A/N: I completely forgot to post the next few chapters over haere as I've been on ao3 mostly. Apologies to everyone waiting and here is your chapter :3

Izuku woke up way too early the next morning – yes, thank you nightmares.

Shouta supposedly found him kicking and screaming and thrashing just after five that morning and spent a while getting him to calm down. Izuku only remembered that he was dreaming of his mother.

Izuku saw her standing by his side as he cried in front of the screen.

"Can I be a hero too?"

She smiled warmly. "You already are."

Then she was gone.

Izuku looked around frantically as he stood in a vast expanse of black. He was all alone.

Izuku screamed and tried to run but he couldn't move. It felt like he was caught in some kind of sticky goo, holding him in place. Echoes of his mother's soft voice seemed to taunt him and he shifted, trying so hard to break free.

Then a new voice joined his mother's; a voice that was all too familiar and yet, Izuku wasn't able to place where he knew it from.

"Izuku!" A brief pause. "Izuku!" Another pause. "IZUKU!"

And suddenly he could see again, the startling beams of light from the overhead lamp stinging his eyes and Shouta looking at him desperately.

He swallowed and tried to speak but nothing came out. Shouta took the hint and simply pulled Izuku into his arms. They sat like that for a while while Izuku attempted to slow his racing heart.

"Mum was there and… and then she was gone a-and I was stuck and I couldn't move and-"

"Izuku," Shouta interrupted. "You need to calm down. Please?"

Izuku swallowed and dropped his head, leaning back into Shouta who wrapped his arms around the teen.

Just a few minutes later, Izuku was sitting on the sofa with a mug of steaming coffee, still in his pyjamas, Shouta napping next to him.

Between the excitement of yesterday, his patrol and everything that had already happened this morning, it would be nothing short of a miracle if Shouta still had enough energy for the school day.

Over the next two hours, Izuku did a short workout, showered, changed and filled in a few pages of his notebook he had wanted to do for a while. Hizashi woke up shortly after seven to make breakfast and put his hair up — which always took way too long. Hitoshi trudged into the kitchen just as the coffee was poured, almost like he had some coffee detection sense.

Perhaps things like that were side effects to mental quirks like Shouta and Hitoshi's…

He was broken from his musings when a steaming mug was shoved in his face. Izuku looked up, startled, to Hitoshi's tired face frowning down at him.

"Take the fucking mug, 'Zuku," he ground out.

"Language," Shouta muttered, sounding just as drowsy.

Hizashi chuckled from where he stood fixing his hair.

Hitoshi grunted and tapped the mug on Izuku's forehead lightly. "Take the damn thing already."

Izuku reached up and snatched it out of the other teen's hands. "Calm down."

"No, I'm tired."

"Well that much is obvious," Izuku deadpanned, earning him a light glare.

"Oh my god. Shut up, would you?"

"Nope."

Hizashi laughed even more. Shouta snorted, turned over and went back to sleep.

xxx

They arrived at UA at eight so that Shouta could get yet another coffee from the staff room. Izuku and Hitoshi followed him there after Hizashi had left to set up his classroom for the day.

He had found out a few days before that Hitoshi ended up in his General Education class. Despite the fact that Hitoshi would be transferring to the Hero Course soon if all went to plan, Hizashi was ecstatic.

Izuku ended up walking with Hitoshi to 1-C as they had a while before the start of the school day. The classroom was empty so he perched on one of the desks.

"Hitoshi?"

"Hm?" The other teen replied.

"Umm.. no one is… supposed to know that I'm related to Shouta…" Izuku started slowly.

"You want me to keep it a secret." It wasn't a question.

"Yes please. You can tell people that Shouta adopted you but just…"

Hitoshi nodded, "Right. And people aren't supposed to know that he's married to Hizashi either."

"Yeah."

Just then, Hizashi poked his head in at the door. "Time to go, Izu. Tenya-kun will be upset if you're not in class early."

"Fine," Izuku grumbled, sliding off the desk. "See you later, Toshi." And he strutted out of the classroom, raised on his toes as if in high heels and one hand on his hip. He heard Hitoshi snicker as he flicked imaginary hair off his shoulder. Hizashi patted his head, laughing, after Izuku dropped the strut and clicked his heels together, popping out the wheels on his shoes and started to skate in the direction of the 1-A classroom.

Himiko had joined the support course last year, mainly to learn how to make better knives but also to support Izuku if he made it into the hero course. Despite her love for sharp objects, she had come up with many gadgets for him, and not just for UA, his general life too. His favourite of Himiko's inventions was definitely the way she had turned his regular store-bought shoes and remodelled them to turn into roller blades, ice skates, snow shoes and pretty much anything else she could think up.

Izuku had taught himself to roller skate and now used the shoes' wheel function most of the time; it made going places both quicker and more fun.

The door to 1-A was unnecessarily large. Probably for the mutant quirks that made people too tall to fit through a regular doorway. Though Izuku didn't think UA had had one of those in the last few decades, if ever.

He retracted the wheels and sent a brief glance down the hall. A clock on the walk told him there were still twenty minutes before homeroom started, though knowing his best friend, Tenya would no doubt be here already. If he was lucky, it would only be them in the room.

Pushing the door open only served to prove that Izuku was never lucky.

The blue haired boy was talking firmly to Kacchan who sat with his feet up on the desk in front of him. He was professing about the school expectations to the blond who looked thoroughly disinterested, when he must have heard the door open because stopped and turned around, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Good morning. I am Iida Tenya and-" he cut himself off. "Izuku?"

Izuku beamed and rushed forward to hug his friend. "Tenya! It's so good to see you."

"Likewise."

Kacchan's eyes widened as he jumped up. "Deku, you know this extra?" He shouted.

A frown. "It's not very hero-like to call other people 'extras'."

"You think I fucking care, Four Eyes?"

Tenya sighed. "I think we have gotten off on the wrong start. I am Iida Tenya from Somei Private Academy-"

"Private school, hah? Must be why there's a stick up your ass. Either that or were you born with it."

"Excuse me-"

"It's ok, Tenya. That's just how he speaks to people." Izuku interjected.

Tenya pursed his lips but turned away to face Izuku. "How are you? It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"I'm alright. My brother adopted."

Tenya's face lit up, "That's wonderful! What's their name?"

"His name is-"

"Hey there! You're the guy who saved me in the entrance exam, aren't you?" A voice came from behind them.

Izuku whipped around to face a girl around his height who was leaning towards his face, smiling brightly.

"I'm Uraraka Ochaco," she announced, brown hair bouncing over her shoulders as she spoke.

"M-Midoriya I-Izuku," he stuttered.

"If you're only here to make friends, you can pack up your stuff and leave," Shouta's familiar tired drawl cut in.

Izuku looked down and had to try not to burst out laughing at the atrocious yellow sleeping bag his brother was lying in by the doorway.

Shouta – or Aizawa-sensei as he was supposed to be referred as from now – pulled out a jelly packet from somewhere and, raising it to his lips, sucked the contents out before standing up slowly with his classic 'I don't give a fuck' expression plastered across his face. He stood up slowly letting the sleeping bag fall to the floor and stepped out of it, walking to his desk at the front of the classroom.

"It took eight seconds for you to shut up; this is something you will have to fix if you wish to stay in the Hero Course. Time is precious. My name is Aizawa Shouta and I'm your homeroom teacher." Then he pulled a UA gym uniform from under his desk and raised it in the air for everyone to see. "Get changed and head outside for the quirk assessment test."

"What about orientation, Aizawa-Sensei?" Tenya protested.

Shouta narrowed his eyes at the boy. " As a Hero Course teacher, I have the right to educate you as I see fit. This means that we won't be wasting our time at the orientation. If you have any objections, you can leave." He waited for anyone to speak up and after a few seconds of awkward silence, he continued on. "Come grab a gym uniform and stop wasting time."

With that, he pulled out a stack of clothes and, setting them on the top of his desk, left the room. Everyone stood in shock for a moment before Izuku moved forward, took a uniform and promptly exited. The other members of class 1-A followed suit.

Izuku was finished by the time the rest of the class had arrived and left as everyone else chatted amongst themselves while they changed slowly. Out of the room, he reactivated the skates and moved past a few other empty classrooms and through the door at the end of the hall.

Izuku waited in the sunlight for a bit, appreciating the warmth outdoors.

"Midoriya."

"Ah! Fuck-" he cursed as he fell over.

Shouta stood in the shade, leaning against the building with a cup of iced coffee in his hands. He took a long drink before looking at his brother who was still sat on the ground. "Situational awareness; I cannot stress this enough."

Izuku stared at him and then started giggling. Shouta raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not joking, problem child," though the glint in his eyes told a different story.

"I know," Izuku gasped. "It's just- just that someone else said the same thing the other day. Right after I fell over too."

The pro hero nodded resolutely, "I'll have to meet him."

Izuku erupted into another fit of laughter as he stood up and retracted the wheels.

They stood next to each other for a bit, Izuku basking in the comforting presence of his brother's same old self despite everything that had changed in the last few weeks. They had always had a… weird relationship. The age difference and Shouta's job had meant that Izuku didn't see his brother a lot growing up. Asuka had bridged the gap in a way, but she hadn't lived in the apartment in a few years and none of them had even met Tenko until Izuku was nine.

However, Shouta had tried to stay close to Izuku and there was no doubt they were close. They would have a family dinner at least once a month and Shouta had offered to train his younger brother for UA so Izuku was round at his apartment a few times a week.

Fifteen years made things odd though. Not in a bad way… but still strange.

Almost as strange as them being the only people outside. The others should be ready by now.

Oh well, it gave Izuku more time to mess with Shouta.

"Hey, Aizawa-sensei," he said slowly, putting on an innocent face.

Shouta took one look at his face and held out the iced coffee, rubbing his temples with the other hand. "You get one sip. One. Sip."

Izuku rolled his eyes, "Yes, sir." He took a big mouthful and handed the cup back, though not before he muttered under his breath, "Fucking annoying."

Shouta smacked him upside the head lightly, "Language, brat."

"Oui, Monsieur," he snarked back.

Shouta shook his head fondly and drained the rest of the iced coffee, tossing the empty plastic cup into a bin next to him. "Better go find your classmates, Midoriya. Can't have you talking to me like you've known me your whole life. Make sure the little Iida knows the rules too."

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei," Izuku grumbled, turning around and trudging off toward the centre of the field where he started stretching out his legs. His performance would be much better if he was warmed up before attempting anything too strenuous. Shouta could have them running that cursed obstacle course after the assessment for all he knew-

"Izuku!"

The teen yelped as he spun around, too caught up in his muttering to realise that Tenya was standing right behind him.

"Sorry, Tenya."

"It's fine."

Izuku glanced around, noticing that they were the only two outside. "Where's everyone else?"

Tenya dropped his gaze. "I told them to hurry, your brother won't like them being late, but they wouldn't listen."

Izuku froze. "You didn't tell them that Shou-nii was my brother, right?"

Tenya quickly backtracked, "I said Aizawa-sensei. I assume you're trying to keep that under wraps."

He breathed out a shaky sigh of relief, "Thanks, Tenya. Shou-nii wants to keep things about the family secret for now."

The other teen nodded, a hand reaching up to rub anxiously at the back of his neck. "No problem, Izuku… I'm concerned about one boy in our class, the short one with round purple things on his head."

"What about him?"

Tenya winced, "in the changing room, after you left, he found a hole in the wall and tried to spy on our female classmates. We managed to stop but… I don't think he should become a hero with that attitude towards women."

Izuku bit his lip thoughtfully. "I should probably tell Shou-nii."

"I think that would be for the best."

Izuku closed his eyes, felt around and tugged at Shouta's quirk as soon as it was in his reach, not enough to steal it but Shouta would recognise the familiar feeling. Sure enough, the dark-haired man's eyes shot open to focus on Izuku and he signed a quick, 'what'.

Resisting the urge to sigh, Izuku explained over sign, rather quickly as they didn't know how long the privacy would last, what had happened in the changing rooms, Tenya interjecting every now and again to add bits of information.

Shouta was looking more repulsed with each word, and honestly, Izuku felt exactly the same. Mineta was a disgusting pervert and something would have to be sorted out because things like this couldn't keep happening.

'Right,' Shouta signed back. 'He probably won't do too well on the apprehension test so if he's in last I can get rid of him then.'

'Are you going to pull the 'logical ruse' card?'

Shouta smirked, 'You know me too well.'

Izuku snorted and turned back to Tenya who was stretching out his legs. "Mineta will be gone by the end of today."

"Thank goodness," Tenya breathed and stood up. "Look, our classmates are finally done," he deadpanned, gesturing at the door.

He received a small laugh in response before Uraraka came bounding up to them, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Hi Midoriya-san and… uh, I don't think I got your name?"

"Iida Tenya."

"Nice to meet you then, Iida-san!"

From the very edge of his sight, Izuku noticed Shouta push himself off the wall and walk out of the shadows towards the class.

"It took you over fifteen minutes to get changed. Next time, I expect that number to be down to five." He glared around at them. "You have been taking standardised tests throughout most of your time in previous schools. The government doesn't let you use your quirks, however. Here, you won't be limited like that, quirks or not, everything is fair game. Bakugou, you got the highest score in the entrance exam. What was your farthest softball throw in junior high?"

The blond narrowed his eyes. "67 meters."

Shouta held out a softball. "Step inside the circle. Throw the ball with your quirk. Do whatever, just don't step outside of the area."

Kacchan moved forward, grabbing the ball and walking into the circle painted on the ground. His hand lit up and the ball shot high into the air with a loud shout of "DIE!"

Shouta turned back to the rest of the class. "This is the best way to evaluate your potential as a pro hero. By the end of this, you should all know your maximum capabilities." He brought the screen up.

"Seven hundred and five metres!" A shocked voice came from the back of the crowd.

"We finally get to use our quirks as much as we want!"

"Wow, this is gonna be so fun."

Their teacher glared at them. "You think this will be fun? Fools. Once you've completed the tests, the person in last place will be expelled. Still sounds like fun?"

While the other hero students started to protest to no avail, Izuku had to bite his lip to stop the smirk. They would be in for a not-so-pleasant surprise when none of them would be expelled later on.

"That's not fair!" Uraraka exclaimed. "You can't expel us already, we only just got here!"

"And you think natural disasters are? Deaths? Attacks that raze entire cities? Life isn't fair. It's a pro hero's job to fight the unfairness, UA prepares you for this the best it can. Over the next three years you'll be pushed to your limits, time and time again. If you make it that far, that is. If you have any problems you can go. Plus Ultra and all that, right?" Shouta gave them his most unhinged grin. "Now let's get on with it, all this wasting time is illogical."

xxx

The last test was the ball throw.

The class lined up on the edge of the field in the order they were set to throw the ball. A few of the students that hadn't managed to use their quirks yet perked up while others looked down, dejected. An invisible girl was slouching on Izuku's right side, if the shape of her gym uniform was anything to go by.

As the throws flew by, Izuku steadied his racing heart.

It was now or never, he supposed. Shouta had told him he was looking for proof that he was able to use One for All in a more practical way.

"Randomise," he had explained. "You plan too much. I'm not telling you anything about the test so you can practise thinking on the spot."

And now Izuku, too focused on what was happening to him at the time, had to prepare to use his bone-breaking power to chuck a ball.

Fuck you Shouta.

Uraraka, who had stepped in the circle, placed her hands on the ball and used her quirk (some sort of gravity manipulation?) to make it rise.

It didn't stop; it kept going up.

And up.

And up.

Shouta told her to release it after about a minute and gave her a score of infinity, given that she could probably keep it going forever.

Just like that, Izuku's new friend was safe. He mentally cheered her on as Tenya stepped up to the circle and accepted the ball laying in Shouta's plan. He tossed the ball up in the air and after a turn on the spot, kicked it hard, engines in his thighs blazing.

The softball soared through the air, dropping to the ground just before the walls marking the edge of the grounds.

963.1 metres

Before too long, Izuku was moving towards his older brother, feet carrying him there against his will.

His hand curled instinctively around the sphere, feeling the weight and grounding his mind.

He took a deep breath and feeling the now-familiar rush of his quirk beneath his skin, pulled it to the surface as he brought his arm back.

He exhaled and threw as hard as he could.

…

The ball dropped to the ground a short distance in front of him.

And his quirk was gone.

He whipped around to see Shouta glaring at him, eyes red, hair and capture weapon floating.

46 metres

His quirk had been erased.

"Midoriya," the hero started, tone cold and heartless. "You broke three of your limbs in the entrance exam. That sort of carelessness isn't going to get you anywhere here. I'm not having you break another limb. Sort something out or leave."

Through the hardness in his eyes, Izuku could see a hint of something else, expectancy perhaps.

He clenched his fists. "Aizawa-sensei… I've fixed the problem since then. I won't break another bone."

He received only a nod in return and another softball was handed to him. Izuku grasped it tightly as he returned to the circle and brought One for All up once again, bending his arm and flinging it forward once again.

The ball flew further than Izuku could see, over the walls and on.

A small beep from the device in Shouta's hand alerted him to the end of the throw.

Izuku looked at the screen.

1201 metres

His jaw dropped. He had scored higher than Tenya, higher than Kacchan, only beaten by Uraraka, whose score was impossible to reach regardless.

"Deku," a voice growled. Kacchan was stalking towards him, hands popping off small explosions and a murderous look on his face. "How the fuck do you have-"

The blond was cut off by a piece of white fabric wrapping around his mouth and torso. Shouta stood off to the side, eyes red.

"Leave Midoriya alone, Bakugou," Shouta said in his usual tired drawl.

Kacchan rolled his eyes but relaxed and the capture scarf was retracted to rest back around Shouta's neck.

"Right then," he addressed the class. "You all did alright. Here are your scores."

An image was raised and Izuku was pleasantly surprised to find his name resting in 14th place. Kacchan was in third, Todoroki Shouto in second and some girl named 'Yaoyorozu' in first. Mineta was in last place behind Hagakure who seemed relieved to have not been at the bottom.

Mineta, however, was shaking, unshed tears in his eyes.

"Mineta," Shouta continued. "You're expelled. Head to the principal's office."

Mineta's fear gave way to an indignant look as he stepped forward. "Why am I expelled? The green boy didn't even use his quirk until the ball throw, almost like he was a filthy quirkless."

"Quirkless people are not filthy," Shouta ground out. "I've already expelled you. If you keep protesting, I will call for staff to remove you from the premises. Forcefully."

"But I didn't get to pick up any hot chicks!" Mineta protested.

Shouta wrapped the capture weapon around the boy's entire body and activated his quirk. "Is that all you're here for? You want to be a hero to get your hands on some girls?" A frightened nod from Mineta had him carrying on, "How dare you try to make a mockery of a serious profession. You will go to the principal's office, where you will be banned from attending any other hero school in Japan, ever. Am. I. Understood?"

Mineta nodded and was set down on the ground. He promptly ran off into the building, terrified of Shouta's anger.

Many of the class were whispering to each other, shocked that someone had been sent off so brutally. Tenya and Yaoyorozu seemed especially surprised, Tenya having grown up with many logical ruses. Yaoyorozu probably just expected it to be a lie to get them to try their best.

Despite their shock, all of the girls seemed pleased. Izuku was glad that they wouldn't have to deal with a classmate sexually harassing them throughout their three years in the school.

"Congratulations to the rest of you; you all passed. Go get changed back into your uniform and take a timetable from the classroom. You can go home after."

With that, Shouta walked away into the building, presumably heading to Nedzu's office to solidify the expulsion. Unanimously, the class headed back to the changing rooms, and later to the 1-A homeroom, where they introduced themselves as they picked up their schedules. Most were bright and friendly, a few shyer and more reserved, but Todoroki Shouto set off alarm bells in Izuku's head. He spoke two words only: his name, before leaving. His face had stayed the same, a look of indifference in his eyes.

Todoroki seemed oddly antisocial for the No. 2 Hero's son.

Endeavor had always been violent and uncaring in his ways, Izuku wouldn't put it past him to act the same way at home.

Looked like he had some investigating to do…

But that was another matter for another time and right now, Izuku was occupied with saying goodbye to his classmates, who had all walked to the front gates together — minus Todoroki, of course.

He waved goodbye to the eighteen students moving past the gates, Tenya and Uraraka mainly, before heading back inside to find his brother.

As Shouta and Hizashi would have to stay for work, Izuku was going to stay with Shouta, who had nothing to do due to his class leaving early. The rest of the teachers and students were still at the orientation, and would be until lunch time at 12:30.

He skated through the halls, checking every classroom, but they were all empty, unfortunately. All empty until he reached the teachers lounge and pushed open the large door.

Shouta was lying in his sleeping bag in the middle of the empty teachers lounge.

Of course.