It was the night before the exam, and Izuku Midoriya was no closer to falling asleep than he was an hour ago. He had decided to go to bed a little earlier than normal to try and make sure he was as well rested as he could be so it wasn't too late yet, only 10:40 but, Izuku was beginning to worry about just how much longer he was going to lie awake. Of course, if that was his only worry it wouldn't be so bad; however, the upcoming test weighed heavily on his mind.

Izuku knew he was ready. He had been training for months, preparing his body and quirk for the practical exam. He had studied to the point where he was passing the written mock exams with relative ease. His backpack was filled with everything he would need, and he had already planned out his battle strategy for the robots. He was ready.

And yet, despite all of his preparations, Izuku's confidence was still held down by his worries and doubts. He found himself imagining all the worst case scenarios that could happen, some of those where he failed in rather creative ways.

Rolling onto his side, Izuku picked up his phone, he needed a distraction.

No, no. If I start looking up any hero news I'll be up all night reading that.

Letting his phone drop onto his bed, Izuku grabbed a pillow and covered his face. Closing his eyes, he tried to will himself to sleep.

A soft vibration from his chest however grabbed his attention. Pulling his pillow away, Izuku grabbed his phone and looked at the screen.

Uraraka: Hey u up?

Guess I'm not the only one who can't fall asleep, Izuku thought with a grin.

Midoriya: Im up

Midoriya: Can't sleep either huh?

Uraraka:（-＾〇＾-）

Uraraka: Nope

Uraraka: Been trying

Uraraka: No luck

Uraraka: (✖╭╮✖)

Midoriya: Sounds like me

Midoriya: Test got u up?

Uraraka: Crazy that its tomorrow

Uraraka: After everything

Uraraka: All that work

Uraraka: Am excited

Midoriya: Makes 1 of us

Uraraka: ?

Uraraka:U ok

Midoriya: I guess Im a little worried

Midoriya: Nervous

Midoriya: Scared

Uraraka: U dont need to b!

Uraraka: U r strong ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

Uraraka: U got this!

Midoriya: Thank u

Midoriya: Means a lot

Midoriya: Really

Midoriya: Just a lot to think about

Midoriya: Future & all that

Uraraka: Then think about it differently

Uraraka: No stress

Uraraka: Make fun!

Midoriya: ?

Midoriya: Ok

Midoriya: How

Uraraka: Bet

Uraraka: Lets make a bet!

Midoriya: Ok

Midoriya: Wut kind?

Uraraka: …

Uraraka: From robots part

Uraraka: Least points buys lunch for most points

Midoriya: Oh sounds like fun!

Midoriya: Sure lets do that!

Uraraka: Awesome

Midoriya: Just have to pick a place not 2 expensive

Midoriya: Ramen is cheap

Midoriya: I want ramen

Uraraka: (＃｀д´)ﾉ

Uraraka: Dont assume

Uraraka: You havnt won anything yet!

Midoriya: LOL

Midoriya: Hey

Midoriya: Thank u for texting

Midoriya: This helped

Midoriya: A lot

Uraraka: (^/^)

Uraraka: Happy to

Uraraka: Feeling sleepy now

Uraraka: C u n morning

Midoriya: Gud nite

Not long after putting his phone away, Izuku was finally able to fall asleep.

Today's the day! Today's the day!

"Um Deku?"

Today's the day! Today's the day!

"Deku you're mumbling."

Today's the day! Today's the -

"DEKU!"

Snapping his head to the side, Izuku looked over at a bemused Ochako, "We ever going to go in, or are you just going to stand in front of the entrance the whole test?"

Blushing, Izuku quickly apologized," Sorry Uraraka. I guess I got caught up in the moment. It's just, we're here. This is U.A."

Ochako smiled, "Yeah, and we have to go inside to take our tests."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, sorry. Okay I won't let anything else distract me."

"The fuck?! You two actually showed up? Just who I needed to see today, Deku and Round Face."

Izuku flinched while Ochako suppressed a loud groan, Speaking of distractions.

Turning around, both saw Katsuki walking up the steps behind them.

"AH! Kacchan, good morning! I hope you're ready for the test! Let's all make sure we do our best today." After his initial shock of suddenly finding Katsuki behind him, Izuku tried to keep his voice calm and start a normal conversation. Unfortunately, nothing was ever normal with Katsuki, who seemed to take Izuku's words as either an insult or challenge of some kind. The result was the same either way: it just made the explosive teen angrier.

"Of course I'm ready for the fucking test, you shit. Did you think I was going to fail?"

Ochako stifled a groan while Izuku waved his hands around frantically, "No, of course not! I was just-"

"Just what, you shit? You trying to throw me off?"

"Oh for crying out loud Bakugou! He was trying to have a normal conversation with you, you jerk. If you just toned down the ego you'd be capable of doing it too!"

Katsuki snapped his attention right towards Ochako, cupping his hands and raising them, small pops and crackles sparked from his palms, "What the fuck did you say to me Round Bitch!"

Izuku took a step forward, putting himself between Ochako and Katsuki, "Leave her alone Kacchan."

Looking ready to blow a gasket, Katsuki narrowed his eyes as he took a step forward, "Or else what you shit?"

Before the powder keg that was Katsuki could blow up, a new voice cut through the tense atmosphere, "Excuse me, would you mind taking your school yard rivalry somewhere else. There are people who don't need the distraction this close to the test."

Katsuki whirled around, while Izuku and Ochako looked over his shoulder to see who had spoken up. It was another student, who Izuku noted had large bags under his eyes, Must have spent most of last night cramming.

"You got something you want to say Lavender?"

"Kacchan, please!" Izuku was now worried that Katsuki was about to blast whoever this new person was.

However, the tired student didn't seem all that worried, even with Katsuki so close to him, "Would you just move, I want to find my seat for the test."

"You got some nerve telling me what to do. Why don't you try and make me, Extra."

"You want me to find a teacher and report you for not only preventing other students from taking the test, but also making threats?"

Katsuki flinched. Ochako snickered and Izuku felt his jaw drop to the floor. For a few seconds both waited to see what happened next, when Katsuki turned on his heel and snarled at Izuku, "MOVE before I set your ass on fire."

Deciding not to tempt fate, Izuku took hold of Ochako's wrist and moved both of them to the side, safely out of the walking bomb's way, who stormed off into the testing building. With Katsuki gone, Izuku turned his attention back to the other student, bowing his head, "I'm sorry about that. Kacchan can be a little...um…"

"He's a loud obnoxious jerk. And yeah like Deku said, sorry that we kept you from finding your seat," Ochako said as she apologized too.

The purple haired student shrugged, "I'm just here to take my test. So is everyone else. So if you don't mind, I'll be on my way."

When the other student left, Izuku lowered his head and left out a long sigh, "Well this day is going great so far…"

Ochako gave him a pat on the back, "Well look at it this way Deku."

Izuku glanced up at Ochako as she finished, "You just stood up to Bakugou."

"I did?" Realization dawned on Izuku as he remembered that he stepped in front of Katsuki when he had turned his attention towards Ochako, "Oh, OH I DID!"

Ochako giggled, "Yep, you did. Congratulations. So now that, that distraction is over and done with, let's go and ace this test."

"Right, test. Because today's the day. Today's the day…"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Cutting Izuku off, Ochako dragged the green boy into the test building before he lost himself into the rabbit hole that was his mind.

With the written portion of the test completed, the group of students made their way into a large auditorium for the practical exam orientation, chatting and whispering amongst themselves over the test they had just finished. Some brushed it off as too easy, while others lamented the fact they spent too much time working out for the practical and didn't spend enough time studying. Izuku and Ochako both felt confident in their results, briefly going over a few questions as they self-graded themselves on the way to their seats.

Izuku to his credit, only panicked for a second when he saw he was sitting right next to Katsuki, who only graced the two with a quick sneer before turning his attention towards the stage at the center of the room.

Ochako leaned in and whispered, "We can switch seats if you want."

Shaking his head, Izuku declined, "It's fine Uraraka. Plus it's assigned seating, and I don't want to risk you getting into trouble."

"Well if you want to be my human blast shield, be my guest," Ochako said with a smirk before following after Izuku who just rolled his eyes.

Taking their seats, it wasn't long before the auditorium was filled, with every seat occupied. Even with so many people filling the room, it was quiet; only a few students talked in hushed whispers amongst themselves. When the lights dimmed and the huge projector screen flashed on with the U.A. logo even the whispers stopped. Everyone's attention soon turned towards a lone man, with tall, blond hair, wearing a leather jacket with a large metal callow with speakers in it, as he took the stage and stood behind a podium.

"Hello, listeners! Can I get a 'HEY'!?"

His sudden shout took everyone off guard. No one in the room knew how to respond, so everyone just stayed quiet.

The man tugged at his jacket collar, thrown from the complete lack of enthusiasm from the students, "Wow, you sure are a refined bunch, huh?"

Recovering quickly, the man redressed the room, with his enthusiasm returning in full force, "Alright then, let's get down to business! I'll be giving you a rundown on the practical exam. Are you ready!? YEAH!"

Once again, whatever response the man was expecting, he didn't get it as the silence in the room remained. Izuku eyes suddenly widened as he recognized the man giving the presentation, "That's Present Mic, the Voice Hero! I can't believe it, I listen to his radio show all the time. All the teachers here really are pro heroes."

As Izuku practically vibrated in his chair, Ochako covered her mouth with her hand, to hold back from snickering too loudly.

"Will you shut up," Katsuki grumbled under his breath.

"All right listeners! So as you've read in your brochures, you lot will be participating in a ten-minute mock urban battle right after this! Once this presentation has finished you will each go to your specified battle center. Make sure to check your cards so you know which bus to take!"

Katsuki leaned back and glanced over at Izuku's card, "Looks like they got everyone split up."

Ochako nodded, "They must make sure that people from the same schools are put into different areas. Don't want people helping their friends and cheating huh."

Holding his card out and looking at both Ochako and Katsuki, Izuku agreed, "yeah, our examination numbers are right next to each other but we're all assigned to different groups."

Katsuki was in group A, Izuku in group B and Ochako was in group C.

Though All Might did warn us that we shouldn't expect to rely on each other on test day, Izuku thought.

Growling, Katsuki pulled his card away and out of Izuku's sight, "Don't look at my card. I'll fucking kill you."

Glaring at Izuku for a few more seconds, Katsuki turned away, grumbling under his breath, "Damn it, now I won't get a chance to obliterate you in the exam."

Izuku laughed nervously while Ochako began to seriously wonder if anyone in the room would mind if she reached over and floated Katsuki up towards the ceiling.

Present Mic continued with his presentation while behind him the giant screen changed to show three different black silhouettes, "Now, there are three different types of villain robots scattered throughout each battle center. Each type is worth a different set number of points based on their level of difficulty. Now where you all come in. Your goal, listeners, is to use your quirks to earn points by defeating as many robots as you can. Wreck them, immobilize them, as long as they are no longer a threat, you will get points. However a word of warning! Attacking other examinees and any other unheroic acts and actions are prohibited and will get you immediately DQ'd!"

Both Izuku and Ochako glanced over at Katsuki, who did an excellent job of ignoring them.

A few rows in front of them a student shot his hand up, "May I ask a question?"

Present Mic pointed toward the student, "Okay!"

A spotlight turned on, illuminating the student who stood up and held up the information sheet on the villain robots that would be used in the practical exam, "On this printout, you have listed four different types of faux villains that we are to face. If that is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, if not the world, should be ashamed of such a foolish blunder."

Wow is this guy uptight, Ochako thought. Not sure if she should find the tall student funny, or what.

The student continued, "We examinees are here taking this test because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes. We can not do that if U.A. is unable to provide accurate information. Also, you there..." The student turned around and set his spectacle sights right on Izuku, who flinched back at the sudden attention, "Yes you, with the curly green hair. This whole time you've been muttering to yourself. It's distracting! If you can't take this seriously then you should leave immediately for the sake of the other examinees who wish to take this test!"

Izuku sunk into his chair, covering his face in embarrassment and whimpering out a soft, "I'm sorry."

Katsuki snickered to himself while Ochako very suddenly didn't find the uptight student very funny anymore.

The heck's this guys problem! Deku wasn't being loud!

Before Ochako had a chance to tell the student off, Present Mic cut in to restore order to the room, "Okay, okay. Examinee number 7111, thank you for the great question and message! Now you are right, there is a fourth villain robot type," A new silhouette popped onto the screen, "However this guy is worth zero points. He's more of an obstacle than a target. There is one in every battle center, and this guy goes crazy in the narrow streets of the arena. It isn't invincible so you can defeat it, but really there's no reason to. So my recommendation is that all you listeners just avoid it."

Nodding in understanding, the student bowed, "I see. Thank you very much. Please excuse the interruption," and sat back down.

Apologize to Deku too you uptight jerk!

Ochako held up her hand, "I'd like to ask a question!"

"Examinees 2235, you got the floor!"

"If we immobilize a target, but leave it intact, and that target later gets destroyed by another student, who gets the points?"

Present Mic clapped, "An excellent question. We have multiple test supervisors watching your test, so if you are able to stop a robot you will get those points. If someone then comes along and wrecks that robot, they will get no points. But just in case some of you listeners are worried, you won't get punished for doing that. We'll just assume you saw a target and went on the offensive."

Ochako bowed, "Thank you," Before turning her attention down a few rows, "Also you, tall guy!"

The tall student turned in his seat, blinking in confusion. Ochako pointed right at him, making sure he knew she was talking to him, "Don't go accusing people of not taking this test seriously when you don't know how hard they worked to get here! It's rude!"

With a huff, Ochako sat back down. Izuku leaned over and whispered, "Thank you, Uraraka," which brought a small smile to her face.

The other student simply turned back around, choosing not to reply. If it was because he didn't want to make a scene or thought she was right, Ochako didn't know or really care.

Waiting a few moments to see if anyone else had any questions or comments, Present Mic finished his presentation, "Alright listeners, that's all I have for you on the test. So, I'll give you all a present. A sample of our school motto! General Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' A great sound bite! So, Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!"

As the room began to empty, Izuku and Ochako held back, wanting to make sure they wished each other luck before they separated and went to their designated areas.

"Alright Deku, looks like this is it."

"Yeah. Good luck out there Uraraka. I know you'll get tons of points, just stay safe."

Ochako smiled, "Same to you. Just don't do anything reckless, okay."

"I promise I'll do my best."

Ochako deadpanned, "To get points, or not be reckless?"

Izuku just flashed her a huge grin and answered, "Yes."

Ochako groaned into her hands, but when she lowered them she was smiling. Izuku reached out his hand, which Ochako took in a hand shake, "See you on the other side, Uraraka."

"Yep, here's to us."

"And don't forget, I want ramen for my lunch."

Ochako punched Izuku softly in the arm, "I told you not to assume! You're going to be buying my mochi for lunch. Got it!?"

Both smiling, the two made their way down separate halls, ready for the last part of the test, they had spent months preparing for.

The bus ride to the entrance of the arena was uncomfortable and noisy. Students were smooshed together shoulder to shoulder, and several of the more boisterous students started talking loudly, either bragging about themselves or trying to psych out perceived weak targets. So Izuku got called out a lot, but he just ignored them the best he could. When the bus finally came to a stop, long enough for Izuku to wonder just how big was U.A.'s campus, he made sure he got out as quickly as he could. He wanted to try and get as far in front of the group as he could.

Izuku knelt down into a sprinters stance, digging the soles of his shoes into the concrete surface and pressing his fingers down hard. Around him, Izuku could hear the other students jostling about, some were still talking themselves up. Bragging about how this test was going to be a cake walk. He was able to block most of them out, drowning out their white noise with his own calming thoughts. A strange noise nearby did catch his attention however.

Is that...an engine revving?

Looking to his side, Izuku was surprised to see the tall student from the orientation standing next to him, focused on the large door to the arena. Izuku followed the sound closer and confirmed it was coming from the student. More specifically it was coming from his legs. His calves had several muffler pipes sticking out. Izuku blinked and momentarily found himself falling into his habit of quirk analysis, he has some kind of motor or engine quirk?

"They're so noisy. This is the top hero school and so many of them aren't taking this seriously. Why are they even here? Are they trying to sabotage those of us who are serious?"

The student wasn't talking to anyone, in particular, just venting his own frustration, but Izuku felt the need to speak up anyway, "This exam is pretty stressful, I'm sure they are coping the best way they can."

The tall student glanced down at Izuku as he continued to speak, "I don't think they are trying to sabotage others, it's just that everyone deals with stress differently. Some people joke, or brag, or… mutter to themselves."

The student arched an eyebrow at that last bit, clearly seeing Izuku was talking about himself and his antics during the orientation that got him called out.

Deciding that he had said enough, and not wanting to come off as a distraction while talking about distractions, Izuku turned back to the door, and waited for the signal, countdown, starter pistol, Izuku wasn't sure what to expect, he just needed to be ready.

"Okay, start!"

HUH!?

Above them, Present Mic called out, "What's wrong? There are no countdowns in real fights! Run, run! The die has been cast, you know!"

Even as the hero berated the group for hesitating, Izuku had snapped to his senses and launched himself forward as the other students wasted time looking up towards the tower and listening to Mic's explanation. Running past the large doors and into the arena, Izuku immediately began scanning for targets and ammo for his quirk. Running down the street, Izuku ran by a manhole cover, and with a quick yank of his quirk, pulled it up, keeping it hovering next to him. Behind him, Izuku could hear the other students charging in behind him.

I only have a few seconds head start. I need to capitalize on it and take out as many villain bots as I can. Once they all catch up, it's going to be much harder to get points!

Turning a corner, Izuku found himself facing three large bots. Two three pointers, and a two pointer.

Perfect!

Not slowing down, Izuku twisted the manhole cover around and flung it right into the chest of the farthest three pointer. The metal disk easily tore through the flimsy robot breaking it in half, much like Izuku expected.

They really are made to be broken.

The closest robot, the two pointer lifted its arm to strike at Izuku, but it was slow and Izuku was able to dodge out of the way. As he skidded to a stop, his eyes glanced at the ruined three pointer. Reaching out with his quirk, Izuku lifted several large pieces of shrapnel and shot them towards the 2nd bot, shredding it.

Thats five! Now the last one-!

As Izuku turned to finish off the last bot, he saw his target get swiftly dispatched as the tall student from before leap up and with a roar from his engine's kick the head off the robot, sending it skipping along the ground, sparks crackling from exposed wires. Without a word the student landed and blasted off down a different street. Soon, more students began running up on Izuku, who after a moment's thought grabbed some more robot shrapnel and the manhole cover before turning and running down a different street.

No point following after that guy, he's fast, and I don't want to be left picking through his scraps, if he even leaves anything behind.

"Okay start!"

With that less than grand signal, the giant doors to the arena opened, and several students looked at each other in confusion. Ochako however, was not one of them. Slapping a hand to her thigh, she kicked off the ground and rocketed upward. Her aim was the roof of one of the buildings a ways down the street.

Let's see what I'm working with!

As she shot up, Ochako reached out and gripped the ledge of the building, stopping her ascent. Tapping her fingers together, Ochako touched down, and began scanning the city.

From up here, I'll have a much better view of where all the robots are. No running in a maze for me, thank you very much.

Moving towards the ledge of the roof, Ochako smirked as she spotted a group of villain bots that was far enough away from the arena's entrance that the other students were still a ways off, bottlenecking with the first few bots near the entrance.

Perfect, I can grab all the points before anyone gets close.

Gripping the ledge, Ochako once again floated herself and kicked off, descending towards the group of villain bots. As she closed in, Ochako reached out her hands and touched several robots as she passed by floating them up into the air. She finally stopped herself fully by grabbing onto one of the robots while making sure she kept pinky out, not wanting to float the one that had become her anchor. Coming to a full stop, Ochako quickly let go of the two pointer and slapped her fingers together, "Release!"

Ochako's feet hit the ground, followed closely by the floating bots that came crashing back to earth. Moving quickly to deal with the bots she hadn't floated, Ochako ducked a wild swing from the two pointed and grabbed onto its tail. This time she did make contact with all her fingers. With its gravity gone, the robot became the perfect weapon to deal with the rest of the group.

With a completely unnecessary, but utterly satisfying scream, Ochako planted her feet as she twisted her body and swung the robot around like a ragdoll into the remaining robots, reducing the lots to large chunks of metal and sparky bits. Giving the ruined robots a parting glance, making sure she hadn't missed any and that they were all neutralized, she kicked off the ground and floated herself to the nearest rooftop, ready to repeat the process all over again.

If there was one thing from his months of training that Izuku was grateful for, and honestly there was many things, it was that after months and months of hard work, he had more stamina than he knew what to do with. The test had been going on for a few minutes, four if he had to guess, and already several of the other students were bent over or leaning against something, trying to catch their breath, even when just a few yards away, there were two villain bots just waiting to get destroyed. Izuku on the other hand was running full bore down the street, pulling behind himself several large metal shards and robot limbs, and he didn't feel winded at all. His head was hurting a little from prolonged use of his quirk, but that was neither here nor there.

As he passed the heavy breathing students, Izuku pulled two of the larger and sharper pieces in front of him and after aim shot his hand out, firing the metal out and sinking it into the robots 'chests' like giant knives. As he ran past the downed bots, he yanked whatever metal he thought would make the best ammo and moved on.

Those were just one pointers. I think that puts me in the 30's? Ugh, I should have paid more attention… Oh well, I should be okay. Just need to keep moving and not let myself get-!

"ARGH! Damn it!"

A scream broke Izuku's train of thought as he came to a sudden halt, almost tripping over his own feet.

What was that? Was that another student?

Izuku whipped his head around trying to find the source of the scream.

Could someone be in trouble?

"Damn it why'd it have to be robots!"

The alley!

Izuku bolted down the back alleyway. Making his way inward, he quickly found the source of the scream.

That's the tired guy from this morning?

While he hadn't gotten his name, Izuku recognized the other boys distinct purple hair, though now he didn't look anywhere near as tired as he had, though he still had those bags under his eyes. He was also in trouble. He had a villain bot in front of him and behind him and since the alley wasn't very wide, he was trapped. In his hand was a trash can lid, that was almost folded in half. Izuku also saw that the boys knuckles were cut up. It looked like he had tried punching the robots before moving onto the trash lid.

Wait has he been trying to use that to attack the robots?

Izuku watched as with a scream, the purple haired student charged the robot in front of him, trash can lid raised above his head. He slammed the lid down on the robot, but while the robots were flimsy, they weren't going to break from a strike from an aluminum trash can lid. And after a few more strikes the lid completely folded over, not leaving any damage that Izuku could see. After the failed attack, the front robot swung its arm out knocking the boy backwards into the second robot, which almost rudely, smacked the boy into the ground.

"Damn it, damn it."

As the boy struggled to stand back up, Izuku could hear him curse and grumble to himself.

"Nothing works. I can't do anything against these things," The boy got to his hands and knees but stopped there. It looked like the fight had been beaten out of him.

Izuku readied a shrapnel bolt, aiming it to take off both the robots heads.

I need to get this guy out of dange-

"Can't even use my worthless quirk on these things. I'm completely worthless here."

Izuku flinched, that word echoing in his mind, bringing up too many old and painful memories.

Worthless...

A loud metallic shear rang out as the shrapnel ripped through one of the one point robots, exploding and severing one of its arms. Pieces, including a large section of the one pointer's forearm armor, scattered onto the ground as the boy looked up in alarm, twisting around to look right towards Izuku.

"You?! You're from that loud bunch at the entrance. How did you do...oh" His eyes looked past Izuku and towards the many floating bit and pieces, "oh…"

"Use that instead."

The boy's attention snapped back to Izuku, and he saw he was pointing at something. Turning back, he saw the large piece of metal lying in front of him, "wait what? What are trying to pull?"

"You had the right idea, but you weren't using the right tool. These things are super fragile, but you need something hard enough to break through first. That should do the trick."

"You're helping me? Why?"

Izuku just smiled, doing his best to give off the same aura All Might, "That's what heroes are supposed to do right? It looked like you needed help."

The boy looked up at the recovering robot, then back at the second robot behind him that was turning to lock onto Izuku which it saw as a bigger threat. The boy was clearly confused, shaking his head, "This doesn't make sense. If you wanted to help me, why didn't you just destroy the robots. You clearly have a quirk strong enough to do that. You easily ripped that one apart, and you're carrying enough parts back there I bet are all from robots you destroyed."

Izuku could hear some bitterness in the boys voice, especially when he mentioned his quirk, but he ignored it, "I could have yeah, but…"

"But?"

Izuku looked the boy right in the eye, "I don't think that's the kind of help you needed."

The boy blinked, tempted to ask what that meant, but the creaking of gear grabbed his attention. The damaged robot was starting to roll forward. With a grumble of, "what the hell" the boy raced for the large plate of metal. Picking it up, he had just enough time to rear back and slam a jagged edge right into the large wheel the one pointer balanced on. The metal sheared through bearings and rubber, tripping the robot so that it fell flat on its face. Reaching around, the boy felt for the off switch he knew the machine had, but had been unable to reach. Pressing it, he yanked the metal from the neutralized robot and charged the second robot. Sensing the threat, it tried to turn away from Izuku, but its size made this difficult, as its large shoulders scrapped and got caught along the buildings walls. Slowed down, the boy took his chance and drove the metal plate into a gap in the robots chest. With a shuddering groan, the robot collapsed onto the ground, some internal component destroyed, rendering it defeated.

Taking several deep breaths, the boy was able to calm himself as he looked over at what he had done.

"Holy crap, that worked."

When he heard Izuku start to clap, he was ready for some condescending grin to accompany it, the guy must have a huge sum of points and was just here to have a laugh, the cynical part of his mind told him. But when he looked over at Izuku he saw him grinning happily ear to ear.

"That was awesome! Looks like you have everything under control now."

Looking at the two robots, the boy nodded, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay then I'm going to head this way then. Good luck during the rest of the test!"

Before Izuku could turn to leave, the boy called out, "Wait hold on a second."

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you."

Izuku smiled brightly, "Happy to help." and then he sprinted away, leaving the boy in the alley.

"Huh, maybe I should have asked for his name."

Looking down the boy thought about what Izuku had said, didn't think that was the kind of help I needed…

Yanking the metal sheet free, the boy examined it, instead of just 'saving me' he gave me a way to save myself. Showed me a way to get my own points.

With a huff, the boy shook his head, but he felt a grin from despite himself, "I guess that's what you call being heroic."

Izuku hurried out of the alley and down the street, on the lookout for more villain bots. He knew he had wasted precious time back there, but for some reason it didn't bother him too much. He felt good, confident he had done the right thing.

I'm sure I still have plenty of time left. I wasn't back there for that long.

"SIX MINUTES HAVE PASSED LISTENERS! BETTER PICK UP THE PACE!"

Oh...shoot.

In a large room filled with monitors, several heroes and teachers sat watching the test unfold. The screens switched to different areas of the multiple arena's letting the group have an uninterrupted view of the students as they entered the home stretch of the test.

"Doesn't this year's group look promising?"

A few mummers of agreement echoed in the room. A calm but high pitched voice soon got all of the rooms attention, "In this practical exam, the examinees have not been informed of the number of villains or their locations. They only have a very limited amount of time to cover a large area so we force them to find different methods to draw the villain bots out and defeat them."

He paused and flipped through several channels, he paused on a screen with a girl with pink cheeks as she bounced from rooftop to rooftop, scanning the far horizon, "Gathering information to better understand the situation before anyone else."

The screen changed to show a tall, glasses wearing student as he rocketed down the road, moving from target to target, "Mobility that can be used in many different circumstances."

The screen changed again, showing a glowing green student, using large robot parts to damage some villain bot far away, while he kept a safe distance, "Ingenuity to use what is available to achieve victory."

The final screen showed a blond haired boy, standing on a pile of broken machines, smoke billowing from his hands, "and of course pure combat ability. All of these basic abilities are needed to keep the peace in our streets, so all of these abilities are tested and turned into points."

A new voice spoke up, "Well, we can't know for sure yet how good this group really is. Their true test is yet to come. And how they react to an overwhelming threat will show their true nature."

With a groan, Ochako leaned against her most recent small pile of villain bots as she rubbed her stomach taking a second to catch her breath and give her stomach a chance to settle. While she wasn't very queasy or exhausted by any means, the constant on and off of her quirk on top of the breakneck pace she had set for herself was beginning to catch up to her. Plus, she needed the quick break to re-evaluate her plan.

For the first half or so of the test she had been making the most of her high ground strategy to find high value groups of robots. Maximizing the points she could get while minimizing the times she had to use her quirk. However, at about the halfway point this method stopped working. By that point enough students had dispersed throughout the city to cause the groups of bots to scatter. Now Ochako was running through the streets with everyone else, relying on luck to find more bots to add to her score.

I know it's not like I haven't been able to still get some points like this, everyone keeps trying to be the first to the higher point robots, that they leave the one pointers wide open. But I can't just settle for this. Pretty soon everyone else is going to try for the single points and then I'm stuck with everyone else, going after the same targets. I just need a new strategy.

"Eight minutes gone kids! You got just two left. Better get moving if you want to get enough points!"

Ochako whipped her head up to the tower where Present Mic was, the test is almost over already?!

Standing back up Ochako smacked her cheeks, psyching herself up, Okay, no time for plans. Just pick a direction you haven't been yet and grab as many points as you can before the buzzer.

Ochako turned, and took off. However, she only got a few yards before the ground beneath her feet rumbled then shook violently.

"Whoa!"

Ochako, and several other students were thrown to the ground as in front of them concrete exploded into dust, steel beams twisted and tore, and shattered glass rained down in the wake of a giant mechanical monster.

From out of its hiding spot, the zero pointer towered over the buildings around it, easily sending them tumbling as it's treads pulled it forward.

Ochako found herself staring in horrified awe as it came into view, "That's the zero pointer!? Don't they think that's overkill?! The pamphlet made it look like it was the same size as the other robots!"

Even though she was several yards away, she could feel the monster rolling down the road, crushing everything in its wake.

Despite the insanity of the situation, Ochako breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that the zero pointer was not headed towards her but was moving parallel to her position. So as long as it didn't suddenly turn, she would have no problem keeping her distance. Which was her plan up until she saw that a couple of students were in its path, looking up in horror. Looking up, and not running for their lives like the others around them.

"Hey! Hey! You guys need to get out of there!"

Neither of the students budged from their spot.

Are they too scared to move?

Ochako looked over at the zero pointer, still rolling forward towards them, it'll stop before it crushes them, right? It's just a test, U.A. wouldn't do anything that could actually kill a student.

Ochako whipped her head from the robot and back to the terrified students.

No ones ever died in the entrance exam right? Right?!

Ochako looked at the students. She looked at the robot. She looked at the students. Back at the robot. It wasn't stopping and Ochako screamed as she willed herself forward. Her legs burned as she broke into a dead sprint hoping to reach the students and pull them to safety, but she quickly realized she wasn't going to reach them before they got crushed. She was just too far away and the zero pointer was closing the distance too quickly.

I'm not going to make it! Oh no, I'm not going to make it in time! What am I going to do!?

As she ran, Ochako's eyes darted everywhere as her mind raced.

If I can't reach them in time…

As Ochako raced closer she soon entered the debris field. Large sections of concrete little red the road.

If I can't reach them in time…

Ochako skid to a sudden stop, right next to a large concrete piece that was more than three times her size.

"I'll just have to stop the zero pointer!"

Ochako gripped the concrete, digging her finger pads into the rough face of the block. With that touch, Ochako ripped the block off the ground and holding it in both hands reared back behind her head and with everything she had Ochako launched the concrete right into the zero pointers head.

The concrete bounced off the robot's face, leaving an impressive dent. Right afterward it's treads came to a grinding halt. When the zero pointer turned to look down at Ochako, she smirked, alright I got its attention!

Ochako stood as an eerie silence fell upon the arena. The two students were looking at her. Ochako looked back at them. They blinked. Ochako blinked.

….Oh god, I have its attention!

The zero pointer lifted one of its giant arms, its intention obvious. Ochako gulped loudly, "you two get out of here!" The two nodded and quickly scrambled away while at the same time Ochako pivoted and took off in the opposite direction just in time for the giant fist of the zero pointer to crash down. While Ochako was able to avoid the main hit, she was caught up in the shockwave which sent her spiraling and tumbling across the pavement.

Coughing and sputtering Ochako struggled to get back to her feet. The dust kicked up from the punch burned her eyes, and coated her throat as she tried to catch her breath. Spitting out globs of spit and dust Ochako stood on wobbly legs while at the same time, the zero pointer began to slowly pull its arms back.

It's powerful, but it's slow. I should be able to get some distance before it attacks again. Just need to get...to get…

As Ochako readied herself to make her escape, a number of red glowing lights broke through the dust, letting Ochako know she was not alone.

Where did all these guys come from? Were they escorting the zero pointer?

When the villain bots broke through the dust and charged Ochako she gave a startled yelp as she dodged and weaved around them while trying to keep an eye on the zero pointer.

This would be a perfect group for me if I had more time and wasn't trying to get away from that huge monster that's about to try to crush me…

As Ochako rolled under a wild swing from a three pointer she was struck with an idea.

I don't have time to float and neutralize all these robots. Not when that thing is about to throw another punch. But maybe I don't have to be the one to deliver the kill shot.

Glancing back up, and seeing the zero pointer was almost fully turned around and already pulling it's arm back, Ochako narrowed her eyes and set her jaw in determination.

Okay Ochako, if you're going to do this, DO IT!

Ochako dived forward, scrambling more than running, between as many robots as she could and floating them, but being careful not to push them away. She needed them all in one place, around her.

Once Ochako floated the last robot, she could hear the zero pointers arm lock into place. The gears and pistons straining under its own weight.

Out of time!

Ochako quickly pressed her fingers into her arm and kicked off the ground as hard as she could. Floating away just as the zero pointer pulverized the spot she had just been. Destroying everything, the road, buildings and robots. The shock wave hit Ochako sending her tumbling end over end until she hit a wall, knocking the air out of her.

Back against the wall, Ochako gasped for air and watched in horror as the zero pointer pulled itself back up and began to reach for her.

I didn't get far enough. This is bad

Dazed and out of breath, Ochako couldn't do anything as the zero pointers hand inches closer and closer to her.

"AND THATS TIME!"

The zero pointers hand stopped right in front of Ochako who stared at it, eyes wide. Slowly the giant hand retracted and Ochako pushes herself down, floating calmly and gently back to the ground. Pressing her fingers together and mumbling, "Release," Ochako let herself stand tall. Proud that she had completed the entrance exam.

And Ochako, after a few seconds, proudly and promptly, threw up.

Getting thrown off his feet, Izuku looked around in a panic as everything around him began to shake violently. Several other students cried out in alarm as they tried to steady themselves.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"Is it an earthquake?"

Nearby a building exploded in a shower or glass, steel and concrete as the largest thing Izuku had ever seen poked through the dust and smoke. Izuku's jaw hit the ground in shock.

"How big is that thing! The exam pamphlet wasn't to scale at all!"

Around him, students began to panic as they climbed over themselves to try and get away with Izuku scrambling to his feet to join them, I know Present Mic said that thing isn't unbeatable, but come on. Why would anyone want to even try!?

Izuku, now on his feet, was ready to make a break for it when, over the loud screams and horrific metallic sounds, he heard something that made his heart stop beating, and blood go cold.

"...Help…"

As people ran by him, Izuku turned around, wondering if he had imagined it.

"...Help...me…"

He hadn't.

From the large pile of debris and rubble that was the remains of the building, a hand was sticking out, grasping fruitlessly at the air. A feeling Izuku hadn't felt since he had saved Katsuki from that monster almost a year ago filled him. Something else took control of Izuku, pushing basic survival instincts to the side. Someone was in trouble, and Midoriya Izuku was not going to stand by and do nothing. Taking off into a sprint, Izuku rushed to the persons aid, pushing past other students as they ran to get away. One student gave a startled yell as he brushed past him, "HEY ARE YOU CRAZY!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Izuku didn't bother to look back as he screamed back, "THERE'S SOMEONE TRAPPED UNDER THERE! THEY'LL GET CRUSHED!"

Even as the huge zero pointer rumbled closer, Izuku didn't slow down, running as fast as he could, determined to reach the trapped person. Sliding to a stop, Izuku grabbed the students hand, "I'm here! Don't worry. I'll get you out!"

Izuku examined the pile. While most of it was made of very large sections of concrete, it looked like almost all of it had fallen around him, forming a small tented pile giving enough space to not get crushed to death, but small enough that he couldn't get out.

If he had been anywhere else, he'd probably be dead. Isn't this supposed to just be a test, how could something like that zero pointer just be allowed to run loose!? No, focus on helping first, then...then worry about other stuff.

Bending down, Izuku looked into the small opening past the students arm, "Is there anything pinning you? Holding you down directly?"

The boys arm pulled back into the hole, allowing Izuku to see his face for the first time, while also letting the boy see who had come to his rescue, "No, I'm trapped in a small pocket! I can't believe I let my engine stall at a time like this. Wait, you!?"

Izuku was shocked, it was the tall student who had berated him from before.

No, that doesn't matter. He needs help.

"Listen, I'm going to lift this stuff off you. I need to let me know if anything shift and starts to press against you."

The boy blinked in shock, "Wait, you're going to try and lift all of this? Can you do that!?"

Can I?

Izuku glanced up at the approaching zero pointer.

I have to!

"I'm going to start now, I can't tell exactly what's going to move around and shift when I start. Its all tangled together and stacked up. I'll try to be careful as I pick stuff off you, but that huge robot is getting closer, so we don't have much time."

The boy nodded, "I understand!"

Okay, I can do this. I picked up all that stuff at the beach. And that was like 3 tons. And all of this...is probably more than that, but it's just a number. The only limits are in my head, and I just spent months learning that I can overcome those. No more limits. No more holding myself back! So let's do this!

Reaching out, Izuku let his quirk flare to life, as he took hold of the rubble. If he felt he had time, he would try and pick at it, one piece at a time, making sure he didn't dislodge anything and cause it to collapse. But since he was being forced to hurry, he grabbed everything that was in front of him. Izuku could feel the strain already pressing against him, his forehead already throbbing even before trying to lift the heavy load.

"Alright, I'm going to start now! Just hold on a little longer!"

Turning his palms upward, Izuku lifted his hands up and pushed. The pain in Izuku's head went from a dull throbbing, to hammer blows in an instant. But it didn't matter, he had a job to do and nothing was going to stop him. Slowly, inch by inch, the rubble began to rise up.

I got this! Just a little longer!

"Hey! HEY! Behind you! There is a villain bot behind you!"

Nothing but that.

Glancing over his shoulder, Izuku gulped as he confirmed that not only was there a villain coming up from behind him, but one on each of his sides as well. They were surrounded.

You have got to be kidding me!?

"Can you squeeze out!? I can't fight them and hold this stuff up!"

Two arms stuck through the larger opening, but it was clear to both that the student's large build was not going to fit just yet. The robots were charging in fast and Izuku couldn't lift the rubble off the student any faster. They were out of time.

"Put it down! Defend yourself!"

Izuku shook his head, "I can't do that. I'd have to drop it, and it might crush you!"

Faux villains moving in from the sides and behind. The zero pointer closing in from the front. Izuku was at a loss. One of the robots broke off from the rest, charging in with an arm raised, ready to attack. Izuku closed his eyes as he braced himself for the hit, Don't let go. Keep lifting and don't let go!

Just as Izuku was sure he was about to get hit, there was a screech of metal against metal, then a loud thud. Confused, Izuku peaked back and saw the robot laying on the ground broken. And just behind it, still using the same piece of armor he'd given him, "its you, the purple guy!"

Yanking the plate out of the robot, the boy held it up like a shield putting himself between the two remaining robots and Izuku, "Hurry and get that guy out already! I'll keep these guy back. And its Shinso Hitoshi, not purple guy!"

"Thank you. I'm Midoriya Izuku by the way!" Despite the gravity of the situation, it would be rude not to introduce himself.

The trapped student stuck his hand back through the hole, waving it like he was shaking someone's hand, "Iida Tenya!"

Hitoshi sighed, "Great we all know each other. Now let's get out of here before that big guy gets any closer!"

"Right!" Izuku turned his full attention back towards the rubble, while Hitoshi kept the other two robots busy, bashing at them and forcing them to roll backwards. The plate hit an axel holding the robot onto its wheel, snapping it and toppeling it to the ground.

Almost there...just a little more!

Tenya poked his arms out and started to push his upper body through. Hitoshi after smashing the flat plate down on the last robot's head, sprinted over and grabbed ahold of Tenya's wrists. Planting himself, he gave one hard tug, and pulled Tenya through the rest of the way.

"I'M OUT! DROP IT!"

Immediately, Izuku let go of most of the rubble. A few remaining blocks floated in the air, as Izuku turned his attention upwards, something Hitoshi noticed right away, "Midoriya what are you doing!? We need to run."

Tenya, who was leaning onto Hitoshi favoring one of his legs, nodded in agreement, "Yes we must get away while we can before that monster is upon us! We look out of its range, but we won't be for long!"

Izuku shook his head, "It's still thrashing around, someone else could end up getting hurt if this thing keeps on going."

"And what, you're going to stop it!?"

Izuku glanced back at Hitoshi, a determined glint in his eyes, and confident grin, "Present Mic did say they could be defeated. Please take Iida," Turning back to face the zero pointer, Izuku's green glow brightened as he focused on his next move, "I'm going to stop this thing before someone else gets hurt!"

"Crazy bastard," Hitoshi mumbled under his breath as he helped Tenya stumble away, "You, is your leg broken?"

"No, I think it's just a sprain... Should we really be leaving him like this?"

"You're hurt, and I know for a fact, I can't do anything to that giant. Besides, you saw that Midoriya guy, he wasn't going to back down."

The two didn't get very far when they heard a loud crash. Looking back, they watched as Izuku launched another large block of building rubble at the zero pointer.

Izuku grunted as he threw a third, then a fourth. Each piece hitting the zero pointer, but bouncing off its armor, leaving little damage.

Darn it, this isn't working! This stuff is too small to do any real damage to it! I can't break through its armor!

Dropping the rest of the smaller blocks, Izuku changed to a much larger piece of debris, though this was much harder for him to throw. Arcing up like a toss up, more than getting shot out, resulting in it hitting much lower than his other shots. And with less force

And if I try the larger stuff, I can't get the force I need. This isn't working at all!

Wiping his nose, Izuku confirmed what he had already figured, and my nose is bleeding. Great. Okay, I need a new plan.

It wouldn't be much longer until Izuku would be in reach of the zero pointer. A quickly running out time limit, pumped up on way to much adrenaline, with a pounding headache and now bleeding from either the initial lift of the rubble or him throwing so many pieces, Izuku was not in the best of conditions to come up with a new plan on the fly. As evident with his very next decision. Dropping the rubble, and ignoring it completely now, Izuku reach out with both hands and focused solely on the zero pointer.

For the briefest of moments, the robots whole body lit up bright green as Izuku grabbed hold of it. Izuku even started to yell out in victory, but this was quickly crushed. The zero pointer just kept rolling forward, ripping itself free of Izuku's quirk and sending the boy back several paces, holding his head as pain ripped through his skull.

That… was not a good idea. Oh god, my head... Maybe I do need to get out of here…

Looking up, Izku found himself in the shadow of the zero pointer. Well within its strike range. Before he could finally decide to try and run, from a safe distance away he could hear Hitoshi screaming, "Shouldn't that thing have an off switch like the rest of the robots! Or a wire you can cut to shut it down?"

Off switch? I can't remember. And a wire? I wouldn't even know where to look to use my quirk on it… I'd waste all my time just feeling around inside for…. It…. Wait. Inside. If I can't beat this thing because of its armor, then maybe I can use my quirk on its parts!

Wobbling as he steadied himself, Izuku took a deep breath, I'll break it apart from the inside out, and screamed.

His aura blazed brightly as he pushed himself. Reaching beyond the armor plating, Izuku latched onto anything and everything he could and started pulling, ripping and tearing. He had no idea what parts he was damaging, and at this point, he was beyond caring.

Pain blurred his vision. Each time he found something new to try and break, it made his head hurt. The pain had long gone past just throbbing. Past even the harshness from a few moments before. This was a stabbing pain. A hammer and chisel to his head. This new pain, and the sheer amount of blood dripping down his chin, Izuku knew something was different. From all the other times he had suffered from over using his quirk, this time was going to be different. If he was thinking rationally, he would have stopped. But it was so hard to think now. Everything was echoing and blurry.

Break! Just BREAK!

Something snapped. Everyone in the battle arena could hear it. Something from deep inside the zero pointer snapped. Lights flickered. Its body no longer moved smoothly.

More snaps.

Crackles.

Smoke was escaping from vents. Dark black smoke.

For a second the zero pointer stopped moving, before an explosion ripped apart a section of armor. Followed by another, then another. A chain reaction was taking place, turning the robot into smoldering shrapnel. Izuku sighed, letting his quirk fade, then collapsed to his knees.

"Holy crap."

Tenya could only nod in agreement with Hitoshi, "He must have broke a power cable or damaged some reactor to cause that."

"Don't care. Just, holy crap."

Hitoshi looked down from the exploding behemoth and pointed at Izuku, "Hey...shouldn't he be getting away?"

Tenya frowned, "Perhaps... he's admiring his accomplishment?"

"Hey Midoriya! Get away from that thing! You can do your cool walk away-" Hitoshi was cut off when Izuku fell to his knees, "Oh fuck."

"AND THAT'S TIME!" Present Mic screamed over the intercom, signaling the end of the exam.

Hitoshi and Tenya hurried back to Izuku, crouching down beside him. Izuku's glazed over eyes weren't focused on anything. A large trail of blood ran from his nose, and dripped off his chin, leaving a large stain on the front of his shirt. Hitoshi snapped his fingers in front of Izuku's face, "Hey, Midoriya, you in there? Hey?"

When Hitoshi moved to give him a shake, Tenya stepped in, stopping him, "Wait, don't do that. If he's suffering from some kind of head injury, we don't want to move him. We should wait until medical teams arrive."

Hitoshi nodded in agreement and took a seat next to Izuku, while Tenya did the same, wincing some from the pain in his ankle.

Izuku lifted his head slightly as he looked around, though he wasn't focusing on any one thing "the test? ...Is the test…?"

"Test is over, they called it," Hitoshi said.

"The...the big one… where…?"

"You blew it the fuck up."

Izuku laughed softly, head lowering back down with a sleepy smile, "Take...that...Kacchan…"

Fortunately for the three, they did not have to wait much longer. In only a few minutes a stretcher carried my two small medical robots rolled over to them, with an elderly lady wearing a white coat walking besides. She gave the three of them a quick once over, shaking her head, "My, oh my, you three look like you went through the ringer. You especially, young man."

Tenya recognized the woman and did his best to bow respectfully, while he was still sitting, "You're Recovery Girl. The head doctor of U.A. with the healing quirk. It is an honor to meet you."

She turned to Tenya, "I'm just an old lady who does what she can. Now let's get two you taken care of before I go to work on your friend here." While the two medical bots gently carried Izuku onto the stretcher, Recovery girl handed Hitoshi a few gummies and gave Tenya a quick kiss to his forehead. The effect of her quirk was instantaneous, and he could feel his sprained ankle heal till it was as good as new.

With them taken care of, she walked over to the lying form of Izuku, "Tsk, tsk. Young man, you sure hurt yourself something horrible with your own quirk. You'd think at this age you'd know your own limits."

Bending down she gave Izuku a kiss on the head. The blood dripping from his nose dried and the slack and far off gaze relaxed as he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Recovery Girl looked back at Tenya and Hitoshi, "You two are good to go. I'm going to take this young man back with me to run a couple of tests. You can never be too careful when dealing with a head injury, even when I use my quirk to help it heal." Tapping the side of the stretcher with her cane, the bots rolled away taking Izuku with them.

Left alone Tenya rubbed his chin in thought, "Why do you think he did that?"

"Hmm?"

"There was still time left in the test. He could have made a break for it and tried to get more points. Instead, he took himself out destroying the zero pointer. What do you think he was trying to gain from it? Do you think he figured out some aspect of the test we hadn't? We are constantly being watched as Present Mic said."

Hitoshi glanced at the wreckage that was all that was left of the zero pointer, "I think you're overthinking it. I think it was just what he had said, after seeing you trapped like that, he didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt. Simple as that."

After getting checked out by the exams medical staff and taking a chance to get all the dust and rubble cleaned off Ochako found herself waiting near the exams exit. It had been some time since the rest of the students from Izuku's test group had left but Izuku himself was still nowhere to be found.

"Come on Deku, where are you?"

After she had figured she'd waited long enough, Ochako turned and marched back into the U.A building hoping to find a teacher or someone that could help her.

As she walked the halls she even began peeking into rooms, trying to find anyone.

I'm overthinking this. I'm sure nothing bad happened to Deku. I'm sure he's fine.

Despite trying to reassure herself, she found her pace down the hallway quickening.

He's fine. I mean what the worst that could happen?

Memories of the zero pointer and the scared students flashed through Ochako's mind. Visions of the treads of that monster crushing everything in its path. Cars, hydrants, lampposts, buildings, and people. People with messy green hair.

Ochako broke into a sprint down the hall. Logically she knew she was overreacting. If something bad had happened, the group of students wouldn't have been so chipper as they left. But after her own experience during the practical exam, especially with the zero pointer, Ochako wasn't sure logic applied to anything at U.A.

As she rounded a corner, Ochako gave a startled gasp as she collided with someone and almost sent herself tumbling to the floor.

"Whoa there, little listener!"

Fortunately for Ochako, Present Mic was able to quickly grab her and hold her up. After finding her feet Ochako quickly apologized, stumbling over her words as she tried to get them out as quickly as possible, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I was just trying to find someone and I…"

Present Mic raised his hands as he tried to calm Ochako down, "Easy, easy there. No harm done. Why don't you take a second and breath."

Ochako nodded and forced herself to slow down. Taking several deep breaths until she was was no longer looking like she was ready to jump out of her own skin.

Present Mic smiled, "That's better. Now little listener, what are you doing running through the halls. The exam's signed off, so you should be headed back home."

"I know but I'm looking for my friend. He took the exam too but he wasn't with the rest of his group when they got back and left."

"Oh?"

"Yes, his name is Midoriya Izuku. He has green messy curly hair. And freckles. Oh his quick makes him glow green when he uses it."

Present Mic scratches his chin for a moment as he thought over Ochako's description, then snapped his fingers, "Oh, the green glow-stick? Can throw stuff around with his quirk?"

"Yes, that's him," Ochako said excitedly.

"Oh I know where your friend is."

"You do!"

"He's in the infirmary with Recovery Girl getting smooched on."

"..."

Present Mic spent the whole walk to the infirmary trying to assure Ochako that her friend was fine and that despite her name, Recovery Girl was a nice elderly lady. Ochako never actually asked about Recovery Girl, mostly she spent the time worrying about what her friend had done to be sent to the infirmary, but something about the way her eye twitched made him think it would be better to make sure there were no misunderstandings.

For Izuku the past few minutes had been more than a little confusing. The last thing he could remember was doing everything he could to stop the giant rampaging zero pointer from potentially hurting any more students. After that, everything was a blur up till he woke up lying on a metal table with an older woman, who introduced herself as Recovery Girl, looking over him.

"How are you feeling, young man?"

Glancing around Izuku answered, "I'm okay I guess. I do feel a little sleepy. Um, where am I?"

Izuku tried to sit up, but a firm hand from Recovery Girl kept him lying down, "You just stay there. It looks like you overused your quirk and gave yourself a head injury. I healed you, which is why you are feeling tired, but I want to run a quick scan on you. Brain injuries can be tricky. It won't take long."

With a press of a button the table Izuku was on retracted into a large CT machine.

"I hurt myself? Normally I just get a headache then a nose bleed if I push my quirk."

"Well congratulations young man, you've discovered a new extreme symptom of overusing your quirk. Now hold still for a bit, I'm going to start the scan."

As the machine hummed to life Izuku couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself, despite lying where he was. He had blown up that huge robot all on his own.

Though I wonder how many points I gave up to do that. It wasn't the wrong thing to do, but what if it costs me passing the test. He frowned at that thought, worry creeping into his mind.

Recovery Girl looked over the images that popped onto her screen, "Well it looks like you got lucky. Your scans look just fine."

"Oh? Well, that's good then. Nothing to worry about."

When the table pulled back out Izuku gulped when he saw the look of disapproval on the healing heroes face, "Young man, you need to be careful. Just because nothing happened this time, there's no guarantee the next time you hurt yourself there won't be permanent damage that can't be healed. Understand?"

Izuku nodded quickly.

"Good. Now you can sit up. I'm just going to run a few more tests, then you'll be good to go."

Izuku tried to keep his eyes open as Recovery Girl pulled out a small flashlight and shown the light into his eyes. She hummed to herself, apparently happy with what she was seeing. With a click she turned the light off and pocketed it.

Holding up a finger she instructed Izuku, "Follow the tip of my finger with your eyes. Keep your head still."

Izuku did as he was told and once again seemed to do exactly what Recovery Girl wanted.

"Well, I think I've kept you long enough. You're free to go, just try to take better care of yourself."

"I'll try ma'am. Thank you for healing me." Getting off the table, Izuku looked down at himself and gulped at the site. The front of his green track suit was stained red with blood.

"Whoa, I really bleed a lot, didn't I?"

"You sure did young man. Concussions aside, that kind of blood loss can be dangerous on its own. So be careful."

"Yeah…" As Izuku looked down at himself, the door to the room opened and much to Izuku's shock, Present Mic walked in, "Ah Recovery Girl, looks like your patient is all healed up?"

"Yes, yes the boy is in perfect health. Though I can't say the same for his decision making. I just discharged him. Though, why are you here?"

Present Mic rubbed a hand through his long slicked back hair, "Well I ran into a young lady who was beside herself looking for the kid."

Izuku blinked , someone was looking for me… "oh no! Uraraka!"

Mic smiled and then stepped aside allowing Ochako to come inside, "See, here's your friend. And he's in prefect...er near perfect condition."

"Deku? what happened? Did you get...hurt?" Ochako's voice trailed off and her eyes widened in shock as she looked at him. At first, she thought he looked fine, but now that she had a good look at him she saw all the blood on his clothes.

Before Ochako could start to fret over him, Izuku leapt off the table to diffuse the panicked questions he knew were coming his way, "Uraraka! It's great to see you! How'd your test go!? I'm sure you did fine! Great, even! I'm fine by the way. There's no reason to worry, Recovery Girl just wanted to check a few things, but I'm free to go, since nothing is wrong. Nothing at all! Right? I'm totally fine and there is no reason at all to panic or ask any questions!"

Ochako, still in shock at the sight of so much dried blood on Izuku's top, and the sudden deluge that came pouring out of his mouth was stunned to silence. Present Mic just looked between the two while Recovery Girl rubbed her temple, "Laying it on a little thick, don't you think?"

Izuku laughed nervously, "But I am free to go, right?"

Sighing, Recovery Girl waved him off, "Yes, yes. Just do a better job of taking care of yourself. I don't want to see you here again."

Nodding, Izuku pulled a still stunned Ochako along ready to leave the room but, stopped and turned to look at the two heroes, "Um before we go, can I ask you two a favor?"

Recovery Girl and Present Mic glanced at each other before Mic shrugged, "Sure listener. What do you need?"

Izuku held up his hero notebook, "Can I have your autographs?"

Ochako, Present Mic and Recovery Girl all blinked while thinking the same thing, Where was he hiding that?!

A short time later Izuku and Ochako were on their way home, with Izuku smiling at the newest addition to his notebook while Ochako walked beside him, arms crossed, "You know I'm not letting you off the hook. I still want to know what happened to you."

"It's not that big a deal, Uraraka." Izuku had hoped that he wouldn't have to tell Ochako what had happened during the test. Partly because he was worried he may have hurt his chances with his impromptu rescue and didn't want to worry or let her down. Also she could be a little over protective and learning that he had given himself a concussion might get him chewed out.

Ochako's eyes narrowed as she gave her final warning, "Dekuuu,"

Izuku held up his hand in defeat, "Okay, okay. So...um do you remember during the orientation over the practical test, when Present Mic talked about the robot that was worth no points."

Visions of a giant hand reaching towards her flashes through Ochako's mind. She shuddered before nodding her head, "Yeah, I remember. He told us to avoid it."

Izuku rubbed his neck, "yeaaah, I didn't do that."

"Oh," Was Ochako's quick reply. I guess I wasn't the only one who decided to take some risks today. Maybe I should let him know that. I may have been coming off to strong. Before she could speak up however Izuku continued.

"I kinda fought it and blew it up."

Ochako came to a dead stop, staring at Izuku wide eyed, "YOU WHAT?!"

"I blew up the zero pointer." Izuku emphasized this with by mocking an explosion with his hands and adding a small sound effect, "kaboom."

Wait, "What," How, "You did," But! Ochako sputtered, her thoughts and words jumbling over each other as she tried to comprehend what she had just heard. After a few seconds she was finally able to reel herself in and get out a coherent sentence.

"Deku, are you telling me that you really blew up a zero pointer. The one that was as big as a building. That one. You blew it up?!"

"Um… yes."

Ochako's jaw dropped in awe, "Deku is amazing."

When she saw Izuku flush, she immediately realized she had said that out loud and tried to quickly cover it up, "I mean what you did was amazing!"

Thankfully for Ochako, Izuku bought that, "oh well, thank you."

"But how did you do it?!"

"Well," Izuku began, "at first I tried to just throw stuff at it, but that wasn't really doing anything."

Ochako nodded in understanding, when I threw that concrete at my zero pointer it didn't do much either.

"After that didn't work, I tried to pick it up but that really didn't work," Izuku picked at the dried stain on his track suit while Ochako shook her head.

"You tried to pick up that robot? Deku that's crazy."

Sheepishly Izuku scratched behind an ear while looking away, "yeah, not one of my better judgment calls. The moment I thought I had it held it just started to roll forwards and broke free pretty easily. Got a pretty bad headache after that."

Pretty sure that's also when I got my nose bleed too.

"Then what?"

"Then Shinso, oh he's one of the other students I ran into during the test asked if there wasn't an off switch I could hit or a plug I could pull, something inside to turn it off. Since I didn't know where to even look for something like that I decided to instead just start to tear it apart from the inside, and hope I got something important. Which I guess I did since all of a sudden I set off some kind of chain reaction and it started to explode from the inside out."

Ochako shook her head, "That's crazy Deku. Absolutely crazy."

"Yeah. It didn't help much when bits of it started raining down around me."

"Huh? Deku wait, how close were you to this thing when it started to explode?"

"I was pretty close actually. It was pretty much on top of me when it finally started to go."

"Wait, seriously?! Deku!"

"Uraraka please, it all turned out okay."

Ochako decided not to push Izuku on his definition of it all turned out okay, and simply asked, "So when it exploded, is that how you got hurt? Something hit you or you got caught in a shockwave?

"Oh, um, not really." Izuku looked away, something that Ochako immediately caught onto that.

"Deku?"

Izuku took a deep breath before he began his explanation, "Well you know how if I over use my quirk I get bad nose bleeds?"

Ochako glanced down at the large blood stain on Izuku's top. She had seen Izuku have bad nose bleeds before, but this one looked like it had been the worst one yet, "Yeah... Is that why you were in there? Blood loss?"

"Sorta. Recovery Girl did say losing blood like that isn't healthy."

"No kidding," Ochako added dryly.

Izuku continued, trying to keep his voice light, and almost playful. Trying to play off what he was about to say as no big deal, "so here's the thing. Turns out if I really, really push my quirk, there's an even worse symptom I get after nose bleeds. I can give myself a concussion."

"..." There were a few seconds of silence before Ochako exploded, "HOW IS THAT A THING YOU KNOW!?"

Izuku did his best to look innocent as he answered, "Because I gave myself a concussion destroying the zero pointer."

"YOU DID WHAT!"

Ochako, in a state of shock and horror, latched onto Izuku's shoulder and began shaking him, "what is the matter with you?! "

His vision spinning, Izuku tried to get some control of the situation, at the very least he wanted the world to stop moving in circles, "Uraraka! Stop! Shaking! Me! My! Head! Can't! Take! Anymore! Abuse!"

Snapping back to reality, Ochako let Izuku go and looked away, feeling ashamed she had snapped like she had.

"I'm sorry Deku. I didn't mean to yell at you like that."

Izuku smiled as he reassured her, "It's okay. I know you're just worried about me. Though I think you forget how strong you are sometimes."

The two continued to walk some more in silence before Ochako spoke up, though she made sure to keep her voice calm and level. Reasons aside, she was not going to manhandle her friend again.

"Was it an accident?"

"Hmm?"

"When you overused your quirk on the zero pointer. Did you know you were pushing yourself so hard? Or did it just happen?"

Momentarily Izuku was tempted to say that it was. It was an easy out. He was still getting used to his quirk, so it was believable that he hadn't meant to push himself so hard.

"No, I knew exactly what I was doing. Immediately after using my quirk on that robot, it started to hurt. It wasn't a full throb like my normal headaches. It was a shooting pain, like someone was jabbing a knife into my skull. The pain, and the wetness I could feel on my face from my nose bleed… I knew I was hurting myself. I didn't know exactly what was happening, but I knew it was going to be worse than anything that had happened to me before."

Taking a very deep breath, and making sure she was as calm as possible, "Why would you do something so dangerous? If you could feel it hurting you. Why didn't you stop."

"I didn't want anyone else to get hurt…"

Ochako tilted her head to the side, confused, "what do you mean Deku? Did something happen during your exam?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah. When that giant robot attacked it hit a building sending a lot of debris raining down onto the street below."

"Sounds scary." Memories of her own experience with the zero pointer flashed through her mind, but she pushed them aside as Izuku continued.

"You remember that tall guy that called me out during the orientation?"

"The uptight guy wearing glasses?"

Nodding, Izuku continued, "Well he got trapped under a lot of rubble. I was able to get him out with some help, but as he got carried away, that robot was still wrecking everything in its path. I couldn't just do nothing when someone else could get hurt because of it."

"So you decided to stop it."

"Yeah."

Ochako covered her face with her hands and let out a loud and very long groan. Izuku could help but snicker at Ochako's display, even as he expected her to call him out on being an idiot.

"You really are incredible Deku."

Izuku was thrown for a loop, not expecting her to say that.

"I am?"

Ochako gave him a warm smile, "Deku, you don't think about acting heroic. You just do it. That's pretty incredible."

Izuku blushed some while a bashful smile crept across his face. Ochako's smile however did harden some as she narrowed her eyes at him, "It was still an incredibly stupid thing do."

Izuku laughed nervously, "Yeah, I guess it was. Stupid, but the right thing to do."

Ochako threw her hands up in defeat, "Okay fine, I agree. It was the right thing to do. The heroic thing to do. But the way you did it was the wrong way to do it."

"Yeah…" Izuku had to agree with that. Saving someone, only to incapacitate himself was not the way to go about being a hero. That was the way to go about being a liability.

"So Deku. You are never ever going to hurt yourself again like you did today. Riiiight?"

The glare from Ochako left no room for arguments. So Izuku responded with a very immediate, "Yes ma'am!"

Satisfied, Ochako smiled cheerfully at Izuku, "Great! Now let's get back home. I'm hungry and your mom said she was going to cook us up something to celebrate us being done with the test."

As Izuku walked on, he couldn't help but think. While he was sure he had done the right thing, he worried that his actions may have hurt his score, putting his chance to get into U.A. in jeopardy.

He supposed that he could just ask All Might about it.

I'll just give him a call later.

It had been one week since the entrance exam and after several calls and texts had gone unanswered by All Might, on top of the fact that he could not remember how many points he may have scored from the practical exam, a result of the concussion he had at the end of the test, Izuku was beginning to freak. His mood had not been helped when at school he had to deal with everyone in class asking himself, Ochako and Katsuki questions about everything.

"Was the test hard?"

Katsuki smirked, "Fuck no it wasn't. The written part was a joke. The damned mock exams I had to take were harder."

"What's the campus like?"

"It was huge! I don't even want to think about what it cost to maintain it," Ochako answered.

"Did you see any heroes?"

"Oh… um yeah, Present Mic gave us our orientation," Izuku said, far less enthusiastically than one would expect. Both Ochako and Katsuki glanced at him.

"What did you guys have to do for your test?"

"We're not supposed to talk about the test details-" Ochako began before getting cut off by Katsuki, "We had to destroy a bunch of robots."

"Bakugou!"

Katsuki shrugged, "That part is common knowledge at this point. Everyone knows it. U.A. just has to make us sign that stuff along with waivers to cover their asses."

The classroom beamed, "So it is true! That's an insane way to test someone!"

"It was a cakewalk. I just blew everyone of them up!"

"They were pretty fragile," Ochako scratched her cheek when the class looked at her, "Not that I'm saying the test was easy. There is a reason U.A. is hard to get into. Don't let Bakugou undersell it."

"We all know how Bakugou thinks he did, what about you Uraraka? How'd you do?"

"Oh well, I think I did okay. My strategy worked out pretty well for most of the test," Answered Ochako.

"Wait what strategy? How'd you destroy your robots?"

"I found big groups and used one of the robots as a club and bashed the others to bits with it," Ochako stated, very matter-of-factly.

"...Scary…."

"What about you Midoriya, how'd you do?"

"I bet he pissed himself during the test."

"Yeah, no way he was able to do anything against U.A. robots."

Ochako narrowed her eyes at a few of the students, who immediately shut their mouths. Izuku took some time before he answered, "Oh...well, I know I did good on the written test..."

Someone coughed into their hand, "Nerd."

"And I'm pretty sure I did alright in the practical," izuku finished not very convincingly.

"Dude you failed didn't you?"

"Totally failed."

The arrival of their teacher to start class broke up the group. Ochako leaned over and put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, reminding him that she knew he did just fine. Katsuki rolled his eye and huffed, making his thoughts on Izuku's chances known.

Izuku decided to not bring up the fact that he couldn't remember what his score was because he got knocked out at the end. No reason to give the class, and specifically Kacchan more reason to doubt him.

Now after a week of dealing with no returned calls, and a class that was sure he had failed, Izuku was about at the point where he just wanted to curl up into a ball and never leave his room.

Sitting down for dinner Inko and Ochako shared worried glances as Izuku was blankly staring at the fish they were eating.

"Deku?"

"Izuku dear, your food will get cold if you just stare at it."

Blinking, Izuku shook his head, snapping out of his daze, "Sorry, sorry. Just thinking is all." He quickly began to eat his dinner.

"Your results should be arriving soon right?"

"Yeah, they said we'd get everything in about a week," Ochako confirmed, "so today or tomorrow if we're lucky."

"Lucky, huh?" Izuku mumbled under his breath.

A knock at the door, grabbed the three's attention. Izuku was about to get up, but Inko waved him down, "It's okay. I'll get it. You two just enjoy your dinner."

With Inko out of the room, Ochako decided to briefly broach another reason she knew was causing Izuku's unease, "Deku, you're worrying way too much over everything. All Might may just be busy. He's had to go radio silent before."

"Not like this Uraraka. He always made sure we knew ahead of time that he was going to be out of touch," Izuku sighed and sank into his chair, "I must have really screwed up the test. He must be so embarrassed that he wasted all that time-! OW!"

Ochako, not liking the line of thought Izuku was going down, kicked him in the shin, "That's enough of that. I'm not going to let you keep thinking like that. Positive thoughts only, from now on."

Bending down and rubbing his shin, Izuku looked up at Ochako over the lip of the table, "You're going to beat positivity into me?"

"If I have to."

"I think you've been hanging around Kacchan too much." Izuku smirked, the first smile he had had in some time. It was immediately wiped away when Ochako kicked him under the table again, not happy at all at being compared to Katsuki.

"IZUKU, OCHAKO!" Inko rushed into the dining room, both teens startled by the shout, "Look who it is!"

Inko moved over and behind her, wearing his oversized yellow suit that looked completely ridiculous in his shrunken form, was All Might.

"Young Midoriya, Young Uraraka, it's good to see you two."

"Mr. Yagi!" Both shouted in surprise.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this unannounced. Especially after not getting back to you sooner, Young Midoriya."

"Oh I'm sure you must have not been getting my messages or something, Al- um sir."

Sheepishly All Might took out his phone and flipped over a few screen and showed the group the long list of missed calls and texts, "No, no. I got them…"

"Oh…"

The room dropped a few degrees as Inko crossed her arms, and glared at All Might. Sending a shiver up the pro heroes spine, "I'm sure you have an excellent excuse for worrying my son for such a long time."

The room got even colder as Ochako also glared at All Might as well. All Might sensing the incredible amount of danger he was in, reached into his suit pocket and pulled out two envelopes, stamped with the U.A. sigal, "er Yes, about that. Since I wasn't able to respond sooner, I thought I'd personally come down and deliver these to you two!"

Izuku looked at the envelopes, "Are those…?"

"...our test results?" Ochako finished.

"Yes. I thought you'd want to open them together, so I picked them up and well, here they are."

Ochako glanced over at izuku, and found him frozen in his chair. With a huff, Ochako quickly stood up and took the letters from All Might, "Thank you!" Bowing quickly, Ochako rushed over to Izuku and grabbing his wrist, pulled him into his room, closing the door behind them.

Inko took a step to follow but All Might said softly, "Perhaps we should give them some privacy. This is the moment they worked so hard towards together, after all."

Sighing, Inko nodded in agreement, "I suppose so."

With the door closed behind them, Izuku and Ochako stood facing each other, holding their letters in varying states of nervous excitement.

"Sooo…" Ochako finally broke the silence, "You going to open yours?"

Izuku glanced down at the envelope in his hands in uncertainty, "Um, why don't you go first Uraraka."

"Eh!? Me first? No, no, no, you've been worried about these results all week. I don't mind waiting till after you."

"Uraraka, you've been anxious about your results too. I can tell."

"Whaaa? I have not." Ochako found one of Izuku's posters very interesting as she answered.

"Your hands are shaking Uraraka."

Ochako quickly hid her hands behind her back, she was about to deny Izuku's point but stopped. Both looked at each other before they broke into a small fit of giggles, "Okay, this is pretty sad, Deku."

"Yeah… So, who's going first?"

"Hmm," Ochako thought about it for a second, "Why don't we play for it. Rock paper scissors sound good to you?"

"Yeah, that sounds alright."

"Great, let me put these on your desk and we can play."

Izuku handed Ochako his envelope, which then she immediately torn the end off.

"URARAKA!"

Ochako grinned brightly, "Oh, yours is open now, would you look at that."

"You...you cheater!"

"Yep."

"...How did I fall for that?"

"Really easily, so here you go." Ochako handed Izuku back his open envelope, who took it back while giving Ochako an annoyed look, which she returned with an even bigger grin.

Reaching in, Izuku blinked in confusion as he pulled out a small disk. Before he could ask what it was, it suddenly turned on, with a projection of All Might, startling both teens, and making Izuku drop the disk onto the floor.

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!"

"All Might!?"

"I had to do some paperwork that took quite a bit of time, and I had to record all these videos for all examinees, so I wasn't able to contact you."

Ochako glanced quickly at the door behind her, and to the room that All Might was in, before she could decide if paperwork was a good enough excuse for making Deku worry for so long, the message continued.

"Plus I had to wait to record this one last since the director here wouldn't give me enough time to talk to you two when we still had other videos to make."

Izuku and Ochako looked at each other, "Huh? 'Talk to'…"

"...'You two.'"

"You see I know you'll both be watching this, so I figured to save time and give you both your results at the same time. That's right, both disks have the same message!"

As All Might laughed at his brilliance, Ochako rubbed her brow, so that whole thing was a waste of time!

Izuku smirked, "enjoying your pyrrhic victory?"

"You hush!"

"Still, not contacting you soon was wrong of me. I'm sorry."

The projection of All Might bowed deeply, "But let us get down to business. I'm sure you both want to know how you did on the exam. Take heart, you both passed the written exam with flying colors. All that time you two spent studying paid off spectacularly. You should both be proud. Too often the public, and even some heroes, forget that one's mind is just as important as one's body. And these scores show you both take that to heart."

Ochako smiled, "Awesome! It's suck if it was the written part that did us in."

"Yeah, but after we self-corrected, I wasn't too worried about that."

"But now, let's get to the meat of the exam and what I'm sure you're both eagerly waiting for:he practical results!"

Both Ochako and Izuku gulped, here we go.

"So let's see, Young Uraraka, lets go over your performance during the exam."

"Pyrrhic victory."

"I will float you!"

All Might turned to a screen to his side, which flickered to life and replaced All Might as the main projection. All Might talked over the video that showed a recording of Ochako as she ran through the exam. Izuku gasped in shock as he watched Ochako fly from building to building.

"Young Uraraka, your decision to use your quirk to take the high ground and survey your surroundings was a stroke of genius. And attacking groups that were far enough from the rest of the examines to maximize your points while also only using your quirk a minimal amount to dispatch the faux villains shows you understand the importance of thinking ahead. With such an impressive tactic, it should come as no surprise that you would get and equally impressive score!"

Ochako rubbed the back of her head, as she tried to not let it show too much how happy she was at the moment from All Mights praise, though her smile gave that away.

The screen then switched to show Izuku, kneeling at the entrance of the battle arena.

Izuku gulped as he realized it was now his turn to see how he had done.

"Now for you Young Midoriya. Right away you started off strong. While your fellow examinees were left startled by the suddenness of the start, you were off the line and closing in on your first target. Breaking the robots and using their own parts as ammunition showed great ingenuity, and the stamina you displayed being able to stay on the move constantly as you went from target to target was a testament to the work you put into you training. However…"

Izuku winced. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.

"...While you made excellent progress during the first half of the test, you slowed down a great deal during the second half. Twice you stopped focusing on the faux villains, hamstringing yourself and your final score."

Izuku sighed sadly, I knew it.

"Deku…"

"If that was all there was to the test, that is."

"Huh?"

"Wait what did he say?"

"Sorry to lead you both on, but I am also an entertainer. You see, this test was not graded by villain points alone."

The image changed back to Uraraka. Clips of her running towards frightened students, and then throwing a huge chunk of debris at the zero pointer flashed by quickly, ending with her floating several villain robots to get destroyed by the zero pointer's attack.

"Young Uraraka, when you saw those students too afraid to move, you didn't hesitate to throw yourself into danger to save them. And then after they had escaped, you were able to use the zero pointers destructive power to gain even more villain points. Courage and cool headedness in the face of overwhelming danger, these traits are a must for heroes."

"Uraraka...you fought the zero pointer too?"

Ochako made a small eep at getting caught, "Oh, did I not mention that?"

"No, no you didn't."

"Well...um…"

"AND you gave me a hard time."

Ochako gulped, she was caught, and they both knew it. She was grateful that Izuku only looked mildly annoyed with her.

The screen switched again to show Izuku.

"And you, Young Midoriya. When you saw another examinee struggling, you didn't just save him and take the points for yourself, but gave him the tools to save himself. Then when the zero pointer attacked and a student was trapped, you rushed forward to save him. What's more, your actions inspired others to come to your aid. Even after rescuing the student, you were worried for the safety of everyone else. So much so, you took it upon yourself to protect them by stopping the threat, even at the cost of taking yourself out of the test."

The screen ended with Izuku, collapsed on his knees, before All Might took center stage again.

Izuku flinched at the image of himself, while Ochako held a hand over her mouth, horrified. She had guessed it had been bad, but seeing just how bad Izuku was after destroying the zero pointer was something else entirely.

How can a school for heroes not consider the actions of people who save others and do the right thing? Some may call that lip service. But you see, this is a job that requires risking one's life to put that lip service into practice! That is why we have rescue points! These points are given by a panel of judges. This quality is what we at look for at U.A. You both showed this quality! Uraraka Ochako: 58 villain points and 28 rescue points for 86 points total. And Midoriya Izuku: 44 villain points and 65 rescue points for 109 points total. Not only do you pass, but first and second place are yours. It is my honor, privilege and joy to welcome you both to your hero academia."

The projection faded leaving the two standing in stunned silence. But not for very long.

Ochako screamed as she lept at Izuku in pure joy wrapping her arms around in the biggest hug she could muster. Izuku didn't bother trying to stop the tears as he caught her and gleefully returned the hug even as he lost his balance and the two tumbled onto his bed.

"We did it Deku! We did it!"

"We did, we really did!"

Together they cheer and cried, rolling over the bed and getting tangled in the covers in a state of unfiltered bliss wrapped in each others arms. With a dull thud, the two rolled off the bed, taking the top cover with them. Ochako landed on her back with Izuku on top of her. Neither cared. They were too happy to be worried about anything else. They had done it. They were in U.A. And nothing was going to bring them down now.

The door to Izuku's room slid open as Inko rushed inside, "Are you two okay!? I heard screaming and a crash and -!"

Inko's eyes went wide as she looked down and saw Izuku and Ochako all wrapped up in covers and each other. All Might peeked in behind her, seeing if anyone needed help, but was quickly pushed back by Inko, "You two seem to be busy. I'll take Toshinori with me so you two can…. celebrate in peace." Inko quickly closed the door behind her leaving Izuku and Ochako alone again.

Turning away from the closed door, Izuku and Ochako looked at each other, and the sudden realization of how they must look, and what Inko must think they were doing hit both of them like a truck. Faces red, the two scrambled to get off of each other and chase after Inko and All Might before they left the apartment.

"MOM, NO! IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

"MR.S MIDORIYA! NOOO!"

After convincing Inko that nothing had happened between the two of them, especially not that , All Might had suggested that the two check their letters, to see what class they were in. To both of their relief, they had gotten the same class, 1-A.

"HEY, BRAT! YOU GOT A LETTER!"

In a flash, Katsuki rushed into the room where his mother was holding a letter in her hand, "Give me that hag!"

Snatching the letter from his mother, and ducking a slap aimed at the back of his head, Katsuki ran off to his room, his mother's screams echoing behind him. Closing the door to his room, and locking it for good measure to keep his meddling parents out, Katsuki plopped into a chair and stared down at the letter in his hands. He already knew he was going to get in, no one could have gotten more points than him after all. And that written test had been a joke. So this letter was just a formality. A little something extra to add to his growing legacy.

It'll get put into a museum after I've retired as the greatest hero in the world, Katsuki thought with a smirk.

Reaching into his desk, he pulled out a letter opener and sliced through the top to the paper. Opening the letter up, Katsuki ignored the folded paper inside, and picked out a small disk.

"The fuck is this thing?"

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!"

Startled, Katsuki dropped the disk onto the floor, "THE FUCK?! ALL MIGHT!"

"Surprise! Allow me to introduce myself, I am All Might!"

"Everyone knows who you are!"

"And I am the new teacher of U.A's heroics course!"

Katsuki promptly shut up when he heard that, Holy fuck, All Might's teaching at U.A?

"Now let's get down to your test results. Young Bakugou, you passed the written portion of the exam expertly. A Hero is more than just a person of action. You must have a sound mind as well, and you showed that with these exemplary scores. Well Done!

The projection of All Might gave a thumbs up. Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"But now, the other results I'm sure you are waiting for."

"Fucking finally"

"To say that you simply passed would be an understatement. Your use of your explosive quirk to draw in the villains then counterattacking them was a genius strategy, and the fact that you were able to use this tactic for so long is a testament to your toughness. Your hard work not only has earned you a spot into U.A., but also the highest villain points score recorded. Congratulations!"

With his message over, the projection blipped away replaced with a chart of different names and scores but Katsuki had stopped paying attention. He was too busy leaning back in his chair laughing.

"A NEW RECORD! DID YOU HEAR THAT YOU HAG!?"

There was a pounding on his door, "You brat, if you want to talk to me OPEN THE DAMNED DOOR!"

Oh right, locked that shit to keep her out. Oh what the fuck.

Getting up, Katsuki snapped the lock off and went back to his seat, grinning widely as his mother slammed the door open and walked in, "Fucking brat, what the hell are you yelling about?"

Katsuki pointed a thumb at himself, his cocky grin getting even wider, "You're in the presence of greatness, so show some respect."

Mitsuki cocked her head to the side, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not only did I pass that shit show of an exam, I got the highest villain score in the school's history."

Mitsuki groaned, Great. That's just what his ego needs. A new school jerking it off. Taking her eyes off her son, she looked over at the display still being projected. It took her only a few seconds reading it before both her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Holy shit, that's Inko's boy. I'll be damned.

"What was your score brat?"

"Fuck if I know, they didn't say. Doesn't matter, I got the record. Most villain points. I won."

Mitsuki shook her head, now it made sense. He hadn't seen the list behind him yet. He's so caught up on one thing, he never bothered to look.

"Yeah, you sure did good. Too bad you did such a shit job getting rescue points."

Katsuki's smirk faltered, "The fuck are you talking about? Rescue points?"

Pointing at the projection Mitsuki couldn't hide her smirk, "Learn to finish what you're watching before you start running your mouth, 3rd place. Now I'm going to call a friend to send some congratulations. You keep your damned voice down, don't want her hearing your screaming."

Mitsuki turned and closing the door behind her, left Katsuki alone looking confused.

"3rd place? What the fuck is she talking about?"

Turning around, Katsuki finally saw the scoreboard.

"WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT?!"

"I TOLD YOU TO KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN!"

A few days after receiving their acceptance letters, Izuku and Ochako along with Katsuki were called into the principal's office to go over their acceptance into U.A. The three had mostly stayed quiet as the man spent most of the time self-congratulating his school and his own 'incredible' and 'inspiring' leadership. That must have been the reason that three of his schools students were getting into the greatest hero school in the country. After staying just long enough to let the man rub his own ego, the three were excused.

Now outside, Izuku let out a long groan as he walked beside Ochako, "Man, I'm glad that's over. All he needed was a copy of our acceptance letters for their records. How'd that become a ten-minute meeting?"

Ochako crossed her arms and gave out a huff of annoyance. Her cheeks puffed out as she grumbled under her breath. Izuku glanced over at her, not sure what had her in such a bad mood, "Uraraka? What's wrong?"

Stopping, Ochako rubbed the bridge of her nose, "That principal is a jerk."

Izuku turned his face upward as he thought about that, "I'd go more with boring, than anything. He sure knows how to talk about himself. The way he went on, it was almost like he thought he had taken the test."

"Didn't what he said bother you?"

"Um you'll need to be a little more specific. He said a lot of stuff in there."

"He said it was a miracle of miracles that you got in."

"Oh. That? Well...," Izuku shrugged his shoulders, "I've had worse stuff said to me."

Ochako raised her hands, along with her voice in exasperation, "He's our principal! He's not supposed to say that kind of stuff to his students!"

"You've been to this school for how long, and you still get surprised by this kind of stuff? We've had the same teachers right?" Izuku deadpanned.

Ochako recrossed her arms and started walking, "I really hate this school. It'll be so great once we get out of here."

Izuku moved to followed after her, opening his mouth to reassure her that they had both accomplished their goal, so she shouldn't let some cringy teachers and principal get to her, but before he could, someone grabbed ahold of his collar and yanked him into a shadowed alcove in the side of the school building. Slammed against the wall, Izuku's eyes watered after the back of his head bounced off the concrete. Dazed, and blinking away the stars in his eyes, Izuku hopped against all odds that the person holding him by the collar was not who he thought it was. That for once, when something horrible happened to him at school, or anywhere really, it wasn't the same person it always was.

Don't be Kacchan. Don't be Kacchan.

When Izuku was finally able to focus on his attacker, his heart sank. It was indeed Katsuki that had him grabbed him. Because of course it was.

"You little shit."

And he's in a mood today. Great.

Finally getting a good look at him, Izuku was taken aback from not just the anger emanating from the other boy, but the look of absolute hatred he wore. A look Izuku hadn't seen since the start of the school year, when Katsuki had learned that he was also applying for U.A. Izuku tried to step to the side, but Katsuki only tightened his grip and pushed Izuku all the more into the wall.

"I told you. I fucking told you to not go to U.A."

Katuski's voice quaked as he shook with barely controlled rage. His hands were smoking, he very clearly wanted to blow Izuku up and was only just holding himself back.

I guess he doesn't want to take too big a risk of getting in trouble so soon to starting at U.A.

"Kacchan…"

"I was supposed to be the only one to get into U.A. My legacy was supposed to start here, when people looked back they were going to see how much better I was than everyone else."

Izuku wasn't sure what to do. He was walking a razor's edge right now, and any mistake, be it saying the wrong thing, or even doing nothing, could set Katsuki off.

"Now? Now my dream has been torn to pieces. But that wasn't enough was it? Not only did you take my dream, you went and embarrassed me in the exam."

Gulping, Izuku recalled the scores from the practical exam. With the addition of the rescue points, he had gotten first place, while Katsuki had gotten third.

"Kacchan, you got the highest villain point score ever recorded at U.A! How is that embarrassing!?"

Katsuki seethed, "I got third place behind you, you shitty Deku. I was behind someone with a lower score!"

"But the rescue points…" Izuku tried to explain calmly, but was cut off.

"Are bull shit. The test was to get the highest score from destroying those robots. I destroyed the most, and got the highest score!"

Izuku could feel his heart pumping in his chest and hear is thundering in his ears. His flight or fight instincts were kicking into overdrive. Katsuki was so close to snapping. If that happened, I think I always knew Kacchan and I would have to fight each other eventually. We're both aiming for the top. But here? Now? Like this?

"So here's what you are going to do Deku. You are going to tell me how you and that round bitch cheated. 'Cause that's the only way the two of you could have passed that damned test."

Izuku felt his fight or flight instincts take a sudden step back as a new feeling filled him. Righteous indignation. He could deal with Katsuki insulting him. Belittling him. He's dealt with it almost his whole life, but to hear him talk about Ochako like that. Knowing just how hard she worked, and why she pushed herself. That upset him more than he expected. Much more than he expected. Worries about consequences from a fight vanished. Reaching up, Izuku grabbed hold of Katsuki's wrists and squeezed down hard.

"Kacchan. Don't you dare say that."

Katsuki was startled but he quickly brushed that aside. More smoke waft from his hands as he tightened his grip, burning Izuku's collar.

"What the fuck did you say to me?"

Izuku didn't flinch back, "I told you to not say that. I don't care what you say about me," Izuku pushed himself away from the wall and against Katsuki, forcing the boy to step back, "I really don't. But I will not let you talk about Uraraka like that."

Izuku took another step forward, forcing Katuski to lose some more ground before he anchored himself, not willing to let Izuku push him any further backwards.

"Uraraka worked hard to make it through that exam. For months, and months she made herself strong Kacchan. And I won't let you smear her, just because you're jealous she did better than you."

"You're not going to let me ? How the fuck you going to stop me, you shitty Deku."

Izuku let his quirk flare to life, bathing himself in a bright green glow. The alcove was empty, so he didn't have much he could use against Katsuki, but he made sure the other boy knew he would do whatever he could.

For a few more seconds boy boys stared each other down, then Katsuki ripped his hands free from Izuku's grip. Absently he rotated his wrists some, loosening them and trying to get a little more feeling back into his hands before shoving them into his pockets, "This is your only warning. You stay out of my way, or I'll blow you to bits. Got it!?"

Turning on his heel, Katsuki walked away. Izuku closed his eyes, releasing his quirk and a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"The fuck do you want Round Face?"

Izuku's eyes snapped back open.

Katsuki had been leaving, but his path was now blocked by Ochako, who wasn't just standing in his way, but had walked right up to him and was now toe to toe, and face to face. He couldn't see her fully since Katsuki was blocking his view, but her hands were clenched into fists so tight, her knuckles were white. When she spoke, she kept her voice low, so Izuku could only pick out a few words.

"If ... touch ... again ... do more … float … so high … splat … Understand?"

Izuku couldn't hear Katsuki's reply, if he had said anything at all. After a few brief tense seconds, Katsuki brushed past Ochako, though since neither was willing to stand aside for the other, their shoulders slammed into each other. If Katsuki was surprised at how hard it had been to try and move Ochako, he didn't show it. Glaring down at her as she held her ground, before stomping off. After watching Katsuki finally leave she whirled around and ran towards Izuku, her anger gone in a flash, replaced with concern and worry. The quick mood change was enough to throw Izuku for a bit of a loop.

"Oh gosh, Deku, I'm so sorry! I should have noticed you had disappeared sooner. I just thought you were being quiet." Her hands waved about as she fretted over him, "Are you okay? Your collar is all burnt up! He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm fine. Hit my head on the wall, but-!"

Izuku clamped his mouth shut when Ochako got even closer, so she could rub a hand over his head. Her fingers brushing through his hair, felt uncomfortably good. Distracted, Izuku wasn't ready when her fingers pressed against the back of his head, causing him to wince and suck in a quick breath through his teeth.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Much gentler, Ochako brushed her fingers over the same spot, feeling the small bump. Pulling her hand back, Ochako examined her fingers and let out a relieved sigh, "At least you aren't bleeding."

"Yeah, when Kacchan grabbed me, he slammed me against the wall. Guess I got lucky he didn't do it too hard."

"Bakugou…"

Before Izuku could reassure her that he was fine, a sound he had never heard before reached his ears and stopped him dead in his tracks. It took him several tries before he could definitely assure himself that he hadn't misheard.

Did...did Uraraka just growl?

Doing his best to ignore the funny feelings that started to bubble to the surface, Izuku quickly moved to calm Ochako down, not wanting her to get upset over something he saw as trivial, "Hey, Uraraka. Hey, I'm fine. Like you said, no bleeding. It's just a little lump. It'll probably be gone before tomorrow morning."

"You're sure you're okay? We could go to the nurse's office if you want."

Izuku waved the idea off, "I'm fine. Really, it's not that big a deal."

Ochako sighed, "My best friend was just assaulted. I'm allowed to make that into a big deal, Deku."

"Come on, Uraraka. I wouldn't go that far. Kacchan and I were just having an… aggressive discussion."

Rolling her eyes Ochako simply said, "Uh huh. I happened to hear some of it too."

"Oh you did? How much did you hear exactly?"

"Just around when Bakugou asked how we cheated to pass the test."

"Oh."

"So Deku two things," Ochako smiled at Izuku, which coupled with the fact she was still so close to him, brought a blush to his cheeks, "One, thank you for standing up to Bakugou for me. It means a lot to me to know you think so highly of me."

"Of course Uraraka! After everything you've done, you deserve to be respected."

"The same goes for you too."

Izuku blinked, "Huh?"

Ochako poked Izuku in the chest, "You did everything I did. So if I deserve respect, you better believe that you do too."

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "I suppose it does. Old habits, I guess."

"Well, work on it. I don't want to hear you being okay with anyone talking badly about you. Don't just stand up for me, stand up for yourself too."

"I'll be sure to try, Uraraka." Izuku paused then sighed, "Of course, the moment I do that with Kacchan, it's going to lead to a fight for sure."

Ochako's smile turned confident, and a little aggressive, "And you'll kick his butt!"

Izuku laughed, but didn't argue with her. Ochako's confidence aside, while that fight was probably inevitable, it didn't mean he had to look forward to it. After all, he had been hit by some of Kacchan's explosions before, and he was in no hurry to deal with that. Plus, there was a small part of him that held onto the hope that they could salvage their relationship before they came to blows.

"And you're sure you have everything?"

"Yes Mom."

What about tissues? Do you need those?"

Izuku finished tying his shoes, "Yes mom, I have those packed up. I have everything I need."

"Are you sure? I can check your things if you want."

"Mom, please! I have to hurry. Ochako just texted me to let me know she's at the gate. I don't want to keep her waiting."

Reaching for the door, Izuku stopped when Inko called out to him one last time, "Izuku!"

"Yeah, Mom?"

Inko, looked at her son, dressed in his new U.A. uniform and smiled, "You're really cool."

Izuku smiled brightly, "I'm off, Mom."

"Stay safe."

Closing the door behind him Izuku hurried down the stairs and towards the front gate of the apartment complex where Ochako was waiting for him.

"Izuku! You ready for our first day?"

Coming to a stop, Izuku was left stunned when he saw Ochako. Nothing about her had changed since the last time he had seen her last night, but seeing her in her new school uniform brought a flush to his cheeks. She looks really good in that uniform.

Shaking his head, Izuku walked up to Ochako and the two made their way to school. As they walked down the sidewalk, Izuku noticed that occasionally Ochako would be sneaking glances at him. After catching her for a fourth time, Izuku decided to ask what was wrong, "Is there something on my face Uraraka?"

"No, no. Your face is fine. It's just...Deku, what's wrong with your tie?"

For the rest of the walk to school as well as when they were walking down the halls Izuku was busy fending off Ochako's hands as she picked at his tie.

"Uraraka, it's fine."

"Grr, no it's not. That's not how ties are supposed to look. Come here and let me fix it!"

Swatting her hands away, Izuku adjusted his tie back into shape, "I watched a video on how to tie this. It's fine."

Ochako crossed her arms in a huff, "Ties are not supposed to be less than six inches long Deku."

Izuku ignored her and continued on, "Come one, our class is just down...here?"

Startled, Izuku trailed off and came to a stop. Is that?

Much to Izuku's surprise, in front of the door to his new class stood two people he hadn't been sure he'd ever see again. Tenya and Hitsoshi.

Tenya noticed them first and raised a hand in greeting, "Midoriya, it is you."

Hitoshi followed up behind, "Told you he was going to make it."

"Iida, Shinso, you both passed! That's great. Are you both in 1-A?"

"We are indeed. I assume that you are as well, unless you got lost on your way to 1-B?"

Izuku shook his head, "Nope, I'm 1-A. It's great seeing you guys again."

"Midoriya, you knew there was more to the test than what we were told, didn't you?"

"Huh?"

"The rescue points, you must have figured it out. I didn't suspect anything until after the test."

Izuku blinked and looked over at Hitoshi for clarification, "He thinks you took on the zero pointer because you knew heroic action got you points."

"OH! Oh no, I had no idea about that."

"Told you so, Iida."

Tenya adjusted his glasses, "Incredible, to take on such a task without any thought to potential rewards. You are truly better than me. Please forgive my action from before. It was wrong of me to judge you so harshly during the test."

Izuku waved his hands around, trying to put the other boy at ease, "No it's okay, really…:

A cough from behind Izuku grabbed all three of the boys attention. Ochako looked at the two students, her gaze lingering on Tenya as she recognized him from the exam orientation, "You know these people Deku?"

Izuku gasped as he realized he hadn't given Ochako a chance to introduce herself, "I'm sorry Uraraka, um yeah. These are the two I, um...ran into during the test."

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, "He means the two he saved. I'm Shinso Hitoshi."

"Uraraka Ochako… have we met before?"

"I ran into you when you were about to get into a fight with that loud blond guy."

"Oh! Yeah! I remember now."

Tenya stepped forward, "and I am Iida Tenya. You are an acquaintance of Midoriya's?"

Ochako tried to not let her voice get to curt, "I'm his best friend."

Tenya bowed deeply, "Then I must also apologize to you as well. You were right to defend your friend after my unjust and callous words. Please accept my most humble apologies."

Ochako blinked a few times before smiling, "Hey, we're all starting fresh here. And it seems like you're already on good terms with Deku. So let's just say it's water under the bridge and move on."

"You are a truly kind and forgiving person. Thank you."

Ochako sighed in relief. Perhaps she had been a little harsh in her opinion of Tenya. While he was definitely uptight, he didn't seem like a bad person, and he seemed genuinely thankful for Izuku saving him. And Hitoshi seemed like a good person as well. Plus he had stood up to Katsuki, so that was a plus in her book.

We haven't even gotten into the class yet and Deku is making friends. It's nice to see I'm not the only one here that sees how great a person Deku is.

Before the four could head into class however, a loud yell grabbed everyone's attention.

"IT IS YOU, IZUKU!"

In a flash, someone rushed past the group and tackled Izuku to the ground. Everyone stood in shock not sure how to process what had just happened. Ochako gapped, wide-eyed, as some girl sat, no, bounced on Izuku's lap, laughing hysterically. Iida's hands chopped at the air as he tried to comprehend the utter disrespectful display he had just seen. "Who tackles a fellow student like that?" and other such thoughts running through his head. Hitoshi just rubbed his head wondering what kind of crazy situation his new friend was going to drag him into if this happened on the first day, before classes had even begun.

Izuku once he had recovered from the initial shock of getting knocked to the ground, finally looked up to see who it was that was on top of him. Izuku promptly determined it was a girl sitting on his lap. Her skirt had ridden up more than enough to show him much of her pale, but healthy looking thighs. Looking further up Izuku was drawn the the girls wide, fanged, grin and flushed cheeks. Then Izuku's green eyes met the girl's yellow eyes. Those piercing eyes that brought back memories from months ago. Memories of scary thugs and an almost kiss rushed back to the forefront of his mind.

"You remember me right? My cute hero remembers me, doesn't he?"

"T-Toga?!"

Izuku couldn't believe it. Was this really the same girl that he pulled from those thugs in that alley? She was cleaned up, all the grime washed away. Her hair was not hanging loosely by her shoulders but tied back into two messy buns, and she no longer wore the ripped and tattered old uniform but the same U.A. uniform that Ochako wore, minus the tights. No, the bright yellow eyes were the same, and the wide grin and fangs were the same. This was the same girl.

"Toga, is that you?"

Himiko's hands covered her blushing cheeks as her smile widened and she began to giggle and bounce uncontrollably, giving Izuku an immediate reminder that she wasn't just sitting on him, but straddling him.

"You do remember me! I knew my hero wouldn't forget about me. I just knew it."

Himiko let her hands fall from her face and as she leaned down, pressing them into the floor on either side of Izuku's head. If not for the fact that the two were in the middle of a school hallway, their position would look a lot like a pair of lovers. Licking her lips, and grinding herself just enough to make Izuku suck in a sharp gasp, Himiko brought her face right next to Izuku's, "You have no idea how long I've waited to see you again Izuku. And you know what?"

Izuku's throat was dry. His head was spinning so he was only just able to squeak out a soft, "What?"

The tip of Himiko's nose brushed against Izuku's and she huskily answered, "I think I still owe you that kiss, hero."

"EXCUSE YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO DEKU!?"

"I must insist that you stop this behavior at once. This public display is no way for heroes in training to act!"

"There's a janitor's closet down that way if you need it."

Himiko pulled back and fixed the group with an annoyed glare, "Do you mind? We're having a moment here."

"HAVING A MOMENT!?"

Himiko waved Ochako away, "You're being loud. Go away. I want to be with my Izuku without interruptions.

Hitoshi could actually hear Ochako's patience snap. He also realized he and Tenya were standing between Ochako and Himiko. And that was definitely not the safest place to be. Moving fast, he pulled the other boy, who was still going on about proper decorum, to the side giving Ochako all the room she needed.

"Get off Deku now!"

"No. Who are you anyway? And what's a Deku?"

Ochako fumed as she pointed at Izuku, "That's Deku! My best friend that you are sitting on! Now get off of him!"

Himiko rolled her eyes at Ochako, and looked backed down at Izuku. Smiling sweetly at him, she rolled her hips just enough to pull another soft whimper and gasp from Izuku, "Well it sure doesn't feel like Izuku wants me to get off him. So I'll stay put I think."

Ochako bristled and stomped forward, grabbing the other girl and yanking her off. Through sheer force of will, she made sure to keep her pinky out so she didn't activate her quirk and launch Himiko down the hall.

While Himiko pulled free of Ochako's grip and went about straightening her uniform, Tenya and Hitoshi helped a neon red Izuku back to his feet. Once he was sure Izuku was okay, Tenya dramatically pointed at Himiko, "Explain yourself! Who are you? I don't recall seeing you at the entrance exam. If you are a general studies student, you should head off to your class at once!"

Ochako crossed her arms, "You can also explain how you know Deku while you are at it."

Himiko glared at Ochako, before turning her attention back to the others, "Hi I'm Toga Himiko. Nice to meet you all."

The normalcy of Himiko's introduction threw the three for a loop. On instinct they each quickly replied back.

"Iida Tenya."

"Shinso Hitoshi."

"Uraraka Ochako"

Himiko smiled brightly, though it was less manic than the one she had given Izuku, "It's so nice to meet you. Oh and here," Reaching into her book bag, Himiko pulled out a folded piece of paper, "This letter says I'm supposed to report to class 1-A. See."

Handing the letter to Tenya, he and the others gave it a quick look over. Ochako tilted her head in confusion, "It's an acceptance letter, but it's different than the one Deku and I got…"

Hitoshi nodded, "Yeah it's not like mine at all, strange."

Tenya continued reading through the full thing before stiffening, "This is a recommendation acceptance letter!"

Ochako yanked the letter out of Tenya's hands, "Wait, seriously!?"

"I guess that explains why we didn't see her during the exam," Hitoshi reasoned.

Izuku, now recovered from getting pounced on looked over at Himiko in awe, "That's incredible Toga. You must be incredibly talented to get a recommendation."

Himiko cheeks flushed as her smile started to take a more manic state, "More determined than anything. U.A. was my best chance to see you again, so I did what...was necessary to get in."

Everyone turned to look at Izuku, who was doing his best impression of a deer caught in the headlights. Before anyone else could ask any more questions Tenya glanced at a nearby clock on the hallway wall, "Ah the bell is about to ring! We don't want to be anymore late than we are!"

Izuku looked at the time, confused, "But the warning bell is still a ways off?"

"Heroes in training must be in their seats at least ten minutes before the first bell!" Tenya stepped forward and after taking the letter back from Ochako, handed it to Himiko, "While it sounds like you and Midoriya have a history, it would be good for everyone to remember that we are aspiring heroes and must conduct ourselves accordingly. Such public displays are inappropriate. Also, we have stood out in the hallway for far too long. If we do not hurry, we will be late for our first day."

Himiko stared at Tenya blankly, "Wow, you are a special kind of person, aren't you."

Tenya, missing the sarcasm, smiled proudly, "Thank you. Now let us head into class, while we still have time to find our seats before the bell rings."

As Tenya hurried into the class, Izuku followed behind him still a little bewildered after everything. Unconventional meetings aside, Izuku was feeling happy.

I can't believe Toga is here. I always did wonder what happened to her after that day. I guess if she's here everything worked out for her. And I ran into Shinso too. I'm so glad he was able to make it. He helped me so much when I was trying to save Iida, it'd be horrible if he didn't pass the exam. And Iida. He's nowhere near as scary as he seemed back during the test. What a great start to the school year. I wonder who else is in class, I can't wait to see what everyone's quirks…. Oh… oh no….

Ochako, noticing Himiko was giving Izuku her undivided attention again, quickly stepped between the two. To prevent any more displays or other actions from the girl. Himiko narrowed her eyes at Ochako, not pleased at being cut off. Ochako returned the glare before following after Izuku, who was oblivious to the whole exchange. Hitoshi, who had seen the glares, chose to stay off to the side, and out of harm's way.

Ochako rubbed her head, the school day hadn't even started yet and she was dealing with whatever this situation was. This was not how she envisioned her start of U.A. going. Hopefully nothing else would jump out and catch her by surprise.

Ignoring the murderous glare she was getting from Himiko, Ochako followed after Izuku into their classroom but came to a quick stop when she saw he had stopped only a few feet into the room, blocking everyone else behind them.

"Deku? You gonna move?"

Izuku looked back and Ochako was startled by an unbelievably fake smile on his face. She knew what Deku's smile looked like, and that was not it. He actually looked a little panicked.

"Deku what's up?"

Behind her, she could hear Himiko mumble something incoherent to herself when she looked at him, while Hitoshi actually agreed with her thoughts, "what's got him all jumpy after everything else that just happened?"

Izuku stepped to the side, so Ochako could have a view of the classroom and students.

"Look who's in class with us Uraraka."

Ochako blinked and then scanned the room. Some of the students were talking amongst themselves, while some were giving them inquisitive glances, making Ochako wonder how much of the incident they had heard. While a little embarrassing, it was nothing to get panicked over. She doubted they could have heard everything, though the girl with purple hair and what looked like audio jacks coming out of her ears, was whispering to a pink-skinned girl and both were looking right at them.

But Deku wasn't looking at them. So who could Deku be talking about? ...Oh. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?

There leaning back in a chair, feet propped up on his desk, and an ugly sneer on his face was Katsuki Bakugou.

Izuku waved at him while laughing nervously and looking like he wanted to cry.

Ochako blinked as she realized that once again she and Izuku would be spending another year with Katsuki, "Motherfucker."

Notes:

It's surprising how much you can get written when you are stuck at an airport ALL DAY!

So yeah, here we are. Our heroes have finally made it to U.A. And now that they've made it, their lives are about to get really interesting. Thank you all who've been reading my little story up till now. I'm sure it taking over 100k words and so many months to reach this point was exhausting for you.

Big thanks to Creston and Tmalasia for beta reading this chapter!

Please feel free to leave reviews, comments or critiques!