Chapter 7: The First Day

The Avatar has been lost for millennia after the death of Korra, with the art of bending forgotten to ancient scrolls. In an age of quirks, watch as Izuku becomes the new Avatar and brings back the art of bending in his hero academia.

I'm sorry that this chapter is a week late. I know this will just sound like excuses but due to the long chapter length and because my exams are coming up, I didn't have as much time to write. I can already say that the next chapter will also take 3 weeks. I just ask you to bear with me please.

Thanks to SpectacularSpidey for leaving a review. I will consider it, though, considering the poll, it may be out of my hands.

*POLL: I thank all of those who took the time to take my poll. Because of you guys, it's no longer tied, though I won't yet reveal which option is leading ;). Once again, anyone who wants their opinion known on specific pairings for the battle trial, please send a review or PM me.*

I've finally managed to hit the second fanfiction milestone: more than 40,000 words! Thank you all for reading my story. If I hadn't gotten the reception I did, I may have quit the story earlier.

Enjoy the chapter.

His first day.

Well, technically it wasn't the real first day of U.A, it was only a half-day where Izuku would attend orientation and meet his homeroom teacher. Izuku couldn't wait to see which hero it was! It was unlikely that U.A. would give All Might a homeroom class in his first year of teaching, but wouldn't that be cool!

Still, Izuku was nervous. Even though there were no actual lessons, in a few minutes, he would be meeting a bunch of new people and for Izuku, making new friendships was hard. Izuku was a bit shy and found it difficult to talk to people. When he was younger, the other students mocked him for not having a quirk and he was often left alone. Somewhere along the line, he simply became more introverted.

Izuku checked the exam letter and noted the 1-A classroom. He had checked which classroom he was in for the 5th time in as many minutes. If Kacchan were here, Izuku knew that he would've been blasted by now for being an 'annoying Deku' or something along those lines.

Still, Izuku was getting worried that he was in the wrong place. He hadn't seen any other teachers and even worse was that he hadn't seen any other students. Could they have all gotten to the classrooms before him?

"Hey Deku!" exclaimed a bubbly voice behind Izuku. Izuku never thought of Kacchan's voice as bubbly and when he turned around, it made sense why. It was Uraraka! And she was standing so close to him!

"Oh! U-Uraraka right?" asked Izuku. 'Why is she standing so close to me!'

Ochako nodded excitedly. "Yeah! My name is Ochako Uraraka. And you're Deku right!"

'Deku? Why does she think my name is Deku? I did introduce myself as Izuku didn't I? Or has Kacchan's insult ingrained itself in me?'

Ochako took his silence as something she had said wrong. "Oh, is your name not Deku. I thought I heard your friend call you that and I thought it was a cute nickname."

Izuku blushed heavily at that and very quickly lost the desire to correct her. "Deku's fine!" Izuku took a deep breath before continuing on. "I wanted to thank you."

"Wahhhh! What for?" Ochako was confused. If anything, she should be thanking him.

"I know you offered to give up your points so that I could get in and I'm so grateful." Thanked Izuku.

Now it was Ochako's turn to blush. Present Mic had assured her that she didn't need to give up her points, but she didn't know she was being recorded nor did she know they had shown that clip to Deku. "U-U-Uh. I uh-" Ochako could only stammer in surprise.

Thankfully, something stopped her stuttering. Unfortunately, it came in the form of Kacchan shoving his way past Izuku.

Izuku winced at that. The shove had been quite forceful and told Izuku that Kacchan was still mad at him.

Izuku was walking home. School had been boring as usual, especially since he had gotten his place at U.A last week. A great weight had been lifted off his chest, but it had also made school seem unimportant.

Suddenly Izuku was pulled by something into an alleyway and Izuku quickly raised a fist bringing a rock with it and whirled around to attack whoever it was.

However, he was quickly shoved into the hard wall and Izuku met the growling visage of Kacchan. In surprise, he dropped the rock. "Kacchan what are y-"

"Shut up."

Izuku instantly closed his mouth. Having known Kacchan for many years, he knew how to read Kacchan's mood. When he got angry, his voice got louder but when he truly became mad, his voice went far quieter than normal before exploding. Izuku could see all the rage piling in those crimson eyes.

"How did you do it?" asked Kacchan quietly.

"Do what?" Izuku was confused. Had he done something wrong?

"How did you get 76 points! Have you been hiding your strength all this time? There is no natural way you could have improved so quickly! Don't you fucking dare think you are better than me. All you were meant to be was my sidekick!"

Izuku gulped. He was about to say something that was potentially incredibly stupid. "K-K-Kacchan. M-Most of my points were rescue points. But that doesn't matter. I want to be… more than your sidekick. I'm going to U.A to become a great hero. I owe it to those who have helped me get to this point."

Izuku could see Kacchan clench his fists. Izuku discreetly placed a hand behind his back and got ready to make a rock shield. He could see the rage building up in Kacchan.

However, before he blew up, something changed, and he simply left.

Izuku let out a breath he had been holding. He had been very worried of a fight breaking out, but something changed his mind. Nevertheless, Izuku decided that it might be best to avoid Kacchan from now on.

However, that course of action hadn't been necessary as Kacchan hadn't spoken to him since.

"Oh hey. It's you! Deku's friend right?" Ochako's bubbly voice did nothing to cut through the tension. If anything, the tension only increased.

Kacchan turned and gave a single hard glare and Ochako eeped in some fear. He then simply turned back and walked on.

Izuku sighed ins some sadness before answering Ochako's unasked question. "We had a falling out after the entrance exam. Kacchan didn't like that I got 76 points. He thought that I was hiding my strength from him and that I looked down on him."

"Wow that guy was scary," was Ochako's response.

Izuku let out a small chuckle. "Come on we should head to the classroom. Don't want to be late on our first day!"

Ochako smiled brightly at that before the two rushed off to find their classroom.

After another 5 minutes of searching, they happened on the biggest doors Izuku had ever seen and at the top was the sign saying 1-A.

'Time to start left at U.A!'

Izuku then pushed the doors open only to come face to face with a one-sided shouting match.

"How dare you disrespect this prestigious school. Take your feet off the desk!" There was the glasses boy chopping his arm away while Katsuki just sat there, amused by the other boy's frustration.

"Who are you?"

The glasses boy adjusted his spectacles before answering. "My name is Tenya Iida and I'm from Somei Academy!"

Katsuki sneered. "Why the fuck did you tell me your old school? Somei huh? You're a damn elite! I'll kill you easily!"

Tenya looked affronted. "Kill me! How can you something like that. Are you sure you want to be a hero?"

Izuku winced at those words. One of the easiest ways to get Kacchan mad was to insult his desire to be a hero.

However, it seemed his wincing diffused the situation as Tenya took note of the new arrivals standing by the door. "It's you! I apologise for my harsh words before the exam. My name is Tenya Iida. You understood the true purpose of the exam!" Tenya bowed enthusiastically.

Izuku was slightly confused. 'True purpose? Is he talking about the rescue points?'

"I'm Izuku Midoriya. And uhhh, you've got it wrong," said Izuku while waving his arms. "I had no idea about the rescue points until the letter came."

"Wait so you faced the Zero Pointer thinking you would lose points?" asked Tenya.

Izuku scratched the back of his head. "To be honest, I wasn't thinking of my points. I just saw Uraraka in danger and my body moved."

Tenya was shocked at that. He had been bothered by his own cold heartedness during the battle as he had run away from the Zero Pointer and had seen the green haired boy sacrifice his points to save the person trapped. He had felt better a week later when the letter came, and rescue points were revealed. Obviously, the boy must have known about it and was confident in his ability to secure the rescue points.

However, now he was told that Izuku hadn't known and had gone in thinking he would lose points. He acted like a true hero. Like his brother. Tenya felt ashamed by his actions.

Meanwhile, the commotion near the entrance had garnered the interest of the rest of the students.

"Ah but of course he must save his mademoiselle!" Izuku turned to face the blonde-haired boy he had seen in his battle city. His hair was styled with a side fringe. He was slim built and even had quite a feminine face.

"Oh, we're not like that!" blitzed out Izuku while Ochako blushed beside him at the insinuation.

"Bro how is there already a class pairing. It's only been a few minutes!" cried out another blonde. However, his hair had a more orange tone and there was a streak of black hair shaped like a lightning bolt.

"Some people get all the luck," whispered a short boy with purple balls on his head.

Both of their indignations were quickly silenced by a jack being plugged straight into their ear. "Kaminari down…" wheezed out the blonde.

"Hi, I'm Kyoka Jiro," said the dark purple haired girl. Izuku and Ochako both introduced themselves to the slender girl. "You were lucky to have escaped from the Zero Pointer. That menace destroyed a whole block of buildings in my city in just 2 minutes!"

Izuku wasn't about to let it be known that he had defeated that robot. He was already uncomfortable with the amount of attention he was receiving, and he didn't want more. Unfortunately, Uchako was quick to deny that wish. "Deku didn't run away! He defeated the Zero Pointer by himself!"

Immediately the class was bathed in silence as everyone stopped their individual conversations and turned towards Izuku and Ochako in disbelief. Even Katsuki turned to face them in shock.

"Dude that's manly as hell!" shouted a spiky redhead as he approached the two. "I'm Eijiro Kirishima. We should spar some time!" Kirishima extended an arm out to a nervous Izuku who took the offered hand with some trepidation before giving a firm handshake.

Meanwhile a certain heterochromatic eyed boy sat in the back watching the commotion intently. 'So that's Midoriya, the one he's interested in. He's a walking contradiction. It's obvious he is extremely shy and can't deal with attention but has somehow caught the attention of everyone in the room.'

"If you're here to make friends, then you may as well leave now." The moment was broken as a bored sounding voice was heard from behind Izuku. Everyone turned to the voice but Izuku was not prepared for what he saw.

The sight before him seemed to sell the homeless look. An unshaven and scruffy black-haired man was laying on the floor in a yellow sleeping bag that made him look like a caterpillar. The only part of his body visible was his face. His eyes looked tired, and his face screamed depressed. To complete the look, the man pulled out a juice box and somehow drank it all in 5 seconds.

Meanwhile, there were a few mutterings before everyone calmed down.

"It took you 10 seconds to calm down and be quiet. You lot certainly are an irrational bunch. After all, time is precious."

'Who is this guy?' The whole class wondered.

He then unzipped the sleeping bag and stepped out slowly. "Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher."

Everyone in the class had the same thought. 'This guy is our teacher?!'

In the same bored voice, Aizawa pulled a gym uniform from his sleeping bag and ignored the shocked looks. "Go and change into your gym uniform and head outside."

There was a cry of indignation and surprise and Ochako vocalised everyone's thoughts. "But what about orientation?" asked Ochako.

"You're at U.A now. As your teacher here, I have a lot more freedom to do what I want. It would be irrational to waste time on useless things like orientation. I'll see you outside at the field in 10 minutes." And with that, Aizawa simply turned around and walked away from the class.

The students all looked at each other before deciding that he wasn't joking, and they all rushed to the changing rooms though some walked slower than others.

Meanwhile, once everyone had left, Aizawa smiled creepily. 'Take that you damn bear!'

Izuku changed slightly slower than the other boys. While Aizawa's tone brokered no leeway on the 10 minute time limit, Izuku didn't want people to see him leave with no shoes.

When training his 'Seismic Sense' - as Izuku liked to call it – with Shiroh-sensei, he had needed to remove his footwear otherwise he couldn't really sense the vibrations of the earth. Even after 6 months of training, while he had gained proficiency, he still needed to remove any footwear.

When Izuku had first started training in Seismic Sense, he had needed to focus all his attention to even notice the heaviest of movements. But now, while he did still need to focus some attention, it came more easily and naturally. Furthermore, he had managed to improve the range at which he could sense objects to 20 metres.

He had initially been wary of moving a lot when barefoot as he – like any normal person – assumed that running barefoot on the ground would cause pain due to small rocks and the uneven ground. However, after some training, he realised that any pain involved in running barefoot was far outweighed by the pain felt during his barefoot evasion training with Gran Torino. Surprisingly, it wasn't as painful as he thought. And after all this time, he didn't even notice it.

Izuku enjoyed the ability to sense objects through the earth and the use of this power gave him some strange sense of comfort though he did feel something was still lacking. However, he knew people found it weird that he was barefooted, so to avoid questions and thus attention, Izuku decided to change slowly so that he could leave the changing room last. Then people wouldn't see and comment on his lack of footwear.

As Izuku walked out, warm earth greeted his feet causing him to smile inwardly. He looked around to notice most of the class were already changed and waiting outside. It seemed that everyone had decided to wait so that they could go to the field as a class. Even Kacchan had waited!

"That's everyone!" said Iida loudly. Izuku turned to see who was the last one out and saw Jiro walk out of the girl's changing room. Izuku gave a small, encouraging smile which Jiro returned gratefully.

With that they all headed up to the fields and saw Aizawa already standing there. The caterpillar sleeping bag was nowhere to be seen and they could all see his full appearance. 'Of course he was wearing all black,' was the class's thought. He was doing something with his phone though Izuku wasn't sure what.

Once they had come close enough, he glanced up from his phone. "Good, you've finally arrived." Aizawa drawled. "Another 10 seconds and I would have labelled you all as completely illogical."

Izuku knew that Kacchan was grinding his teeth and liked to think he could feel it through his feet, but he would be lying to himself. However, he could hear the rest of the class shuffle nervously behind him and he could hardly blame them, Aizawa was quite scary!

"It's time for a quirk assessment test," said Aizawa monotonously.

"Quirk assessment test!" exclaimed everyone. Confusion was evident in many voices, including Izuku's. However, as he looked around, he saw some faces not radiating confusion. One was obviously Kacchan, who just seemed bored with the situation. Izuku envied that confidence.

Another was the split haired individual with the scar and as well as the boy with the bird face. Izuku couldn't read their faces. They didn't seem bored but instead just had no visible expression.

The person that seemed most excited by this was a girl with long, black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. Izuku blushed when he saw her as she was easily one of the most mature looking girls he had ever seen. In fact, she was probably one of the most mature women he had ever seen, and she was his age! Izuku didn't consider himself a pervert but he had to focus on her face. Any lower and Izuku feared he would blush himself to death.

"During middle school, you all did a gauntlet of fitness tests. However, due to the incompetency of the government, the department of Education still insists that these tests be done without quirks which is the height of irrationality. After all, quirks are physical abilities. Luckily, when on U.A. grounds, you are allowed to use your quirks. Therefore, before we can develop your quirks, we need to know their baseline capability." Aizawa explained.

Izuku nodded. That made sense. When he had done the fitness tests in middle school, he had been a bit glad that quirks weren't used. That way, he had managed to get a decent score and wasn't last. However, now that he had some skill with his quirk, Izuku was interested in seeing how much better he could do.

Izuku realised that while he was nervous, he was also a bit excited to see where he stood in the class as well as see his progress. People often talked about how a child had inherited a certain behavioural trait from their parents but Izuku knew that he had inherited his sense of competition from Kacchan.

"Bakugo." Katsuki turned his head, levelling a wary gaze on the monotonous teacher. "You got the highest score in the practical section as well as the highest number of villain points." Katsuki smirked arrogantly though in the back of his mind, he kept focusing on how Deku had only gotten 1 point behind him. "How far could you throw a softball in middle school?"

He thought quickly before replying grouchily. "Sixty-seven metres." Aizawa didn't comment on the performance and instead just threw something which Katsuki snatched out of the air. A quick glance revealed it to be a softball, though it did appear to be quite sturdy.

"Well why don't you try again. This time, with your quirk." Aizawa said, barely raising his voice. Katsuki gave a savage grin and strolled forward to enter the throwing circle.

This was why he couldn't wait to get to a hero high school. His talents had been wasting away in that dump of a middle school. All middle schools prohibited quirk usage but some elite schools – like Somei, the middle school Glasses had attended – had sessions where children could develop their quirks. Katsuki would prove to everyone, that even without special treatment, he would be the best!

Katsuki's face morphed into a serious expression. No-one was moving and the air was still. Izuku and the others waited expectantly.

"DIIIEEEEEEEE!" Katsuki's primal scream was punctuated even more by the large explosion leaving his palm. The wind generated swirled up the dust and even blew back the other students' hair and clothes.

Izuku was quite shocked, a fact he did not hide very well. He had thought he knew what size explosions Kacchan could use, especially since he had seen a few of them. But the explosion Kacchan had just used had created so much wind that Izuku could feel his hair waving quite violently, even though he was standing 10 feet behind him.

Even the rest of the class was surprised, not only by the demonstration, but also by the blonde's choice of words. Izuku turned his head slightly to see Iida fidgeting. Somehow, he knew that Iida was only barely holding himself back from openly reprimanding Kacchan for screaming 'DIE!'

There were a few gasps causing Izuku to shift his attention back towards Kacchan. However, Aizawa was now standing next to him and held up his phone to display a figure. '705.2 metres! Kacchan managed to throw that ball almost half a mile! Just imagine if he used that explosion on a person.' Izuku paled and shuddered at the thought.

Nevertheless, Izuku could tell that for many of the other students, Kacchan's show of strength served to light a fire under them and they were excited to test their skills and quirks out.

"Wow that was so manly!" exclaimed the spiky red-haired boy. 'He said his name was Kirishima, right?'

"Bakugo is crazy strong!" This came from another boy who had a lightning bolt pattern in his hair.

"Bakugo also seems a bit crazy," said a girl with a rather wide mouth. Izuku couldn't help but wince slightly at the comment. More so because it wasn't exactly wrong.

"These fitness tests will be so fun!" A pink skinned girl shouted. The excited chattering of the student increased in volume as everyone became more hyped.

However, it was not to be.

"Fun huh." Somehow Aizawa's quiet, cold voice cut through the hubbub of the class, drawing everyone's attention back to him. His voice indicated that something was wrong, but Izuku was unsure what was wrong with considering the tests as fun. "If it's so fun, then how about this." Aizawa paused and Izuku's breath caught in his throat. He could sense that Aizawa was about to say something that would make everyone more tense. "Whoever gets last place in the quirk assessment will be ex-pelled." Upon saying the last word, Aizawa smiled creepily, his eyes glinting cruelly.

The whole class stared at Aizawa, dumbfounded. Gone was the childish excitement displayed mere moments ago. Now, instead of this being a test where the individual could see his own limits, it was a competition between students to not be last.

Izuku's heart beats faster in his chest. A quick glance around showed others in a similar state of disarray. However, he also noted the grim resolve in the eyes of some of the others. He placed a hand on his chest and closed his eyes to calm himself. After a few moments, he opened his eyes, resolve shining within.

First was the 50-metre dash. In middle school – when the tests had been conducted – Izuku had not been very physically gifted and had only gotten a time of 7.15 seconds. Luckily, he had not been the last student. Due to his training at the dojo, he had been decently fit, especially compared to some of the other students.

Izuku's heart dropped slightly when he realised that he would be paired with Kacchan. He tried to fleetingly glance at the blonde only to see that he was staring straight at him, his face set in a slight frown. Izuku decided that simply ignoring his presence would be best for him.

Izuku turned his attention to the students to try and get ideas on how he could utilise his own quirk to do well. Iida simply blew away the competition by completing the 50 metres in just over 3 seconds. Izuku started to sweat nervously since he knew he couldn't compete with such a time.

He didn't think anyone else would be able to get a time less than 4 seconds but was proven wrong when a boy with hair split into two colours completed the 50m dash in just under 4 seconds. It really was an ingenious method, using the ice forming under his feet to push him forward, almost like riding a wave of ice. Sadly, even if it was possible to accomplish with his quirk, Izuku knew that he lacked the control to pull off the feat. Maybe in the future.

The next pair who went up to run caught his interest. Specifically, the girl with the wide mouth. She got a good time by performing some large jumps, that too, rather quickly. Izuku wasn't sure if he could do it repeatedly but using the earth to push him forward at the beginning and at the end would probably help his time.

As he and Kacchan lined up, Izuku completely tuned out the blonde, a courtesy that he too extended with Izuku. As soon as the buzzer sounded, Izuku stamped the ground with his barefoot and the earth beneath him pushed him forward quickly. In fact, for a second, he was ahead of Kacchan. Unfortunately, he didn't stick the landing and stumbled forward, trying to regain his balance. Meanwhile, Kacchan rocketed forward using explosions from his palms to blast him ahead and earn a time of 4.13 seconds. Izuku, in his haste to catch up with the blonde had almost forgotten about using his quirk enhanced jump and only used it once more towards the end to earn himself a time of 5.99 seconds.

After the dash, Izuku slumped to the ground and watched the other applicants to see their quirks. Luckily, he had noted that his time was in the top 10 of the class. While that did give him some relief, he immediately felt guilty for taking pleasure when someone was feeling down about being last. Nevertheless, this was just the first event and Izuku decided to think about how he could use his quirk in the coming tests.

For the grip strength, Izuku used a rock glove to press hard on the dynamometer and after opening his eyes after a few tense seconds, he smiled as he saw a score of more than 100 kg. His smile faded when he saw several others get higher than him, including the mature raven-haired girl, who pulled some machine out of her skin that shattered his score by more than five times!

The seated toe-touch and sit ups had gone as well as he had expected and Izuku was honestly quite happy with his results there. In a way, because he didn't use his quirk in either events, he truly felt that the numbers he achieved were the best he could've gotten. In the two previous events where Izuku had used his quirk, he couldn't help but feel that he hadn't performed well and that the reason for it was due to his lack of training in his quirk. Izuku sighed despondently and moved onto the next test.

What he didn't realise was there was not just one, but two pairs of eyes looking at his performance, judging him.

Heterochromatic eyes narrowed as he saw Izuku's performance. It was honestly quite lacklustre considering the performance he put in the entrance exam with the Zero Pointer. From what he could tell, Midoriya's quirk was quite similar to his own, except he needed an existing source of earth while Shoto could simply produce his ice.

While the incident with the Zero Pointer may have been a one off, such a drastic rise in power was not possible. There was something fishy with Midoriya's quirk and Shoto would find out what.

Tokoyami had been observing his classmates. He and Dark Shadow had both agreed that only a bender would be able to access Raava's power. They had both been keeping an eye on the students in class 1-A and so far, only the boy with green hair and the boy with red and white hair had displayed an elemental quirk. However, Dark Shadow had overheard some of the others say that Todoroki – the boy with the split hair – was a recommended student, which meant that he wouldn't have been at the exam.

That simply left the green haired boy in class 1-A. Unfortunately, whoever it was didn't have to be in class 1-A. And to make the search even more difficult, the person may not have decided to attend U.A. If that was the case, then that mission would be a failure. If that were the case, Tokoyami didn't know how he would begin searching for the Avatar.

Izuku gasped and drew in deep breaths. That had been an intense long-distance run. While he was running, Izuku realised that Aizawa was sadistic. On its own, Izuku was sure that he and everybody else could've probably run the course better. But because Aizawa left the distance run for the second last test, many of them were physically tired and their quirks were tired.

For Izuku, who hadn't used his quirk much in the previous tests, he didn't have quirk fatigue, but he was quite tired which slowed him down. However, not everyone was as exhausted. Izuku cast his eyes around the other students and noted that several students looked almost unaffected. The girl with some sort of creation girl, the boy with the ice powers, Kacchan and Iida had all done well on the previous tests and just stood there, barely winded. Izuku was in awe. This was the kind of determination and power he aspired to achieve.

But now it was time for the last test. Another sign of Aizawa's plan. Aizawa had Kacchan perform the ball throw test so that they focused on it. Then, he let them hang in suspense for when the test would actually happen for the rest of them. This would build up nerves and simply make it harder to perform well.

Gasps rang out from around Izuku. He looked up to see the cause of the commotion and saw everyone looking towards Aizawa. And for good reason. On his phone was the infinity symbol. And standing next to it was an embarrassed Uraraka.

On the one hand, he was really happy that she had done so well. On the other hand, it reeeally didn't help his nerves.

"Midoriya." Izuku jerked back to see Aizawa's blank eyes staring at him before walking towards the circle slowly. On the journey there, he thought about what he would do. He had two plans. He could use a rock glove to strengthen his throwing arm and thus launch the ball further than he could normally. However, it was unlikely to go more than double the distance which would mean the ball would likely not even reach 100 metres.

Alternatively, he could throw the rock normally, then chuck a boulder of earth and time it to reach the apex of the ball's flight in order to push the ball the furthest. With this idea, Izuku theorised he could definitely get more than 100 metres. However, the problem was that it was much more difficult to get right as his timing had to be perfect.

Izuku took a few breaths and steadied himself. He had decided to go with the second plan. He wanted to push himself to see what he was capable of. He wound his arm back, preparing to throw.

Unbeknownst to him, Aizawa was about to stop him.

Aizawa had been watching all the students, judging their potential. Some, he had already known were clearly suited for the hero course such as the recommended students, Tenya Iida and Katsuki Bakugo. Others had performed just as badly as he had expected. Admittedly that wasn't proof that they wouldn't become good heroes in the future, merely that they hadn't put as much effort in now.

People like Denki Kaminari and Kyoka Jiro – who were currently the last two places – had coasted by using their quirks and while that would be enough for an average hero, that attitude simply wouldn't last at U.A.

It was why he had ultimately agreed with Principal Nezu's decision to give Shinso a second chance. Being rejected from the hero course would be his 'death' – like the threat of expulsion was for the students in class 1-A - and Aizawa hoped he would take the opportunity to fix his weaknesses rather than give up.

However, one student had rubbed him the wrong way: Izuku Midoriya. During the first half of the practical exam, Aizawa had taken no note of his performance. He was just another face out of thousands participating in the exams. Then when he went to save the girl, Aizawa had felt happy at the display of heroics.

However, that feeling was soon overrun by the disappointment he felt by the recklessness and stupidity he displayed once he sent the girl away. Aizawa didn't understand why Midoriya felt the need to fight it head on when he had already displayed the ability to run from it and keep the girl away. That was reckless.

He then displayed stupidity when he managed to destroy the Zero Pointer. Aizawa had been shocked that Midoriya had performed such a feat but he quickly became angry at the callous method in which it was enacted. Not only had Midoriya promptly fallen unconscious, the falling debris of the robot broke parts of many nearby buildings. As a pro hero, the job was to save as many people as possible, but by being brash, Midoriya would've endangered more lives!

And now, he chose not to display any of that power. Based simply on the description of the quirk registered in Midoriya's file, his quirk was very versatile but he used it simply.

Aizawa saw Midoriya wind up, preparing to throw, and promptly activated his quirk. Since he was standing in front of the other students, they couldn't see his eyes glow red though they did see his hair float. However, instantly Aizawa knew that for whatever reason, Midoriya's power had not been deactivated and thus promptly entangled him in his capture weapon.

Understandably, Izuku and all the other students were extremely confused as to what and why this was happening. Izuku tried to turn his head but barely managed to twist it a few centimetres before the scarf prevented further movement. However, the few centimetres he had managed allowed him to see the slightly demonic looking visage of Aizawa.

His eyes glowed red and his hair was floating and waving in a non-existent breeze. His scarf was now unravelled, revealing to be a capture tape of some kind and it was hovering in the air. Its movement revealed a set of golden goggles hidden underneath and Izuku finally realised which hero was their homeroom teacher. "You're the Erasure Hero: Eraser Head!"

"Eraser Head?" A lot of the students were confused as they hadn't heard of this pro hero and Izuku couldn't blame them. He himself barely had any information about him and recognised him only from the goggles. Eraser Head was an underground hero he had once heard about and he had been interested in him because Eraser Head supposedly had a quirk that allowed him to temporarily deactivate another person's quirk, though Izuku theorised that the quirk would be ineffective on those with mutant type quirks.

But the question was why had Aizawa captured him in his tape. His eyes were glowing red so Izuku thought he had activated his quirk. So why didn't he feel any different. Izuku discreetly lifted his fingers thus causing a small rock to float in front of him, hidden from the view of everyone else. So, his quirk hadn't been 'erased'. But Aizawa had clearly tried. So why hadn't it worked?

Izuku was interrupted from his thoughts when he felt the bindings restraining him loosen. Izuku jumped slightly in fright to see the scowling visage of the now identified pro hero standing right in front of him. Even though he had lost the red eyes and floating hair, he still looked scary and Izuku gulped nervously.

"I hope you weren't planning on half-assing it by simply chucking a rock at the ball." Aizawa whispered, his face quite close to Izuku's. Izuku blushed slightly in embarrassment at having been figured out so easily. "You may not be in danger of being last, but I have yet to see your potential. And if I deem anyone in the class as having no potential they will be expelled."

Izuku looked away in shame at that. However, Aizawa simply continued. "I've read about your quirk and if I'm right, it can be very versatile, so start thinking more creatively. As a pro hero, you must be able to make your own moves. So, stop copying other people! It is cruel to let a child chase after a dream they can never hope to reach." And with that, Aizawa simply walked away, leaving Izuku standing there, trembling slightly in fear and shock.

Izuku tried to swallow but his throat was too dry. He racked his brain for possibilities of how to use his quirk more creatively. He could feel the stares of the other students as they shuffled behind him, waiting. Instead of overthinking it, Izuku decided to simply trust his gut.

He blocked out the noise, ignored all the stares and knelt down, placing a palm on the ground as he listened to the earth. He focused on feeling it and simply moved.

Izuku stood up, feet in a wide stance. He took a deep breath and thrust both hands above his head causing the earth around Izuku to rise into a 10-meter-tall pillar. The diameter of the pillar was larger than the diameter of the chalk drawn circle so Izuku had remained in the circle, thus obeying the rules set out by Aizawa. Then, he held his right hand open, the ball lying in the palm which faced the sky. He slowly curled his fingers, causing earth to cover the ball such that the ball was completely enclosed by the time Izuku's hands had closed around the sphere.

All this time, his eyes had remained closed as he concentrated, though the other students and Aizawa couldn't see this, especially now that he was 10 metres into the sky. Izuku thrust his hands forward, wrists adjoined, causing the sphere of earth to rocket forward and soon they were barely able to see it. The only indication of its presence was a small dust cloud that could be seen in the distance. To complete the attempt, Izuku stamped the ground, forcing the pillar back down.

Izuku opened his eyes and turned around to face the class. He was still a bit nervous, but he had also calmed down and somehow knew he had done well. Only later would he realise it was because he had felt the ball's impact in the earth. He couldn't keep the small smile off his face as he saw the reactions on his classmates face.

Nearly all of them had varying degrees of surprise. After all, while Izuku didn't think the display was rather flashy, he did realise that it was far different from the display he had put on in the previous tests. There were a few different reactions. Uraraka simply looked excited at seeing his display which caused him to redden slightly.

As Izuku glanced at the heterochromatic teen, he caught a flash of some emotion before his face returned to his blank state. It looked like anger, but it was only for a moment so Izuku thought he might've imagined it.

Izuku quickly turned to Aizawa. He had only managed to do so well after the criticism from Aizawa and he hoped that his performance would've made him a bit proud. And he wasn't disappointed. Upon turning to Aizawa, he saw him standing there, grinning widely. The expression was so… weird on his face and Izuku almost found it a bit creepy but instead just felt happy that he hadn't let the teacher down. "I did it Aizawa-sensei!"

Aizawa's response was to simply hold up his phone to display the result. '503 metres!' Izuku was gobsmacked. He hadn't imagined that he would be able to throw the ball that far with his quirk. He realised that it was likely because he trusted his quirk and opened himself up to the earth properly. After months of trying to make a proper connection, he had finally managed to do so today.

Izuku's deep musings left him incapable of seeing the rage growing in an ashen-blonde haired student. Katsuki couldn't believe how far Deku had thrown the ball. Just a year ago, Deku could barely use his quirk for more than 10 minutes and could not do anything so big. The only time he had seen Deku do something this powerful was when he had first used his quirk.

"Don't ignore me!" Katsuki shouted at the fleeing Deku, running after the nerd himself. He noticed a person with a grey block for a head looking towards the two of them, probably attracted by the shouting but Katsuki didn't care. All he wanted was answers from Deku and he would get them.

He saw that Deku had slowed down and had come to a halt. This was his chance! "DEKU!" Katsuki ran forward and saw Deku fall to his knees and his instincts screamed to him to move away. Katsuki stumbled to stop and was about to scramble back but it was already too late.

Deku screamed and slammed the ground with his fists so hard that even Katsuki winced. However, that expression turned to terror when he saw the earth shift. The earth rippled and it was coming straight for him. Katsuki scrambled back and even tried to use his explosions to move away from Deku. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough as his explosions were too weak.

Suddenly, something grabbed him and pulled him away from the wave of earth. He was quickly dumped back to the ground and Katsuki saw big, grey sport shoes. Gazing up he saw the block headed person from earlier. "Who are y-"

Katsuki was quickly interrupted by the person. "I'm Cementoss. Now is not the time for anymore questions. Your friend is hurt. Come with me." And with that, Cementoss ran towards Deku and Katsuki decided to follow him. He needed to give that nerd a piece of his mind for attacking him.

As he followed Cementoss, Katuski surveyed the damage around him. The wave of earth hadn't been focused on him but had spread out in all directions, ripping up trees as it went. It had travelled roughly 15 metres in all directions, ripping and gouging the earth as it went. In all honesty, Katsuki could appreciate the sheer devastation caused though he would never tell the idiot that.

However, when he reached Deku, he turned away on reflex because Deku was in… terrible condition. Or at least his arms were. In the short instant he had seen him, Katsuki thought he had seen a bit of bone poking out from the flesh of his forearms.

Katsuki no longer felt jealous of Deku. In fact he almost felt sorry for him. What was the point in having a quirk that broke you?

"Boy, it is apparent you know this one here. I am taking him to Musutafu Hospital. Please find and bring any available relatives to see him there." Katsuki turned to Cementoss as he spoke and nodded, too shaken to argue. And with that, Cementoss walked away, carrying the broken body of Deku on a moving piece of cement.

He'd wanted Deku to get strong enough to be a decent hero, but had he been hiding this strength all this time! While he knew that Deku had only gotten 1 points less than him in the entrance exam, seeing is believing! There was no way anyone gained that much control so quickly, especially alone. Sure, he had been training with the old hag but that had been going on for years. Something had changed in the last year and he would get the answer from Deku himself. "DEKU! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! HOW DID YOU GET SO STRONG!"

Katsuki rocketed forward using an explosion causing the other students to yelp at the sudden movement. Izuku stumbled back as the blonde's furious face reached closer. Small explosions crackled along his palms which reached out towards Izuku.

Kacchan's body was abruptly pulled back though he didn't fall to the ground and instead braced himself, trying to push forward against the white cloth bindings suddenly encircling his body. Izuku looked past the struggling blonde to see Aizawa-sensei once again brandishing his scarf cloth to restrain Kacchan.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS CLOTH MADE OF?" Katsuki shouted, struggling in vain.

"Bakugo. Shut up. Keep your temper under control." Aizawa said simply. For some reason, those words seemed to have an effect on Katsuki, who stopped struggling and Aizawa promptly released the bindings.

Izuku, who was shaken up, stood up on his wobbly feet and joined the rest of the class after a motion from Aizawa. Katsuki joined them soon after, though he stood at the back of the class, as far from Izuku as possible. And Izuku was happy that he did.

"These are your class rankings." Aizawa's voice droned. Izuku and the others were startled. Izuku, in all the confusion, had forgotten that they were being ranked and quickly turned to see what place he had earned.

1) Momo Yaoyorozu

2) Shoto Todoroki

3) Katsuki Bakugo

4) Tsuyu Asui

5) Tenya Iida

6) Izuku Midoriya

7) Mashirao Ojiro

8) Rikido Sato

9) Fumikage Tokoyami

10) Hanta Sero

11) Mina Ashido

12) Eijiro Kirishima

13) Koji Koda

14) Yuga Aoyama

15) Mezo Shoji

16) Ochako Uraraka

17) Toru Hagakure

18) Minoru Mineta

19) Kyoka Jiro

20) Denki Kaminari

"Noooooooooooo!" Denki yelled out as he crashed down to the floor on his hands and feet. Izuku felt sorry for him. He did not want to be in the position Denki found himself in. He thought of going to him and try to reassure him, but the more he thought about it, the more he realised that he didn't know what he would say. Anything he'd say would likely seem condescending. Izuku realised it didn't matter and was about to step forward but was stopped by Aizawa's next words.

"Oh, and I was lying earlier. No-one is getting expelled. That was a logical ruse to get you all to do your best." Aizawa grinned again while the class exploded into muttering and protests at being tricked. Denki stopped crying and repeatedly thanked God for not getting expelled.

"You didn't know?" The raven-haired girl spoke slightly haughtily. The rest of the class just stared dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Katsuki seethed in the background at having been outdone by both recommended students.

"Bakugo, Tokoyami and Mineta." The three returned their attention to Aizawa, though Katuski did so reluctantly. "You three come with me. The rest of you, go back to the classroom and look at the schedules I placed beforehand. If I haven't returned by noon, you are free to leave." And with that, he slouched off with the other three following with different levels of excitement.

Izuku and the others looked at each other before shrugging and returning to the changing room to change before heading back to the classroom.

Izuku sighed in relief as he walked. He had made it through the first day. However, if he were honest, then Izuku couldn't wait for tomorrow. U.A. was really intense but it would help him grow stronger. It wasn't considered the best hero school in Japan for nothing.

Aizawa knocked once on the door.

"Come in Shouta." Principal Nezu's muffled voice sounded through the door. From the side, the three students could see Aizawa's eye twitch slightly before he opened the door.

Katsuki entered the room last and saw several other people. As well as the damn bear. One of them was likely another teacher. He was dressed in a red, skin-tight hero costume and had two sharp canines jutting from his mouth. Katuski had already known the bear was the principal having seen him last time.

The other three were definitely students and looked roughly his age. One of them literally had the face of a bug with some green hair slapped on. The second boy looked plain as fuck with a simple face and brown hair. The third guy bugged him. Katuski couldn't wait to wipe the condescending smirk off of that blonde face.

"Ah, so everyone is here now. Thank you Shouta and Sekijiro." Principal Nezu hopped off his chair and approached the six students with a smile. "Now you know why you are all here. The programme will last 6 months. Maybe less if we feel you are fine." There was that damn smile.

"Tch." Katsuki turned his head in annoyance. When he had received the letter of acceptance, he had also received a date for his psych evaluation where he had first met the bear principal. He had left the meeting growling in rage and told that he would be put on probation until he fixed his anger management problem. He didn't have an anger management problem!

"Now I understand that you may be embarrassed to take part in the programme which is why these meetings will be secret and it is up to your discretion whether you tell those in your class or not. However, I advise you to tell your friends. After all, secrets make one's fur dirty." Principal Nezu stroked his shiny fur.

At this point, the blonde from class 1-B could no longer keep his silence and started laughing a bit manically, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Katsuki asked.

"I just recognised you from that slime villain attack a year ago. You were so helpless. It is you right?" The blonde mocked. Katsuki clenched his fist, wishing nothing more than to fire an explosion at that arrogant smirk. But he had promised the old hag to not fire any explosions at someone's face for today. 'Deku didn't count. She said not to fire an explosion at any of the new faces and I already know that fucker.'

Principal Nezu clapped excitedly. "Now, now Monoma, no antagonising your peers. No fighting today. It is just your first day. You will have opportunities in the future to settle it properly."

The now dubbed Monoma settled down and turned away from Katsuki, but not before throwing one last smirk back. Katsuki clenched his teeth while Tokoyami stood beside him quietly. Mineta had hidden behind Tokoyami's leg in case a scuffle broke out. Katsuki would remember that name.

"One last thing I need to say. Your sessions shall be on either Saturdays or Sundays every two weeks with the exact time being sent to your email. Bye!" The excitable bear waved his paw quickly.

The other teacher – Seki something – led the three students from class 1-B out first, the other two students nodding at them as they passed. From class 1-A, only Tokoyami nodded back, with Katsuki scoffing and Mineta simply standing there.

"Come on." The three students turned to their teacher who was folding his yellow caterpillar sleeping bag up. 'Did he sleep for the five minutes we were in there?'

Just as they turned to leave, Nezu interrupted them. "Oh and Shouta, I don't appreciate the stunt you pulled today. Come back once the students leave to discuss your punishment. I hope it was worth it." Principal Nezu retained his smile, though his tone had become far creepier. Even Katsuki suppressed a slight shiver at his tone.

However, Aizawa simply grinned back. "It was."

As the students left, Nezu clasped his paws together. So that's how it was. Oh, it was on. Aizawa would find out why messing with him was a bad idea!

17/4/21

I don't think I have anything to say here.

Thanks for reading my chapter!

Until next time :)