Chapter 5: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

"Class 1-A… 1-A… come on, where is it?!" Ochako groaned.

Wonderful. First day of school, and she'll most likely be late due to the fact this school is so frickin' huge! Her family may have climbed up the social ladder years ago, but she was still a small fish in the big pond. And that meant getting overwhelmed by big buildings.

"YO, URARAKA!"

Looking towards the end of the hallway, she saw that both Yui-chan and Shinso were waving her down. "We knew you'd get lost, so we figured we'd be stationed outside the class!"

"Mm," Yui-chan nodded. "What he said."

"Come on, you're both making me sound incompetent!" she sighed, as she looked towards the gigantic door. "Huh. I guess they fitted the door for those with Mutant-type Quirks?"

"Guess so," Shinso said.

Ochako proceeded to stare at the door for a few seconds longer.

"Uraraka, it's a door. It's not gonna bite you."

"I know that!" she sputtered. "It's just… the most promising students in the country are waiting behind this door. I just hope everyone is nice. Like, what if we don't have what it takes?"

"You do," Yui gave her best friend a soft smile. "You got this."

"Hmm… you're right! I'm probably worried over nothing…"

Opening up the sliding door, the trio looked inside, to reveal…

"Take your feet off of that desk, now!"

"Huh?"

…Iida and Bakugou arguing over a desk, off all things.

"It's the first day, and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!" the blue-haired boy shouted, pointing at Bakugou's feet, which were on his desk.

"You're kidding me, right? Your old school put a stick up your ass, or were you born with it?"

"Oh, great, we're stuck with that jackass," Shinso muttered under his breath.

Yui agreed with him. "Just our luck…"

"Let's start over," Iida said. "I'm Tenya Iida from the Somei Private Academy…"

Bakugou looked physically disgusted at that. "Somei, huh? Ugh…"

Iida realized that he wouldn't be getting through to Bakugou, so he decided to interact with someone else. Looking over to the other side of the class, he saw… "Uraraka-san!"

And just like that, the entire class was staring at Ochako and her friends. Yay.

Ochako decided to roll with the punches and smile. "Good morning, Iida!"

"Uraraka… you realized that there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you? You must be very perceptive, and as a student, you're far superior to me!"

"What is he talking about?" Yui whispered to Shinso.

"I think he's referring to the Rescue Points…"

"Uhh, thank you, Iida! I'm glad you're here, too!" Ochako said, trying to move on to the next subject. "So, what do you think we're doing today besides orientation? I can't wait to –"

"If you're just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now."

Shinso's breathing came to a halt, as he looked at something behind Ochako. From her peripheral vision, the brown-haired girl knew that Yui was staring at something behind her, and so was Iida. Slowly turning around, she saw… a giant yellow caterpillar? '

"Welcome to UA's Hero Course," the caterpillar said, slurping down an entire jelly pack.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" was the thought going through every single student at the moment.

"It took eight seconds before you all shut up, that's not gonna work," the caterpillar said, as he shed his yellow cocoon and transformed into… a hobo? "Time is precious. Rational students would understand that. Hello, I'm Shouta Aizawa… your teacher."

OUR TEACHER?!

"Right, let's get to it," Aizawa said, grabbing into his sleeping bag and pulling out a UA gym uniform. "Put these on and head outside. You've got ten minutes. Get moving."

Emi Aizawa, known better by her Hero name, Ms. Joke, was pretty nervous.

Sure, she was a teacher before, but that was for Ketsubutsu, and there, she was a Hero Course teacher. But now? She would be a UA teacher for the Department of Management. Sure, she technically held a degree in business, but it would still be her first day teaching.

But she would do it. For Eri.

Over a year ago, she never thought she and her husband would end up taking care of a child together, let alone having a daughter. But it happened, the day she arrived at their doorstep.

A little girl, alone and afraid, who had gone through hardships that no child should have, was right in front of their apartment door. They took her in, and then brought her to Tsukauchi at the station, with Nedzu coming along as well.

The poor child had been hurt by criminals, once they never did catch, but was brought to their doorstep by someone who knew their identities, and their fighting styles.

Nedzu quickly realized that it was a security threat, and offered to move both Shouta and herself to an apartment complex closer to UA, while also providing her with a new job.

But that still left the girl, Eri.

She was told that the two Heroes she was dropped off to would care for her, and whoever her mysterious savior was, they were right. Since Shouta was the only one who could erase her Quirk in case of an emergency, he ended up becoming her de-facto guardian.

Building trust with Eri was difficult, especially when they took her to see Recovery Girl. The process was slow, but it paid off. With Shouta having expelled his entire class that year, he had all the time in the world to care for the little girl. And Emi would always be with Eri every free moment of her time, feeding her, holding her, comforting her when she had nightmares, always.

Then, in late December, Emi and Shouta asked if Eri would like to be officially adopted.

The fact that the paperwork was finalized on her birthday was the icing to the cake.

Now, four months later, in April, Emi breathed deeply to calm her nerves. Since both her parents would be busy, Eri would be in the care of Recovery Girl during school hours. She wished that she could stay with her little girl, but Emi was an adult with responsibilities.

Psyching herself up one last time, she slid open the door to the classroom which housed the First Years of the Business Course, shouting "GOOD MORNING!"

She smiled to see that every single student was at attention. "Hi there! My name's Ms. Joke, and I'll be your teacher for the year! I hope we have a year full of laughter!"

Looking over the classroom, they were about what she expected from Business Course students. Some of them wore round glasses and had slick hair, others had more exaggerated hairdos and facial expressions, body types of all varieties, but the one that caught her eye the most was the freckled kid with he black curly hair and the red eyes.

"Alright, now, for roll call! When I call your name, please stand up! Mikumo Akatani!"

The red-eyed kid with the black hair instantly shot up. "Here!"

Emi smiled, as she had a feeling that one student in particular would do some big things.

"""What? A Quirk Assessment Test?""" literally everyone asked.

"But orientation!" Ochako protested. "We're gonna miss it!"

"If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit," Aizawa said, holding up what appeared to be a phone-like device. "You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives. But you never got to use your Quirks in physical exams before. The country is still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn."

"Bakugou," Aizawa called out the blond. "You managed to get the most points in the Entrance Exam. What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in junior high?"

"Sixty-seven meters, I think."

"Right, try doing it with your Quirk."

Bakugou nodded, and stepped up towards the small white circle out in the field.

"Anything goes, as long as you stay in the circle. Go on, you're wasting our time."

"All right, man, you asked for it," Bakugou said, stretching a bit, before pulling back, and –

BOOM!

A massive explosion could be seen, as the ball was launched into the air.

"Whoa…" Ochako whispered, impressed.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a Pro Hero," Aizawa said, holding up the screen for everyone to see.

"Whoa, seven hundred and five meters, are you kidding me?!" a blond with a black lightning bolt across his hair gasped, while also sweating a bit, as did many others in the group.

"I wanna go! This looks like fun!" a girl with yellow horns, pink skin and hair cheered.

"This is what I'm talking about, using our Quirks as much as we want!" a guy with some really weird-looking elbows cheered, as a spiky redhead with sharp teeth smiled next to him.

"So, this looks fun, huh?" Aizawa whispered, just barely audible to everyone.

Ochako was now worried. "Huh?"

"You have three years here to become a Hero. You think it's gonna be all games and playtime? Idiots," Aizawa said, forming a sadistic smile. "Today, you will compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately."

"""HUUUH?!""" everyone shouted in disbelief.

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs, understand?" Aizawa said, lifting up his hair and showing off an even wider grin. "If that's a problem, you can head home right now."

"You can't send all of us home!" Ochako protested, despite a part of her mind telling her to keep her mouth shut. "I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, that isn't fair!"

"Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry Villains? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities?" Aizawa asked. "No! The world is full of unfairness. It's a Hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a Pro, you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink! For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond, Plus Ultra-style. Show me it's no mistake that you're here."

Everyone was silent, but ready to take on that challenge.

"Now then, we're just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin."

The first test was the 50-meter dash.

Ochako was paired up with some blond guy that had a giant tail. The two of them took their positions, and the brown-haired girl powered up One For All inside her.

As the pink lightning around her crackled, the robot announced, "Get set…"

BANG!

The shot was fired, and the racers were off. The guy with the tail was using it as a bouncepad, launching himself and gaining speed, but that was nothing compared to just five percent of the power Ochako was using to rush across the field, speeding past him.

"3.31 seconds!"

"5.49 seconds!"

The second test was the grip strength.

Overall, Ochako did pretty well, thanks to One For All…

…but that was nothing compared to Yui.

The black-haired girl used her Quirk to make the device larger, allowing her to use the leverage of both her arms and legs to bring up her score into the triple digits.

After that, there was the standing long jump.

Ochako used five percent once again to launch herself across the sand pit, in a similar manner to what Bakugou did with his explosions, and what the French guy did with his laser.

Yui, meanwhile, didn't use her Quirk to help her on this one. She simply stretched and jumped like a normal person, but somehow managed to fly past the sand trap.

Clearly, despite whatever she was doing over the summer, she didn't skip leg day.

Shinso, meanwhile…

BOOF!

…fell right in the middle of the sand.

"Ow."

"Are you okay?" Ochako called out to him.

"Yeah, I'm good," Shinso answered back. "Just hurt my dignity."

The repeated side steps were good, overall.

Shinso was able to make it into the double-digits with the limited time that was provided, thanks to the physical and combat training he had been doing for the last ten months.

However, Yui had the same type of training as he did, along with whatever the hell she did while on hiatus, so she managed to do a little better than him.

Both their scores were blown out of the water by Ochako's.

Thanks to the power bestowed to her by All Might, the side steps were a breeze. In fact, to some of the students, it looked like a live-action recreation of that one anime scene.

You know, the one featuring the bald guy that was super strong.

Next up was the ball throw.

Ochako smiled. She didn't need One For All for this one. Her own Quirk was good enough to do the job, and it deserved to shine a little. Removing the gravity from the ball, the brown-haired girl simply threw it up with a non-powered arm, and watched it float away.

And float away… and float away… and float away…

As soon as it was out of sight for everyone, Aizawa showed her score to the class.

"""INFINITY?!"""

"That's insane! How is that possible?!" the electric-hair guy protested.

"Shinso, you're up," Aizawa said, as he tossed him a new ball.

The purple-haired boy gulped, as he walked into the circle. He looked over to his teacher, and asked, "So, just to be clear, anything is fine, as long as I stay in the circle right?"

"As long as the ball leaves the circle out of your hand, you're good."

"Okay…" he said, as he turned towards Ochako. "Uraraka, I'm sorry in advance."

"What are you sorry about –?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, she stopped. Ochako felt a jolt through her body, but it was gone as soon as it occurred. She was motionless, and her eyes were in a haze.

"Please enter the circle and throw the ball for me, using your Quirk," Shinso asked politely.

Ochako slowly shuffled towards the circle, her movements robotic. Her vision was foggy, like someone had placed a gradient filter over her vision. The brown-haired girl could think, but not talk. She knew what this was, but she never thought she would experience it firsthand.

This is Shinso-kun's Brainwashing.

As she was entering the circle, Shinso handed her the ball, and then stepped away from her, giving Ochako enough room to throw it, but to not go out of bounds himself.

Ochako knew better than to fight it. Shinso may have improved enough to pass the Entrance Exam, but he was still at risk of being at the bottom of the fitness exam. Her friend needed help, and since Aizawa seemed to be allowing this legal loophole, she would help him.

Revving up her arm, she prepared to use Zero Gravity and throw it, when –

She saw something.

Out of the corner of her eye, she was eight figures looking at her. They were dark and foggy, almost like some sort of ghosts. Their eyes glowed, and they seemed to be watching her from the dark. Suddenly, she saw several colors wrap around her, her body heating up, and –

KRAK-BOOM!

She threw the ball.

But she didn't use Zero Gravity.

"Hrrk!"

Pain suddenly entered her mind, and the Brainwashing was gone. Looking around her, she saw that two of her fingers were broken, and that Shinso was on the ground, looking terrified.

"What was that?"

Turning around, Ochako saw that her teacher's hair was now floating, his eyes glowing red, and the scarf around his neck was unfurled, revealing yellow goggles underneath.

"I… I can't feel my Quirk…" Ochako realized.

Shinso's eyes widened, as he whispered, "Holy shit, that's Eraserhead…"

The other students began whispering to themselves about who exactly Eraserhead was, with some of them saying he worked in the down-low, but his voice cut them off.

"Maybe you didn't hear me clearly: What was that?" he asked again, with more emphasis. "I saw what you did to that zero-pointer, how you were holding back the entire time before to make sure you didn't break your body, just like how you have today. So, what happened?"

"I don't know!" Ochako yelped, getting nervous. "I was keeping my Quirk at five percent the entire time! I… I think that I kinda snapped myself out of Shinso's Quirk by accident…"

"Hmm…" Aizawa growled, but relented. "Fine. Make sure it doesn't happen again. But… the good news is that, despite the injuries, the throw was successful."

Pulling up the device, the screen showed the ball had gone 705.3 meters.

"Wait, you're gonna allow that?!" the tailed boy said. "He –"

"Shinso used his Quirk to his advantage, using all the available tools he had," Aizawa cut off the student. "He thought outside the box, and his ingenuity paid off. He earned his score."

As the two students fell back in line, Yui asked, "Is your finger okay?"

"Sure, it's fine," she lied. She would get it healed later.

After that, Ochako had to fight through the pain, as she and the rest of the class finished up the last of their fitness tests. She was exhausted, and thankful that it was finally over.

"Alright, time to give you your results," Aizawa said to the students. "I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably already have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list, it's not worth going over each individual score."

1. Momo Yaoyorozu.

2. Shoto Todoroki.

3. Katsuki Bakugou.

4. Ochako Uraraka.

5. Tenya Iida.

6. Fumikage Tokoyami.

7. Mezo Shoji.

8. Mashirao Ojiro.

9. Eijiro Kirishima.

10. Mina Ashido.

11. Yui Kodai.

12. Koji Koda.

13. Rikido Sato.

14. Tsuyu Asui.

15. Yuga Aoyama.

16. Hanta Sero.

17. Denki Kaminari.

18. Kyoka Jiro.

19. Hitoshi Shinso.

20. Toru Hakagure.

OH, THANK GOD, I'M NOT OUT! Shinso screamed in his mind.

Everyone's cheers about their positions were short-lived, as the invisible girl, Toru Hakagure, began crying. The girl with the earphone jacks, Kyoka Jiro, comforted her, as did a few others, while Ochako stared down Aizawa in her anger.

"And I was lying, no one is going home."

Dead silence.

"That was just a logical ruse to make sure you gave it your all in the tests!" he smiled.

"""WHAAAT?!""" the majority of the class screamed.

"I'm surprised that the rest of you didn't figure that out," the other black-haired girl, Momo Yaoyorozu, said. "I'm sorry, I guess I probably should have said something."

"That was pretty nerve-racking, huh?" Hanta Sero, the guy with the weird elbows, said.

"Nah, I'm always down for a challenge," Eijiro Kirishima, the redhead, smiled.

"That's it, we're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom, read it over before tomorrow morning," Aizawa said, as he handed Ochako a piece of paper. "Uraraka, take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared. That goes for all of you."

"Aizawa, that was a rotten move," a booming voice said.

Shouta didn't have to even look to know who it was.

"All Might… so you were watching. No talk shows today?"

"A logical ruse? That's cute, but you're not exactly known for being light-hearted. I read your file. Last year, you expelled an entire class of freshman students. You have no problem kicking students out, anyone you deem unworthy."

Shouta grinned. "Caught me. This class does not have zero potential, I admit, but if they had none… Well, it's cruel to let a kid keep dreaming of something that'll never come true."

"In your own strange way, you're a kind man, Aizawa. I know that," the Symbol of Peace said. "But, clearly, we are gonna have ourselves a problem in teaching methods."

"Ugh… I'm so tired…" Ochako groaned.

Her fingers were much better now, thanks to Recovery Girl, but every time that Quirk was used on her, Ochako's stamina plummeted. All she wanted to do now was go home and nap.

Iida approached her, asking, "How are the broken fingers doing?"

"Oh, they're doing fine, thanks to Recovery Girl."

"I was a bit concerned by Aizawa-sensei's approach to class, but I trust the school's judgment," Iida continued. "UA is the top program! Even so, lying is downright immoral..."

"Occhan. Glad to see you're still alive."

"Oh, Yui-chan, there you are!" Ochako smiled. "Hey, where's Shinso?"

"He wanted to talk to Aizawa-sensei by himself."

Shouta Aizawa was ready for the day to end.

It seemed that he got complacent when he expelled his entire class last year. That, or all that time taking care of Eri ended up making his teaching skills rusty.

Still, he did his job. And even though All Might criticized him for scaring the brats the way he did, the issues of today had finally been resolved. Sure, the rest of UA still had the whole day, with the orientation, and whatnot, so he couldn't visit Emi while she was still teaching.

Oh, well. He could just visit Eri who was hanging out with Recovery Girl –

"Eraserhead."

"Hm?" Turning around, Shouta saw that one of his students was following him.

"Oh, Shinso," he groaned. "What do you want?"

Pointing at Shouta, Shinso repeated, "You're Eraserhead."

"And do you have a problem with that, or what?"

"What? No!" Shinso denied that claim. "I'm like, your biggest fan! You're basically the No. 1 Underground Hero in Japan, videos and photographic evidence of you are nearly impossible to come by – Do you know how impossible it is to get Hero merch of you?!"

"What do you want?" Shouta growled.

Immediately dropping to his knees, Shinso said, "Teach me."

"What?"

"Look, chances are, you saw my practical exam. It was luck that I passed, and the only reason I didn't fail today was because someone else was physically weaker than me. I won't be able to Brainwash my way out of every scenario. I can use a staff, sure, but no good Hero is a one-trick pony. If I also knew how to use your capture weapon, I could be able to –"

Shouta cut him off. "Shinso, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, the answer is –"

"PAPA!"

No, no, no, no, no, Shouta whispered into his brain. Turning around, his fears were confirmed, as he saw his little girl accompanied by the UA nurse. "Eri, what are you doing here?"

"Granny Chiyo said it's good for me to get sunlight!" she exclaimed.

"Well, it's good to hear that Recovery Girl is looking after your physical well-being," he said, kneeling down. "But Papa is very busy right now. Could you please wait a bit?"

"Hmm… okay! But bring treats!" she smiled,

"Anything for my little princess," he smiled, as Eri left with Recovery Girl.

Now that he was alone again, Shouta turned towards Shinso.

"You have a daughter," Shinso simply stated, his expression blank.

"And you're not gonna tell anyone," Shouta hissed.

"Sure… but only if you train me."

"Deal."

Goddamn problem child…

"So… how was your first day at UA?"

"Pretty uneventful. But we both know that won't last for long… will it?"

Author's Note: And so a new player makes their way into the scene.

But, really? No comments? Unexpected, but I can live with it.

Anyways, you know what comes next! Schilling time!

If you wanna know more, visit my 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!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

- Ernalore