Chapter 7: First Days Can Never Go Well

The day had finally come. And to start the day standing in front of the mirror wearing a uniform that wasn't Aldera's, but instead U.A.'s, arguably the best hero school in all of Japan, felt like he was going through some kind of a lucid dream.

He had to rub his eyes twice and pinch his arm to confirm that, yes, the boy in the mirror was indeed him. And he was indeed wearing the recognizable grey uniform of the hero school, complete with the red tie and the dark green trousers. He cut for a fairly good look, something which he attributed to school uniforms just having this effect on most people.

'Wish I could have done my tie myself. I apparently lack the deftness required for clothing intricacies,' and the less said about his wardrobe options, the better (although he has been improving on that part for a bit, if only because Katsumi wouldn't let him keep those atrocious t-shirts).

Behind him, something thudded to the floor. His head snapped back, finding his mom weeping happy tears on the floor, hands clasped to her face. "Ohhh, Izuku, my baby boy! You look so handsome..!"

"A-Ah, thanks mom," he rubbed the back of his neck, smiling timidly. No matter how old a person got, he doubted they would have gotten over the embarrassment of being complimented by their parents.

"Stay there for a bit! I want to take pictures!"

"A-Ah, sure. Send some for dad too, right?"

"Of course!" Dad would kill for family pictures. Such was his fatherly devotion to the family.

After pictures and a light breakfast, Izuku bade his mom goodbye as he stepped out of his apartment and took the stairs down. He'd passed a few of his neighbours, some of them wishing him well on his first day in school and others warning him not to take any weird detours. He chuckled as he exchanged pleasantries with all of them, a little happy to know that even someone like him hadn't had the worst neighbourly experience in life so far.

Grit and gravel crunched under his red shoes once he touched tarred road, a welcoming breeze that cued him to take in a deep breath. A start to a brand new day in an entirely different school, meeting new people and taking those steps to becoming a hero he could be proud of…

Izuku smiled with determination. Today was going to be a good day, he could tell! And no matter what comes at him, he'll make sure to hold his head high and face them with courage—

[A Special Event has been triggered!]

Aaand there comes the foreboding. Just great.

"Izukuuu!"
"Huh, you're already here?"

School uniforms made people look good. Maybe it was the sense of professionalism and collectiveness that it evoked that made them that favourable in the eyes of others. And of course, that would mean very little if the uniform itself looked like a drunk painter's artwork, but U.A.'s was certainly of an appreciated quality and look.

But there was also an undeniable fact that, just as the clothes makes the look, so too does the person wearing it make the outfit work in the first place. There was just no point putting clothes of too sharp a contrast with the wearer to make it work. And here, while grey might be considered far too bland, it worked so well for his girlfriends, who were all of a sudden too blinding in his eyes.

Or maybe that was because there was a literal car beaming right behind them. That might have something to do with that.

Ochako wore her uniform with every bit of tidiness that he could expect from her, not a single crease to be seen. Unlike the boys, the girls would wear a dark blue-green pleated skirt, and with her dark black leggings (pantyhose? Tights? He didn't dare venture on which was true in this case) and brown loafers, he had to admit that Ochako cut for a very adorable sight.

On the other hand, Katsumi was doing all she could to disobey the school's wardrobe issues—to an extent, that is. Her tie was nowhere to be seen, the first two buttons of her shirt were undone, and she had her jacket tied around her waist, with a normal pair of black socks. Delinquency was every bit the apt description of her appearance.

First off, he wondered how funny it would be when everyone discovered the fact that she was just about the smartest girl on the planet the moment she hits the textbooks, despite her supposed looks. And secondly…

"Guh..!" He jolted in place, blushing. "You two look so good..!"

"Thanks, Izuku!" Ochako beamed at him, while Katsumi just scoffed to the side. "You do too!"

"It's just a bunch of school uniforms. Ain't nothing to be so impressed by!" The blonde turned around, marching. "Now come on, let's get on the train already! We've got an hour and a half, yeah? Might as well show the others up by being early!"

Well, since students were provided with commuter passes, thus discounting their train rides to their schools for free, it was an advantage that all of them were more than keen on making use of. It was mailed to them with the envelope, and he'd been glad that none of them had forgotten it. The school isn't that far, but taking the train would definitely beat walking.

"Ah, well, the train's currently down because they're running maintenance on the rails. Something about some guy accidentally spilling a bunch of jams and condiments on the railway."

"Ah," he and his girlfriends said in unison. "How long will that take, sir?"

"Hmm. Well, it ain't too bad, and from what I heard, the mess will be done in half an hour. You kids planning to use the train?"

"Yes. We're going to U.A. by train."

"Ah, got'cha. Then we'll probably need thirty minutes or so. Shouldn't be too long. In fact, why don't you give me your number? I'll text you when we're done."

"Oh, really? Thanks!" The two exchanged contacts. "We appreciate this."

"Hah, it's no problem. In the meantime, you kids can just sit and wait or find something else to do. I'll let you know when you're good to go."

"Thirty minutes," Ochako hummed. "Well, I suppose it's not too bad. Could've been an hour. Could've been worse."

"You got that right," Katsumi nodded, arms crossed behind her head. "So, what do we do now? Dunno' about you two, but I ain't interested in just sitting around on my ass and do nothing—"

Loud grumbles cut off her words. Izuku blinked, looking around and expecting to find some alligator in the vicinity, though why an alligator was the first to come to mind was beyond him.

Instead, he found his two girlfriends red in the face, as if caught for trying to steal cookie from the sacred cookie jar.

"Uhh. You girls alright?"

"S-Sorry. I, um, may have accidentally skipped breakfast this morning," Ochako sheepishly responded, wringing her hands together. "I got too excited and left the house early, not realizing how early I'd been…"

"I-I wasn't excited or anything! I just didn't see a need to eat so early!" Katsumi loudly declared, crossing her arms. "I can go without food, sod it."

"Hey now, it's not good to start the day off on an empty stomach. Come on," he nodded his head in a direction. "Let's go find something light to eat on. Breakfast is an important part of the day, after all. Plus, who knows? We might have to do some physical activity later."

"B-But then we'll be late."

"We'll be fine! We have thirty minutes before we need to get going. Come on, I'll treat you girls."

There was an adamant need for them to convince him that they didn't need the break, but he was keen on making sure his girlfriends didn't pass out in the middle of the day, simply because they hadn't gotten food in them. Much arguing went back and forth, but his stubbornness won the day, and they were eventually sat at a table, Ochako digging into her omelette and Katsumi eating chicken sandwiches.

"Thanks, Izuku…"
"T-Thanks."

"Don't worry! I'm just happy to see you girls happy," he said in turn, turning them red once more.

[A happy girlfriend makes for a happy life! You gain 1 in Charisma!]

It was nearing the end of their breakfast that the guy from earlier called his phone, telling him that the trains were running again, and theirs was to arrive in five minutes. Izuku shared the message with the other two, and they were back at the train station in no time flat.

Prior to sleeping last night, he'd already checked to confirm that U.A. High's classes typically start at eight twenty-five in the morning. Today, though, there would be an orientation for students, but it was already stated that the time would be the same, so if they could reach school by eight, then they'd be in a pretty good spot.

As the train arrived, he scanned his commuting pass and headed into the train with a bunch of other passengers. He managed to find two unoccupied seats, and just before he was about to offer it to his girlfriends, he spotted an elderly woman slowly walking around and in another direction, the cane she used shaking lightly.

Without hesitation, he quickly approached the granny and patted her shoulders, drawing her attention to him. "Hi, sorry. I was just wondering if you'd like a place to sit. There's an open seat nearby, and I'd like it if you take it."

"Ahh, is that so? Thank you so much, dearie…"

[Treating the elderly with kindness is a virtue of heroes! You gain 1 in Charisma!]

Urgh. Twice in a row? This stat system was seriously bugged or something.

When the train began moving, he made sure to keep a tight hold on the strap handles above him. People around him moved to find their own place of comfort, students chatting in hushed voices while an adult in a suit and tie checked his phone with a contemplative gaze. He was glad that this wasn't as packed as a can of sardines, so there was still enough room to breathe.

He looked out the window, watching as buildings whizzed by. And then, he closed his eyes, inwardly hoping that the ride would be a peaceful one. There was every room for error in a train, and he hoped that the supposed event wasn't going to involve the train whatsoever. And by hope, he desperately begged in his head for just a bit of kindness from the world.

"To all passengers," his head snapped to the PA. "Please hold tight. We are about to hit a bump in the rails."

"Huh? What the hell does that—"

Yes, that was him who asked that question. Try as he might, he was taught by the best of the best to in the arts of cursing, though he was certainly less prone to it than his blonde girlfriend. But even he had his limits, and he'd accidentally gotten it out due to great confusion (though even then, he supposed he wasn't too intense).

That was not possible when the train did indeed hit a bump—and the funny thing is, this wasn't a car. If it was a car, they would have had a jolt going above a hundred kilometres per hour. But at that point, it wouldn't be too hard to recover from such a bump, since they'd be strapped in to their seats.

Here, he was standing side-by-side with tens of other people. Standing. All that he had to steady himself was the strap he was holding onto.

So when the train supposedly hit a freaking bump on the rail, there was a momentary suspension of gravity as everyone floated off the floor of the train for a second.

And then, the fall, as countless feet collided with the floor one after another in a cacophony of metallic thuds, screaming filling the vehicle.

"KYaAAAH!"

"Whoa, whoa! What's going on?!"

"Again, again!"

"Dude, are you crazy? That was so bad!"

"My life! I demand to see the manager!"

Excitable children, freaked out adults, Karen—there was not a single person who didn't bump up and down, or stomp on the floor, or scream in terror (or enjoyment for others). Izuku was of the category of wailing, though his mind was automatically dead set on ensuring his girlfriends' safeties—

Someone else's body struck his back, a high-pitched yelp accompanying clumsy footsteps, the curious sound of hooves clacking on iron following suit. Fast reflexes allowed him to turn around and grab the other person's hand, stopping them from falling.

"S-Sorry! I not steady!"

"I-It's fine! Are you hurt?"

He quickly glanced back, finding his girlfriends to be completely fine. He sighed in relief, then looked back to the stranger, only to blink when he couldn't see a person's head, but what looked to be a pair of ivory horns.

"Yes, I am fine! You are thank you very much!"

'I am thank you?' He blinked. He then looked down, a little surprised by the smile that met his way. "Oh! T-That's good to hear."

A round face with wide blue eyes, the most defining feature were the long wavy blonde hair that reached down to her back, and the horns he'd seen earlier. His discerning eye took stock of her feet—and no, it wasn't for a fetish or anything! It was just that they weren't completely straight, long and a little curved, reminding him somewhat of a horse. And most surprisingly of all, she was wearing the same uniform as he was, marking her a student of U.A. High.

"Ah! You wear U.A. clothes too! You a student?"

"Um, yes. I am," if he had to guess, she was probably a foreigner. The somewhat western look she had and her awkward use of the language were key giveaways. "And so are my friends here too," he gestured to his girlfriends, who perked up when they noticed her.

"Oh, Tsunotori-san!" Ochako's expression brightened. "You got in!"

"Ah! And Ocha too!"

"You two know each other?" Izuku asked, getting both of them to nod.

"We fought robots together, in exam!" She pumped a fist. "Ocha very awesome! Made things fly then fall!"

"And Tsunotori-san is really strong herself. Her Quirk lets her fire her horns around and destroy the robots from a distance."

Oooh. He would have thought that it was a Mutation-type Quirk that just permanently gave her horns, but to know that they were actually deployable was pretty interesting. "That's nice to hear. It's nice to meet you, Tsunotori-san. I'm Izuku Midoriya, and this is Katsumi Bakugou. We're Ochako's friends."

"And the greatest heroes you'll ever meet!"

Izuku sweat-dropped at his childhood friend's excited introduction, Tsunotori tilting her head in confusion. "I see. You are confident, yes? That is good! Confidence is good to have!" She pumped a fist. "To be heroes! Very good!"

Well, wasn't she the friendly sort? Izuku had half a mind to thank the crazy event for somehow introducing him to a new person, though he was still skeptical. "What course are you in, Tsunotori-san? The three of us are in the hero course."

"I am same! I am hero as well!" She grinned. "Class 1-B! Is you going to same place as me?"

"Ah. Unfortunately no," when she tilted her head, he explained once more. "We're in Class 1-A, which means we'll both be in different classes."

"Aww. That shame," Tsunotori sighed, looking dejected for a moment, only to smile once more. "But is okay! We are friends, yes? So, different classes, we still friends!"

"Of course we're friends, Tsunotori-san!" Ochako piped in happily. "We can still hang out during lunchtime, or even after classes!"

"Joy!"

Izuku chuckled as he watched the girls talk. At least Tsunotori wasn't shy of communicating with others, despite her apparent weakness in the vocalizing part of the language. With time, though, he had no doubt that she'd be able to overcome that particular barrier. And he was certain that she'd have good friends in the other class to look out after her, just as he and Ochako and Katsumi would.

They talked until they reached the station, at which point they got off of it together and began making their way to the school. And seeing it in the flesh (or, well, bricks he supposed) once again wiped away any thoughts that this was all just lucid dreaming.

"Wow! Building is very big!"
"I know, right?"

Big really didn't do it justice. He couldn't imagine the costs that went into the initial construction, then the renovations, and all the maintenance they would have had to do over the years just to keep this place functioning. There was little doubt in his mind that there was at least one teenager or a few who'd accidentally thrashed the place because their Quirk went out of control or something.

Somehow, he could picture himself in that very situation. He'd destroyed a fake city once. He did not want to add U.A. to his list of damage.

His lingering dread didn't last very long when he heard a voice call out to them. "Heeey! Midoriya-kun, that's you, isn't it?"

"Huh?" His head turned in the direction of the voice, and he couldn't mask his surprise. "Eh? Kendo-san?"

"That's me!" Grinned the orange-haired girl, also wearing the uniform of U.A. High. "Guess the both of us made it in, huh? I'm glad that you did! It would have been so unfair if you didn't."

"Ahh, yeah, you're not wrong there," he chuckled, gesturing to the girl as he looked to his curious companions. "This here is Itsuka Kendo. I met her during the practical test. Kendo-san, what class are you in? Ochako, Katsumi and I—this is Ochako and Katsumi, by the way," he added, gesturing to his girlfriends. "The three of us are in Class 1-A, whereas Tsunotori-san here is in Class 1-B."

"That so? Then that makes me and Tsunotori-san classmates," she raised a hand towards Tsunotori, grinning. "Pleased to meet you, Tsunotori-san! I'll be in your care."

"Ah, yes!" The shorter girl took her hand, shaking it cheerfully. "It is very, very nice to meet! Let's be friends!"

"Of course!"

So Tsunotori-san and Kendo-san are in the same class. Neat! From their few interactions, the ginger was a really nice girl, and he knew he could trust the blonde in her care. She just had that sisterly vibe going for her.

"Well, if y'all are done standing around like idiots," Katsumi pushed ahead. "It's time we go find our classes. Don't blame me if we're late."

"We've got fifteen minutes left. It should be fine!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Befitting such a massive school, it was immediately difficult to figure out where they were supposed to head to. There was no one else to ask, and he really wished there were directives for them to follow. That would mean the only thing they could do was wander around blindly and hope to find a lead.

With no other option, that was the choice they made. The group of five marched down the hallways, looking left and right for signs that they could make use of. He had assumed that they were going the right way, but with nothing in sight, he had to wonder if they were only getting further and further away from where they were meant to be.

And no, they weren't splitting up to cover more ground. That was just begging for trouble.

Eventually, however, they came upon a corridor and found a sign with 1-A and 1-B labelled on it. "Nice!" Tsunotori-san and the other girls cheered, Izuku sighing in relief. "We must now go! Everyone," she looked to him and his girlfriends. "Let us talk again later, okay?"

"Of course, Tsunotori-san," Izuku nodded, smiling back. Both the blonde and the orange-haired girl waved at his group, taking off for their class. "That leaves us then, girls. Ready to start things off?"

"Obviously!"
"Yeah! No sweat!"

It was a good thing that they were both super pumped up about this. Had he been here alone, he might have been too afraid to walk inside on his own, but both their presence and their motivation were doing wonders on his own morale, giving him just the confidence needed to grab the handle and slide the door open…

And, in two seconds, someone was running right at him.

"Dude, it's you!" Someone cheered at him, making him freeze up at the proximity.

"What the…" He blinked, taking in the person's red hair, spiky teeth and excited expression. "K-Kirishima-kun?"

"Yeah, bro! And you're here too!" He laughed, throwing an arm around his neck. "It's so good to see you! We heard that you didn't have a lot of points, so we were worried that you didn't make it. Thank goodness you did!"

Before he could say anything, movement in the corner of his vision drew his gaze to Ashido. "Heeey!" She excitedly called out, waving her arm in the air. She really stood out with her bright pink hair and bubble-gum skin, as did her bright, toothy grin. "Midori! You got in! We knew you passed! There was no way U.A. would have given you up!"

"First saving all of us, then showing such power when you knocked that zero pointer flat? Freaking banger!"

"Uhh… W-Well, I don't know about that. It was less knocking it and more eradicating it…"

"You got that right!"

Seeing both Kirishima and Ashido in his same class left him with a warm feeling in his chest. They were both such great people, and he'd been truly fortunate to have ever had the chance to meet such people in his life. He couldn't be thankful enough for everything in his life thus far that he'd managed to have this many experiences and meetings.

They chatted with one another for a little longer afterwards, and he was content to just chip in every now and then. His attention was more towards the other students that came in, filling the room one after another. It really was a colourful cast of characters, some appearing very unique right off the bat, and even a few who cued in Izuku on what their likely Quirk was.

As expected of a first day of meeting new people, there was some initial nervousness before everyone got into the full swing of introductions and the like. That alone was a level of social energy waaay better than what he could have hoped to pull off.

He pulled out his textbooks just in time to hear a loud, deep sigh cut through the air. Everyone immediately went quiet, heads turning left and right to find who just did that.

"Uhh," a tall guy with black hair furrowed his brows. "Anybody hear that?"

"Pretty sure everyone did."

"Is there someone else in here with us..?"

"Dude, it's literally eight in the morning. Too early to make a ghost joke or something—Waaah!" The yellow-haired guy screamed suddenly, all eyes shooting to him. His face was pale, and he was pointing a shaky finger at the front of the classroom. "G-G-Ghost!"

Alarmed, everyone stared at the front, and emerging from the back of the table like a mud monster from the swamps was what appeared to be a tall, bulky yellow caterpillar. It had a face, however, of a bedraggled-looking man with black hairs and yellow goggles. So much yellow for a guy with black hair was not what he'd expected to see of a ghost; he'd expected more white.

And, as one might expect, everyone was just about ready to scream.

"Don't. It's too early in the morning for that," he groaned, making all of them click their lips shut. "And really, nine seconds? It took that long for all you to settle down?" He sighed again. "Time is money. And for heroes, that goes doubly so. So if you plan to stay in my class, then you'd better remember that."

If they plan to stay in his class. First day of school, and their teacher (at least, he assumed so) was already threatening to expel them. He mentally sighed. U.A. was shaping up to be pretty crazy already, and it wasn't even twelve.

"My name is Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher," yeah, just as expected. "And our first order of business will be an apprehension test, so go get suited up in your gym clothes. You should have had them delivered to you alongside your uniform."

Judging by the looks on everyone else's face, he wasn't the only one caught off-guard by the news. A few of his classmates looked amongst themselves in confusion, while Ochako slowly raised her hand. The man looked at her and nodded. "S-Sir. Um, I thought we'd be having orientation today?"

"Orientation?" He made to look at his wrist, but he didn't have a watch on. "Right. That is today," he looked back at her. "But all of you are in it to be heroes, right? Then it's expected of you to start behaving like heroes. Orientation is nothing but a waste of time. Instead, all of your time should be devoted to bettering yourself and making strides as a hero-in-training—"

"—So if you're still adamant on going to the orientation, then by all means, go. But the moment you walk out of that door, then you're free to go home forever. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise," he put his hands on the table. "Here, the teachers hold all power to decide how the process goes. And if I decide orientation isn't the way to go, then you'll do as I say. Any questions?"

None. One of the students, a guy with neatly-combed blue hair and glasses, looked like he wanted to say something. He wisely chose to keep quiet, however, knowing just how bad of a situation they were in right now to really say or do anything.

"Hmm. Good. Now I'm expecting all of you to be on the training field in fifteen minutes. Get moving before I cut down the number of this class."

Threatening people required a certain level of skill and threshold of danger, both of which their teacher flawlessly pulled off. He had the aura of a man so used to scaring people that Izuku wouldn't have been surprised if he was a leading actor in some horror movie.

As such, he and all nineteen of his classmates were out on the field two minutes before the timer was up. And their teacher did set up a timer, which buzzed out when the time was over. He fished out his phone, turned it off, then nodded at them. "Alright, looks like you're all here. Good so far. But what matters more than anything is the apprehension test, of which I will fairly grade each and every one of you. And just so you know, for the person who's in last place…"

He gazed across the area, a dark expression on his face.

"They will be deemed unworthy of the hero course, and I will expel them, no questions asked."

Threatened to expel them for going for the orientation. Threatened to expel them now for being last place in the score. Everyone was fathomably upset by this, voices rising in protest as they tried to convince him against the idea.

But Aizawa was undaunted in the face of them shouting. "Unfair, you say?" In fact, all he did was speak calmly once again, voice rising with a sharp edge to it that everyone froze up immediately. "Hahhh… You're still stuck on the idea that you have what it takes to be heroes, and yet, you aren't willing to challenge yourselves to do well. Privileged, is what I'd call you. Utterly ridiculous…"

His eyes looked across the group, trying to read them.

His eyes fell upon Izuku. "You. Step forward."

Oh, crap. "Y-Yes sir!" He hastily stepped forward by a few paces, ramrod stiff and afraid that a single wrong word or move would just get him booted out.

"Let's see… Quirkless one month prior, with a fairly good performance in your physical education classes," there were a fair number of eyes on him, all surprised by the news of his Quirklessness. Well, there goes any hopes of living under the radar. "Tell me. How far was your ball toss distance from middle school?"

"Uhh. Eighteen meters, I think? Give or take," after a pause, he added, "Sir."

"Hmm. Well, that was without your Quirk," the man drew out a simple baseball, then tossed it at him. "Let's see how you do with it."

"With..?"

"That's right. You'll be heroes who're expected to make use of your Quirks in all sorts of situations. It's high time that you start learning how to use it. Don't hold back."

Don't hold back… Well, not like he could do so even if he tried. His Quirk control was still finicky at best, and there was no knowing if he could reach an output as great as the one he'd managed in the practical test.

Still, he could at least achieve stability now, so that what was he did; he drew from his well of power, his body augmented by «One For All»'s gift as electricity hissed upon his skin. His body grew lighter as he walked up to the pitch, gently grasping the ball in his hand. He gave it a few tosses in the air, then drew back his arm as he focused on the field stretched out before him, his right leg dragging across the ground.

A single breath. A moment of heightened focus.

And then, he swung his arm forwards—and released.

Ball throws were never anything to write home about. It was impressive if it could go the distance, but realistically, it was just a ball going airborne for a couple of seconds before it just fell back to the ground. A rather lacklustre thing, all things considered.

But here and now, with his strength amplified by his Quirk, even he was caught by surprise when the ball turned into a freaking missile, the blowback force causing wind to whip against his clothes and his face as sound boomed before him. The little projectile disappeared into the sky, splitting apart clouds and leaving behind a trail of white in the air.

Izuku released his breath. That was a textbook throw, and by all accounts, it went pretty well.

Their teacher definitely seemed to think so, whistling. "Six hundred metres, point two eight. Not bad."

Six hundred metres. In the pre-Quirk era, the farthest baseball throw had been the achievement of Gleb Edward Gorbous from Canada, which was a hundred and forty metres. And here, with his Quirk, he'd more than dwarfed his records, something that he felt no man would have been able to do otherwise. Even his classmates were amazed, whispering excitedly amongst themselves.

"Well, with that little demonstration out of the way—and yes, I'll be recording that as your actual performance, Midoriya—it's high time you kick it into gear and give it your all," and now, for the first time, he smiled… which was really a big overstatement when it looked so tense and so creepy it would have made children cry. "Break a leg."

Thankfully, no legs were broken. Or arms. Or any limbs or bones, for that matter! Izuku was traumatized enough the first time around. His classmates simply took to the tests with renewed energy, determined to make the cut no matter what. And that meant everyone's neurons were suddenly more activated than before, the use of everyone's Quirks more ingenious than he'd ever seen.

The boy with the glasses sped down the lane like a rocket. The guy with the grapes hair was apparently able to bounce off of his own hair when deployed. Ashido was impressive in secreting her acid as some kind of lubricant to slide on the ground with. The girl with jet-black hair could create all kinds of things to serve her purpose.

All in all, observing everyone's Quirks in action was just a lot of fun. A shame that he was feeling a little too stressed to enjoy it totally.

But he still found some enjoyment in seeing his girlfriends do so well. Like when Katsumi got onto the fifty metres dash, she didn't just run forwards to beat the electricity kid. Rather, she—

"Die!" She yelled that, but that wasn't the primary thing. It was her propelling herself forwards like a rocket by aiming her hands behind her, the force behind her explosions more than enough to send her to the finish line in record time. "Hah! That's how you do it!"

"You were amazing, Kacchan!" He cheered, making her preen.

"Heh, obviously! It's me we're talking about!"

And he had a little too much fun praising them. Sue him, he was still trying to get a handle on being a good boyfriend. And he felt like he was doing a semi-decent job so far.

Ochako also had her chance to shine. While she wasn't the most fit for these tests, she'd been an absolute killer in the ball toss, merely applying zero gravity on the baseball and sending it off to space. When the scanner beeped 'Infinite', he'd been absolutely quick to praise her as well, causing her to beam.

"Hehehe… Thanks, Izuku!"

On and on did the apprehension test go until the last person was done. And by the end of it, everyone was panting, some even sitting on the ground as they'd just pushed themselves harder than they ever had before. Even Izuku, who'd felt himself reasonably fit enough to last for hours, could feel a strain in his body, something that he would have to work on afterwards.

Aizawa had them group up once more afterwards, quickly tallying up the points before projecting the scores with a hologram. Izuku quickly scanned the list, memorizing the names of his friends of the rip and their placement. There were a few cheers, some sounds of surprise, and a fair few clicks of the tongue as they assessed themselves.

All in all, getting fourth place was an incredible thing. Izuku hadn't mastered his Quirk, but to have achieved this much was already impressive. He was only behind Yaoyorozu, the girl who could make objects, Todoroki, the girl with the ice powers, and Katsumi.

"Oh, come the fuck on!" She yelled. "How am I third?! Also, good job, Izu!"

"T-Thanks! And you did well too, Ochako!"

"I'm fifteenth though! That's not good at all!" Her pouting face almost made him pass out from how cute she was. "These tests are just not for me… But whatever! I'll just have to do better next time!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit!"

"Nooo! I'm last?!" All heads turned towards the short boy with the grape hair. "T-This can't be! Sensei, there's no way I—"

"You are," their teacher cut him off. "Everyone here has done the best they could, and the results speak for themselves. Yours is no less true than everyone else's here," his gaze darkened. "This is just reality. You're at the bottom of the class. Nothing else to it."

The agony on his face was painful to look at, and Izuku had nothing but utter sympathy for him. Perhaps these tests were unfair in some way, most of them designed to punish students whose Quirks were simply unsuitable for physical prowess. And that was doubly proven so when he'd seen some of his classmates were just confused on how they could handle the tests using their Quirks.

From what he had seen, the boy—Minoru Mineta, as his name was displayed—had a Quirk that allowed him to detach his hair. It could stick to anything but himself, whereby he could bounce off of it like some kind of trampoline. That was how he'd managed to do well in the side jumps and the short dash, but not much else in the other tests that required more strength and fitness.

It was clear as day. His Quirk wasn't suitable enough, and that made him lose out.

That should have been the end of it. Mineta's career, ended before it could even lift off the ground. No second chances.

…No second chances, huh..?

Aizawa had thankfully stopped drilling into Mineta, who was probably already experiencing a mental breakdown at his supposed failure. And he was already getting into the verbal process of expelling him, the words 'And from this day on, you…' already out of his mouth.

And then Izuku stepped forwards.

"No," he said.

What compelled him to do such a thing was something he would be questioning for a very long time. He was shocked by himself, let alone all the others, who stared at him as if he'd just grown a second head. Ochako and Katsumi, standing off to the side, were wide-eyed, their looks akin to questioning him for his madness.

Aizawa was less surprised, though his brow did cock upwards by a bit. "Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"I-It's exactly as I said," he swallowed his doubt and pressed on, like a soldier marching to his death. It may very well be it, in all honesty. "Sir, he… These tests were never designed for Quirk specialty. They're your average fitness tests which prioritize physical prowess over anything else. Mineta-kun's Quirk is especially lacking in that regard, so it's, um, reasonable that he scored lowest in the class."

"And yet, there are students like Hagakure whose Quirks have absolutely no effect on their physical performance, yet they've done well enough to score higher. Where's your argument there?"

"Even so, it's unfair to just expel him before he's even had the opportunity to prove himself even better!" He argued. "Sir, everyone deserves a chance to really show what they're capable of. Plus, they need time to properly train themselves and their Quirks before they could perform adequately. You're taking away Mineta-kun's opportunity before he could even realize his full potential. It's not right!"

"He's had his opportunity to prove himself here, and he failed. That's more than enough."

"It isn't!" He'd raised his voice, catching the man off-guard. Under any other circumstances, he would have apologized for his rudeness. But his blood was molten metal at the moment, hot in his veins as he pressed on. "Everyone deserves a second chance! Everyone! Even if that person's at the bottom of the barrel, in your eyes or not, he should have the right to try again! To be something more than what they are now!"

Firmly, he stood his ground, staring the man in the eyes.

"If someone like me, who had been a complete and utter nobody, could be given a second chance at life to be something more… why shouldn't he?"

Silence drew out afterwards, and for every passing second, his fire slowly died out, replaced with cold dread. Great. First day of class, and he was already going to be labelled with defiance against his own teacher. Talk about a great start to things.

And yet, he didn't back down. He couldn't. Not when he'd meant every single word he said—that a Quirkless boy like himself had then been chosen by a mighty hero to be his successor, when so many others should have deserved that right. Others more worthy of the power.

But All Might had chosen him. He'd given him his second chance.

And Izuku would be damned if he just ducked his head and kept shut while another person was denied his.

It was as if time had come to a halt, but the moment it started moving once more, it was all he could do but freeze up when Aizawa did something he hadn't expected the man to do.

He laughed.

It wasn't an explosive thing like All Might's bellowing from the gut; it was deep, slow, but carried with it great mirth with an underlying tone of… respect? Such was how at odds it was with his showing thus far that everyone present were somewhat surprised by the display.

"Well, well. Kids these days have quite the guts, huh?" He shook his head, mirth in his tone. "But it's easy to talk the talk. How much are you willing to walk it?"

Izuku stepped even closer towards their teacher, never breaking his gaze. In the eyes of his suddenly anxious classmates, it was as David and Goliath as it could have possibly been; a relatively smaller boy facing off against a man with such a terrifying presence, all the odds were quite literally against him in this scenario.

He didn't back down. And he didn't say anything, either. Words carried meaning, and he'd said all that needed to be said already. Aizawa would have attested to that, and nothing more telling than the eyes.

Izuku Midoriya's eyes burnt hot with conviction.

"Alright then. You want to change my mind. I'll give you your second chance," he tugged on his scarf, smirking at the two students. "We'll be conducting a live combats test. Midoriya, Mineta, you two will team up against me," surprised gasps and mutters broke out from the crowd. "You will have thirty minutes to defeat me. Fail to do so, and I will automatically grade you as failures and expel you both. Understood?"

Where Mineta whimpered, Izuku simply nodded, accepting the conditions. Aizawa's grin grew wider.

"Heh. Good. Looks like this year's shaping up to be an interesting one. Now then… let's get this show on the road."