Today was the day. It was finally time for Izuku to start school at UA. He stood in the hall leading to the front door of his and Inko's little apartment. He couldn't move. If he went outside, with his UA uniform on, he'd be announcing to the world who he was. His intentions, his goals, his hopes. Everything would be laid bare. Everyone around there knew who he was, and what had happened. It would be like pointing in the face of God and saying 'suck it'. Izuku wasn't sure that he was ready. He knew that he needed to get to UA before classes started, because he was not going to have his first impression on his new peers, and his teacher especially, be tardiness of all things. But, he froze up whenever he thought of taking that single step over the threshold.

"Izuku?" Inko asked from behind. He turned around to face her, trying to keep his face neutral but failing miserably by the look of understanding that flashed in her eyes. "Nervous, huh?" she asked again.

"Yeah. It's stupid, but I'm scared," Izuku said, his voice breaking pitifully.

"It's not stupid. Izuku, it's fine to be scared. What matters is how you react to that. What's that saying you like again?" Inko said, approaching Izuku and trying one last time to get his tie to look presentable. He swore that it was some kind of trap that he just couldn't figure out, even with the dexterity in his fingers that his Quirk training leant him.

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear," Izuku sighed. He didn't necessarily hold All Might in the same light as he once did, but he'd done a lot to preserve that famous saying in the modern age. He couldn't fault him there.

"Right. Fear is what makes us human, and you are very much human, despite what those bullies say. You just have to do your best, and nobody will be able to deny that you deserve your place among those future heroes. Show 'em what you've got, Izuku!" Inko said.

Izuku felt his eyes begin to sting, and allowed himself a shaky smile. He was immensely grateful for his mother's support, and it was moments like these when he realized just how much he had at home. Hisashi Midoriya was a sore spot, but they'd been able to build something better, without him around. It didn't matter what they'd been through, because they'd done it together and could face anything as long as they maintained their trust and love. Izuku wiped the tears from his eyes, the soft texture of his gloves rubbing against his skin, and let out a soft, choked laugh.

"I will. Thank you, for everything. I couldn't have gotten to this point without you," Izuku said, putting his hand over hers once she stopped fiddling with the tie.

"You don't have to thank me, silly. It's what any mother would do. I love you; don't forget that when you're some big-shot hero on the news," Inko said.

"Never. I love you, too," Izuku said. He quickly pulled Inko in for a tight hug, holding his mother in his arms for a brief moment with all his strength. Inko hugged him in return, and the two shared that moment as they stood in the hall together.

When Izuku pulled away, he knew it was time for him to go. He took a deep breath, turning toward the door. This was going to be the bravest thing he'd done yet. It was easy to act, to do something behind a veil of anonymity. Vigilantes proved that by simply existing. That was the easy part. The hard part was accepting the consequences, good and bad, of those actions. What was hard was facing the world after acting and saying 'that was me'. That was what Izuku was about to do, and he was finally ready.

Izuku left with his head held high. He walked down the pavement toward the train station with his gait strong and even, his back straight and his muscles relaxed. Izuku couldn't remember the last time he was this relaxed before a first day at school, but he was ready to get his career at UA started. It was what he'd been waiting for, training for, living for, for years. This was it, the day it all started. Years from now, Izuku would look back at this day as when it all came together and things finally started going right. He had to believe that, or else he'd think about everything that could go wrong.

But, he was determined to keep his mind on the positives, such as Uraraka being in his class. That was going to be good. Great, even. She was the first real friend Izuku had ever made, and it sent a steady buzz throughout his nervous system at the thought of spending even more time with her. Not in a weird way, of course, it just felt good to have a friend who actually thought of him as a friend in return.

His relationship with Bakugou had deteriorated so fast once Izuku's Quirk came in that he'd become uncertain about if they were ever really friends, but Izuku had come to the conclusion that it was a mix of Bakugou's fears about Izuku's power and the prejudice against those with 'villain Quirks' that had caused the breakdown of their relationship. Of course, the whole notion of a 'villain Quirk' was absurd propaganda meant to belittle and marginalize those with powers that may be a little unsightly or unusual, like Decimation, but it was still a truth in the public eye.

But, Izuku was done thinking about all that nonsense for now. He needed to keep his eye on the prize, enjoying his time at UA. That would be easier said than done, but Izuku would manage. That thought carried him all the way from the train station to the front door of the classroom, marked with a large '1A' that stretched the whole length of the door, which was at least four meters tall. Izuku looked up at it with wide eyes, but snapped himself out of it and rolled the door to the side, stepping into the room without any further hesitation.

Immediately, there was shouting. One of the voices was familiar, belonging to the one, the only Katsuki Bakugou. The other went to a tall, clearly muscular young man standing over Bakugou, who sat at his desk, and pointing at him with all five fingers in an oddly straight line going from his shoulder to the tip of his longest finger. Izuku immediately locked eyes with Bakugou, who narrowed his own at Izuku in return, but he immediately let a small smirk spread on his face and looked away from Bakugou, who made a quiet, small noise at the sight of Izuku not acknowledging him . What a tool.

Izuku walked right past Bakugou, who was still trying to get the shorter boy's attention like some kind of needy child, and sat down in his own seat, which was, regretfully, directly behind Bakugou's. There really needed to be something good about this classroom soon if Izuku was going to tolerate having Bakugou right in front of him during every second of class time. Speaking of the devil, or maybe angel was a more apt description, that was when Uraraka walked through the door, pausing when she took in the tense feeling left in Izuku's wake as he'd brushed Bakugou off.

Uraraka immediately met Izuku's eyes, and he felt his lips stretch into a bright smile, which she returned with her own. The two of them kept at it for a moment, but Izuku snapped out of it when the boy who'd been trying to talk at Bakugou looked at him and stood over Izuku in a similar fashion.

"Hello. My name is Tenya Iida. Who might you be?" the boy, apparently named Iida, asked.

"Izuku Midoriya. Pleased to meet you," Izuku said, holding a gloved hand up to shake Iida's.

"Are gloves part of the school's dress code? I don't recall them being on the list," Iida said, furrowing his brow at Izuku.

"I don't recall any rules against them, so why not? Even if there were, there are some … extenuating circumstances in my case," Izuku said, putting on a smile.

"Very well. I look forward to learning with you," Iida said, bowing deeply to Izuku.

"I do, too," Izuku said, keeping himself from frowning slightly. This guy was way too formal. He had a very strong rich kid aura going, but Izuku wasn't going to comment on it. He'd let Iida be.

Izuku watched as Iida walked over to start his introduction over again with Uraraka, who'd made her way to a seat on the other side of the room from Izuku. He didn't know why that stung the way it did, but Izuku could think about that later.

For now, he may as well get acquainted with the people around his seat that weren't Bakugou, so he turned around and looked back to see a tall, pretty girl with the coolest ponytail Izuku had ever seen, a boy with a nasty looking scar on his face and dual-colored hair, another boy with a bird's head, the boy sitting next to himself that wore a very wide grin, and a girl with short, spiky purple hair and what looked like audio plugs coming out of her earlobes. The short boy who he'd spoken with before the entrance exam, Mineta if Izuku recalled correctly, recognized him with a small chuckle.

"What's up, man? Good to see you passed," Mineta said with his prominent lisp.

"Thanks, you too. I knew your Quirk would be right for the hero course," Izuku said.

"Right, thanks for that. You really gave me the boost I needed to pull myself together back then. I'm not sure I would've made it in without your pep talk," Mineta said, sighing at his own attitude before the two had conversed.

"Nah, I'm sure that you would've gotten in. The entrance exam has such a vaguely stated goal and is really biased toward Quirks that can destroy or capture targets, and yours falls into that second category. You were almost made for it," Izuku said.

"Huh. If you say so. Hey, I saw the way that brunette chick was eyeing you. You're onto it already, yeah?" Mineta said, his eyes narrowing and his tone becoming a little more … suggestive, if Izuku was to give it a name.

Izuku felt himself lean away from Mineta in surprise. He had no clue what he was talking about. 'Onto it'? Call Izuku a square, but that meant nothing to him, and he had no problem expressing this.

"How do you mean?" he asked.

"The girl! You've gotta be putting it on real thick if she's already looking at you like that. You got her quick," Mineta explained, grinning lecherously.

Izuku felt a scowl form on his lips. It kind of sounded like Mineta was implying that Izuku was some sort of player, just interested in Uraraka for superficial reasons. It felt like a slap in the face to be misunderstood on that level. They were friends, that was it, so what gave Mineta the idea that he'd do that? What even prompted this? A moment of eye contact? It was kind of ridiculous. He caught the girl behind Mineta, the one with the cool ponytail, looking at him with a strange expression on her face. It was like she was studying him, looking for something.

"I think you've misunderstood me and my intentions on the most fundamental level that is possible. I don't know why you're here, Mineta, but I'm here to be a hero. I don't have time to waste on things like that. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, because you obviously had to pass a written and practical test to be here, meaning you earned your place. It would be naive to think, however, that you can simply say what you want and not face consequences, even in a place like this. Especially in a place like this," Izuku said, trying to puzzle out exactly what it meant that his hands shook at the implications of Mineta's words.

"What the hell, man? I was just saying that the chick's hot and you've clearly got her wrapped around your finger. You should be happy, it's a compliment ," Mineta said, his tone pleading.

Izuku saw the girl with the ponytail flinch at that last part. The classroom was eerily quiet. The scarred boy was looking at Mineta with a passive, yet powerful expression on his face. The boy beside Izuku, with the large grin, now absent, was staring straight ahead with wide eyes. Izuku himself felt that shake in his hands return, a hauntingly familiar pressure on his hands making them coil into fists. He got a flash of a memory, of this same feeling welling up inside him. His hands were smaller, younger.

It hurt, how much pressure was pulsing through his hands. It felt like the time Izuku had lifted the couch so that Inko could clean under it. His hands had throbbed from the strain afterward, and this was similar except dialed up by a thousand percent. It was impossibly painful, and Izuku managed to keep his mouth shut as he held his hands close to his chest. He could feel Bakugou's burning gaze on him as the blond turned around and stared at Izuku's hands, all the anger in his expression gone.

Did Bakugou know what was happening? Had this happened before? It had, hadn't it? This was it, what had happened that day, when … when this Quirk had first awakened. Izuku knew that that was what this was, this pressure from within him, but he didn't know how to make it go away. Or maybe he did. At that thought, the memory of redtook him over, and Izuku felt his hands close in on themselves harder than he'd ever managed before.

"You're all ready to learn. Not like the last batch. Excellent," a voice from the front of the class said.

Everybody broke out of their silent spectating to snap their attention to the man now standing at the front podium. Izuku felt himself return to his body, his head feeling light for some reason. He looked around, seeing Uraraka looking at him with wide eyes. As Izuku breathed in deeply, he turned back to the front of the class, and the man keeping his body angled toward him even when his face turned to the other side of the room. That was weird, but Izuku ignored it to focus on his breathing.

"Good morning. I'm Shouta Aizawa, your homeroom teacher. Because we've wasted no time on frivolities, we can get started. These are your gym uniforms," the homeless looking man said, pulling out twenty sets of shirts and pants styled with UA's letters on them out of the yellow bag he dragged in behind him. "Put them on and meet me at the athletics field in fifteen minutes," he continued.

Aizawa was strikingly familiar to Izuku. He must have been a hero, since he taught hero course kids at UA, but Izuku couldn't tell from where he'd seen Aizawa. He'd probably figure it out with more exposure to the man, but that could wait. First, he needed to get through whatever Aizawa had in store for the class at the athletics field and make sure that he didn't have any other moments like his small … the closest thing that Izuku had to a frame of reference for it was a panic attack, but it was different than that. He'd figure it out later, though. Now, he had to get changed.

Author's Note: That's that for this chapter. Hope you liked it!

My book is still available here, at the same price of $3 USD, or free with Kindle Unlimited:

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If you think you might like a coming of age story combined with a fresh, down to earth take on the superhero genre that examines what a hero is in the real world, and what it would take to be one, then please check out The Thrill of the Fight, the story of a young man who learns to care about those around him and rise above his apathy to become at least something like a hero in a world where it is unheard of to even have abilities.