CHAPTER 8: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

I walked up to the gates, excited and nervous. I was finally going to see Class 1A in all its high-school glory!

I met Sero yesterday, and caught a glimpse of a few others, but I was about to see ALL of them.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my inner fanboy.

"Hey, Kacchan! Wait up!"

Speaking of fanboys…

"Hey Deku. You excited?"

"Of course!" He pumped his fists before dropping his arms to his sides. "Although I am pretty nervous."

I whacked him on the back, causing him to stumble. "Perfectly normal, man. But you won't stay nervous around them. You'll get to know them. You're gonna spend the next few years with 'em after all."

Deku recovered and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so."

The trip through the halls was fairly uneventful. Once we got to the classroom however, I was trying my best to contain my inner fanboy. The door was exactly how I remembered it from the anime.

"Uh, Kacchan? Are you okay?"

At Deku's words, I shook my head to clear it. "I'm fine. Just a little psyched."

The green-haired fanboy looked at me weirdly. "You're the only guy I know who would get excited over this."

"Give me a break, we've got the chance of a lifetime to attend the same school All Might did and become even better heroes. Besides, you geek out over much more minor stuff."

He scratched his head awkwardly, nodding. "You're right, sorry. Anyway, I'm pretty hyped too, so I'd be kind of a hypocrite if I scolded you for getting excited."

With a smile and a nod, I opened the door and surveyed the room. Just about everyone was there. Ojiro, Kaminari, Hagakure, Mineta(ugh), Iida… hang on, in the original he was scolding me when Deku showed up. Here, he looks like he's waiting for someone. The class turned to look when the door was opened.

Iida rushed up to us. "Hello! I am Tenya Iida from Somei Academy."

I blinked. "Katsuki Bakugou, from Aldera Junior High. And I'm sure you know-"

"Midoriya, just the person I wanted to talk to."

...okay, then. I move out of the way of the two of them, not wanting to be rude.

"You knew there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you? You have my respect. You far exceed me as a student."

I walked over to Sero, who was chatting with Kirishima. "Heya. Seems you got in."

Sero looked over at me. "Bakugo! Glad to see you made it. Kirishima, meet Bakugo."

The red-head looked over. "This is the guy you were just talking about? Doesn't look like much."

I clapped my fist into my other hand, a small explosion going off from the impact. "That a challenge, Red?"

The red-head grinned, holding his fist like he was going to shake it at me. "Not unless you want it to be."

That's when I heard a tired voice from the other side of the group at the door. Uraraka must have showed up when I was talking to Kirishima, because she stood there now as well.

"If you came to make friends, you can pack up your stuff now."

We saw a man in a yellow sleeping bag on the floor behind the trio at the door.

Mr. Aizawa. The show does him justice in how uncaring he looks, because my word he looks like he could not care about anything.

"It took you 8 seconds to quiet down. That won't do. Rational students would understand that time is precious."

The shaggy black-haired man stood, unzipped his sleeping bag and walked to the front of the room, speaking in the same bored tone. "I'm Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher."

He held up a P.E. uniform. "Get these on and meet me at the practice field in 10 minutes."

"A Quirk assessment test?"

Uraraka spoke up. "What about orientation? We're gonna miss it."

"If you want to make it in the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies." Aizawa didn't even directly look at her as he spoke. Still, he wasn't exactly wrong.

The tired ninja continued. "Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit."

Oh yeah, he expelled a whole first-year class. I forgot about that. And suddenly I'm nervous despite seeing this coming.

"You've been taking standardized tests all your lives, but you never got to use your Quirks in any of them. 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, and one day the Ministry of Education will learn that."

Mr. Aizawa grabbed a baseball from a nearby basket before turning to address me.

"Bakugou. You scored highest on the entrance exam. What was your furthest softball throw?"

I paused, puzzling for a moment. "No idea."

Aizawa sighed. "It doesn't matter. Throw one using your Quirks."

Kirishima gave me an odd look. "Quirks? As in more than one?"

I put palm to face. The cat was out of the bag. Welp, not much I can do about it. "Yeah. I have two. Two seperate and unrelated powers that manifested at different times, not a dual Quirk."

I stepped into the circle, ignoring my class' various sounds of surprise, a ball firmly in my grip.

"How is that even possible?"

"Did his original give birth to the second?"

"Wonder what it is?"

Mr. Aizawa spoke again. "Anything goes as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up; you're wasting time."

I had gotten an idea as to what to call my swordless use of Sword Skill. I mean, I have yet to incorporate a Naruto reference into my moveset.

I warmed up then took a stance, ready to call upon my second Quirk to enhance the first.

"Eight Bladed Gates. Third Gate, Gate of Life, open!"

I pumped my arms like I was powering up, revealing the fruits of my training. Now the entirety of my forearms were coated in my Sword Skill field, my hands now resembled Kylo Ren's crackling lightsaber with the way the energy looked, the forearms looking like the first level of output, and the ball looked like a lightning-enhanced fireball in my grasp.

I reeled back, readying a pitch before chucking the thing as hard as I could with a roar, shooting as hard as I could with my Sword-Skill-enhanced explosion, at the highest energy output I could manage.

There was a rush of air as the cyan comet streaked out of sight, blending in with the clear sky.

I staggered a moment, shaking my head to clear it. Sword Skill makes me sleepy the more energy I generate, despite heating my hands, so that amount of energy took a bit out of me. I raised my hand to my face and let off a golf-ball-sized explosion, letting the sound and light wake me up.

While everyone but Deku looked on confused, the teacher spoke up.

"Listen up. You need to know your maximum capabilities." Mr. Aizawa held out his phone, the numbers visible even from my perspective.

"It's the most rational way to figure out your potential as a pro."

"800 meters?! That's crazy!" Kirishima spoke up, looking pumped.

Ashido piped up, a cheery look on her overly pink face. "That looks like a lot of fun!"

"So it looks fun, huh?" Mr. Aizawa gave an unamused look with a very cold tone in his voice, which I promptly flinched at.

"You have three years to become a hero. You think it's all going to be fun and games?" Surprisingly, he grinned at that. It surprises me that he takes some measure of joy in this.

Or does he? Knowing what I know about him now, he probably just enjoys watching us all squirm.

"Idiots. Today you will be competing in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. The person with the lowest score will be expelled immediately."

A collective round of shock came from the class, Deku looking utterly terrified. To talk or not to talk… ah, screw it. "Sir, that sounds a bit unfair, doesn't it? We all passed the entrance exam, so that means in some capacity we all deserve to be here."

I meant for that to sound braver than it actually came out.

"And you think natural disasters are? It's the job of a Hero to combat that unfairness."

His words sunk in. He did have a point, natural disasters and Villain attacks weren't fair. In fact, they were the exact opposite most of the time, especially when a Villain was dead-set on a goal.

"Your old school may have worked like that…" Aaaaaaand cue a look that launched a thousand memes. I'd be laughing my lips off if that wasn't aimed at me.

"But like I said, this is my class. I run it however I see fit. If you have a problem with that, you can go home right now, got it?" He said that more like a statement than an actual question.

"Got it." Well, that was meek as all heck. How is he this intimidating in person?

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

Deku POV

With that amount of energy, Kacchan really gave it his all with that throw. The first time he tried something like that, he passed out, but now he only looks a little bit tired. I really need to get control of One For All, and fast. I have to remember the egg in the microwave.

50 METER DASH

"That was awesome, Iida!" I smiled at him after he finished. A little over three seconds? Man, he's fast.

"Thank you Midoriya. Aren't you up next?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." I walked to the starting line, as did Kacchan. He'll outspeed me, but is it possible I could borrow one of his tricks?

I tried to activate my power, visualizing the egg in the microwave as Kacchan limbered up and got into position.

"Runners on your mark! Ready?"

There was a robot at the finish line. Makes sense, they would be more accurate.

An explosion burst from beside me as the starting shot was fired. Kacchan had begun running, using his explosions to boost his speed. I charged after him, leaning forward like a sprinter.

"3.99 seconds!"

"6.87 seconds!"

I slumped after my time was announced. Okay, that didn't work.

GRIP STRENGTH

Okay, now I-

"Hey, Deku."

I turned to see Kacchan having not yet squeezed his device. "Concentrate your pow-

"Bakugo, leave him alone."

The blonde flinched and turned towards Mr. Aizawa, the lazy yet somehow intimidating ninja glaring holes in him.

"These tests are for individual capabilities. Meaning no one helps each other. Is that clear." That sounded less like a question and more like an order.

Kacchan nodded and gave me an apologetic look. I nodded back and turned my focus back onto my device as Mr. Aizawa walked away. I tried to concentrate and hold back my power while using it at the same time, squeezing with all my strength.

…

…

56 kilograms? Oh boy.

What was Kacchan telling me? Concentrate my power? Hmm...

STANDING LONG JUMP

Kacchan grinned, readying himself for an explosive jump.

"Go." *BOOM!*

With a big blast, the explosive boy propelled himself upwards and forwards, shooting across the sand pit at an angle. Once on the other side, he landed and skidded to a halt. Okay, not as overkill as I thought he would do it.

Then it was my turn

"Go."

I gulped and jumped as hard as I could… only to make it a few feet from the edge. I began to grow concerned. At this rate, I'd be expelled.

REPEATED SIDE STEPS

A kid with purple balls made of his own hair was moving back and forth so fast it was hard to keep track of him. I gaped. How could anyone match that? I have to figure out what he meant. Concentrate my power… a concentrated move ...wait, that's it!

BALL THROW

Uraraka touched the ball and threw it using her Quirk. That weightlessness must really come in handy because after a few moments Mr. Aizawa flashed his phone to reveal an infinity symbol. Wow!

"Midoriya. You're next." I nodded, knowing that this was my last chance, and perhaps the only one I had. I knew what I had to do thanks to Kacchan's idea, so here it goes. Bullets do so much damage because it's a small object impacting a larger one with high speed and kinetic energy. My plan works on a similar idea.

I grabbed a ball, reeling back to throw as I activated One For All in my index finger.

This was it.

"SMASH!" I flung the ball, letting the power do its work at the last second to boost my throw. There was a rush of air and visible shockwaves in the air as it sailed out of sight.

I smiled and clenched my fist, though it really hurt. I looked back at Mr Aizawa to see a subtle grim on his face, kinda like Auntie Mitsuki when she and Kacchan are roughhousing.

I walked back to the group, Kacchan holding up his hand for a high-five. "Way to go, Deku! Seems you have some level of control after all."

I clapped his hand with my left one, smiling a pained smile. "Thanks Kacchan."

My POV

At the end of the physical exams, Mr Aizawa stood with a bored look. "I've ranked you all from best to worst. Most of you should have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the list, no point in going over each individual score."

I looked over at Deku, seeing him stressed as he clenched his broken finger. I laid a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Deku, no matter what you get, what matters is you did all you could do at your level."

The green-haired boy remained silent, stiffening up more. Okay, perhaps it wasn't the best thing to say, but I had to say something to calm his nerves.

The hologram formed in front of us, and I read as fast as I could. I saw my name at Number 3, but when I looked down and saw Deku's name at the bottom, as per canon, I gripped his shoulder a little tighter as he hung his head. I knew what would happen, but that didn't make Deku's naïveté any less saddening.

"And I lied, no one's going home. That was just a rational deception to ensure everyone did their best." I fought the urge to laugh at my best friend's change in expression as I released his shoulder. Deku's hair was standing on end, his face a mask of shock compared to Aizawa's incredibly meme-able grin and the collective gasp of shock that came from everyone.

Well, almost everyone.

"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out. Sorry, maybe I should have said something."

Everyone's eyes, including mine, landed on one Momo Yaoyorozu. Well, I can safely say she looks rather beautiful in person… where did that come from? I dismissed that thought fairly quick though as I remembered what was said

"Ya think?" I said sarcastically in response, at which Deku nudged me in the side with his elbow, a look of playful irritation on his face.

"Be nice Kacchan, this is the first day. We all have room to grow, so let it go this time."

I sighed, slumping a little. "Yeah, and hindsight is 20/20 at least. Still, I reserve the right to be a little irritated."

He shrugged in response. "Right reserved."

"That's it, we're done for today. Pick up a syllabus and read it over for tomorrow."

Deku's head hung in exhaustion as he sighed. I gave a nervous smile as I scratched my head. "Huh. And here I thought he was actually going to go through with it."

He really was. If I'm remembering correctly, he singled out Deku from the start and expelled an entire first-year class because he saw no potential in them. Knowing what I know now about Shirakumo, it makes sense. He doesn't want a student of his to end up in a profession where they would get themselves killed. But without that prior knowledge it likely just seems cruel. It's almost enough to make me feel sorry for him.

Almost. He still manages to scare me somehow, so… 70% sympathy.

"Midoriya. Take this to Recovery Girl and have her fix you up. It'll be even tougher when your actual training starts tomorrow, and you won't always have your best friend to fall back on."

He gave me a pointed glance as he handed the successor the form. I was a little indignant however. Yeah, he had to start doing hero-related stuff without me at his side, but did that have to start all at once? Just because he couldn't save his friend doesn't mean I can't try my darndest to.

...okay, wow that sounded kinda harsh now that I think about it.

Before I could voice a modified version of that however, the apathetic Erasure Hero walked away, not sparing a glance backwards. I glanced over at my friend, seeing the determined look on his face as he held the form.

"While I'm not a fan of his wording, he does have a point."

The freckled fighter looked at me, the determination never leaving his face. "I know. I have a lot to learn if I'm going to become a Hero."

(SOME TIME LATER)

Deku, Iida, and myself had just exited the building at the end of the day, about to head home. I admit to being a bit apprehensive about my odds of getting along with the future Ingenium, but it seems the three of us really hit it off.

"I'm not a fan of the deception, but I trust the school's judgement with letting a man like Aizawa run the class." He seemed to be thinking out loud as he said that.

I shrugged in response. "Well, it makes sense to ensure we each do our best, but as far as expulsion goes, he was telling the truth."

The green-haired boy's head swiveled towards me. "Are you sure? I wasn't really paying attention to the truth of his words because of the shock."

"Well-"

"Hey! Are you guys going to the station?"

We collectively looked behind us to see Uraraka running up. "I'll join youguys."

Iida spoke first. "A pleasure to have you join us."

The brunette smiled before continuing. "I know who you guys are. You're Tenya Iida, and you two are Deku Midoriya and Kacchan Bakugo, right?"

...huh?

"Wha- Deku?"

She looked slightly confused by his confusion. "Yeah. During the fitness test, wasn't that what you two called each other?"

My head slowly turned away. "Wait, you thought- oh dear lord…"

Deku got a bit flustered, waving his hands nervously. "Well, uh, actually, my real name is Izuku and he's Katsuki. We just gave each other nicknames when we were young and they sort of stuck."

I raised a brow. "'Sort of stuck'? I think the only reason you called me Kacchan back then was because you couldn't pronounce my real name.

The bone-abusing boy grew a little red in the face out of embarrassment. "That was probably part of it, yeah."

The round-faced brunette smiled. "Oh, I didn't realize that. Sorry! But y'know, Deku sounds like a good hero name, plus I think it sounds kinda cute."

I began snickering at the look on Deku's face as it reddened even more. After a second, he spoke again. "You can call me Deku."

Iida smiled a little bit, seeming to approve of the nickname. I smiled. Okay, at least Deku and Uraraka getting together remains the same. Perfect! I will do whatever I can to ensure that ship sails.

"Deku might be fine with it, but only if either of you start calling me Kacchan, I'm out."

A small round of laughter went up from my new friends. As the four of us walked and chatted, I looked around for Kendo. She had to be around here somewhere.

"Bakugo? Are you looking for something? You're glancing around a lot."

I turned back to Uraraka, seeing the curiosity on her face.

"Yeah. I was just looking around for a friend of mine, Itsuka Kendo. I've sparred and hung out with her a few times, and she even took the entrance exam in the same center as me."

Deku snapped his fingers, as if remembering her. "Oh yeah, you told me she can match you in a fight. Did you two develop any team attacks? You developed at least one, knowing you."

I gained a big grin. "Buddy you know it."

A smile played across Iida's lips. "Practicing ultimate moves prior to even being accepted into the Hero Course? That's very ambitious."

Uraraka looked at the resident hero nerd, her curiosity weighing. "Did you develop any ultimate moves, Deku? You must have at least one of your own."

He scratched his head awkwardly. "Not really. Mostly it's just team attacks with Kacchan. We know each other's moves to a T, so we can predict each other's moves and work in tandem really well."

The pair nodded. The zero-gravity user was the one to speak first. "That's pretty amazing. You'll be a pretty fierce hero team one day. How well can you predict each other's attacks?"

I threw a punch at Deku's jaw out of the corner of his eye. The green-haired boy parried, collected his thoughts, and grabbed the offending arm in the span of a second. "To the point I can almost sense his attack patterns."

We kept up the conversation the whole journey to the station. Oh, this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

(A few hours later…)

I grunted as I landed on the branch, halting. I was using my explosions to tree-hop, but I had to work on stopping. It didn't take much power, especially with using Sword Skill to minimize the size of explosion I had to use, but it was still something to add to my repertoire.

Readying myself, I blasted off again only to realize something caught my foot. My shoelace caught on part of the branch. I fell to the ground as a result, my body not as hurt as my ego. I'd have to work on being more aware of my landing space.

As I stood and tried again, my mind wandered to perhaps the biggest question I had since being reborn here. Namely, the why of it. Something had to happen to cause my rebirth. I usually just consider it to be an act of God to be in a place with a predictable future.

But I got to thinking. I had read the Bible, and there was nothing about reincarnation in there. Maybe there was some other reincarnation-related document I had never read that was just as credible? If so, how had it never come to my attention?

I highly doubt that Quirks are advanced enough to pull someone from another world… maybe a supercharged Warp Quirk combined with some kind of consciousness transfer? Kurogiri's Warp Gate was created by experimenting with Quirks, maybe this was another-

"YIPE!"

*WHAM!*

I missed a branch and slammed into a tree. Oh, that was gonna bruise in the morning.

? POV

A video feed played on a few of the monitors from various hidden cameras, watching a boy with blonde hair jump through trees. Luckily, these cameras were well hidden, so they could never be found by him.

I pondered this and other things as I entered the room and took a seat, waiting for the subject's next move.

"What is your progress report on Project Anomaly, Doctor?"

I turned to the other sentient occupant in the room. Ah, he's awake, wonderful. "Quite well. Subject Lamda has displayed every personality trait of Subject Eta, displaying all the tendencies and interests of said subject. This appears to indicate a complete transfer. Creating another case like his would be ill advised, however."

"I understand. Transdimensional spying and transfer was highly dangerous, virtually destroying both Quirks used in the process of the latter due to the strain. However, I analyzed Subject Eta before placing it's consciousness inside the host that became Subject Lamda."

Ah yes, the analysis revealed many things, but he hasn't told me what these things are. "What was this?"

The other man smiled. "Knowledge of the future. Our future. Though thanks to our experiment, it seems to be slowly altering, akin to adding a single degree to an angle."

I was shocked. This was very exciting news indeed. "Were you able to tell whether or not you would succeed, Master?"

"No. But thanks to our new asset, we may be able to change things. With your scientific knowledge and my resources, we will shape the future."

He turned his gaze to the footage in time to see the boy crash into a tree trunk.

"That boy, Subject Lamda, is key. I plan to recruit him and have him work for my protegé. He will be a powerful ally."

"Of course, Master. Will we change our existing plans? Perhaps modify the abilities of the creature we plan on sending with your protegé? The subject knows of them and is planning to become a Hero."

He smiled, a rare sight for him. "No. Let him think the future is within his control. He will come to us. I have forseen it."

"Of course." I watched as the boy blasted off and into the line of sight of another camera.

The power to change the future is within our grasp…

That's a wrap! It took a while compared to previous chapters, but this particular chapter was harder to write for some reason. Maybe because I had a tougher time sorting through ideas, I dunno.

So, a pair of shadowy figures are watching me… creepy. But they seem to have something to do with the biggest question I have, that being the origin of this divergence. As for the next chapter, I intend to get through the first combat class at Training Ground Beta. Needless to say, it will occur very differently from canon here. Will Midoriya remain victorious, or will Bakugo triumph? Who knows.

But what do you guys think? What road should I choose? Let me know via PM and review, I read every one and enjoy hearing from you. See you next time.