Chapter 10

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.

Hey guys, I've got a new chapter for you. Again, it's a bit of a setting-up chapter, introducing some characters and ideas. The next chapter starts the USJ arc but I have no idea when that will come out. I've planned it but it's not written yet.

Enjoy

"Hey! What's it like having All Might as a teacher?"

Izuku cringed. He had been trying to get through the crowd of reporters without being caught. Obviously, he hadn't succeeded. He turned to face the reporter who was eagerly looking for comments to feature in his newspaper. "Uh… well… He's inspiring and uhhhh."

Izuku racked his brain for the right words but it was hardly half a minute before the reporter lost interest. "Forget it, kid." Izuku let out a sigh of relief and quickly slipped through the U.A. gates before he could get accosted by another reporter. He had no idea how All Might could stay so cool in front of the camera. Just that one question caused Izuku to become flustered.

Just as he passed through the gates, he noticed Iida with a large crowd of reporters. Tenya was almost robotically talking to them about the experience of having All Might as a teacher. Izuku found himself agreeing with Tenya so he couldn't understand why all the reporters looked so bored. With a shake of his head, he headed in.

It took longer than usual for everyone to reach class. The last to enter was Aizawa, who was looking far more disgruntled than usual. He didn't even make any comment about how long the class took to quiet down. Izuku thought it was probably due to the press outside. After all, Eraserhead was never a hero that enjoyed spending time in the limelight. That's what had made it difficult to find out a lot of information on the hero when Izuku had been researching him.

"Let's begin." Aizawa's monotonous voice rang out. "There is an important task ahead of you. One that will shape the rest of this year." Several gulps could be heard around the classroom. What could it possibly be?! "We need to choose a class president."

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. And then an explosion of sound.

"Choose me!" Mina shouted.

"No, no. I would be the most fabulous!" Yuga flicked his hair back.

Katsuki slammed a small explosion into the desk. "I'm going to be class president, you scrubs."

Being class president may not seem like such an important thing and for many schools, it wasn't. But at U.A., being the class president was far more important. You were given more responsibility, more opportunities and most importantly, more recognition. Upon graduating, those that had been a good class president were offered invitations from some of the best agencies from around the world.

"Hey guys, I think we should…" Izuku started.

"Quiet." Aizawa's voice cut through the clamour, and everyone went silent. "I don't care how you do it but by the end of the session you must tell me who the president and vice president for this class are." And having said his bit, he promptly slipped into his yellow sleeping bag and dropped to the ground.

"We should conduct a vote to elect our president," Tenya spoke authoritatively. "Each person will vote for one person who they want to see become class president. The votes will be tallied up and whoever has the most votes will be the class president. Whoever has the next highest number of votes becomes the vice president."

"Ribbit. But won't everyone just vote for themselves? We hardly know each other." Tsuyu commented.

"Yes, but that means that anyone that does get multiple votes is even more worthy as they would've made a better first impression," Izuku responded.

The class agreed to the idea and slips of paper were quickly handed out. It only took another minute for everyone to decide and for the papers to be collected in.

"WHAT!" Both Izuku and Katsuki stood up, one in disbelief and the other in anger. "How in the hell did the nerd get 4 votes!" Even though Izuku's internal monologue wasn't as rude, the same thought was running through his own mind. After some debate, Izuku had decided to vote for himself. He did feel a bit awkward doing so, especially since he felt others like Yaoyorozu and Iida might do a better job, but Izuku knew that becoming class president would give him exposure and help build his confidence. After all, how could he hope to one day replace All Might if he shied away from a simple position as class president. Plus, a small part of him didn't really think he would win!

"Did you really think people would vote for you, ribbit?" Tsuyu commented.

"Huh! What did you say?" Katsuki shouted.

"Yeah, man. You didn't really make the best impression." Denki laughed while Katsuki just scowled at him.

"So, it is decided. Midoriya will be our class president and Yaoyorozu will be our vice president." Tenya said while chopping his arm rapidly.

Izuku, Tenya and Ochako took their lunches and sat down at one of the tables. "Iida, I saw that you had no votes. Who did you vote for?" Ochako asked. Izuku sweatdropped at her blunt manner of speaking but was also curious.

Tenya turned to Izuku. "I voted for you, Midoriya. After what I saw in the battle city as well as the Foundational Hero Studies, I felt like you would be a better class president than me."

Izuku was touched by this. He hadn't realised how much of an impact he had made on Tenya. "Thank you."

Ochako giggled from next to him. "That's kind of why I also voted for you, Deku."

"Wait you voted for me too, Uraraka?" Ochako nodded while smiling at him causing Izuku to feel a bit warm inside. "Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you, Iida, why your hero costume looks like that. It looks familiar but I can't remember where I've seen it." Izuku said.

Tenya smiled proudly while pushing up his glasses for dramatic effect. "It is very similar to my older brother. When I graduate, I want to join his agency. I hope to be as good a hero as him."

Izuku's eyes shifted as he quickly thought through who Iida's brother was. He mentally scrolled through his list of heroes, checking off the clues. "Of course!" He suddenly exclaimed causing Ochako to jump slightly. "Ingenium. His name is Tensei Iida and he runs the Iida hero agency. I can't believe I didn't connect the dots earlier. Your costume is almost the same as his. The main difference is that your quirk is in your legs while Ingenium's Engine quirk is in his forearms." Tenya looked a bit put out that he couldn't introduce his brother but that was quickly replaced by the proud smile from earlier.

"Wow, so you're a rich boy, huh?" Ochako slyly commented. Before Tenya could respond, a siren started blasting through the hall. Some of the older students jumped up and started heading to the exit. "What's going on?" Ochako asked.

"U.A. has different kinds of alarms. I think this one occurs when someone has breached the U.A. barrier." Izuku said.

"Well, whatever it is for, we should follow the example of our upperclassmen and exit the building," Tenya stated.

"Maybe not exactly follow…" Ochako sweatdropped and the crazed rush in front of them. Everyone was trying to get out in a panic and there was a jam of students.

"This is crazy! You'd think the older students would be a bit more ordered" Tenya took a step forward trying to take a look at how long the traffic jam of students was. Unfortunately, that was a mistake as he too was immediately swept into the current of students like a helpless fish. "What, no. Wait!"

"What should we do, Deku?" Ochako asked. However, Izuku was no longer looking at the line and was instead looking outside the windows to the front gate. "It's… it's the media from this morning!" Ochako gasped.

Izuku nodded slowly. However, what he couldn't understand is why they would break through the barrier. More importantly, how did they manage to break through? The U.A. barrier was very strong with only powerful moves from some of the top heroes being able to break it. Izuku had heard that the metal would be able to even withstand one of Endeavor's Flashfire Fists. He had a bad feeling about this. After all, why would the media commit an action that could be construed as an act of aggression, especially against a hero school?

"We have to do something, Deku. The other students probably think there's a villain in U.A., so we need to somehow tell them that it is the media. Maybe they'll calm down then."

"Uhhh…" Izuku was a bit unsure how they could get the attention of the rest of the students.

"Don't worry! Leave it to me." Both Ochako and Izuku turned to the new voice behind them. "Just leave it to your upperclassmen." The voice belonged to a tall, blonde man. His short-sleeved shirt showed off his muscular arms as well as the scars around his forearms. He had bright, blue eyes that somehow shone with the same intensity as his smile and the front portion of his hair was slicked up in a manner that reminded Izuku a bit of All Might. "The name's Mirio Togata." And with that Mirio sunk into the ground prompting a small scream from Ochako

Izuku's eyes sparkled in joy at the new quirk. "Woah! That's so cool. I wonder how he just sunk through the floor." He tapped his foot on the spot where Mirio vanished only to find it completely solid. 'Hmmm. So his quirk only applies to himself and not to the surroundings. That makes him less compatible in a team though his quirk probably applies very quickly to himself.'

"HEY EVERYONE!" Mirio's cheerful voice was heard booming from the end of the corridor and all the students stopped moving and turned to see his face sticking out above the door. Izuku noticed that Tenya stick his head above the crowd and stand up properly, no longer being dragged along like a puppet. "JUST LOOK OUTSIDE. IT'S ONLY THE MEDIA SO THERE'S NO NEED TO PANIC."

"Woah, he's right." The students started sighing in relief. "I was worried there was a villain."

"Pft, you were worried about a villain, and you want to be a hero."

"Hey! Only a really strong villain could break the U.A. barrier and would even dare to attack especially with All Might here."

With the tension now broken, people just started conversing with each other causing Mirio to sweatdrop. "The alarm is still ringing so can everyone please imMEDIA…tely proceed through the exit." There was a pause of silence as everyone tried to process Mirio's joke before they all just started leaving. Ochako followed Izuku in front, deep in thought. 'Mirio Togata. That's the student that Yagi-sensei told me about. The person who he had considered passing One for All to before he met me."

"This is troublesome," Aizawa murmured. He stood next to Cementoss with principal Nezu perched in Aizawa's scarf. In front of them lay the remains of the main entrance of the U.A. barrier. The wind blew some of the ashes from the door away with the teachers being concerned by the loss.

Nezu nodded. "This is unlikely to be the actions of civilians. And to think a villain would be bold enough to try this."

"But why did they attack now?" Cementoss asked.

"That is not the question we should be asking." Nezu shook his head, thinking carefully. "Rather, we should be asking what was the purpose behind this act? Was it a simple form of intimidation? Or is there some deeper motive?"

"Regardless, we should take the opportunity to upgrade some of our defences," Cementoss advised.

"Agreed." Nezu smiled. "Aizawa, please tell Power Loader to meet with me to discuss possible upgrades. However, before that, can the two of you please perform a sweep of the building and tell Hound Dog to check the grounds for any intruders." Both Aizawa and Cementoss nodded their assent and left to complete their respective tasks.

Meanwhile, Nezu remained at the gate, thinking. 'The villains are stirring once again. The peace held by All Might has only temporarily held the villains at bay. I fear the winds are changing. For the villains to so boldly infiltrate U.A., especially with All Might here requires both a greater plan in mind and great motivation. But the thing I fear most is the mastermind behind this new group. I'll need to upgrade the defences. I'll need barricades that can quickly be replaced should a section become damaged.' Nezu turned to face the school, thinking fondly of the building he had built and the children it trained. However, his face changed into a frown as he thought about what could be done to deal with the storm coming. 'Even with all the heroes, these children will likely face battle before their predecessors. Therefore, it is our job to prepare them.' With that, Nezu walked back into his school, mind whirling with thoughts.

Izuku walked side by side with Momo, feeling a bit awkward. Unlike some of his other classmates, Izuku felt like she gave off the air of nobility, something that was strengthened when he heard her talk. That made it harder for him to talk to her.

Unlike Izuku, Momo was comfortable with the silence and was instead wondering why the meeting between the first-year representatives had been called. Perhaps it was simply a routine procedure following the alarm. However, Momo got the feeling that there was something more. After all, Aizawa-sensei seemed a bit more alert and serious compared to his usual tired demeanour.

"Hello." Both Izuku and Momo broke from their thoughts to see two other students standing in front of the door that the Class 1-A representatives needed to use. One of the students was a girl with long orange hair that was arranged in a ponytail that hung over her left shoulder. She had teal eyes and had been the one to greet Izuku and Momo. The other was a taller man with pale skin and spiky, beige hair. Izuku noted that he had no lips and his teeth instead sat on the outside of his skin and wondered whether it was related to his quirk. "I'm Itsuka Kendo and this here is Juzo Honenuki," the now christened Itsuka continued, while Juzo waved from beside her.

"Hey, I'm Izuku Midoriya-" Izuku started.

"And I am Momo Yaoyorozu," interrupted Momo. "We're Class 1A's representatives. Which class are you from?"

This time, Juzo replied. "We are from Class 1B."

Itsuka's eyes furrowed in confusion. "So, who is the president and who is the vice president?"

"Well, I'm the president." Izuku piped up. He became a bit more nervous as Itsuka approached him.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm class B's president," she said, shaking Izuku's hand. "Maybe all four of us should meet and plan some training exercises that our two classes can do together."

Izuku nodded excitedly. "That sounds like a great idea."

A voice from behind them inserted itself into the conversation. "How about you stop wasting other people's time now and get inside. You can chit-chat once we're done." Aizawa's drab voice and choice of words surprised the two class B students who had yet to meet him. They turned to Izuku and Momo, as if to check whether that was normal, but the two class A students had already entered the room. Juzo just shrugged at Itsuka before the two also entered.

"Hello everybody!" Nezu waved exuberantly. "Now that everyone is here, we can start. How about the students introduce themselves to each other." He turned to face Izuku and Momo. "We'll start with class 1-A-"

A derisive snort sounded from across the table and everyone turned to see a purple-haired boy. He was quite tall and his hair stuck out in large tufts. It kind of reminded Izuku of a lion's mane. His expression was reminiscent of Aizawa's with a bored expression and dark bags under his eyes. "Why should class 1-A start? Are the hero course classes better than the general studies classes?" Izuku frowned, wondering why he did not like the hero course students if he still came to U.A., one of the biggest hero schools in the world. 'Perhaps he applied for the hero course but didn't make it in. If so, I wonder what his quirk is.'

"Not at all. I just thought it would make sense to go alphabetically. Nevertheless, why don't you start us off then." Nezu calmly explained.

The purple-haired teen tilted his head. "My name is Hitoshi Shinso. I'm the representative for the General studies classes of 1-C, D, and E." Having said his bit, Hitoshi turned to face away from the rest of the occupants. Even though U.A. offered a general studies course and a business course, it was still primarily a hero school. As a result, as much attention would not be given to the other classes. Even the support course which directly worked with pros and hero students didn't get much spotlight. And Hitoshi was a clear example of this. Unlike Class 1-A and 1-B, which each had a president and vice president to represent the class, the rest of the courses only had one class representative. Courses, not classes. For everyone in classes 1-C, D and E, Hitoshi was the sole representative.

While Izuku had been thinking, Nezu had been trying to get subtly get the attention of the support course representative. However, the pink-haired girl had been fiddling with some parts in her hands, mumbling quietly to herself. Finally, Nezu motioned to Aizawa, who rolled his eyes and tapped her on the shoulder. "Huh. Wha-" She glanced around to see everyone looking expectantly at her. "What's wrong?"

"Introduce yourself," Aizawa growled, cutting off Nezu who was about to say the same thing, but in a nicer tone.

"Oh, ok. I'm Mei Hatsume and I'm from the support course!" After the enthusiastic introduction, she proceeded to ignore everyone and turn back to the device she had been fiddling with earlier.

Izuku, Momo and the two Class 1-B students then proceeded to introduce themselves.

"Well, as you know, I'm Principal Nezu," the bear (but, is it really a bear) then pointed to Aizawa, "this is Eraserhead, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A" the students then turned to look at a man clad in a red costume, "he is Vlad King and finally, this is Power Loader," Nezu said, pointing to a short man with an excavator claw around his helmet.

"Let's move on to why we called this meeting." Vlad King said.

"Is it to do with the alarm this morning?" Izuku asked.

"Don't interrupt, Midoriya." Aizawa chided.

"Yes." Nezu nodded, "While the alarms did sound because of the media, we discovered that the gate blocking their entry had been disintegrated. Everyone present was investigated by the police and no one had a quirk that could've resulted in the gate crumbling." The students gasped. Even Mei looked up from her project in surprise. "We have reason to believe that a villain broke the gate. They also escaped unnoticed. However, the reason for this break-in is unknown."

"So why are you telling us?" Hitoshi questioned. "Why do the general studies classes need to know about this?"

"Now, now. I'm getting to that. While discovering the villain's motive is important, it is also important to realise what the attack actually means. For a villain to have broken into one of the most secure hero schools in the world not only requires a motive but a certain boldness. Even with the news that All Might has joined the faculty and is in the city, some villains are getting more aggressive. Therefore, in order to prepare, I want to increase the training for not only the hero courses but also offer an opportunity to some general studies students."

Now Vlad king took over. "As you know, first-year students aren't allowed to make any clubs, though they can join existing ones. However, we plan to make a first-year exclusive club where students from any course can come to train with each other." Hitoshi almost stood up in excitement. This was his chance to get trained by some pro heroes and show them that he could be a hero too. It was his ticket into the hero course! "The club will be run by the students. We'd suggest that those in the hero course plan the games and training and can help any students from the other courses improve their own skills." Hitoshi clenched his hands in anger, an act that did not go unnoticed by Aizawa or Nezu. Meanwhile, Izuku nodded, already thinking up different exercises.

"With the Sports Festival coming up, this would be a good way for those outside the hero course to improve." Aizawa threw a pointed look at the indigo-haired teen, who did not notice. "We'll still be keeping an eye out. If anyone impresses us enough, we may decide to move them into the hero course." However, all Hitoshi could think about was how general studies were simply getting the scraps. They would only be taught by hero course students, who would no doubt be laughing behind their backs about how the general studies students didn't make it into the hero course.

"This is where the support course comes in. We can provide equipment for the club and can help prospective hero course students design their costumes and equipment," piped up Power Loader. "Did you get that Hatsume?!"

She grinned in excitement, obviously having listened to the last part. "Yes, of course! I can't wait to build a ton of new babies!" Izuku found her wide grin to be almost maniacal, but Power Loader just nodded in satisfaction.

"Please do relay all this information to your classes. And enjoy the rest of your day!" Nezu exclaimed. As the students motioned to leave, Nezu interrupted them, "Oh, could the students from Class 1-A and 1-B please stay behind." Izuku and Momo looked at each other before sitting back down. "Power Loader, if you could please escort Shinso and Hatsume back to their classes and then you can return to your work." The helmet-covered teacher nodded and left with the two aforementioned students, though not before Izuku noticed Hitoshi's clenched fists.

"So why did you want us to stay?" asked Juzo.

"Well, I wanted to apologise for springing the idea of the club up on you. I realise I didn't consult you beforehand and wanted your opinions." Nezu apologised.

Izuku, Itsuka and Juzo all looked at each other, not really sure what to say. "I think it's a great idea," Momo spoke confidently. "Not only will this give the hero course students a way to practice using the school's facilities, but it also can help us develop the skills needed to train others which is important if you have sidekicks."

Izuku interjected, "not to mention, it gives a chance for those in other courses, especially the general studies classes, to try out hero training. I think that Hi-, that some of the students in other courses may have quirks that aren't suited for the entrance exam but may be useful." Itsuka and Juzo nodded their assent.

"But how often do we run it? And who will lead the group?" Itsuka voiced her concerns.

"Logically, the four of us would run the club, at least in the beginning. After all, we're still getting to know each other. Once we learn about each other, I'm sure we can elect others to run the club because we would have other responsibilities." Juzo responded thoughtfully.

"On the matter of frequency, we want you to start with only once a week. Once you understand how to run the club and once a routine is established, we can look at increasing the frequency." Aizawa reasoned.

"Now, I actually asked you to stay behind in order to tell you that since Class 1-A had missed their hero training this afternoon, we want the two classes to merge and complete the training together. I'll let Shota and Seijiro explain the details when you get there. Just inform your classes of the shift, then change and meet up where they tell you."

The four teens nodded and smiled at each other. It would be interesting to see the other students in the hero course.

Since there wasn't enough time to properly relegate the information of the meeting, Izuku and Momo simply told the class that they needed to change and meet with Class 1-B for a joint Hero training class. After all, they expected some lengthy discussions would arise from the knowledge that a villain had infiltrated U.A. for no apparent reason. They had therefore told Aizawa that they would tell the class during the next day's homeroom.

Most of the class was happy that they were making up the missed hero training session. While Izuku did enjoy Heroic Law, there was no denying that the Hero training sessions were far more enjoyable. Even though Izuku had trained with All Might for almost a year, he still found it surreal to be learning from the man at U.A. Only Mineta had voiced any annoyance by grumbling about how he had wanted to just relax in the afternoon and go home. That was before Sero decided that tape would make a lovely addition to Mineta's costume.

Class 1-A, having changed, made their way to Ground Gamma. While Ground Beta – where they had their Battle Trial – emulated an urban area, Ground Gamma instead simulated an industrial site, complete with factories and pipes that ended up forming a labyrinth. "Hey! Again." Itsuka stood at the forefront of her class and greeted the approaching class 1-A.

Momo waved back, while Izuku introduced Class 1-A, "this is Itsuka, the president for 1-B," Izuku pointed to the orange-haired girl at the front. Izuku pointed to the tall boy next to her, "and this is Juzo, the vice president."

Class 1-A greeted their counterparts but before more introductions could occur, Aizawa and Vlad King came to introduce the challenge. "Today, you will be completing the Basic Obstacle Course. This is the first in a series of three courses you will complete by the end of the year." Vlad Kind said.

"Cool! How long is the course?" Pony asked excitedly. Izuku winced internally at the interruption.

Aizawa's eyes glowered at the American student. "Perhaps if you let us finish, we would give you the details you needed to know." Pony shrank away at the biting tone causing some in class 1-B to frown at Aizawa. Some of them even looked like they were about to say something, but Vlad King continued on as if nothing had happened.

"We will be splitting you into eight groups of 5 and you will race against the others in your group to reach the target point first. Each group will start in various locations in the city so that those that went later have less of an advantage. The goal is to reach All Might who is on one of the roofs in the middle of the city." Izuku nodded his head as he thought about the exercise. Instead of a man-made obstacle course, the race was based on a city to more accurately imitate the 'race' heroes would need to do.

"Oh, there is one thing that Vlad King forgot to mention." Aizawa smiled, "you will lose points for damaging the city. Heroes must be able to get to their destination quickly, but without destroying the infrastructure."

Welp, that made things harder.

Izuku thought hard, not really paying attention to what group he was in or who else was in his group. He smiled ruefully, thinking that air bending likely would have made this exercise trivial. Alas, he had yet to bend any air and was still stuck with earth. While there was nothing wrong with earth, Izuku knew that it was an element that the exercise penalised against. The best way would be to make his way onto a roof at the start, but he would need earth bending to augment his jump and land which would likely break both the road and crack the roof.

"Group 1, follow Aizawa to your starting point. The rest of you, follow me." Vlad King's voice broke Izuku out of his musings as he realised, he hadn't heard his group. Luckily for him, only four other students stayed back causing Izuku to realise he was the fifth one.

"Hey, Midoriya," Hanta called out to Izuku as he caught up to him and Denki.

"Hey, Sero, Kaminari. How are you feeling about this?" Izuku asked the pair.

"Not good," "Great!" The two boys grinned at each other.

"Of course, Spiderman over here is calm," Denki rolled his eyes at that. "Unlike him, others actually have quirks not really suited for this." Hanta just smirked back at him.

"Ooh, what is your quirk? What are all of your quirks?" Izuku turned to see that the girl with horns who had interrupted Vlad King earlier was in their group. "By the way, my name is Pony Tsunotori." Denki's mouth was just open, taking in the pretty girl talking to him. Before he could recover, Izuku started to talk to her causing Denki to scream internally that he already had Ochako.

"Hey, I'm Izuku Midoriya and I can manipulate earth."

"Wow, that's cool!" Pony said excitedly. Izuku noticed the accent and wondered if she was from abroad. However, he felt like it would have been rude to just ask about that.

"Are you the transfer student?" Hanta asked. Izuku looked at him in confusion. "Oh, I'd just heard that there was a student from America and I noticed that Pony has a bit of an accent. Are you ok, bro?" Hanta directed the last part at Denki who'd tripped over his feet while Hanta had been talking.

Denki just brushed himself off before introducing himself to Pony, "my name is Kaminari. Denki Kaminari. And my quirk is Electrification." Izuku raised an eyebrow at the rather…odd introduction.

Pony took a second look at Denki before turning to answer Hanta's question. "Yeah, I'm from America." Izuku asked if the change had been hard. She hummed in thought before saying that it was a bit tough but U.A. was just so cool that she didn't really care about it. She then turned to Denki again. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere."

Denki's eyes widened and he cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Perhaps you've seen me in the corridors between classes." She shook her head saying she reminds her of someone, but she can't place who. Denki exchanged a glance with Izuku before shrugging at Pony.

Izuku turned his attention to the fifth member of their group who had been silently following alongside them. "What's your name?" Izuku asked.

The boy had black hair, tied into a braid that reached his shoulders. His eyes, which were shaped like a reptile, turned to face Izuku. "Hiryu Rin." Izuku frowned slightly at the rather short introduction.

Before he could say anything else, Aizawa turned around telling them to stop. "This is your starting point. When the lights turn green, you go." He then just turned around and started walking away.

"Wait, that's it-" Denki yelped as the lights turned green before he was ready. Izuku hadn't been properly prepared either and hadn't had any time to analyse the buildings around them for the best way to get up. Of the five, only Hanta and Hiryu got started when the light turned green.

Hanta had immediately used his quirk to attach to something up high before he took a running start and started swinging. He seemed quite comfortable with the task. Denki spluttered at the abrupt start before scrambling after him, saying he would catch up.

Izuku noted that Hiryu's arms had turned into scales, and he was using the hardened nails to dig into the side of the wall and climb up. It was similar to the method that Pony was using. She was pulling off the horns on her head before jabbing them into the wall to act as ledges to climb up with.

Izuku surveyed the surrounding buildings and crouched before propelling himself up with the earth. Unfortunately, he had underestimated how far away the roof had been and thus crashed into the side of the building. Thankfully, his crash did no damage to the wall though he did start falling. Izuku scrambled to find a foothold or something to grab onto as he slid down. His arm jerked painfully as he grabbed onto a window ledge and the earth on his legs stuck to the side of the wall. Izuku let out a sigh of relief and glanced down to see cracked earth from where he had jumped.

As he looked down, he saw Hiryu struggling a bit to climb up. "Are you ok?" Izuku yelled.

Hiryu simply nodded before his eyes widened in panic as he lost his grip on the wall. Izuku was quick to act and kicked the wall causing a ledge to appear below the falling student. Hiryu almost slipped again as he hadn't expected the ledge to appear beneath him. He turned to face Izuku. "Thank you, but this exercise is meant to test our own skills. I would appreciate it if you didn't help me."

Izuku was a bit taken aback by that before deciding to focus on himself. He then noticed that he had been using earth bending to stick his earth shoes to the wall. He almost facepalmed at the obvious application that he had missed. He had always been able to stick different chunks of earth together. However, he had never thought of doing that using the shoes of earth. In fact…

Izuku concentrated before creating a glove of earth surrounding each of his hands. He tentatively stretched out his hand to the side, using his earth bending to stick the hand to the wall. Slowly, he removed the support from the window. A huge smile appeared on his face when he didn't fall. With renewed energy, he started scaling the wall, as if his feet and hands were magnetised. It did take longer than simply propelling himself up there as Izuku had to carefully focus on what limb to unstick and when. However, this way, he didn't cause any more damage.

He rolled onto the roof, panting slightly. Luckily, the initial jump had brought him most of the way up so there wasn't much left to climb but Izuku was still sweating slightly from the concentration needed for that. He likened that ability to how spy movies would use magnets to climb up buildings. He almost decided to look at Hiryu to check on his progress before shaking his head. Hiryu was right in that this was an individual exercise. Izuku started running across the rooftops as he made his way to the centre of the city.

Izuku was panting hard by the time he made it to All Might. "Congratulations, young Midoriya! You came third, just behind young Tsunotori." All Might boomed.

Izuku winced at that as he had been unable to catch up. Hanta's tape swinging had simply been too fast for anyone else within the group. Couple that with the fact he did no damage and Hanta happily sat in the gold position. "Well done, Sero." Izuku commended the tape wielder who rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and thanked him.

Izuku was a bit downtrodden as he realised that he had only come behind Pony because he had failed the first jump and stopped to help Hiryu. During their exchange, Pony had already climbed to the roof and got some distance. He hadn't been able to close the distance though he had caught up a bit on points as he ended up doing less damage to the city on the way there.

"By the way, your quirk is amazing!" Izuku said to Pony who blushed a bit. "The horns regenerate immediately, and they are incredibly durable."

"That's not all. I can even control them with my mind." Pony bragged. She took a step back as Izuku's eyes seemed to turn into shining gems. He suddenly started writing in a notebook and Pony had to do a double take as she never actually saw him take the notebook out. All Might, who had been watching the conversation from the side snorted quietly at his successor's idiosyncrasy.

"How durable are they? Can they support your body weight? How far can you control them?" Izuku started asking questions on rapid fire, overwhelming Pony.

Finally, Hanta took some pity and interrupted Izuku. "That's a bit like Hawks." Izuku stopped the barrage and looked contemplative as he considered what Hanta said.

"Who's Hawks?" she asked.

"You don't know who Hawks is?" Hanta was a bit incredulous. "He's one of Japan's top heroes." Pony just shrugged at that.

Izuku started explaining Hawk's quirk. "His quirk is Fierce Wings which grants him wings made of feathers. He can detach the feathers and control each one telekinetically." Izuku contemplated something before turning to Pony excitedly. "You might be able to fly."

Pony was shocked. "What?"

Hanta quickly caught on. "You mean by using her horns."

Unfortunately, Pony didn't really understand what they were talking about and so was getting a bit frustrated, prompting Izuku to explain his theory. "Well, if you hang on or balance on two horns, you can then control them with your mind to move and thus fly around." Pony's eyes widened as finally understood what they were saying.

"Well done, young Rin. You managed to make it within 15 minutes. An impressive first attempt." The other three students turned to see Hiryu nod calmly at All Might. As they waited for Denki, Hiryu pulled Izuku aside to talk to him. All Might watched as they walked off to the side.

"I wanted to thank you for earlier," Hiryu started.

"No problem," Izuku replied.

"I wanted to ask you why you helped me." Hiryu looked serious.

Izuku was a bit surprised by the question. "I don't really understand." He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You were in trouble, so I acted."

"This exercise was an individual event-"

Izuku interrupted him, " I know, but a little help from others can be a great blessing."

Hiryu smiled ruefully. "I wish my siblings were as nice as you."

"How many siblings do you have?" Izuku asked inquisitively.

Hiryu stared unblinkingly at Izuku, judging if he should say anything. Izuku nervously stared back. He really wanted to just look away from the intense stare but decided not to. "I have a brother and sister who are far stronger than me. Something they constantly reminded me of when we were younger. They have already joined my mother's agency."

"Your mother…"

Hiryu sighed. "You might not have heard of her since her agency is in China."

"China?!" Izuku was surprised as he was under the impression Pony was the only hero course student from a foreign country. "Wait…" Recognition lit up Izuku's eyes. "You're from the dragon Rin family. The family that all spawns dragon-related quirks!"

Hiryu's glare shut him up. Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth as he had been getting too loud. All Might glanced at them. Izuku whispered, "then why are you at U.A.?"

"I'm considered a disgrace by my mother. A weakling. My father is the kindest in my family. He only chooses to ignore me rather than insult me." Hiryu spoke softly but his voice was filled with bitterness. "It is because of this weakness that I was sent away where I wouldn't bring shame to the family name."

Izuku knew what it felt like to be belittled by others and lack confidence. However, to have that come from his own family must've been crushing.

"Now that young Kaminari has reached us, it is time to join the others in the control room."

Hiryu turns to follow All Might but stops as Izuku grasps his shoulder. "You may not have been lucky with who your relatives are, but that shouldn't stop you from finding a family. After all, you don't have to be related to someone to call them family." Having said his piece, Izuku followed after All Might and the others, leaving Hiryu with his thoughts.

The advice following their attempt had been much of what Izuku was expecting. Hanta was praised for his use of the quirk though Aizawa did warn him that he had an advantage with the open city. Denki was run through by Aizawa who was not happy with his performance. Unfortunately, Denki could only take the abuse as none of the teachers actually had any advice for what he could do to improve his mobility. Izuku could only really think of support items that could perhaps be powered with his quirk but apart from that, even Izuku was stumped.

Aizawa had given him a warning to take the exercises seriously but apart from that, Izuku didn't get any flak as he showed improvement during the challenge. Vlad King simply told Pony and Hiryu to improve their physical strength.

After that, the next group headed out and Izuku's mind wandered to his own performance. While he had found a way to climb using his earth bending but he needed to find some way to run faster. He turned his attention to the screen to see Mina sliding across the rooftops on her acid. Sliding. Maybe he needed to explore that idea. Like how some bullet trains used magnetism to move, maybe he could skate across the ground using his earth shoes.

Unfortunately, he couldn't practice that idea, so he turned his attention to the conversation he had with Hiryu. Izuku liked all heroes but he did admit that he wasn't as knowledgeable about heroes from other countries. The country he knew the most about after Japan was the USA and that was mainly because All Might had been a hero in the US as well.

Nevertheless, he knew a bit about the Dragon Rin agency. The system for heroes was a bit different in China but it was largely agreed that the Dragon Rin agency was the most powerful agency with the Dragon Empress Tatsumi Rin being the strongest in the agency.

It was said that the Rin family only produced members with dragon-related quirks and only those deemed worthy could even enter the agency. However, the Empress was only known as having two children: Ryoko and Ryoto, twins who were both in the agency. The fact that there was a third child that had not only been kept secret from the world but was currently in U.A. was huge. Izuku was a bit uncomfortable realising the weight of the secret he would have to keep.

Hiryu had mentioned that his father was the kindest towards him but Izuku couldn't remember much about him. He didn't remember his name, only that he married into the Rin family and adopted the name Rin as his own. Perhaps the fact that he was not from the Rin family had something to do with how he treated Hiryu.

Even though they were a hero agency, rumours did float around about less-than-savoury events. Some believed that they weren't as good-natured as they showed themselves to be with some reports of excessive violence against villains and even dodgy dealings with crime bosses. Whatever the truth was, Izuku knew he didn't really want to be on the wrong side of them.

Izuku turned his attention back to the screen just in time for the start of the third group which consisted of Katsuki and Eijiro from class 1-A and Itsuka Kendo, Neito Monoma and Koseri Tsubara from 1-B.

As soon as the light turned green, Bakugo – who had been tensing beforehand – immediately let out a strong blast that shattered the windows of the surrounding buildings. Izuku winced as the five students had all been standing close together meaning that they would likely have some bruises. As the smoke cleared, Izuku saw that Itsuka had managed to enlarge her hand to cover all the 1-B students. Scorch marks dotted her hand but Izuku was surprised to see that she didn't let it show on her face. Eijiro had also managed to barely protect himself using his hardening quirk.

Eijiro looked like he was apologising but Neito and Kosei weren't having it. Neito was quick to add fuel to the fire, saying that he wasn't surprised Bakugo was a loose canon as some of the reports of the slime villain incident last year said the spiky-haired teen had tried to single-handedly deal with the villain.

The conversation – if it could even be called that – ended when Itsuka interrupted them saying they shouldn't just let Bakugo win. She immediately started to climb using her Big Hands quirk with the rest of them behind her. Izuku was surprised at the speed at which she climbed up the building.

Izuku realised that it wasn't just her control with her quirk, but Itsuka had clearly trained to be athletic. She hadn't just focused on her quirk and had also trained her body. Izuku had noticed that some of his classmates and even many pro-Heroes didn't really focus on their athleticism unless their quirk demanded it.

Itsuka quickly made it to the top of a building and gave chase to Katsuki, but she just couldn't compete with his speed as he used explosions every few seconds to keep himself in the air. It kind of reminded Izuku of Flappy Bird, though he would never say that to Katsuki's face.

Izuku was fascinated by Kosei who seemed to blow out and then just step on air! He repeated this process as he climbed what Izuku likened to a staircase of air up the building. It wasn't the fastest approach and Kosei seemed to be taking deeper breaths and panting the further up he went causing Izuku to theorise that it likely drained his stamina or was somehow based on his breathing.

Several of the students in Class 1-A frowned as they watched Neito Monoma's performance. Simply because he never seemed to use a quirk. Neito simply used the platforms of air created by Kosei. "That's not fair!" Mina cried out. "He's not using his own quirk. I thought this was an individual event."

Izuku nodded slightly as he thought. Either his quirk was not usable in this scenario – like Eijiro's hardening – or he was hiding it. However, Izuku couldn't think of any real reason why Neito would hide his quirk as his classmates would already know it, as well as the teachers. He would only be hiding it from class 1-A.

Vlad King said nothing, turning a blind eye to the bending of the rules which led Shouta to turn a sharp eye on him. "He will be penalised for this, make no mistake," Shouta said.

Vlad King opened his mouth to speak but Shouta glared hard at him. In his opinion, Vlad King had always taken the competition between classes 1-A and 1-B a little too seriously. Vlad King ignored his fellow teacher and said, "Monoma is simply using the terrain to his advantage. In a real situation, you must learn to do the same. This is a lesson your classmate is learning now." That explanation, while true, skirted around the purpose of the exercise.

Izuku looked back at the screens to see that Eijiro had also tried to use the platforms but they had either disappeared already, or he had misjudged where they were placed as he fell smack onto his face after the first platform. He frowned at that and decided that all he could do was run in the direction that he had seen Bakugo fly or he would take too much time. Not for the first time, Eijiro cursed his quirk for the lack of versatility.

In the end, the order in which they finished was the same as the order in which they started: Katsuki, Itsuka, Kosei, Neito and Eijiro. Katsuki simply had too much of an advantage in the air and had made it to All Might in almost half the time that it took Itsuka to finish. Even the destruction of the windows at the beginning didn't deduct enough points to make him fall from first place.

The rest of the groups completed their exercise rather uneventfully. Izuku did feel like some of those in class 1-B hadn't done as well as they could have done. It wasn't obvious and it was mainly a feeling that Izuku had. Quite a few of them used their quirks sparingly or not at all and Izuku would be surprised if so many of their quirks weren't suited for the event. He had glanced at the two teachers and had noticed that Aizawa didn't look happy at times though he could just be reading him wrong. After all, Izuku didn't even know what Aizawa's happy face was. It couldn't be smiling because that would just look… odd.

"Apologies for this session." Vlad King started.

"Ordinarily, the classes would be split but due to the commotion this morning, we were forced to change our plans." Aizawa continued.

"Normally, we would have you work on improving your mobility in the session, but now, we want to see what you can do on your own." Vlad King stepped in, sending a small glance to Aizawa who didn't even notice. "We will do the same thing in a bit more than a month and see how much faster you are." The students nodded in agreement though internally, Izuku did think that with the Sports festival and school work, there wouldn't be much time to train. Would there really be any noticeable improvements in just a month?

"Ok, you are all done for the day." Some of the students were disappointed at Vlad King's words but slowly the students dispersed.

"Oh, and class 1-A, you don't have lessons tomorrow as we are going to the USJ." Having said his piece, Aizawa left, leaving the class 1-A students confused and a bit nervous about what was to come tomorrow. 'What is the USJ?' they all thought.

USJ next time. Will most likely split the arc into two episodes because a lot of stuff is going to happen.

See you next time!