The Man Out of Time

by Ultimate10

After a 150 years in ice, Izuku Midoriya finds himself in a new world where meta-abilities or "Quirks" are the norm. His journey to becoming a modern Pro Hero will have its challenges keeping his old identity a secret, facing old and new foes, and learning to let go of the past. Does the world even need Captain America anymore? Or is he just too old-fashioned? Marvel/MHA AU World.

7. Chapter 6: Quirk Apprehension Test

The Man Out of Time

Chapter 6

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"The most important day of a person's education is the first day of school, not Graduation Day."

- Harry Wong

---

FROM: CAPTAIN AMERICA

TO: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

SUBJECT: JP UA ENTRANCE EXAM RESULTS

AFTER 10 DAYS OF STANDBY, THE RESULTS TO UA'S HERO DEPT. ENTRANCE EXAM HAVE ARRIVED. THOUGH I WAS GIVEN A BRIEF SCARE, I AM PLEASED TO INFORM THAT I HAVE PASSED BOTH THE WRITTEN AND PRACTICAL PORTIONS OF THE TEST. TO MY SURPRISE, I EVEN SECURED THE TOP SPOT, EARNING A FULL SCHOLARSHIP. LESS MONEY COMING OUT OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS' WALLETS.

THE SHIELD GIFTED TO ME CERTAINLY PLAYED A FACTOR IN THAT HIGH SCORE. I CAN NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR SUCH AN INCREDIBLE GIFT, SIR.

PHASE 1 OF "MISSION: ASSIMILATION" HAS BEEN COMPLETED. PHASE 2 WILL BEGIN WITH THE START OF THE UA SEMESTER IN APRIL.

UNTIL THEN, I WILL CONTINUE WITH NORMAL ROUTINES UNLESS ORDERED OTHERWISE.

---

Following the conclusion of the entrance exam, the UA Hero Department faculty members were reviewing the final results of the practical exam; particularly, the top 3 examinees.

1. Midoriya Izuku. Villain Points: 39, Rescue Points: 60

2. Uraraka Ochako. Villain Points: 40, Rescue Points: 45

3. Bakugo Katsuki. Villain Points: 77, Rescue Points: 0

"Check out our Young Trio scholarship winners!" an excited faculty member exclaimed.

"A promising group, if I do say so myself." Midnight sounded pleased. "Although, the 3rd place winner didn't have any Rescue Points."

Video clips of Bakugo's explosive fights with the faux villains played out on the monitors.

"He took down those faux villains like an ace." Snipe said, sounding impressed. "When most of the examinees were running from the big targets, he stayed focused on letting the smaller targets get in close and counter-attacking. He's a tough kid, no doubt."

The screen shifted to show Uraraka jumping between buildings across the mock city.

"The 2nd place winner was impressive as well." Thirteen said. "Using her Quirk to help her cover large areas of the city AND taking out the faux villains at an incredible pace."

The screen then showed her leaning against a pile of broken robots looking sick before rushing in to save 2 students from the zero-pointer, and then using her quirk on the smaller faux villains before the zero-pointer crushed them.

"She lost speed at the end. It seems her Quirk makes her ill with constant use." Cementoss pointed out. "However, pushing those frightened examinees out of the zero-pointer's path was courageous, AND using its own power to eliminate those faux villains was clever."

"She probably could have been faster in pushing those kids out of the way though. Seemed like she hesitated, and it cost her a few vital seconds."

Snipe nodded. "Can't afford to hesitate like that in the field." He stated matter-of-factly.

The scene of Uraraka flying across the mock cityscape and crashing into a building wall was then displayed.

"She doesn't appear to have much control of herself while in the air." Vlad King frowned.

"I'm sure that can be resolved with the proper equipment. Still, she's a tough girl with a very useful Quirk." Midnight smiled. "I approve."

The screen shifted to show Midoriya jumping across rooftops, using the shield to offline faux villains from a distance.

"And then there's our 1st place winner." Midnight continued. "He scored less villain points than the other two winners."

"After taking out those first few villains, he quickly changed up strategies - opting for the high ground to spot more targets AND take them out from a distance while staying on the move." Snipe observed, sounding impressed. "I approve."

"He's adaptable." Ectoplasm stated. "Not afraid to switch plans when needed. Good quality to have."

The monitors shifted to display Midoriya saving Tsunotori from a 2-pointer's surprise attack and later rescuing her from under the rubble, and then carrying the pony girl out of harm's way.

"Let's not forget his bravery." Cementoss chimed in. "When the zero-pointer appeared, he didn't run away with the other examinees. He headed towards the danger to ensure everyone else made it out safely and didn't hesitate to jump in and rescue an examinee when she was trapped. Quite commendable indeed." He nodded in approval.

"I still can't get over that support item he was using." Power Loader commented. "It's strong enough to tear through the robots and bounce off objects too? I'd like to ask him where he had it made if I get the chance."

"Likely some American support company." Vlad King offhandedly said. "It does say in his file that he came from America on a 5-year visa last year."

The screen shifted to show Midoriya climbing up the zero-pointer, breaking into its giant head, followed by the giant mech falling to the ground.

"I can't say I've ever seen any applicant take out the zero-pointer from the inside before." Midnight noted.

"It's not the first time a UA-hopeful defeated that giant robot, but to take it down by wrecking its processor was effective yet so simple!" Snipe commended. "Kid's got a good head on his shoulders."

"Sometimes it is better to fight smarter, not harder." Ectoplasm stated.

"He's smart, adaptable, strong, and wields that support item of his very well. It's no wonder he came away with the top score." Thirteen praised.

Dean Nezu, who was sitting amongst his fellow faculty members, smiled at Midoriya's footage while sipping from a cup of tea. "He's certainly a unique one. I expect big things from him."

"And to think his Quirk is just a basic augmentation-type."

Meanwhile, Aizawa Shota had remained silent at the back of the room with his hands in his pockets. He watched the exam footage like a hawk, silently making his own judgments on the various examinees showcased on the monitors. There was plenty more footage he'd have to go back and cover as well.

At the moment, his attention was squarely focused on the 1st place winner. Clips of Midoriya throwing the shield at faux villains and expertly catching it while performing acrobatic moves were shown. It was impressive, yes.

However, Aizawa's tired eyes narrowed at these scenes; there were too many of them for his taste.

---

Musutafu, Japan - March 2197

The day after Midoriya and Uraraka received their UA University acceptance letters, Yaoyorozu was so elated by the news that she wanted to treat them to a nice lunch. Uraraka was initially hesitant to accept but Midoriya convinced her otherwise, stating it'd be disrespectful to turn down a friend's gift. Uraraka couldn't argue with that; plus, after getting into her dream university and receiving a full scholarship, she was definitely in a celebratory mood.

Dressed in casual clothing, Midoriya and Uraraka hopped on a train and soon met up with Yaoyorozu outside a nice American style restaurant that had recently opened up called Concord Dawn USA Diner.

Midoriya smiled as they stepped inside the American-inspired establishment. The smell of hamburgers cooking on the grill from the kitchen and the decor sent a wave of nostalgia rolling through him. Various replica Americana items were hanging on the walls and displayed on shelves all around the restaurant. He recognized a few items such as old Coca-Cola advertisements, dated oil-gas companies signs, and a 1950s pedal car. A few small US flags were also neatly displayed in various spots.

Old American music was faintly playing in the background, though he didn't recognize any of it since it was from the 2150s and 2160s. It might have been considered "old" and "classical" in today's time, but it was all brand new to him.

'More things to add to the list…' Midoriya inwardly lamented.

Regardless of the newness, he could practically feel the American aesthetic bursting from the restaurant as soon as he stepped inside. It was a nice slice of home. Also, were there 52 stars on the flag now? Looked like he had more history research to do when he got back to his apartment.

The trio were seated at a comfortable booth in the back with Yaoyorozu and Uraraka sitting together and Midoriya across from them. Uraraka was initially worried about the cost, but Yaoyorozu politely yet firmly told her not to worry about it since it was her treat. Uraraka quickly relented as Yaoyorozu could certainly be scary when she wanted to be.

They gave their respective orders to the waitress and, needless to say, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu were both taken aback by the amount of food Midoriya ordered. Midoriya quickly apologized to Yaoyorozu, explaining that his metabolism was very high. Just as he was about to change his order to something smaller, the ravenette immediately stopped him and stated it was no issue - admitting she was just initially caught off guard.

After the stunned waitress left, the trio now had an opportunity to speak.

"This place is nice, Yaomomo." Uraraka complimented. "Good choice!"

"I wasn't expecting there to be an American diner of all things in this city." Midoriya admitted. "Didn't think they'd be popular in Japan."

"Well, I heard this establishment just recently opened its doors." Yaoyorozu replied. "But it's gotten many positive reviews for the good food and service so far. I figured it was worth a try."

"I bet you've been to many diners during your time in America, huh, Midori-kun?" Uraraka asked cheerily.

"Mhmm," He confirmed while glancing around with a nostalgic smile, "they certainly got the aesthetic and the atmosphere right. Now we just have to wait for the food so I can approve it or not."

"All three plates' full." Uraraka sniggered.

"Like I said, my metabolism is higher than normal. I have to eat more to compensate." Midoriya rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing you." Uraraka waved him off, giggling.

"While we're waiting, I wanted to say how proud I am of you both. To place first and second place in the exam is truly remarkable!" Yaoyorozu praised.

"Thanks, Yaomomo. You're too kind." Midoriya rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"Yeah, I was only able to do as well as I did on the written part thanks to all the studying we did together." She placed her hands together and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you both so much!"

"It was my pleasure." Midoriya turned to the heiress. "I appreciated your help too, Yaomomo. Those extra lessons with Japanese and history certainly helped me out. Thank you."

"I was happy I could be of assistance. Really." Yaoyorozu smiled brightly.

"Getting that scholarship was a really big deal for me. Seriously, I can never thank you both enough." Uraraka sincerely said. She turned toward her verdette friend with a beaming smile. "Especially you, Midori-kun. You were a big help."

"Really?" Midoriya blinked. "I helped you that much?"

Uraraka winked. "More than you know."

A light shade of pink dusted Midoriya's face. He wasn't sure what he did for Uraraka, but it felt good knowing he had apparently helped her out in a big way. What was with the wink though? Maybe she was just teasing him again.

Yaoyorozu looked between her two friends' interaction and felt a small twinge in her chest. 'Odd… What is this feeling?'

The ravenette shook her head to dispel whatever strange sensation she just felt and refocus on their conversation. "Out of curiosity, how was the practical exam laid out?"

Midoriya and Uraraka spent the next few minutes taking turns explaining to Yaoyorozu how the practical exam was structured with the Villain Points and the Rescue Points being a hidden scoring factor. She took the explanation in stride and nodded.

"Ah, I see." She tapped her chin inquisitively. "It sounded like the judges were testing applicants to see how well they responded in high stress situations where they needed to take out as many enemies as possible without knowing their location or the layout of the area."

Midoriya nodded in agreement. "That's the impression I got too."

"Keeping the Rescue Points as a hidden factor was quite ingenious on their part as well." Yaoyorozu stated matter-of-factly. "That way they could observe a person's true nature in those types of scenarios, and not someone saving others just for the sake of getting a higher score."

'Yeah, that's true.' Midoriya internally admitted, remembering All Might's message in the projection last night. 'Make sense now why the zero-pointer was in the test. Still, what about people whose abilities aren't suited for combat against things like robots, but are still powerful in their own right? Is there any system or backup net to catch those people?' He wondered.

"I'm super grateful for the Rescue Points." Uraraka sighed in relief. "They really did save me."

"Same here." Midoriya agreed. 'I wouldn't have passed the exam without them…'

"How did the ten-minute mock battles play out for you two?"

"Well, I got 40 Villain Points… by the skin of my teeth. I sort of had my own run in with the zero-pointer. Heh-heh…" She laughed nervously.

"Wait… seriously?" Midoriya's eyes widened in surprise. She never told him about running into the zero-pointer!

Uraraka nodded and spent several minutes explaining her encounter with the zero-pointer, pushing the two terrified examinees out of its path, and then scoring her last 12 points before the zero-pointer sent her flying across the city.

"Thankfully, Recovery Girl healed me up; otherwise, I would've been too nauseous and sore to get back to my apartment on my own." Uraraka finished.

"Guess I would've had to carry you then, huh," Midoriya commented, making Uraraka's blush marks turn darker at the thought. "But I'm glad you made it out okay. It was really brave of you to save those two students, Uraraka-chan."

Uraraka smiled, feeling her face get warmer at Midoriya's sincere praise.

"And you used the zero-pointer to take out those faux villains for you." Yaoyorozu added, sounding impressed. "Sound thinking on your part."

"Thanks, guys," She rubbed the back of her head in a cute, embarrassed fashion.

Midoriya looked at Uraraka for a moment as a thought occurred to him. 'Hmm… She said when she used her Quirk on herself, the force behind the zero-pointer's punch sent her spiraling out of control. There has to be a way to prevent that…'

"What about you, Midori-kun?" Yaoyorozu inquired, snapping him out of his musings.

"I got 39 Villain Points. I already told Uraraka-chan after the test, but I can tell you… I had a run-in with the zero-pointer too." Midoriya casually replied.

"Eh?" Yaoyorozu wasn't expecting that.

Several minutes later, after explaining the events from the zero-pointer's activation and the final buzzer of the exam, Yaoyorozu looked at Midoriya with impressed eyes.

"Going for the CPU was very smart, Midori-kun." Yaoyorozu adopted a playful smile. "I suppose you could say you picked its brain?"

Midoriya and Uraraka paused and stared at Yaoyorozu, both flabbergasted.

"Yaomomo…" Midoriya started.

"...did you just use a pun?" Uraraka finished.

"Y-yes…" Yaoyorozu shrunk back, unsure. "Did I not do it correctly? I've been reading up on how to better interact with friends; it's a book written by The Smiling Hero: Ms. Joke, herself, actually."

"Ms. Joke?" Midoriya wasn't familiar with that name. Looked like he had another Pro Hero to research when he got home.

"Yes." Yaoyorozu timidly continued. "She recommended telling small jokes and puns as icebreakers to lighten up a regular conversation."

The verdette and brunette didn't respond immediately, worrying Yaoyorozu further. She was relieved when bright smiles broke out on their faces.

"Never change, Yaomomo," Uraraka patted her taller female friend's back. "Never change."

The creation girl smiled, glad she didn't offend her friends. She turned to Midoriya and smiled brightly. "Anyways, I can see why the judges gave you 60 Rescue Points. You acted like a true hero in that situation."

"I mean…" Midoriya looked away, mildly flustered, "I was just doing what was right. I saw someone in trouble and acted."

'This guy is something else.' Uraraka mused. Another thought crossed her mind. 'How could he not have had many friends growing up? He's way too likable. Maybe Yaomomo and I can get him to open up a little more about that when he's ready.'

"You both certainly earned your spots." Yaoyorozu declared sincerely. "I'm proud to call you my friends and fellow Heroes-in-training."

"Aw… thanks, Yaomomo!" Uraraka gushed.

"I feel the same." The mention of school then made Midoriya consider something. "By the way, on the subject of school, I guess we'll have to wait a few more weeks for our schedules, huh?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Yes. As I'm sure you're both already aware, students in UA University's Hero Program are held to a much higher standard than the rest of the student body." she explained. "We're the only ones on campus required to wear uniforms, and our class schedules mostly line up with each other… at least for freshman year, that is. After that, we're allowed to take a few extracurricular courses outside of our Heroics major - but most of our courses throughout our time at UA will still be in sync for the most part."

Midoriya nodded in understanding. "Right, makes sense. Most of the classes I'm taking at Musutafu Community are pretty basic because UA's Hero Department won't accept credits from other schools' advanced courses."

'Not that I could have taken those courses anyways since I was having to learn an entire language and catch up on a lot of history….' He sheepishly thought.

"That means all three of us will probably be in the same classes, right?" Uraraka grinned excitedly. "That's great!"

Midoriya nodded with a smile. "If we're taking the same classes, we can continue to study together too. I'm grateful." He smiled. "UA's academics are a lot harder than America's public high school curriculum, so I'll take all the help I can get."

"Don't sell yourself short. You've come a long way on your own." Yaoyorozu looked at him curiously. "I'm curious though…what's it like in America, Midori-kun? I don't believe I ever asked you before. I've read up on what it's like, but I'd like to hear from you as someone who grew up there."

Uraraka turned to the verdette, equally curious. The zero-gravity girl recalled the last time she had asked him that question she had unintentionally caused him to remember some bad memories and didn't bring it up again. She had hoped he would tell them when he was ready.

Midoriya smiled, not bothered by the question. "Well, culturally it's a very different place. It's big. Much bigger than Japan. That goes without saying. Every state has a different culture, and different way of doing things." He explained. "Honestly, it can sometimes feel like each state is a different country. But all of them are bound by the same American spirit."

Midoriya smiled fondly while recalling his time touring every state to raise national morale. That had been quite the experience for him. Though it certainly had its embarrassing and awkward moments, he recognized that it had helped him interact with different people from various backgrounds and understand them better.

It had truly helped him grow as a person.

Yaoyorozu nodded, smiling. "They are very patriotic from my understanding."

"Guess it's no coincidence that their first superhero wore the American flag on his costume then." Uraraka giggled.

Midoriya chuckled, trying to act inconspicuous. 'Wouldn't have been my first choice for a costume, especially that first version… but it really grew on me. Hard to imagine myself in anything else now…'

"Yeah, but regardless of how different America seems on the outside, we're all the same on the inside." the verdette stated. "I was born in Japan and raised in America, and I don't seem too different, do I?"

"Well…" Uraraka smirked, "You are different, but not in a bad way. I think you're pretty cool, Midori-kun."

Midoriya blinked twice. "Really?"

"Of course you are!" She grinned brightly, pumping her right fist.

"I concur." Yaoyorozu smiled elegantly. "For someone who moved to Japan just last year, you've really adapted quite well; minus your slip ups, of course."

"T-thanks," Midoriya felt his face get warmer.

'He's so cute.' Uraraka inwardly giggled.

Yaoyorozu stared at Midoriya's bashful, handsome freckled face and felt something stir in her chest. 'What's this? … I've never felt this feeling before. Maybe I just need to eat?'

Right on cue, the waitress arrived with their food on a couple trays. One tray had three plates dedicated to Midoriya while the other tray held Uraraka and Yaoyorozu's meals. Uraraka had ordered spaghetti and meatballs while Yaoyorozu received a half-rack of BBQ ribs with sides. The brunette would've thought Yaoyorozu was eating a lot until she saw Midoriya chowing down on a large burger and fries, a grilled steak, and a fried chicken breast with a salad bowl to the side.

Within a few minutes, he had already finished off his steak and burger before moving onto the chicken. The brunette was surprised by how fast yet cleanly he put away his food.

'He has to eat so much to stay healthy… I can't imagine how much it costs him every month.' Uraraka pragmatically thought, sympathizing with her friend's presumed high food budget.

Glancing at her ravenette friend, she was eating in a slow, refined manner but the large meal in front of Yaoyorozu (and the BBQ sauce on her lips) disrupted her refined image just a bit.

'They can eat so much and stay so fit.' the brunette inwardly cried. 'Meanwhile, if I even pig out on mochi ice cream for just one day it all goes straight to my thighs and hips! It's so not fair!'

After the trio finished their respective meals, Midoriya gave a thumbs-up with a little bit of sauce at the corner of his lips. "I hereby rank these western dishes as American-approved."

Uraraka and Yaoyorozu both laughed at their friend's silliness as the former reached over with a napkin to dab his lips - flustering Midoriya and amusing the two young women even further.

As the trio started to settle down, Midoriya remembered something that UA Hero Program students were required to do before the semester started.

"Oh, do you guys have any ideas on what you want to do for your costumes?" Midoriya asked. "We're supposed to have that done and turned in like a week or two before the first day, right?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Correct. It gives UA's Support Department and the support company affiliated with the school plenty of time to complete everyone's costumes." She turned to Uraraka. "Do you have anything in mind, Uraraka-chan?"

"Well, I have a rough idea of what I want." Uraraka said, smiling. "Actually, I've been thinking about it since high school. I'd like to do something space-themed!"

"Space-themed?" Yaoyorozu repeated; her eyes then widened in realization. "Oh! To match the theme of your Quirk, and as a tribute to Thirteen, correct?"

"Yeah!" Uraraka beamed. "She's my idol, after all!"

"Hmm…" Midoriya rubbed his chin, mulling over Uraraka's words. "Space, space… OH!" His eyes shot open as he reached into his satchel to pull out a notebook, flipped it open, and slid it across the table. "I just remembered that I finished up both of your profiles, and I think I may have some ideas you both could implement with your costume designs."

"Really?" Uraraka hadn't expected that.

Taking the book in their hands, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu both reviewed it. As an artist, the brunette was impressed by Midoriya's full-body sketch of her on the first page. All the information regarding Zero Gravity's strengths, weaknesses, current limits, and practical uses was neatly laid out across several pages.

Both girls were stunned by how much information Midoriya had recorded.

"Midori-kun… this… this is… Wow…" Uraraka was at a loss for words.

"This is truly impressive." Yaoyorozu added, equally amazed. "A full breakdown of Uraraka-chan's Quirk."

"T-thanks…" Midoriya was mildly flustered. "I've spent the last few months filling out your profiles. I'll fill them out more in the future as you develop them, but I thought maybe you both could use them to discover something about your Quirks you didn't already know… or in this case, help design your first costumes. If you want to, of course. Turn a couple more pages and you'll see what I have." He instructed.

Turning two more pages, Uraraka stopped on a page titled "Potential Features for Uraraka's Costume" which had a bullet list of ideas.

'Whoa… he's got way more ideas for my costume than I have…' Uraraka was flabbergasted.

"Your Quirk, Zero Gravity, is an Emitter-type that functions based on what you touch with the pads on your fingertips, and whatever you touch needs to be solid." Midoriya explained. "You told me your weight limit is currently at three tons, and (like with any Quirk) you'll need to train in order to increase your limit. Still, that's a really good max to start with.

"On the downside, you get nausea issues when you use your Quirk for too long. From my research, the biggest cause of your nausea likely has to do with your semicircular canals in your ears. They help regulate balance and when they're disrupted, like by a sudden loss of gravity, they'll give you a case of vertigo. You could train away that weakness, but I think your costume should apply a small amount of pressure to your neck and wrists; there are pressure points there that can alleviate nausea. It wouldn't be a bad idea to carry motion sickness pills with you too."

Uraraka nodded, listening attentively to Midoriya's words. "I-I see! That all makes sense!"

"Also," he continued, "remember when you said the shockwave from the zero-pointer's punch sent you flying across the mock city?"

"Y-yeah…?" Uraraka tilted her head in confusion. "What about it?"

"Well, I had an idea… Satellites use ion thrusters to help keep themselves in orbit. In a zero-G environment, only a little thrust is needed to make a difference." Midoriya further elaborated. "So, what if you had thrusters of some kind incorporated into your costume? You could have the ability to fly around when you use your Quirk on yourself."

Uraraka gasped, her eyes practically sparkling as her imagination pictured herself flying in the skies. "Midori-kun, that's a great idea!"

"Hmm. Yes," Yaoyorozu held her chin thoughtfully, "that would greatly improve Uraraka-chan's mobility, and only a small amount of thrust would be needed as long as it's used appropriately. Incorporating a gyroscope mechanism of some kind would also keep her level in midair too."

"Ooh, yeah, that would be a good feature!" Midoriya agreed.

"I'd be flying around like an astronaut! Wow… I love space so much and I never even considered an idea like this…" Uraraka sheepishly admitted and looked back at the verdette eagerly. "Midori-kun, could I borrow a paper and pen so I can write all this down?"

"Of course!" Midoriya complied with Uraraka's request and (as she started writing) he turned to the ravenette heiress. "I had some ideas for you too, Yaomomo."

"You do?" Yaoyorozu blinked in surprise.

"But first, what did you have in mind for your costume already?"

"It," Yaoyorozu lowered her head as her cheeks turned pink, "… it isn't much."

"Oh?" Midoriya was mildly surprised. He would've expected someone as brilliant as Yaoyorozu to have plenty of ideas for her costume at this point, maybe even a final design. "Writer's block? Or something along those lines?"

"N-not exactly," Yaoyorozu looked embarrassed. 'Why?' he thought. She looked up at the verdette. "You know how my Quirk functions, yes?"

Midoriya smiled and nodded. He opened the notebook to Yaoyorozu's section and pushed it toward her. "Your Quirk, Creation, is an Emitter-type like Uraraka-chan's. Allows you to alter your lipids into other forms of matter by knowing the molecular structure of the item you wish to make. You can make as many creations as you want depending on your body's lipid count and how well you understand the item you're making."

'He recited all of that word-for-word from his entry on me. He has a good memory.' Yaoyorozu inwardly noted.

Midoriya continued, "Your creations are made from your body through the skin, which can be hampered by clothing." His eyes slightly widened, deducing the cause of Yaoyorozu's flustered state. "I think I see the issue now… your costume has to be revealing, doesn't it?"

Yaoyorozu nodded, frowning slightly. "Yes…"

"Wait…" Uraraka stopped taking notes and turned to her friend in concern, "how revealing are we talking?"

Yaoyorozu blushed lightly. "Essentially, it's a leotard with some minor additions and modifications."

"Oh…" Despite his best efforts, Midoriya's young adult brain couldn't help but imagine his beautiful onyx-haired feminine friend in such a revealing outfit. A hearty blush appeared on his face, and he internally slapped himself. 'C'mon! Don't think about your friends like that!'

"Uh…that's…" Uraraka's blush marks turned darker as she sympathized with her female friend. "I… I'm sorry about that, Yaomomo. Are you sure there's nothing the support companies can do?"

"I'm afraid not." Yaoyorozu shook her head. "I face a similar issue that the heroine Midnight does. But it'll be okay… it's just how my Quirk operates."

She didn't sound too offput from the notion of showing skin it seemed, but the verdette could tell something was still bothering the ravenette. Perhaps it was her actual costume's design?

"Well…" Midoriya held his chin while ruminating hard on his friend's predicament. "You may have to show some skin, but maybe not as much as you think."

"Huh?" Yaoyorozu and Uraraka both looked at him in curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Taking his notebook and a pencil from his bag, Midoriya opened to a blank page and proceeded to draw a rough sketch of Yaoyorozu. "It's just an idea, maybe it'll work for you or not. But lemme show you what I'm thinking," He began to sketch the outfit onto Yaoyorozu's form.

After finishing her costume notes, Uraraka looked over and was intrigued by Midoriya's sketching. 'Whoa… Midori-kun's drawing isn't bad at all…'

"Hey, Midori-kun, do you care if I come to your side and watch?" She questioned.

"Sure! No problem." He smiled.

Yaoyorozu let Uraraka slide out of the booth and switch sides to sit by Midoriya. The brunette artist carefully watched Midoriya draw the rough design for Yaoyorozu's hero costume, and she was impressed with both the design and his drawing skills.

'Midori-kun's a good artist. Did he come up with all of this at the top of his head, or has he already been thinking about it?' Uraraka wondered. 'Maybe… maybe I can show him my work and we can share ideas?' She seriously considered that thought.

Yaoyorozu, meanwhile, quietly watched in fascination as Midoriya's hand danced across the page like a professional.

Several minutes later, Midoriya finished the sketch and turned the page around to show it to the ravenette. "Here's what I had in mind. Feel free to point out anything you don't like."

Looking at the page, Yaoyorozu's eyes lit up and sparkles appeared around her. She was well drawn in her proposed hero costume, and it looked every bit as good as a professional support company's design.

"Midori-kun… this is really good!" She breathed out in surprise. Midoriya tried to fight back his blush while rubbing the back of his head. He still wasn't used to getting compliments from pretty girls.

"I've just had a lot of practice sketching over the years." He waved off. 'Whether it be 21st century meta-humans, or the Heroes and Villains of today.'

"So far, I can't really see anything I don't like." Yaoyorozu truthfully admitted. "I like the guards and pads you added for protection, the utility belt with storage, and especially the touchscreen! Honestly… I'm a little embarrassed I didn't think of that feature myself. I was originally going to carry a book detailing the molecular makeup of elements and various compounds."

"Yeah, a touchscreen would be a lot faster than looking through a book." Uraraka remarked.

"It's more practical too." Midoriya added.

"And so is the footwear!" Yaoyorozu said animatedly. "Believe it or not, the support company our family employed for my costume's design featured heels of all things."

Midoriya and Uraraka both winced at that revelation.

"W-why…?" Uraraka tilted her head, bemused. "Wouldn't that be murder on your feet after walking for a while?"

"I… I dunno. I just went with what they recommended." Yaoyorozu admitted bashfully.

"Heels would also interfere with your balance and footing when fighting," Midoriya mentioned. "I think this is a much better alternative, and your feet will thank you too."

Both girls simultaneously agreed.

"I must say I had no idea you were as talented at sketching as Uraraka-chan is." Yaoyorozu offhandedly mentioned, returning her attention to the sketched costume.

"Oh? You draw, Uraraka-chan?" Midoriya turned to the chestnut-haired girl, intrigued.

"Oh! Uh… you see…" Uraraka felt her face get hotter. 'Yaomomo!? Why'd you have to mention that so casually?' The heiress was oblivious to Uraraka's plight as she was still analyzing the costume design. Well, it was already in the open and she had already thought of sharing her hobby with Midoriya anyway so there was no point in denying it. "Y-yes…"

"That's cool!" Midoriya said excitedly. "You should show me your work sometime! I'd love to see it."

"Oh…uh, I…" She trailed off and looked away.

Seeing her nervous state, Midoriya looked at her in concern. "You okay? Something wrong?"

"N-nothing! It's just…" She twiddled her thumbs nervously. "... you won't judge, will you?"

"What? Of course not. It's nothing bad, is it?"

"No." Yaoyorozu spoke up, still captivated by her new costume design. "Uraraka-chan is a very talented artist. She's just too shy to share her work in person."

'You're one to talk, Miss Incredible Yaomomo.' Uraraka sweat-dropped. 'Have you even told Midori-kun of your story yet? I didn't think so.'

"Oh, is that all?" Midoriya looked back, unaffected. "You don't have to be embarrassed, Uraraka-chan. I won't judge you or anything. But you don't have to show me if you don't want to though."

'Thank you for being so understanding, Midori-kun.' Uraraka happily thought, feeling a strange fuzzy sensation in her chest. What could that be? Maybe just heartburn from her meal.

'I guess it wouldn't hurt to show him my space drawings first. Nothing too embarrassing about any of those…' Her brown eyes slightly widened as she remembered one particular drawing. '…Except for that one with my OC and Captain America. I'll just keep that one to myself.'

Shaking her head, the brunette turned to the verdette, and beamed. "Thank you, Midori-kun. I promise I'll show you sometime soon."

Midoriya felt his heart flutter at her cute smile, and he smiled back reflexively. "Cool. I look forward to it."

"Ahem…anyway." Yaoyorozu tried to get back to the initial topic of their conversation. "I very much like this new design you came up with Midori-kun. Would you mind if I kept this page to send to the support company?"

"F-Feel free, Yaomomo." Midoriya nodded, shaking off the last of his embarrassment.

Yaoyorozu smiled beautifully at him, and Midoriya felt his cheeks heat up and his heart rate increase again. He had to admit that Yaoyorozu had a really pretty smile. In fact, the smile seemed vaguely familiar to him in a way, and he didn't know why. He pushed that thought aside, believing he was just imagining things.

"Midori-kun, again, this is amazing." Yaoyorozu breathed out happily. She carefully removed the page featuring her and her, hopefully, soon-to-be costume, placed it in her designer's purse, and then returned the notebook back to Midoriya. "It covers what needs to be covered, while still allowing me the maximum use of my Quirk. I can never thank you enough!"

"There's no need for thanks, really." Midoriya smiled and waved his hands. "I just want all of us to be the best Heroes we can be."

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka both smiled at their friend's kind sincerity. He was too kind for this world, they thought.

"On the topic of costumes, did you have anything in mind, Midori-kun?" Yaoyorozu asked curiously.

"Yeah!" Uraraka looked at him excitedly. "I bet you have something really cool planned!"

"Well," the verdette rubbed his neck awkwardly, "yes and no. I do have something in mind. I'm still working out the finer details though."

"Can you show us what you have so far?" Uraraka inquired.

"I could…" Midoriya reached into his bag to pull out another notebook, and both girls leaned forward in anticipation. "... but that would be telling." He smiled slyly, placing the book back in his bag.

In response, Yaoyorozu and Uraraka both face-faulted on the table.

"That's not fair, Midori-kun!" Uraraka puffed out her cheeks in mock frustration. "You can't leave us in suspense like that."

"It is his choice, Uraraka-chan. We should respect it." Yaoyorozu was saying the right words, but one look at her facial expression proved she was just as disappointed as her friend.

"You don't believe that, Yaomomo." Uraraka called out, causing the ravenette to 'EEP' and blush. She turned back to her green-haired friend. "C'mon, Midori-kun! You have to at least give us a hint."

"Hmm…" Midoriya rubbed his chin, feigning contemplation. "Well… I suppose I could, but-."

"Please?" Uraraka gave him sad puppy dog eyes, making him inwardly flinch and blush.

'Aw c'mon! That's not fair!' He mentally screamed.

Running into an active warzone? No issue. Liberating meta-humans from inhumane concentration camps? No sweat. Fighting battles on two fronts against two maniacal groups with radical agendas calling for the extermination of the other? Not a problem.

A cute young woman's begging eyes? He may as well be a chair given how quickly he folded. He could practically hear Bucky and his old teammates laughing at him in the afterlife.

"O-okay…" He relented, to which Uraraka cheered.

Yaoyorozu studied this exchange intently. 'Hmm… So, Midori-kun is weak to feminine charm and begging? Noted.' Perhaps that information could be useful one day.

Midoriya inwardly sighed. 'Honestly, I'm still working on the final design, so I can't show them that. But… I guess I could tell them my inspiration, at least.'

"You both know that I'm a Captain America-otaku, right?" He asked.

Uraraka giggled. "Obviously. We're all fans of the Captain, remember?"

Right. He sometimes forgot his new friends were fans of his hero identity. That fact still baffled him honestly.

"Well, I was thinking of basing my costume off of his. Not copying it or anything!" He quickly explained. "Just… more of a tribute, if you will. What do you two think?"

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka suddenly adopted serious expressions as if they were deeply contemplating his reply.

'What's with those looks? Did I make them upset?' He worriedly thought, looking between the two girls.

"Midori-kun," Yaoyorozu sounded concerned, "even as a tribute, basing any costume design off the Captain's is not something to take lightly. You know that, yes?"

"Um…." No. Actually, he didn't know that. What was the issue?

"Yeah… It comes with pretty big expectations." Uraraka added seriously. "Most Heroes try to stay away from anything too similar to his costume to avoid the comparisons… except for All Might and Star And Stripe, but those two are in completely different leagues."

'Star and Stripe… the United States' Number One Hero. Her Quirk is super-powerful… honestly, it's kinda scary what she can do. Thank God she's on our side.' Midoriya offhandedly thought. 'But wait… why is it a big deal if a Pro Hero's costume is close to mine?'

"Even if most people in Japan don't really know Captain America outside of his name, he's still an important figure in the Hero community to this day." Yaoyorozu elaborated further. "Anyone who wishes to base their Hero costume and name off of his must accept the public scrutiny and constant comparisons that comes with it. Are you sure you want to do that, Midori-kun?"

'Ah, I get it now. No one wants to risk the backlash of copying the First Hero's look and failing to live up to the legacy, I guess.' He internally rationalized.

Midoriya's mouth went straight with determination. "I understand what I'm getting myself into…" he clenched his fist under the table, "... still, I'm ready to accept that challenge."

The ravenette and brunette beauties stared at Midoriya, searching for any sign of deceit or nervousness. Not finding any, they both smiled at him.

"If that's the case," Uraraka supportively patted Midoriya's back, "I'll be rooting for yah, Midori-kun! If anyone can live up to the Captain's legacy, it's you!"

"Y-you really think so?" He was mildly surprised, not expecting this response.

"Of course!" Uraraka replied cheerily. "You already have the look, and you're pretty heroic like the Captain too."

"Your Quirk is also very similar to his as well." Yaoyorozu noted. 'His Quirk, Augment, is very similar to Captain America's, actually… Is it just a coincidence?'

"You also have that cool shield of yours." Uraraka added excitedly. "So, yeah! I think you can pull it off."

Midoriya's face flushed. "T-thanks, guys. I really appreciate that."

He felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He hated lying to Yaoyorozu and Uraraka, especially after how they'd accepted him as their friend despite him technically being a foreigner. He wished he could just tell them both the truth, but he knew he couldn't.

There was no way they'd believe he was, in reality, a 21st century war veteran who was frozen and miraculously revived in a new era. Heck, he could hardly believe it himself sometimes! They'd both think he was making fun of them if he tried to tell them such a ludicrous-sounding story.

As much as Midoriya hated lying, he understood it was best to keep his true identity secret; for now, at least.

He looked back at them with a determined smile. "I can't show you my costume design now, but I promise you both… it'll be worth the wait."

"I look forward to seeing it then." the creation girl said happily. "Both of yours, actually."

"April can't get here fast enough!" Uraraka pumped a fist in excitement. "I can't wait to get started."

They chatted for a little while longer over various topics. Nearly an hour later, Yaoyorozu's ride had returned, and she had to leave. After paying the bill, Midoriya and Uraraka both gave farewells to their friend before heading back to the train station together. Both had homework for their respective schools that they needed to catch up on.

The start of the trio's UA freshman semester couldn't come fast enough.

---

Later that day, Midoriya was at his desk finishing up a paper for one of his classes when he suddenly received a text from Yagi.

Yagi: Meet me on the pier at Takoba park. 22:00 (10 PM)

'Pretty late meetup with no context. Maybe he wants to talk about my acceptance?' Midoriya reasoned.

He sent a quick confirmation text that he would be there.

Several hours later, Midoriya was briskly jogging down the sidewalk illuminated by the dim glow of street lamps. His attire consisted of red high-tops, gray jogging pants, and a black short-sleeved US Army shirt; a pair of dog tags hung freely from around his neck.

He knew he was getting closer to the park as he smelled and felt the fresh ocean air on his face, a stark contrast to the foul stench of garbage that had previously choked the air in this section of the city. As he approached the park, his eyes slightly widened from an unexpected sight.

An old cherry-red Corvette convertible was parked near the main stairway. 'Holy crap! Those cars were rare even in my day. How did someone find that?!'

Parked behind the ancient (classic) American sports car was a familiar white pickup truck. 'Toshinori's early,' he glanced at his green-banded military watch. 'Still have 20 minutes till 22 PM.' Looking back at the flashy car, he wondered, 'Is somebody with him?'

Walking down the stairs and across the empty beach, he received his answer as he saw two familiar men standing at the end of the pier.

"Coulson? You're here?" He asked in English.

Nonchalantly leaning against the metal railing, the SHIELD agent was dressed in casual wear consisting of black loafers, blue jeans, a blue button-up shirt, and black leather jacket over it. He and Yagi appeared to have been having a friendly discussion before his arrival.

The agent turned to him and smiled. "Good to see you again, Cap. We knew you'd be early, so we thought we'd beat you here. By the way, you can keep speaking English if you want. We all speak it fluently, after all."

"Okay. I… hope I didn't keep you two waiting too long."

"Nah, we just got here five minutes ago. We knew you'd be early, so we decided to beat you here." Yagi said in English. "Coulson contacted me, wanting all three of us to meet up. It's long overdue, honestly."

Midoriya looked between the two men in partial confusion. Not that he wasn't happy to see them, but why did they both want to meet him at the same time? "Okay… what's this about? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Coulson assured, standing up straight. "We just needed to notify you of a few things."

"But first," Yagi smiled and held out a hand, "congrats on getting in."

Midoriya returned the high-five. "Oh, thanks. Your training was very effective. I can't thank you enough."

"I was just happy I could help you." Yagi chuckled. "Couldn't have asked for a better protégé."

Coulson turned to admire the clean beachside. "You did an amazing cleanup job. Won't be long before the couples start returning here."

"Couples?" Midoriya looked at him, bewildered.

"Oh, you didn't know? This used to be a couples beach before all the trash started piling up." Coulson replied offhandedly.

"I… d-didn't know that." Midoriya became noticeably bashful.

"What's with the face?" Coulson smirked. "Don't tell me Captain America is nervous around women."

"He is." Yagi grinned wryly. "Practically clams up. How he manages to talk to those two girlfriends of his is beyond me."

"W-wait! NO! It's not like that!" Midoriya's face turned red and waved his hands frantically, "T-THEY'RE NOT MY-"

"HA-HA-HA!" Yagi laughed with blood spewing from his mouth while Coulson turned away to hide his amused grin. "Relax! I'm just messing with yah! Geez, it's too easy sometimes!"

Midoriya settled down and glared half-heartedly at the shrunken superhero.

"So, I gather the old rumors of you being with multiple women across the world are all fake then?" Coulson slyly asked.

"Obviously… Wait," Midoriya's eyes widened after fully processing what the agent had said, "hold on, is that really a thing!?"

He smirked. "It is. Some people born with an augmentation-type Quirk will joke or claim that you're part of their family tree. But don't worry about it." Coulson reassured. "It's just an old tale with no credible evidence to support it. No one really believes it."

"That's good…" Midoriya slumped his shoulders in relief. 'I'd hate for people to think I was a playboy or something, especially since I've never even been on a date…' He frowned at that thought.

Both men noticed the melancholic expression on Midoriya's face and looked at him in concern.

"Everything alright?" Yagi inquired.

"Y-yeah, it's fine…" Midoriya recomposed himself. "No need to worry. Anyways, what's this sudden meeting all about?"

"Well, first," Coulson started, "I also wanted to congratulate you on your acceptance. I knew you'd get in, but snagging first place? Didn't think you would take my text that day so seriously."

"Thanks… but," Midoriya looked at the agent seriously, "please tell me you guys didn't-"

"No." He immediately responded, already anticipating the super-soldier's question. "You earned that spot on your own. SHIELD didn't pull any strings. Not that we could have anyway, given who the Dean of UA's Hero Department is."

This piqued Midoriya's curiosity. "Why? Who's the dean?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Coulson winked.

'Really helpful there, Coulson…' the verdette sardonically thought.

"I can vouch that your acceptance was legitimate as well." Yagi added. "As you know I wasn't a judge in the exam, but I was in the monitoring room. The faculty was very impressed by your performance as far as I could tell."

Midoriya felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He was happy to know that he had legitimately earned his place in one of the world's most famous, prestigious Hero academies. The thought of UA's 40 coveted Hero Program spots just being given to him rather than earning it was sickening. First Hero or not, he didn't believe he was any better than the other applicants and should earn his place like everyone else had to.

Midoriya sighed in relief. "That's good to know. Guess this soldier's still got some fight left in him, huh? Heh-heh…" He lightly chortled.

"You got plenty. For an old man, you're pretty spry." Yagi jokingly commented.

"Old man, huh?" Midoriya smirked.

"I mean, technically you are." Coulson pointed out. "Considering the fact that you're older than both of us put together."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Wanting to stay on topic, Midoriya asked, "So, what else did you guys want to tell me?"

"Just to inform you that SHIELD will continue to be here as a resource for you, myself included. Also," Coulson adopted a serious look, "now that you'll be attending UA, you'll have a lot of eyes on you. You'll need a cover story for your advanced training and skill sets. The faculty there are bound to notice, if they haven't already."

"Is… that really necessary?" Midoriya cocked a brow in skepticism. "I mean, surely the other 39 Hero students are just as skilled as me. I mean, I know 3 of them already and they're very capable." He said, referring to Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and Tsunotori.

"Capable? Yes." Yagi chimed in. "As trained and skilled as you are? No. It'll be unusual to have a freshman as knowledgeable in battle and rescue ops as you, young Midoriya. As your Foundational Heroics 101-Field teacher, I won't need any explanation since I know the truth, but the other teachers… they may get suspicious."

Midoriya lowered his head, processing this information. "I guess playing dumb isn't an option then?"

"No." Yagi shook his head. "The staff will know right away if you're hiding your potential and they'll punish you for it, maybe even expel you from the Hero Course altogether. Besides, you're attending UA University to become a better Hero - not to slide by."

"Makes sense." He nodded in understanding. "If I hold back, I'll get in trouble with the school. If I don't, everyone will start asking where I learned to fight so well. A cover is needed."

Coulson reached into his jacket and pulled out a manilla envelope. "Read this and memorize it. We matched it up with your existing cover now, with some additions."

"Right…" Midoriya opened the envelope and pulled out the papers, briefly looking over them.

"Izuku Midoriya. Born July 15, 2174 at Musutafu General. Parents, Inko and Hisashi Midoriya. Quirk: Augment, enhances all bodily aspects. Family immigrated to America in 2177. Grew up in Fresno, California. Mom died of cancer when I was 16. Dad died in a car accident the next year. Lived with relatives during that time. Joined the US Army at age 17. Served 3 years before moving to Japan, following dream of attending All Might's alma mater."

After summarizing the story, he placed the papers back in the envelope. "I almost believe it myself."

"I mean, I would've." Yagi admitted with a shrug.

"Both the US and Japanese government databases have been updated to support this story." Coulson stated. "So, if anyone does any digging around, they'll find enough to hopefully satisfy their curiosity."

'SHIELD sure has a scary amount of power and influence…' Yagi inwardly noted.

"And if they don't?" Midoriya pressed.

"We'll handle it." Coulson simply replied, but the ominous meaning behind it didn't go unnoticed by Midoriya or All Might.

With that open-ended question, a thought crossed the Symbol of Peace's mind. "What about the shield? It'll certainly turn some heads. Heck, even Power Loader was gushing over it in the monitoring room. Any cover story for that?"

Coulson smiled confidently. "Already covered." He turned back to the verdette. "It's in the parts you glossed over."

Still holding the envelope, Midoriya lowered his head with a thoughtful expression.

"Something bothering you, young Midoriya?" Yagi inquired.

"How… how long do I have to do this?"

"I'm… sorry?" Coulson lifted a brow, confused.

Yagi, however, instantly understood what he was referring to. "I think he means how long does he have to keep lying about his Quirk." He said, looking back to the verdette for clarification. "Is that right?"

"Not just that." Midoriya sighed sullenly. "It's this whole cover story in general. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for all the work you and SHIELD have done for me, Coulson. I'm especially grateful that not ALL of this," he held up the envelope, "is a complete lie, but that's just it. Is this what I'll have to do for the rest of my life? Telling everyone half-truths or just straight up lies?"

He paused momentarily to place his hands on the pier railing, introspectively looking out at the ocean. "To become a Pro Hero, do I really have to become a perpetual liar?"

Neither Yagi nor Coulson could immediately respond to that question.

Coulson frowned and looked away, unsure. He was a high-class SHIELD agent, so lying was a natural part of his job. It was second nature to him at this point of his career. He didn't particularly care to lie, but he firmly believed that people didn't need to know everything that was happening in this cruel world around them. Ignorance is bliss, after all. But Midoriya's circumstances were more complicated, and his hands were also tied by his superiors, so there was no clear answer.

Yagi, on the other hand, was very empathetic towards Midoriya's plight. Ever since he had become the 8th bearer of One For All, he had to spend his whole life lying about the nature of his Quirk. Only a select group of people he trusted knew of One For All and his recently weakened condition. If there was anyone who could come close to understanding Midoriya's issues, it was him.

The haggard blonde placed a supportive hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "In a way, I can understand how you feel. I have to spend every day hiding my own condition and essentially lying to everyone around me. It's hard, yes. But, because I'm All Might, I have to keep the truth from them. If people knew their Symbol of Peace was weakened or could be hurt, then-"

"People would panic. Crime rates would soar." Midoriya finished and looked back at him pointedly. "But I'm not the Symbol of Peace, Yagi. I'm just a kid who served his country the only way he could during a tumultuous time. I'm no better than you."

'You have no idea how wrong you are.' Yagi internally countered.

"It's been over 150 years… I mean, would it really be bad if people knew my origin?" Midoriya questioned. "Would people really be upset if they knew Captain America used to be a young, skinny kid with no powers?"

For the next few moments, the only sound was the waves crashing against the shore and the distant cacophony of the city.

"Probably not." Coulson broke the silence.

Both Midoriya and Yagi turned to the American agent, surprised by his response.

"I'll be honest with you, Cap, I'm not a big fan of this whole cover story thing either." Coulson revealed. "I think a lot of people would be enthralled by your story."

He smiled at the verdette. "I always was a big fan of yours growing up, and when I reached a high enough rank in SHIELD to know your true origin, I was even more inspired by you as a Quirkless man myself. In fact, I believe all Quirkless people and even those with Quirks deemed weak or useless by society would love you greatly. Heck, if it were up to me, I'd tell everyone about you."

He frowned as his brows scrunched up. "But keeping your identity under wraps isn't about the populace's reaction or even how it would affect your legacy, it never was. It's about those in the shadows."

"Right." Yagi understood where the spy was getting at. "If people knew that you received your abilities through a special serum, a lot of high-class Villains and corrupt scientists would be working diligently to replicate it… or make something far worse." He lowered his head as one man in particular came to mind. "I knew one Villain who would've killed for that information."

Midoriya glanced at the emaciated man's left side. "Is it the same Villain who injured you?"

Yagi visibly winced, looking away.

"I thought so. Did… you want to talk about it?" He gently asked, wanting to tread carefully. It was clear this was a sensitive topic for All Might.

Yagi contemplated his reply. Was now the time to tell Young Midoriya everything about the supervillain he fought 5 years ago? The man who was the reason his Quirk even existed. The fact that said Quirk would soon need a new holder. After weighing his options, he quickly came to a decision.

He shook his head. "I can't. Not yet at least."

Off from the side, Coulson discreetly directed an irked look at the skeletal man - which didn't go unnoticed by Yagi.

Midoriya, remaining oblivious to the silent exchange, nodded in understanding. "I get it. If you ever need to talk though, I'll listen."

From Midoriya's perspective, he could understand Yagi's aversion to discussing the full story behind his injury. The supervillain who inflicted the injury had to be super powerful and the battle itself was likely a brutal, traumatic one. It was something Yagi wouldn't be comfortable casually talking about, even with those who knew of his condition.

Also, to be fair, Midoriya hadn't revealed everything about his own past to Yagi either, especially his last mission. So, he didn't really have any right to demand answers from All Might.

"Thank you, young Midoriya. I will… someday." Yagi hesitantly replied. The sickly blonde slightly sweated as he felt Coulson's gaze boring into his skull. 'Coulson, please tone it down!'

"Ahem…" the agent fake-coughed into his hand, "back to the topic at hand… though I would love for people to know who you are, Cap, it's best if it's kept hidden. The world already has enough issues with Quirk-enhancing drugs like Trigger. Adding something like the super-soldier serum to the mix could spell disaster."

"Yeah," Midoriya relented, "makes sense."

"I'll talk with Fury about this. Maybe we can come up with something." Coulson suggested. "But I can't make any promises."

"I understand." Coulson, though having a high-ranking position, was still a cog in the very intricate machine that was SHIELD.

Coulson went on. "There was one more thing I wanted to know, unrelated."

"What's that?"

Coulson smiled. "Hero costume. SHIELD can design and build one for you… if you're interested."

"Is that allowed?" Midoriya turned to Yagi for verification.

"Yeah, it's no issue." Yagi easily responded. "Most wealthy Hero students usually have their own costumes designed and built by support companies their families hire. For students that don't have that luxury, they're required to submit their paperwork before the school year begins."

'Right… Yaomomo did mention her family contracted a support company to design her hero costume.' Midoriya recalled.

"But I'm not wealthy," Midoriya pointed out.

"You have connections. That counts." Yagi countered.

"I guess…" Midoriya shrugged, unsure.

"Did you have something in mind for a costume yet?" shrunken All Might inquired.

"Yeah, I do. I'll need a day or two to work out the details though." He turned to the super-spy. "Can I send it over to you when I'm done?"

Coulson nodded, looking excited. "Absolutely. I'll get R&D started as soon as I receive it."

"Thanks, Coulson. For everything." He said sincerely.

Coulson smirked proudly. "Anytime, Cap."

"Hey," Yagi looked at him expectantly, "think you can clue me in on your new costume?"

"Please," Midoriya playfully smirked, "after that scare you gave me in your projection last night, you can forget it. You'll have to wait like everyone else, old man."

"Touche. But..." Yagi rubbed his neck awkwardly, "... I guess I had that one coming."

Moments later, after finishing up their talks, Midoriya bid farewell to the two men and began jogging back to his apartment after politely turning down offers to be driven there. Though Midoriya secretly wanted to catch a ride in Coulson's car, he knew he could do that another time. He had a lot to think about tonight.

After the super-soldier disappeared from sight, Coulson glared at Yagi from the corner of his eye. "You had the perfect opportunity to explain everything to him." He spoke in Japanese.

"I know…" Sighing heavily, Yagi stepped toward the pier's railing.

Coulson crossed his arms over his chest. "Toshinori, you've been training with him for almost a year now."

"I know…" He sat down and leaned against the rails.

"And you still haven't told him anything about your Quirk."

"I know…" He groaned while leaning his head back.

Coulson furrowed his brows in frustration. "This isn't a game. If you don't believe he's worthy to be your successor, then just admit it and move on."

"That's not it!" the Pro Hero strongly retorted. "That's far from it!"

"Then what's holding you back?" the SHIELD agent demanded.

"It's just…" Yagi paused to collect his thoughts, "... he doesn't need One For All. The timing just… doesn't feel right."

Coulson's eyebrow cocked in confusion "Doesn't feel right?"

"It's hard to explain… it's like something inside me is just telling me now isn't the time." Yagi admitted, sighing deeply. "... Besides, I think young Midoriya will be just fine on his own."

"Then what about One For All?" the American agent questioned. "What are you going to do? Your time is running out."

The Symbol of Peace didn't respond immediately. "I dunno... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

---

Musutafu, Japan - April 2197

The first day of the UA University's Spring 2197 semester had finally arrived! According to the schedule emailed to him a week prior, his first class, Foundational Heroics 101-A, started at 09:00 (9 AM). It was currently 07:30 (7:30 AM) and Midoriya was already preparing himself for the day ahead.

Due to a nightmare he'd rather not discuss, he had woken up at 04:00 (4 AM). He'd been having a lot of those lately…

Unable to fall back asleep he decided to go for a morning jog at Takoba beach mixed with several training exercises, and then returned later to shower and eat a hearty, calorie-heavy breakfast.

Now, he was checking he had all of the necessary school supplies in his yellow satchel, muttering off his mental checklist while doing so.

"No. 2 Pencils? Check. Mechanical pencils? Check. Pens? Check. Paper? Check. Erasers? Check. Protractor? Check…" He continued on.

He realized this may be overkill. After all, since it was only the first day, there would most likely be an entrance ceremony and orientation at some point. After that, classes would likely only cover the syllabuses and what was expected as Hero Course students before being dismissed early.

He inwardly recited his schedule for the semester.

Foundational Heroics 101-A, MWF (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), 9:00AM - 10:30AM

General English 101, MWF, 11:00AM - 12:15 PM

Modern Literature 102, MWF, 1:30 PM - 2:15PM

Algebra 102, TTh (Tuesday, Thursday), 9:00AM - 10:30AM

Foundational Heroics FIELD 101-A, MTWTF (Weekdays), 3:30PM - 5:30PM

Nevertheless, it never hurts to be prepared. One or all of the professors could throw a curveball and make everyone hit the ground running. Considering it was UA Academy, he suspected that option was very probable.

Ensuring that his bag was packed, he stepped toward the mirror on the wall near his bed to confirm that his uniform was presentable. The UA Hero Course uniform consisted of a grey coat with green highlights over a white button-up shirt, green pants, and a red tie. He was thankful that he was able to keep his red shoes; for most of his life, he had been obsessed with having red shoes, something Uraraka and Yaoyorozu had teased him about.

With his uniform in good condition and his satchel packed, Midoriya smiled confidently and nodded to himself in the mirror. 'Go get 'em, soldier. You can do this!'

With that, he proceeded to the door. The only thing that he didn't bring was his leather shield, which was hanging in his closet, empty.

Shutting and locking his door behind him, he stepped down the corridor and stopped in front of Room 337. He gently knocked on the door.

"Uraraka-chan? Are you ready?"

There was no immediate response. Several moments passed before Midoriya knocked again. "Uraraka-chan?"

"... Midori-kun?" A muffled voice said.

With a couple clicks, the door opened to reveal Uraraka standing in front of him in cute pajama bottoms with pink bunnies on them and a fairly revealing pink tank top. She had tired eyes that were barely open and a massive case of bed hair.

Midoriya looked away trying to suppress the blush from seeing Uraraka, especially since her thin shirt hugged her chest tightly.

"Midori-kun…? What are you doing…? It's early…" She wiped her eyes wearily as if she had just awoken.

"Uraraka-chan, it's 7:35. Class starts at 9." He said, his head still turned away to hide his blush.

"But... We still have lots of time… Could've gotten more sleep~" She covered her mouth to yawn.

"We're Hero Course students." Midoriya lightly admonished her. "We need to set a good example, Uraraka-chan."

Uraraka groaned loudly. "Okay, okay… give me a second…" She closed the door.

15 minutes later, Uraraka finally walked out in a similar uniform to Midoriya's, but with a green skirt and black stockings. She had her black school bag on her back, and her hair was styled in a short ponytail with two bangs framing her round face.

"Well, I'm up." Uraraka tiredly grinned. "How do I look?"

"Cute." Midoriya responded without thinking.

Realizing what he had said, his face began to turn red again in embarrassment. 'Crap! Did I seriously just say that out loud!?'

Uraraka's blush marks turned darker before she beamed. "Thanks, Midori-kun!" Taking a short moment to look him over, she continued, "You look really handsome yourself!"

"I… t-thanks…" Midoriya stammered bashfully.

Uraraka pulled out her phone for the time. "It's only 8:00 though. It'll only take us 20 minutes to get to UA. Don't you think it's a little too early?"

Midoriya shook his head. "It takes us 5 minutes to get to the nearest station. Then, there's approximately a 20-minute train ride to UA, if there are no delays. From there, it's another 5-minute walk to campus. That'll optimally put us at UA around 8:30. So long as nothing slows us down."

"That's still 30 minutes early?!" Uraraka balked, wide-eyed.

"If you're not 15 minutes early, you're late. Since it's the first day, we should be there a little earlier too just in case." Glancing at his watch, he gently grabbed Uraraka's hand (careful not to touch all 5 fingers) and pulled her down the corridor. "C'mon, we're already wasting time."

"B-but…" Uraraka felt her face get hotter from the sudden hand contact. "... can we at least stop for coffee?"

---

At Uraraka's insistent request, the pair did eventually stop at a Dunkin' for coffee on the way to the train station. Midoriya was initially surprised to learn that the old coffee-donut chain from his time was still in business; however, they were placing more emphasis on coffee than donuts nowadays, hence why they at some point dropped the 'Donuts' from their name.

'Guess even during times of war and social turmoil, people still need their coffee…' He thought wryly.

Uraraka did seem to perk up after drinking the caffeine, so that was good. "Much better…" She sighed in contentment.

"You do sound more like yourself now." Midoriya jokingly noted.

"I'm not much of a morning person, I'll admit…" Uraraka scratched her cheek bashfully. She questioningly looked back to her verdette friend. "By the way, why were you up so early, Midori-kun?"

"Well…I normally get up pretty early for a morning jog and training on the beach." That was true, but it wasn't the reason he was up earlier than usual. Damn nightmares again. Same one too. He pushed that unpleasant thought aside, not wanting to dwell on it.

"I see." Uraraka nodded. "That makes sense. No wonder you stay in shape." She placed her finger on her chin, thinking. "Maybe I should train in the mornings too?"

"If you're okay with getting up early, I'd be happy to help." Midoriya kindly offered.

"T-thanks… I may take you up on that sometime." She replied, flustered.

The pair walked up the pathway from the parking lot as other students were coming in from the public transit stops. Like Yaoyorozu had previously stated, UA Hero Course students were the only ones required to wear uniforms. Everyone else was free to wear what they wanted as long as it adhered to the school dress code.

Midoriya couldn't help but briefly gaze at the towers of UA's main academic campus past the front gate. He wondered who his classmates would be. He already knew Uraraka and Yaoyorozu would be in the same classes with him. Did Pony get in? The tall guy with glasses? Did that Bakugo guy get in?

With their student ID on them, Midoriya and Uraraka safely walked through the security gate and proceeded toward the main building. Along the way, they received awed stares from other students - likely because they were wearing the coveted Hero Department uniforms.

There, at the main doors, the pair spotted Yaoyorozu standing off to the side and looking down at her phone.

"Yaomomo! Over here!" Uraraka waved excitedly.

The heiress looked up and smiled brightly seeing her two friends. "Oh, you're here! I was about to text you both where I was. I thought we could walk to our new class together." She cutely said.

Her hair was done up in her usual spiky ponytail, and she wore the same uniform as Uraraka but instead of stockings she wore black knee-length socks. Midoriya's male mind noted that Yaoyorozu filled out the uniform very well.

His green eyes quickly darted away so Yaoyorozu hopefully wouldn't notice him checking her out. 'No! Control yourself!' He inwardly shouted.

Uraraka did notice his gaze and she couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed for some reason. She quickly buried away that thought.

"Sure!" Uraraka chirped. "I still think it's early but might as well see what's in store for us this year."

"Early?" Yaoyorozu tilted her head. "It's 8:40. We only have 5 minutes to find our classroom."

"Ugh…not you too, Yaomomo," Uraraka groaned in mock despair. "You sound like Midori-kun…"

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, c'mon sleepy-head, let's get to class." Midoriya gently pushed the brunette forward as the trio passed through the main doors.

In the lobby, they looked over the large map detailing the layout of each floor as other students were doing the same.

"Let's see…" Yaoyorozu quickly looked over the layout. "Support… Business… There! The Hero Department's on the 3rd floor."

"I guess we should find the stairs then." Uraraka started looking around.

The trio navigated down the hallways to find a stairway and, along the way, Midoriya swore he heard a familiar voice - only it was in English.

"Stairs are that way… elevator's closer, might as well take that."

Looking over a passing group of students, he saw the source of the voice and familiar pair of lyre horns.

"Tsunotori-san?" Midoriya asked, and the blonde perked up, turning around.

Tsunotori's blue eyes lit up when she saw the verdette. "Midoriya!" She yelled in English, running over towards him.

"Good to see you again!" Replying in Japanese, he held out his hand which she eagerly shook, impressed by her grip strength. He then noticed that she was wearing the Hero Course uniform as well without wearing any shoes or socks because of her hooves.

"Yeah!" She beamed, her tail swishing behind her. "I'm so glad you passed the exam too!"

"Who's your friend, Midori-kun?" Yaoyorozu politely asked.

"Oh! This is Tsunotori-san. We met at the entrance exam." Midoriya introduced the shorter blonde. "Tsunotori-san, these are my friends."

"Hello. I'm Tsunotori Pony." She bowed. "Pleasure to meet you."

Uraraka's eyes widened slightly, recognizing her as the same girl that sat next to Midoriya in the exam. The same one Midoriya said he had rescued from the zero-pointer too. She then recalled seeing her and Midoriya getting along quite well in the auditorium that day. Why did that bother her so much?

The brunette, ignoring that thought, smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Uraraka Ochako. Nice to meet you, Tsunotori-san."

"I'm Yaoyorozu Momo," Yaoyorozu extended her hand, "it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well."

Tsunotori happily shook both girls' hands. "Likewise! I hope we all get along really well."

"What class were you heading to, Tsunotori-san?" Midoriya asked.

"You can drop the honorifics with me. Just call me Tsunotori, or even Pony when it's just us, if you want." the blonde giggled. "We're both from America, after all."

"Oh… okay, if that's what you want." Midoriya nervously replied. "You can call me Izuku then too."

He knew when people used first names in Japan that it was a sign of strong friendship and/or intimacy, but he and Tsunotori both spent most of their lives in America. Referring to each other by first names was the norm.

Tsunotori smiled brightly. "Sounds good, Izuku."

Uraraka felt her right eye twitch. To her knowledge, this was only Midoriya and Tsunotori's second meeting and they were already using first names? Granted, they both grew up in the West, so it likely wasn't anything significant to them. Still, why did she not enjoy watching this exchange?

Yaoyorozu, meanwhile, discreetly looked between Midoriya and Tsunotori and also felt a similar bothersome feeling deep within her. She wasn't sure what it was but decided to ignore it for now. Still, Tsunotori was already comfortable with Midoriya using her first name?! So forward!

"But anyways," Tsunotori went on, "I was heading to Foundational Heroics. Class A."

"That's great!" Midoriya smiled. "We were heading there too."

Tsunotori's expression brightened. "Awesome! Lead the way!"

With that, the group started walking down the hall.

"Where are you from in America, Tsunotori-san?" Yaoyorozu curiously inquired, wanting to be friendly. "And what brings you to Japan?"

"I'm from Texas; Austin, specifically." the pony girl happily replied. "My dad is running our ranch back home, and my mom sometimes works in Japan for her company. UA is one of the best Hero Academies in the world, and All Might went here, right? I thought it'd be a great opportunity to try to attend and learn from his alma mater."

Walking further down the hall, the quartet found an elevator and walked into it.

"Smart career move." Midoriya nodded while pressing the button for the 3rd floor. "You'll have to tell us about your family's ranch sometime."

After a brief elevator ride, the door opened, and the group walked down a long hallway.

They finally arrived at a tall doorway with a large red 'A' painted on it. A dark green plaque with the number 101, labeled in white, was secured to the right. This was the place.

"Whoa… the door's huge!" Uraraka said, shocked.

"N-No kidding…" Tsunotori gapped.

"Well," Midoriya scratched his cheek, "I guess it's fitting. They probably had students and teachers who were very tall."

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement, appearing unaffected.

Midoriya opened the door and stepped into the room with the girls following behind him. It was not exactly what Midoriya was expecting. It was a regular classroom that could've been taken from any school. What confused him though were the 20 desks as opposed to the 40 he was expecting.

The room only had one other occupant at the moment who was sitting at a front corner desk.

She was an attractive girl of average height at 164 cm (5'4'') with dusky green eyes and long lower eyelashes. Her mossy green stretched down below her shoulders and became waiver and thinner the lower down it got. She was wearing the standard Hero Course uniform with black knee-length socks.

Noticing she was no longer alone, the greenette looked at the quartet with a big smile - showing off sharp pointed teeth. "Oh hey! Glad I'm not the only one who decided to show up early."

"Heh-heh, what are you talking about? It's 8:45, so we're right on time, aren't we, Midori-kun?" Uraraka looked up at him with a strained smile and eyes closed.

'Sass levels are alarmingly high.' Midoriya inwardly deadpanned.

"Uh… what?" the female greenette tilted her head, confused.

Midoriya gently chopped Uraraka on the head. "Ow!" She reached up to grab the top of her head, pouting.

"That didn't hurt." Midoriya rolled his eyes, and then looked back to the greenette. "Anyways, what she means to say is it's nice to meet you, miss-"

"Tokage?" Yaoyorozu stepped forward.

The greenette, Tokage, finally noticed Yaoyorozu and walked over to her with a roguish grin. "Hey, motorcycle girl! Good to see you!"

The others looked between the two girls in bewilderment.

"You know her, Yaomomo?" Uraraka asked.

Yaoyorozu smiled and nodded. "Yes. She was at the Recommendation Exam with me."

"Motorcycle girl?" Tsunotori blinked in confusion.

"It's a long story. I can explain everything another time." Yaoyorozu sheepishly responded.

"Oh?" Midoriya turned to his fellow green-haired classmate. "Does that mean you're a recommendation student like Yaomomo?"

"Yaomomo, huh?" Tokage looked at Yaoyorozu slyly. "Is that your nickname?"

"Y-yes… my friends call me that." Yaoyorozu bashfully said with a tiny blush. "You can too… if you want?"

"Sure thing, Yaomomo!" Tokage grinned, showing off her predator-like teeth.

Yaoyorozu felt elated. Months prior, she didn't have any real friendships, especially with people in her age group. Now, she had Uraraka and Midoriya as her best friends and two more potential friends in Tsunotori and Tokage. And it was only the first day of UA!

"And to answer your question," Tokage turned to Midoriya, her smile dropping a bit, "I didn't pass the Recommendation Exam. Came up just a little short." She chuckled while rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "But the school liked me so much they gave me the chance to take the standard exam. I passed that one, of course!"

"That's wonderful!" Yaoyorozu smiled. "You certainly deserve to be here."

"Thanks! That… means a lot. Anyways," Tokage regained her proactive aura and looked at Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tsunotori, "let me introduce myself. I'm Tokage Setsuna. Nice to meet yah!" She held out her hand.

"Midoriya Izuku."

"Hi! I'm Uraraka Ochako."

"Tsunotori Pony! Good to meet you, Tokage-san."

"Pleasure's mine!" Tokage quickly and eagerly shook their hands. "We're gonna get along just swell."

Midoriya glanced around the room; something had been baffling him since stepping inside. "By the way, any clue where the other seats are?"

"Other seats?" Tokage blinked.

"Yeah. There are 40 slots in the Hero Course, right? Aren't we all supposed to be in the same class?" He elaborated.

"No." Yaoyorozu shook her head, and explained, "UA splits their Hero Course into 2 classes, A and B, at every level."

'Ah, so that's why the A is on the door and on our hero-related classes.' Midoriya was still curious. 'Why though?'

"That's kind of strange. I mean, compared to other colleges, 40 people in a class isn't that big." the super-soldier commented. Heck, he had over 60 people in several of his classes at the community college.

"Who knows?" Tokage shrugged nonchalantly. "UA is known for being unconventional and all."

At that statement, Midoriya felt inwardly relieved that he packed his bag with everything school-related this morning. He had a feeling that today would not be a conventional, ordinary first day.

With no assigned seating, Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tsunotori had taken their place in the back corner together on the window side. Yaoyorozu was at the corner with Midoriya sitting in front of her, and Uraraka sat in the desk next to him while Tsunotori had positioned herself next to Yaoyorozu; essentially, the 4 back desks in the window-side corner.

Tokage kept her belongings at the front desk but stayed in the back to chat.

Over the next ten minutes, more students began to fill in and some began socializing. He would every so often look around at his fellow classmates.

He recognized one of them, a dude with the head of a crow. He didn't appear to be much of a talker though as he found his seat in the middle of the room and leaned back, closing his eyes. Definitely a quiet type.

Two girls walked in, appearing to have a casual conversation. One was a short, attractive girl with long dark green hair tied into a ponytail and seemed to have the disposition of a frog. The other was a plain yet cute-looking girl with short purple hair tied into a bob and had long earlobes. 'Were those auxiliary jacks?' Midoriya wondered.

The most animated student so far was a girl with pink hair, pink skin, small yellow horns, golden eyes with pitch-black sclera, and with a bright disposition. Walking in beside her was a muscular dude standing at 175 cm (5'9") with relaxed red eyes and spiky red hair. A friendly, confident expression was plastered on his face.

Midoriya wasn't sure if those two were a couple or not, but they certainly looked the part; especially with how the red-haired guy's eyes subtly brightened when he glanced at the pink girl. Then again, he'd be the first to admit that he wasn't exactly an expert on romantic relationships.

The next student Midoriya noticed walking in was a peculiar one in the super-soldier's eyes. He was a moderately tall guy standing at 180 cm (5'11") with a muscular build. He had shoulder-length hair split between white on his right side and crimson red on his left, tied up into a bun at the back. His eyes were also different as the right one was brown while the left was turquoise; both filled with indifference. Additionally, there was a large burn scar on the left side of his face that reached from his hairline to halfway down his cheek.

He didn't greet anyone, immediately taking a seat in the back corner of the class.

'Serious aura around that guy…' Midoriya mused. 'Even though he looks calm, he seems so… angry?'

Midoriya didn't have more time to ponder on the dual-tone dude for long as a familiar spiky-haired blonde walked into the room with a perpetual scowl etched on his face.

"Bakugo?"

"Huh?" Bakugo's eyes settled on Midoriya, narrowing. "Green hair? You actually passed?"

"Uh… yeah," Midoriya ignored the fact that he seemed surprised by that.

"Ugh…" Uraraka groaned. "Not this guy again... "

"Who is he, Uraraka-chan?" Yaoyorozu asked.

She deeply sighed. "Just some jerk."

Trying to be cordial, Midoriya tried to at least start a good conversation with the ash-blonde. "I saw you did well on the exams. Congrats. By the way, I'm Mi-"

Bakugo interrupted him. "Of course I did! Those tests were a joke." He stated confidently, one hand in his pocket while the other held his school bag's strap. "Getting in here was too easy." He found an open desk on Midoriya's side of the room, choosing the second seat from the front, and sitting his bag by it. Only one desk separated them.

Bakugo sneered. "Might have been a little rough for you extras I bet."

"Extras?" Tokage asked, earning the blonde's attention.

"That's right." Bakugo suddenly stood up on his desk. "Listen up! All of you!"

Everyone in the class stopped to direct their attention to him.

"You're gazing upon greatness. I'm going to be Number One around here. The top hero, like All Might." He smirked darkly. "I'm not overconfident or anything. I'm just that good. So, if none of you want to die or anything, you'll stay out of my way. Understand?"

Everyone was silent.

'Die?!' Midoriya blinked, trying to process this guy's sudden declaration.

"Um… what?" Tsunotori slipped into English, tilting her head. She, like everyone else, was dumbfounded by this scene.

"Did I stutter, horns?" He sneered. "I said," he spoke in English; eligible, but accented, "I'm going to be the Number One Hero, like All Might. And all of you are redshirts. Extras. Stepping stones."

Midoriya frowned as his right eye twitched. He thought at first maybe Bakugo was just joking around. One look into those sharp red eyes revealed that he had meant every single word both in Japanese and English.

'Great… he's one of those kinds of people. Wonderful…' Midoriya dryly thought.

"Whoa, you speak English too?" The spiky red-haired guy asked.

"What, think I wouldn't?" He glared at the redhead as if he were insulted, and then stepped down from his desk.

"PFFT!" Without warning, Tokage burst into laughter. "Are you serious!? Ha-ha-ha! Did you rehearse that before class? You trying to be an edgelord or something? Ha-ha-ha!"

Most of the class laughed at Tokage's remark, even Yaoyorozu couldn't suppress an amused grin.

"What the hell did you say!?" Bakugo yelled, with sparks popping off his hands. "You wanna go, green b*tch?!"

Tokage was unfazed and smirked, showing off her predatory teeth. "Bring it on! I'll take you on anytime, anyplace, sparky."

Midoriya focused intently on the angry blonde's hands, involuntarily feeling his muscles tense up at the sounds. 'Hmm… there were definitely mini explosions coming off his palms. Is that his Quirk? Making explosions?'

"I like your confidence, dude." Redhead guy casually approached Bakugo with a charismatic smile.

'That's not confidence, it's just arrogance.' Midoriya inwardly deadpanned.

"Still, you don't have to call out or insult everyone else like that." He lightly admonished. "Are you just nervous or something? First day jitters?"

"Shut it, sh*tty hair!" Bakugo snapped. "I wasn't talking to you!"

"But… your hair isn't that different from mine…" The redhead pointed out, sweat-dropping. He quickly regained his friendly smile and held out a hand to Bakugo. "Name's Kirishima Eijirou, by the way. What's yours?"

Bakugo was briefly taken aback before slapping the hand away. "I didn't ask for your name."

"Oh, I get it!" Kirishima adopted a determined, confident look. "You're the type of person where someone has to prove their strength for you to acknowledge them, right? Well, challenge accepted!"

'No, dude. He's just an a**.' Midoriya remarked internally.

Bakugo cocked a brow, his anger diminishing slightly. "You're a slow one, aren't you?"

"Well, I may not be the fastest guy around, but my Hardening Quirk more than makes up for it." Kirishima proudly stated, unaware of the insult thrown at him.

Bakugo didn't immediately respond. "Tsk," he clicked his tongue and sat at his desk, feet propped up. "Whatever. Doesn't matter what sh*tty Quirk you have. You'll never measure up to me."

Kirishima clenched his fist, smirking confidently. "We'll see about that. Won't we?"

'Guess Kirishima is the type that can't help but be friendly with everyone…' Midoriya thought. 'Still, you're barking up the wrong tree there.'

"Kirishima-kun, might wanna just forget about that one." The pink girl called out, echoing Midoriya's sentiments.

"Ah! It's you!" said a familiar voice. Midoriya turned to see Glasses at the door, standing tall and in his uniform.

"Huh… where have I seen that guy before?" Uraraka said thoughtfully.

"Oh. Hey, it's you… the guy with the engine Quirk. What's up?" Midoriya sat up from his desk to greet the bespeckled teen.

The navy-haired teen perked up before adjusting his spectacles and walking toward Midoriya across the room before bowing deeply.

Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Tsunotori, and Tokage standing nearby shifted their attention to Glasses.

"Oh, hey… isn't that the guy who made everyone laugh at the exam orientation?" Said a blonde guy with a black lightning bolt streak in his hair.

"Yeah, I think it is." the purple-haired earlobe girl replied.

"Not gonna lie, I kinda appreciate what he did." Pink Girl remarked. "He really calmed my nerves."

"Kero." The green-haired frog-like girl croaked like a frog. "Same here. I felt a little better going to take my Practical."

Meanwhile, as they continued quietly conversing, Glasses started talking to Midoriya.

"I apologize to you for my conduct during the Practical Exam. I… clearly misjudged you back then. When you interrupted the exam orientation, I thought you were dishonoring everyone taking the test." He looked away shamefully. "But you clearly saw the deeper meaning during the exam, didn't you? I saw how you saved this girl here," he motioned to Tsunotori, who looked at the bespeckled boy in confusion, "and then you stopped the zero-pointer from potentially hurting other examinees at the sacrifice of your own score. Truly the test of what makes a hero!"

He bit his lower lip. "I… did not realize that till after the exam. If they had told us about the Rescue Point system, it would have made the act of saving others feel disingenuous and fraudulent! A clever way to evaluate those with heroic spirits, one in which I did not demonstrate. As much as it pains me to admit, you are a more superior and an exemplary student than me. UA is more than honored to have you! Please receive my humblest of apologies!"

Midoriya was silent, blinking. 'This guy said all that without stopping to breathe…? Nice set of lungs, I guess. Must be related to his Quirk.'

His friends and a few other classmates paused to watch the interaction, making it feel even more awkward. Some had overheard Glasses' mention of Midoriya defeating the zero-pointer and looked at the verdette in surprise.

"Whoa… that guy really took down the zero-pointer?" a plain black-haired dude asked.

"That's impressive…" a multi-armed dude flatly commented.

"Hmm…" the crow-head boy nodded.

"Wonder how he managed that?" Earlobes Girl asked.

"He'd have to be crazy strong to take that gimmick out." a robust man with big lips remarked.

Bakugo discreetly looked back at Midoriya with narrowed eyes.

As his classmates talked in the background, Midoriya rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "I… t-thanks. Apology accepted. I… also apologize for my conduct during orientation. It was never my intent to disrupt it or distract anyone from the test. Just a misunderstanding on my part."

He stopped to offer his hand. "Let's start over. My name is Midoriya Izuku."

Glasses' blue eyes softened as he returned the super-soldier's firm shake.

"I am Iida Tenya. It is a pleasure to meet you and have you as a fellow peer at UA Academy, Midoriya-san."

"Shaddup and get a room already. I'm trying to relax before the teacher gets here." Bakugo growled, looking lazily at Iida and Midoriya.

Noticing Bakugo's feet on the desk, Iida puffed his chest out in righteous indignation. "Take those feet off your desk right now!" Iida demanded.

"Huh~?" Bakugo only smirked.

"You're disrespecting university property, you cretin!"

Bakugo scoffed, seemingly enjoying the banter. "Like I care about the opinion of an extra. Where you from?"

"Somei Private High, why does that matter?"

Bakugo smirked, sneering up at Iida. "Somei, huh? You must think you're better than me!" He grinned roguishly. "I'm gonna enjoy blowing ya to bits, elitist!"

Iida went slack jawed. "B-Blowing me to bits?! You would threaten your own classmate?! Are you sure you're in the right place?"

Bakugo's sneer remained as Midoriya placed a hand on Iida's shoulder.

"Iida-san, let's not get riled up." Bakugo's eyes fell on the verdette. "Let's just take our seats and get ready for-"

"Not get riled up, huh?" Bakugo cut Midoriya off. "Why don't yah mind your own business, stealth gaijin!?"

"Stealth gaijin?" Iida blinked, sounding confused.

"What? You didn't know?" the ash-blonde's sneer intensified. "This guy's a foreigner like Horn Girl back there." He jerked his thumb at Tsunotori, who flinched from being called out. "His Japanese was so broken the first time I met him that it hurt my ears just listening to it."

"I've gotten better…" Midoriya mumbled.

"Can still hear that dumb western accent." Bakugo remarked.

"Hey! I resent that!" Tsunotori angrily exclaimed.

"Only speak when you're spoken to, extra!" Bakugo shouted back.

Tsunotori defiantly stuck out her tongue.

"Anyways," Bakugo looked back at the verdette, "bet you couldn't cut it at the American Hero schools, so you thought you'd have better luck here, huh?" A devilish grin spread on his face. "I'm gonna enjoy crushing you!"

'Major superiority complex… maybe has an inferiority complex too?' Midoriya pondered.

Uraraka had been listening to this exchange like everyone else and felt her ire rising. This Bakugo guy was just infuriating! Also, didn't Midori-kun risk his life to save this jerk from the Sludge Villain? How could he talk down to him like that?!

"Hey!" Uraraka indignantly stood up. "Don't talk to Midori-kun like that! He did way better on the exam than you!"

Midoriya snapped his head toward the brunette with wide, panicked eyes. 'Uraraka-chan! NO! I don't want everyone to-'

"Yeah right!?" Bakugo scoffed. "Doubt he even cracked the top 20." He looked at the verdette with a condescending smirk. "Let's hear it, stealth gaijin. What was your placement?"

"Uh…" Midoriya bit his lip, slowly moving back. "That's…"

"Well," he spoke in English, "what was your placement?"

"Uh… maybe someone else would like to share?" He hoped to deflect the attention off of himself.

"Oh? We sharing our exam placements?" Tokage grinned wryly. "Well, I got 4th. One away from the top 3… but what can you do?" She nonchalantly shrugged.

"I got 5th place." Kirishima laughed, then rubbed the back of his head. "My parents were pretty proud I cracked the top 5."

"So was I!" Pink Girl beamed, making Kirishima blush. "I got 13th myself. I say I did pretty well." She then turned to Uraraka, Tsunotori, and Yaoyorozu. "What about you three?"

"I got 12th." Tsunotori shyly said.

"Not bad, horn buddy!" Pink Girl complimented, making the pony-girl look away shyly. The energetic girl turned to Yaoyorozu. "And you, Yaoyorozu-san?"

"Well," Yaoyorozu became slightly timid, "I got in on recommendations."

"Ooh, that's so cool, Yaoyorozu-san!" She then turned to Uraraka. "What about you, Uraraka-san?"

Uraraka directed her attention to Bakugo, grinning proudly. "I got 2nd."

Most of the class turned to look at the brunette girl in shock. She was one of the top 3 winners?! That revelation caught Tokage's attention as she looked at the brunette, an analytical glint in her green eyes.

Bakugo clenched his teeth, clicking his tongue in annoyed ire. 'Round Face got 2nd?! Had to be those damn Rescue Points. What a f**king joke! I'll crush her and show everyone who's the best!'

'Bet that hurt his pride.' Uraraka was feeling satisfied.

"My, my, that's impressive! Truly, UA is honored to have you in its halls." Iida declared with strange hand gestures. Uraraka couldn't help but sheepishly chuckle at Iida's weird actions. The blue-haired youth then turned to Midoriya who was a lot further away than he remembered. "What about you, Midoriya-san? Where did you place?"

"Uh…" Midoriya swallowed some spit in his throat. Looks like his diversion didn't take the focus off of himself for too long. He glanced back at Uraraka, seeing her looking at him expectantly, a proud smile on her face.

'Now for the closing move. Finish him off, Midori-kun!' Uraraka internally cheered.

'Uraraka-chan…why?' He inwardly sighed. 'Guess there's no getting out of it now, huh?'

"I… got…" he muttered inaudibly.

"I didn't hear you. What did you say?" Iida asked. Surely Midoriya had a high score. In the Top 10 perhaps?

Midoriya took a deep breath. "I got 1st."

First.

With that one word, a metaphorical bomb had been dropped in the classroom. Tsunotori and Iida's eyes both widened in astonishment. Everyone's attention immediately shifted to the verdette super-soldier.

Some were curious, like the sparkling blonde guy in the front. Others were analyzing, like the piercing gaze of the crow-head boy. The red-white haired young man in the back turned to Midoriya, narrowing his eyes. Others were astonished like the blonde dude talking to the earlobe girl, and Tokage who's jaw dropped a little to show off her sharp teeth. Yaoyorozu and Uraraka were the only ones not surprised, the latter directing a victorious smirk at Bakugo.

Speaking of Bakugo…

The smoldering aura from him was palpable, and it didn't go unnoticed by Midoriya. His crimson eyes were burning holes in Midoriya's head, his teeth bared as he let out a soft, audible growl. His grip on his desk was so hard that it might start cracking along with the mini explosions crackling in his hands.

'No f**king way!' He inwardly raged. 'This guy beat me?! Of all people?!' Memories of the Sludge Villain incident flashed through his mind, which only made him angrier. That was the absolute worst day of his otherwise awesome life.

Uraraka really enjoyed seeing the angry blonde's reaction. 'Serves you right, jerk.'

Yaoyorozu looked at her verdette friend in empathy. He clearly wasn't enjoying being in the limelight; however, that was the price for being Number One. Looking around, the reaction might have been missed, but she heard the collective thought.

Midoriya Izuku, out of everyone trying to get into UA University, out of everyone in the class, in the Hero Course, got first in the Practical Exam. He, out of every freshman, was the closest to being a Pro Hero and everyone knew it.

Midoriya, meanwhile, lowered his head and tried to ignore the stares. 'Not how I was expecting my first day to start off. Already got a bullseye on my back…' He inwardly groaned.

It was never his intention to say anything related to his practical exam score. He was just answering a question in a conversation. He wasn't one to brag or anything.

Well, it wasn't the first time having the spotlight shined on him. Memories of the tour flashed through his mind. Yeah… this really shouldn't be a big deal compared to all of that. He could walk this off, right?

"If you're here to talk about points, then pack up your stuff and leave."

Dead silence filled the room. Everyone turned to the source of the voice. It was a scruffy, black-haired, baggy-eyed man inside a yellow sleeping bag lying on the floor. This guy was definitely missing out on sleep, Midoriya deduced.

Who was he? Another student? Taking a headcount, he quickly dismissed that thought. There were already 20 people present. That meant… oh boy…

The tired man stared at the class before scrambling for something in his bag. "Welcome to UA University's Hero Department..." he muttered tiredly. He brought his hand out, holding a juice box. One suck drained the entire container, slurping loudly in the process.

Everyone in the class blanched at the sheer randomness of what they were seeing; some babbled about the "yellow caterpillar" while others just stared.

Who was this hobo? The class steadily went silent, waiting for the man to speak.

"It took you 8 seconds to quiet down," Rolling into the room, he crawled out of the yellow bag, revealing himself to be a haggard man with long, unkempt hair and looked like he hadn't shaved in at least two days. He wore black, practical clothes, and what looked like an incredibly long grey scarf around his neck and shoulders. "Not good enough. Time is precious. Do me a favor and be rational. I'd greatly appreciate that."

'Is this guy seriously our-'

Midoriya didn't complete his thought as the man continued speaking. "Anyways, I'm Aizawa Shota, your Foundational Heroics instructor… for the class portion, at least. Nice to meet you, I guess." He sounded bored, and utterly devoid of emotion.

Midoriya had joined the rest of the classroom in surprise at this point. He was their instructor? Granted, the super-soldier had dealt with his fair share of… quirky people in his time of service… but this guy looked like he was about to fall over from exhaustion at any moment! Certainly not someone teaching a class at a prestigious Hero academy!

Aizawa's eyes fell on Midoriya. "You're not in a seat. In fact," he glanced around, "most of you aren't."

They didn't need to be told twice. Midoriya quickly found his desk along with the others. For some reason, he got the feeling that someone was staring at him. Maybe he was just imagining things? Of course, his instincts had often not failed him before.

Aizawa reached into his sleeping bag to pull out a blue uniform with white trim. "Right… I want all of you to head to the locker rooms, get changed into your gym uniforms, and meet me at the training grounds; we have work to do."

"..."

Everyone was confused. What about the entrance ceremony? It was going to start within 15 minutes.

"Why are you all just sitting around looking clueless?" Aizawa demanded, sounding irritated. "Get to it!"

"Yes sir!" Replied most of the class.

'Welp, guess we're hitting the ground running.' It looked like the verdette's intuition was proven correct. 'Feeling a sense of deja vu right now.'

---

After changing in the locker rooms, the 101-A students made their way to what appeared to be a fairly regular PE field; the only difference was that the field at the center of the track had several different machines in place.

Where the Hero Department uniforms were somewhat subdued, the gym uniforms were loud and bright. They were blue with red and white highlights, the white parts spelling out UA across their bodies.

Aizawa waited for them with a scowl. "It took all of you 10 minutes to get here, even with those basic gym uniforms. A Pro Hero can get into the most complicated costume and respond to a crisis in 5; not a good start." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the field. "Follow me, we'll be taking a Quirk Apprehension Test today."

"Quirk Apprehension Test?!" Most of the class shouted. Aizawa was irritated but maintained his composure.

"Um, excuse me, Aizawa-sensei?" Uraraka hesitantly held up her hand. "What about the entrance ceremony?"

Aizawa shrugged uncaringly. "If any of you want to leave to attend it, go ahead. I technically can't stop you. You're all adults, young, but adults nonetheless. Just know you'll be kicked out of the Hero Course if you do decide to leave."

Some of the students gaped in surprise.

"That's right. I have the authority to do that. At UA, we're not bound by convention." Aizawa explained. "We have a more freestyle approach to education. That applies to instructors as well, so I can run my class however I see fit."

Midoriya stood up straighter in line and kept his expression neutral, remaining silent. He felt like he was back in the SSR training camp right now with the no-nonsense vibe Aizawa was giving off.

After a short walk, the class was now standing near a drawn circle in the training field.

"Alright." The disheveled man turned towards the group. "Ball Throw. Standing Long Jump. 50-Meter Dash. Distance Run. Grip Strength. Side-To-Side Stepping. Sit ups. Seated Toe Touch. You did all of these in high school during your Standard Non-Quirk Gym Tests."

Aizawa took a deep breath. "Japan still insists on prohibiting Quirks when calculating the averages of those records so as to give those with less power more of a chance. It's not rational. The Department of Education is just procrastinating and wasting time for those who should be ahead of the pack."

He pointed at Bakugo. "You. What was your record for the softball throw in high school?"

"75 meters, give or take." Bakugo said resolutely [1].

"Right." Aizawa reached into a bucket beside him and tossed him a UA Quirk Test softball. "Go stand in the circle over there. Use your Quirk to send the ball as far as you can; as long as you don't leave the circle, I don't care what you do." He stepped back, grabbing the work phone that would track all the results of the test.

Bakugo grinned. "Awesome." He stomped over to the circle that surrounded a solid mound of dirt. He stretched his limbs, walking into the circle. "Alright then, here goes…" He drew his arm back, and then hurled the ball skyward; just before it left his hand, he unleashed a massive explosion.

"DIE!" Everyone was bemused by that exclamation.

Everyone watched as the ball rocketed out of sight, most of them beginning to murmur amongst themselves. Midoriya's gaze fell to Bakugo's hands; he couldn't help but feel impressed.

'So he can create explosions? I wonder how he does it. Is it just from his hands, or can he fire them from other appendages too? How much backlash can his body handle? Is his body fireproof?' Midoriya's mind was racing a mile a minute, fascinated by the blonde's Quirk.

The ball finally landed and Aizawa looked down at the result. "Knowing the limits of your abilities is crucial." He showed them the phone, displaying 750.2 meters (~2461 feet) [1]. "That's the first step to figuring out what kind of Heroes you'll be."

'Ah… makes sense.' Midoriya thought. 'Find out our maxes so we know where to improve on going forward into the semester.'

The rest of the class was getting excited.

"Man, did you see that explosion? That was so awesome!" Kirishima exclaimed.

Bakugo only smirked as he walked out of the circle.

Midoriya watched Bakugo carefully. On the one hand, the ash-blonde's potential was practically oozing off of him like water from a wet sponge. On the other hand, he was an abrasive egomaniac who loved to preen like a peacock when given praise.

'Lovely…' Midoriya internally groaned. 'He'll be fun to be around...'

"I wanna go, this looks fun!" Pink Girl clapped her hands together.

"This is what I'm talking about! Getting to use our Quirks as much as we want!" a black-haired dude cheered.

The comments continued like that for a while until Aizawa gave them a terrifying glare; Midoriya wasn't sure what the man's Quirk was, but it had something to do with the way his eyes glowed red and his hair rose up.

"Fun? You think this is all about fun?" The man seemed to ooze killing intent, to the point that most of the class was immediately terrified.

A few students were able to meet his gaze. Bakugo had already been exposed to near-death, thanks to the run-in with that Sludge Villain 10 months ago. The dual-haired young man also remained stoic as if he had gone through worse in his life. Midoriya was the least deterred of the group as he had already been through many deadly battles before.

"Here at UA, you've got 4 years to become the best Heroes you can be. You think it'll be all fun and games?" he demanded.

The question made the class shut up, and Aizawa shot them a creepy grin that promised untold pain. "Idiots... We will be taking 8 physical tests. The one with the lowest score across all 8 events will be judged hopeless and will be expelled on the spot, no questions asked."

"Whaaaaat?!" Most of the class's air was deflated.

Midoriya blinked twice as he too was taken aback by the declaration. 'That seems way too extreme… Heck, even a normal bootcamp back home wouldn't do something so drastic on the first day.' His thoughts shifted to his first day at the SSR. This situation felt kind of similar, strangely enough.

Aizawa shifted his attention to Midoriya. "I have an additional challenge for you." He pointed to the verdette, making him perk up from being suddenly singled out. "Midoriya, right?"

"Y-Yes sir." Additional challenge? Why?

"You earned 1st place on the Practical Exam but earned the least amount of Villain Points in the Top 3. Also, you used that support item to take down most of your targets. Is that right?"

"Yes sir…?" He was confused. Where was he going with this?

"I'll cut to the chase then," Aizawa's gaze narrowed, "if you fail to impress me with your own ability in these tests, I'll expel you on the spot, regardless of where you rank at the end." Aizawa stated flatly. "Understood?"

Midoriya's neutral expression slightly faltered. He never expected to be called out in such a way; on the first day, no less. He looked closely at Aizawa's face for any sign of deceit and came to a quick conclusion: he was dead serious.

He recomposed himself and nodded. "Yes sir."

Tsunotori glanced over at her fellow foreign exchange student worriedly. She didn't understand why Midoriya was being singled out in such a manner. Hadn't he already proved that he deserved to be here in the entrance exam?

Yaoyorozu's eyes slightly widened in surprise. So far, she had been the least affected by Aizawa's challenge to the class. In her mind, she could see it for what it truly was. But this… it was as if an unknown variable had been suddenly introduced and screwed up all the equations and calculations she was seemingly performing in her brilliant brain.

'But why? What's the purpose in giving Midori-kun such a test when he's already aced the Practical Exam?' Yaoyorozu pondered. 'I… don't understand.'

Uraraka, meanwhile, was at a loss for words. "Y-You can't do that! It's only the first day… I mean… I even… That isn't fair!"

"Fair, you say? Are natural disasters fair?" Aizawa immediately retorted. "How about Villain attacks? Highway accidents? The world is full of unfair things. It's better you learn that now while you still have opportunities in life. If you really want to be Heroes, you have to push through your comfort zones."

His grin turned even more menacing. "That's what it means to go beyond, to be Plus Ultra. Your fate is in your hands. Now show me what you can do."

That phrase again. Why was the school using it? He'd look into it soon. But for now, the super-soldier had more important matters to worry about.

Midoriya adopted a serious look and steeled himself. 'So, not only do I have to do well in the tests, but I have to impress Mr. Aizawa too. Well then, time to show them what I'm made of. No holding back.'

Several minutes later, the class prepared for the first test: the 50-Meter Dash.

Two students went at a time, and the matchups were selected at random on Aizawa's phone. For the first matchup: Iida Tenya vs Midoriya Izuku.

Midoriya remembered how fast Iida ran during the Practical. He wasn't a radar gun, but he estimated Iida had to have reached 90 kmh (~55 mph) at some points. Iida could probably go faster in a straight line and with enough distance. But he only had 50-meters to run, so Midoriya was feeling confident he could overtake him.

As the two approached the starting line, Midoriya was about to wish Iida good luck until he surprised him by beating him to the punch, so to speak. The bespeckled teen earnestly bowed, and then shook his hand before getting ready. He could appreciate the gesture, but Iida could stand to tone it down a little, he thought.

Getting down into a sprinter's position and placing his feet on the kickstands, Midoriya spotted Aizawa standing at the far end with robots to measure their speed. 'Right… robots are commonplace in some places these days. That's kinda cool. Wonder if Terminator is a thing anymore? No wait, focus! You can research old movie franchises later.' He internally prepared himself.

"Runners on your marks!" The robot shouted out. They got set. "Ready!" Then, the gun fired.

Midoriya dashed forward as hard as he could, pushing himself to full speed as fast as possible. Iida rushed forward in a flashier burst of speed from his leg engines. As soon as the race began, it was already over as both young men crossed the finish line. Iida stopped to look at Midoriya, wide-eyed.

"Midoriya: 2.78 seconds!" [2] The robot chimed. "Iida: 2.98 seconds!" [1]

The class was impressed by their fast times, with the obvious exception of Bakugo, who clenched his jaw in annoyed frustration.

'Not bad.' Aizawa was impressed with both students, looking at the times on his phone. 'Still, Midoriya needs to show me more than just speed.'

"Alright, next matchup: Ashido vs Aoyama." Aizawa shouted. "Mush, people!"

"Well done, Midoriya-san!" Iida earnestly congratulated him. "I had no idea you possessed such speed!"

"T-thanks," He smiled as the duo walked back to the rest of the class. "You were right on my tail at the end though, Iida-san. Guessing you couldn't reach your top speed?" He asked as both young men walked back to their fellow students.

Iida shook his head, pushing his glasses up. "No. I'm afraid I was only able to reach 3rd gear. I need more room to reach my top gear."

'Only his 3rd gear, huh? How many gears does he have then?' Midoriya shortly pondered, and then realized something. 'I may have won this match, but Iida is definitely the faster one.'

As the test continued, Midoriya and Iida maintained the top two times.

Yaoyorozu and Tokage were matched up and the former created a pair of rollerblades to finish at 4.90 seconds while the latter shockingly split her body into several pieces and flew toward the finish line in 4.01 seconds.

Some students gaped at Tokage's Quirk as she effortlessly put herself back together at the finish line; unphased by having her body split apart. Midoriya was definitely going to seek Tokage out later and ask about her Quirk. What an amazing ability!

Tokage seemed quite satisfied with her time but didn't brag as she showed good sportsmanship by shaking Yaoyorozu's hand.

Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself to a 4.03 second finish but seemed frustrated with himself. Maybe because he wasn't in first, nor the top 3?

Uraraka and Tsunotori were matched up against each other; the former used her Quirk on herself and pushed herself off the kickstands while the latter used her horns to fly to the finish line. It was a photo finish as Uraraka's 5.07 seconds edged out Tsunotori's 5.10 seconds.

Both girls congratulated each other and seemed pleased with their times; however, Midoriya noticed Uraraka looked a little extra chipper from her victory, as if she were pleased to come out on top against the foreign pony-girl. Eh, probably nothing.

The second test: Grip Strength.

This test was straightforward: grip as hard as you can on a dynamometer to measure out your highest reading.

He looked around and saw his classmates gripping their devices. One student, the robust guy with big lips, Sato Rikido, was allowed to eat a cupcake for his Quirk, granting him a sugar high that pushed his max to 700 kilograms (1543 lbs)! He also noticed some other students gathered around the silver-haired man with multiple appendages, Shoji Mezo, who was gripping nearly 570 kilograms (1256 lbs) [1].

Not bad at all!

Midoriya looked down at his hand-held dynamometer. 'Been a while since I've done a grip test. I recorded a little over 1500 pounds (~680 kg) back at the SSR. Course, that was over 150 years ago.' He glanced at his device determinedly. No holding back!

He gripped as hard as he could until he heard a loud beep. He looked down and was surprised.

999.99 kilograms!? [3]

Midoriya blinked in surprise, his mouth slightly agape. 'I know I got stronger doing all that training with All Might… but this?! It's over double my record! Is it broken?'

"Uhh… Mr. Aizawa." He accidentally slipped into English, and quickly corrected himself, speaking in Japanese, "I-I mean, Aizawa-sensei."

The tired man lazily looked over at Midoriya showing him the device's results. He then looked down at his phone.

"Sorry, I may have broken it. Is there a stronger dynamometer or-"

"You're fine. Just put it back." Aizawa instructed.

Midoriya nodded and then placed the dynamometer back on a table.

"Whoa!" The pink girl, Ashido Mina, exclaimed as she looked over at Midoriya's device while turning hers in. "That's a lot of 9s!"

"Huh? Someone beat my score?" Sato walked over, recovered from his sugar-induced craze. "Wow! That's cool!" He was impressed.

"Hehe… yeah, I guess it is." Midoriya laughed, bashfully rubbing his neck.

Uraraka overheard the conversation as she moved to return her device. "What mark did you get, Midori-kun?" She looked over and was stunned. "Whoa! Did you actually get 999 kilos?!"

"That, or maybe he broke the machine?" Ashido mused.

Kirishima finished his test and checked Midoriya's score out of curiosity. "Break? Dude, you totally went beyond that! You did more than Sato or Shoji!" He slapped Midoriya's back. "Nice one!"

"Thanks. Just doing my best." Midoriya replied. He did his best to avoid Bakugo's simmering glare, who was gripping his device over and over, futilely trying to match Midoriya's measurement.

After everyone completed the test, Aizawa quickly went over the scores on the phone. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had both broken their dynamometers as their scores were unreadable.

Yaoyorozu had created a miniature hydraulic clamp that kept applying pressure until her machine broke. As expected of a Recommendation Student with versatility and intelligence.

As for Midoriya… 'His speed. His strength. I suppose his enhancement Quirk is nothing to scoff at. Still, out of curiosity, let's see how he does with the rest of the tests…' The black-haired man mused.

He altered the score, adding a note saying 'Enough' to Midoriya's and Yaoyorozu's Zeros.

The third test: Standing Long Jump.

Crouching low, Midoriya leapt forward as far as he could and managed to clear the 4-meter long (12 feet) sandpit by 5 meters (15 feet).

However, his impressive mark was blown out of the water by his friends and several classmates. Uraraka, Tokage, and Tsunotori used their respective Quirks to fly across the sandbox; Uraraka made herself weightless, Tokage simply split herself up and flew across, and Tsunotori scaled the pit using her horns. Yaoyorozu simply conjured a javelin to get air and cover the distance. Not much he could do to beat that, he thought.

Additionally, Iida, Bakugo, the sparkling blonde-haired guy, Aoyama, and the frog girl, Asui, used their Quirks to easily scale the jump. The dual-haired dude, Todoroki, amazingly summoned ice to ride across the sandbox, shocking the verdette.

'He can summon ice and ride on it like Frozone from The Incredibles? Amazing!' He inwardly gushed. Maybe he can find out more about his ability later?

Aizawa looked over the distances on the phone. Very impressive crop this year, he thought.

The fourth test: Side-To-Side Stepping

Midoriya did very well on this test. He'd made it a priority to never skip leg day.

He was able to reach incredible speeds without the long wind up that Iida required. The only two students able to match him near the end were Mineta Minoru, a small dude with purple balls on his head, and Bakugo. Mineta used the detachable balls on his head to rapidly bounce himself back-and-forth while Bakugo was just in good shape and very determined.

Regardless, with enhanced stamina, Midoriya was able to outlast both classmates and would've kept going until Aizawa told him to stop so they could move onto the next test.

The fifth test: Ball Throw.

It was a simple, straightforward test. Stay in the circle and throw the ball; anything goes. Many of the students used their abilities in creative ways to throw the ball; some going far, others not so much.

Thankfully, for Aizawa, the event was going by fast. Things got very interesting, however, when it was Uraraka's turn. Rather than throw it, she gave Midoriya and Yaoyorozu a nervous smile, pressed her fingers against the ball, and gently tossed it up.

It never came back down.

Aizawa tried to get a read on how far it went, but his sensor just flickered and spouted a series of numbers and letters. He frowned and slapped the phone a few times; the screen fizzled, and then settled on an infinity symbol.

"Infinity?!" the majority of the class yelled simultaneously.

Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were the only ones not shocked as they looked at their brunette friend with proud smiles. Though Midoriya did feel a little bad for Uraraka because she looked incredibly embarrassed from the attention.

Yaoyorozu's turn was just as interesting as she had created a bazooka of some kind, expertly placed it on her shoulder, and fired the ball out of it. The ball soared out of sight until Aizawa held up the phone to display 3 kilometers (~1.85 miles), earning several cries of surprise.

Midoriya couldn't help but whistle in amazement. 'Uraraka-chan and Yaomomo are incredible.'

Yaoyorozu received an equal amount of praise from their classmates as she walked back, but Midoriya noticed she seemed fairly tired. Likely due to her depleting a significant amount of her lipids in her creations over the tests.

Bakugo could barely contain his seething rage from losing to Round Face of all people! Then Ponytail had to cheat and knock him down to 3rd place. 3rd place, just like in the Practical Exam. He could feel his blood boiling as his nails dug into his palms.

Whatever! It didn't count. 'Damn cheaters!' He inwardly cursed.

Then, it was finally Midoriya's turn. 'I'm definitely not beating Uraraka-chan or Yaomomo's scores. The next highest one is Bakugo's.' He thought while approaching the circle with a ball in hand. 'That'll be tough to beat. Let's see…my previous record was around 1800 feet (~550 meters). Maybe that's gone up too?'

Standing in the circle, Midoriya looked down at the long expansive field in front of him. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Memories of watching Zak throw pitches when he was younger played through his mind. 'Jacka** or not, the guy knew how to throw a ball. So… I'll throw his signature fastball, only higher!'

The verdette got into a windup stance, bewildering the class. They hadn't seen a stance like that before.

Even Aizawa cocked an eyebrow in intrigue. 'Interesting stance…' He mused. 'Is he using a technique to put extra power into his throw? Smart.'

Tsunotori lightly gasped as she recognized the stance, and her tail involuntarily swished from excitement. 'He knows about that old game too?!'

Lifting his left leg up and smoothly placing it down, Midoriya followed through as he wound up his arm, corked his entire body, and threw the ball upward with as much torque as he could. A fastball pitch only released at a higher angle, similar to an outfielder's throw just with extra steps.

With no flashy explosions or cannon fire, the ball quietly went sailing through the air. It flew further and further until they could barely see it.

Aizawa turned around and displayed the result.

800.5 meters (~2626 feet) [4].

Midoriya's eyes widened. 'Whoa… I really have gotten stronger. Thank you, All Might!' He couldn't suppress an excited grin. All that training at the beach and constantly wearing those 200-kilogram resistance bands had really worked wonders!

"Nice, dude!" Tokage grinned. "That's some serious raw power."

"Well, he got first in the practical, so it's not too surprising." Shoji added, creepily talking through a mouth on one of his arms.

"Huh, and here I thought I was going to be the strongest." Sato mused. "UA really is full of surprises."

Midoriya bashfully smiled at the praise as he walked back toward his friends.

"Great job, Midori-kun!" Uraraka beamed.

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Your Augment Quirk is truly something special."

"T-thanks guys… but you both deserve more praise. You've been awesome so far!" Midoriya excitedly replied, making both girls blush.

Bakugo, meanwhile, was not a happy camper. 'Are you f**king kidding me!?'

He blinked, ensuring he wasn't seeing things. The number remained the same. 800 meters, a full 50 ahead of his own score. His jaw dropped and his eyes were as wide as plates. How could he have thrown that ball so far with just raw strength alone?! It wasn't possible!

He was like… the realization hit Bakugo like a lightning bolt, and he felt himself freeze up. He was like a mini-All Might. The blonde struggled to breath as it felt like his airway was restricted. He couldn't deny what he had just seen now and in the prior tests.

The stealth gaijin was stronger than him. His own raw strength had beat out his Explosion Quirk. His physical feats surpassed him. Was his first place in the Practical Exam not a fluke?

Bakugo clenched his fist and ground his teeth. No, that couldn't be it! He was just dumb muscle, fumbled in his speech when flustered, and had that stupid western accent of his when he talked! It was infuriating!

He may look Japanese and speak the language better than he used to, but he refused to acknowledge him as a fellow Japanese. He simply wasn't! Just a stupid American sojourner that belonged back overseas.

Besides, his dumb enhancement Quirk, or whatever it was (he didn't care), had nothing on Bakugo's raw power and versatility. He could use his explosive blasts to fly, and fight in close quarters or long range!

The stealth gaijin was just a severely watered-down form of All Might. Nothing more, nothing less!

Bakugo glanced over at the verdette, who looked flustered while conversing with Round Face and Ponytail. That trio together had knocked his amazing score to 4th place. In his mind, it didn't count! All three of them were cheaters!

'Enjoy your time at the top while you can, stealth gaijin.' Bakugo's snarl shifted into a devilish grin. For the first time in his life, he had a true challenge. A worthy obstacle for him to overcome. Fine, bring it on! All Might, his idol, faced challenges with a smile. He would do the same! 'I will surpass you! I'm gonna relish knocking you off that f**king ivory tower and send you packing back to America where you belong! Just you wait… Midoriya Izuku!'

The sixth test: Sit Ups.

Midoriya aced the test with ease. He beat out everyone including Iida, Sato, Shoji, and finally Bakugo. Bakugo hung in there for a while, but he finally collapsed after 110 reps; however, the super-soldier kept going with no sign of slowing down. Uraraka, who had been the one holding his legs, looked on with a flustered expression.

Midori-kun's strength and stamina was something else, she thought.

Aizawa eventually told him to stop, saying he had seen enough.

The seventh test: Seated Toe Touch.

Again, this test was no issue for him. He kept doing toe touches effortlessly and beat out everyone. He made it a priority to be as flexible as he could, and never skipped stretches. After 150 reps, Aizawa told him to stop again to move onto the final test.

Midoriya could practically feel Bakugo glaring daggers at him. What was his problem?

The eighth and final test: Distance Running.

Yaoyorozu summoned a moped and drove around the track, taking the lead.

Midoriya and Iida managed to keep up with her at a fast pace, neither one slowing down. Although Iida technically was faster, the true test was endurance, and both were exhibiting that in spades. Bakugo was trailing not too far behind the trio as he used his explosions to propel himself forward.

Tsunotori flew around the track on her horns and was keeping up with the leaders for a good portion of the race. However, exhaustion from overusing her Quirk had taken over and forced her to complete the race on foot before she eventually ran out of steam.

Tokage was in a similar spot as Tsunotori as she had split her body into multiple parts and flew around the track until exhaustion finally crept up.

Uraraka, however, couldn't use her Quirk in this setting and was the first of their group to tap out from exhaustion.

At the end, only Midoriya, Iida, Yaoyorozu and Bakugo remained on the track while everyone else was catching their breaths on the field. With the end of the class period approaching, Aizawa was forced to tell the quartet to stop.

"It's obvious all of you can keep going. Stop wasting my time." Aizawa had said. "I'll display the final results shortly."

Iida gave Midoriya an impressed nod and Bakugo merely sneered at him, which he ignored. The ash-blonde was drenched in sweat and exhausted while Midoriya and Iida were holding up just fine; they could run extra laps if they wanted.

Yaoyorozu dismounted her bike and smirked at Midoriya. "Thanks for giving me the motorbike idea back then." she whispered, shooting him a wink. "It really is a handy creation."

Midoriya chuckled lightly, blushing slightly. "Heh, you're welcome. Glad it's working out for you."

"If you're all done standing around, the results are in." Mr. Aizawa called out.

This was it. Whoever received last place in the test would be expelled… and if Midoriya hadn't impressed Mr. Aizawa, he would be too.

Midoriya was feeling slightly anxious but maintained a calm composure. He was confident he did well enough. He didn't get first in every test, but he had gotten in the top 3 in the rest; not counting the Standing Long Jump. Several people had beaten his jump by a wider margin in that particular test.

Even so, that was still enough to impress Mr. Aizawa, right?

"I'm just going to bring up the whole list. It's not worth going over each individual score." Aizawa informed the class as he clicked the device in his hand. A hologram appeared and listed off their names from first to twentieth place.

1. Midoriya Izuku

2. Yaoyorozu Momo

3. Todoroki Shoto

4. Bakugo Katsuki

5. Iida Tenya

6. Tokage Setsuna

7. Tokoyami Fumikage

8. Shoji Mezo

9. Tsunotori Pony

10. Uraraka Ochako

11. Kirishima Eijiro

12. Ashido Mina

13. Koda Koji

14. Sato Rikido

15. Asui Tsuyu

16. Aoyama Yuga

17. Sero Hanta

18. Kaminari Denki

19. Jiro Kyouka

20. Mineta Minoru

Midoriya couldn't help but smile at his and his friends' placements. He and Yaoyorozu got first and second!? That's great! Meanwhile, Uraraka and Tsunotori both placed in the top 10 as well. Not a bad way to start freshman year.

His eyes went down the list to see who had unfortunately placed last. Ah, the short guy with purple balls for hair, Mineta.

Midoriya sympathetically glanced over at Mineta. 'Poor guy. To get this far and to have it-'

"NOOOO!" Mineta screamed at the rankings. "I can't be expelled! How will I get popular with girls and touch their bodies now?!"

Midoriya blanched. '...uh, nevermind.'

Needless to say, that declaration was met with less than pleasant reactions from the girls of the class.

"Degenerate." Yaoyorozu huffed, looking away from the wailing boy.

"You're gross." Earlobes Girl, Jiro, glared at the panicking Mineta.

"That's not very heroic." The frog-like girl, Asui, admonished.

"Pervert." Ashido scoffed.

Tokage rolled her eyes and turned away from Mineta. "Serves you right, shorty."

"That's just wrong." Tsunotori backed away from the short boy.

"That's why you're here?" Uraraka looked creeped out and unconsciously moved closer to Midoriya.

"Also, I lied about expelling the person in last place." Aizawa grinned like a troll.

The class looked utterly stunned, save for Yaoyorozu.

"Wait, really?" Midoriya slipped into English. Shaking his head, he switched back to Japanese. "I mean, really?" No one seemed to have noticed his faux-pas.

"It was all a logical ruse, meant to bring out the best in all of you." He elaborated with a toothy grin.

"WHAAAAT?!" Iida, Uraraka, and Tsunotori shouted with various shades of pale and surprise.

'Ah… I see now.' Midoriya understood the situation. 'He threatened last place with expulsion to motivate everyone. Dirty move, but effective.'

To the side, Yaoyorozu sighed in disappointment at her classmates. "Of course he wasn't serious about that. They wouldn't expel one of us that easily."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at Yaoyorozu's statement, as if he was tempted to expel someone just to prove her wrong.

Midoriya nodded. "If that threat hadn't been hanging over us, everyone wouldn't have given it their best."

Yaoyorozu discreetly turned to Midoriya looking slightly worried, remembering Aizawa's direct challenge to him. Surely Mr. Aizawa wasn't serious with that challenge either. But the look on Aizawa's face, and the fact he had singled Midoriya out made Yaoyorozu wonder if their instructor was indeed serious about it. He scored first, so he should be in the clear, right?

"I'm saved!" Mineta cheered loudly.

Without warning, he was wrapped up in Aizawa's scarves and dragged in front of the teacher. Aizawa's eyes glowed red with his Quirk as he held Mineta off the ground at eye level.

"That being said, if you don't improve your behavior you'll be out of here before you know it!" He informed the, once again, panicking boy. "Just because you're not going home today doesn't mean you aren't the first one on the chopping block! Do you understand?"

Mineta nodded rapidly before being released from Aizawa's scarves and dropping to the ground. He then remembered something. The other challenge he issued.

"Oh, Midoriya." Aizawa called out.

The super-soldier perked up at his name, as Aizawa looked at him tiredly. "Good work today. You're off the hook…for now."

Midoriya blinked before he bowed. "Oh…um, thank you, sir."

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka both sighed in relief while Tsunotori's tail happily swished from this news.

"Anyways," Aizawa sighed, turning to face the class, "we're done here. Your syllabus and documents regarding the Hero Course are on your desks in the classroom. Give them a look when you can. Class dismissed."

The class began to make their way towards the locker rooms to change out of their gym uniforms.

'Underhanded trick, but I can see where he's coming from…' Midoriya mused. '... this semester should be interesting.'

Meanwhile, Aizawa was walking back towards the teacher's lounge with a certain green-haired student on his mind. He didn't know why, but something just seemed… off about Midoriya, and he couldn't quite place it.

His powers weren't the question mark, no. Speed, strength, and agility were traits many strong Heroes acquired. The incredible endurance and stamina he displayed wouldn't raise much concern either if he was just a strong individual.

However, it was the factors outside of the Quirk Apprehension Test that had caught his attention.

For one, he had noticed Midoriya seemed to carry himself like a soldier. Always standing straight and normally keeping a calm, collected demeanor… well, when he wasn't talking to the girls. He needed to work on that. Still, that wasn't too big of a deal in itself as UA had had trained individuals come in as freshmen before.

That support item of his, the shield, was another. Whatever metal it was made of was able to tear through the Faux Villains like nothing while still bouncing off objects like a pinball. Even Power Loader seemed befuddled about it. The only times he ever remembered seeing anything like it were in those old movies about the First Hero he had seen when he was younger.

That thought made Aizawa pause. The skill Midoriya displayed while utilizing that shield during the Practical Exam was remarkable. So remarkable that he had been initially concerned that Midoriya was relying too much on it to cover up potential physical downfalls, but those concerns were clearly no longer valid.

Where could he have gotten such an item and learn to use it so well? He'd have to check Midoriya's files this evening. Maybe he'd find some answers there.

"Aizawa, you liar!"

The black-haired man snapped out of his reverie, unsurprised by the Number One Hero's appearance. He had noticed the large man peeking out behind the corner during most of the tests.

"Something you need, All Might?" Aizawa droned, hands pocketed as he looked up at the blonde titan of a man.

"A 'logical ruse'? Nice try, but April Fools was last week. You expelled an entire class of freshmen last year!" All Might exclaimed accusingly.

"Yes." Aizawa casually replied.

"You toss aside those with zero prospects without batting an eye, and go back on your word?" All Might cocked a brow. "Also, you singled out young Midoriya from the start for seemingly no reason. Why?"

Aizawa looked at the blonde Goliath closely. "I wanted to ensure he was more than that shield he was using for the exam. He proved me wrong." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Simple as that. In fact, his abilities…" he narrowed his gaze, "... are similar to yours, All Might."

"Huh…?" All Might flinched slightly. "You think so…?"

'I know he said that serum made him stronger, but enough for Aizawa to make that comparison?' All Might mused. 'I suppose my Aim To Pass plan was very effective then.' He couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself for that.

"What's your connection with him?" Aizawa asked, getting straight to the point.

"What do you mean? He's my student." He tried to play off, but the Underground Hero wasn't buying it.

"Fine." He walked past the hulking blonde. "Don't tell me. I'll get answers one way or another."

'Clearly there's a connection between those two. I'll find out what it is.' Aizawa thought as he stalked off. 'The Field class is tomorrow. I'll review the footage after and see how Midoriya performs… Why do I have a feeling that more sleepless nights are coming?'

Well, he'd worry about that later. For now, his sleeping bag was calling to him. He would not keep her waiting any longer.

All Might, meanwhile, watched as Aizawa sauntered off.

"Hmm," he tapped his chin, "hopefully Aizawa doesn't get too suspicious of young Midoriya. Perhaps I should warn him? But if I do… he may hold back in the Field class tomorrow, which may garner even more suspicion, and possible disciplinary action from Aizawa."

The blonde giant groaned and slumped in anxiety.

Yeah… they may have a problem here. Why did young Midoriya's Foundational Heroics instructor have to be Aizawa of all people?

---

The rest of the day had thankfully been uneventful. The instructors for Hero Class A's remaining classes, who were all active Pro Heroes, handed out syllabuses and explained how their respective classes would be taught before dismissing them early. Even the Field portion of the Heroics class that afternoon consisted of just picking up a syllabus with a teacher's note stating to come ready for tomorrow.

Midoriya assumed that All Might was too caught up in something else to attend the class, used up his 3-hour time-limit for the day, or both.

As a result the students had plenty of time to greet and converse with one another. After being dismissed from their last class, Class A walked down the halls to begin their trek home. Midoriya was currently walking alongside Uraraka and Yaoyorozu with a few others close by.

"So, Midoriya, what is your Quirk exactly?" Pink Girl grinned at him. "The name's Ashido Mina, by the way."

"Yes," Iida pushed his glasses further up on his nose, "I was also going to ask that question. The strength, speed, and endurance you displayed in the tests today were truly exceptional!"

"You could just say it was really cool, Iida-san." A fairly normal black-haired boy standing at 180 cm (5'11") with large, canister-shaped elbows and an easygoing smile rested his hand on Midoriya's broad shoulder. ""Oh, I'm Sero Hanta."

"Pleased to meet you guys." Midoriya smiled. Both Sero and Ashido had friendly auras around them that made it very hard to dislike them. He started the Quirk explanation he had committed to memory. "Well, my Quirk, Augment, isn't anything too special. It just enhances every facet of my body, both physical and mental."

"I see." Iida held his chin in a contemplative manner. "That would mean your Quirk doesn't just enhance your physical strength then, but your mind as well. An exceptional ability indeed!" He rigidly flailed his arms, briefly confusing Midoriya. Was this just one of Iida's quirks… aside from Engine?

"Nothing too special, huh?" Tokage cocked an eyebrow, smirking. "Sure didn't look that way with you crushing all the tests today."

"Yeah, Mr. First Place." Uraraka teased.

"C'mon, guys," Midoriya rubbed his neck bashfully. "Your Quirks are way more interesting than mine."

Bakugo, who was walking past them, overheard Midoriya and scoffed. "Ain't that the truth."

Before anyone could retort, the explosive teen had already stomped off with his hands in his pockets.

"Geez," Ashido shook her head, frowning. "Such an a**hole. I don't get why Kirishima-kun is trying to befriend him."

"Kirishima-kun, huh?" Tokage turned to the pink girl with a sly grin. "By the way, are you two dating or something?"

Ashido looked back at the greenette with a proud smile. "Yep! We went to the same junior high and high schools. We started dating in our 2nd year of high school."

The group continued to converse as they walked down a flight of stairs.

"I see…" Tokage was definitely interested. "Highschool sweethearts, huh? You'll have to give us the rundown soon."

"Sure thing!" Ashido beamed.

"But," Uraraka interjected, "you're not worried your relationship will get in the way of your future Hero careers?" She looked mildly concerned.

"Well, at first, we were when we started dating. But…" Ashido smiled wistfully, "Kirishima told me that people shouldn't live with any regrets and that included Heroes. He's pretty good at giving inspirational phrases like that sometimes." She giggled. "It just really resonated with me, yah know?"

Iida nodded in agreement. "Yes! The path of a Pro Hero is a dangerous line of work. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed, after all. I'm not an expert in romantic relationships, but I imagine it'd be awful to die without telling someone you care for how you feel, or worse, vice versa."

No one noticed, but Midoriya frowned at that statement. 'You have no idea…' His expression didn't go unnoticed by a certain heiress, who glanced at him worriedly, but Midoriya seemed to recover quickly before she could ask what was wrong. Maybe she could bring it up later?

Reaching the first floor, they walked through the main lobby and towards the main doors.

"I suppose that makes sense." Yaoyorozu refocused on the topic at hand. "And you're both aiming to be Heroes, so there should be an understanding between you two when you sometimes can't spend time together. Unless you sign on at the same agency, of course."

"Now that would be cool!" Ashido lit up at that suggestion.

"Besides, there's plenty of Hero Power Couples out there." Tokage pointed out. "It can work as long as you're both reasonable about it."

They walked outside and down the long pathway that stretched toward the main gate.

Ashido felt her skirt vibrate and reached into her pocket. Pulling out her phone, she read a text message and looked back at the group. "Oh, sorry, I gotta run! Kirishima-kun and I are meeting somewhere this evening. Catch ya guys later!" She ran down the pathway and through the gate, disappearing around the corner.

"I guess I better get going too." Sero spoke up. "Don't want to miss my train. See you guys tomorrow!"

They waved goodbye, and then Iida nodded to them. "I am afraid that I must say goodbye as well. My own train is at a different station."

"Alright, see ya tomorrow then, Iida-san." Midoriya waved.

Once Iida had left, only Midoriya, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and Tokage remained. Then, before anyone could say anything, someone called out to the group.

"Hey! Wait up, guys!" They turned to see Tsunotori running up to them, smiling brightly.

"Oh hey, Pony! Was wondering where you ran off to after class." Midoriya offhandedly said.

She stopped in front of them, and wasn't even slightly out of breath. "Sorry! I was actually talking to a few students from the 101-B class in the hallway. They seemed pretty nice. I even exchanged numbers with a couple of them."

"That's neat! Maybe it would be a good idea to talk with some students in the 101-B class at some point?" Midoriya suggested. "I mean, they're in the Hero Course too, after all."

Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, and Tokage all approved of the suggestion.

"Sure! Why not?" Tokage shrugged, with her usual proactive grin.

"Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun." Uraraka agreed.

"I am admittedly curious to see what they're like." Yaoyorozu said. "Perhaps we can even help each other when we're not competing?"

"Competing?" Midoriya questioned. "Like in games or something?"

"Kind of. It's sort of been an UA tradition for the A and B Hero Course classes to compete against each other. Both in grades, joint training, and overall performance." Yaoyorozu elaborated. "A rivalry of sorts."

"Huh, I think I heard about that, actually." Tokage mentioned. "It's supposed to mimic the competition that Pro Heros face in the field in some ways. Gets us in the competitive mindset before we even enter the field."

"Right… makes sense, I guess." Midoriya dubiously noted.

Midoriya had thought it over many times and each time, he arrived at the same conclusion. He wasn't a supporter of the Pro Hero ranking system as it essentially forced Heros to compete against each other in order to earn higher wages and notoriety. On one hand, it could motivate Heroes to improve themselves and be more mindful about their jobs - which was good. On the other hand, that kind of competition where livelihoods and pride were on the line often bred corruption and resentment.

He thought that kind of system worked fine in settings like professional sports which were entertainment businesses, but it didn't have a place in a public servant setting that firefighters, police officers, and Pro Heroes occupied. At least, that's what Midoriya believed.

Of course, the super-soldier would admit that he was biased in that belief. After all, he did come from a team-first environment in the Army. Additionally, he recognized that perhaps there's something he's not taking into consideration with the ranking system. For now, he'd wait and withhold judgment.

"Izuku, by the way," Tsunotori looked up at the verdette with sparkling eyes, "that stance you used in the Ball Throw exercise! It was from baseball, wasn't it?"

'Why does she sound impressed? It was nothing special.' He wondered.

"Oh, y-yeah. Just a simple windup pitch." He replied as if it were common knowledge. "Course, I changed up the normal throwing motion a bit so I could throw the ball higher rather than straight ahead."

"Windup pitch?" Uraraka repeated. "You mean the way you threw the ball earlier?"

"Uh… yeah. It's a stance nearly all baseball pitchers use to efficiently throw balls." Midoriya answered.

"Baseball?" Uraraka tilted her head, a question mark appearing over her head.

"Never heard of it." Tokage shrugged, equally clueless. "Is that a game or something?"

Midoriya's eyes slightly widened. 'What are they talking about? Even if they don't follow baseball, they should at least be aware of what it is. Baseball has been popular in Japan for a long time!'

Yaoyorozu hummed thoughtfully. "It does sound familiar. I believe it was a sport that originated from America nearly 3 centuries ago. It was popular for a long time, even in Japan… but faded away after Quirks started becoming the norm."

'... What?!' The super-soldier couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah, it was." Tsunotori confirmed, shocking the verdette even further. "Though no one really plays it anymore, it's still a part of American culture, in some ways. Every 4th of July a lot of communities will organize a mock baseball game for people to enjoy; for tradition's sake and all. I recognized Midoriya's stance from one of those games I watched when I was younger." She smiled fondly as if she were reminiscing on a cherished memory.

'Baseball isn't a thing anymore…?' Midoriya felt disheartened hearing this news. Granted, he wasn't a huge baseball fanatic or anything like that. The reality that a sport that was always a constant in his time was no longer around greatly emphasized how he was in a new world. Many things he was familiar with and loved were either gone or displayed in a museum. 'What else isn't around anymore…? Do I really want to find out?'

"Um… Izuku, you okay?" Tsunotori asked, noticing his spaced out look.

Midoriya didn't respond as he was lost in his thoughts. The girls looked at each other, bewildered. What was up with him?

"Midori-kun," Yaoyorozu sounded concerned, "are you alright?"

"Oh!" Midoriya snapped out his stupor, and became flustered when he realized that he had spaced out. "Uh… y-yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in thought there for a second."

"Must've been something important for you to space out like that." Tokage pointed out.

"No… not really." Midoriya half-lied, and looked up with a small smile. "Anyways, to answer your question, Pony, I knew someone who could pitch very well when I was younger. I based my throw off his stance and everything. That's all."

"Oh, I see." Tsunotori's smile widened. "Well, I thought it was really cool to see that stance. And your throw was awesome!"

"T-Thanks." Midoriya smiled sheepishly before he turned to Uraraka and Yaoyorozu. "Although, I think you both really killed it in that test!"

"Yeah, it is kind of hard to beat Infinity and 3 kilometers." Tsunotori chuckled.

"Though they technically didn't throw the ball like we did, so does it really count?" Tokage jokingly argued.

"Aizawa-sensei stated he didn't care how we did it as long as we stayed in the circle." Yaoyorozu pointed out.

"And we did, so it definitely counts!" Uraraka affirmed.

A thought occurred to the pony-girl. "By the way, do you know why Aizawa-sensei singled you out in the tests today, Izuku?"

That question made the other girls perk up.

"Yeah, that was really unfair of him." Uraraka added.

"I'll admit," Yaoyorozu chimed in, "that did throw me for a loop."

"It was pretty random. Did it have something to do with you being 1st in the Practical?" Tokage inquired.

"Sort of. I think Aizawa-sensei wanted to test how strong I was without my shield." Midoriya answered. "I used it to acquire nearly all of my Villain Points in the exam, so he may have thought that my Quirk wasn't strong enough to be in the Hero Course or something along those lines."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Still," Tsunotori cutely pouted, "that was pretty mean to threaten you and everyone else like that."

"Yeah, I didn't like his methods either… but I get why he did it." Midoriya played devil's advocate. "Urgency brings out the best in others."

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement. 'Yes, I suppose that makes sense. So, that means Mr. Aizawa was serious about expelling Midori-kun if he didn't impress him. Does that mean he may have been serious about expelling last place too? I wonder what could have changed his mind?' She contemplated.

"Well, it certainly brought out our best." Tokage grinned. "All of us placed in the top 10, right?"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Uraraka smiled widely.

"It is nice to know we're not starting off at the bottom, but we shouldn't get complacent." Yaoyorozu sagely said. "Much is expected of us going forward. We have to keep improving."

"Got that right!" Tokage playfully patted the ravenette on the back. "I can't stay at Number 6 forever, now can I?"

Tsunotori nodded, smiling determinedly. "And I can't stay at Number 9 either."

Recalling her 10th place ranking, Uraraka realized it was neither bad nor great, just average. She frowned; that wouldn't do! She had plenty of work ahead of her if she wanted to catch up to her classmates and friends' level. Perhaps she would take up Midoriya on those morning training sessions that he had offered to her earlier. She might lose a couple hours of potential sleep every day, but that sacrifice was totally worth it if she got stronger.

"Right!" Uraraka turned to smirk at her verdette friend. "Hear that, Midori-kun? Don't get too comfortable at the top. We'll be coming for you! Yaomomo might be the closest, but Tsunotori-san, Tokage-san, and I aren't far behind either."

Midoriya nodded. "Good! Glad I'll have you guys to keep me on my toes then." He smiled confidently. "Just know I won't make it easy on you. If you're going to beat me, you'll have to train hard and bring your A-games."

'With how amazing all of you are, you'll catch up in no time. You'll get way stronger than I ever could.' Midoriya happily mused. One might think that he'd be discouraged or even a bit dismayed by most of his friends and classmates overtaking him. However, the First Hero knew from personal experience that he didn't need to be the strongest Hero around to help others.

---

The door to Midoriya's apartment opened as the verdette casually walked inside. Closing the door and locking it, he laid his yellow satchel by his work desk. He had just returned from a small tea shop close to UA's campus with Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Tsunotori, and Tokage at the former's request.

It was a good time! He enjoyed talking and getting to know his new friends in Pony and Tokage a little better. He even asked them both questions about their Quirks, and had already started entries in his notebook. There was still more to fill out, but he had plenty of time to do so. He'd also made entries for his other classmates as the semester progressed.

He, Yaomomo, and Uraraka-chan even exchanged numbers with both of them and started a group chat for organizing study groups or just friendly conversation. They planned to ask Iida, Ashido, Kirishima, and Sero if they'd be interested in exchanging contact information as well. Perhaps they'd even ask a few others in the class if they'd be interested too. Midoriya was hoping at least Iida would accept as he could use another guy in the group to talk to.

While he wasn't as by-the-book as his bespeckled classmate, during their talks today he and Iida had discovered that they were both equally enthusiastic about Hero protocols and patterns. He thought it'd be fun to discuss team-up ideas and strategies with him using their classmates as examples.

Midoriya would ask him tomorrow. He had plenty of reading to do tonight with the Hero Course syllabus and UA University's history. Seriously, when did they start using that phrase, Plus Ultra?

First, he needed to check an item off of his itinerary.

Taking a seat at his work desk, he reached into the drawer and pulled out a notebook with the title 'Reports' written on it. Turning to a blank page, he picked up a pen to start writing in English.

FROM: CAPTAIN AMERICA

TO: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

PROTOCOL: ACTIVITY REPORT

THE FIRST DAY AT JP'S UA UNIVERSITY HAS CONCLUDED. WHILE MOST OF THE REGULAR CLASSES STARTED OFF IN A CONVENTIONAL MANNER NOT WORTHY OF MENTION, THIS WAS NOT THE CASE FOR FOUNDATIONAL HEROICS 101-A. THE INSTRUCTOR FOR THE CLASS, AIZAWA SHOTA, HAD US RUNNING RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE BY GIVING US A "QUIRK APPREHENSION TEST" TO TEST THE LIMITS OF EVERYONE'S CURRENT STRENGTH AND ABILITIES.

I EARNED THE TOP SPOT IN CLASS, SOMEHOW. AS I SUSPECTED, THERE ARE SOME POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS IN MY CLASS OF 20.

THE OTHER 20 OF THE 40 HERO COURSE STUDENTS ARE IN A SEPARATE CLASS CALLED 101-B, AND I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THEIR ABILITIES ARE.

I'LL HAVE TO INCREASE MY GYMNASTICS AND MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING IF I WANT TO STAY AHEAD, OR EVEN KEEP UP. THEY WILL NOT BE MAKING IT EASY ON ME, AND I AM RELIEVED BY THAT FACT.

TOMORROW WILL BE THE FIELD PORTION OF THE HEROIC CLASS, TAUGHT BY JP'S NUMBER ONE HERO: ALL MIGHT. IF TODAY TAUGHT ME ANYTHING, I SUSPECT HE LIKELY WILL HAVE US DOING A FIGHTING EXERCISE TO TEACH THE CLASS HOW TO USE THEIR ABILITIES IN COMBAT, OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES. THAT'S JUST MY HUNCH THOUGH.

NEVERTHELESS, A SOLDIER DOESN'T BACK DOWN FROM CHALLENGES, AND NEITHER WILL I.

MY NEXT REPORT WILL SUMMARIZE THE AFTERMATH OF TOMORROW'S FIELD CLASS.

Finishing his report, he closed the book and placed it back in the drawer.

'Okay,' He reached into his satchel to pull out his laptop, 'time for some more research. In hindsight, I probably should have done this sooner.' Navigating to a popular search engine, he typed in the phrase "UA University History" and pressed the enter key.

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A/N: If you thought the last chapter was too short, I hope this one made up for it.

Granted, there was a significant amount of talking between Midoriya, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu at the beginning to highlight their developing friendships with each other. Now, we're adding Tsunotori and Tokage into the mix!

I decided to change up the class rosters with Pony and Setsuna switching places with Toru and Oshiro. Nothing against those two, but I thought Pony and Setsuna brought more to the table in terms of Quirks and conversations with class 101-A. I doubt anyone will be too mad about that though.

The Quirk Apprehension Test has finished with Midoriya taking first place. I placed some references throughout because I felt I needed to explain a few things for anyone who was curious and/or confused about what happened.

[1] - The test results for most students like Bakugo and Iida will not be the same as in MHA canon due to the 3 year age difference. Think about it, any result from a physical test you take at 15 will likely not be the same when you retake it at 18 as you're growing into your adult body; especially when you're training to become a Hero like Bakugo and Iida would be.

[2] - Captain America's speed (at least in the MCU) was around 60-70 miles per hour. Unlike Iida, it doesn't take him much distance to get to full speed; hence why Midoriya edged him out in the 50-meter dash, just barely. I based his 2.78 second time off a post in Quora titled "How fast can Captain America theoretically run a 100m dash?", in case you're interested. Braden Corbin summarized the breakdown of his speed fairly well.

[3] - 999.99 KG for grip strength?! The dynamometer maxed out too, so that wasn't even the max number? How could Midoriya have done that?

MCU Steve Rogers (post-Avengers) is capable of lifting 16,000 pounds (8 tons or 7257 kilos) in total across his bench press, squat and deadlift. You can check out a Quora post titled "How strong is Captain America in the MCU". There's a lot of feats taken from the movies that support this. This is what I'm basing the stats off of.

Grip strength does have a correlation with arm strength, which makes sense.

Midoriya hasn't reached peak MCU Captain America strength yet, so he's currently capable of lifting 13,000 pounds (6.5 tons or 5897 kilos) in total across his bench press, squat and deadlift. With that, it's understandable why the dynamometer maxed out. The devices UA is using for the tests weren't built to handle that kind of pressure.

[4] - 800.5 meters, or almost half-a-mile! This ties into the 3rd explanation regarding Cap's strength. It's not too difficult to believe that Midoriya is capable of throwing the ball that far given he can currently lift 13,000 lbs across the board. Of course, I'm not an expert in how arm strength correlates to the distance a person can throw a ball, so I would recommend not getting too worked up about it.

Alright, I believe I've said my peace on all of that. Just wanted to let you readers know what I'm basing these statistics off of and that I'm not just pulling numbers out of thin air.

Next chapter, the start of the Foundational Heroics 101-A Field class: Battle Trials! Who will Midoriya be paired up with, who will he fight, and what will his UA costume look like? Tune it next time!

Please leave any comments, critique, or suggestions in the review box below. As always, thank you for the support!