Family dinners tended to be awkward in the Todoroki household. Neither of Fuyumi's siblings wanted to volunteer anything more than they absolutely had to, and her father preferred asking questions to answering them.

Any conversations that did occur arrived stillborn, questions answered as tersely as possible if they weren't ignored outright.

It was a great disappointment to Fuyumi. She was excited to start the school year but was even more excited for Shouto. Not only was he in UA, but he was also in the Hero course as a recommendation student. Yes, her father had made sure he got the recommendation exam, but that just meant getting in was even more impressive.

She just... couldn't bring herself to ask him about his first day, not at the dinner table. And it wasn't as if he would have experienced much, just orientation and meeting his classmates, but she was really hoping he'd get along with them. He hadn't had any real friends in his previous school, but the hero course would be a lot more relatable.

Hopefully not too relatable, but more than anyone else he'd gone to school with.

At least he seemed to be enjoying the soba she made for him. He'd earned that much at least, and she wished him well, even if she wouldn't say anything until later.

The silence was broken by the phone ringing. In most households it would be an unwelcome interruption, she assumed anyway. This table was different in many ways. Their father gave the barest of excuses and rose, taking the call and heading towards his office.

Natsuo took it as an opportunity to leave, disappointing but not unexpected. She wished he'd stay and show more interest in their brother, but the disconnect felt so deep at times.

"How was your day?" She asked, hoping to draw Shouto out.

"Fine." The answer was immediate, but nothing followed.

Fuyumi forced herself to smile, "Did you talk to your new classmates? Did you recognize any of them?"

"No," he took a sip of cool broth, "I was placed with Yaoyorozu from the recommendation exam. She sits next to me."

Fuyumi's smile felt more real on her cheeks. It was more than she'd expected. "That's good." He didn't respond, outside of a nod, so she continued, "Who is your homeroom teacher? Anyone I'd recognize?"

Shouto shook his head, "Aizawa, he's an underground hero."

"That must be interesting." She waited for a response, but the moment dragged, Shouto evidently deciding that his soup was more interesting than the question.

Fuyumi swallowed a knot at the back of her throat, "Did anything interesting happen?"

For once, her brother paused, not ignoring her or continuing to eat his soba. She was sure something must have happened and waited with bated breath.

"No." He finally answered, before taking up the bowl and finishing up the savory broth, "I'm full."

Fuyumi sighed to herself as he left the table.


It was just like middle school in a way. Most of their classes were completely mundane, lacking anything outlandish save for the appearance of the teachers. The only real differences were the fear his classmates showed towards their homeroom teacher and the excited chatter about the last class of the day, rather than the end of the day itself.

Shouto ignored most of it. His bastard of a father had been training him for years. He would do whatever it took to achieve his goal of becoming the number one hero using only his right side.

The door opened a minute before Foundational Heroics was supposed to begin and silence descended as Endeavor stomped into the room. His father's steely gaze traversed the class, lingering on Shouto for a second longer than the rest of his classmates before he walked to the teacher's desk and took a seat.

Shouto felt a pulse of cold in his core. What was he doing here? Had he come to check up on him? Was he that insecure of his training that he came to inspect it?

"I assume that most of you were expecting someone else." His father said dryly, "The situation has changed. For the time being, I will be your Foundational Heroics teacher."

Shouto felt his stomach turning to ice as his father invaded yet another aspect of his life.

"A quirk assessment?" A queasy groan spread across the classroom. It was something they should have expected though, and he was hardly going to allow them to continue without knowing their capabilities. The unknown was more dangerous than the known by a considerable margin.

Still, he had to disabuse them of their misconception. "It will not be limited to quirks." He answered, "We will also be going over other skills, achievements, experiences, and applicable hobbies as well as a basic physical assessment." It wasn't that different from the way he determined whether to accept interns or sidekicks, though he held a much higher bar for the latter. The notes he had received about the previous day had mentioned the students had performed some physical tests, but they were clearly incomplete.

Still, there was something off about their reactions. Mineta, the short student sitting in front of the Yaoyorozu girl, looked ready to cry.

"S-sir," Uraraka, the brown-haired girl near the back of the class, hesitantly raised her hand, "will the person who comes in last also be expelled?"

"What?"

Endeavor narrowed his eyes, looking at the girl who wilted under his attention. She was nervous but apparently serious. His gaze drifted, taking in the response of the other students, catching the wariness, the subtle cringes, the small frowns, and the sheer panic on the face of the short student who had clearly come in second to last.

The girl truly believed what she was saying, as did the rest of the class. Endeavor frowned at the thought. True, he had only received files on nineteen students, but he had assumed that there must have been a sudden withdrawal for some reason. To be expelled on the first day due to performance during a quirk assessment… something was off. He would have to investigate later.

"No." He waited as a collective breath of air was released, the pressure lifting off of them. They would have to do better at concealing their concerns in the future, something he would make sure to drill into them later, but for now he intended to continue his original plans. "All of you will change into your costumes and report to the P.E. grounds within ten minutes. Dismissed."

The changing room was awash in excitement, but Shouto's hands trembled. While his classmates were excitedly pulling out their costumes and showing them off to everyone who would pay even the slightest bit of attention, he was setting down his case. He had to hope his costume was right, especially now that father was here.

The carrying case cracked open and Shouto let out the breath he'd been holding.

It was his costume, not his father's.

His father had 'consulted' with him, ignoring his original suggestion and putting his own plans into place. A suit designed to show fire and ice. A suit he would never wear.

His correction must have gotten through, because the suit inside glittered on one side, faux ice covering half of it. The other half revealed nothing of his father's fire, a simple white shirt to emphasize the cold.

It was everything he envisioned it would be.

His father would be furious. He had never intended to reveal it so soon, but he didn't have a choice. He took solace that he would at least get to see his father's reaction, see his disappointment when he rejected the man's fire again.

"Oh, wow, did they mess up your costume?"

Shouto straightened, looking back at his blond classmate with a black streak in his hair, "What?"

"Uh…" He motioned at Shouto's costume, "It looks like there's only half of it? And the red eye is kind of creepy?" Shouto stared at him, refusing to let the fool sour his victory. The blond sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "S-sorry dude, I didn't mean it like that… I uh…" He trailed off, quickly glancing away and commenting on how cool someone else's costume was.

Shouto stared for a moment longer, just in case, before finally letting it go and moving to change into his costume.


Looking out at the class, it was clear that costume revisions were necessary. Endeavor was already picking them apart, bit by bit. Some of them were fine, but others were obviously flawed. The moment he set sights on Shouto's costume, he barely restrained his flames from flaring. He could tell that his son would have enjoyed that, so he couldn't allow it, but it was a near thing.

All of the features that spread heat and cold had almost certainly been abandoned as well. Concepts developed with care and forethought were discarded just to irritate him and keep to his son's foolish promise.

It was fortunate that there were many other flaws to draw his attention. Three of the girls were wearing heels. The shelf on the back of the Yaoyorozu girl was a spinal injury waiting to happen. The bomb gauntlets were far too wide and would likely hamper the angry blond's ability to squeeze through narrow spaces… was the short one wearing a dish?

Almost all of them would need alterations.

"We will proceed in seat order." He didn't wait for an acknowledgment, "Yuuga Aoyama, step forward."

The boy hesitantly took a step away from his classmates, trying to display a confidence he did not feel. He would need to improve his poker face, but he at least had the right idea.

And then he spoke.

"Yes, Monsieur?"

Endeavor frowned, "Are you completely fluent in Japanese?"

Aoyama winced, "Yes, sensei."

"Good. And French?"

"Oui?"

Endeavor gave a single nod of acknowledgment, "Any other languages?"

"I speak passable English."

"Good. Keep improving. Being able to communicate with tourists could prove useful in an emergency situation."

The boy preened, "Thank you sensei."

"But to ensure your classmates understand you, please speak Japanese unless instructed otherwise."

The boy winced, but nodded, "Yes sensei."

"Now, tell me about your quirk."

It was, as indicated by his file, a laser fired from his naval. The demonstration was informative enough, the beam leaving a mark in the wall Cementos had created for him. It was unwieldy, primarily limited by his ability to angle his body, but could still prove useful.

"How long can you fire it?"

The boy shifted uncomfortably, "I can fire a burst for three to four seconds?"

Endeavor frowned, "And how often can you fire?"

"A few times before I suffer backlash." He offered a brittle smile.

"What sort of backlash?" Endeavor pressed.

"Cramping, indigestion, nausea..." He trailed off, looking queasy.

"Anything else?"

Aoyama blanched, "Acute intestinal distress?"

Endeavor held back a grimace of distaste, but let the matter drop, "What have you been doing to improve your control?"

"Monsieur?" The boy lapsed into his native tongue.

"What sort of training have you been doing to better handle the backlash?" Aoyama looked at him, mouth moving wordlessly for a few seconds as beads of sweat formed on his brow. "Well? Spit it out."

"I-I haven't?"

"That is unacceptable." Endeavor allowed the temperature rise to show his displeasure, causing the boy to sweat for real, even as his classmates backed up, "I will not have a slacker in my classroom."

Behind the boy, a sick look crossed the faces of several of his students, and the Uraraka's question repeated in his mind. A precedent had been set while he wasn't here. Still, a lesson was necessary.

"You may have coasted to victory in the entrance exam, but that won't be enough here. You are a student in the UA Hero course. Excellence is expected of you, but improvement is mandatory. If you graduate, people's lives will be in your hands. If you don't develop your skills, you will fail." He banked his heat, allowing Aoyama to breathe, "Aoyama, you will improve your control over your quirk. You will fire more powerful blasts, for longer periods of time, without displaying weakness. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes sensei," Aoyama stammered.

"The same goes for the rest of you." Endeavor stared them down, "Those who do not develop their skills will fail."

"Yes sensei," came the shaky communal response.

"Good." The word let the tension ebb. As starts went, his first student was sub-par, but at least he was making it known what would happen to those who rested on their laurels. "We will come up with an improvement plan later. For now, I need to know if your costume has any special properties. Is the armor functional or ornamental?"

"I-it allows me to redirect my naval laser." Aoyama stammered out, "I don't know if the armor is functional, I just thought it would be a good design."

Endeavor digested the answers, glad that either the boy or the support company had considered Aoyama's limitations, "Then it's likely ornamental. We will test it out later to make sure. But for now, I want you to fire off a blast, aiming at the wall like before. Try to maintain it for a moment, and make sure you can move safely while continuing to fire."

Aoyama nodded hurriedly, turning slightly so his side faced the wall before grimacing and firing a blast from his shoulder. He held it, visibly wincing as he moved, the blast carving into the concrete. It was much narrower, but looked to score deeper into the target. He made a note to check later. "Good. You can stop." Aoyama visibly sagged, clutching his stomach. It had only lasted a few seconds longer than his first blast, but he was visibly green. A poor showing indeed, but at least he had the sense to put the effort in.

"Before you rejoin your classmates, Ashido, please step forward." The pink-skinned girl jerked up, though whether it was because she had expected this to go on for longer or had forgotten she was next he couldn't say. "I want you to grab Aoyama's cape and pull as hard as you can."

"Sensei?"

"A cape is a hazard." He said bluntly, casting his gaze around the class, "It may look heroic, but it is a superfluous piece of clothing that offers no real protection and can be an active hazard. It can catch on things in your surroundings, yes, but villains can and will use it against you. While nothing may embarrass a hero more than having their cape catch on a door, a villain catching it and using it to gain leverage could prove deadly. As a rule, no one at my agency is allowed to have a cape unless it is of tear-away design. That is industry standard, but as I have already spotted flaws in a number of your costumes and I want to see it tested."

The students gawped at him, but Ashido recovered quickly, grabbing the cape and yanking it free. Aoyama barely moved, glancing over to see that it was gone. "That is how a cape should work. If Aoyama had moved with it, I would have had words with the company that made your costume. It should be able to reattach it easily, now join the rest of your class."

The pink-skinned girl gave Aoyama a consoling look as the young man beat a hasty retreat, leaving her standing alone. Overall, her suit lacked the issues that though she had less reason to than some. Her costume was, if not completely practical, at least lacking terrible footwear, "Explain your quirk."

She cleared her throat, "I can produce acid from any part of my body."

"How strong?"

"I was able to melt the one and two-pointers pretty easily? The three-pointers were thicker but I was able to disable them after a few attacks…"

He would need to review the metals used and the thickness of the plates, but for the moment all he did was nod. There was a far more important question he needed an answer to. "Is your skin naturally resistant?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Good." A tension that had formed in his shoulders released, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shouto relaxing as well. "Demonstrate on the target." She waved her hand, sending a spray that ate into the stone, deeper than Aoyama's blasts. She would need to be more careful to avoid collateral damage, but he hadn't ordered her to try to contain it either.

He continued on through the questions. Was she able to control how strong or weak the acid was, could she control other aspects of it, could she effectively throw it, what sort of backlash she suffered from when overexerting her quirk, had she thought of any practical applications outside of combat, was she able to practice at her home…

"Did you remember to order your costume to be acid-resistant?"

"Yes, sensei." She said again, and continued unprompted, "And my boots have holes in them so I can use my acid to help glide like I said."

"Test it then. A figure eight should do." The girl nodded and ran a few steps before turning into a curve, a weak viscous acid providing her with lubrication to glide around in a casual figure eight. "Good." He said. She wasn't as fast as Shouto was when traveling by ice, but she would be faster than most and displayed an ease and grace in her movements in the process.

The small bit of praise brought a bit of unexpected pink, well, more pink, to her cheeks, and the rest of the class seemed jubilant as well, especially the red-haired boy Kirishima. She slid to a stop, returning to the spot she'd started from, "Are you a gymnast?"

"Uh, no" She shook her head, "I dance though."

"What type?"

"W-well, uh, I play a lot of Dance Dance Revolution and I practice breakdancing."

"I don't consider the first to be dancing," The girl cringed at his words, "but I understand that it can be good physical exercise. The breakdancing, however, shows. It would be wise for you to continue to practice. Not only is it good physical exercise, it hones your flexibility."

The girl blinked, mouth moving for a moment before her smile returned, "Thank you sensei."

"If possible, you should see if you can find a ballet instructor. Performing a fouetté while using your quirk could prove quite effective." Only the Yaoyorozu girl seemed to understand what the term meant, the rest of the students looked puzzled. Endeavor grunted, "A move where you spin in place with your leg extended. If you can perform that while releasing your acid, you'll be able to send a stream in a circle around you."

Ashido boggled for a moment before her eyes widened in excitement. He held up a hand, "Class time is limited, and we need to move on. Do you have any other skills or hobbies you think are relevant?" The girl took only a second before shaking her head. "Return to your classmates. Asui, step forward."

The girl stood a little straighter as she walked past Ashido, her expression unreadable. "Before we begin," he pointed at her feet, "did you ask for heels on your costume?"

Asui blinked and shook her head, not saying a word. "Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, did either of you ask for heels as part of your costumes?"

The heiress shook her head, but Uraraka dithered, "I didn't ask for them, but I did ask for shock absorbers. I think that's what they're supposed to be."

"Do you ever land on other parts of your foot?"

Again she hesitated, wondering if she'd somehow fallen into a trap, "Yes?"

"Then the shock absorber should extend along the entirety of your foot." The girl looked abashed, but Endeavor cleared his throat, "As a rule, no one at my agency is allowed to have heels unless they have a documented need for them. They are impractical for heroics. Function and practicality should always come over fashion. That mantra should not be limited to heels either, so if any of you find that your costume constrains you in any way, let me know immediately and the support department will modify it to resolve the issue." The class nodded, and Mineta in particular looked almost ready to raise his hand.

"I trust that none of you will mind having the heels removed from your costumes?"

The three girls shook their heads and Endeavor's lip curled into a smile. "Good. Now, Asui, tell me about your quirk."


Author's Notes: So, let me drop this here like a burnt offering. Yes, this is a story where Endeavor will display at least some positive traits. I'm not going to change him into a good person, but having him teaching the Hero course… honestly, he's going to be a better teacher than All Might. The next chapter will round out the costumes (no, I won't be going over all of them, and we all already know everyone's quirks, so I'm not going to drag it out, this isn't Analytics).

And yeah, Izuku was expelled on day one. I wonder if that had anything to do with All Might bowing out at the last possible moment? Hmm. Well, it'll be interesting to see how that goes too. Fun times.