News of Midoriya's and Bakugo's acceptance into U.A. had already spread across his middle school when they arrived the next day. Many of Izuku's classmates approached the green-haired teen to congratulate him… as well as express some envy that he had gotten into such a good school. The same couldn't be said for Bakugo, who had been so sure that he had not only gotten first place in the practical but would also be the first student in Aldera to ever get into U.A. As soon as he walked into class and laid eyes on Izuku, the ashen-blonde became so enraged that it seemed like every blood vessel in his body would explode with the same amount of force that came from his hands! This caused everyone around him to give Bakugo a wide berth…except for Midoriya who just sat in his seat waving politely to his childhood friend. He didn't even look nervous when the two were called to the principal's office to be congratulated by the man.

When that school day ended, Bakugo roughly grabbed Izuku by his uniform jacket where he then dragged the freckled-faced youth outside. Then, once he had found a corner that was isolated, the blond slammed Izuku against the wall.

"I'm going to tell you this once! DROP! OUT! NOW!" yelled Bakugo at the top of his lungs, spit flying forward onto the face of the green-haired teen who just stood there calmly. In fact, the only time Izuku winced was when the explosive teen's spittle landed in his eye. "I was supposed to be the only one in this shitty school to go to U.A. ME! You took that honor away from me! That, and my spot on the top of the charts! Those belonged to ME!"

"Well, you still did very well. I mean, third place is nothing to be ashamed of," replied Izuku in a pleasant and kind tone which caused Bakugo's eyes to widen in rage. His pupils were nothing more than tiny dots as more veins filled his eyes. The blonde's teen clenched so tightly that, if they moved, sparks would be flying outward. As Bakugo's hands began to shake, Izuku reached into his pocket to pull something out.

"Anyways," continued Izuku. "I've been working on this since I heard you aced the mock test. I wanted to give it to you once you got your acceptance letter. Congratulations."

Somehow, Bakugo's pupils became even smaller as he looked down at what looked like a ring box held in Izuku's scarred hand. The young Midoriya flipped it open with one hand, revealing a pin shaped like a stick of dynamite made of silver. As Bakugo looked at it, he began breathing hard before looking up at the one who had made the pin.

"What…is…this!?" growled Bakugo between deep, angry breaths.

"It's a gift," said Midoriya with a smile. "You know, something to wear on your uniform. If the school allows it. Or you could put it on your backpack or-"

"Shut the HELL UP!" roared Bakugo, silencing the green-haired teen. The next thing Izuku knew, his childhood friend had grabbed the gift made for him before tossing it aside with an explosion from his hand.

Izuku, who was still wincing from the explosion, failed to react in time as Bakugo placed his smoking hands on the shoulders of the shield user before pushing against the wall once more. "You can keep your damned pity gifts you shitty nerd because I don't want them! Do you hear me!? I don't need them! I don't need you looking down on me! What makes you think that-" Bakugo's words were suddenly cut short as he closed his eyes. For a moment, he held Izuku there in silence before pulling away and letting Izuku drop onto his feet. Without another intelligible word, the blond bomber stormed off, leaving Izuku alone, shoulders slumped, as he watched his childhood friend storm off.

After that day, Izuku didn't talk much with his childhood friend. Instead, for the next several months, Izuku Midoriya continued to work out his body as best as possible. Despite being told that he had done well, the young teen had seen where he needed to improve. And if he wanted to succeed, to truly become the hero he wanted to be, Izuku knew that every moment counted!

His solo workouts did not last for long, thankfully, as he was later joined by a new training partner.

"Thank you again so much for letting me stay here," said Raphtalia cheerfully as she entered the Midoriya's apartment. She was wearing a red blouse that had several darker red strings running up her midsection which gave the impression of shoe laces given how thick they were along with jeans. As she walked, she carried a small suitcase in front of her.

"Think nothing of it," replied Inko warmly as she led the teenager through the apartment. Behind them, Izuku did his best to carry two other, larger suitcases. The green-haired teen was hunched over, one of the cases resting on his back while his shield hand took hold of the handle of the opposite one. A slight bit of sweat on his brow as the teen moved the heavy objects into his home, ready to drop them in the guest room.

"It's been so long since I've seen you," continued Inko, her voice warm and loving. "The last time I saw you, you were just so small. But look at you now! All grown up and heading off to U.A. Oh, here we are." The matriarch of the Midoriya household paused briefly in front of a doorway before opening it and gesturing for the teens to enter. Raphtalia was the first to walk inside, finding signs that the room had once been a home office before being transformed into a guest room. On one side, a desk with an older model computer sat covered in a semi-transparent cloth to keep the dust off. If one looked a little closer they could see that there was also an In and Out tray that still had papers on it as well as a few other nicknacks. As for the rest of the room, it was pretty cozy. There was a single bed with light creamy green colored sheets with matching pillows tucked into the opposite corner. In lieu of a window, Inko had long ago put up a painting of rice patty fields with a mountain in the distance. And beneath the painting, right next to the bed, was a nightstand with a cheap alarm clock on it as well as a vase with a few freshly picked flowers.

As Raphtalia looked around, slowly placing her suitcase next to the bed, Inko let out a little sigh. "I know it's not much," Inko began, only to be cut off as their guest spun around to give a bright smile with her eyes closed.

"It's wonderful," said the teenage girl, her voice filled with warmth. Then, as Izuku placed the rest of her luggage in the room, the tanuki girl reached into her own bag before pulling out a somewhat thick envelope which she then held out towards Inko. "Before I forget, my parents wanted to give this to you. As payment for putting me up while I'm in town."

Inko barely looked at the offering as she pushed it back. "You keep it," the older woman said, her voice holding a tone that held finality. "The reason we offered to let you stay here was so that you wouldn't waste money renting a hotel room. You give that money back to your parents." Izuku watched from the doorway, the look in Raphtalia's eyes telling him that she wanted to argue. However, after thinking about it for a moment she relented without another word.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Izuku decided to move on to a more important subject. "So, do you have any ideas on where you'd like to stay?" he asked. Instantly, Raphtalia brightened as she returned the envelope back into her suitcase before pulling out several printouts.

"I have a few ideas within my parent's budget," she said while walking over to the shield user. Once she stood next to him, she positioned the papers so that both teens could easily read them. The top printout had what looked like a three-story Japanese-style inn with a bright red roof. In front of the building were several sakura trees in full bloom as several people who were clearly students walked in and out of the building.

"My parents really like this student boarding house," began Raphtalia while trying not, and failing slightly, to make a face that betrayed her disapproval. "Mainly because there's at least three Kobans near it. They also have a number of rules that I looked up on their website. Like you have to give them a two-days notice when bringing guests over, room inspections, and a curfew. Also, it's a little farther away from U.A. than I want. About a forty-five-minute trip by train. But, it is the only place on this list that has a pool." Raphtalia then put the printout at the bottom of the pile, showing a more modern-looking building. "To be honest, I'd much rather prefer getting a regular student apartment. This way, I get the place to myself. This one is about a ten-minute walk to U.A. and has a gym suited for hero training in the basement! There's also a pool nearby. Then there's this one. But, ah, it's a little above my budget." For some time, the two teens stood there, going over all the apartment options that Raphtalia had been looking up over the last several weeks. Meanwhile, Izuku just stood there, listening to Raphtalia as she went over all the pros and cons on her list while watching her face light up whenever she talked about something she was excited about. Since the plan was that he was going to go with her to look at all of these places, including the student boarding house, he would save his own opinion until he was there.

After they had gotten through the list, the pair began heading out to visit these apartments. Or, at least, they started to as Raphtalia paused in the hallway.

"Izuku, what's that?" asked Raphtalia, sounding very confused. Turning around, Izuku saw that she was standing at his door. A door that he was just now realizing he had left open!

Cheeks burning, the green-haired teen wondered what was in his room that had shocked her as the made his way over. Was it his All Might collection? No, it couldn't be since he had told her about it. Besides, it was a healthy amount…right? Or maybe she noticed the magazine he had been reading earlier that day, the one with Mirko and Ryukyu on the cover. Did she think that he read smut? No, that wasn't it! He was reading it for the articles detailing their quirks and making notes on what possible shields he could get if he ever got a strand of hair from them. Nothing weird at all!

When Izuku got to the door, he shot a quick glance into his room. Strangely, he didn't see anything that seemed weird to him. The magazine he had been reading was nowhere in sight, meaning he must have put it away. His workbench had a few projects he had been working on, but nothing that would be seen as weird. Heck, he didn't even have any stray underwear lying on the floor!

Feeling somewhat confused as well as curious about what had shocked his friend so much, he turned to look at her. It was then that Raphtalia pointed to something in the room, Midoriya following the path of her finger. What he saw at the other end caused him to blink in surprise.

"I don't get it," he said, staring at the newest item in the room. "Didn't you keep your acceptance holodisk?"

"I did!" said Raphtalia, a bit louder than normal, making Izuku jump. The girl then marched into his room before gesturing with both hands. "But I didn't do this!" Tilting his head, Izuku examined the sight before him. The disk was lying there on a small, silken pillow and protected by a square glass case which the teen cleaned every day. Twice when he took the device out to watch the message again. The case and its contents were held up at eye level by a pedestal made of dark, polished oak.

"How could I not memorialize it?" Izuku asked, stunned. "It has All Might and Midnight telling me that I got into U.A. A personalized holographic recording that deserves to be passed down and kept as a family treasure! The only way it could get any better is if it was also signed by All Might!" Izuku would have continued to talk had he not noticed Raphtalia's suppressed laugh.

"Maybe we should get going," Raphtalia said between small bits of giggles, taking hold of Izuku's wrist as she led them out of the apartment.

Over the next couple of days, Izuku and Raphtalia looked at all the apartments on the girl's list. Some, like the one she had wanted that was close to U.A., had already signed the lease for their last available room. As for the one her parents wanted, that was also a hard no. Not only did the room feel smaller than what the pictures suggested, making her feel claustrophobic, but according to Izuku the closest hero here did not have the best track record. That was something Izuku was sure to bring up. While she went to check on the room sizes, the view, double checking the rent, and so on Izuku would talk about how many hero agencies were close to the apartment as well as the names of the heroes there. This had been a little weird for the girl as Izuku seemed to have memorized all of this until…

"I just thought that it would put your parent's mind at ease when you told them," the green-haired teen explained after Raphtalia had asked why it mattered. "If something does happen, knowing how many heroes are in the area and knowing if they have good track records can help put their minds at ease." Hearing that brought a genuine smile to the girl's face, accepting the shield user's advice. She also thought it would make a far better excuse as to why she wasn't going with the boarding house her parents wanted. Also, she found it rather cute whenever Izuku wanted to try and get an autograph from the nearby heroes.

Eventually, Raphtalia decided on an apartment overlooking Takoba Municipal Beach. While it didn't have a gym or anything like that, it had all the utilities she could need as well as having a few notable heroes in the area. But what really sold it for her was the price as well as its location to the ocean. Due to the amount of trash she saw from her bay window overlooking the beach caused the value of the apartment to drop over the years. Not that she minded as she could still see the sparkling ocean at night.

After getting settled in, both she and Izuku decided to start their training in a forested area the two of them had passed when leaving the Midoriya's apartment complex. The area, according to Izuku, was the same one where he and Bakugo had played in when they were younger. At first, both teens figured it would just be a nice isolated spot where they could use their quirks without anyone seeing them as well as providing them with plenty of shade. But, as the days went by, the two quickly discovered that this place was a hidden goldmine of training potential. There were several large trees with branches sturdy enough to hold them, allowing for them to practice their fighting styles in mid-air and with narrow footing. There were also several fallen trees that acted like bridges over rivers of various sizes. As for training on the ground, they learned to use the trees to their advantage in various ways.

As they trained, Izuku learned more about Raphtalia's quirk: tanuki. This quirk not only gave her the ears and tail of the named animal but it also gave her some of the illusionary abilities associated with some of the folklore surrounding the named creature. Right now, all she could do were minor illusions. But when you combined that with her sword skills as well as the forest environment, it became a powerful combo. It forced Izuku to start relying on senses other than sight as he tried to pick out with his ears where the next attack would come from.

Finally, the first day of the new semester at U.A. had come and Izuku Midoriya was heading down the sidewalk with the gates of the great school in sight. The sunlight shined brightly against his shield, the teen having spent several hours the night before polishing it so that it looked its best. Dressed in his new U.A. uniform, there was almost a skip in the boy's step as he walked while both his hands held onto the straps of his backpack. He had even managed to fit one of his favorite All Might action figures inside of the bag so that, you know, the man himself could sign it.

That, as well as something special for another student.

As he drew closer to the great gates, Izuku noticed a familiar set of ears on the other side of a steady flow of students entering the building. Carefully, the young Midoriya began to slip past the mass of teens until Raphtalia was in his field of vision. She was just standing there, her back against the wall next to the gate while checking her phone.

'Oh man, oh man,' thought Izuku, his cheeks becoming lightly tinted red as he got a good look at her in her uniform. 'S-She looks so cute! S-Should I say something? Would that be weird?'

"Izuku!" cried Raphtalia happily, bouncing slightly where she stood when she saw the shield user. "I was hoping to meet you here!"

"Y-You were?" stammered Izuku as he gave the girl his best smile while scratching the back of his head, hoping that she didn't notice that he was blushing.

Raphtalia nodded, looking pleased as she did so while her tail began to wag. An act that he found adorable.

"Mhmm!" the girl hummed while glancing over at the school. "I thought that, if we had time, you'd like to explore the school with me before class begins. Just so we have an idea where everything was."

Izuku let out a hum of his own, having no real issue with the idea. In fact, he rather liked it. Knowing where everything was would give them a huge advantage moving forward. Heck, thinking about it, it was the sort of thing that a hero should do when arriving in a new area. But did they have enough time to make the most out of it? Reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone, Izuku slid his thumb over the screen to check the time. What he saw showed that he had arrived earlier than he thought so there was no real rush to get to class. So, with a nod, he agreed.

For about the next twenty minutes, the pair navigated themselves throughout the school. Their first stop was locating their classroom so they could figure out where everything else was in relation to it. It took a while to find the massive doors and, when they did, they gave it a solid look before turning around without bothering to go in.

From there, the pair continued to look around the school while being mindful of the time. After all, neither of them wanted to be tardy on their first day and knew there would be plenty of time to check out the rest of the school. So they managed to find the lunchroom, drooling when they saw the massive menu provided by the hero Lunch Rush, as well as several of the massive gyms. Izuku marveled at everything he saw, finding that the school had well exceeded his expectations. One gym had various exercise equipment that one could find in any gym, except many of the machines had been modified to accommodate students of all shapes and sizes. Another had what could only be described as an indoor maze, littered with robots and other hazards. Heck, looking at the ceiling, Izuku believed that the staff might even be able to control weather conditions. Which was amazing!

It was only when the alarms they had set on their phones, signaling that class would start in ten minutes, did they start heading back to class 1-A.

"It's so wonderful that we're going to be in the same class," exclaimed Raphtalia, her tail continuing to wag while a bright smile lit up her face. Izuku couldn't help but nod.

"I know," he said while thinking back to the day they took the biggest test of their lives. "I wonder if they did that because they saw how well we worked together during the entrance exam."

"Well, regardless, I'm glad to be doing all this by your side," replied the girl cheerfully. A moment later, Raphtalia's expression began to somber before she lowered her head a little while brushing away her bangs. The sight of this brought Izuku a mix of panic, both at how cute that gesture was as well as worry by the sudden shift. "So, let's do our best to become the heroes we want to be."

"Huh, you know," began Izuku looking up as he spoke. "I don't think I ever asked you why you wanted to become a hero."

"Really?" asked Raphtalia as she raised her head to look at her friend. "I could have sworn you did."

Izuku turned his gaze to look at her before shaking his head. "I think I have an idea though," he admitted. "About what happened to us."

Raphtalia nodded, her lips tightening as her gaze became more distant. Like she was looking into the past. "There's not a day that's gone by when I haven't thought about that time," she said at last with a heavy sigh. "About the others who were with me. About the monsters who put us through all that. I found out that they managed to save some of the other kids and arrest the people who bought them like they were nothing more than objects."

Izuku nodded. Though his mother didn't like it, she had taken him to the police station and called up the police and heroes who had been working on the case several times after he had returned home. They never told them everything, but what they did tell the Midoriya family was enough to put the family a bit more at ease. At least for Izuku it did. The young child found himself falling asleep more easily, no longer fearing that when he woke up he would be back in that little room, knowing that most of the people who were involved in the kidnappings were now behind bars.

"But, there were others that got away," continued Raphtalia. "I told the police and heroes about this weird, short man who looked like a doctor who came in. He was interested in children who had powerful quirks. As far as I know, they never found him. And there were others they couldn't find as well, criminals and children alike. I know that it's unrealistic, but I want to fight as hard as possible so that no one ever goes through what we went through. That's the sort of hero I want… no, I am going to be."

She then looked over at Izuku.

"So, what about you?" she asked, suddenly changing topics. "What made you want to become a hero? Same as me?"

In response, Izuku blushed as he scratched the back of his head.

"I actually wanted to become a hero before that night," admitted Izuku with a bit of a fond smile. "I've wanted it ever since I saw All Might's debut video. It's nothing like it was about him fighting some villain for the first time, just saving people. What stuck out to me was how he smiled, reassuring everyone. That's why I want to be a hero: to save as many people as I can. I want everyone who sees my shield to know that I'm there to make sure everything will be ok. That I'll protect them from whatever danger is there." Izuku then paused before letting out a laugh. "I'd do it with a smile like All Might's, but that didn't work so well the first time I tried it."

"It's the thought that counted," chuckled Raphtalia as she no doubt recalled the memory of Izuku's failed attempt. "Maybe you should practice more."

That got a wicked grin from Izuku. Without another word, his face seemed to morph into an almost exact double of the Number One Heroes! Then, when he spoke next, he did so with the same bombastic energy that All Might was known for.

"How's this?" Seeing this as well as hearing All Might's voice coming from her friend's mouth caused Raphtalia to begin to laugh uncontrollably, lightly punching Izuku in the shoulder. As they began to calm down the two realized that they were alone in the hallway. Right up ahead, Izuku could see the class 1-A sign. Not knowing if he would ever get another chance to be alone with Raphtalia today, Izuku made a snap decision. Stopping where he was, he set down his backpack. Upon seeing this, the tanuki girl stopped as well, watching him as he began fishing through his bag.

"What are you doing?" she asked, bending down while placing her hands on her knees. "Class is going to be starting soon."

"I know. I just-" As his fingers wrapped around a small package, Izuku looked up to see something he never thought he'd see in his life. It was the face of a man with bloodshot eyes and messy, black hobo-like hair looking back at him without so much as blinking. What's more, the rest of his body looked like a massive yellow caterpillar.

Yelling and jumping to his feet, Izuku raised his shield while Raphtalia looked ready to swing her bag at the thing.

"About time you noticed me," said the thing as it got up, its voice deep and tired. It then unzipped the zipper on its body, revealing it to be nothing more than a sleeping bag which the man inside then slipped out of. Now both teens could see that he was a man dressed all in black with a white scarf around his neck that obscured his mouth. Not that this put either of them at ease, still holding up their weapons in case this strange man decided to attack.

"I've been trailing the two of you since you both walked away from the classroom," continued the man as he looked down at them, placing his hands in his pockets as he did so. "If the two of you are serious about wanting to become heroes then we're going to have to work on your awareness. But at least you two weren't wasting time which is precious in a hero's line of work. Rather than sitting around in class socializing, you were using what time you had to familiarize yourself with your new environment."

Strangely, being told that they had been followed for that long did not put either teen at ease. In fact, it did just the opposite. Something that man clearly noticed.

"Relax" sighed the man. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa."

That got the two young heroes in training to lower their guards. Not by much as neither of them had ever heard of this man nor did they recognize him. Plus there was also the fact that his gaze upon them was somewhat…unnerving. Like he was peering into their souls. But just enough for it to show that they were relaxing their guard. After all, only students and faculty members could get into the school.

For several long seconds, the three stood there in what felt like a staring contest before finally, Mr. Aizawa spoke again.

"I saw the footage of your performance in the entrance exam. Care to tell me why the two of you were working together?"

This surprised the two as they had not expected anyone to ask. But they complied with the request, not seeing any reason to argue. Nor did they lie. Izuku had explained that it was never stated in the rules that they couldn't work together and that, given how the exam was set up, they decided to treat it as a mass breakout. Raphtalia also chimed in, explaining that this way they could work more effectively while watching each other's back.

Mr. Aizawa remained silent, only nodding his head from time to time without interrupting them. In truth, he had already suspected that this was the case. He, along with all the other teachers, had watched all of the footage starting at the beginning of the exams. Izuku had first caught his attention back when Present Mic had been explaining the rules. To find a student who was willing to ask if they had to destroy the robots was not something one finds all that often. Usually, the students were ready to show off the power of their quirks while those who had non-combative quirks just sank in their seats. Then came the practical, watching another rare event unfolding right before his eyes.

And now, hearing the reasoning behind their actions that day, made him glad he had agreed to Midnight's suggestion of having them in the same class.

So, when the two had finished speaking, Mr. Aizawa decided to give them a compliment.

"I see. That was very rational thinking on both of your parts. Now, class will be starting soon."

As he moved to take a step, his shoe collided with Izuku's bag causing his All Might figure's arm to slip out. The teacher saw this, eyes narrowing in disapproval but said nothing else about it as he continued to walk.

"Really?" asked Raphailia. "You're not upset that we didn't do everything on our own?"

Without bothering to stop, Aizawa motioned the two to follow him to the classroom. Which they did…after Izuku quickly grabbed his bag, sliding the All Might figure fully inside.

"I've seen more than my fair share of so-called pro heroes heading into situations like that, plenty of heroes around but refusing to work together," explained the man, his voice becoming deathly serious. As if he was speaking from personal experience. "More interested in getting the spotlight all to themselves as well as the money from the villains they captured. It's not practical and the ones who end up paying the price are usually the ones who were there to help. And as you yourself said, it wasn't against the rules. With that said, I am disappointed in you Midoriya. You should have known that the amount of time you bought with that shield of yours when you fought the zero-pointer would have been negligible at best. Time that could have been better spent helping your teammate."

By this point, Aizawa's hand was at the door ready to open it.

"Now, let's see what else you both can do," he finished, sliding the door open to reveal a class that was too distracted talking to each other to notice him.