, even at a completely different school. At least this guy wasn't going to take his shirt off. She hoped.

"Right, let's get to it," Aizawa said, pulling a blue tracksuit out of his sleeping bag. "Put these on and head outside."

"What? A quirk assessment test?" Class 1-A exclaimed in unison.

Aizawa had led them out to a large field behind the school, which was presumably where they'd be taking the test. Everyone had changed out of their school uniform and into a blue UA tracksuit. Everyone except one.

Ryuko was still wearing Senketsu, since she explained to Aizawa that she needed him as part of her quirk. Aizawa had agreed to let her wear him, saying that it was only rational to let her use her quirk on the quirk assessment test.

"But orientation! We're gonna miss it!" Uraraka protested.

"If you really want to make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies," Aizawa said. "Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit. You've been taking standardized tests all your lives, but you've never gotten to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country's still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day the ministry of education will learn."

Ryuko scoffed at that last statement. Maybe that's how things worked in Independent Japan, but Honnouji Academy was a whole different beast. Over there, the strong ruled the weak and the weak had to get strong or die trying. She wouldn't be alive if she couldn't handle herself.

"Bakugo," he said, causing the boy to perk up. "What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in junior high?"

"Sixty seven meters, I think," he grumbled.

"Right. Try doing it with your quirk," Aizawa said, tossing Bakugo a softball. "Anything goes, just stay in the circle. Go on, you're wasting out time."

"Alright man, you asked for it," Bakugo said.

He stepped into the circle calmly, as if he thought the test was a foregone conclusion. Now that Ryuko thought about it, she'd never actually seen how strong he was. He came in second place on the entrance exam, but with less than half of her villain points. Hopefully he wasn't the "all bark and no bite" type.

Bakugo warmed his throwing arm up by spinning it around a few times. When he was ready, a vicious grin formed on his face as he launched the ball, using a giant explosion from his palm to propel it.

"DIE!" he roared as the ball left his hand, soaring through the air so fast it disappeared from view.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities," Aizawa said, unfazed by what just happened. "It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero."

As the ball landed a considerable distance away, Aizawa pulled out his phone to display the result. 705.2 meters. Bakugo definitely had a pretty powerful quirk, but Ryuko was sure she could throw a whole person farther than that.

"Whoa 705 meters, are you kidding me?"

"I wanna go! That looks like fun!"

"This is what I'm talking about, using our quirks as much as we want!"

Ryuko had to admit, she was looking forward to seeing just how strong she and Senketsu had become. She might even have a little fun while she was at it. However, Aizawa's glare told her he didn't think the same.

"So this looks fun huh? You have three years to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and playtime?" Aizawa asked, not really expecting a response.

"Idiots!" he smirked. "Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately."

What the hell? She could get expelled on the first day because of some bullshit test that was probably made up right before class? Now that really set Ryuko off.

This guy was making their lives hell just because he wanted to! Sure her homeroom teacher was a weirdo and a creep, but she at least thought that she wouldn't have to deal with the "make up the rules as you go" bullshit. But no, this guy was just as bad as Satsuki Kiryuin and her lackeys!

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs! Understand? If that's a problem, you can head home right now," Aizawa said.

Uraraka stepped forward to voice her concerns, but Ryuko stopped her.

"Who the hell do you think you are, trying to send us home on the first day?" Ryuko growled. "We all passed the entrance exam and we all deserve to be here. You think that just because you have power, you can bend the rules however you want? That's not fair!"

"Oh, and you think natural disasters are?" Aizawa immediately countered. "Or power hungry villains? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No, the world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try to combat that unfairness. If you're want to be a pro, you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond, Plus Ultra style. You're gonna have to show me it's not a mistake that you're here."

Ryuko grumbled and dropped her argument. While she loathed to admit it, he had a point.

Besides, If he really was anything like Satsuki, the whole test would end up being meaningless anyway. And she wasn't Satsuki Kiryuin's arch-nemesis because she folded every time the rules were skewed against her.

"Now then, we're just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin!"

Test 1: 50-Meter Dash

Ryuko was one of the first students selected to run. And the one who would be running next to her was Tenya Iida. She grinned as they both walked up to the starting line and crouched into a sprinter's stance, eager to take the hardass down a peg.

Iida didn't pay her any attention though, only focusing on the track ahead. Ryuko briefly scowled before regaining her composure, there was no way he'd be able to ignore her after this.

"Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!"

Most of the boys (and some of the girls) looked away and blushed at the sight of her synchronized form. Most. Two boys in particular, one with yellow hair and the other with purple spheres for hair, stared right at her with drool leaking out of their mouths and blood leaking out of their noses.

Ryuko ignored them, perverts staring at her was nothing new. But what did surprise her was that Iida continued staring straight ahead at the track, as if he didn't even acknowledge her transformation.

"What's the matter? Not gonna take a peek? Or maybe you're gonna scream your head off about dress code violations?" Ryuko snarked.

"No, I would never disrespect a fellow classmate like that," Iida replied. "And if that's what it takes for your quirk to work effectively, then that's how it is."

Ryuko's expression softened. That was... actually pretty cool of him. Maybe she misjudged the guy. But right now she had to focus on the test, so she began charging up Senketsu's thrusters, while Iida did the same with the engines in his legs.

"Runners, on your mark!" the robot announced. "Ready?"

The gun fired and Ryuko took off like a rocket. Before the sound of the gunshot could even reach her classmate's ears, Ryuko skidded to a halt at the finish line.

"0.00 seconds!" the robot reported her time. Shortly afterwards, Iida crossed the finish line as well. "3.04 seconds!"

"Not so high and mighty now, are we?" Ryuko taunted.

"I admit that I made a mistake by underestimating you. I didn't expect that anyone could beat me in a sprint," Iida admitted. "While the short distance prevented me from going past third gear, I doubt I could reach speeds even close to that. I'll just have to work harder to improve myself for the next time."

Wow, he was actually pretty nice. Now Ryuko kind of felt like a jerk for how she and Bakugo treated him earlier.

"Wait, zero seconds? That's impossible!" the yellow-haired pervert exclaimed.

"It's not impossible. The timer only records up to the nearest hundredth of a second. Matoi just had to complete the sprint in under 0.005 seconds, or approximately mach thirty," Aizawa explained.

Ryuko couldn't help but smirk as her classmates' collectively dropped their jaws. If she was being honest, mach thirty sounded pretty low for what her own estimates for her speed were.

She and Iida went back to the sidelines and watched the others take the test. While no one came even close to her time, she was pretty impressed by how many of them used their quirks in creative ways.

Uraraka used her quirk to lighten her clothes and shoes, though she didn't get a great time at 7.15 seconds. Mina secreted acid from the soles of her feet to make the ground slippery, kind of like ice skating. She went alongside some French(?) kid who used his quirk, a laser from his belly button, as propulsion. He finished after Mina though, because using it "hurt his tummy". What a tool.

The final pair was Bakugo and the green-haired boy. Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself forward, pushing him off the ground almost like flight.

On the other hand, the green-haired kid... didn't really do anything. Despite winning the race, Bakugo spent the entire race glaring daggers at the boy.

Ryuko noticed it earlier in the classroom, but now it really struck her as odd. Why did Bakugo hate him so much? He seemed pretty harmless to her.

Test 2: Grip Strength

Ryuko examined the device that was used to measure their grip strength. Was this thing really supposed to be able to calculate her full strength? It seemed... flimsy.

Kirishima proudly showed off his score to Mina and a few other students, the test of pure strength being right in his wheelhouse. On the other hand, Bakugo angrily threw the device to the ground and stomped on it while telling to die because he couldn't use his quirk.

Geez, that dude seriously needed to take a chill pill.

"Wow! You hit 540 kilograms? You're such a beast!

"Yeah, like a muscley octopus!"

Hearing her classmates' comments, Ryuko looked over to see a boy with six giant arms, using all of them at once to maximize his score. Ryuko smirked. If they thought that 540 kilograms was something, then they'd love this!

"Not bad, but watch this!" she called out, everyone's attention to her.

Ryuko gripped the device in her hand and squeezed as hard as she could. The screen didn't even have enough time to change numbers before the entire device crumpled in her hand like a piece of tissue paper.

"Hey Aizawa!" she called, causing her teacher to look up from his notes. "I think I broke it," she deadpanned, holding the mangled piece of machinery up.

Test 3: Standing Long Jump

Using both Senketsu's thrusters and her own speed, Ryuko didn't just clear the sandbox, but overshot it by almost double its length. It was definitely the easiest test so far, as most of her classmates cleared it without difficulty.

One of the few who didn't was the green-haired kid, who didn't even make it halfway across before falling on his butt.

It had already been three tests and that kid hadn't even used his quirk. She recalled that using it too much hurt him, so was he saving it up for something? He had to use it eventually though, otherwise he'd end up in last place.

Test 4: Repeated Side Steps

Ryuko thought she did pretty well at the side steps, but she was beaten out by a boy less than half her height with purple balls on his head in place of hair. The boy planted a ball on each side of him and bounced himself off of them, rapidly increasing his score without any effort.

Kind of against the spirit of repeated side steps, but this was a quirk test, not a physical test.

After he finished, he sauntered over to her with the fakest smile she'd ever seen. He looked up and down her body and decided to focus on her chest. Ryuko glared daggers at the little pervert, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. He was so shameless he could have probably synchronized with Senketsu.

"I know what it feels like. Being so much better than everyone else. I'm Minoru Mineta, but you can call me your perfect man. Anyways baby, what do you say we hang out at my place after school? I can show you my... sticky balls," he tried saying in a seductive voice.

Ryuko buried his head in the dirt.

Test 5: Ball Throw

Ryuko was sure that her throw of 2,107 meters would be the farthest in the class, but again she was upstaged. This time, Uraraka had used her quirk on the ball to make it weightless. After a few minutes of waiting for the ball to descend, Aizawa held up his phone, which displayed the results as infinity. How was it even able to sense that? And was Uraraka going to release that ball?

The next student who went up to do his ball toss was the green haired boy, Midoriya. If she was being honest, Ryuko wasn't exactly sure what he was doing at UA. He still refused to use his quirk, instead choosing to rely on his less than impressive physical abilities.

Why wasn't he using his power? Even if it broke his body, he had to be able to dial it back a little. Was he trying to trick them into thinking he was weak? If that was the case he'd only end up getting himself sent home at this rate.

Midoriya took the ball in his hand, muttering incomprehensibly to himself. When he finally calmed down, he took his arm back and readied to throw the ball. As his arm moved forward to launch the ball, green lightning crackled around his arm and his veins glowed like his blood was magma.

Now that caught Ryuko's attention. She looked on, curious to see what would happen next. Was he finally going to use his power?

Right before the ball was released, the glowing stopped. The ball was tossed at an unremarkable speed, only making it a meager forty six meters. Why did it stop? Did he change his mind?

"I erased your quirk," Aizawa spoke up, answering Ryuko's question. But now his eyes were glowing red while his hair and scarf seemingly floated in the air. "The judges for this exam... were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school."

"Wait you did what to my... wait!" Midoriya exclaimed. "Those goggles! I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

While the boy seemed to recognize their homeroom teacher, none of her other classmates did. That came as a surprise to Ryuko, since she assumed they had all grown up in a hero-worshipping society. If they didn't know who he was, there was no way she would. Especially since his quirk wouldn't be useful for combating Goku Uniforms, which powered up the wearer regardless of their quirk.

"You're not ready. You don't have control over your power," Aizawa said. "Were you planning on breaking your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?"

"No! That's not what I was trying to do!" the boy protested.

Aizawa wrapped him in his scarf and reeled him in close.

"No matter what your intentions are, you'd be nothing more than a liability in battle. You have the same reckless passion as another overzealous hero I know, one who saved a thousand lives by himself and became a legend. But even with that same drive, you're worthless if you can only throw a single punch before breaking down. Sorry Midoriya, with your power there's no way you can become a hero."

So that was why he didn't want to use his power. He could only use his quirk all or nothing, meaning he'd break his bones. And if he did that, he'd be unable to compete in the rest of the tests.

While she felt her teacher may have been too harsh on Midoriya, Ryuko was inclined to agree with him. He'd be helpless in any situation requiring more than a single use of his power. Not to mention how difficult training would be if he had to break his bones every time. But that didn't mean he didn't have potential. Besides, wasn't UA supposed to help its students control their quirks?

"I returned your impractical quirk," Aizawa said. "Take your final throw. Hurry and get it over with."

Midoriya stood in the circle, looking down at his feet. Ryuko couldn't blame him, she couldn't think of a way out of his situation either. If he used his quirk, he'd be unable to continue with the rest of the test, even if he got an amazing score. But if he didn't he'd come in last place for sure. Either way he'd be sent home.

"This doesn't look good for him Ryuko," Senketsu agreed with her. "He needs to do something impressive without sacrificing his ability to compete in the other tests. If only he could hold his power back just a little."

"If he could do that, he wouldn't be in this situation right now," she pointed out.

Midoriya muttered... something under his breath and readied himself to throw. Ryuko saw the green lightning and sighed. Poor kid would just be breaking his body for nothing. He definitely had guts though, she had to give him credit for that.

"Ryuko!" Senketsu cried out to her. "Look!"

Ryuko obliged and saw that the glowing... was on his finger?

The ball rocketed from Midoriya's hand like it was shot out from a cannon, a sonic forming around it until the sound barrier broke. After the ball landed a considerable distance away, Aizawa held up his phone to display the score. 705.3 meters. Exactly ten centimeters more than Bakugo's score.

"Nice! He's finally showing us his true power!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"His finger appears to be broken," Iida pointed out. "Just like in the exam. His quirk is very odd."

Ryuko had to admit, that was pretty damn cool. He couldn't reduce his power output, so he only used the power on his finger instead, minimizing the damage to his body. It was the kind of crazy-enough-to-work stunt she and Senketsu lived for.

She wasn't the only one. In a far cry from his disdain mere seconds ago, Aizawa had a maniacal grin plastered on his face. Hell, everyone in her class was impressed. Everyone except one that was...

Small explosions popped off of Bakugo's hands, his face contorted in pure rage. Before Ryuko or any of her classmates could tell what he was about to do, he blasted off and charged straight for Midoriya.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Deku you bastard! Tell me how you did that or you're dead!"

Midoriya squeaked in terror as Bakugo closed the distance between them. The explosions on his hands grew bigger as he aimed for Midoriya's face. Right before he made contact, Bakugo was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a grey scarf.

"What the hell?" he grunted. "Why the hell is your scarf so damn strong?

"Because it's a capture weapon made out of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy," Aizawa explained, his red eyes glaring at the enraged teenager. "Stand down. It'd be wise to avoid making me use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye."

That was a shame. Seemed like a pretty big drawback for an otherwise useful quirk.

"You're wasting time. Whoever's up next can step up."

As the next student stepped up the ball toss, Ryuko had time to comprehend what just happened. Or more accurately, fail to comprehend what just happened.

Why did Bakugo get so mad after Midoriya's throw? He got pretty pissed when she beat him in the entrance exam, but this was on a different level. Obviously he didn't like Midoriya, though Ryuko couldn't fathom why, but that didn't mean he could just attack for doing a little better on some meaningless test!

No, she shouldn't judge him like that. She had no idea what was going on between Bakugo and Midoriya, and it wasn't her place to get involved in their personal business. Besides, it wasn't like she was an expert at controlling her temper either. If Satsuki Kiryuin did something that pissed her off, she'd probably do the exact same thing.

That's why they were friends after all. But something about it still left a bad taste in her mouth...

As he was released from Aizawa's capture scarf, Katsuki Bakugo was frustrated.

No, that wasn't the right word. It was more like he was fucking furious!

The most obvious thing that pissed him off was that Deku was here at UA. How the nerd managed to do it didn't matter, only that it shouldn't have happened. Katsuki was supposed to be the only one from his crappy middle school to make the big leagues. Now he had to share the spotlight with some quirkless nobody.

Just sharing a class with Deku was bad enough, but he actually had the nerve to beat him! Just weeks ago he was a quirkless loser, nothing more than an ant to crush beneath his foot. And now he was at the most prestigious hero academy in Japan, beating him with some flashy power he hid from the world until now.

Did he think he was an idiot? Just hiding his power from him, making him look like a fool? Or did Deku just not consider him worth his attention? Either way it made his blood boil. He turned to glare at Deku, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Matoi tilting her head in confusion at him.

That was the second thing that pissed him off.

She was probably asking herself why someone as amazing as him got beaten by a weakling like Deku. Looking down on him. Just thinking about it made him growl with rage.

Matoi had beaten him at every test so far, including the entrance exam. At first, Katsuki was convinced that there must have been some sort of fluke, but he couldn't claim that anymore. As he watched her crush every one of his scores, Katsuki realized that there was no way around it. She was stronger than him. He'd have to be delusional to deny it.

Damnit! It was only his first day and he was already behind! How was his quirk supposed to compete with such power?

But that was all she was. Brute strength. He still had the best quirk in the class by far and the brains to use it. His explosions could be just as powerful as her ridiculous swimsuit and were far more versatile. If it came down to it, he could stay in the air with his explosions while blinding her with his light. Matoi might be able to punch hard, but she'd be helpless in a fight against him!

Plus, he had far more precision and control with his power. Matoi was sloppy, which ended up making her lose fifty rescue points. On the other hand, Katsuki had spent years training with his quirk, meaning he wasn't docked a single point. Not to mention that he had gotten a perfect score on the written exam.

Yeah, that was it. They were still friends.

He was just better, that's all.

The next tests were nowhere near as exciting as the previous ones, with everyone passing the seated toe touch with only some minor complaints from Midoriya due to his broken finger.

Sit-ups were next, also easy.

Finally, there was the long distance run. Much to her frustration, Ryuko was once again only second best.

Sure, Senketsu easily made her the fastest student in the class by a wide margin, but she could only use that speed in incredibly short bursts. And while her stamina was nothing to sneeze at, there wasn't much she could do when her competition was riding an electric scooter.

Nearly an hour and a half into the run, the scooter finally ran out of batteries. Ryuko was sure she had it in the bag, only for the girl to literally pull another one right out of her body. That's when she called it quits.

Currently, the entire class was standing in front of a giant monitor, waiting to hear their results. Ryuko and a few others, like Bakugo and scooter girl, weren't worried at all about their scores. All three of them had finished near the top on every single test.

The other students weren't so sure. Pretty much everyone had one amazing score, but that didn't mean a lot since... well, everyone had one. Uraraka might have gotten the best score on the ball toss, but she had the worst fifty-meter dash by far.

"Alright, time to give you your results," Aizawa called over to his class, finally ready to deliver the results. "I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list, it's not worth going over each individual score."

Aizawa pressed a button on his remote, bringing up a holographic leaderboard.

Ryuko grinned at the sight of her name in first place.

"First place again! Nice job Matoi!" Kirishima complimented her.

"Seriously, you're so cool!" Mina joined in.

While her friends offered her their congratulations, Bakugo just glared at her again and sulked off. Seriously, what was his deal? He still finished near the top, it wasn't like he was going home or anything.

Speaking of that, Ryuko skimmed down the leaderboard to find the name at the bottom of the list. Izuku Midoriya. Even his impressive display at the ball toss couldn't save him. Poor kid, getting sent home on the first-

"And I was lying, no one's going home!" Aizawa said with a shit-eating grin. "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all on the tests!"

She knew it. She fucking knew it!

The rest of the class was completely still, their eyes wide open in shock. Midoriya looked like he was going to start crying tears out of pure relief.

"I'm surprised the rest of of you didn't figure that out," scooter girl said rather condescendingly. "Sorry, I probably should have said something."

Ryuko, along with several of her classmates gritted their teeth and glared at the girl. Yeah, she should have.

"That's it, we're done for the day," Aizawa said. "Pick up a syllabus in the classroom on the way out. Read it over before tomorrow morning. And Midoriya."

The boy perked up as their teacher handed him a slip of paper.

"Take this and have the old lady fix your hand up. Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared."

Tougher? Right, this wasn't even part of the official program. Ryuko groaned. At least she got through her first day at UA.

Shota Aizawa left his class, walking towards the teachers lounge after a short conversation with All Might. The Symbol of Peace was anything but subtle, and Aizawa could already tell he had an eye out for Midoriya. Which was fair, the boy showed quite a bit of potential.

Much to his surprise, everyone in his class seemed to have at least some potential. Though there were four in particular who stood out to him.

One such student was Katsuki Bakugo, the literally explosive blonde. He'd gotten second on the entrance exam and his skill with his quirk was easily among the best in the class. He wasn't just dumb muscle either. The various ways he used his quirk, such as how he flew during the fifty meter dash, took quite a lot of brains. But there was one big problem: His attitude.

Talented as he may be, his temper wouldn't endear him to the public. Endeavor was living proof of that. And that was without mentioning that he might not even find someone willing to take him on as a sidekick. Still, it was nothing UA's hero course and some maturing couldn't fix.

Izuku Midoriya was also a pleasant surprise. Aizawa had to admit, he was wrong about the boy. All Might really knew what he was talking about when he said that boy had what it took to be a hero. Not that he'd ever tell the number one hero that.

He was almost giddy, watching Midoriya take what little he could do and still come up with a creative plan to stay in the course. Though he still had a long journey ahead of him before he became a pro. While breaking a finger was preferable to breaking an arm, it wouldn't be sustainable in the long run.

One of the recommended students, Shoto Todoroki did quite well on the test too, though he wasn't nearly as creative with his quirk as Bakugo and Midoriya. He got where to where he was using the pure power of his ice alone.

Emphasis on alone. Aizawa had read his file, he knew he could produce flames too, but for some reason he chose not to. Aizawa sighed. If he thought he could be the top hero, or even just the top of UA using only half of his power, he was mistaken.

And then there was Ryuko Matoi. Aizawa took it back, lumping her in with the other three was a mistake. If they were Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist, then she was All Might. Literally impossible to surpass.

The girl was just as powerful as she was in the entrance exam, beating the rest of her class by a titanic margin. Hell, the All Might comparison might have been more accurate than just a metaphor. Of course, she had issues with respecting authority, but three years at UA would change that.

Aizawa didn't have a problem with that. What he did strike him as odd though was... pretty much everything on her file.

First of all, she was from North Kanto. One of the first territories the Kiryuins took, and one of the only regions to have never been a part of Independent Japan. Aizawa had never been there himself on account of his quirk being useless against Honnouji soldiers, but he knew that not many heroes came back in one piece.

That alone was a red flag, but according to her file, she was a transfer student Honnouji Academy. The school built at the top of a massive artificial island served as the Kiryuins' main military base and the personal hideout of Japan's most dangerous villain; Satsuki Kiryuin.

That being said, Matoi was certainly no friend of Honnouji Academy. The reason she was transferred to UA was because she was suspended indefinitely from the academy for numerous offenses, including defeating one of the Elite Four and even fighting Satsuki Kiryuin herself. That was far too high-profile to be faked for a mere spy, and Satsuki Kiryuin would never allow herself to look weak, even if it were faked.

Why send her to UA though? And more puzzling, why did Matoi agree? Aizawa didn't doubt their ability to transfer one of their students to UA, as Honnouji Academy and UA were technically at peace, but Satsuki Kiryuin was not known for being merciful. If Matoi was still alive, Satsuki must have had some use for her. On the flip side, the only reason Matoi would have agreed to transfer was if she wanted something from Satsuki, but what was it?

What was far stranger about Matoi though, was her quirk. Aizawa had seen plenty of different quirks as a hero and as a teacher, including ones that involved a special connection to another sentient being. There was even one in his class right now, Fumikage Tokoyami's Dark Shadow. But unlike Dark Shadow, which was tied to its user, Senketsu seemed to be a completely separate being from Matoi. The only thing special about her was her connection to him. And then there was the elephant in the room. Aizawa had his suspicions when he watched her during the entrance exam, but seeing her transform in person confirmed them. Senketsu was made of Life Fibers.

Aizawa was no stranger to the Life Fibers, he had to know his quirk didn't work on them somehow. The Hero Public Safety Commission had brought him in many times to see if he could disable a Goku Uniform, all with disappointing results.

However, just because he'd seen them before didn't mean he knew what they were. He'd seen a fair share of conspiracy theories online, ranging from them being the origins of quirks to aliens from outer space. It was all irrational nonsense though.

What he did know was that somehow the Kiryuins were the only ones with access to them, which allowed even their foot soldiers to hold their own against even experienced pro heroes. Flashy transformations like Matoi's were reserved for the uniforms of only their most powerful generals; the Elite Four. But none of the uniforms he'd seen could be considered alive, much less capable of speech like Matoi's file claimed. And none of the Elite Four needed quirks to interface with their uniforms.

It just didn't make sense.

Since the only thing on schedule for the first day was orientation, which they missed, Class 1-A was free to go home. Ryuko Matoi slung her guitar case over her shoulders and walked out of the classroom.

"Hey Uraraka!" she called out to her roommate. "Wanna walk home together?"

"No thanks," Uraraka politely declined. "I'm gonna go to the station with Deku for a bit! I'll catch up with you later!"

Deku? Oh right, that's what Bakugo called Midoriya. But why did Uraraka call him that?

Uraraka ran off, trying to catch up with Midoriya. She seemed really interested in that boy. Yeah, he saved her life in the entrance exam, but Ryuko couldn't help but wonder if Uraraka felt something more for him. She laughed to herself. She'd have to tease her roommate about that later.

Ryuko was walking home by herself when suddenly a pink blur jumped out from behind her. Ryuko stepped to the side, catching Mina and spinning her around before placing her on the ground

"Holy crap you didn't tell me you were that strong!" Mina exclaimed. "I mean, I saw you got first on the entrance exam and everything, but that was just ridiculous!"

"Yeah, that was some pretty awesome stuff! You were like a rocket on that speed test!" Kirishima added, having caught up to both of them. "Gotta say, I was pretty relieved that Aizawa was just lying about expelling one of us, I was terrified the whole time!"

"Yeah, it was really something," Ryuko agreed, thinking back to Aizawa's "rational deception".

Sure, she was relieved that he didn't actually expel anyone, but that didn't make what he did okay. Even if it was to ensure that everyone gave it their all, it was still manipulative and deceitful. She hated when people lied just to get something out of her, especially when they said it was for her own good.

"Well, it's not like you had anything to worry about, Miss All Might," Kirishima teased.

Ryuko chuckled at the nickname. All Might? She wanted to be modest and say that she wasn't that strong, but she stopped herself. Kirishima had a point. The man himself said that she had beaten his score on the entrance exam in terms of combat points.

He was also known for his legendary fights agains the forces of Honnouji Academy, not unlike her own misadventures for the past month. And while their costumes couldn't have been more different, their powers were actually pretty similar.

Maybe one day they'd even get to fight to see who was stronger.

But that would be a long way off. She still had tomorrow to worry about.

A/N: Finally, the last of the rewritten chapters! This one wasn't as bad as the first three, but it was still a little on the short side.

Next chapter will be the battle trial and the first actual fights of the series! Also, I wonder how much longer Ryuko and Bakugo's friendship will last...