Midoriya Izuku was lagging behind in "Mr. Abraham's Traveling Circus of/for Engineering Students…" The teacher seemed giddy while his students tried to match, but they had a sense of confusion dampening them. The class was a way away from their workshop, their classic dwelling. If Izuku remembered correctly, some actually hissed as they were led into the hallway while others were stumbling about. Of course, those stumbling had the excuse of not taking off their welding masks for some reason. And funnily enough, none of those who hissed had lizard-like or cat-like Quirks.

Mr. Abraham's voice cut through his recollection, "Alright, everyone, some of you may have heard about this joint-assignment." He coughed as if for dramatic effect, "Now, the question is what's the assignment? To simply put, it is an introduction to a specialized path of study for Support Course students." His grin was practically audible, "Field Support! A surprisingly forgotten field. Once government officials, then the first sidekicks, to extensions of Support Companies. You all know what the career will ask of you. Which depends on the situation, the Hero, and your personal abilities: recon, capture, repairs, demolition, etc."

"Now, what are the objectives?" He explained, "You find two Hero Course students, a First Year and a Second Year, and sell your service. You will create Support items for them as well as yourselves." He smiled, waving his hand, "Then you all will participate in a three-on-three Combat-Sim that will be broadcasted to the entire student body during the Sports Festival."

He then added, "After your Midterms, you will be given complete access to the workshop until the Sports Festival. Meaning today is planning. The next three—four are studying. Then after Midterms, this assignment." They came to a stop before he spoke firmly, "Plan properly, work diligently, and you'll be okay." He straightened, "You're all brilliant students; I wouldn't give you this assignment this early in your year if I didn't believe it."

Mr. Abraham reached for the door, and took a breath, "Alright, let's go." Before he pushed open the metal doors to the gymnasium. Within, there were two other clusters of twenty; both were organized into rows and columns and were headed by another teacher.

Mr. Abraham nodded to his co-worker, "Mr. Haimawari! I'm assuming your students are informed." He looked about the floor, "Where's Mr. Sato?"

Mr. Haimawari shrugged, "Koichi is just fine, and Mr. Sato's in a meeting." He looked over his shoulder, "Mr. Shishikura, your class has been informed, right?"

Shishikura Seiji stepped forward; almost militant, "Yes, sir!"

"Now, everyone, please meet and discuss," called Mr. Abraham. "This decision will affect how you may perform out there, and how you make it may affect your team cohesion." He quickly pulled Koichi to the side as the groups of twenty froze for a moment. It was large group interaction, so there was a desire to stick close to those they knew. These situations are awkward and can last quite long; at least, until someone cracks the ice.

Izuku blinked when he saw his five-year-old self rush from the crowd. The younger him was smiling until he rushed to the side of a similarly aged Bakugo. The younger him was no longer smiling when an explosion sent him skidding back across the gym floor. Izuku's eyes narrowed for a moment before his ten-year-old self stepped forward. His steps were slow, his smile faltering, and his hands fidgeting. He wandered from group to group, hoping to find some vacant space. Looks of disapproval or disgust sent him backing away and onto the next. He'd find one eventually, one none too pleased with his presence. Izuku sighed as his hands found his pockets, glancing to his left. A version of himself, a year younger, stood still as his classmates merged and mingled. He waited for the groups to form and finalize. He waited for the teacher to notice his lack of a partner. Then he'd either sit out or be forced into some group. "Easiest way… Not intrusive… Unassuming…"

"Yo, Midori!" greeted Kaminari.

Shinso waved, "Midoriya."

"Hiya, Midori!" called a grinning Ashido.

"Sup, Midoriya," casually said Jirou.

Utsushimi smiled, waving as well, "Hey-hey, Midoriya!"

Izuku blinked for a moment, "Eh…?" He shook his head as a group of five stood before him. His class as well as the Hero Course students had merged, attempting to form their groups. The five faces must've gone to him as soon as the tides clashed.

They seemed to all speak at once, "Can you partner up with me? You're the only Support Course student I know!"

"Eh?" flatly exclaimed Izuku. Whatever rising feeling in his heart crashed and burned as everything took a downturn into neutrality. He pinched the bridge of his nose, "No, no… This makes sense… I shouldn't feel disappointed…" He coughed, "Well, Senpai is the only Second Year-"

"Instant pass!" called Utsushimi.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "Y-Yeah that…" He teetered his head, "And, uh well, I can't partner with four First Years."

Shinso crossed his arms, rubbing his chin, "If we take too long, the rest of the classes might get swooped up."

"Yeah… But you know what?" offered Jirou. "As long as I don't end up on a team with that Shishikura-guy, I don't really care."

"Right, he was the guy that yelled at us in the hallway," recalled Ashido, gesturing with finger-guns.

Utsushimi tapped her finger against her cheek, "Seiji?"

"Yeah, that purple-haired dude," Kaminari blinked, "The other purple-haired dude."

"Thanks," was muttered.

"Ooh, what happened?" Utsushimi put her hands on her hips, "Seiji was mean to guys or somethin'?"

Izuku scratched his cheek, "We were a bit loud in the hallway."

"But he was yelling at us like we were ripping down the walls," compared Jirou with a roll of her eyes. "Like somehow being 'a bit loud in the hallway' was betraying every value of a Hero."

Utsushimi giggled, "Yeah, that totes sounds like Seiji. Sorry about him." She shrugged, "He's pretty okay when you get to know him."

"Just 'pretty okay', huh?" echoed Shinso.

Kaminari clapped his hands, "Crummy Senpai's aside, who gets Mr. Parsley?"

Izuku verbally and bodily winced, "I don't approve of that at all."

"Celery?" offered Shinso.

Ashido said, "Broccoli?"

"Pak-Choy?" with a smirk from Jirou.

Utsushimi waved her finger, "Daikon?"

"That one's not even that green," countered Izuku.

"The root is," she reasoned.

"The daikon is the root…"

"Ah! Oh…" She blinked for a moment, picking at her chin, "I mean the leaves, I guess? Feels weird to call them that."

Mr. Abraham's voice cut over the crowd's, "Please report to either Mr. Koichi or I when you form your teams!"

"We should probably speed up," commented Shinso.

Jirou sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, "I'll move on." She smirked, giving a casual salute, "No offense, I'll be avoiding the purple-haired folk."

"A part of my identity has been ripped away from me, unjustly," delivered Shinso in the flattest way possible. "Oh, the humanity."

Ashido rubbed her hands together, "One down, two to go."

"Eh, is this competition now?" wondered Kaminari.

Shinso chuckled, shaking his head, "Well, I'll forfeit." He shrugged, "No offense, Midoriya."

"No worries." Izuku's mind deflated, "Thank god… I was worried they were gonna make me choose between them or something like that…" His gaze turned flat, "Of course, if my impression of these two is correct, they still might make me…"

Kaminari sighed with a smile, "Well, I guess we have to settle this, Ashido."

"Y-Yeah, I guess we do…" Ashido wiped away a nonexistent tear, "This team isn't big enough for the both of us."

"On shoot?"

"It's been a pleasure, Kaminari," she said wistfully.

He shook his head, "It's been fun…"

"Rock, paper, scissors… Shoot!" They threw out their fists. "Rock, paper, scissors… Shoot!" Ashido was up one. "Rock, paper, scissors… Shoot!" Kaminari evened the match. "Rock, paper, scissors… Shoot!"

"No!" cried Ashido as she fell to her knees (in a cautious manner).

Kaminari shook his head, hanging it while clutching his fist, "I'm sorry, old friend…"

"Oh, good… I didn't have to do anything…" thought Izuku. A wandering thought commented, "She threw out rock each time… That's pretty bold – pretty cool… Looking Failure in the eyes and smiling…" He blinked for a moment, "Is that mean…?"

Ashido's shoulders sunk, "Guess I'll go… See ya guys."

"See you… later, Ashido," said Izuku with a wave.

Kaminari nodded, "See ya."

Ashido mumbled, "Bye…" Her pink form faded into the crowd.

The blond turned to the remaining pair, "Well, I guess we're a team!"

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Izuku.

Kaminari blinked, looking after her before shrugging and waving his hand, "Yeah… I think it's just a gag. She'll be fine later."

"You don't sound sure," observed Izuku.

"Not after you started asking me about it," agreed Kaminari. "I'll check in when we get back to class."

"Hey, hey," interjected Utsushimi. "Nice to meet you, I'm Utsushimi Camie," she said, offering her hand.

Izuku noted the slight blush that infected the blond's face as he stumbled, "Ah, w-we didn't introduce ourselves at all, huh?" He shook her hand, "Kaminari Denki." The blond nudged Midoriya, teasing and poorly whispering, "So, you know, Utsushimi-Senpai, eh?"

"You know, she can hear you, right?" was countered at equal volume, mimicking the teasing tone flatly.

Panicking, Kaminari's head swiveled, shooting between Izuku and Utsushimi, "E-Eh?!"

"Let's go tell Mr. Abraham," said Izuku, clapping his hands together.

Kaminari tore his gaze from Utsushimi, "So, what's the plan, Midori?"

Izuku nodded, "Well, I make you Support items and we… pick a fight… with your classmates…" He trailed off for a moment, slowly bringing his hand to his chin. "I need to make items for myself as well…" He began to mutter, "Kaminari's Quirk is Electrification… Senpai's is unknown… Costumes: unknown… Limitations: unknown… Needs/Necessities: unknown… Basic measurements: unknown…"

"Midoriya?" called Utsushimi.

Izuku let out a breath, "Sorry… I just realized we have a lot to go over…" He turned, moving at a brisk pace, "Come on, we should hurry. I want to get there first." Kaminari and Utsushimi shared a look of confusion before following him.

-XXX-

Utsushimi Camie and Kaminari were led through the workshop by Midoriya, leading them into the testing range. He stopped at a terminal tapping on the screen, "Alright, Electrification and Glamour…" The room's many panels shifted and whirled, "Charge in electricity and emit it out like an aura. Extremely close range but can expand at the risk of affecting literally everyone."

Kaminari nodded, "That covers it, yeah."

Midoriya muttered, "And you are liable to fry your brain in the process…" which caused the blond to deflate slightly.

He gave an 'unnoticed' glance to their Senpai, "D-Dude…"

"Then, Glamour… Visual and auditory illusions created via a mist from your mouth?" said the inventor shifted his attention. "Any extra additions about your Quirk, Utsushimi-Senpai?"

"Nothing I can think of," she said, tapping her chin.

"Well, if it is okay, I'd like to go through a test or two," put out Midoriya as he meddled with the terminal.

Kaminari gave a thumbs-up, "Okay."

"Oh, no prob," waved off Camie. "And you guys can just call me Camie. We're going to be teammates from now on and my last name is a mouth-full."

"R-Really? C-Cool…" stuttered out Kaminari.

"I'll… work on that…" muttered Midoriya. "We'll start with yours. Just give me a moment to calibrate things."

"Kay…" Her mind commented, "How non-committal… Is he embarrassed or something…? Hm… Maybe…" She tilted her head, attempting to look at his face. "I feel like we were getting along just fine before…" She internally joked, "Maybe he's like a cat…?"

Kaminari moseyed up to the older; arms tucked behind his back. "C-Camie-Senpai," -he coughed into his hand, "do you have a boyfriend? Or anything like that?"

She blinked for a moment before just shrugging, "Nah, that type of stuff isn't really on my mind. Like, at all. Been too busy ya know?"

"Y-Yeah, I get that. Midterms and those combat sims…"

Camie grumbled, "Such a pain… Like I get it we need practice, but I wish we'd just be in our internships. We've already been through this stuff before, ya know?" She blinked before waving her hand with a chuckle, "Ah, I, sorry. Guess that isn't that totally relatable."

"N-Nah, I get it. You already know your stuff, so why can't you stretch your limbs?"

She laughed, "Exactly!"

Midoriya waved his hand, shifting panels to create a large area in red, "Senpai, mind creating an illusion just on that red section."

Camie nodded as she jogged over to the marked zone, "Yes, yes!"

"Keep it up as long as you can."

She took a breath, "Okay~." She let out a mist as she released her intake. The cloud seemed to fall like a weighted balloon before slowly building upon itself and growing into a column. "Ah…" She did it absentmindedly and incidentally created something from the back of her mind.

A copy of Midoriya Izuku stood… Albeit with cat ears and a matching tail…

In making eye contact with the original, the illusion jumped and hissed; earned a laugh from Kaminari, "Pfft!" He shifted over to Midoriya, nudging him with his elbow, "Dude… You look pretty good with cat ears…"

"S… S-Senpai?" eked out Midoriya.

Camie scratched the back of her neck, "Sorry~." She pushed out a chuckle, "I'll just make another one."

"N-No, it's… fine," said Midoriya, shaking his head. "I'm just taking a quick look, anyway."

"So, whatcha getting from this?" said Camie as she jogged over to the terminal.

Midoriya murmured back, "Confirming a theory…" He straightened, turning away from the screen, "How long can you hold these?"

"Depends," she answered with a shrug. "If they're moving, maybe an hour and a half?" She smiled, holding up three fingers, "If they're standing still, around three."

"Does the auditory aspect play into it?" asked the Support student.

"No, or, at least, not in a meaningful way."

"Hm…" He nodded, rubbing his chin, "They do have a thermal presence, but it's barely noticeable…" His leg raised and his hands drifted.

Kaminari commented, "Pretty life-like from here."

Camie nodded, "Yeah." She twirled her finger, "A good look is all I really need before doing whatever I want."

"So, can you make anyone look like anything?" asked the battery.

"Yep!" She giggled, "I can even make a guy-version of me."

"Eh?" -he seemed slightly uncomfortable. "That's pretty crazy."

The Senpai shrugged, "Yeah." She teetered her head, "But they fall apart with j—". Both of the Hero Course students jumped when a red shoe soar from the terminal, bouncing off the ground and sailing through the illusion. The cat-like Midoriya cried out like, well, a frightened cat before dispersing into smoke. Their eyes slowly traced the flight back to its source.

Midoriya scratched his cheek, "Huh… Not very durable, are they?" He turned to the pair, blinking for a moment, "What?"

Kaminari laughed, "Dude, why did you chuck your shoe? Camie-Senpai, could've just told ya."

He shrunk slightly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry…" His head teetered, "Didn't want to interrupt."

"You didn't think the 'Flight of the Shoe' would?"

Midoriya tapped on the terminal, "You two seemed absorbed enough." He saved the file before sending it away, "I mean… evidently not, I guess."

Camie's laugh pulled the first-years' attention away from one another. "It's totally fine, really!", she waved off. She giggled, "It's, like, pretty funny."

Midoriya blinked in response, murmuring to himself, "Well, that's better than the alternative, I guess…" He coughed, "Um, well, that's just about all I needed on 'Glamor'." He tapped on the screen before the room's panels shifted once more.

Kaminari laughed, "Ah, dude, this place is so cool! It's like one of those… sci-fi… movie rooms." While the battery kept his amazement towards the room, Camie caught the look that graced Midoriya's face, bringing another giggle from her lips.

A cough was drawn from the Izuku's mouth as he shook his head, "Electrification is close range, right?"

Kaminari turned, "Yeah, just around my body."

With another tapping upon the terminal, the panels of the room stopped as a human-like mannequin was lifted from the floor, "Just zap that dummy for me. Give me your minimum and…" -a glance was spared in her direction. "You can just tell me your max."

"Alright!" acknowledged Kaminari.

"3… 2… 1…" Lightning strobed about the room before the inventor called, "That's enough!" He murmured, "25,000 Watts… A positive charge…?"

Kaminari dusted off his hands as he rejoined the group, "So, what's all this testing for?"

Midoriya shrugged, "Seeing just helps. Visualizing verbal information is fine, but it's not the full picture." His hand waved towards Camie, "Your Quirk is an emitter. You breathe a controllable gas that condenses and shifts to create imagery. How the auditory illusion is generated is lost to me, but there are other things for me to work on instead. Endurance being the main thing. The liquid molecules link together and form the illusion, but their link is only serviceable. When push literally comes to shove, link breaks;" he snapped his fingers, "-illusion shattered." He teetered his head, "It is possible that more training could fix this, but that's down the line, you're going into the field now. Which I guess makes it my field…"

"What's your idea?" asked Camie.

Midoriya scratched his cheek, "Maybe create a chemical formula that creates a tighter bond between the molecules? I have been putting myself through a chemistry crash course as of late." He frowned, "Though, I didn't think I'd be putting to use this soon. I'm not exactly too knowledgeable." He teetered his hand, "So, we'll be doing a lot of tests."

"Okay, cool."

Kaminari raised his hand, "Ooh! Ooh! What about me?"

"Emitter Quirk: generate electrical field," stated Midoriya. "However, considering you can expand it, your Quirk is probably more complicated than that."

"What do you mean?" pondered Kaminari.

"Well, electricity doesn't pass through air easily. In fact, it is the worst medium for it. However, that is not the case for you. Which potentially means that your Quirk goes beyond discharging electricity. Something about you might be able to manipulate the air molecules surrounding you to create plasma channels for your electricity to pass through."

Kaminari's face contorted, "I'm not sure what that means, but that sounds cool."

Sails said goodbye to the wind, "A-Anyway, something like that can be done synthetically. Scientists have used high-powered lasers operating at certain frequencies to break down molecules into ions and thus creating a plasma channel. And you might be the ticket into understanding that process." Midoriya summarized, "If I study the air around you, I might be able to figure out how to make a laser-induced plasma channel a viable option for you."

Kaminari simply blinked, smiling but not quite understanding...

To be fair, she didn't quite understand it either.

Midoriya coughed, "I'm gonna try and figure out how to help you shoot lightning using lasers."

"Woah!" cried out Kaminari; an understanding reached. "That sounds awesome, dude!"

"Alright, I'll get started on the project outlines later," stated Midoriya. "We should probably leave. I'm sure other people want to use this room." He turned to the terminal, manipulating the room once more to factory settings.

Kaminari rubbed his hands together before throwing them into the air, "Dude! I'm going to shoot lightning! Ha-ha! This is going to be so flipping cool!"

"Sorry, I can't do much with your Quirk," said Midoriya to Camie as they followed Kaminari out of the room. "Making minor adjustments are the only things I can really think of for you."

"What? It's no problem, Midori." Camie smiled, "What you put out was pretty cool for me. I'll be able to help out more if my illusions can hold up better." Her mind added, "My Quirk isn't as fancy as Kaminari's anyways…"

"So, what now?" pondered Kaminari.

Midoriya shrugged, "Besides the outlines? I guess we have Midterms to study for."

"Eh…" muttered Camie, looking off to the side as if ashamed.

Kaminari's shoulders dropped with his gaze, staring at the ground as if it were his grave, "Eh…"

Midoriya looked between them; mouth hung open. He raised his fist, pumping it slightly, "G-G-Good luck?" When neither budged, he stumbled around them, "Y-You can do it!?" He slowly straightened, coughing to the side. "Uh… Guys…?" Silence was the only thing he was met with. "Um…" He blinked, turning and walking away, "I'm… gonna work on those… uh, outlines…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "S-Sorry…"

-\ XXX /-

AN: Hello, hello! The Joint-Assignment/Sports Festival Arc (kinda, maybe, sorta, it's a setting thing) begins! Woo~! Fuck, we are far away from the first fight scene. We have a lot to get through. Gotta develop the skillsets, relationships, and so on before we get there. I do have a goal, but I won't say it and jinx myself.

To focus on this chapter, we have the assignment. Mr. Abraham believes in his students. Izuku remembers the growing pains of his life and is pleasantly surprised by the new factors in it. Though, the friendships are very casual in nature and haven't reach the point of being too emotionally involved. And then we have made-up Quirk 'science' on my part. Plasma channels, ultraviolet lasers, and manipulated air/water molecules, oh my. (I don't I did that reference right.) Is it, at all, any form of accurate? Beats me. I did my best with what I could find and pulled a Marvel/DC thing. (Take something from reality, poke and twist into something that fits the story at hand. Like Deathstroke's armor or Captain America's 'seeing faster' trick.)

Now, about adjusting the writing schedule, that didn't pan out. Believe it or not, back to back holidays are painful to work through. We'll be returning to the normal writing schedule. I do apologize for that which is why this chapter is coming out now. Didn't want to leave you guys hanging for too long.

Update Window: February 20th - February 25th

With that, thank you for reading and criticize away!