Ascend:

"A quirk apprehension test?!"

"What about the ceremony?" Uraraka askes, sounding in disbelief.

"Irrelevant," says Aizawa, "If you want to be heroes, we don't have time for such pointless niceties."

"You all understand this school's reputation for freedom on the campus. Well that 'freedom' goes for us teachers, too." He's still staring at all of the students at once, but his gaze bounces from person to person, seemingly getting harder on a select few. "Soft-ball throwing, standing long jump. The fifty meter dash. Endurance running. Grip strength. Repeated side steps. Upper body training. Seated toe touch. These are all things you should've done in middle school, right? Your standard quirkless gym tests. Bakugou," He calls apathetically, "How far could you throw a ball in middle school?"

"About 67 meters."

"Try using your quirk this time," a ball is tossed over to the blond student, "As long as you don't exit the circle, anything you do is fine."

Katsuki starts to stretch and glower at the ball like it stole from him.

"Don't hold back."

"You got it," the confidence that Katsuki speaks with is only comparable to his gait and his wind up. Izuku can see the flashes on his palm and does everything in his power to stay grounded. The last thing he needs is to be sent reeling like a bag in the breeze. "DIE!"

The shockwave is as Izuku expects - powerful, loud, violent - and the ball vanishes into the horizon. There's mostly awkward silence as they wait for it to land, but Izuku can hear some people comment on Explosion. Nothing he hasn't heard before, but people are notably also commenting on the boy's body language.

Beep.

"Before anything else," Aizawa says after a time, "one must know what they're capable of," the device in his hand is turned and students read off Katsuki's impressive score, "That is a rational metric that will be the basis of your hero foundation."

"800 meters!? No way!"

"Awesome! That looks so fun!"

Izuku internally cringes when he catches a glimpse of the teacher's face. It contorts in an ugly way; like the man had just been forced to eat something sour or rancid. He stands tall and gives the class a once over, then another look.

"It looks fun , you say?" Aizawa mutters, "Fun. So you were just planning to spend your three years here just having a grand ol' time, huh? What happened to becoming heroes?" He tilts his head down in dramatic fashion, letting his hair fall a bit more over his eyes. He's trying to intimidate, and it's working. "All right. In that case, a new rule: the student who ranks last will be judged hopeless and instantly expelled."

Anxiety starts to fill Izuku in an instant and his heart begins to race. 'Expelled? He can't do that right?' He's getting lighter and taller before trying the breathing techniques Gran taught him. Flight requires control and calm, and in order to not embarrass himself, he needs to have one. 'It's okay,' he reminds himself, 'I can control it.'

"Our freedom means we can dispense of students as we please," Aizawa adds with an ominous, almost sadistic smirk, "Welcome to the hero course, good luck."

"The kid who ranks last gets... expelled?"

It's the same girl again, Uraraka. The look on her face is reminiscent of what he's seen in the mirror on some occasions. Barely concealed despair, a hint of anger, and a small plea. Her tone tells him all he needs to know.

"This is our first day!" She argues, and Izuku finds himself agreeing. "That's just too unreasonable!"

Aizawa doesn't seem to care, though. "Natural disasters, massive accidents, ego-mad villains… all kinds of calamities can happen while we least. Japan's now positively drenched in unfairness," he says, hiding the lower half of face and letting his hair fall in front of his eyes. He's trying to look vague and mysterious and it's only partially working. "And it's our job as heroes to reverse it all, and restore reason. If you were counting on a friendly chat at the local McDonald's after school, that's too bad. From now on, for the next three years, all you can expect from your life at U.A. is one hardship after the other," He gestures and makes a face as the scarf falls. It's another smile, but it's closer to a shit-eating grin. "This is "Plus Ultra". I expect you to overcome these trials and climb to the top. Time to step up to the plate."

Time goes faster than Izuku would've liked, and before he's ready, Aizawa calls him and Kacchan up to the race line.

'Well, both of these two are in their element here,' Aizawa thinks, 'But Bakugou seems to have a bone to pick with everyone, especially Midoriya. I hope we don't have a designated problem child already.'

Contrary to what they might think, he's watching them all closely. He even sees the way Bakugou glares at Midoriya when they get beside each other. He says something that Aizawa doesn't hear, but he is a master of lip-reading. It makes him frown.

Izuku himself, however, is trying to ignore Kacchan's presence as best as he could. It's hard not floating away the second he gets close, and even harder to maintain his composure in general around the blonde. Calling upon One For All soothes him a bit, but the residual heat that the quirk gives off is enough to almost make him sweat. It's the same feeling as before, behind Aldera and it's directed at the same person. He's struggling to keep himself in check and nearly misses the signal to go.

Nearly.

Izuku's body moves before he thinks about it, kicking off the ground and taking off with such speed that his eyes dry and his lips crack.

It happens so fast that Izuku doesn't stop until several meters after the finish line and starts to groan in pain and discomfort when he does. He doesn't know his scores, and can't really see to check, but what he does know is that he hears cheering... and explosions. Several actually. They're getting louder too.

"What is that, Deku!?" Katsuki roars. "Explain now, you piece of shit!"

Izuku's vision is blurry and his eyes itch so he doesn't fight the feeling of One For All. He lets his body float up without protest, only choosing to stop when he hears the explosions stop. He blinks enough for his vision to clear ever so slightly and he sees Kacchan bound up in a rather uncomfortable fashion.

"What the fuck is this!?"

"It's my special capture weapon. Doesn't matter what it is. Bakugou, angrily charge and fight Midoriya in a Wendy's parking lot at 3 am, I don't care. But if you try to assault him again here, on school grounds, you will be deemed hopeless and expelled. Do I make myself clear?" Katsuki growls and glares, but Aizawa's grip only tightens. "And stop making me use my quirk. I've got dry eye, damn it," when Katsuki finally stops, Aizawa uncoils his scarf and watches him until he goes back to the group, "We're wasting time. Prepare for the next trial."

Floating back to the ground, Izuku walks back to the group and is greeted by the brunette. "Are you okay," she asks, "Your eyes are a bit weird."

"Ah, yeah," Izuku responds, "Eyes are just a bit itchy right now though, thanks."

Meanwhile, as Izuku regains his comfort, Katsuki seethes. His glare turns down right filthy and he begins to growl to himself. 'He should've been nothing more than a fuckin' pebble!'

Following the race, the other events pass without much fanfare. Izuku feels as though he's done pretty well, all things considered. He's above average in terms of natural strength - and he thanks All Might for that - and got an infinity on the long-jump thanks to his ability to fly. The ball throw is one of his weakest areas, personally, and he still placed decently well! And that nice girl even won it with an infinity of her own! Things were looking good.

But only when he didn't have to be reminded that Kacchan was still right there.

"Moving along. Time for the results. Your total scores simply reflect your performance in each event. Explaining everything would be a waste of time, so all you get is the final rankings," He says without fanfare. "Also, I was lying about expelling someone." Silence. Aizawa's face curls up into something nasty, a devious smile that's devoid of any actual joy, or filled to the brim with it. It's hard to tell. "That was a rational deception meant to bring out the best of you."

As though someone flipped a switch, most people displayed their dismay and incredulity.

"Come on, guys. Think a little," says a tall girl with a large black ponytail, "Of course it was just a ruse."

Aizawa gives her a look and causes the girl to flinch. "Was it? Was it really?" She squirms uncomfortably under his stare, struggling to find the words before he turns away. "Anyway, we're done here. Your documents about the curriculum and such are back at the classroom. Give them a look."

Izuku looks at the results and almost gasps; there his name is. Slotted in fifth place. Despite there being so much he felt he couldn't do. He had a very promising start and One For All seemed to agree with him if the bubbling in his very soul was anything to go by.

Or was this pride in himself? He didn't know.

"I'm so tired..." Izuku complains to himself with slouched shoulders. The first day at school was rough, physically and mentally, and he just didn't have the energy to do much of anything. He probably couldn't even levitate if you asked him to. Or so he thought.

Iida puts his hand on his shoulder and startles Izuku to the point where he literally jumps ten feet into the air and stays there. He screeches in a way that's reminiscent of a cat, and by the time he catches himself, several sets of eyes are on him.

"Oh, it's you! No worries, I've got it!" Uraraka yells before brandishing a... was that a make-shift lasso? He watches in confusion and intrigue as she winds up and throws, wrapping around his ankle on her first attempt and pulling him back down. "Whew, that was close!"

There's so much heat that pools in the base of Izuku's neck and the tips of his ears, that he feels like he's about to combust.

"Ah, I'm sorry to have startled you," Iida says earnestly. He bows, and turns to Uraraka, "And to have inconvenienced you, Infinity Girl. It's good that your eyes are better. I have to say, Aizawa-sensei really got me! I actually thought, 'so this is what the highest academia is like!'," he says with a level of passion and emotion that Izuku has rarely seen. His hand is on his chin and he's no longer looking at either him nor Uraraka, but he continues on, "Now I see how a teacher can encourage through deception!"

"Infinity Girl? I'm Uraraka Ochako," she greets with so much positivity that Izuku nearly starts to float again, "And you're, uhh, Iida Tenya, right? I think. And you're Midoriya! Midoriya Deku!"

Izuku winces internally at the confidence with which she said that. She's wrong and he doesn't have the heart to say otherwise. One For All disagrees, rumbling against his core.

"Wasn't that what that Bakugou guy called you?"

Seeing the opportunity, Izuku takes it. "Actually, er, no. My name is Izuku," he says sheepishly. "Deku is what Kacchan calls me to demean me..."

Ochako's positive attitude falters for just a moment. "Oh... shucks. I'm sorry." Seeing that the vibe went south, Ochako hurriedly tries to redeem it. "But you know, I kinda like the name Deku for you," she adds, "It gives me a sorta "never give up" vibe, you know?"

He didn't know, not really at least. But it was a kind gesture and one he shant soon forget. "Heh, thanks. I'll keep that in mind." That does work, at least in part, to calm the quirk down. Geez, what a power.

At least, for the first time in his life, he'd gotten the chance to make some real friends.

A/N: Thank you all for the nice reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And some people may not know, but I have started a Street Fighter fic. You can just click on my page to find it here or on AO3, if you're interested.