Chapter 3: Training 'til the Entrance Exam

Toshinori Yagi should have seen Hitoshi Shinso coming.

When his chosen successor showed off her best friend in the form of young Kodai, he was quite surprised. While he was glad she didn't spill anything regarding One For All, he still wasn't excited at the fact that someone else would be with them while cleaning up the beach.

But honestly, he couldn't oppose it. She was young Uraraka's friend, someone she trusted. Plus, he still didn't like Kodai's thousand-yard stare. Especially when directed at him.

Seriously, what'd he do to deserve it? Murder her father, or something?

But when young Shinso arrived, he was just as surprised as last time, but for completely different reasons. On the one hand, it was another person cutting into his time with young Uraraka, but on the other hand, his successor did save the boy from bullies, and even convinced him to work for his dream to become a Hero.

Honestly, All Might couldn't help but smile.

"You're leaving?"

It was now late July, and Ochako's first semester had ended. Starting tomorrow, it would be the first official day of summer break, and starting now, she would work even harder.

Shinso was on board at the idea of doubling their beach cleaning efforts, but…

"Mm," Yui nodded. "I'll be back by the end of August."

"Where are you going?" Shinso asked.

"Camping trip to the mountains," the black-haired girl answered.

Ochako relented. "Alright, we'll save you some trash, I guess."

Yui may not have shown it, but she was smiling on the inside.

"So, is everyone else coming, or not?" Fuyumi Todoroki asked, yawning.

It may have been summer vacation now, but as a teacher, Fuyumi still had plenty of work. Not only did she have to make sure that everything was ready for her students when they came back, but she also had a few more… duties she needed to take care of.

Starting with this little get-together in the Gunga Mountains.

"Or, everyone's coming all right," Melissa said, as she worked on her suit of armor. "Nejire-chan and Yui-chan are almost there. Everyone else will be taking the fast way here."

"Ugh, warp Quirks are such bullshit," she groaned. "Still, the sooner the better."

Honestly speaking, Fuyumi Todoroki could't wait to unleash her flames.

"You need a weapon."

"Hm?"

"I said you need a weapon," Uraraka said. "That, or some sort of support gear."

"Why would I need something like that?" Hitoshi asked, picking up another piece of scrap.

It had been a month since Kodai left, leaving the two of them to pick up garbage in the hot sun. His muscles ached, and he was regretting having such puffy hair right now, it was baking him alive. Still, he was grateful that Uraraka decided to help him train to become a Hero.

He even had muscles now!

"Because your Quirk and bare fists won't be enough! You need tools!" Uraraka exclaimed. "Like, I'm gonna get a helmet with my costume, maybe some gauntlets and springboard-shoes, too!"

"What sort of weapon would I even get?" he asked.

"I dunno, maybe a staff, or a whip? Ooh, maybe even a gun! Look, the point is, you need something to protect yourself. You're my friend, and I don't like seeing my friends get hurt!"

Hitoshi looked at Uraraka with a surprised look.

"What?" she asked.

"You called me your friend."

"Well, we're working together to become Heroes, aren't we? Plus, aside from you, I only have Yui-chan, and she's not always here," the brown-haired girl reasoned.

"Friends…" the purple-haired boy repeated.

A small smile crept up to his mouth.

"Hey, Eri," Shouta spoke in his usual calming tone. The red-eyed girl looked up from her drawing to the two adults, her big eyes full of trust. "We have something very important to ask of you."

"Am I in trouble?" the little horned girl asked.

"No, no. It's something else. Something big. A big decision." Emi paused before she continued, "Eri… how would you feel about us becoming your new mommy and daddy?"

The little girl's expression said it all.

"I'm back."

"Yui-chan!" Ochako exclaimed, hugging her friend.

"Sheesh, your eyebags are almost as bad as mine," Shinsho said.

"Yeah, did you not sleep well?" Ochako asked. "Also… why do you feel so hard?"

Yui pulled up her sleeve to reveal… a bunch of new muscles that weren't there before.

Ochako simply gawked, while Shinso let out a low whistle at the sight.

"So… did you save any trash for me?"

Toshinori had to admit, he was impressed at the sight.

When his successor began to clean up the beach, he expected her to finish maybe a month before the UA Entrance Exam. But instead, she and her little friends did it with three months to spare! There wasn't a single speck of trash when he arrived there that morning!

"Holy… stinking…" All Might got so excited that he buffed up by accident. "SUPER CRAP!"

"Like what you see, All Might?" Uraraka asked, smiling.

"Excellent work!" the No. 1 Hero laughed. "So… where are your friends?"

"Oh, I told Yui-chan and Shinso to take the day off, since there was only a little bit of trash left from my area to clean up. But hey, now it's clean! I did it!" she exclaimed.

"You did good, kid. I knew you had it in you."

"I'm just lucky that I had friends to keep me on track…"

"Now, for your reward, Ochako Uraraka!" he said, plucking a hair out of his head.

"Yes, sir!" the brown-haired girl exclaimed, excited as can be.

"Someone told me this once: There's a difference between being lucky and deserving. One's an accident, the other a reward. Never get the two confused! Take that to heart, young man! This gift… you earned it with your own valiant efforts! Now… EAT THIS!"

"..."

"..."

"Wha…?"

"To inherit my power, you've got to swallow some of my DNA, that's how it works!"

Uraraka simply stared in horror. "Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me…"

"Ugh…" Ochako belched in disgust.

It had been an hour since she swallowed the hair, but she could still taste the damn shampoo All Might used to wash it. It was strawberry flavored, and it did not help improve the flavor.

"I don't feel any different… bleugh…"

"One For All is probably still taking time to adjust to your body," All Might explained. "Tell you what, take the rest of the day off, we'll come back here tomorrow to test it."

"Yeah, sure."

It was a cool Sunday morning when the sun arrived on the beach. The waves were splashing towards the sand, and everything was peaceful and quiet. For now, at least.

"All right, young Uraraka, here's what you're gonna do," Yagi-sensei said. "You're gonna make a fist, and punch it towards the water. In order to summon your newfound power, clench your butt, and from the bottom of your heart, yell "SMASH!" You got all that?"

It was at that moment Ochako Uraraka realized that her mentor may have been the world's greatest Hero, but when it came to instructing, he was, uh… lackluster, to say the least.

"That has got to be the worst analogy I have ever heard."

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you much more. I was pretty much a natural when it came to using the power. Of course, I was twice your size and three times your mass when I first got it, so maybe that'll play into it… Uhh, new plan! Try to adjust the power to where you're comfortable!"

"Wait, so am I going all-out, or am I trying not to hurt myself?!" she asked.

"Uh, the second one, the second one! I don't want to get yelled at by Recovery Girl!"

"Okay…" she whispered to herself, as she tried to feel something, anything.

Uh, hello? One For All? Are you there?

Nothing.

Maybe I gotta summon it? Okay, think Ochako! What does All Might do every time he uses that power? Buff up? Yeah, that works! Okay, just imagine yourself bulking up like him!

She took a deep breath, concentrated, and…

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

…immediately felt her entire body cramp up.

STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP STOP!

As soon as she commanded that, her entire body stopped burning up.

"Ugh…" She suddenly felt really sore. Looking towards her mentor, she asked, "How'd I do?"

"Well, you didn't shatter your arms, so I would say that's a start!"

Ochako merely glared at him.

"Okay, but in all seriousness, you sort of started to… glow? Like, at first it seemed like your veins became red, then suddenly, pink lightning was shooting out of your body."

"Alright, so I got something to work… but the question still remains: Where exactly did it go wrong?" After thinking about it some more, Ochako nodded her head. "Let's try this again…"

Heading close to the water once more, Ochako closed her eyes and concentrated on summoning One For All once more, but this time, she did it slowly. She began to feel a small hum, and then consciously began to increase the percentage, one by one, until…

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

Turning off the Quirk, she smiled. "It worked."

Her skeleton of a mentor looked at her. "What worked?"

"Okay, so the first time around, you told me not to go all out, so I went the opposite direction, by starting small. However, it still was too much! So, this time, I just started from zero, and then went up a percentage at a time until it hurt me too much to continue," Ochako explained.

"Alright, how much can you go now?"

"I can power up to four percent comfortably, but once I hit five percent, my muscles cramp up, and it becomes too painful for me to maintain," the brown-haired girl said.

"Hmm… alright, so here's what we're gonna do: You'll spend half of your remaining time working on increasing your percentages, and the rest of it, you'll work on your original Quirk."

"Uhh… what about it?"

"Kid, I'll be real with you: One For All doesn't just increase your physical strength, it'll also increase the power behind your Quirk!" All Might explained. "For all we know, your Zero Gravity Quirk could now increase to full-blown gravity control! So, you'll have to re-learn your Quirk."

"I see… welp, guess I know what I'll be doing for the next three months…"

For the next week, Ochako was cautious with her Quirk. She didn't know exactly what it would be capable of now, so she had to make sure it was still usable for Hero work.

And she would very much prefer to keep her hands intact, thank you very much.

Back on the beach, Ochako picked up a rock with all five of her fingers. Watching it glow, she saw it float upwards. So far, so good. She could still use her original Quirk just fine.

But… Now what?

She still had her original Quirk, and she had All Might's super strength, kinda. But was that it? Inspecting the rock again, she touched it with her five fingers again, when suddenly –

BOOF!

It just rocketed towards the sand.

Ochako stared at the rock a bit dumbfounded, when she touched it again. It felt heavier. Touching it again, it became light again, and touching it once more, it became heavy.

To make sure she wasn't hallucinating, she went and grabbed a can of soda. Leaving it right there in the middle of the sidewalk, she touched it with all five of her fingers, and backed away. Then, instead of willing it to float, she did the exact opposite thing.

CRUNCH!

Ochako stared at the crushed can in amazement.

She could now increase and decrease an object's gravity upon touching it.

"So, how are you doing with weapons?" Ochako asked.

"Well, considering that whips seem kinda inappropriate, and due to the fact that guns aren't allowed in the hands of middle schoolers, I have settled with a staff," Shinso said.

"That's a good start," she smiled. "Show me your moves!"

Grabbing his wooden stick, Shinso smiled. "With pleasure."

For the past month, the three friends would always spar with one another on the empty beach, to make sure that they could hold their own against actual Villains. Ochako never used One For All, still trying to figure out how to explain the lightning to her friends, but she was still good.

However, she was still not as good as Yui. Whatever she was doing up in the mountains over the summer had not given her muscles just for show, those things had a purpose.

Her speed had increased phenomenally so, as if she was predicting her sparring opponent's next move, and for someone like Ochako, who needed to touch someone in order to use their Quirk, that speed Yui had gained was making it harder for Ochako to win.

She was still better than Shinso, that was for sure, but as he kept practicing with that staff he got, he was slowly but surely getting better, too. Definitely on par with Ochako.

She knew she needed to figure out One For All, and fast.

About a month later, Ochako was now experimenting with her newfound super strength.

Alright, if I increase it too much it hurts, but if it's too low, it'll be the equivalent of me just hitting something at normal strength, she thought to herself. I gotta find a good middle ground.

Activating that portion of One For All within her, she felt her veins heat up, and then suddenly… pink lightning erupted from all over her body. Keeping it at four percent, she looked over to the stack of rocks she had piled up on one after the other, like a sort of totem pole.

Alright, just… hit the rocks.

Breathing in and out, she let the lightning encircle her. Immediately, she opened her eyes, and launched from where she was at the sand towards the rocks in a massive burst.

BOOM!

Launching herself towards the air, she rocketed towards the rocks, making a fist.

SMMAAASSH!

POW!

The rocks shattered upon impact, and as Ochako tumbled back into the sand, the lightning still wrapped around her. Turning it off, she stood up, and saw that she had knocked over the rocks.

And my arms aren't in any pain… this is good… this is a start…

"Uh, what the fuck?"

Turning around, she saw that Shinso and Yui had arrived.

Shit. She had completely forgotten that today they were all supposed to spar together, and she had been caught red-handed. She had no idea how she was supposed to explain away the –

"Oh, your Quirk evolved."

Ochako looked at Yui, who still maintained her usual neutral expression, however, it was somehow… different. But she shook her head. Yui just offered her a way out.

"Oh no, you caught me!" she laughed. "Yeah, my Quirk, uh… evolved?"

Shinso looked unconvinced. "And you weren't planning to tell us until…?"

"Uh… it stopped hurting me?"

"What?"

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Shinso groaned, trying to wrap his head around the concept. "Your Quirk is no longer about nullifying gravity, but now a complete control of gravity?"

"Uh, kinda?" Ochako said, scratching the back of her head. "I can now both increase and decrease the amount of gravity on the things I touched, including on myself."

"Makes sense," Yui said. "You decreased your gravity to launch yourself from the ground, and then you increased it in your hand at the right moment, allowing you to crush those rocks."

Ochako was thanking whatever deity made Yui overanalyze the situation, because she herself knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to bullshit her way out of this on her own.

"Okay… what about the pink lightning?" Shinso asked, somewhat suspicious.

"I honestly have no idea," Ochako said. And that was technically true.

"Girl, I am so jealous of you right now," Shinso smirked.

It was now the day of the UA Entrance Exam.

Toshinori looked down at his successor and her friends. He had to admit, he was full of pride. The three of them had worked their tails off to get into their dream school. Young Uraraka may have been his successor to his Quirk, but all three of them were excellent in their own ways.

"Now, do you have everything you need?" he asked.

"Mm-hm," Uraraka nodded. "Papers, pens, tracksuits, all that jazz. We'll be fine!"

"Yagi-sensei, chill, were good," Shinso smiled. "We're not babies, we'll be fine."

"I know, but I still worry," he said. "Try not to get hurt."

"We won't," Kodai said, her stare still as unnerving as ever.

"Well then, I wish the three of you luck!"

The three students cheered, and headed off to grab their futures.

Staring up at the large, almost skyscraper-like building, Ochako, Yui, and Shinso were silently in awe. They were here. It was finally time to see if their hard work had paid off.

It was the hour of the UA Entrance Exam.

"Uraraka, am I seeing this correctly?" Shinso asked.

"If you aren't, then we're both seeing it wrong."

"Come on," Yui said, grabbing their hands. "We need to get in."

Walking towards the main building, the three of them were quiet, as they were seemingly nervous. Even with the training from Yagi, they still didn't know what to expect.

"Hey, aren't you the guy from the Sludge Villain –"

"SHUT UP!"

Snapping them out of their inner thoughts, the three friends turned around to see that a kind with spiky ash blond hair and piercing eyes was barking at some others to be quiet.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" Ochako exclaimed.

"Huh? Round Cheeks? The fuck you doing here?" he asked.

"I have a name, you know! It's Ochako Uraraka."

The blond growled, before relenting. "Katsuki Bakugou."

Ochako smiled. "Nice to meet you! These are my friends, Yui Kodai and Hitoshi Shinso –"

"I don't care," he interrupted her. "You can tell me once we're all in the Hero Course."

And just like that, he went into the building without saying another word.

"Well, that guy was certainly charming," Shinso said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Come on," Ochako said. "We'll be late for the exams."

Neither she nor Shinso noticed how Yui was glaring daggers at Bakugou the entire time.

With the written exams out of the way, it was time for the practical portions.

The lights in the auditorium came on, as a voice pierced the silence.

"What's up, UA Candidates?! Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ!" a Pro Hero with some really tall blond hair and sunglasses announced. "COME ON, LEMME HEAR YA!"

No one said a word.

"Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show! Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, okay? ARE YOU READY?! YEAH!"

Still nothing.

"Isn't that guy Present Mic?" Shinso asked next to Uraraka.

"Well, all the teachers are supposedly Pros, so it does make sense," she guessed.

"Like I said, today, you boys and girls will be conducting twenty minute mock battles in suburban settings! After I drop the mic here, you will head to your specified battle centers, sound good?"

So quiet, someone could hear a pin drop.

"Okay, okay! Let's check out your targets! There are three types of faux Villains in every battle center! You will earn points based on their level of difficulty, so choose wisely! Your goal in this trial is to use your Quirk to raise your score by shredding these Villains! But check it! Make sure you're keeping things heroic! Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?"

Ochako observed the screen in front of her, seeing the three different silhouettes of robots, with each of them listing a different point value. Pretty self-explanatory, honestly.

"Excuse me, sir but I have a question," a boy with glasses raised his hand.

"HIT ME!"

"On the print-out, you've listed four types of Villains, not three! With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful! We are exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan's most notable school! A mistake such as this won't do!"

"Alright, alright, Examinee 7111! Thanks for calling in with your request!"

The screen suddenly flashed to show a silhouette of a new robot.

"The fourth Villain type is worth zero points! That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way! There's one in every center, think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid! It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's… kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it, and try to focus on the ones at the top of the charts!" Present Mic said.

"Thank you very much," the boy bowed. "Please, continue."

"That's all I got for you today! I'll sign off with a little present, a sample of our school motto! As General Napoleon Bonapart once laid down, "A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes!" Now that's a tasty soundbyte! You ready to go beyond?"

Ochako smiled. It was showtime.

"LET'S HEAR A PLUS ULTRA!"

Still nothing.

"Good luck! Hope you practiced more than just hitting the books!"

The bus finally stopped, releasing the examinees.

As Ochako stepped out, she saw the massive walls that enclose Battle Center B.

Well, this is it, she thought to herself. Time to put this to the test.

She had bid farewell to both Shinso and Yui, who were at separate Battle Centers, to make sure that friends didn't work together, leaving Ochako all alone with strangers.

Ochako scanned around the area, noticing that most of the people there didn't seem worried. Were they that confident? Looking around a bit more, she saw –

Hey, it's Bakugou! Maybe I should go over and say hi!

Before she could, however, she felt someone grab her shoulder.

"He looks like he's trying to focus. What are you going to do? Distract him?"

"No!" she said, sounding offended. "I just wanted to wish him good luck!"

"Oh," the spectacled boy said, bowing. "Forgive me then. My name is Tenya Iida."

"Ochako Uraraka," she smiled. "Anyways, good luck."

"Good luck to you, too, Uraraka," Iida smiled.

As the boy with the dark blue hair left her alone, Ochako went back to wish Bakugou luck, only to see him crouching…? It looked as if he was a racer waiting for the referee to yell start.

Walking up right next to him, she got into a position similar to him, grabbing his attention.

"What are you doing, Round Cheeks?"

"Well, you seem to know something I don't, so I'm following your lead."

The blond grunted, but he let her stay. Calling upon One For All, her veins began to glow red and then the lightning appeared in all its pink glory, and just in time, too.

"RIGHT, LET'S START!" Present Mic's voice boomed from a nearby tower, grabbing everyone's attention. "GET MOVING! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL BATTLES! RUN, RUN, RUN, LISTENERS! YOU'RE WASTING AIRTIME HERE!"

And with that, they were off.

Author's Note: Wonder if anyone noticed anything… off.

Anyways, they may not be much, but they're still last week's comments, now answered!

PlayboyK: Thanks for the compliment, and I will be continuing this, indeed.

Emil: Yeah, Midoriya won't be showing up here for a long time. And even when he does, chances are you won't really be expecting it, especially with the role he's been given. Glad to see your heart melted at Eraserhead and Ms. Joke meeting Eri, that means I did something right. Let me know how you like the rest of the story!

But that's all for today! I've got a Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!

And until next time, enjoy your lives!

- Ernalore