"Izuku, dude! You have a quirk!"

Visibly flustered, Izuku shook his head vigorously, as if trying to dispel the idea from his mind. "Uh uh, no, no way. I already have a quirk. The doctor said so. My quirk is green hair, okay?" He grabbed a tuft of his locks and shook them at Mei. "It's always been green hair. This thing on my hand is not green hair." He adamantly turned away from his friend and began walking in the opposite direction, hastily stuffing his hand into his pocket. He ignored the hole he had just punctured in the fabric.

"Izuku, wait!" Mei sprinted after him and grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "Your hand has a freaking screwdriver growing out of it, how can you deny that?"

Spinning around to face her, Izuku's glare intensified as he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "Just because it's strange doesn't mean it's a quirk, Mei. It doesn't prove anything." He stared into her eyes, noticing that the previous excitement they held had vanished, replaced by a look of concern.

"Maybe someone else did this to me… Yeah, yeah that must be it. Someone at the assembly this morning must have used their quirk on me and messed up my hand!"

"Izuku, come on, you're being ridiculous," She implored, attempting to persuade her friend. She couldn't understand his reluctance to accept this; Izuku was normally fascinated by anything quirk-related. He should be over the moon, especially with a quirk this cool! So, what was holding him back?

"No, Mei. This isn't my quirk. alright? This is just some weird freak accident that's going to go away soon and never happen again." He pulled away from her grasp and continued walking away from her.

"Izuku, dude! Don't just walk off!" Mei shouted after him.

He retorted sharply, "We have to bring that glove to Uraraka." Before resuming his march onward, not bothering to look back.

—

"The tests you would have done in Middle School weren't enough to gauge your true potential. So now I want you to throw the baseball, but this time I want you to use your quirk."

The new Class 1-A, fresh on their journey towards becoming heroes, gathered together on the outskirts of a vast sports field. Their homeroom teacher, the enigmatic Shota Aizawa - also known as the underground hero Eraserhead, had led them to this location instead of the customary welcoming ceremony. Earlier, he had reprimanded them for daring to talk to one another on their very first day of school, so the students were hesitating. None of them wanted to be the first to throw the ball, and almost in unison, the class members retreated by one step. Uraraka was left isolated, having seemingly missed the memo.

Uraraka glanced around at her classmates, who had abandoned her so cruelly. With a start, she tried to clarify her problem. "Oh! Um, well, my arm is in a cast, so can I… skip the throwing stage?" She uttered the words feebly, almost certain they would have no impact on their stoic and unyielding instructor.

Aizawa's facial expression hardly shifted, but his gaze seemed to grow even icier. "There might be occasions when you need to use your left hand for hero work, and I won't accept a cast as an excuse. You'll throw the baseball like everyone else."

Panicking, Uraraka pressed on. This type of confrontation was exactly why she was striving to become a rescue hero rather than focusing on combat. Then again, she doubted there were many villains more intimidating than Eraserhead. "I'm sorry, but I meant that, with my arm like this, I can't turn my quirk off after I use it!"

"If you can't use your quirk one handed, you're essentially useless to me and should pack up and go home now before you waste any more time."

"Wow, ableist much?" Jiro, a student with headphone cables dangling from her earlobes, whispered quietly to the girl standing beside her, who refrained from responding. Aizawa's eyes ever so subtly shifted positions, glaring daggers at the pair.

Uraraka, having overheard, resolved to stand her ground and demonstrate her capabilities. "F-fine, I'll show you what I can do!"

Positioning herself on the circle, she gripped the baseball in her left hand. "Okay, here goes nothing," she declared, before gently tossing the ball into the air. The ball floated higher and higher, continuing its upward trajectory, until it vanished completely from sight.

Aizawa showed the results on his handheld monitor for the rest of the class to see.

"AN INFINITY?!"

"I'm glad you're excited," Aizawa said nonchalantly, a hint of amusement in his voice, "Because whoever gets the lowest score in the upcoming exercise will be expelled immediately."

"I don't think you're allowed to do that, ribbit," Tsuyu Asui, a girl with a frog-like mutation said (who Uraraka was delighted to see in the same class as her, after their brief encounter during the entrance exams). She placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully as she contemplated Aizawa's statement.

A smirk appeared on the teacher's face as he responded, "We'll see about that, won't we?"

"No, I mean legally," Tsuyu insisted, "We signed contracts before joining the school. My mother is a lawyer, and she went through the entire document with me. The only way you can expel a student is after a meeting with the principal and a course counsellor, ribbit."

"Wait, is that true? I never read any of the papers..." Another girl with an American accent and large horns protruding from her head inquired.

Tsuyu nodded confidently, "Yeah, and it has to be co-signed by Recovery Girl in case the expulsion is health-related, ribbit. Immediate expulsion would just be asking for legal ramifications." She explained. "Ribbit." She added.

Aizawa sighed heavily, visibly annoyed that he had to deal with this situation. This tactic usually worked straight away with new students, and he despised it when people actually read the contracts. He didn't know how, but he felt like TikTok was somehow responsible. "Fine, it was a logical ruse. But don't take this as an excuse to slack off."

"Sir! That is a highly unorthodox procedure!" a boy with rectangular glasses and engine-like legs chimed in, indignation clear in his voice. "Your method of motivation was to pit students against one another as rivals, rather than appeal to our no doubt mutual love of contest? I am sure I speak for each one of us here when I say that was an unnecessary tactic. As hero students, we-"

"Uh, engine leg bro?" A student with sharp teeth and even sharper red hair interrupted, placing a hand on his classmate's shoulder.

"Iida."

"He's not listening, Iida." the red-haired boy pointed out.

Indeed, Aizawa had already retreated into a sleeping bag propped up against a tree, fast asleep, ignoring the students' chatter.

"Ah. I see. Then we shall test ourselves! Everyone, please be so kind as to line up in an orderly fashion!" Iida requested, chopping the air.

—

Much later, after an emotional day of exercise, Ochaco Uraraka sat in the grass and leant against a tall tree, a position which offered her a clear view of the gym area of UA. From here, she could see students filing in and out of buildings, and she watched with a sense of detachment. Lost in thought, her mind wandered as she gazed at the scene below.

After some time, she sighed and reached out to remove the glove preventing her from using her quirk. Running her fingers through the grass, she felt the soft blades tickle her skin, and made a few loose pieces of soil float listlessly.

Suddenly, she felt two other bodies leaning against the tree on either side of her. Turning her head, she saw Mei and Izuku, one of whom smiled back, the other looking distracted.

"We finally found you," Mei said.

Uraraka smiled back, grateful for their company. Their presence was a welcome distraction. Seeing Mei was holding out a glove, Uraraka gratefully accepted it and inspected it closely.

"Oh, is this..?" she began, trailing off.

Izuku answered her question. "Yeah, it's all done. Theoretically, you should be able to use your quirk one-handed with this." He took a deep breath, trying to sound confident and enthusiastic, but Uraraka could tell something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Midoriya?" she asked, concerned.

Mei was the one who answered when Izuku just let out a tiny sigh. "You know," she began, her voice carrying a hint of empathy, "It's been a really strange day for us." Mei's choice of words didn't go unnoticed by Izuku; she had said 'us' instead of 'him'. Despite any lingering frustration he might have had with her, he couldn't deny the fact that she was his friend and they were in this together.

Uraraka, on the other hand, didn't seem to catch the subtle nuance in Mei's statement. She let out a light chuckle and agreed, "Oh yeah, you can say that again!" As she ran her hand through her hair, she was careful not to accidentally activate her quirk and make herself float. "Honestly, this day turned out to be nothing like I had imagined it would."

"...how so?" Izuku asked in a soft voice.

"Well, for starters," Uraraka rolled her eyes, "our homeroom teacher doesn't seem to want anything to do with us. He's this underground hero, named-"

"Aizawa," both Mei and Izuku chimed in simultaneously. A small smile appeared on each of their faces.

"Y-yeah! How did you know?" Uraraka asked, caught off guard by the fact they were already aware of the teacher.

Leaning around the tree to look Uraraka directly in the eye, Mei stated matter-of-factly, "He tried to expel me."

Uraraka's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Me too! He told me that if I couldn't use my quirk one-handed, I might as well just leave." She paused for a moment, "I don't know, maybe he's right? I haven't had much luck lately."

Hearing her words, Izuku's demeanour changed, and he scooted around to sit next to her. "I'm sorry," he said with conviction, "but that's bullshit."

"W-what?"

"You got crushed by a wall! That was completely out of your control. What does he expect you to do, heal faster?"

Mei gracefully moved around the tree and took a seat on Uraraka's other side. She was curious and had something to ask, not only for Uraraka's benefit but also for Izuku's. With a thoughtful expression, she asked, "I've never had much of a physical quirk. What was it like when yours manifested?"

She took a moment to ponder on Mei's question, recalling her own experiences. "Scared," she started. "Confused, I guess. My parents don't really have anything similar to what I can do. My dad can decrease his own gravity, so it's sort of like he's on the moon, and my mom has a weak telekinesis quirk. I'm the only one who can affect the gravity of other items."

"When mine came in, I thought I'd gone blind." Mei said, "Turned out I was just zoomed in really far. Scared the hell out of my dad!" She laughed as she reminisced about the incident.

This exchange helped to lighten the mood, and even Izuku managed to let out a small chuckle despite his sour mood.

"Wow, scary!" Uraraka giggled, and then shared her own tale. "The first time I made my bed float, it took us all day to figure out how to get it down. Apparently, voice activation in a quirk is rare."

Izuku's curiosity piqued, and he asked, "If it was so scary, when did you decide to be a hero?"

Uraraka smiled as she thought back to her childhood. "When I was really young. I thought it would help my parents," she said, recalling their constant encouragement to follow her dreams. "Even though it was a little frightening, I decided, this is my quirk, and I'm going to do my best with it. No matter what."

Mei grinned at her, "No matter what?"

Laughing and wiping her eyes, Uraraka understood the intent of her words. "Hah, yeah no matter what. Not even a scary homeroom teacher is going to stop me."

Thinking on those words, Izuku finally removed his hand from his pocket. Seeing his hand was now back to normal.

"So, try the glove on!" Mei urged.

"Oh, right!" Excitedly, Uraraka slipped the glove onto her hand and admired it. "Okay, how does it work?"

"You should be able to just make a fist and deactivate the quirk like you usually do!" Answered Mei.

Following the instructions, Uraraka made a fist and said "Release!" As if by magic, the floating soil around her glowed brightly for a moment and sprinkled back down on the ground. "It worked! Thank you both so much!"

In a parking lot not too far away, Shota Aizawa found himself struggling with a cumbersome bag as he attempted to retrieve his car keys from his pocket. Earlier in the day, Uraraka had sent a baseball high into the upper atmosphere. As gravity once again took hold, the baseball began its rapid descent back towards the Earth's surface. The ball's friction with the atmosphere caused it to ignite, enveloping it in a blazing fireball. Hurtling towards the ground like a meteor, imbuing it with an immense speed and an almost otherworldly sense of righteous fury.

In a spectacular display of destruction, the incandescent baseball collided with Aizawa's car, instantly reducing the once-pristine vehicle to a smouldering wreck.

—

Sunlight poured through the large windows, casting a warm glow across principal Nezu's impressively expansive office. Rumours circulated among the staff that Nezu had intentionally designed the office to be much larger than necessary, as if to assert his dominance and remind the humans that this space was exclusively his. The towering bookcases, filled to the brim with scholarly journals and academic texts, further emphasised the small hero's intellectual nature.

In the centre of the room, Nezu perched on a luxurious leather chair, his diminutive frame sinking slightly into the plush material. He glanced at a pocket watch, custom-made to suit his size, and began counting down the seconds on his fingers.

As if on cue, there came a knock at the door. "Right on time," Nezu thought to himself, smiling. "Please, come in!"

The door opened, revealing Toshinori Yagi, the recently appointed hero copyright law tutor. "You wanted to see me, Nezu, sir?" he inquired.

With a warm and welcoming demeanour, Nezu gestured toward another chair, albeit a noticeably less comfortable one. "Please, have a seat, Yagi. It's a pleasure to see you in such high spirits. How are you finding the school?"

Yagi accepted the seat and hunched his shoulders to better align his posture with Nezu's gaze. "It's an adjustment," he confessed. "I'm used to working with seasoned heroes at Might Tower. Teenagers are an entirely different story."

Nezu let out a soft chuckle, amused. "Yes I can imagine it is quite the change of pace! But hopefully you will find our students to be just as capable in their own ways." He steepled his fingers, as a small cylindrical robot set a tray of tea on a small side table between them.

"I can already tell there's a vast pool of talent here." Yagi remarked. He hadn't initially intended to bring it up, but then felt it would be even stranger not to. "I'm sorry, but is that a robot?"

"Oh, yes indeed! This little fellow is Deku, a Dynamic Exploration Kinetic Unit built by a student in our support course. They have been helping me with some tasks around the office." Nezu explained.

"Howdy!" Deku chirped happily, and waved an arm. Which Yagi reciprocated.

With a more serious expression, Nezu decided to delve into the heart of the matter. "So, my friend, might there be any chance that I could engage in a frank and candid discussion with Mr. All Might?" He inquired, lifting his teacup to his lips.

"Ah, is it safe for him to… answer your call?" Yagi asked hesitantly, glancing around the room. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. Upon receiving a reassuring nod of confirmation from his superior, a sudden blast of smoke exploded around Yagi, and in an instant, the powerful All Might stood in his place.

Nezu immediately sprayed tea out of his mouth in surprise, exclaiming, "All Might! When did you get here?" He then proceeded to break down into laughter, clearly entertained by his own joke.

"I take it this is about the hero training exercises I shall be teaching tomorrow!" All Might proudly exclaimed. "I've been reading up on all sorts of fun combat exercises, these students are going to have a fantastic time!" He grinned, showing his perfect pearly white teeth framed by a chiselled jaw and dynamite chin. There was a reason the words 'handsome devil' were mentioned so often in All Might's Hero-Wiki entry.

"Combat exercise, you say?" Nezu inquired, as he scratched himself behind the ear thoughtfully. "Hmm."

All Might's broad smile faded, and he appeared almost as contemplative as he did during his third ever interview, after being asked about his perfect Sunday. "Concerns?"

"Well, far be it from me to tell the number one symbol of peace how to train heroes." Nezu began, "But I was quite hoping your first class would have more of an inspirational slant to it. We have plenty of teachers here who can show a class how to throw a punch, but few who can truly describe and convey the joy of heroics the way you can."

After a moment of deep pondering and reflection, All Might's dazzling smile returned in full force. "Then inspire and motivate them I shall!"

—

Later that day, Izuku found himself in the quiet sanctuary of his room, sitting at the workbench that was cluttered with various gadgets and tools. His attention was focused on an errant gadget that had been giving him trouble for the past few days. As he held the screwdriver in his hand, he couldn't help but pause for a moment to reflect on the events that had transpired earlier in the afternoon.

Taking a nice, deep breath to steady himself and clear his thoughts, he grabbed his phone from the edge of the workbench and began composing a text message to Mei.

"I'm still not sure what was up with my hand, but I want to find out," he wrote, his fingers hesitating just a moment above the screen before finally pressing the send button.

To his surprise, it only took a few seconds for Mei to reply. Her message popped up on his screen, reading, "GOOD. I WILL HELP."

A smile spread across Izuku's face as he quickly typed out a response. "You've got caps on," he pointed out.

"Good. I'll help. We'll figure it out together."

Feeling a sense of relief and gratitude, Izuku replied, "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Mei."

"No problem, dipshit."

—

That same afternoon, while school was still in session…

"Mei seriously needs to sort out this garage, it's an absolute mess!" Exclaimed Misaki Hatsume, Mei's mother, as she surveyed the chaos of the family inventing space. The floor was covered in heaps of wires tangled like spaghetti, while tables were strewn with an assortment of nuts and bolts and half finished notes. Some serious tidying up was in order.

Her husband, sensing the need to assist, started picking up a few stray items here and there. "Hey now, Saki, don't be too hard on her." he chided playfully, tossing a handful of nuts into the nearest available box. "I'm sure there's some method to the madness!"

She shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You go too easy on her, Takumi," she teased.

Takumi flashed a mischievous grin in response, "What can I say?" he replied, giving a cheeky wink. "She reminds me too much of you."

The two of them had been together for years, yet their playful banter never seemed to grow old, still having the same effect on her as it did when they first met. With a smirk, Misaki said, "Pfft, shut up, you big softie." She tried to hold back a laugh, but smiled brightly regardless. "Now, help me find that voltmeter I need, will you?"

Always eager to help, though not exactly skilled in the electronics department, he picked up the first thing he saw. "Is this it?"

Takumi was lucky his cluelessness was endearing, thought Misaki. "Honey, that's a continuity tester, not a voltmeter," she corrected nicely.

"Hey, you two are the geniuses around here, not me!" Takumi responded with a self-deprecating laugh. He raised his arms in a mock surrender, admitting defeat.

"You must be some kind of genius to be able to put up with the both of us." With that, she got down on her hands and knees and began rummaging through a messy pile of electronic devices that had been haphazardly tossed under a workbench.

"Yeah I guess that's true," he replied, a hint of pride in his voice. "I have street smarts!"

"Sure sweetie." Misaki answered, a smile in her voice. "Ahh, there you are, you little bastard!" With the voltmeter finally in hand, Misaki went to stand up, accidentally bashing her head on the desk. "Ah, shit!"

"You okay?" her husband asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just banged my head." she said, wincing slightly.

"I'll take a look at it inside," Said the devoted husband in a warm and caring tone, as he guided his beloved wife through the garage door back inside their home. With a flick of his wrist, he turned off the light, enveloping the room in darkness. The door closed behind them with a soft click.

Little did they know, that gentle click of the door and the seeming inconsequential thud on the table had set in motion a bizarre series of events. The built-in shelf of the desk trembled ever so slightly, just enough to send a spool of wire on a slow but steady journey across its surface. Gradually gathering momentum, the spool finally tumbled off the edge and landed.

Its impact upon a ruler, resting atop an eraser, caused the accidental catapult to launch a set of keys that had been haphazardly left behind on the table. They soared, gracefully through the air, before landing with uncanny precision on an unassuming coat hook.

With a gentle motion, almost imperceptible, the coat hook tilted downward, functioning like a hidden switch. A nearby tool rack rotated with surprising speed, unveiling an array of weapons and gadgets that would make any spy envious. Among the assortment was a utility belt, a grappling gun, electric bolas, homemade stun guns, and a spool of capture tape.

And a mask.

Mei Hatsume was keeping secrets.