Chapter Summary: Izuku starts his first day at U.A.

A/N: When I originally started writing this story in 2021, I did not anticipate us getting to the first day of school on Chapter 10. That wasn't my plan, and I was originally going to have us there sooner, but I was not as good at planning my chapters as I am now. So that's why it took so long to get here, lol

U.A. was a lot more intense than Izuku was expecting. He supposed that with his luck, he shouldn't have been surprised to run into Kacchan and the tall first year who scolded him before both the written and physical exam. He supposed that with his luck, he shouldn't have been surprised to gain the ire of his homeroom teacher by talking to the nice girl from the day of the entrance exam. He supposed that with his luck, he shouldn't have been surprised that his class wouldn't be attending orientation and would be thrust into an intense Quirk Assessment test that would end in the expulsion of whichever student landed in last place.

Logistically, Izuku knew that he should be ready to take on whatever Sensei Aizawa threw his way. Even without the months of training that he and All Might put into training his body, he had One For All in his arsenal now. Surely he could handle whatever trials laid ahead of him, right?

Except, he wasn't sure he could. Not after he flubbed it at the exam and broke his limbs in front of everyone to see. Despite the additional training that he had done and how much he had practiced with no mistakes, Izuku still couldn't ignore the voice at the back of his mind that kept telling him he would mess up again. So, as he rocked on his feet back and forth before the tests began, he hoped and prayed that his strength and endurance training would be enough to keep him above last place.

Then, as each test passed by, those toxic thoughts only grew louder. Kacchan breezed past him like it was nothing during their sprint and nearly knocked him back with his explosions while Izuku tried not to exhaust himself. That alone seemed to set the tone for each of the tests, as everyone else's Quirks granted them advantages while Izuku's remained dormant. His temptation to use One For All during the long jump was dead in the water upon remembering how his running leap during the entrance exam had been instrumental in the destruction of his limbs, so he wound up fumbling during his jump. He nearly summoned it to his hands during the grip test before the image of his broken and bruised hand flashed across his mind and he had to stop just to calm down until he could continue. It didn't matter that he was stronger and faster than he was at the beginning of middle school, because there was always, always someone that was better than him.

'Don't pay them any mind,' he told himself, trying to latch onto All Might's words, 'you're still playing catch up.'

All Might had been considerably understanding whenever they met up the day after he got his results. He assured Izuku that it was his own efforts that got him into U.A. and that he didn't pull any strings whatsoever, which caused a weight he hadn't realized he'd been carrying to fall off of his shoulders. He was just as stunned to find out that All Might hadn't known what the results would yield, either.

"You did that all on your own, kid," All Might told him, "and while it may not have gone as planned, it at least gives us something to work with." He smiled down at Izuku and set his hand down on his shoulder. "Your egg isn't cooked yet, kiddo."

Still, those words did little to assuage his anxieties when he finally made it to the pitching test. As always, Kacchan had blown everyone out of the water during the demonstration of his abilities, which only showed the distance that was still between them both. Even if he could be a bit loud about it, Izuku knew that he could walk the walk behind his talk and show up anybody who dared to tell him otherwise. It was part of what was going to make him such a wonderful hero.

"One foot after the other and you'll get there in due time," his mother's voice echoed in his head.

'One foot after the other,' he repeated silently, 'one foot after the other and I'll get there.'

Izuku ignored the way his stomach churned as he stood at the plate. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing himself to ignore the stares and quiet whispers of his classmates. The way the dirt shifted beneath his feet reminded him of the sands of Takoba, allowing him to bring his mind away from U.A. and back to the sandy beach that had become home to his training. It was there that he was given One For All and proved his merit by clearing out the entire beach with his own strength to aid him in the process. Even though he wasn't there with him, he could feel All Might's presence as if he were standing right behind him at the pitcher's spot.

"There's a difference between being lucky and being deserving!" All Might's voice boomed in his head. "One is an accident, but the other is a reward!" The memory of his beaming smile brought one to Izuku's lips. "Never get the two confused. Take that to heart, young man!"

Izuku opened his eyes and stared down the field before him with determination. The familiar heat of One For All spread down to his arm and he wound up for the pitch, poised to throw it as far as he could and then…

The ball landed within his sights.

"46 meters!" the device exclaims, loud and clear.

With wide eyes, Izuku stood upright and stared down at his hand. "W-What…?"

"I erased your Quirk," Sensei Aizawa proclaimed, and instantly, Izuku turned to see his scarf unfurl around him. His eyes glowed a deep red that seemed to bore endlessly into Izuku as he stood there in stunned silence. "The judges for this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school."

Izuku's hands started to shake. Were he not so frightened at the fact that his Quirk was taken away so suddenly, he might have winced at the insult. It wasn't until he spotted the goggles that laid around his neck that it finally hit him.

'Eraserhead,' he thought, the tremor in his hands growing stronger, 'he can cancel out anyone's Quirk just by looking at them.'

"You can't control your Quirk at all, can you?" Sensei Aizawa accused. His stare caused a weight to settle at the pit of Izuku's stomach. "Were you planning on breaking your bones again? Planning on someone to save you from your mistakes?"

Izuku finally found his voice. "N-No! I-I wasn't going to—"

Before he knew it, he was wrapped up in Aizawa's scarf and dragged towards him. Upon coming face to face with his teacher up close and personal, his heart dropped. The same expression of disdain and annoyance that all of his teachers showed towards him throughout the years was plastered over his face and just like that, Izuku was no longer a student at U.A. Instead, he was back at Aldera, under the scrutiny of his teachers and peers.

"Don't get your hopes up, kid," said Sensei Abiko back in elementary school.

"You wouldn't last a day," asserted Sensei Chidori from his daycare.

"You'll be worthless as a hero," proclaimed Sensei Azume during middle school.

Each one of their faces took the place of Aizawa's at that moment, leaving Izuku frozen. His teacher's voice felt so far away as he tried to fight back the lump that began to form in his throat and blinked back the tears he feared were coming.

"I'm sorry to say it, Izuku Midoriya," Aizawa said definitively, breaking Izuku out of his panicked thoughts, "but with a power like that, you'll never become a hero."

Izuku wished he could think he was wrong. However, as Aizawa started to unravel his scarf from around him, he couldn't find a way to combat his words. The voices of all his teachers came flooding back into his head at full force and left his entire body shaking. His peers all watched him with quiet stares, which only made him feel even more alone.

"I've returned your impractical Quirk," Aizawa told him, stepping back, "take your final throw. Hurry up and get it over with."

Izuku's shoulder slumped as he looked down. He had come to U.A. in hopes of things being different for him, but just like that, he was back to where he was all over again. No one was in his corner and no one believed in him.

"I know you're not ready to give up after that," All Might's voice echoed in his head. The memory of him smiling at him back at Takoba caused Izuku's fists to clench subconsciously.

"My baby's going to be a hero!" his mother's voice cried out shortly after. Even then, Izuku could still feel the way her arms came around him as she tried to pick him up through choked sobs.

"You've proven that you'll be able to handle any hurdle that you come across when it comes your way," All Might proclaimed, and with it, Izuku's heart started to lift, "and that, young Midoriya, is what makes you a worthy successor and hero!"

"My egg isn't cooked yet," Izuku murmured quietly.

Aizawa paused, then turned to look at him. "What'd you say?"

Izuku looked up to meet the gaze of his teacher and classmates head-on. "I said my egg isn't cooked yet!"

A look akin to surprise spread across his teacher's face. "What?"

That… Well, it sounded a lot cooler in his head and he was certain he heard Kacchan sputter somewhere amongst his stunned classmates, but he couldn't find it in him to care. His eyes locked with Aizawa's and he clenched his fists at his side as he walked over to grab another ball. Their shared gaze only broke when Izuku finally returned to the pitching circle.

'Almost all of my teachers have said the exact same thing you have,' Izuku thought, staring him down, 'and for the longest time, I believed them.' Then, All Might's smile flashed across his mind and he found himself smiling, too. 'But then I found someone who believed in me…' His mother's face appeared next and he practically beamed. 'And he's not the only one.'

Izuku readied his arm for the pitch and felt the heat of One For All make its way down his arm. Despite his conviction, he still wasn't sure if he could trust himself not to lose control like he did at the entrance exam. If he blew his arm out during his swing in the event he messed up, then he was going to have to forfeit the rest of the events and risk falling into last place regardless…

His smile only grew. Besides, if he flubbed it, what was a broken finger compared to a broken arm?

Shouta wasn't sure what the most surprising thing about Midoriya's throw was. At first, he would have said it was the strange proclamation the kid made before he got another ball. Then, he would have said it was the fact that the kid chose to use his Quirk at all. After the throw was done and over with, though, he could argue that it was the fact he only came out of it with a broken finger instead of all his limbs.

'Well, well,' Shouta thought, 'that was quite the development.'

But, most surprising of all was how Midoriya smiled at him afterward. He had to be in an intense amount of pain and yet there he stood, smiling as if he won the lottery. His fingers curled into a fist and he stared Shouta down with tears in his eyes.

"You see, Sensei?" Midoriya said, grinning through his wince. "My egg isn't cooked yet!"

Still, that hadn't been enough to save him from earning last place in the assessment at the end of it all. The display of power and quick-thinking had been good, sure, but that wasn't going to win him any accolades at U.A. Shouta would suppose it was a good thing he never planned on expelling any of the students in the first place. He'd never grow tired of the way that all of his students would exclaim and cry out upon hearing that; it was one of the highlights of his job.

With a simple dismissal and instruction to grab a syllabus from the classroom, Shouta dropped a nurse pass off into Midoriya's hand before he made his way off the training grounds. Since the first week of the school year was always the hardest on him, he was sure to be dead asleep by the time he made it to the teacher's lounge and likely wouldn't wake up until Hizashi dropped by to take them both home.

'Enjoy it while it lasts,' he thought to himself as he rounded the corner of the building, 'you'll be up to your nose in papers to grade sooner or later.'

"Aizawa, that was a rotten move," said an unexpected voice.

Holding back the urge to sigh, Shouta turned in time to come face to face with a stranger. He blinked slowly and took in the full sight of him from the bottom up, from his large, brown loafers to his clearly oversized black suit up to his messy head of blond hair. His lips were drawn into a thin line and his brows were furrowed as he stared Shouta down.

"And you are?" Shouta asked.

The stranger blinked, then looked down at himself as if for the first time. When his eyes met with Shouta's again, he straightened up and cleared his throat.

"Pardon me," he said, smoothing out the bottom of his large blazer, "I'm Yagi. I'm a new faculty member here at U.A."

Shouta arched his brow. "And just what are you doing here on the training grounds? Are you an assistant or something?"

Yagi frowned. "No. I'm a teacher, like you."

"I see," Shouta replied. Was he a Pro? He didn't look like anyone he recognized. He must have been someone's sidekick or something. "So you were watching the students during the assessment. Trying to get a feel and find out what to expect from them?"

"I was," Yagi affirmed, "and I also saw that little stunt you pulled with the first years." The slouching man crossed his arms over his chest and let out a small huff. "'A rational deception,' eh? That's cute, but you're not exactly known for being light-hearted now, are you, Aizawa?"

Shouta almost had it in him to scoff. "Meaning?"

"While I was doing some reading to prepare for the school year, I read your file," Yagi told him, and were Shouta not so tired, he might have shown some hint of surprise, "last year, you expelled an entire class of freshman students." His gaze intensified. "You clearly have no trouble kicking out students if you deem them unworthy."

"Your point?" Shouta questioned.

"You were planning on sending last place home," Yagi accused, his tone sharp, "but you chose not to." He arched a brow. "Why is that? You clearly didn't seem to think that young Midoriya measured up to your standards."

It was Shouta's turn to arch his brow. "What is this about? Were you rooting for him or something?" Yagi blinked, clearly taken aback by his response. Oh, had that touched a nerve? "You know, I think it's a bit too early in the year for you to be picking favorites, newbie."

Yagi's shock faded into irritation. "I'm not picking favorites, I'm just—"

"Interrogating me on how I teach my students?" Shouta interjected. He snorted and got ready to turn away from Yagi. "Well, if you're curious , I'll admit that the kid doesn't have zero potential. If not, I would have sent him home after class without hesitation." He started to step away. "It's cruel to let a kid keep dreaming about something that will never come true."

"And what makes you such a good judge of that?" Yagi countered, causing him to pause in his step. "Just what exactly are you trying to accomplish?"

Shouta barely turned to regard him over his shoulder. "Do you know why so many students try out for U.A.?"

Yagi's brows furrowed, though he didn't lose his resolve. "Because it's the top hero school in Japan."

"No," Shouta answered, causing the frail man to blink, "it's because when people think of U.A., they think of Pro Heroes like All Might. He was a student here at U.A. and went on to become a hero, one that saved over a thousand people by himself and became a legend." He couldn't stop himself from grimacing at the memory of the Symbol of Peace's ever-present smile. "He created an ideal of perfection that many people look up to and can only hope to aspire to."

But people were not infallible, Shouta knew. Everyone is capable of making mistakes and as a Pro, the cost could be deadly. He knew that more than anyone.

"I've learned to recognize people's intentions when they come to U.A. to be a hero," Shouta continued, "there are those who genuinely want to make a change…" His eyes trailed back over towards the training grounds, lingering a bit on the pitching area. "And then there are those who are overzealous and idealistic like All Might." His gaze returned to Yagi. "Midoriya seems to fall into the latter."

Yagi stared at him for a long moment, his mouth falling agape. He seemed to struggle with what to say back to Shouta, but whatever it was, it was probably just another retort that would keep him from his nap.

"It's like I told him," Shouta said, snapping Yagi out of his stare, "no matter what his intentions are, he would be nothing more than a liability with that lack of control." He almost had it in him to tut. "He's driven, sure, but that reckless passion could easily be his undoing."

Then, he turned away from him and started to walk away, leaving Yagi to stare at his back. As soon as he rounded the other corner, he huffed out a sigh and tucked himself further into his scarf. Well, that was certainly a strange way to acquaint himself with a new faculty member.

'U.A. isn't for the faint of heart,' Shouta thought as he made his way back towards the entrance. Then, he snorted. 'Those kids are gonna eat him alive.''

A/N: And now, next chapter... Toshinori will finally get to meet his kiddos. And we get to get ready for- (gestures) the battle exercise. Stay tuned.