Katsuki grinned sharply as the training robot came out. Finally… FINALLY he was being allowed to cut loose and actually use his quirk in a fight!

He'd understood what Kenobi was doing after that first class. It made complete sense to study up on past heroes and figure out where they had gone wrong. It was a bit like what he and Deku used to do, before the nerd had gotten all obsessed stalker. When they had been kids they'd both sit on the couch and watch competition videos of great hero battles and figure out what they could have done differently. Deku… the annoying little nothing had just sucked all the fun out of it because he become so focused that they could only get through a few minutes of video. Constantly wanting to replay it over and over, stopping just as Katsuki was about to get to a part he really wanted to examine because he 'so needed to see what that bystander was doing!' And if he didn't get his way he would begin muttering up a storm and playing up the guilt…

The final time they'd done it together he's nearly blown the TV up, he'd gotten so frustrated with the bastard.

Katsuki had still kept up with notetaking. Only difference was he was smart about it. That was the difference between him and Deku (well, one of MANY): he knew how not to be creepy about it. Where Deku would pull out his notebooks and ask a thousand questions Katsuki would watch, observe, and document later. Yeah, he might forget a few things… but at least he didn't come off as an intense weirdo asking every little thing that popped into his head!

So Kenobi having them study tape? That made sense. Dunce Face and Raccoon Eyes, who had begun trying to latch onto him just like those fucking extras from his middle school, had seemed utterly shocked by that and proved they had no hope. But at least Shitty Hair had gotten into it, even if he was annoying with him constantly trying to engage him in conversation, asking Katsuki's opinions and then giving his own.

Then when they'd been able to use their quirks it had been for training but again Katsuki understood that. Everyone thought he was just a natural with his quirk; they didn't know how he spend most of his days off from school practicing his quirk. It wasn't as simple as 'shoot out explosions' like everyone thought. When he'd first gotten his quirk he'd had little control of it, result in him destroying a lot of things around his house and nearly blasting Deku into space because the nerd startled him. He had spent hundreds of hours learning how to just flick his wrists to send the explosions where he wanted them to go. How to direct the attacks. Figuring out how to create bigger and bigger explosions as he worked to great his super moves. But also how to go small… he was so close to being able to blow out locks with just a swipe of his finger…

Kenobi's practice actually made sense. Target practice. Seek and destroy, which he had to admit he had grown to love and wished they did more, where he had to find a target in a cityscape in a limited amount of time, looking for clues. Personalized 'puzzles' that pushed him to get creative with his quirk, like one that had frustrated him to no end because he couldn't reach a target until he realized that he could take out a lamppost (they had just been studying when Collateral Damage was needed) in order to hit it.

But… there was something about being able to cut loose!

"DIE!" he roared as he launched himself forward, waiting til the last moment before he thrust out his hand, sending out a blast the size of, and with the force of, a semi truck. The humanoid-looking robot was engulfed in flames and Katsuki grinned to himself as it disappeared.

BZZZP!

He cried out in shock as the bolt of energy shot out of the blaze, clipping him in the shoulder. It didn't hurt… it was the surprise that he'd gotten clipped more than anything. His blast should have reduced the robot to slag but there it was, marching out of the flames with an arm raised.

"Target acquired."

"Target this, fucker!" Katsuki roared, shooting out another blast. The explosion shook the field only for him to gasp when two more shots fired from the inferno, hitting him in his other shoulder and his side.

"Bakugo, reset," Kenobi said in his ear piece.

"I can take him!"

"Yes, I know you can, but you need to reset." Kenobi's tone brokered no argument. "The shot to your side would have left you bleeding out if it were at full power. You lost that round. Try again."

Katsuki growled but moved back to the starting box, allowing the robot to move back to its own starting spot. The moment he was given the go ahead to start he braced his legs and fired off twin explosions, igniting the entire field.

A bolt from the robot's wrist gun caught him in the belly.

"I know, I know, fucking reset!" Katsuki snarled, not letting Kenobi even say a word.

After three more failures he was about ready to blow up the entire training field… assuming he had any sweat left.

Taking a moment to rehydrate (and already wondering if it wouldn't be smart to get some kind of support item that would allow him to drink something heavy in electrolytes while in the middle of a battle… maybe a kick ass mouthguard? He'd originally ruled against it because Deku wanted one but now with his armor…) he scoffed when Frog Girl came up to him and sat down.

"It's rigged," she said simply.

"No fucking shit," he snapped, frustrated.

"Mine is producing extreme cold so I can't get near it," she stated. "What about yours?"

"I just need to figure out how to blast the fucker apart," he said stubbornly.

Frog Girl shook his head. "I think he's trying to teach us about bad matchups."

Bad matchups.

Those two words haunted Katsuki (not that he would ever admit it). He had nearly died to that slime fuck because the dumbass heroes had stood around, not wanting to look bad in front of the cameras, because they couldn't pull off a quick rescue. Needed to fucking work for it. It had taken HER to save him.

'A real hero? They don't wait around when people are in need.'

He had recognized her the moment he saw her at the press conference. Star Might. All Might's daughter. The hair was different and midway through battle she had seriously bulked up… but he recognized the face.

Her first heroic act had been saving him… and telling everyone what a real hero did.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes.

"Let's go," he said, standing up and walking towards the battle field once more.

"Uh… your area is that way," Frog Girl told him, pointing in the opposite direction.

"You think in heroics the villains are going to tell you 'stay only in this one spot'? Fuck no! A hero goes where they are needed. There is a chilly bitch this way and I'm perfectly suited for the job!"

She stared at him for a moment before giving a determined nod. "Right. I'll take the heat resistant one."

"Damn straight," Katsuki said with a nod before entering Frog Girl's section of the battle field.

What followed was a proper battle.

It wasn't easy. While the robot radiated cold it was super fast, clearly designed to counter Frog Girl's agility. Katsuki had been forced to keep on the move and when he'd gotten clipped on the side of the arm he had been ready to think that Kenobi was just fucking with them all and made the damn things impossible to beat. But a bit more effort on his part had led him to be able to shatter piece by piece the robot and after a tough 8 minute fight he'd finally taken down his opponent.

Returning to the resting area he saw Frog Girl emerge looking a bit winded but victorious. Which was good because if she couldn't keep up then she needed to get the fuck out of his way. She tossed him a bottle of water and he downed it, ignoring Kenobi as he walked over to them. Katsuki knew the bastard was about ready to scold them for swapping but he had all his arguments ready-

"Good work you two. Go work on targeting. Bakugo, might I suggest working on smaller explosions? That would allow you to do targeted attacks and save your sweat for fights where large blasts are needed. Not all criminals need a full blast… many will fall to a smaller explosion, allowing you to take out more on average."

That… actually was a good idea. Bigger wasn't always better. He remembered Dunce Face trying to pad out an essay to twice its required length, thinking that if he overloaded it with stuff he'd HAVE to get an A. Present Mic had returned it with a D+, telling him that he'd lost his point halfway through and yet still failed to fully answer the question on the importance of preferred pronouns when it came to respecting civilians and fellow heroes.

Any fool could go huge. It was what had gotten All Might and Endeavor into the Top Two Spots. But number 3 was Hawks and while flashy he was also cunning and smart. Katsuki knew he was destined to be Number One because he could do big but also be smart about it.

Small blasts. Controlled. Similar to the lock picking he was working on. Maybe a scatter shot of multiple small explosions?

Hmmm.

Still, he looked at Kenobi, waiting for the blow to come. The scolding. With Katsuki it was either that or constant praise. Kenobi didn't fawn all over him like the useless fuckers at his middle school that let everyone get away with whatever they wanted because they thought they'd remember and let them ride their coattails later.

"Yes Bakugo?" Kenobi asked.

"Nothing to say about us switching robots?"

"Not at all. It was very clever." Kenobi smiled. "I'll admit the lesson was supposed to be about dealing with an obstacle you can't get passed but your solution worked well. A good thing to remember in real life, that you can depend on others to help you."

"What?!" Katsuki exclaims, jerking back to Kenobi like the bearded bastard hid tried to stab him with a sword. "What the fuck are you talking about? I don't need anyone's help!"

"Asui defeated your robot, just like you defeated her's. You helped one another."

"I bailed her out, sure. But she…" Katsuki opened his mouth to say more only to shut it. He didn't know what the fuck to say.

"Heroes help each other all the time," Kenobi stated. "Villains, more often than not, are the ones that go it alone."

"There are villain gangs all the time!" Katsuki snapped. "They work together because they are weak."

"True… but they don't go back for each other if one is hurt. They abandon them."

He didn't know if Kenobi had seen his Entrance Exam when he'd saved Frog Girl. He had a feeling the bastard had and was hinting at something.

"Its not a matter of strength," Kenobi stated. "Look at it without any emotion. Just raw facts. One hero against ten means that the hero has 20 to 60 seconds to take out an opponent before reinforcements arrive. Two against ten mean they either have 40 to 120… or can take out the villains and prepare to save even more people. Do more."

"…hmmpf. Maybe." That was the best that Kenobi was going to get out of him.

He walked off… and if he waited an extra moment for Frog Girl to join him well… it was only because he wanted to make sure she didn't get into any more trouble.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Alright, settle down," Aizawa stated, the class instantly shutting up. They had been around their home room teacher enough to know that when he told them to be quiet it was in their best interest to do just that; failure meant pop quizzes, lost weekends writing essays, and Hell Marathons in the training arenas. None of the students of Class 1-A were interested in any of that. "Now then, the Sports Festival is coming up. This is a chance to show off what you've been learning so far. Not just to your families but to Hero Agencies all across Japan. How you do in the Sports Festival will determine your chances of being asked to take on an internship."

"What if we don't get any offers?" Kamakiri asked.

"There are plenty of agencies who accept any student who is interested in doing an internship." He paused, Ahsoka seeing that he was clearly mulling over just how much to tell them. She'd noticed that he did that a lot, considering his words carefully and only giving up the bare minimum. It reminded her of the Jedi Council, where the Masters would at times not even utter a word and let Master Yoda or Master Windu speak. "So normally we let kids figure this out after their first internship… let them make mistakes."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. She was sure 'and laugh at you behind your back' was what Aizawa really wanted to say.

"Not all of you will get offers," he stated. "And there is no shame in that. Plenty of great heroes don't get offers their first Sports Festival. But some of you will… and some of you might even net someone high up in the Hero Rankings."

The class began to murmur excitedly amongst themselves, wondering just who they might get. Ahsoka heard Bakugo huff that he was so getting All Might or Endeavor while Shoji said that he'd love to get someone in the Top Ten because they would help out a ton.

Aizawa shot them all a dark look and they fell silent.

"Don't be blinded by the titles," he said coolly. "Your internships are about helping you develop as a hero. And that won't happen if you are just going for fame."

"What do you mean, sensei?" Ochaco asked.

"Verbal pop quiz," Aizawa stated. "If I were a student in this class would I be smart picking Endeavor for my internship?"

At once Izuku's hand shot up. "No sir," he said. "Because your quirk is not an offensive one and your fighting style doesn't work with Endeavor's. He uses different fire attacks and while you can use your capture weapon for long range strikes and I suppose I should consider if you'd even have it as a first year you-"

"He gets it, Deku!" Bakugo roared, slamming his hands on his desk. "The Hobo and Endeavor would be a shit fit. Explosion and stealth don't fucking mix!"

"Correct," Aizawa stated. "Though I am the teacher here, not you Bakugo." The explosive teen slumped in his chair and grumbled. "Last year's 1-B class had a student get offers from a lot of heroes but they picked Edgeshot because he's in the Top Ten. They learned less from him than the ones that got no offers and went with one of the 'charity agencies' as they so lovingly called them. Because he was focused on the glory and didn't consider if his quirk or fighting style would work with Edgeshot. Even the best pro can only do so much with a bad matchup."

"Then how do we pick?" Yoarashi asked… rather loudly.

"You can go one of two ways," Aizawa stated. "The first is to pick someone that compliments your greatest strength and helps you develop it to greater heights."

Ahsoka thought of her and her friends. Her and Izuku were already doing that with Anakin and Rex… she supposed she could intern for someone with telekinetic quirk. And Izuku might do good with Snipe or someone else that used guns. Or a stealth hero. As for Ochaco she would do well with Master Kenobi or Anakin who understood lifting and weightlessness...

"The other option is to pick something you are weak in and want to develop."

That had merit too.

A Jedi was supposed to admit what their weaknesses were. To understand them and work through them. During the Clone Wars padawans had been placed with Masters that would help correct their weaknesses while still complimenting their strengths. Jedi that were similar to them yet had also moved past the faults they shared with their padawan. It was why she had been placed with Anakin rather than Obi Wan; while both her and her master tended to be reckless Ahsoka had been bad at adapting plans. If things began to go badly she tried to dig herself out rather than find another way around. Skyguy had taught her how to shift. For all those that claimed he just rushed in her master was a genius when it came to quickly looking over a situation and figuring out how to course correct.

But being a hero was different from being a Jedi. Earth was completely different form her galaxy in terms of what she was going to have to deal with. And that meant new strengths and weaknesses were popping up. If she were to focus on reducing her weaknesses then she'd need to find someone who either knew how to defend against long range attacks or, better still, perform them with support weapons. For Ochako the reverse was true in Ahsoka's opinion. She desperately needed to learn hand to hand. And Izuku?

…honestly combat wasn't a problem he had at all.

"PR?" she muttered to herself before growing quiet.

"Alright, I don't have much left for you this class. So you can talk amongst yourselves." He instantly held up his hand. "Talk. Not shout. Not scream. Not create such an ungodly noise that Yamada would tell you was too loud." Aizawa let his gaze shift over all of them before he finally dropped his head down onto his desk and began to nap.

It took a few tries for the class to properly break up, as several times they would get a touch too loud and Aizawa would shift, but after about 5 minutes the class had managed to divide up into small groups. Ahsoka naturally moved to sit in the corner with Ochaco and Izuku, as was common. Near them however were Yaoyorozu, Ida, and Yoarashi; Izuku dragged Shinso over though the dark haired teen looked like he'd have preferred to have just taken a nap much like Aizawa.

"I am very excited for the Sports Festival!" Yoarashi declared, somehow managing to sound loud even at a quiet whisper.

"Me too," Izuku stated. "I have watched all of them since, well, I was able to!"

"Its going to be important for all of us to do well," Yaoyorozu stated. "The internships, yes, but also setting up our public perceptions."

"What do you mean?" Ochaco asked.

The tall girl glanced over at Todoroki, who had remained by himself when the class had broken up. "The public has long memories. When Endeavor failed to beat All Might's record in the Sports Festival First Round Race he became so angry that he nearly burned several students before he was stopped. That hurt him when he became a pro as people already knew he was hot headed."

"You shouldn't speak about our classmates' families like that," Ida said sternly while Yoarashi glowered at Todoroshi.

"I'm merely stating a fact," Yaoyorozu said. She paused and added in a softer voice, "It is a chance to prove ourselves to others. That we belong."

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"Its nothing," the girl said quietly.

It was, of all people, Shinso who spoke up. "We also have to give it our all if we want to remain where we are."

"Remain where we are?" Ochaco repeated.

The dark-haired teen nodded. "When I applied to UA I thought there was little chance of me getting into the Heroics Program. The test is… was biased against people with weak quirks."

"That's not fair," Ida stated. "UA would never discriminate."

"And there is no such thing as a weak quirk," Izuku commented. "It would be better to say that they were discriminating against non-physical quirks."

"UA does not discriminate!" Ida complained once more.

Ahsoka flashed him a dry look. "Please tell me how brainwashing helps defeat robots."

Shinso… didn't smile… but he did flash her a look of gratitude. "If not for the final test I wouldn't have made it into 1-A. I was prepared for that though because the Sports Festival offers students a chance to earn a place in the Heroics Program… or be dropped to General Studies."

"Seriously?" Ochaco asked. "You mean if we don't do good as some glorified Track and Field competition we could lose or place in 1-A."

"It is harsh," Yoarashi stated, "but it also makes sense. A hero must give it their all. Go out every day without hesitation. If they do not then innocents could be hurt. This will be us on a national stage, showcasing our drive and will. If we don't give it our all then do we deserve to be heroes?"

"Well… no pressure," Ahsoka joked weakly, feeling a fluttering of nerves.

"I do not think any of us have to worry," Ida declared as the bell rang, signaling it was time for lunch. "All of us how been working hard and Mr. Aizawa would not allow us to slack off. If we show the same dedication at the Sports Festival as we show in class then even if we do not do well we will still keep our spots."

"I should look up how many people have changed classes," Izuku said as they all moved to grab their bags from their desks. "See how common it is."

"OH!" Ochaco exclaimed. "Let's all have lunch together and go over ideas and strategies! I know Ahsoka and Izuku eat with me all the time but you guys can come too! Yaoyorozu?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," the taller teen said. "But I insist you call me Momo."

"Tenya," Ida stated.

"I have already told Izuku he can call me Inasa so the rest of you can as well!"

Shinso looked at them before letting out a dry huff. "Hitoshi is fine. But only if I'm awake."

"Great!" Ochaco cheered. "Sports Festival Planning Committee is a go!"

They all moved towards the door only to blink when they found their way barred by a crowd of students.

"Uh… hello?" Ahsoka said, frowning as she looked over the assembled students. It was an odd crush of people, ones that she could tell at a glance wouldn't normally have been together. But most startling of all was the sheer loathing that radiated off of all of \them. The Force screamed with their desire to tear into them, remaindering her of dreams she still had of a great Sabreguth moving in towards her, so large it could swallow her whole. A hunger to consume them. "Can we help you?"

"Just sizing up the competition. Oh yes… sizing you up nicely."

Ahsoka frowned as she tried to figure out who had said that only to look down and find a little purple gremlin lifting up her skirt.

"GAH!" she screamed, lashing out and kicking at the demented little thing. But the imp managed to dodge her attack and flip away, landing and staring at her with a put-upon look.

"That's how you treat people admiring you? How are you going to be a sexy hero if you don't let guys get a peak?"

"By not being a sexy hero and just being a hero."

"What is the meaning of this?" Inasa demanded, moving to stand next to Ahsoka, his gaze dark. "I will not allow you to harass my best friend!"

"We only began calling each other by our first names 2 minutes ago," Ahsoka whispered.

"And in those two minutes we have become best friends!" Inasa countered before glaring at the group, gaze especially lingering on the purple menace.

"Just checking out the competition," the boy stated. "Sports Festival is coming up and it is the perfect chance for us to move up and claim our rightful spots in the Heroics Course."

"Mineta's right!" someone said.

"Never thought I'd hear that," someone else muttered.

The purple kid, Mineta, slowly looked at the gathered group. "I mean, some of you obviously deserve to be here but the villain and the affirmative action kid?"

"Huh?" Momo said.

"He means me," Izuku said softly.

"How dare you!" Tenya exclaimed, stepping forward. "Mi… Izuku has every right to be in this class! He passed the exam and Aizawa allowed him to remain."

"Because he probably had no choice," someone shouted.

"Fucking extras!" Bakugo roared from the back of the class. "Even if Deku is the fucking worse he's still better than the rest of you combine!"

"…thanks?" Izuku said, not sure if that was a compliment or not.

"WOULD YOU FUCKING MOVE?!"

"Think you can just tell us to go? Like we're your minions?" Another student called out.

"Stuck up snobs."

"Assholes."

"Some heroes they'll be."

Ochaco tried to play peace maker. "We just want to eat-"

"What is this?" someone further down the hall called out and everyone turned to see a blond teen looking at them with a dark smile. "Thinking on ganging up on 1-A? I must admit that is a good strategy… everyone knows class 1-B is the greatest."

"Shut up Monoma!" someone in the crush of students declared. "Everyone knows 1-A is the best!"

"Yeah," Mineta exclaimed. "I can't wait to knock out the quirkless kid and take his spot. Be nice to be finally around some hot looking women."

"That so?" Hitoshi asked.

"Yeah it-"

Mineta froze up.

"Go to the bathroom and slam your junk with the toilet seat." Mineta, robotically, began to walk away. "Before anyone says a word he did just claim every girl in Gen Ed is ugly."

The women in the crowd instantly decided that Hitoshi was an okay person and the guys didn't argue as they didn't want either Hitoshi or the Gen Ed girls coming after them.

"Hitoshi," Aizawa called out tiredly, "detention for using a quirk on a fellow student."

"Worth it," the dark haired teen said with a shrug.

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: So because I know SOMEONE is going to whine… I am not saying Bakugo is a good person. I am not saying his actions are justified.

First and foremost people need to understand POV. A problem I've run into one A Song of Metal and Marvels is people read a chapter from Tywin's point of view and think "Oh, he is excusing Tywin."

No. I am saying "This is how Tywin sees the world". Just like Ned sees it his own way and so does Catelyn.

The same here. We all know Izuku's POV. How he views events. I want to show how Bakugo viewed those events. I'm not saying that's how it actually happened. OR that he was right to react as he did. What I am saying is that you can't take one person's POV and believe that this is the stone cold fact. Izuku looks on those days with Bakugo and thinks "We watched videos and he got mad at me" and doesn't see his own faults. That doesn't, to keep repeating this, excuse Bakugo's reactions. But… those reactions also don't give Izuku a pass.

They are both flawed people.

Second off, some reviewers have complained "Where is the Star Wars!?" The fact of the matter is the first half of this story, so far, was very heavily loaded with the SW gang. In fact just yesterday someone reviewed that I had completely sidelined Izuku in favor of the SW cast. The plan has always been shifting between the two. This is just swinging more towards MHA while the internships will swing back to Star Wars actions.