The next morning had been a bit of a rush for Izuku. Ten months of working on Toshinori's plan had pretty much conditioned him to wake up early and get a head start on his day and... well, considering how much work he still had to go, it seemed prudent to keep up with the routine. So he got up, quietly maneuvered around the students in the main hall so as not to risk waking them (since by the looks of it, it seemed like he was the only one up right then) and quickly changed into his workout clothes.

Running had felt... a lot different with Aura, he realized. He he hadn't been a slouch without it, by the end of the ten months he could pretty much sprint for almost a mile before easing into a hard jog. However, after having attained Aura...it felt almost comical that he had ever held that as being a 'good' point for his running. He feltl the energy of the Aura, his... or maybe Toshinori's, soul power through his muscles, keeping them refreshed and from falling to fatigue as he sprinted around campus. He kept at a hard pace in order to try to get some burn out of his morning run and, after a while, he eventually felt it. Eventually he noticed that someone else seemed to be out and running as well; an overweight man with grey hair and a mustache who ran even faster than he was around the campus. Izuku waved and the man waved back, saying something about the boy 'putting on a good show' or something like that before sprinting off. The man ended up lapping Izuku several times as eventually his own Aura couldn't prevent his muscles from feeling sore. It was a strange and wonderful feeling all wrapped up into one when he felt his Aura poured into his aching muscles, slowly but surely easing the soreness and helping them rebuild faster and stronger.

'Man, was this what I've been missing out on all these years?'

As Izuku came to a stop, finally exhausted after all that running, he was surprised to realize that he'd been at it for a few hours. He heard a message ring out over the intercom system signaling that breakfast had just broken out and, with a bit of a jump, he ran to get himself some food. According to the schedule for the days events he realized that it wouldn't be too long after 'breakfast' that they'd all be expected to go out to the meeting place for Beacon's Initiation. Izuku decided that it was probably a good idea to grab a quick breakfast and then sneak in a shower before the test proper began. He hadn't wanted to go to the test smelling like a sweaty sock, after all. He grabbed a change of clothes to bring with him to the shower... he'd rather not risk the possibility that there would already be people in the locker room when he was done. Having walked around in just his t-shirt and shorts had been more than enough for him; walking around in just a towel would've been a step too far. He decided to bring a change of workout clothes, just in case the test included some sort physical activity.

As Izuku exited the shower room, dressed in what he had brought and finishing off drying his wild head of green hair, he looked around the locker room and noticed that everyone seemed to be filtering in to get their change of clothes and gear. Thankfully it seems like most everyone had already changed, be still his beating heart, and it seemed like everyone was going to be taking their weapons just in case. Probably not a bad idea all things considered; even if the Initiation has no use for them, better to be prepared.

As he walked along to his locker, he noticed a few groups of people, and some individuals scattered off by themselves, around the locker room. They all had a bit of time before they had to go to the meeting place so Izuku decided that maybe hanging out wouldn't be a bad idea.

He slapped himself on the cheeks a couple of times trying his best to psyche himself up... and found that it didn't really work out all that well. Honestly, he had probably done more harm than good to his own nerves by pointing out what exactly it was he needed to do and how he could have messed it all up and how-

'Okay, that's the point.' He shook his head a bit and looked around, trying to decide on who to speak with. He saw a lot of faces that, by then, were familiar and still quite a few that weren't. Not surprising; considering all the students in the Main Hall the last evening, it had only made sense that he hadn't exactly had the time to get to know 'everyone' taking the Initiation. Still, seeing as how Yang and Ruby seemed to be going through their own issues at that moment, he decided to go look for some folks who were a little more... at ease. After a bit, he smiled as he saw Pyrrha and Weiss, the two in a small group with two guys he'd spotted around those past two days. Pyrrha had a polite smile on her face and Weiss had a polite, if slightly excited, grin on her features. As he approached, Izuku took notice of the fact that Weiss' excitement was... probably a little more heavy than he initially realized from back where he was standing. Meanwhile Pyrrha's polite smile while present seemed a bit... forced?

Before he could rethink actually approaching their group, Pyrrha spotted his approach and her face immediately split into a grin "Oh, Izuku! Hello! Good to see you!"

It was too late to back out at that point. So instead he just smiled nervously and waved back as he approached the group of four. Weiss seemed surprised by his sudden arrival and the two young men, one of them the blue haired young man with glasses and the other guy with red and white hair and, he suddenly noticed, a huge scar over the left side of his face, turned to see his approach.

"Ah, Miss Nikos, do you know this young man?" The guy with glasses opened, re-adjusting his spectacles as he turned to Izuku before... he didn't even know how to describe what glasses did next. His hand motions and posturing was actually a bit jarring at first as his movements caught Izuku a bit off guard. They hadn't been overly energetic and they were not random but... well, there was a surprising amount of 'oomph' behind each movement. "I had assumed that he was a fan that was approaching our conversation in order to bother you. Was I mistaken?" He said, having once again started the gesturing. The other guy with the scar just seemed to be watching Izuku carefully as Pyrrha Nikos shook her head.

"Oh no, not at all! We actually met last night; I can assure you he wouldn't do such a thing."

"Y-Yeah..." He stammered out a bit, caught slightly off-guard by the guy's wild gestures. "I just saw Pyrrha and Weiss and thought I'd come over, say hi and introduce myself to a couple more people... sorry if I'm interrupting."

"You... are interrupting a little, but I suppose I've gotten the meat of our discussion out of the way." Weiss responded, seeming a little flustered at first before smiling. "We were discussing the possibility of the four of us coming together to form a team." Izuku perked up a bit at that.

"Oh? That's pretty cool; I imagine you're pretty good with Dust Weiss and from what Pyrrha's told me she's a really versatile fighter." Indeed, his thoughts from the night before ran through his head... though, not knowing who the other two are had hampered his ability to judge how they'd fit in.

Weiss nodded, a bit amused. "I'd say that's underselling Pyrrha Nikos' level of skill. After all, she was the Mistral Regional Champion four years in a row."

He just kind of stared blankly as he slowly nodded. He tried to not seem like he was brushing off an accomplishment, winning any kind of championship was probably really impressive, but... well, he didn't actually know what the Mistral Regional was. Having seen the look on his face, Weiss' expression slowly dropped.

"You can't tell me you don't know what that is or who Pyrrha Nikos is." She said while glancing over to Pyrrha and seeing... well, a very odd expression on her face (for someone who wasn't having either herself or her accomplishments be recognized, she seemed oddly cheerful), he just shrugged at Weiss.

"She graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum Academy!"

"Oh wow, really? That's really impressive Pyrrha, Sanctum's supposed to be the top Primary Combat School in Mistral." Pyrrha nodded, that seeming like an accomplishment she was mildly proud of, before she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"A portion of my grades were helped by those... tournament wins and the fame that came with them, but I did work very hard to accomplish that." Izuku nodded his head as Pyrrha spoke, Weiss sighed a bit as she nodded.

"Jeez, the only thing you know much about is huntsmen stuff, isn't it?" The glasses wearing boy seemed mildly interested by that while the guy with the scar seemed... nervous? Maybe not the right word but he didn't seem eager about that bit of information.

"I see, very interesting. So you're well informed as to Hunters and their craft then?" The blue haired boy spoke with those odd gestures again but Izuku nodded your head.

"Yeah, I've made sure to study all of that pretty hard so I could be prepared for when I come to Beacon." The blue haired young man nodded as he re-adjusted his glasses, and while he seemed just as mechanical in his mannerisms, his voice had lost any of the animosity that previously existed.

"I see, a very wise course of actions. Preparation is a very key aspect of being a Huntsman, after all." The young man turned his head a bit toward the other young man before looking at Midoriya again. "Pardon us, we know your name thanks to Miss Nikos but I haven't introduced myself and neither has our other acquaintance here. I am Tenya Iida and this is-"

"Shoto Todoroki." The young man spoke for himself before Tenya could step in, seeming a bit bothered with having this bit of information brought forward.

Izuku's throat went dry almost immediately as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets... okay, not really, but it felt pretty close! Tenya Iida, most likely of the Iida family, the famous group of engineers who over the past several decades have been making strides in Huntsmen tech up in Atlas! The same family that produced excellent Huntsmen, even before the profession was revitalized by Toshinori! And Shoto Todoroki... there was no way, it had to be 'that' Todoroki if Weiss was making a big deal out of the four of them forming a team. He had to be related to, and most likely the son of, Enji Todoroki, the second greatest Hunter currently living!

"H-H-Holy..."

'Hey fanboy, calm down, don't nerd out on me here!' Once more Toshinori's voice rang out in his head, the will of his hero acting as his conscience as it slapped him upside the head mentally, which Izuku had been quick to shake off.

'Come on, this was way too cool! Two of the most prestigious Hunter families in all of Remnant represented here, in your class, at Beacon Academy! That way too awesome, after all, the Iida family-'

'I SAID KNOCK IT OFF!' Izuku coughed into his fist as he finally regained his composure.

"Uh... woah, that's... that's pretty cool. It's great to meet you both!" Despite how hard he had tried to hold himself together, his enthusiasm was readily apparent to them still. Their reactions, however, were probably far more muted than what would have occurred if he did freak out as he had felt incoming; Shoto seemed a bit bothered with being so obviously recognized and while Tenya had seemed pretty proud of the recognition, but it wasn't as extreme as it might had been. Pyrrha, from her position behind the two, seemed to be nodding at Izuku in approval, a gesture quickly matched by Weiss Schnee. It would've been terribly impolite to just suddenly freak out in front of two acquaintances, after all, and not fanboying out had probably left a great deal of pressure off of Shoto's shoulders.

All in all, he considered that a success...

Though it had been becoming increasingly worrisome that somehow Toshinori had become the voice of his conscience. Ten months of following his workout plan to the letter would do that though...

After that display, the conversation returned to Weiss' previous topic. "At any rate, I assume that you can see now why this team, if made, would be formidable. Between my own combat skills and prowess with Dust and the Schnee Family Semblance, Pyrrha's combat skills and, as you said, versatile weapon set, the Iida genius when it comes to engineering hunter weapons, gear and armor and the pure prowess of the Todoroki line, we'd be an unstoppable force, easily the top of the class here at Beacon!" Weiss seemed to realize that she got a little over-excited as she said this as everyone else in the group had given her a slightly odd look. Except for Iida.

"Indeed! When I had heard this offer from Miss Schnee I too was quite intrigued. A group like this would be a very powerful team of Hunters, a lot of good work could be done if we did end up working together." It seemed as though the reason why Tenya hadn't been bothered was because, in his own way, he was excited about the prospect as well... or at least, his gestures seemed excited while his tone of voice maintained its very put together structure.

Though, having looked at Pyrrha and Shoto, he could tell that the former was... not exactly as thrilled as the other two were and that Shoto seemed more annoyed by the repeated mentions of his family. A small frown formed on Izuku's face after realizing this.

As Iida said that, Izuku couldn't help but bring his hand up to his lip again, a gesture he himself was starting to recognize as his thinking posture, as he took a moment to consider it.

"Well... I mean, maybe?" Tenya and Shoto seemed a bit surprised by this response before Izuku reached into the suitcase containing his weapons. He pulled out Huntsman Analysis For The Future Volume 13., at the time his latest and the one he tried to bring everywhere just in case he found something new to take notes on, and produced a pencil from one of his pockets. "Well, what can you two do? What are your powers and abilities?" Weiss, Iida and Shoto all seemed surprised by this gesture, having expected him to just follow up with their family's reputation in coming to an answer.

Only Pyrrha seemed to have expected this sort of response and, from what he could tell, she definitely approved.

"Ah, yes, of course. I suppose it would be odd to not ask that when thinking about our team dynamic." Tenya quickly straightened himself back out as he re-adjusted his glasses. "For myself, well, I follow the Iida model of Hunters quite faithfully; I've designed and seen crafted a set of armor that at several points is powered by Dust in various ways. As it has been with my brother and our father before him, so on, the main feature are engines placed in the back of the legs that works off of a combination of a combustion-engine run on Fire Dust in controlled quantities while keeping a Ice Dust radiator built in to ensure that it doesn't overheat."

Izuku did his best to recall his notes he'd previously taken on Tensei Iida, at the time the senior most Hunter in that family. As he worked on his notes on Tenya, the group of four leaned over Izuku's shoulder to look at what he had been doing. Tenya and Shoto seemed quite surprised, as does Weiss, while Pyrrha just watched from the back.

As ever, Izuku's art itself... wasn't great but it got the point across and the notes he had taken were thorough based on what he knew about the Iida family and what Tenya himself had told him about his skills.

"You have an Aura right? Any Semblance?" Tenya shook his head.

"I'm afraid not; while our family does produce a strong Aura, our line hasn't been one favorable to manifesting a Semblance. It's why we've made it our focus to enhance our abilities through our armor and technological prowess." Tenya adjusted his glasses after he saw Izuku nod and continue to jot down notes.

"... Ice Semblance. I'm capable of creating it with a very limited amount of Dust through my Aura. I also have significant control over it," Izuku actually paused in taking his notes, having finished with Tenya's and moved on to getting ready for Shoto, as he raised his head curiously. While Izuku had asked, he'd taken Shouto's silence as him declining to give information. The look he was giving Izuku was a bit odd as he recorded this information but he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, Izuku asked more questions.

"Ice? Not fire?" Shoto seemed to have expected it but doesn't seem annoyed.

"I... can." It's clear he'd rather not talk about it...

Considering Izuku hadn't probed much into Pyrrha either, he just decided to put off a section to the side about how he 'might' have Enji's Semblance...

"Wait, a dual Semblance? Wow that's really lucky!" Again, it was as if he expected it though, this time, he didn't seem as nonplussed. He actually did seem rather annoyed.

"Yeah." That's all that was said as Izuku cautiously went back to his notes. The green-haired huntsman-to-be asked Shouto for a little bit more detail on how much ice he was able to create and how much Dust the process required, which turned out a lot for a little, before finishing off that section of his notes.

"My goodness, this is... quite prodigious! There's even notes here on things I didn't tell you fully about!" As Tenya said that, Izuku blushed a bit as he scratched his cheek, his eyes darting away from the suddenly quite enthusiastic young man.

"Well... given what you said, I thought I could recall some notes I'd taken on Tensei Iida before and use it to supplement." Tenya nodded quite enthusiastically as Izuku said this, Shoto just looked at his own page in the notebook with a bit of interest.

"... Wait, hold on, Volume 13.? You have twelve other volumes with information like this?" Weiss, from her position, had seen the cover of Izuku's notebook as she looked over at him with keen interest. He nodded again as he looked off to the side.

"Y-Yeah... growing up I wasn't exactly-" Fit to be a huntsman in any way shape or form because he was Broken, "-the strongest guy or the fastest... but I thought that if I studied hard and especially took note of how other Huntsmen did things, what practices worked and what strategies were effective, then maybe I could learn something that'd help me make up for that difference... still do, in a way." He admitted rather cautiously as-

"A fine way to prepare yourself for the career of being a Hunter!" He was a bit surprised when Tenya loudly declared that. "Learning as much as you can and attempting to apply the best of that knowledge is a fine way of making sure you're prepared for any situation! It shows a great deal of tenacity and dedication and a strong work ethic."

Oh wow, that really got him blushing. He never really heard anyone actually 'compliment' his practice of taking such prodigious notes. He was pretty well scoffed at before... but, again, back then he didn't even have an Aura or a semblance, so it made more sense. Still, to get praise...

"Indeed. You weren't kidding when you said you were working hard to be here." Weiss added approvingly.

-it was really something else.

"A-A-Anyway... given all of your individual talents, I do think you guys would be a pretty strong team. While Pyrrha's capabilities at way long range would be limited to her bolt-action rifle, it would provide you with options at that kind of a distance. She's additionally be able to join Weiss and Shoto at mid-range where your combined abilities with Dust would make for a lot of battlefield control, especially if you two worked in tandem. If Tenya's armor can stand up to a lot of punishment then especially with the mobility those leg engines would give him he would be able to do a lot in close-range skirmishes, along with Pyrrha when using her sword and shield combination. You all wouldn't lack for options, that's for certain." Izuku looked up with a small grin. "I... really don't do grading that often, you can never tell how a team will work till it's out there because of how individuals may act or react... but I'd say this could easily be a good team. I guess, maybe an 8 or 9 out of 10?"

"I think that is quite the reasonable analysis." Weiss said, clearly pleased with so much thought having been put behind her idea. Still, before she could continue, Pyrrha seemed to step forward a bit.

"You talk about us as individuals, Izuku and how we may act or react, how do you mean?" He looked to Pyrrha with a bit of an odd expression, frowning slightly as he scratched the side of his head with the pencil he produced.

"Well I mean what I say. Nothing about your individual skills tells me about how all these abilities would work in tandem. Maybe it'd be as smooth as silk like with a lot of other Beacon teams or maybe there's something I'm not seeing. Your family's reputations, your skills and how nice you all are can tell me a lot but... well, I can only really guess up until I see how you all work as individuals and in a team."

"... I agree." Shoto surprised everyone by speaking up, the half-and-half young man staring at Izuku even as he spoke to the rest of the group. "Assuming that we'd work well together or that we'd be formidable just off of reputation and our names alone assumes a lot based on a little. This is why we have an Initiation in the first place; so that our abilities as individuals and their merits can be tested before we're allowed to go on as Hunters-in-Training." Weiss seemed about ready to open up her mouth to counter... but she paused. She looked over to Izuku and he saw a bit of thought pass through her eyes. She sighed a bit as she reaches up to rub at her forehead.

"Yes... assuming something or going just off someone's family name and reputation... perhaps isn't the best way to go about things." Weiss almost seemed sheepish as she said this and Izuku recalled their conversation from the day before. He shrugged it off though; after all, he was pretty much just as excited as she seemed when he realized who Tenya and Shoto were.

"Hmmm, I can see the wisdom in this." Tenya relented as he re-adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps I myself was a bit... overeager. An oversight that I shall have to keep an eye out for in the future." Pyrrha nodded in ready agreement.

"I think that we should focus first on the Initiation... and just let the chips fall where they may." Before he could give his own two cents, an announcement rang out over the intercom system.

"Prospective Students, noon approaches. Please make your way to the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest for your Initiation Exam." Pyrrha smiled slightly as she closed her nearby locker.

"Sounds like we were all right to have our gear ready after all." She noted as the rest of the group nodded in agreement. As they made to depart Izuku informed them, and the rest of the acquaintances he had made, that he would be at the cliffs shortly as soon as he put on his own weapons.

As the room emptied out, it allowed him a moment to think... for all this talk of teams and how they would be organized, he hadn't given too much serious thought to how he would want his own team put together. He had said that he'd be fine with anyone who was nice and he could get along with but... well, surely it'd be nice to be on a team with people he knew? Or who knows, maybe the excitement of being around whole new folks appealed would appeal to him? After all, that's part of why he was at Beacon; to reinvent himself. To make himself the sort of person who could be a hero like Toshinori.

To be the kind of person he always dreamed. A Huntsman that could save people, and inspire them, with a smile on his face.

He was ripped from these thoughts as he realized he had been daydreaming. He needed to hurry if he was going to make it to the cliffs on time.

'Okay. Oooookay. Deep breaths Izuku, you got this. Today... today's the day. You're finally going to be a Huntsman... in-training, sure, but a Huntsman! This is it, all you have to do is pass whatever test this is and you'll be a hero!'

He slapped himself to try and steady his nerves as he stood on a... rather odd looking platform. When he and his fellow students had made their way out of the main Beacon campus and out towards the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest, he hadn't quite known what to expect. It had become more and more clear that the Initiation would involve no exam, such that he took in Combat School, and instead would be some kind of practical exercise. This had made him a wee bit nervous, considering the fact that he only actually had his Aura unlocked and One For All given to him a couple days ago, but still, that didn't matter. If this was what he needed to do, he'd do it! This wouldn't be enough to make him nervous on its own!

... What was enough was the fact that he and several other students were now lined up in front of Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch, the pair of seasoned Hunters evaluating all of them, while Izuku and his fellow students stood on slightly elevated platforms, almost like marble statues being evaluated by two collectors of fine art. Glynda... she seemed conflicted when she saw Izuku. She sent some kind of harsh look Ozpin's way before returning a look to Izuku, while still colored by her stoic nature, seemed oddly... sympathetic? Ozpin on the other hand just looked Izuku over, offering a small smile, before moving on. It was... weird, and it threatened to send his knees shaking again but Izuku managed to lock them into place.

Finally, Ozpin and Glynda stopped in the middle of the pack of students, still looking over all of the students, before Ozpin spoke up.

"For years, all of you have been training to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." Glynda followed the Headmaster of the Academy, a tablet held in her arm as she scanned the small crowd of students. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Well... okay. That really wasn't unexpected, he guessed. I mean, it had been fairly clear that all of them would be getting partners and teammates once they passed Initiation. Yeah, he didn't really see what's to be worried-

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you work well." Ozpin took a slow sip of his coffee upon saying this, before he turned his attention back to them all. "That being said; the next person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

...

...

...

"WHAT!?" Surprisingly, Izuku had not been the only one to shout that out of surprise. Quite a few other students, including, he'd wager a guess, Ruby Rose, seemed to share his misgivings. He could faintly hear Pyrrha mutter 'Well what do you know, it is random...' somewhere down the line, while another girl told someone that she knew it all along. 'That. THAT is how the GREAT BEACON ACADEMY chooses partner pairs? That's even worse than it just being random! So what, if you just so happened to land next to someone you wouldn't get along well with you were just doomed to have a bad time here at Beacon?'

Nervously he looked down the line and spotted Kacchan... and Kacchan spotted him too.

If Kaachan could have made Izuku explode, Izuku was fairly certain he would've. He quickly decided to stop looking at him and looked back toward Ozpin.

"After you partner up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Now, while you will be monitored and graded along the way, the goal of your Initiation is to find an abandoned temple at the end of your path; within it are several relics. Each partner pair must choose one, guard it and return to the top of the cliff with it to successfully pass Initiation. As such, you aren't being graded on the number of Grimm you can kill. Destroy what stands in your way of course, they will kill you if you don't-" The matter of fact way Ozpin said that caused a nervous lump to form in Midoriya's throat, "-but don't let yourselves get bogged down. The Emerald Forest is quite large and dangerous... and you do have a time limit." Ozpin twirled his cane around and pointed it to the sun, set high in the sky above them. "Currently, it is noon. At sundown, the test will conclude... students who remain within the forest, relics in hand or not, will fail Beacon's examination. Instructors will not interfere in the exam and will only enter the forest once night has fallen to collect wayward students.

"Now, are there any questions?"

'Any questions?!' Izuku first asked in his mind, then screamed silently, 'ANY QUESTIONS?! Why is your school being run like this?! How do you not have massive lawsuits from parents year after year because of this!? HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY DIED?! ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS?! HOLY WOAH, WERE TOSHINORI AND ENJI REALLY JUST BLIND LUCK?! HOW ARE WE ALL EXPECTED TO GET DOWN THE-'

*Click-Click-CLUNK!*

Izuku was pulled from his mild panic attack by an unusual sound. He looked around for the origin of it, and looked down to his left, where he saw one of the platforms fling itself up to the sky… and the student who had been standing on it sail into the forest. He just stared at it for a moment… processing what he just saw.

'Oh… ,' he just… stared, 'Oh. Well, that was one question answered, at least.'

'... '

'WHAT?!'

"I'd suggest you come up with your landing strategy quick young man, you are coming up very soon." Izuku turned his gaze over to Ozpin as he heard platform after platform launch student after student into the Emerald Forest.

'Okay, okay!' he slammed his palms onto his cheeks, trying to reorient himself, 'You can do this! You can totally do this! Just... just calm down and think,' after a moment, he felt the panic… well not die, but at least subside ',Huntsmen and Huntresses do this kind of stuff all the time. Heck, you did a whole lot of physical activity in Combat School to prep for situations like these... granted they took it easy on you because hey, no Aura, but still! You just... just need to calm down and think.'

The world seemed to disappear, and for a second, he was back in control.

'Okay! It's okay! There's no need to panic! There's no need to panic! There's no need to-'

*Click-Click-*

'PANIC, NOW IS THE TIME TO-'

*CLUNK*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Izuku was immediately sent flying through the air and all thoughts scattered from his mind. He had had numerous drills in Combat School, but none had ever been this intense!

Part of that was, he knew, not wanting to kill students but the other part was that he hadn't been able to handle it in his previous state, something like this would have cracked him open like an egg. Now here he was, his second day with Aura and attempting to get into Beacon, and he was soaring through the air like a bullet! He barely even had time to fully comprehend just how fast he was going up and out before he hit the peak of his arc, slowed down a bit...

'I don't think I was this high off the ground when I was on the airship,' He observed, almost enjoying the weightlessness.

… and then promptly began falling down that same arc toward the ground! As he looked through the air he spotted numerous fellow prospective students around him, all employing various strategies to soften their fall and hit the ground safely. And yet for all of that, he couldn't see how he could possibly slow down his own fall. He gripped his fist, not really wanting to wast-

*KRACK-KOW*

An all too familiar sound dragged him out of his panic and forced him to spin in the air to try and get a good look at it. After a couple failed attempts... he saw it. Yang Xiao Long had been falling towards the ground and, unlike him, did nothing to slow her momentum No, she was practically sky-diving toward the ground... and then he saw what the sound was before. Rearing her fists back, Yang fired out her shotgun bracers to... to...

Izuku's green eyes immediately went wide in realization.

She was using the recoil from her shotgun blasts in order to affect her momentum in the air and change her direction on the fly! Slowing herself down and making sure she was on course to land where she wanted! He immediately reached around his body, tripping the safeties on all four of his shotguns as he punched and kicked out in mid-air, Mecha-Shifting the mechanisms and shotguns into place as he did so. 'Alright! So... so maybe I've never done this before! Maybe someone else has more experience with it... but I'm pretty good with a Shotgun myself thanks to my training.'

And Yang just showed him how to use these...

'I CAN DO THIS!'

The first two shots were almost experimental: He threw his fists out in front if him in the hope that it would at least stop his spinning and let him actually think for a moment. One arm flailed uselessly to the side as it almost sent him sideways, but his other managed to do what he wanted... somewhat. Deciding that he had four shotguns for a reason, he decided to kick out both feet next. The shotgun mechanism triggered early on one, which threatened to send him tumbling head over heels again but his other shot fired true; His momentum and spin was reduced as he managed to kick out right in front of his trajectory arc, which pushed him away from it. It wouldn't be long before simple gravity put him right back at that speed so he kept going; forgoing going one limb at a time that point.

Izuku took careful aim and fired out all four of his limbs at once; his right arm was a bit off but the rest of his shots more than made up for it, slowing him down and softening his trajectory even further. Finally, with a great yell, he pulled back both his arms and both legs and threw them forward with a great deal of force. All four shotguns went off simultaneously in the same direction and, that time, he could actually stop to 'feel' what exactly he'd accomplished. He had managed to slow his momentum tremendously, but he was still falling pretty fast. If he were to hit the ground like that maybe, just maybe, with a good roll and his Aura he'd be able to absorb the hit without actually hurting himself but...

Before he could give that more thought, a whistling sound hit his ear. Looking toward the source, his eyes immediately went wide when he saw, out of nowhere...

"HOLY WOAH, WHERE IS THAT JAVELIN COMING FROM?!" He almost panicked and tried to throw himself through the air to avoid it before a thought hit him... the spear and it's color scheme, it...

Operating more on gut instinct than on rational thought, probably a result of all the adrenaline running through him at that moment, Izuku reached and grabbed for the spear. Perhaps if he could just grasp the shaft…

He caught it, and then found himself being pulled along by the spear's momentum and its trajectory rather than his own. He'd been a lot closer to the tree line than he had been at the top of his arc and, looking forward, he could see that the spear was carrying him toward a tree.

'If I'm right,' he thought, ' and Pyrrha did throw this, her intention was probably to help out by interrupting the fall to the ground and securing me to the tree,' he gritted his teeth as he tensed his body to absorb the upcoming shock of the stop as he heard the spear impact against the tree with a mighty 'thud'.

... Izuku hadn't even really felt it all that much in the end. His green eyes cracked open cautiously as he looked around and, before he knew it, a wide smile had plastered itself on his face! He was hanging from Pyrrha's spear, itself embedded in the tree quite firmly, just a couple dozen feet off the ground! He hadn't 'totally' landed yet... but... but...

"I did it!" He allowed yourself a minor celebration as he shouted out, almost delirious laughter ringing out as he hung from the spear. Looking out in the vague direction he thought the spear had come from, he shouted as best as he could, "THANK YOU!"

"... I'm sorry!..."

"No, really, thank you!" He looked down to the ground and take a breath. Now all there was to do was climb down... at this point he was kind of wishing he'd actually done a bit more of that, but hey, how hard could it be to climb down a normal tree? Before Izuku did so, he stopped, pondered there for a moment, then slapped his forehead before reactivating the safeties on his gauntlets and boots... trying to climb this thing would be for nothing if a wrong move triggered his shots and blew him off, after all.

He wrapped his legs around the trunk of the tree as best as he could and secured his hand. As soon as he let go of the spear to try and see if he had a secure grip his smile widened. He in fact did have a secure grip!

He reached a hand up and grab Pyrrha's spear and, after a bit of a struggle, he managed to pop it out of the tree. The additional weight had almost ended up ripping him from his tenuous grip on the tree but he let the weapon fall to the ground before it did. The spear managed to land tip first and firmly root itself, the drop having not been that far at all for something so sturdy. With that, he set about climbing down the tree with little rush; it hadn't been that far down to the ground and it wasn't long before he touched the ground. Izuku resisted the urge to lean over and kiss the ground after his harrowing journey through the air, but the urge was there.

'Okay,' he thought as he began to step away from the tree, 'I'll find Pyrrha and return her spear. Even if she has her own part-'

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

He heard a was the only reason, he thought, that he ended up knowing something was coming for him. He gulped as the sound began to get louder, knowing from months of study exactly what that rather distinctive canine tone meant.

He turned around and saw them; three Beowolves.

'They must've followed the sounds I made,' Izuku almost felt like swearing. The three slowly stalked about him as all three glared hatefully with their glowing, red eyes. A breath caught in his throat...

'So this is it,' he felt his fist tighten, 'Aside from that fateful day… I've never actually seen a Grimm up close like this before... this... this is going to be my first fight against them,' and, to his own surprise, he felt his spine harden to steel, 'My first real chance to show that I can be a Huntsman!'

Izuku slowly, so as not to cause them to immediately charge at him, tripped the safeties on his shotguns before getting into a crouch, bringing his fists up into his stance as he stared each of the three monsters dead in the eyes. In the peripheral of his vision, he could tell he was deep in the Emerald Forest; a tree was to his back and several others surrounded this small clearing.

He clenched and unclenched his fists, taking a deep breath. It was barely noticeable, but it was there... he was faster than them. His training with Toshinori has at least ensured that. Still, he was outnumbered and while Beowolves might not be the strongest Grimm, they were still Grimm. They were still deadly...

He took a deep breath as you wriggled his fingers in his gauntlets, a plan forming in his mind. There was no need to rush for them; they would come to you. He tensed his body up, keeping his back to the tree to keep the Grimm from trying to swarm him. His right arm was cocked and ready to go, ready to punch the first Grimm that got close enough for him to do so.

He didn't have to wait long; young Grimm and young Beowolves especially have never been known for their patience. The trio of Grimm charged, claws at the ready as they dashed and looked to tear him to ribbons. He took a long, steadying breath as they approached.

'I can do this… I've been training your entire life for this!' Izuku looked forward, his eyes clear, 'This is my dream!'

"AAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!"

With those thoughts in mind Izuku roared with a mighty yell fierce enough to match the howls of the Beowolves as he reared a fist back and launched it forward. His aim was true and while the Beowolf attempted to sidestep it mid-charge, the beasts dodge was for naught as Izuku's fist collided with the center of its mass. The Beowolf was stopped near-dead in its track as, with that motion, the shotgun in his arm triggered, sending a blast of pellets into the form of the Grimm.

Despite the directness of the hit… it did not actually seem all that effective. But Izuku was not surprised. Weapons like guns were meant to cause grievous injury by piercing the skin and hitting vital organs, something the Grimm hadn't possessed. His shotgun pellets, while dangerous, didn't inflict the damage they could on a normal target. Still, they were capable of doing more than he was on his own, so it would have to be enough for now!

The Beowolves growled as they attempted to attack him back. The first, having been struck by his attack, missed wildly, the force of the blow having knocked it off balance. The third also misses, Izuku's move to attack its brethren having dodged him out of the arc of its attack. The second wolf, however, aimed its strike true and, despite Izuku's best attempt, Izuku couldn't dodge while he was so far extended. It struck him across the side and he almost made to scream in pain... but didn't. He could practically 'feel' it. He could feel his soul reach out to defend him from the blow, both entirely rebuffing some of the hit and then absorbing the rest. He felt just the slightest bit more winded from it, but...there was no pain.

'So this is what it means to have Aura,' he thought, and for a second, a slight giddiness appeared in his heart.

Still, having Aura wouldn't have meant anything if they keep getting hits on him! He had to put them down! He refused to die here! He once again reared back his fist and launched it forward, aiming a blow at the Beowolf he'd already damaged. The Grimm tried to dodge again but it just couldn't avoid the hit as Izuku pounded his fist into its chest, the shotgun once again roaring aloud as it fired right into the Grimm. Izuku saw the monstrous Beowolf stumble for a moment before it fell onto its back; unnatural as they are, enough punishment could even force a Grimm to blackout under the right amount of pressure.

Izuku saw... something in the other two Beowolves eyes. A glint of an emotion. Anger? Fury? Frustration? It was hard to tell with the Grimm. But one thing he knew for certain was that they both reared back, roared, and came at him with a sudden ferocity he hadn't been expecting. They attacked at once and while he tried to dodge one of their blows, its claws dug into his Aura again, far more violently than it had previously. He gritted his teeth as he felt further exhausted from the hit, but he kept his focus. As the other Grimm brought its paw around to strike at Izuku, he slapped it away at the last second, the attack going off to the side as he found yourself within the Grimm's guard.

The brawl, for that's all this fight between a young inexperienced graduate of a combat school and three juvenile Grimm could hope to be, raged on, the force of Izuku's yells and the howls of the Grimm lightly echoing through the nearby forest forest. Fists flew and claws attempted to slice into flesh as the battle continued. Izuku's next punch missed its mark completely, and it cost him dearly; the Grimm counterattack and reached down to rip at him. His Aura offers what protection it can and, thankfully, one of the Grimm claws barely manages to scratch it, while the other did significant harm. Izuku felt like half his strength from the beginning of the fight had been sapped, but he kept powering on regardless! He couldn't let them get to him! He had to hit them where it hurt!

The next two seconds were a blur, a whirling vortex of fur, fists, claws and his sweat as he danced around the Grimm and they danced around him. He manage to pull his head out of wherever it had been the previous second and connected his first punch into the second Beowolf. It howled loudly, even he was able to tell he did a lot there. For a moment, it even looked like it would collapse back with its brethren... but the monster persevered and came back to try to attack him. It almost did but he parried its blow, sending its claw careening into that of its brother's, which caused it to miss Izuku wildly. Not messing around he went in for another blow and found that it too hit true! That time the Grimm didn't merely collapse into unconsciousness; the fist tore through its torso and it began to dissolve.

The... the first Grimm he'd ever killed.

The first Grimm he had ever killed.

He'd done it.

He didn't have time to think on that as the third Beowolf immediately turned on him to try and strike him. He, however, managed to slap its paw away once again, grinding his teeth together as he prepared for the next flurry of blows. he stopped though; he had run out of shotgun shells in his gauntlets. However, that thought was only a momentary distraction; if he couldn't hit it from there, then he would just have to hit it with his legs!

Perhaps it was the fact that it was the last of the three that had come for him. Perhaps it was just the innate hatred that all Grimm had for humanity. But he swore, looking into that last Beowolf's eyes, he saw a searing, maddening hatred for him. It was going to kill him. If it was the last thing that monster ever did, it would kill him.

Boy, did it try. The first row of attacks was just a trade off; he had struck the Beowolf and it had struck back. He pounded it in the chest for damage that would've seriously harmed or injured most creatures, but this monster just took it. He felt its claws attempt to cut into his shoulder and, once more, His Aura was there to protect him. However, he felt like you were on some sort of brink... he was only just barely on the edge of exhaustion. If he took another hit, it wouldn't just be more of is Aura gone, it would leave his ability to continue the fight seriously limited. That fight had to end without this Beowolf being allowed to get another attack on him.

He moved in again and, once more, his kick was aimed true as he struck the Beowolf in the torso. He watched it stumble and he hoped beyond hope that that could be it, that the fight didn't have to drag on.

A guttural, angry roar told him otherwise as the Beowolf, seemingly filled with new energy, dived at him. He rapidly brought his leg back and sent his forearm up into the paw of the Beowolf, knocking it's claws away. He kicked again but it was off by the tiniest margins. he grunted through his teeth as he managed to flow through the kick, landing back on his feet in time to parry the next blow of the Grimm. He was gasping for breath then as he stared this monster in the face. He reared his leg back and, with a mighty blow, sent it crashing into the Grimm's chest, the roar of the shotgun in the boot soon following. A hole blew open in the body of the Grimm and both Izuku's and its eyes went wide. It stared at him, as if in utter disbelief, before it slowly but surely melted away. He was taking deep, rasping breaths as he stumbled around, his body feeling numb after the exertion he put it through.

He realized that he was missing one, of course. It wouldn't do to leave a Grimm around, even an unconscious one. Without much thought he stomped his boot into the Grimm's head, the blast of the shotgun taking care of it as the Grimm's body rapidly dissolved...

He actually chuckled a bit; that was the last bit of ammo in his boots and gloves. He would have to reload...

He had to reload.

Because he had done it.

He'd done it!

HE'D DONE IT!

HE KILLED THREE GRIMM BY HIMSELF!

He collapsed back against the trunk of the tree he had managed to hit with Pyrrha's spear and slowly slid down it, an almost delirious smile on his face as he looked at the dissolving bodies of the Grimm. He could feel a rush of emotions hit him all at once... it... it was an accomplishment. This was the work he dreamed of doing. Being a Huntsmen. A Hero!

And there, just then... he proved he could do it. Maybe nobody else saw him. Maybe no one else could congratulate him for what he did... maybe he really didn't prove to anyone that he could be the person he dreamed off. But there and then, he proved it to himself.

He really could do it.

He could be a Hero.

He felt the sting of tears in the corners of his eyes as he tried to compose himself. In that moment, he didn't even notice as the spear began to shake and shimmy on the ground before it floated up. He only really noticed when the spear flew up and away from him, into the hands of...

"Well, for someone who sold themselves so low in their own team placements, it seems you can take care of Grimm by yourself quite well." The bright green eyes of Pyrrha Nikos met his own as she smiled kindly and approvingly at him. And for the first time he could remember he heard a classmate regard him with pride.

"Partner."

A/N: So I think I'll be mostly using Author's Notes to help give context to events as they played out in the Quest proper; some of you might've noticed a few characters running around that Izuku didn't meet directly; in a structured narrative it might've been written that Izuku would've roughly run into everyone but, to help work into the Partner bit, I made it so that the players had a limited number of choices that they could use to talk to people across varying times in the day leading up to the exam so that they could either try to establish a relationship or build on one ahead of time.

While the choice of partner, Pyrrha, was selected by the players, the rest were randomized... the results of which you'll all see next chapter. Needless to say, it was a hoot.