Sorry for the delay; a minor family issue kept me occupied for most of the day.

The quirk assessment was meant to be in the last chapter, but I changed things as it felt too close to what was in the previous chapter of Path of Waves. But we can now get to this with that out of the way. Also, is it just me, or do you all hate when stories copy and paste a character from another I.P. and just put them into an existing character's body? If you're not going to try, why not just have that character crossover? Also, another chapter is longer than the norm, which I'm attempting to make into a habit; the word limit is meant to keep things from going off the rails like my first story, where I just went crazy and burnt myself out.

Chapter 14: A Not so Quirk Assessment.

Inside the boy's locker room, which took them a while to find, Midoriya had just removed his shirt when one of his classmates saw his torso and lost it. "What the hell, dude?" Tsuburaba called out, his eyes on Midoriya's scarred and burnt body as the rest looked at him with varying levels of concern, horror and shock.

"Shit, those are some pretty bad scars." Fukidashi's head changed into a concerned emote.

"And so many of them," Shishida noted, worried that his classmates might have been the victim of a grievous and vile villain.

Midoriya didn't understand the issue for a moment before he recalled that most didn't go through training nearly as brutal as he did. "It all came from training. Nothing to write home about it." Still, he didn't quite understand how to express them, as his response only led to more confusion and concern.

"Nothing to dude; you look like you fought every slasher horror villain in a handicap match and lost." Awase pointed out that as they knew scars came via training, most had a couple here and there, but there was that and whatever happened to Midoriya.

Reaching for his green compression shirt to wear underneath his P.E. uniform, Midoriya tried to laugh it off. "Don't be silly; if I did that, I wouldn't have a head right now." Awase gave him a bland look at that poor attempt at a joke.

"What sort of training leads to that?" Monoma asked, curious as Midoriya pulled his top on, fully clothed and ready for whatever Vlad had prepped for them.

"The type that prepares you to achieve your dreams; come on, we don't want to be late." His cryptic reply and retreat from the locker room didn't solve the discussion.

"Just so we're clear, I'm not the only one worried, right?" Fukidashi asked, getting nods from most of them.

"We'll keep an eye on him; if something happens, we'll tell the teachers," Honenuki stated as he hoped that Midoriya had been severe and that he just trained at a whole other level, as the alternatives didn't paint a good picture. With that done, the boys finished getting ready and left for the P.E. field, where they found Vlad waiting for them; not long after, the last of the girls arrived, prepared for what their teacher wanted to put them through, which he explained.

Sometime after he had sent them off, and they searched for the changing room, the last of the class met up with Vlad on the field. The man standing with his arms crossed. "Only 15 minutes to change and get here. We'll need to shave that down to just 10, but that can wait." He told them as he gave them an intense look, his jaw straight.

"You all managed to get into U.A., one of the hardest to get into schools in the country, but don't let that go to your heads for a second. You're barely first years, with much to learn as future heroes and people." He told them that he was as tolerant of overinflated egos as lions were to hyenas, and Midoriya was all for that.

"To that end, I'll go through some tests to see where you all stand. This isn't going to reflect on your grade for the semester, but I want you to give it your all; as an extra incentive, we'll be ranking your performance for each of them, and whoever has the lowest overall score will be on classroom clean-up duty for the next week, is that understood?" With that threat hanging over them, those who looked a little disinterested in the test had a shot of lightning pass through them.

"Yes, Vlad-sensei!" The class replied, with the man finally smiling as he directed them to the first part, the 50m dash.

"Good, now it's get to it." While the track was large enough for 8 people to run, Vlad limited it to pairs so the camera recording their time wouldn't have issues. First up was Midoriya and Kodai.

"It seems we're running mates. Let's do our best!" He gave the quiet girl a big thumbs-up as she turned to him.

"Yes." She didn't say more as she went into position, her feet planted on the runner's gear. At the same time, Midoriya kicked his runner's gear away and instead got into a position akin to a cat before he dashed.

"On your marks, get set…" The machine counted down before it played the sound of a gun going off. With that, Midoriya was gone as he funnelled his tenant through his veins and muscles, momentarily increasing his speed and reflexes to superhuman levels; this was Tenghyōjutsu, and he used it to dash to the other side of the track, his limbs propelling him forward like a cheetah on the pursuit. At the same time, his hands helped to keep him balanced as he crossed the finish line far ahead of Kodai, the machine stating his time to be a shocking 3.86 seconds.

Skidding to a stop, he got up and turned back to it. "Not bad, but I should have probably stretched a little more. I could have shaved a little extra off that time." He moved to return to the rest, who looked on in surprise at his time as Kodai finished only 4 and a half seconds later.

"A little extra-dude, you damn well might as well be a cheetah with that speed; wait, that's it! Your quirk makes you as fast as a cheetah, right?" Awase slammed his fist into his palm, thinking he had figured it out.

"Nope! Try again." Midoriya chuckled as Tokage and Tsuburaba took their positions, like in the first pair. At the same time, Tsuburaba got into a traditional runner's stance; Tokage stood straight, her eye on the other end.

"Speed is fine and all, but" She stated as the machine counted down; once the 'gun' went off, she broke into 15 separate pieces that flew across the track, leaving Tsuburaba behind. "There's more than one way to skin a cat." She managed to cross the line first, with her head getting over with a time of 5.01 seconds.

These two set the trend as Midoriya watched how many of his classmates approached the dash with unique spins. Tsunotori rode across it on two of her horns. However, she nearly fell near the end. Shishida, when the gun went off, bulked up and somehow got even hairier, finishing it with the second-best time behind Midoriya's; he even ran like him through that probably because of how his quirk worked.

Kuroiro, perhaps, had the craziest use of his quirk as when his turn came up, there was a passing cloud overhead which cast a shadow over the track, which he took full advantage of once the 'gun' went off, he fell into the shadow it cast and raced to the other hand, popping out like a jack in the box with the third best time.

Next was the grip test, which Honenuki dominated with an 'unreadable' score, which he achieved by turning his machine into mush and letting it fall to the floor as a muddle.

"What the hell? How does that even count?" Awase yelled as Honenuki walked off to the side.

"Vlad-sensei, the machine didn't register anything," Kaibara added as the man looked towards the two, then Honenuki and then to the machine still puddy on the gym floor.

"It counts as he technically squeezed it." Vlad made his judgment as the two nay-sayers grumbled as they went back to trying to set their own scores; meanwhile, it was like seeing that galvanised Tetsutetsu to go even harder than before as it looked like he was going to try and do it with just his hand turned to see. Still, his entire arm got coated in the silver metal skin.

"Let's go!" The boy squeezed as hard as he could, the machine handling it pretty well as U.A. made sure to have them made so that they could be used by some compelling people, far better than what most exercise stores would have in stock as Tetsutetsu's beeped, presenting a score 280kg.

"Impressive score," Monoma walked up to him, slapping his arm in congratulations at such a high score before his other hand that held his grip test machine flashed steel, the quirk copied. "You wouldn't mind if he took a page from your playbook, right?" Tetsutetsu didn't mind as Monoma used the borrowed quirk to score 224kg, much lower than the other but still well above anything he would have achieved naturally.

"350kg?! Damn, man, that's high!" Kamakiri smiled as he and others crowded around Shishida, the guy having bulked up once more and gotten the highest score. Watching from afar, Midoriya wondered if these tests would be as easy for his furred classmate as the first two. If that was the case, he was in for a real competition.

"Aren't you going to try?" Kuroiro, who had already done him, asked him.

"Hmm, oh yeah, give me a second." Unlike with the race, Midoriya couldn't use Tenghyōjutsu, which was exclusively for speed and agility augmentation. It could increase his base strength, but not by much, so instead, he used ashi, which clad the desired area in the user's tenet, increasing offensive and defensive power, which should work for this if he only focused on his hand to increase his grip strength.

Funnelling his tenet into and over his right hand, he breathed and squeezed as hard as he could, with the machine beeping after a few seconds. Holding it up, he and his dark-skinned friend saw it was 268kg. They are not the highest but well within the top scorers. "A new record." If he remembered correctly, his last score with something like this had been 241kg. He's improved.

"Remind me never to let you get a hold of me." Kuroiro's dry comment had him smiling as Shiozaki set another impressive score with a solid 225kg, thanks to her vine hair, which did it for her.

"Noted."

Standing long jump wasn't much to write home about as 5 of them cleared the 12m sand pit. The first was Yanagi, who floated herself across the pit, by midpoint, her face was red and sweaty, so that clearly took a lot out of her. The second was Tsuburaba, who created air platforms and walked across, which was weird, but he didn't touch the ground, so Vlad counted it. Monoma nearly joined that group, but he fell a little over halfway through, as he didn't have the lungs for it like Tsuburaba. Tokage pulled the same trick as in the dash, but she floated across slowly this time.

Shiozaki was the third person who cleared it as she used her hair to slingshot herself right over the clip. The girl landed gracefully with a roll as she patted herself down from the dirt and bowed towards Vlad. Midoriya was the last one, though he just barely made it over the line on landing, something that Shishida couldn't say as he landed a solid meter away from it.

With the repeated side steps, Yanagi did the worst here out of the group, most likely because she was still tired from pushing herself in the last one. At the same time, Monoma, for the first time, didn't copy anyone's quirk but still set a respectable score. And when Awase commented on that, he seemed offended.

"I have. You know I keep it in great shape." Was his response, though if he was irate, was anyone's guess with how he flicked a strand of hair; perhaps he was just being dramatic. As the rest went through, Midoriya noted that Kuroiro kept looking up, only to see the sky was clear, with no clouds for him to pull the same trick again, but this gave him an idea as he removed his top, leaving him with just his green undershirt. Much to their confusion, he followed after his friend when he was called up.

Once he was in place, he did his thing. "Some shade should help, right?" He asked as he helped his jacket overhead, aiming it for the sun and casting a shadow that covered his dark-skinned friend and the spot he stood on. Seeing this, the white-haired boy looked at him with surprise, but Midoriya only smiled back; he would have given a thumbs up, but his hands were busy. Kuroiro didn't stay surprised forever as he gave him a grateful nod before blending into the shadow and zooming, rapidly building up his score.

"Excuse me, sir, but is that legal?" Yanagi asked Vlad as the two kept it up, the shadow dancer seemingly gaining speed as if he was aiming to set a score so high that no one could challenge it.

"The rules don't forbid interference, only sabotage and right now, the boy's doing the opposite." Vlad smiled as this was what he liked to see in his students: a healthy sense of sportsmanship while being a hero was competitive. At the end of the day, it was a job about helping others. But that had to move along, and once he saw that the boy had beaten the second-highest score by nearly doubling it, he called it off. As the two high-fived over the move, with Midoriya putting the jacket back on, Shiozaki put her hands together.

"He's merely being a good classmate and aiding someone in need." She stated, and for some reason, a beam of light shined down on her from…somewhere; Midoriya already had to consider the implications of the tenet of Shizune; he wasn't about to get anywhere near this new rabbit hole.

When it came time for the ball throw, he saw some pretty impressive distances achieved by Shishida, who used his beastly strength to throw, or Tsuburaba, who created a bat made from air and hit the ball away, or even Tokage, who floated her hand as far as she could before throwing the ball, he wanted to leave a mark, and that meant he couldn't just use increased physical power to throw it. As his turn approached, he tapped his foot on the ground with his chin in hand as he tried to figure out how to do this.

He could flick it, perhaps, as he could put more power into his finger right when he let go, but that didn't seem…flashy enough. Maybe that damned cat had rubbed off on him; perhaps it was because his master loved to steal the show, and he wished to follow in her footsteps; it didn't matter the why, only the end, which was he needed a better way to do this. If he could show off how he walks on water, maybe…Wait, he could use that!

With Shiozaki's finishing her turn, the girl having used her hair to make a sling to throw the ball, it was his time to step up as Vlad handed him a ball from the box he had by his feet. Rolling his arm a few times, he eyes the other end of the field and spots a few of the balls already thrown scattered all over it, but he is aiming for much higher than that. Pulling his arm back, he first sent his tenent through his entire arm, from the tips of his fingernails to the base at his shoulder, all to ensure that his limb could withstand the force at play, this was Ashi.

Then he shifted things up a little, altering its flow to take some of it into increasing his speed, which saw his arm move forward 3 times faster. This was Tenghyōjutsu. He now had the speed and power; all he needed was something that he had seen Bakugo do hundreds of times, which was to create an explosion. At the last possible, right as his grip on the ball weakened as he began to let it go, he funnelled as much of his tenet to the tip of his pinkie, and then, unlike with water or even wall walking, which required steady steam to keep you glued to the surface, he overfilled it, shooting it out of his pinkie.

The result spoke for itself as the ball blasted away from him, almost like a cannonball, to the stunned awe of the class as they watched the ball keep going higher and higher before reaching its peak and falling down to earth. Unlike every other ball, it didn't land in the field, but in the one next to it, with a crazy 685.8m being his distance. Midoriya hissed a little as he nearly broke his finger with that, but he smiled through the pain. "Yes!" He yelled, fists to the air as he looked back towards Vlad, who looked almost as stunned as the rest before he managed to get his face under control.

"Come on, people, let's keep moving!" He said aloud, the group breaking up to get to the next area while Kodai and Kuroiro approached him.

"How did you do that?" Kodai quietly asked; it seemed she remained relatively passive even when curious. This made him want to see her smile even more, as it must be a rare and pretty sight.

"Hard work." Was his response as she hummed while Kuroiro rolled his eyes, not thinking he was being serious, which he was…even if he was leaving stuff out, but it wasn't necessary. Tenet might be a power they didn't know about, but cultivating it took years of hard work and dedication.

When it came time for other exercises, Midoriya went through them quickly. Much to their shock, he completed the 800m in 64.8 seconds, as Tokage, who was in second place, was 40 seconds behind him. While the rest looked at least winded from this and the rest of the tests, Midoriya looked fresh as a daisy, which left people even more dumbfounded as they wondered what kind of quirk he had to make him this athletic. The only one who was silent about that was Monoma, who kept his eye on him the entire time once he crossed the finish line.

With Sit-ups, he partnered with Kodai, the silent girl going through her own first because "I have a feeling you won't stop". So once she had finished her set, a respectable 42, he would prove her right in her assessment as he got to 148 before he decided that was high enough, a score only beaten by Tokage who detached her upper torso from the rest of her body. Others like Shiozaki used her vines to pull and push her, decreasing the strain on her core muscles and letting her nearly reach the triple digits. When it came to seated toe touches, once more, Kodai went first, got around to 34 before Midoriya took over and went to 160 just to ensure Tokage couldn't upstage him again, which she nearly did.

But with all said and done, it was time for Vlad to present the results.

"Alright, I saw some good performance out there, not just in power but also in how you approached the situation. That's good, as hero work needs such outside-the-box thinking when the going gets tough." Vlad started as he looked over the group before he pulled a remote out.

"With that said, here are the results." Tapping the button, a hologram screen appeared with their placements.

1. Izuku Midoriya

2. Jurota Shishida

3. Setsuna Tokage

4. Neito Monoma

5. Juzo Honenuki

6. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

7. Ibara Shiozaki

8. Togaru Kamakiri

9. Kosei Tsuburaba

10. Sen Kaibara

11. Hiryu Rin

12. Shihai Kuroiro

13. Nirengeki Shoda

14. Yosetsu Awase

15. Reiko Yanagi

16. Kojiro Bondo

17. Manga Fukidashi

18. Pony Tsunotori

19. Yui Kodai

20. Kinoko Komori

"First place!" Midoriya cheered, as it felt damn good to score so high, not just because of his hard work, but for the fact he outmatched 19 quirked students good enough to get into U.A.

"Someone that isn't as shocking as it should be," Kaibara noted, as they could recall some of the crazy stuff he did during the exam and how, even now, the guy barely looked winded.

"Why me?" On the other hand, Komori was down in the dumps about the fact she scored dead last.

"Midoriya, remember that this is merely the starting point. You might be in the lead now, but that could change anytime. Keep on your toes and take every session of training seriously." Vlad put a stop to that little celebration. Midoriya looked at him, surprised for a second before he recalled where he was and how maybe acting like that over one victory was foolish.

"Yes, sir!" The man grunted as he turned towards Komori.

"Komori, same to you. You indeed came in last, but training can easily see that change. Don't let this dishearten you when you still have 3 years with us to better yourself." Where he had been firm with Midoriya, he had been softer with Komori, a good trait for a teacher as she took his words to heart, nodding with a determined smile.

"Yes, Vlad-sensei!" With these two settled, his gaze went over the group.

"As for classroom clean up, she's not the only one that will be doing it as for the next weeks, we'll work our way up the list till the last day of school, with it being someone knew each week." He informed them, with the group looking back at the scores and being able to see that if that was how things would be done, that only those who placed in the top 4 would be exempt from clean-up, at least for the first semester.

"Now, head back and get yourselves cleaned up. You'll find your schedules and other files on your desk back in class." He dismissed them as the group broke off and returned to the changing area to shower and get back into their uniforms. As they walked off the field, Midoriya found that he was yet again approached by Kodai and Kuroiro.

"Thanks for what you did back there; if this had occurred at night or in the shade, perhaps I could have performed better," Kuroiro stated as Midoriya smiled and told him it wasn't an issue. He was merely helping a classmate in a pinch.

"You scored 12th." Kodai pointed out that he performed much better than her as she came in 19th.

"I'd like to be within the top 10 next time. Can't you say the same," Kuroiro replied while he was one of the dark. That didn't mean he didn't wish to stand among the greats; why else would he have applied to U.A. of all schools?

Kodai chewed on this for a moment before she replied. "I suppose. But I wouldn't mind a smaller jump of 3, maybe 4 spots."

"Feels a little piecemeal to me." Kuroiro countered as Midoriya shook his head.

"That's not a bad thing, you know. We all have to pace ourselves. If I didn't, I would have broken so many bones by now and probably be wheelchair-bound from it." He smiled as he remembered those days, seeing how far others were and trying to do extra training behind the master's back, thinking he could go faster.

Safe to say, she wasn't pleased when she found out he was overdoing it.

However, the training issue brought up another point that Kuroiro and the other boys had about him. "You must have been through some pretty intensive training; after all, one doesn't earn such scars from simply working." They had been concerned, to put it lightly, when they saw him shirtless as they changed, as the boy was covered with scars. It was like the guy fought against villains daily.

"Extremely, but I think most came with a hard-learned lesson." He, on the other hand, saw these marks on his flesh as marks of pride, instances when, through blood, sweat and tears, he took another step if it was small, towards his goal.

"Most?" Kodai, now curious, asked him as his smile faded, and his eyes fogged over with grief and rage as he recalled that damned fire, how despite their best efforts, they lost a lot of good people.

"Some came from…tragedies." He didn't wish to bring up more, not wishing to ruin this good mood between them as they made. "But that's only a reminder that I need to keep pushing it. As Vlad said, I can't get complacent." He raised an arm and flexed, his scarred muscles rising in a show of force.

"I shudder to think what you'll be like in just a year, never mind 3." Kuroiro shook his head as he guessed that if this guy was as intense in training as he thought, the next time they did this, Izuku would set scores triple what he did today.

"Tiger." Kodai guessed, with Midoriya shaking his head with a laugh.

"Nope." He replied, though it was a good guess as he styled his 'ears' off those of Ruby and Sapphire, even if it was hard to tell who had ever seen a green tiger?

"Rats." As the trio vanished into the building, where they'd need to separate to head off to their different locker rooms, back on the field, Vlad met with his fellow teacher, Eraser. The man had taken his class out first like usual, yes. Still, he had also done so he could take a step out of the class and observe class B as they went through the tests, more accurately to watch the unknown that was Midoriya.

"Well?" Vlad asked.

"He wasn't lying, I had my eye on him with my quirk active randomly through every one of those tests, especially the dash and ball throw. And he didn't even seem to notice." He had thought that there was an effect earlier, but that was merely him seeing something when there was nothing.

Vlad thought about that, worried as it blew their most likely theory that he was simply hiding his quirk from them right out of the water. "Is there a possibility that his quirk is a mutant type?"

Aizawa knew the limits of his quirk and how he couldn't erase the effects of quirks on bodies mutated by them. He could stop someone with extra limbs from using them, but they were still there, and even then, it wasn't always the same, as some mutations were too extreme for his quirk to consider them quirks. "Maybe, but we have no proof to suspect that." He replied though he didn't put much stock in that idea. "Still, we should keep an eye on him as this is unusual, to say the least."

"And that's all we're do; he hasn't done anything to warrant such suspicion from us," Vlad said, as he wasn't much for this increased attention on the boy. He could admit he was an abnormality, but Midoriya had only acted in the best ways since the exam, even if he purposely dodged the question about quirks earlier and played it off as a game.

"Besides, he can do all he does without a quirk on record?" Aizawa looked towards him, meeting his irritated gaze as he sighed. "Relax, I'm merely stating the facts. I agree that we should give him the benefit of the doubt. But in the end, he's your student, so I won't interfere further unless he breaks school rules." With that, the underground hero turned to get back to his class.

After a day of learning about the school, meeting their upperclassmen and teachers, and exploring the school, the final bell rang early. They didn't have a full day but were told it would be business as usual the following day. Waiting by the main building entrance, Midoriya and Kodai had already swapped out their indoor shoes for their regular ones. "That was a good first day," Midoriya noted, as there were few others present, most taking the short day to head home early or do something fun with friends.

"Hmm," Kodai replied as she scrolled through her phone; at that moment, the third member of their group appeared.

"Sorry about that, I wished to use the restroom before we left, in case the one by the station was occupied," Kuroiro said as he went for his shoe locker to swap out his own.

"No sweat." Midoriya waved it off as Kodai nodded. Once the boy had done that, he walked over but found Midoriya wasn't moving.

"Aren't you going to move now?" He asked the guy, who shook his head, his eyes facing the stairs that led up to the classrooms.

"In a minute, I'm waiting for someone." He replied.

"Who could that be? Most of the class has already left." Other than Monoma, he hadn't seen anyone else as they wanted to take full advantage of the short school day. To answer that question, Midoriya saw a head of purple hair walking down the stairs.

"Him," He nodded at him before he walked over, wrapping an arm around the taller boy's shoulders, who let out a surprised yelp as he was dragged to Midoriya's level. "Shinso!" He smiled as the boy turned his eyes to see him.

"What-Midoriya, is that you?" Shinso asked as Midoriya let go with a laugh, hands on his hips.

"In the flesh, my friend!" He confirmed. "I saw you earlier at orientation, but that wasn't the best time to speak."

"Yeah, class C." Shinso seemed upset about that, which Midoriya could understand. While General was a good deal, it was as if you were aiming for another more specialised one and didn't make the cut.

"That's general, right?" Kodai asked, finally taking her attention off her phone now that they had a new face in the group.

"It is, I didn't make it into the hero course, unlike some people." He looked towards Midoriya, who didn't look ashamed in the slightest. After all, it wasn't like his success came at the failure of Shinso's.

"That is unlucky since you must have earned some rescue points during the exam." Still, he felt for the guy.

"That was…Uraraka, right?" Shinso tried to think back to that day, which he had been trying not to since he got his letter and learned that he missed the cut-off point.

"I believe I didn't see her in my class, so she's either in class A or general," Midoriya replied.

"She could have applied to another school, you know. I knew a few kids from mine that also applied for U.A., didn't make it, and went somewhere." Shinso suggested as the group finally left the building, the sleep-deprived-looking boy having swapped his shoes as they talked.

"Same," Kodai replied, as she had heard some classmates say something when the teacher announced she got it.

"Well, cross our fingers she's here, I wouldn't mind catching up with her. But you didn't say if you got rescue points." Midoriya replied as she seemed nice, and if his class was this welcoming, class A, barring a certain Pomeranian, was pretty welcoming as well.

Kuroiro, seeing an opening for the issue of Midoriya's quirk, made his move. "You were in the same exam area as each other?" Shinso looked at him funny for a moment before nodding as the dark-skinned boy smiled, figuring that he made a breakthrough. "Interesting, did you perhaps see what his quirk is? He's been cheeky about it all day." Midoriya raised an eyebrow while Kodai looked a lot more invested in this.

She was the only one who noticed that Midoriya didn't seem surprised or concerned about what could easily be a massive clue about his secret quirk. Shinso, on the other hand, shrugged and told him what he knew. "Sure, he can control wood. Turn seeds into wooden weapons in seconds, even create and control massive trees."

"So, your quirk is nature-related? You are one with the beast and plants?" Kuroiro asked as that would fit all they had seen from him, from the cheetah-like speed, tiger-like strength and lion-level endurance.

Midoriya didn't so much sweat as he smiled like a cat that knew something you didn't. "In a way, yes, but in another, no. Try again, my friend." Kuroiro looked shocked that he had been wrong before grabbing his face, his equally black hand covering it in a way that left his face void and lacking features.

"Dammit." The boy groaned as Shinso picked things up from there. As Midoriya laughed at that disappointment, they didn't notice that Monoma was nearby, having eavesdropped their conversation. Filing away what he heard, he also moved to leave, as he had his theories about the boy to think about.

Back with the 4, they continued their conversation. "I did gain some, but it wasn't enough to make the cut." He had earned more points than he otherwise wouldn't have without Midoriya's help, which made the blow a little less heavy. "So, my next option is the sports festival; if I can impress them, I'll have a shot."

"Not with those noodle arms," Izuku pocked the boy's arm, getting an annoyed grunt. "Come on, have you ever even gone on a jog or something?" Shinso chose not to answer that which itself was an answer which made Midoriya narrow his gaze, a flower of irritation blooming in his chest at the idea that someone wouldn't work towards their dream. What, did he think he would just get it by chance?

Kodai looked him over, the taller boy feeling naked under her passive gave. "Out of shape."

"I'm not that bad." He muttered as Midoriya rolled his eyes. This dude was in denial.

"Oh really?" He stated as he spotted someone familiar down the way, off on the side of the path, enjoying the flowers. "Shiozaki! Could you please come over?" He yelled out, with the vine-haired girl looking up to see her classmates and a boy she didn't recognise. Still, she had no reason to refuse, so she walked over to them.

"Is there something you need?" She asked as Midoriya nodded his head.

"Can you please lift your arm? It's important, I swear." She raised an eyebrow at that unusual request, but it didn't sound perverted. That changed slightly when he insisted she remove her jacket to show off her arm. If not for Kodai nodding that he wasn't being weird, she might have refused him. "Now, please flex." This was only getting weirder, but she did so, her bicep and other muscles showing themselves as Kuroiro whistled in appreciation, which she silenced with a glare.

"Shinso, do the same." Midoriya didn't either notice or choose to ignore that as he asked Shinso to do the same, with the boy gulping but following it, removing his jacket as well, standing to her side, raising his arm, and flexing it. To his embarrassment, it wasn't even a contest. "See, look at that, you're as in shape as Far Gum is slim." Midoriya didn't hold it back as the guy lowered his arm and put his jacket back on. Shiozaki did the same, even as she wondered what that purpose was.

"Dude, how the hell is she in better shape than you?" Kuroiro asked the guy. It should have been the other way around.

"Why didn't you just ask Kodai for this?" Shiozaki asked him.

"Because you're in the best shape of all the girls." Midoriya's reply was spoken like it was complete, and the girl blushed a little at the reveal.

"You were watching her earlier," Kuroiro smirked at his friend, who turned confused.

"Of course, I was, I observed all our classmates. Didn't you?" They were training to be heroes together, and if things went well, they'd be together for 3 whole years. Why wouldn't they want to know the physical fitness of their classmates?

Kodai agreed with him on that front, pocking Shiozaki's side, which had a notable bit of firm muscle underneath her smooth skin. "He's right, you're fit as a horse."

The vine-haired girl blushed at the compliment, even if she could now see that Midoriya's earlier statement had been entirely innocent and devoid of inappropriate intent. "I do my best to stay in shape as not only is the body the temple of the lord, but one needs to be in exceptional shape to help more people as a heroine."

"Are you going to keep insulting me?" Shinso asked, his eyes narrowing as Midoriya wrapped an arm around him again.

"Don't worry, my sleep-deprived friend, I shall make a man outta you!" He told him.

"What are you? His personal trainer?" Kuroiro asked him. Midoriya continued to smile.

"Even better, I'm his friend who wants him to be in the best shape possible, even if I have to drag him to the gym kicking and screaming." Shinso didn't look all that happy about that statement, as even now, he could tell that the boy had been jacked.

"…Can I say no?"

"That depends; if I gave you a 10-second head start, would I still catch you in under a minute?" Midoriya's question went unanswered by the boy, who sighed as he accepted his fate.

"As forward as he's being," Shiozaki started. "A healthy body is an important part of a healthy life. I wouldn't mind joining you occasionally, provided it doesn't conflict with my schedule." With that, Midoriya and Shiozaki discussed exercise, trading tips and tricks they use to stay in shape and improve themselves. This bled into a discussion on lifestyles and which was best for the most effective sustainable gains, which led to the two finding out that they were similar in wishing for little in the means of material wealth and enjoying hard work and gardening. Regarding favourite food, while Shiozaki's was humble bread, Midoriya's was Katsudon. However, he states he eats it as a treat and usually sticks to a diet of fish, fruits and vegetables.

All this while the other 3 watched, effectively locked out of the conversation. Still, Shinso could hear how they were designing his new diet and workout schedule. It sounded like he was into hell with stuff like 'early morning 2km jogs' to cut down on sweets, fats, and strength and endurance training.

"And that was it." Midoriya finished repeating the highlights of his day to his master and Kyūfune, the older woman seated at her desk as usual with Ruby by her side. At the same time, he sat on the couch next to his girlfriend. Just thinking he could call her made his heart flutter as he leaned into her warmth. The taller girl wrapped her arm around him.

Kenmikoto gave him a pleased smile. "Sounds like you had a productive day and managed to leave your mark on them by scoring first." That part he puffed his chest up at, his confidence having taken a boast from training with her master and the results he got. "You even managed to make friends in your age range for one. Looks like we can't make jokes about having you drink milk when you go out." He deflated as skilled or not; he was still a brat in her eyes.

"I've never drank milk when I hang out with anyone!" He yelled back, as not even when he would hang with Obi and Hanen, worse was they ordered him water.

"Did you manage to get their numbers?" Kyūfune steered the conversation away from that, which Midoriya went with as he nodded, pulling out his phone to show her the new contacts.

"We formed a group chat!" It was only one of 2, but she was happy for him as she hugged him a little tighter; the more petite boy is nice to cuddle with in times like this.

Which meant it was a perfect time for Kenmikoto to ruin it. "That is good; as fun as it is watching the two of you, you need friends you don't want to cuddle with and watch cheesy movies with." Both blushed at that as they had done that, but how the hell did she know?! They had watched a movie in his dorm room, as Kyūfune lived in the same house as the master.

"Mother!" The fox woman yelled at her mother, who laughed it off. Ruby also seemed to take amusement from this with a growl that sounded far too much like a laugh.

"What? It's true, isn't it? You're 20, my dear; he's a strapping boy, a bit on the small side, though." She noted that even now, the sight the two created was odd, as she had seen short men with tall girls before. She even knew that some people were turned on by that. Still, she had never seen one with such a height difference, as even if she were seated, she would still be close to Midoriya's total height.

Midoriya didn't seem to appreciate the slander about his height and bit back. "I might be small, but I'm stronger than I look." But he was confused when, instead of being on his side, Kyūfune covered her face, her cheeks red while the master smiled like a cat that had just caught a fat canary.

"So you would say you…rise to the occasion?" She asked him, and he was about to confirm that, but his girlfriend shushed him by covering his mouth with her hand, a hand large enough to nearpalm his entire face.

"Please stop talking." She pleaded, seeing the confusion in his eyes and reluctantly, whispering the double meaning behind her mother's words to him, which got him as flustered as she was as he turned to the older woman.

"Master!" She only laughed harder at this.

"For a teenage boy, I'm surprised you fell for that." Sapphire, who lay by the fireplace on the other side of the room, growled in agreement. Midoriya felt insulted and embarrassed that even the tiger had figured out that dirty joke before he did.

But as fun as that was, there were other things the master wished to talk about as her face lost all sense of amusement. "Still, don't you think you're playing a dangerous game by keeping your quirkless secret?" She raised an eyebrow when he didn't answer immediately, taking his time to think about it as he could feel Kyūfune's concerned eyes on the back of his head.

"Probably not, but…" Away from them and having time to think over his choices, he could only imagine the uproar once they learned the truth about him. "I want to make friends first before that issue comes up." It was…nice to talk with them like that, to be so open with classmates without fear.

"If they're as good as you say, they won't care that you have an extra toe joint." Kenmikoto sighed. "Especially since Shinso boy, you're determined to help get in shape."

"I hope you're right."

"So do I, but life isn't worth living if you don't take risks with people," She replied. "Now, tell me about your plans for this Shinso boy; I hope you don't plan to work the toothpick to the bone. He's not you, after all." Midoriya seemed to like that change as he went relay what he had thought the boy should do for the Sports Festival and afterwards, with the two women giving their opinions here and there.

And we're done at last. For the first time in almost a year, I finally got the complete Grammarly package going for me, which is why this chapter might be far more polished than the others. There'll be more on this on my Twitter, so you can check that out via the link, but tell them. I hope you have a nice day; if you liked this chapter, please follow the story and leave a comment. The next chapter will be out on February 16th.

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