Chapter 102 - 2-4 Quirksmith

Chapter 2: Take Off Toward A Dream

Toshinori Yagi sighed as he slumped down onto his battered sofa, dressed in casual clothes that fit his withered frame.

It had been a trying day.

He didn't know what to do. When he had first met Young Midoriya and offered to pass One for All on to him, Toshinori had brushed aside the boy's resemblance to All for One as a mere coincidence.

But now, knowing what Izuku's original quirk was, it couldn't be ignored.

Opening his laptop, Toshinori navigated to the Police Force Database, searching for his successor.

"Izuku Midoriya, born July 15th 2163, parents Hisashi Midoriya and Inko Midoriya née Josuido."

Clicking on Inko's file, Toshinori scanned it before checking the files of her adoptive parents, they all checked out. Moving to Hisashi Midoriya's file, the No.1 Hero frowned at the lack of a picture, as well as minimal informal prior to 2161 and nothing in the last six years, like he had fallen off the face of the earth.

Six years ago.

Toshinori checked the date on the file, Hisashi Midoriya had not been seen since the day he had fought All for One.

Could it be, could Young Midoriya's father really be him .

All for One.

Toshinori needed help, serious help.

He needed…

Hitting speed dial, Toshinori raised his phone to his ear and sighed.

"Mirai, I have a problem. I think All for One has a son, and I gave him One for All."

Toshinori prepared himself for what was to come.

One Week Later…

Izuku soared through the air, rolling as he hit the ground and back onto his feet, sprinting across Dagobah Beach.

Reaching out to where Attraction was stored in his Quirkspace, Izuku activated and pulled on a distant building as he jumped. Instead of pulling the object towards him in the same way as his mother used her quirk, Izuku was shot towards the building, augmenting the distance and speed of his jump.

Rolling back onto his feet, Izuku continued his run, jumping and pulling himself forward repeatedly until he reached a line of stones in the sand. Izuku reached behind himself with Attraction and pulled, negating his velocity.

"1:02.80!"

Izuku smiled to himself as All Might called out his time, a new personal best for the 500 metres.

"Excellent, Young Midoriya!" All Might was in his true form, holding a stopwatch.

Izuku nodded, releasing his hold on Attraction from where it resided within Quirksmith.

After Izuku had told All Might about his quirk the man had grown stilted and distant, excusing himself quickly.

Yet the next morning All Might had texted him, asking him to meet him at the beach. There he had given Izuku a temporary training licence issued by his hero agency with his usual gusto.

Even then, Izuku could see it in his eyes. All Might was wary of him, All Might didn't trust him. He only spent as much time as strictly necessary for training with Izuku.

So Izuku threw himself into training with his new quirks, improving the time needed to call on Attraction, the weight limit of Zero Gravity, which was far lower than Uraraka's, and his own quirk.

Izuku had lost himself for hours with his Quirkspace, disassembling and reassembling quirks to see how they worked, weaving in junk quirk data to alter a quirk's properties.

However, Izuku had found too many alterations to a single quirk caused it to denature and become junk data, fortunately he'd found this out with Attraction and been able to copy it again, instead of Zero Gravity or Quirkspace.

In his new, fourteenth notebook Izuku had broken down the drawbacks of his quirk.

Only one quirk can be used at a time (excluding One for All). Quirk copying on contact cannot be avoided, however Zero Gravity pads do not count as skin contact and can be activated independently of its quirk, as can other passive attributes. Quirkspace is limited, maximum ~10 quirks, denatured quirks still take up space. Are quirks overwritten or does Quirkspace expand? Does that cause strain on the holder?Armed with his new knowledge, Izuku had made his first quirk alteration, to Heal. Instead of using his lips as contact for the quirks, which would copy the target's quirk, and be pretty awkward, he changed it to the Quirksmith-immune fingerpads.

"You're muttering again, Midoriya."

Izuku's head snapped up to look at All Might as he stood in front of him.

"S-Sorry."

"How about you take the rest of the day off." All Might placed a stiff arm on Izuku's shoulder.

Izuku nodded. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"You start your independent training tomorrow, I have pre-term planning for U.A. to do."

"O-Oh, I see."

Izuku's head fell and his shoulders slumped.

Why? Why had All Might lost faith in him? Did he think Izuku had been lying when he said he was quirkless? Was it because he couldn't handle One for All without his bones breaking?

Did All Might think his quirk was evil? Was Quirksmith evil?

"Don't worry, once you're at U.A. I will be taking you and your class for plenty of lessons!"

Izuku raised his head. "R-Right, see you then."

With that Izuku raced away, leaving All Might alone on the beach, the setting sun lighting him with an orange glow.

"Nana, what do I do?"

Toshinori sighed.

He felt like a monster for pushing the boy away, after seeing his reaction to U.A. acceptance letter and the fact Toshinori would be teaching there, he knew he wasn't faking it.

Izuku Midoriya had the heart and spirit of a true hero.

In him, Toshinori could finally understand what Nana had seen in him all those years ago.

Yet Mirai's research had only raised more red flags on the enigma that was Hisashi Midoriya. Red flags that Toshinori couldn't overlook.

Therefore he had to keep Midoriya at an arm's length, even if it made him feel like a villain.

But he needed to do it without hurting the boy, like he was now.

Toshinori clenched his fist, shifting into his muscle form.

"Look, it's All Might!"

"Where did he come from!"

Toshinori sighed. "Not again."

"I AM LEAVING NOW LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

All Might crouched down and rocketed into the air, soaring away from the beach, in manner distinctly unlike a normal person.

Shota Aizawa rubbed his eyes.

Hitting the enter key, Shota resumed the footage on his laptop, watching a blonde-haired boy destroy robot after robot with explosions from his palms, leaving destruction in his wake.

Switching to a word-processing program Shota began to type.

To summarise, Katsuki Bakugo, quirk - Explosion, powerful and versatile. He's using it well, possesses a modicum of enhanced strength, unrelated to quirk.

Moderate potential, strong, well-utilised quirk, however he has severe anger issues, a possible superiority complex, poor team skills. We'll fix that.

Expulsion - Unlikely.

"Next, ah, the problem child."

Playing the footage of Midoriya destroying the zero-pointer, Shota made a sound of disappointment.

Izuku Midoriya, quirk Super-Power, no description. Made no effort to use quirk prior to zero-pointer, then suffered two broken legs and a broken arm when used once.

Can't use quirk without breaking his body, despite heroic sentiments. No potential, would be reliant on support items.

Expulsion - Highly likely.

Moving to the next student, Shota opened the respective file, watching the attached video files.

Minoru Mineta, quirk Pop Off. Underuses his quirk, the balls have high elasticity, could be used as a springboard to enhanced speed. Excellent for capture and detainment.

Middle-school file indicates a lack of confidence and insecurity over height. Reputation for making perverse comments, seems to be quite-

"Shota, it's three in morning, you should be in bed."

Rubbing his eyes, Shota looked up to see his boyfriend standing over him.

"Term starts tomorrow, Hizashi, and I haven't finished going through the 1-A student files."

Hizashi grabbed the laptop from Shota's lap as he flopped down next to him. "You can sleep, I'll finish this, Class 2-D doesn't get back from their internships until next week."

Shota smiled, before kissing Hizashi on the cheek and standing with a stretch.

"Sleep well." Hizashi opened the footage of Mineta fighting the Entrance Exam robots, pausing the video every few seconds to take notes.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

Hizashi beamed. "I know, right? And I'm all yours, well until something better comes along that is."

Shota shook his head in amusement at his boyfriend's antics, but Hizashi wasn't finished yet.

"For me that is, you've pretty much peaked!"

"Night, Hizashi, love you."

With that, Shota turned and made moves towards the bedroom.

"I love you too."

Shota stopped, looking back at Hizashi, who was still totally focused on the footage.

Did he even realise? Realise that that was the first he'd said…

Shota smiled.

11 April 2179

This place is huge.

Izuku raced down the corridor of U.A., the last thing he wanted to be on his first day was late.

Reaching a corner, Izuku yelped as a black-haired boy rounded it, crashing into him.

Both boys went sprawling, a stack of papers fluttering to the ground.

Scrambling to his feet, Izuku bowed. "I-I'm sorry."

The other boy brushed himself off. "I-It's fine."

Izuku did a double take, the other boy, it was like looking into a bizarre mirror. He was near identical to Izuku, the only things that set him apart were longer, messier black hair and silver, metal backpack.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya, by the way."

"Mikumo Akatani." The boy bent down to retrieve the stack of papers.

"H-Here, let me help."

Reaching down, Izuku began to collect the papers, a quick glance showing that they were schematics for what looked like some kind of robot.

"W-Woah, these look pretty cool."

Mikumo snatched the schematics from Izuku's grip. "They're not f-finished!"

Taken aback, Izuku paused before bowing. "Then I look forward to when they are done, you must be Support, right?"

"R-Right."

"I'm Hero, I look forward to working together."

Izuku held out his hand.

Mikumo stared at the hand for a few seconds, before grabbing it and shaking it. "Yeah, m-me too."

"I'd better get going then, don't wanna be later on the first day."

Sprinting off, Izuku left a windswept and somewhat shaken Mikumo in his wake.

Skidding to a halt, Izuku looked up at the massive door with 1-A designed into it with trepidation.

Forty students, four admitted on recommendation, divided equally into two classes.

"I hope Kacchan and that scary tall guy are in the other class." Izuku held up his gloved hands, black material protecting him from copying quirks, he still didn't know what his limit was.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku heaved the door open, revealing the sight of a large classroom filled with desks.

"Remove your feet from the desk! You are insulting not only our predecessors who used these before us but also the craftsmen who created them!"

Izuku cringed, it was the tall boy from the exam, berating Bakugo for his behaviour, not that he could particularly fault someone for being aggravated by Kacchan.

"And?" Bakugo snarled at the tall boy. "Do I look like someone who gives a shit about that, extra?!"

The boy gestured wildly with his arm. "Your profanity is unnecessary and gratuitous!"

Bakugo sneered. "Which pompous, silver-spoon, rich kid hell school did you dribble out of?"

"Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida."

Bakugo leaned forward in his seat, snarling. "Somei, huh? Figures for a stuck-up elitist like you, I should do you a favor and blow you to bits now. You'll never last in the real world."

"Blow me to bits? You're awful!" Iida exclaimed, recoiling slightly. "Are you sure you really wish to be a hero?"

The door creaked over further, alerting Iida to Izuku's presence.

Izuku gulped as Iida approached him, completely forgetting Bakugo's previous threat.

"Good morning! My name is Tenya Iida, I'm from Somei Private Academy-"

"So I've heard." Izuku's eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth at his frank reply. "S-Sorry, I-I don't know what came over me. I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya, you accurately determined the true nature of the practical exam when I did not." Iida gestured again. "I apologise, I misjudged you-"

"Curly hair? The plain-looking boy!"

Izuku wheeled around to see the girl from the entrance exam, the one whose quirk Izuku had accidentally copied.

"You passed! Like Present Mic said you did, I'm Ochako Uraraka!"

Izuku panicked, she was so close.

"That punch of yours was awesome!"

"T-Thanks, well it wasn't, but, er thank you for speaking i-in my defense." Izuku rubbed the back of his head.

"Huh? How do you know about that?"

Bakugo sneered at the display before him. Deku was always there, mocking him with his quirklessness. Katsuki couldn't shake him, not at Aldera and not at U.A. now.

Two Weeks Earlier...

How wonderful that two of our students have made it into U.A.!

Especially you Midoriya! That's a miracle we never expected!

Katsuki slammed Deku up against the wall of the alleyway, holding him by his collar.

"Why did you do it, you quirkless piece of crap?" Katsuki tightened his grip on Izuku. "What dirty tricks did you use to do it?"

"K-Kacchan, I-"

"Shut up! I was supposed to be the first one, the only one, to get in from this shitty middle school! My grand plans, you've torn them to shreds!"

Katsuki watched Deku's face change, hardening with resolve.

"I got in on my own merits! I earned this!" Deku grabbed Katsuki's hand with his gloved fingers. "Your grand plans? You're just selfish and mean and arrogant."

Deku yanked at Katsuki's hand, freeing himself.

"How can you be a hero when you don't ever care about others?"

Katsuki staggered back. "You fucking piece of shit!"

Lashing out, Katsuki punched Deku in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Deku held his cheek, looking up at his former friend.

For as long as he could remember, Katsuki had always seen admiration in Deku's eyes, whether layered with excitement or fear.

For the first time in his life, Katsuki Bakugo looked into Izuku Midoriya's eyes and saw hatred.

For the first time in his life, Katsuki Bakugo didn't feel like a hero.

Katsuki continued to glare at Deku.

The spineless freak had actually stood up to him. Something fishy was going on with Deku and soon everyone at U.A. see how useless he was.

Round Face continued to talk Deku's ears off. "So we've got our entrance ceremony and guidance sessions today, right? I wonder what our teachers'll be like? I'm so nervous? Are you? Am I rambling? I think I'm rambling."

"If you're here to socialise, then get out."

Useless Deku yelped as he and Round Face turned around. Katsuki examined the bizarre yellow caterpillar lying on the floor of the corridor.

"This is the Hero Course."

The caterpillar gave a sucking noise, a juice pouch peeking out of the hole.

"I-I think there's someone in there!"

"You don't say, Raccoon Eyes!" Bakugo slammed his hand against his other palm.

Izuku jumped, broken from his thoughts.

The caterpillar sprung upright, silencing the class, before unzipping to reveal a long-haired man with a grey scarf wrapped around his neck.

"It took eight seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource."

Izuku tilted his head, their teacher looked familiar, could he be an underground hero?

The teacher stared back at the boy, Izuku felt like he was being judged, was it because he was the one who blew three limbs to hell in the entrance exam?

Uraraka looked back and forth between Izuku and the teacher as the seconds began to drag on.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Pleased to meet you all."

A stunned, somehow even quieter silence fell over the classroom, this raggedy, exhausted-looking man was their homeroom teacher.

Aizawa pulled a bundle of cellophane packets out of his sleeping bag.

"Now, put on your gym clothes, then head out into the grounds."

"But what about the entrance ceremony?" Izuku looked across at Uraraka, the girl looked distraught. "Or the guidance sessions?"

"You want to be a hero don't you?" Aizawa stared at Uraraka, eyes boring into her soul.

Uraraka gave a timid nod.

"Then we have no time to waste on stuff like that, you have ten minutes to get changed."

With that, Aizawa set off, leaving everyone scrambling to catch up to him.

Mikumo kept his head low as Power Loader introduced himself to the class.

"Here in Class 1-H you represent the next generation in Support." Power Loader walked over to his desk-come-workbench, placing a briefcase down on it. "That means something. When you leave here in three years time you will be responsible for creating and testing the costumes and support gear of Pro Heroes."

Power Loader slowly opened his briefcase.

"Pro Heroes that rely on that gear to keep them safe. Therefore, I have one rule, just one rule. Go nuts, design whatever you want, push the boundaries of technology, but the result must always be safe. Otherwise, it meets Dusty."

The briefcase slammed shut, making all nine students jump, some rather more than others.

In Power Loader's grip rested a large, red and silver fire axe.

A pink-haired student raised her hand. "Why's it called Dusty?"

Power Loader smiled. "Cause you better hope it stays dusty."

A round of titters passed through the classroom.

"That wasn't a joke."

Silence reigned.

Power Loader turned around, placing Dusty on a wall mounting behind his desk.

"Any equipment that doesn't meet both U.A. and my own personal standards for safety goes to the great junkyard in the sky and you start over. Understood?"

A vague mumble was his only reply.

"I said, understood?"

"YES, POWER LOADER!"

"Better, now one-by-one you are all going to show off the equipment you presented at the entrance exam and the improvements you have made since then."

A wave of agreement passed through the classroom.

"Right then, let's go in class order, who's first."

Mikumo paled.

"Number 1, Mikumo Akatani, you're up."

"R-Right, okay."

Placing his metal backpack on the workbench, Mikumo pressed a glowing button on the front. The panels of the backpack lifted away from the main body, shifting to open up two ports, metal handles protruding from each.

Gripping the metal, Mikumo pushed his hands into the backpack, causing a section of the backpack to detach as he pulled them away. Gear whirred at the panels shifted into their final positions, revealing a set of gauntlets.

"Hmm, so you've streamlined the deployment process since the exam then?"

Mikumo nodded, acutely aware of his classmates' eyes analysing him, before he held up his left hand. "Y-Yeah, the backpack storage system also makes them more portable. I changed the alloy composition of the grappling line to increase its tensile strength."

Power Loader nodded with approval. "Do they meet the safety standards?"

Mikumo nodded quickly. "A-Absolutely, I added a shock absorbing polymer weave to both gauntlets to lessen the impact on the user's arms."

"Give them a go then." Power Loader gestured to an open space at the back of the classroom with a dummy placing in the center.

Taking a deep breath, Mikumo paused, before walking into the testing space, the metal soles of his orange sneakers clanging with every step.

Raising his left arm, Mikumo aimed at the far wall and fired his grappling line.

Pressing down the button on his palm to line retracted, shooting Mikumo towards the wall. Turning in midair, Mikumo recalled his grappling line, aiming his metal sneaker soles at the wall.

Before he could crash into the wall repulsor blasts fired from Mikumo's metal soles, propelling him back away from the wall and directly at the dummy.

Pulling back his right arm, Mikumo punched the dummy in the chest as he shot past, snapping it in two.

Firing his grappling line at a pillar, Mikumo swung in an arc around it and landed on his feet, repulsor blasts slowing him to a halt.

Mikumo turned back to face his class to see their shocked faces.

"How are we supposed to follow that?!"

Mei Hatsume stared at Mikumo with a preditary look in her yellow eyes.

Together they would make amazing babies.

"A test of quirks?"

Izuku was panicking, his hands clenching the material of his new U.A. gym kit.

The class came to a halt in the middle of an athletics field.

Izuku couldn't use One For All, well, not at first, his bones would break again. He'd have to rely on his other quirks then-

An elbow dug into Izuku's ribs, startling him.

"Quit mumbling, Deku."

Izuku nodded, suddenly feeling four all over again.

"R-Right."

"Here a U.A. we don't operate like a normal school, our education is more, freestyle."

Aizawa paused for what Izuku could only assume was dramatic effect. Perhaps the teacher had more in common with the sparkly boy than he thought.

"Today we will be doing the standard no-quirks-allowed test. I'm sure you all did them in middle school."

"Japan is woefully out of touch, the government still insists that the test must be carried out by all students before high school without use of their quirks, but it's just not rational. The Department of Education is just scared of change."

"So now, you'll be doing them again, this time with your quirks."

Whispers shot through the class, before being extinguished by a glare from Aizawa.

"Bakugo, you came top in the entrance exam, what was your score for the soft-ball throw in middle school."

"Sixty-seven meters."

Bakugo soaked in the wave of impressed murmurs coming from the extras around him.

"Well then, do it again, except this time don't hold back, use your quirk."

A manic grin split Bakugo's face, before he shoved past Izuku, almost knocking him over.

"Do whatever you want, just say inside the circle."

"Whatever, I'll add a bit of boom to this snooze fest."

Bakugo palmed the softball, before pulling his arm back and throwing it, releasing an explosion as he did.

"DIE!"

The flaming softball rocked through the air, becoming little more than a speck in the distance, a wave of dust blowing over the class.

"I know what you're all thinking, is it a bit gratuitous? But, you'll never be an effective hero if you don't know your limits, and how to surpass them."

Aizawa held out a digital display.

"705.2 meters."

Izuku paled, he hadn't been expecting this, he would just have to hope Attraction and Zero Gravity could carry him through while still looking like super-strength.

The last thing Izuku wanted was for everyone to find out about his quirk on the first day.

A quirk even All Might thought was evil.

"Over 705 meters, that's so manly!"

"This is going to be awesome!"

"Awesome, you say? Do you think this is going to be fun?"

The pink-haired girl with the horns gulped. "M-Mr. Aizawa-"

"Being a hero isn't a joke, it's dangerous, everytime you go out on patrol you have to know you might not be coming back."

Aizawa stared at the pink girl.

"So then, whoever finishes in last place will be expelled. Do you think that's awesome ?"

Izuku's widened with fear, a low hiss escaping his lips. "Shit."

Clapping a hand over his mouth, Izuku dropped it when he realised his expletive had gone unnoticed in a sea of shouts and comments from his classmates.

Aizawa's eyes flashed red for a moment, silencing the class. "You're here to be heroes aren't you? Did you think it would all be fun and games?"

Uraraka spoke up. "But it isn't fair!"

"Of course it isn't fair, life isn't. It isn't fair when a villain attacks a school or an uncontrollable quirk causes a train to crash." Aizawa's eyes bored into Uraraka, making her shuffle nervously.

"Life isn't fair, life isn't kind, that's why a hero must be instead."

Nobody spoke, nobody even made a sound, not even Bakugo.

"With that settled we can start, first up is the 50-meter dash, Mineta, Sato, Shoji and Todoroki, you're up first.

Izuku watched the four students line up as he formulated a plan. He could use Zero Gravity to remove the weight of his clothes, as they weighted far less than his 10kg limit, then use Attraction to look like a super-strength powered long jump.

"He's so intense."

Izuku looked up to see Uraraka and Iida had congregated around him.

"Who's that, Aizawa or Kacchan?"

Uraraka tilted her head to one side. "Who's Kacchan?"

Izuku flushed red. "Er, B-Bakugo, I've known him all my life, our mums have been friends since before we were born."

"How cute!"

Iida frowned, cute would not be the word he would use to describe Bakugo.

Volatile, that would be sufficient.

"W-Well it's not really, we used to be friends when we were kids, until we got our quirks. After that, we never saw eye to eye again."

"Huh, your quirks, explosions and super-strength, they seem pretty on par with each other to me." Uraraka smiled.

Izuku was panicking, this was not how he wanted his quirkless past to come to light.

"Hagakure, Bakugo, Ashido and Midoriya, you're up!"

"Looks like it's my turn!" Izuku awkwardly excused himself and made his way to the start line.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku prepared to reach into his quirkspace.

"I'm going to crush you, Deku." Bakugo glared at Izuku, his voice a low hiss so only he could hear it. "I'm going show them all what a quirkless waste of space you are!"

Izuku flinched, Aizawa sounded the buzzer.

Was Bakugo right? Izuku had no power of his own, it was all given or copied, it didn't belong to him.

Bakugo and the two other competitors started, the former blasting off with his quirk, while the pink girl with horns slid along on a liquid secreted by her feet. The invisible girl sprinted as fast as she could, her quirk useless in this event.

"You can do it, Deku!"

Something ignited inside of him, Izuku's feet moved before he could think, activating Attraction and pulling on the far building.

Shooting forwards, Izuku flew past the two girls, crossing the line just behind Bakugo.

"Bakugo: 4.13 seconds."

"Midoriya: 5.47 seconds."

Izuku sighed in relief, not noticing as Aizawa's eyes zeroed in on him.

Moving to the sidelines, Izuku kept his distance from the other students and especially Bakugo, left with only his thoughts.

Who had encouraged him? Using that name, probably one of the girls considering the high-pitch. Had he imagined it?

Izuku pushed the thoughts away just in time for the second event, grip strength.

On his turn, Izuku again turned to Attraction, pulling on the handle to enhance his natural strength, using One For All right now would probably break his arm and the grip tester.

"113kg."

Izuku wiped the sweat from his forehead, hopefully a good score like that would keep him out of last place.

"Woah, 504kg, what are you, a gorilla, an octopus?"

Izuku wheeled around, the six-armed boy was crowded by other students, all marveling at his score.

He suddenly felt a lot less confident about his own score now.

The purple ball boy was staring at his six-armed classmate, murmuring under his breath. "Octopuses are sexy...tentacles...rubbery."

Izuku shuddered, deciding to give that guy a wide berth.

The third and fourth events passed quickly, with Izuku again using Attraction, this time on the long jump, but his enhanced distance was still not enough to clear the sandbox.

The side-stepping event had been even more of a disaster, Attraction couldn't alternate that quickly and Zero Gravity was too weak for Izuku to cancel anything more than his clothes.

A wave of applause rippled through the class, jerking Izuku back to the present. Uraraka had used Zero Gravity on her softball throw, earning her a score of infinity.

Aizawa sighed. "That's not coming down is it?"

Uraraka shook her head.

Everyone was excelling in at least one event, even the boy with purple balls for hair, Mineta, was doing well. His quirk had allowed him to ace the side-stepping event, beating everyone else in the class.

"Midoriya."

Izuku nodded, taking off his right glove as Aizawa handed him the softball. Stepping into the circle Izuku formulated a plan, Attraction was useless for this, his other quirks were either irrelevant or too flashy. It would have to be Zero Gravity.

"Midoriya doesn't look like he's doing too well and he started so strong."

Iida gestured wildly with one arm. "You should not be talking about a fellow student behind their back, but yes, Midoriya is doing very poorly."

Bakugo snorted with derision. "Of course a quirkless runt like Deku can't keep with me."

"Quirkless?" Uraraka tilted her head, looking at Bakugo. "What do you mean, Kacchan?"

"Don't call me that! What the fuck have you been telling people, DEKU?!"

Izuku ignored Bakugo, before pulling his arm back and calling on Zero Gravity. He'd have to release it quickly, his limit with the quirk was much lower, if he threw up it would be obvious he was using the same quirk as Uraraka.

You can be a hero.

All Might, I'll make you proud.

I'll become a hero!

Izuku threw the ball.

"48 meters."

Izuku couldn't feel his quirks, reaching out for his quirkspace, he found nothing.

His quirks were gone.

Chapter 3: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

Izuku threw the ball.

"48 meters."

His quirks were gone, Izuku couldn't feel them.

Reaching out for his quirkspace, Izuku found nothing, his breathing was getting faster and shallower.

"I erased your quirk."

Izuku looked up, seeing Aizawa staring back at him, his eyes glowing red and his hair floating above his head.

"Y-You're Eraserhead!"

Aizawa continued to stare directly at Izuku, before his eyes returned to normal and his hair fell limp.

Izuku felt his quirks return.

"So cool."

Izuku's fanboy nature eclipsed the panic he'd felt at being quirkless again, especially since he could feel them resting comfortably in his quirkspace.

"You are a prime example why the U.A. Entrance Exam isn't fit for purpose," said Aizawa, just loud enough so that only Izuku could hear him.

A small squeak slipped from Izuku's lips.

"You were going to use your quirk just then, weren't you?"

The green-haired boy nodded.

He wasn't technically lying, he had just decided not to correct Aizawa about which quirk he was going to use.

Izuku wouldn't, couldn't, tell anyone about Quirksmith.

Aizawa sighed. "Then you would have turned the bones in your arm to dust."

Izuku felt affronted. "But-"

"Then you'd be no help to anybody, a liability in every fight you'd be in." Aizawa paused. "Like that, with your impractical quirk, you have no potential as a hero."

His cheeks ablaze with shame, Izuku hung his head.

"So I'm going to make this simple, you're expelled."

Izuku's heart dropped as he fought back tears, the months of training, all for nothing on the first day. He's been looking forward to learning and training with the next generation of heroes, like Uraraka and Iida, and working with Support students like Mikumo.

His life's dream, it was crushed all over again, because Izuku was scared to show his real quirk.

He felt like an idiot, a failure.

Aizawa stared down at the boy, seeing the look in his eyes. He knew that look, guilt mixed with fear.

Midoriya was holding back, he'd seen it in the other tests..

Glancing down at the spare softball resting in his palm, ready for the next student to throw, Aizawa took a careful breath and made a decision.

"That is what I'm going to say after you throw the ball again."

Izuku's head shot up to stare at Aizawa.

"Unless your throw manages to convince me that you have potential as a hero."

Izuku took the offered softball, staring at it. He could use One For All, breaking his arm and being expelled from U.A. or he could use Quirksmith and maybe not get expelled.

His decision wasn't even hard.

Izuku would choose to be a hero, even if he was hated for his quirk.

Lifting his arm back, Izuku began his throw and entered his Quirkspace.

Glancing around the black void, Izuku looked to the time, activating another facet of Quirksmith.

Time Dilation.

While inside a quirkspace Izuku could slow the time he experienced, his current maximum was thirty seconds for every one second in the outside world.

That meant he had a minute before the ball left his physical hand.

Izuku rushed forward and expanded Quirksmith to show the copied quirks it contained.

"I'll have to hold Zero Gravity on the ball for as long as possible, around fifteen seconds." Izuku rested his chin on his hand, activating the quirk in his physical hand and negating the ball's gravity.

Izuku continued looking through his quirk, disregarding Heal and Quirkspace immediately. "Attraction's no use, that just leaves…"

Explosion.

Izuku had copied it from Bakugo when the other boy had punched him in the face. He'd only tried it out a few times in the last two weeks, his explosions were far weaker. After all, Bakugo had been using and training with it since they were four.

But it would just have to do.

While Izuku could normally only use one copied quirk at a time, this didn't extend to passive parts of a quirk. Thus, Izuku would be able to use Explosion to propel the ball while maintaining its lack of gravity, he just wouldn't be able to remove or return the gravity to the ball or anything else.

But that wouldn't be a problem.

Confident in his strategy, Izuku prepared to exit quirkspace when his eyes landed on One For All.

Should he use it?

No, he couldn't.

Izuku couldn't afford to break his arm, but he did have thirty seconds, he could at least have a look.

Expanding One For All, Izuku examined the structure of the quirk, smaller energy spheres connected by strings of light.

"Huh, that's a passive trigger." Izuku cocked his head, that must be the power accumulation aspect of the quirk.

Izuku knew Aizawa was right about one thing, he couldn't be a hero if one punch left him a liability.

He had to focus his power on what he could do.

"Wait, focus my power. That's it!"

Izuku knew what to do.

Returning to the physical world, Izuku charged his arm with the red energy of One For All, focusing it all in his index finger as the ball left his hand, before activating Explosion.

The ball was consumed by a massive orange explosion, larger than what Bakugo had produced earlier, before it broke free of fire and rocketed away.

A massive gust of air blasted back at Izuku and the rest of Class 1-A

Calling on Attraction, Izuku pulled on the ground below him to counter the backdraft, Aizawa has made it clear he had to stay in the circle, while his classmates were knocked off their feet behind him.

As the backdraft cleared away, Izuku straightened up, staring in disbelief as the ball vanished into the distance. He felt like he was forgetting something.

Izuku's stomach made an odd jolt.

Oh right, Zero Gravity.

Releasing his hold on the ball, its gravity returned, barely giving Izuku time to stop himself from retching.

Looking down at his right hand, Izuku examined his index finger, it was clearly broken, but not as badly as his arm and legs had been during the entrance exam.

Clenching his fist, Izuku turned to a windswept Aizawa.

"My arm's not broken. I can still fight."

"1672.9 meters"

Of all the things Izuku was expecting his homeroom teacher to do, grin like a madman was not one of them.

"So, your quirk isn't super-strength then."

Izuku paused before scrunching his face, mostly in pain. "Well kind of, but also not at all."

"Woah, did he just use Kacchan's quirk?"

"Don't call me that, Round Face!"

Turning to face his classmates, Izuku prepared himself to see disgust and hatred, he was a quirk stealer, just like the ones in the cartoons he had watched as a child.

"That was tres stylish!"

"1670 meters! That's super manly!"

"You say everything is manly."

"It's over double Bakugo's score, kero."

Bakugo clenched his fists, Izuku could practically see the flashback to their fight in the alley in his eyes.

"Fucking explain yourself, you lying shit!"

Rocketing forwards, Bakugo aimed his explosions behind himself.

"I'll fucking kill ngg !"

The scarf around Aizawa's neck had moved, restraining Bakugo in midair, his quirk erased.

Bakugo struggled in vain. "This cloth, it's stiff."

Izuku heard a giggle from Mineta.

Aizawa sighed. "This is my capture weapon, it's woven from special alloy wire and carbon fiber."

"Let me go!"

"Damn it kid, would you stop using your quirk already, my dry eye is bad enough as it is."

"Deku! What the fucking fuck did you do! You had no power of your own so you took it from someone else?"

Izuku hung his head.

"So you can copy quirks? That's super cool!" Uraraka gave Izuku a peace sign as his head shot back up.

"Well I guess it is." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I thought I was quirkless, until I touched someone with a power amplification quirk."

Uraraka threw her fist up into the air. "Wow, that means you copied my quirk as well, at the exam."

Izuku held up his hand to show the pads on his fingertips. "Y-Yeah, that's how I realised what my quirk was, I thought it was just super-strength before the pads appeared."

"Your weight limit must be pretty low then, I can show you how to increase it if you want."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh, isn't being a hero all about teamwork?"

"As riveting as this conversation is, let's get on with the rest of the tests." Aizawa dropped Bakugo to the ground, keeping his capture weapon wrapped around the teen's wrists.

"Imma gonna crush you, Deku!"

Aizawa glared at Bakugo. "You're going to do no such thing. Either you shut up and get on the tests, or you keep on acting out and I disqualify you from the remaining events."

"Then I'd be in last."

Aizawa grinned. "Exactly."

Bakugo grunted. "Tch, whatever, cheaty Deku isn't worth it anyway."

Izuku sighed in relief as Bakugo was released from Aizawa's scarf and went to sulk at the back of the class.

Aizawa sighed. "What a waste of time, now get on with the rest of the tests, before I expel you all."

"Is your finger okay?"

Izuku smiled at Uraraka's earnest expression. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

"Fine? Your finger is broken!" Iida was waving his arm again. "Are you sure you can continue?"

"It's not as bad as it looks, I think it's just fractured, using Explosion at the same time as my strength must be why."

"Of course, Bakugo's quirk must come with some kind of shock absorption for his hands." Iida gave Izuku a serious look.

Izuku nodded. "R-Right, otherwise he'd be breaking his hands all the time."

"Aizawa wouldn't expel all of us, would he?" Uraraka tilted her head.

"Of course not, he just wants us to give our all."

Izuku, Uraraka and Iida turned to see a tall, dark-haired girl.

"Yaoyorozu, I'm glad to see you got into U.A.!"

"Thanks, Iida." Yaoyorozu nodded her head.

Uraraka bounced on the ball of her feet. "You two know each other?"

"We met at the Recommendations exam."

Yaoyorozu smiled.

Izuku lost the ability to talk.

"But you were at the normal entrance exam?" pondered Uraraka.

"I placed sixth in Recommendations." Iida looked downcast. "They only accept the top four."

"Ya still made it in didn't you?"

Iida perked up. "You're right, Uraraka."

"Iida, softball throw."

"Coming, Mr. Aizawa!"

The last three events passed quickly, with Izuku managing decent results in each of them. For the endurance running Attraction had allowed Izuku to place seventh, while in the upper body training and seated toe touch none of his quirks were applicable, forcing him to fall back on All Might's training.

Aizawa cleared his throat to get the class's attention. "Be quiet, it's time for the results."

Izuku clenched his right fist, squeezing his fractured finger. He just had to hope he had managed to stay out of last place.

Aizawa pressed a button on his phone, activating a hologram that displayed the final results.

Seventeenth.

Izuku sighed in relief, it wasn't impressive, but it would be somewhere to work from.

The purple boy cried out at the sight of his name in last place.

"Also I was lying, no-one's getting expelled."

A wave of shouts came from the class as Aizawa grinned, his scarf floating around his neck.

"It was a logical ruse, how else were you going to give it your all?"

Izuku tilted his head. "Huh, Yaoyorozu was right."

"Third, I got fucking third!" Bakugo's hands crackled with explosions.

Aizawa ignored the explosive teen. "Your curriculum and orientation packs on your desks, the rest of the day is free for you to explore the school, lunch starts at half twelve, don't miss it, Lunch Rush won't cater for your tardiness."

The class stayed where they were, still in shock.

"What are you still doing here?" Aizawa's eyes suddenly shone. "Do you want homework or something?"

In seconds the class dispersed, heading for the changing rooms at speed.

"Midoriya, stay behind."

Izuku peeled away from Uraraka and Iida, walking back to his teacher.

"Go see Recovery Girl." Aizawa held out a medical slip, with Izuku's name written on it. "Should I be keeping a stack of these on hand pre-written for you?"

Izuku shook his head. "Don't worry Mr. Aizawa, I'm going to find a way to overcome the recoil."

Aizawa chuckled. "I'll hold you to that, now clear off, Problem Child."

Izuku blushed at the nickname, before racing off after his newfound friends.

"This kid." Aizawa sighed and shook his head.

Setting off for the faculty lounge, Aizawa pulled out a bottle of eye drops.

"Aizawa, you liar."

Acting on instinct, Aizawa flicked the eye drops at the source of the voice.

Turning, Aizawa rolled his eyes at the sight of All Might, the tiny bottle comically small in the Number 1 Hero's giant hand.

"You appear to have lost this."

Aizawa took the drops back. "For such a large man you are remarkably quiet."

All Might coughed. "Well, what can I say-"

"I don't care."

"Hm, well then, what I was going to say was, you lied." All Might held up the U.A. faculty registry. "You expelled the entirety of your last class."

"I later readmitted them." Aizawa used his eye drops, blinking rapidly. "I did it to be kind, they had no potential. Giving them that shock, is what they needed."

"Another of your logical ruses, then?"

Aizawa ignored All Might's question.

All Might fidgeted at the heavy silence. "And this year?"

"Better than average, Nedzu must have put all the ones with no potential in Vlad's class so he can coddle them." Aizawa slipped the eye drops back into his pocket. "They didn't need the same kind of wake up call as the last lot, just an idea of what would happen if they thought being a hero is fun and games."

"That's a bit harsh."

"Will you still be saying that if one of them dies?"

All Might gave a muffled grunt.

"Dies?"

Aizawa glanced back at the Symbol of Peace. "Oboro Shirakumo."

"Oboro Shirakumo?"

"We were classmates, here at U.A., we interned together with His Purple Highness." Aizawa paused, hanging his head. "We fought a villain, Garvey, protecting a class of elementary kids, Oboro died protecting them from a collapsing building with his quirk."

All Might frowned. "If your friend had been expelled then the children-"

"Oboro had plenty of potential. The one with no potential was me. Oboro died because I wasn't good enough."

Silence fell as All Might processed Aizawa's words.

"Anyone can become a hero, but not everyone can be a hero. That's why I expel those with no potential to be a hero."

With that, Aizawa began to walk away.

All Might sighed, he knew that pain, that guilt. He had beared it for years after Nana's death, only truly letting go after the fight with All For One that had crippled him.

"Aizawa, it wasn't your fault. That villain chose to attack those schoolchildren, never blame yourself for the decisions of others, decisions you can't change."

Aizawa snorted. "As touching as that is, encouraging mantras don't save lives."

All Might held his tongue as Aizawa left, his left hand subconsciously touching his injury.

SMOOOCH!

Izuku flexed his hand, marveling at his healed finger.

"Tut-tut, classes haven't even started yet and I've had to heal you twice already."

"Oh, right, thank you Recovery Girl."

"You're welcome young man, just try not to come back again soon." Recovery Girl reached into his pocket. "Here."

Accepting the small packet of gummies, Izuku stared at them. "Thanks. Um, I-I actually had a question about your quirk."

"My quirk? You certainly can."

"Er, well, my quirk permanently copies other quirks on contact, I copied it when you healed me at the entrance exam." Izuku paused, rubbing the back of his head. "Can your quirk heal yourself? I didn't want to risk trying it in case it backfired on me."

"Interesting quirk you've got there, and no, I can't heal myself, it has no effect."

"Oh, okay, thanks for telling me."

"I assume that this is a recent development?"

Izuku nodded.

"Could you describe your quirk to me so I can update your quirk data on the U.A. internal system."

"S-Sure. It's called Quirksmith, when I touch someone I permanently copy their quirk so long as I don't already have a copy. I can also manipulate and alter the quirks I copy."

Recovery Girl looked interested.

"What is the limit of your alteration of a quirk?"

"My mom's quirk allows her to attract objects, I tried to alter my copy to repulse objects instead, and the quirk just kinda fell apart."

"Hm, there we are, quirk description updated. Although, I do have a suggestion for you."

Izuku looked up. "You do?"

"Find a quirk to negate the damage from One For All."

"What! One For All, what's that? Never heard of it? Have you? Why am I still talking? Why can't I stop?"

"I know about One For All." Recovery Girl sighed. "Who do you think treats the great lummox when he pushes himself too far."

Izuku remained still as Recovery Girl waved her cane in front of the boy's face.

"I believe you've broken him."

"All Might!" Izuku spun around to see his idol enter the nurse's office.

"Young Midoriya, your throw-"

Before he could continue, Recovery Girl rapped him with her cane.

"No encouraging the boy to injure himself again!"

"Chiyo-"

"You hear me, no more injuries."

Izuku jumped up to his feet. "I-It's fine, Recovery Girl is right, I need to find a quirk to reduce the damage from One For All."

All Might flinched.

Izuku noticed, pushing down the feeling of fear that pulled at his heart.

"I'm going, going to go now, I don't want to miss lunch." Izuku bowed in thanks to Recovery Girl and fled at speed.

The sound of Izuku's footsteps hurried faded, leaving Recovery Girl and All Might alone in the office.

"You."

"Ow."

"Absolute."

"Ow."

"Idiot."

"Ow."

Recovery Girl punctuated each word by hitting All Might with her cane.

All Might deflated, wiping blood away from his mouth.

"Are you trying to give the boy a complex about his quirk?"

Toshinori sighed and hung his head. "I know, I know. I can't help it, every time he mentions his quirk, all I can think of, all I can see is that quirk, that man."

Recovery Girl lowered her cane. "I know I've said this time and time before, you need to consider therapy, you suffered a life-changing injury, like the rest of the faculty Hound Dog is aware of your injury-"

"I'll do it."

"-so sensitive information isn't at risk, I'm sorry, pardon?"

"I'll do it."

Turning to her computer, Recovery Girl began typing. "I'll book you in for a session with Ryo next week."

"Thank you, Chiyo."

"May I ask you, why now? After I've asked so many times before?"

Toshinori balled his fist. "I'm hurting him, I'm hurting Midoriya. I need to be better, for him."

"Deku!"

Izuku flinched, nearly dropping his tray.

"Over here!"

It was Uraraka.

Walking over to the table, Izuku slowly sat down, across from Uraraka and next to Iida, with Yaoyorozu at one side of Uraraka and the frog girl, Tsuyu, at the other.

"It was you, the 50-meters, you know 'you can do it, Deku'."

Uraraka tilted her head. "Yeah, your name is Deku right? It's what Bakugo called you before the test."

Izuku clammed up. "W-Well, my name's actually Izuku, Deku is another reading of my name, Kacchan, I mean Bakugo, he uses it to mean useless."

Uraraka blushed. "I'm so sorry, it just gave me a you can do it feeling!"

"That is a mean thing to say, but I am not surprised considering Bakugo's conduct today."

"He seems unstable, kero."

Izuku resisted the instinct to tell Uraraka that it was fine for her to call him Deku.

He had left Bakugo behind.

He would leave Deku behind too.

"I-It's fine, you didn't know it was an insult."

"What about Dekiru?" Yaoyorozu offered.

"Dekiru?" wondered Izuku as he turned his head to look at the black-haired girl, noticing the sheer amount of food on her plate.

"If Bakugo uses Deku as an insult, take it back from him."

"Dekiru, I like it! It's super cute!"

Iida chopped the air. "Bakugo really is disrespectful and arrogant!"

"I can hear you, you fucking extra!"

Izuku turned to see Bakugo sitting at the next table, eating his lunch alone. Being at U.A. felt so surreal, Izuku was with others while Bakugo was by himself.

"Don't ignore me, you fucks!"

A pang of pity shot through Izuku for a few moments before the memory of Bakugo punching him came to mind.

"Do you mind if I ask a question about your quirk, Midoriya?"

Izuku looked to Iida, nodding his head.

"I was curious if you can copy mutant-type quirks like mine."

"Oh, I don't actually know, b-but I don't think so." Izuku was taken aback with the question, still surprised that his classmates had awed at his quirk as opposed to fearing it. "I-I was researching online, every paper I found said that copy quirks can't handle mutant types, s-sorry."

Yaoyorozu placed her cutlery down, her plate empty. "How many quirks do you have?"

"Er, other than my own quirk, I have six, they're all emitters."

Uraraka counted on her fingers. "So, one is the first quirk that mutated your own, two are mine and Bakugo's, what are the other three?"

"My mom's, Attraction, and Recovery Girl's Heal. Oh, and one that analyses quirks."

Yaoyorozu was interested. "Analysing a villain's quirk would be pretty great for a hero."

Izuku shuffled slightly. "Well, it's not that useful in battle, it requires skin contact and reduces your awareness of your surroundings. I can't really copy too many quirks, I haven't tested yet but I think my limit is ten."

Uraraka, Iida and Yaoyorozu chatted amongst themselves as a smile formed on Izuku's lips.

All Might.

Making friends, it's so much more than I could have asked for.

Izuku flicked through Kokoro3 social media pages on his phone, searching for someone whose profile mentioned them having some kind of self-healing quirk.

Unfortunately, Izuku was finding nothing, healing quirks were rare in general, but ones that affected the holder as well were even more unheard of.

Closing the social media app, Izuku instead opened his contacts list.

After just one day at U.A. Izuku's contacts had doubled. Yaoyorozu had given hers just before her chauffer collected her, while Uraraka and Iida had swapped with him while they waited for the train to arrive.

Uraraka and Iida had both gotten off at the last stop, the former was almost to her apartment, while the latter had to switch trains.

Izuku smiled, scrolling down past his three new contacts, All Might and his mom to the bottom.

Dad

Pressing the call symbol, Izuku held the phone to his ear.

The number you have called is no longer in service.

"Hi Dad, I'm sorry I haven't called in a while, I've been super busy getting ready to go to U.A., Mom's been so stressed about it you'd think she was the one going."

Izuku gave a hollow chuckle, holding back tears. "I really miss you, Dad. I know it's selfish, but I hoped I'd wake up and you'd be there to wish me luck for school."

"I wish you'd come home, whenever I ask Mom where you are she gets really quiet, sometimes I can hear her crying after she thinks I'm asleep."

The number you have called is no longer in service.

Izuku sighed, hanging up.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku locked his phone and returned it to his jacket pocket.

The train car Izuku was in was nearly empty, as to be expected since the U.A. orientation day was a Sunday. He didn't imagine the train rides being quite so relaxed from tomorrow onwards, maybe he'd run instead.

"Oi, Quirkless, what do you think you're doing wearing that uniform."

Izuku flinched, jumping to his feet, expecting to see someone from Aldera Middle School, here to harass him.

But it wasn't him they were after.

It was the boy Izuku had bumped into earlier, the Support student, Mikumo.

He had been surrounded by three boys in Umbaru High uniforms.

"Clearly Quirkless has finally lost it, he actually thinks he got into U.A.!"

"Who did you steal the uniform from, Quirkless!"

"Yeah, like you could even afford to go there. Who's gonna pay, your parents? Oh wait, ya don't have any!"

The boys laughed, while Mikumo tried to ignore them.

Izuku watched in horror and anger, for the first time seeing how cruel quirkless discrimantation was when not on the receiving end.

When Bakugo and his classmates had belittled him, Izuku had just beared it with a smile, just like All Might, all the while a dark, nagging voice in his head told him he deserved it for the pain he caused his mom by being quirkless.

But now, with his training from All Might, his place at U.A. and his new friends, Izuku knew he hadn't deserved it.

And neither did Mikumo.

Small explosions issued from Izuku's palms as he slammed his fist into his other hand, allowing Bakugo's familiar motion to give him confidence.

"Shut up!"

The three boys looked up to see Izuku, his eyes glowing.

"Who the hell are you?"

Izuku took a step towards the boys.

"Someone who's telling you to shut up!"

Feeling Bakugo's quirk strumming in his veins, Izuku's resolve hardened.

"What's it to you, is Quirkless your basket case?"

"Oh, I get it, Quirkless must be the class pet."

"Gross, someone as useless as him stealing a seat from someone worthy like us."

"Yeah, Quirkless cost us our place at U.A.!"

Izuku clenched his fists. "Mikumo earned his place in Support, you three would never belong at U.A.!"

The expression on the three boys' faces darkened, their ire turning to Izuku.

"Strength doesn't make a hero! A true hero is someone with a selfless heart!"

The argument was starting to get attention from other passengers.

"You three, looking down and being vile to someone you think is weaker than you doesn't make you heroes. It makes you villains!"

All at once, the three boys exploded into action, charging at Izuku.

Before Izuku could react, a weak explosion sent the three boys flat on their backsides.

"Fuck off, you losers." Bakugo glared at the three boys, his red eyes striking fear into them.

The boys scrambled to their feet, bowing to Bakugo. "We're so sorry!"

"No you're not." Bakugo quirked an eyebrow. "You're just scared 'cause I can fight back."

The boys fled.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck as his confidence abandoned him. "T-Thanks, Bak-"

"Shut up, Deku. Don't think you can act like me just cause you copied my quirk."

Bakugo stormed off.

Anger suddenly burnt in Izuku's chest, all those years Bakugo had bullied him for being quirkless and here he was.

A regular old defender of the downtrodden.

Was it just Izuku that Bakugo hated, not his former quirkless status? Had it just been a good excuse?

"You didn't need to take pity on me, I've put up with those three for years."

Pulled from his thoughts, Izuku felt the fire in his chest dim.

Izuku turned to Mikumo. "I-I wasn't taking pity."

Mikumo rolled his eyes. "Of course you weren't, the big-shot Hero student standing up for a poor little quirkless."

Looking at Mikumo, Izuku saw a reflection of himself, someone who had faced the same discrimnation as he had, without someone as kind as his mom to support them.

In that moment Izuku made his decision, he would support Mikumo just as his mom had supported him.

Izuku sat down next to Mikumo, smiling.

"I didn't do it out of pity."

Mikumo shot him a wary look. "Then why did you do it?"

"Well, until a couple of months ago I thought I was quirkless."

The breath caught in Mikumo's throat.

"You thought you were quirkless?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, it was a bit of a shock when I started copying other people's quirks."

"Then, you applied to U.A. as a quirkless?" Mikumo's hand gripped his backpack strap. "You were planning to take the exam without a quirk?"

"I was."

Mikumo paused, before making his decision. "Do think it's possible for someone like me to be a hero?"

Izuku smiled, filling Mikumo with warmth.

"Mikumo, you can be a hero."

For the first time in years, the flicker of hope within Mikumo burnt brighter.

"And I'm going to help you."

Chapter 4: What We Owe To Others

12 April 2179

"See you later, Mom!"

"Good luck today, stay safe!"

The door closed, leaving Inko sitting alone at the kitchen table.

Inko had hoped that U.A. would be a clean break, that the new school would finally allow Izuku to make friends.

But she certainly hadn't expected a friend over for dinner after only the orientation day.

And she certainly hadn't expected the friend to look like a teenage version of the husband she hadn't seen in six years.

It could only mean that the boy was one of his .

But Inko would not hold that against the boy, after all it meant that he and Izuku were brothers.

Although, she would not be telling Izuku that.

Gripping the mug of tea Inko smiled. Watching Izuku and Mikumo pouring over the latter's designs last night had reminded her of a time when Izuku was little, when they had planned to have two children, not one.

But times change.

What has been done could not be undone.

Sneakers slapped the pavement as Izuku jogged down the street, weaving past pedestrians as he made his way towards the U.A. campus.

After breaking his arm and legs in the entrance exam Izuku had redoubled his focus on his physical training. The more muscle mass he built the less backlash he received from One For All, even if Izuku did manage to find and copy a regeneration quirk, he wouldn't be able to rely on it for every punch.

"Morning, Midoriya."

Izuku smiled and waved to Yaoyorozu as he came to a halt.

"Good morning, Yaoyorozu!"

Yaoyorozu nodded, slipping on her shoulder bag as the limo drove away.

The two hero aspirants fell in step as they entered the U.A. campus, thankfully unaccosted by reporters due to their earliness.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question about your quirk?"

Yaoyorozu pointed at herself. "My quirk?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Sure."

Izuku smiled. "I just wondered since I saw you creating that bicycle for the long distance run yesterday, does your quirk have a limit? On size and material composition?"

Yaoyorozu tapped her chin with her finger as she thought. "Hm, in terms of physical size I am limited by the area of my skin it's produced from. As for composition I have to know the molecular structure of what I am creating. But I am also limited by the lipid content of my body."

"So your quirk transforms the lipids in your body into other materials, right?"

"Yes, it is why I need to eat so much, to replace it. Why do you ask?"

Izuku looked bashful. "Oh, er, I was asking for a friend really, h-he's part of the support course here at U.A., but some of the materials he needs are beyond the budget support students are given."

"I see, if you introduce me I would be glad to lend him my aid."

Izuku beamed. "T-Thanks. I'd better go get washed and changed, I'm not sure Aizawa would appreciate the unique odor I've currently got."

Yaoyorozu hid a chuckle behind her hand. "Sure, I will see you in the classroom."

With that, Izuku set off for the changing rooms, quickly peeling off his sweaty workout gear and hopping in a shower.

As he soaked under the stream of hot water Izuku allowed his mind to drift back to what Bakugo had said the day before.

Don't think you can act like me just cause you copied my quirk.

It had barely bothered Izuku at the time, but hours later when he was in bed, trying and failing to sleep, it had come back to him.

The second Izuku had activated Explosion on the train a wave of confidence and bravado had surged through him. After that realisation sleep had evaded Izuku entirely.

Instead, Izuku had spent hours experimenting with his quirks, cataloguing the effect each had on his personality. Similarly to Explosion, Zero Gravity had boosted his confidence, while also filling him with a frank honesty.

Attraction had made him nervous, and even more prone to crying than he already was, while Heal had augmented his compassion and protectiveness. Initially, when testing the effect of Quirksmith on his personality Izuku had found no effect.

That was until he realised the effect was an urge to analyse quirks.

Finally, Izuku had tried One For All out of curiosity, finding it had no effect except odd green sparks when he held the power in his arm without using it.

Drying off, Izuku pulled on his uniform, fumbling with his red tie until it looked halfway decent, albeit very short and very wide. Checking the time, Izuku's eyes widened into saucers.

He was going to be late.

Grabbing his back, Izuku activated Attraction, pulling himself along as he raced toward the 1-A Homeroom.

"Help me make babies!"

Mikumo flushed red as he leapt into the air.

"H-Help y-you do what-t?!"

"Make babies!"

"I-I was w-worried that was w-what you-u said."

"Hatsume, can you please stop referring to your projects as babies."

Mikumo's head turned, it was Power Loader who had spoken.

"Why's that?" Hatsume tilted her head in confusion.

Power Loader sighed before muttering to himself. "Oh god, it's going to be one of those years."

Clearing his throat, Power Loader composed himself. "Hatsume, why are you bothering Akatani? This is free workshop time."

Hatsume nodded. "Right, you never said we couldn't work together. I wanted to ask Mikumo if we could."

"Mikumo, eh? That's pretty forward of you." Power Loader chuckled. "Fine, I'll allow it, that is if Akatani agrees of course. Just keep the explosions to a minimum."

"I make no promises."

Hatsume grabbed Mikumo's arm and pulled him over to her workstation.

"I didn't agree."

"Shh, that doesn't matter."

"Help."

Power Loader smiled wryly as Hatsume dragged the poor boy off to his doom. Those two, working together, was going to be interesting to watch.

"I call this the Wire Arrow! It was my submission for the U.A. Exam."

Mikumo looked down at the invention, a silver, metal harness with two grapples either side, the straps red and gold. If he had to guess, Mikumo would say the grapples would be located either side of the user's stomach.

"It looks good, although any sudden pulling could cause the user a back injury"

"Hm, maybe I should incorporate the Wire Arrow with chest armour, increase surface area, decrease the backlash."

"Y-Yeah, sounds like a good idea."

Hatsume smiled, making a chill go down Mikumo's spine. "Good, cause you can help me do it."

"Me? Help you do it?"

Hatsume nodded. "Well, we are going to be working together."

"We are?"

"Of course, silly. We're going to have to work together if you want to get that Power Suit of yours built in time for the Sports Festival."

Mikumo blanched. "How do you know about the Power Suit?"

"I got the designs out of your bag and read them when you went to the bathroom."

"You stole my designs?!"

Hatsume shook her head. "It's only stealing if you take something, I put them back."

"But-"

Mikumo paused, he had no answer for that.

"So, why do you want to help me? What are you getting out of this?"

Hatsume beamed, she almost had him. "Publicity, think of all the support companies clamouring after me if I help you become the first ever Quirkless U.A. Hero student."

"W-What? H-How? What?"

"Your designs had 'Hero Suit for my future' written on each page."

Mikumo wasn't satisfied. "How do you know I'm quirkless, you're not s-stalking me, are you?"

Hatsume laughed, a wild sound that only managed to terrify Mikumo more.

"Of course I'm not stalking you," Hatsume paused. "Which, of course, is exactly what a stalker would say."

"Then h-how do you know?"

"The train, yesterday afternoon, I was at the other end of the carriage, my quirk, Zoom, let's me see upto five kilometers like I'm right there!"

Mikumo nodded, before dropping into thought. He had known that he didn't have the time to build the entire suit by the festival. He'd been planning on focusing on the gauntlets, boots, chest armor and visor, with the hope it would be enough.

But now, with Hatsume's help, he had a chance to get it done.

A chance to be a hero.

Just like Midoriya had said he could be.

Mikumo nodded, smiled. "Alright, I'm Mikumo Akatani, and I'm in."

Hatsume grinned, her eyes almost looking like they were glowing. "Great, I'm Mei Hatsume, your new partner. We're going to make so many babies together!"

From the other side of the room Power Loader sighed.

Izuku placed his backpack down next to his desk and sat down, fiddling with the hem of his gloves.

The morning had dragged by, not to say that Izuku wasn't excited to have a Pro Hero like Midnight teaching him Modern Hero Art History, but after the orientation day it felt almost anti-climactic.

Lunch was good though. But now, it was time.

Hero Basic Training.

"I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

He's here!

All Might burst through the doorway, filling the room with his sheer presence.

"Wow, it's still so amazing that All Might is teaching us to be heroes!" Kaminari's grin was nearly as wide as Izuku's.

"That's his Silver Age costume."

"So retro, so manly!"

All Might flexed in front of the digital whiteboard.

"HERO BASIC TRAINING!" All Might's voice rattled the windows. "This is the class that'll put you through your paces! All sorts of special training will mold you into the heroes of the future!"

"THEREFORE! Today you shall begin with a bang! Quite literally in your case, Young Bakugo."

Bakugo rolled his eyes.

All Might paused, allowing tension to build.

"BATTLE TRAINING!"

The class cheered.

Izuku gulped, watching as Bakugo's grin grew disturbingly manic.

"And so, you will be needing these!"

All Might pulled a remote from his eye-searingly red costume and pressed a button.

Four racks whirred as they extended out of the far wall of the classroom, revealing five metal briefcases set in each rack.

"Using the quirk registry and the special request forms you submitted when you applied to U.A., costumes were developed for each of you, created by a design agency associated with the school."

"Costumes!"

"Hell yeah!"

All Might cleared his throat, silencing the class with his presence. "Now, once you've changed, meet me at Ground Beta."

"Now, looking spiffy is all well and good my young zygotes, but remember! From this day on-"

"-YOU'RE ALL HEROES!"

Izuku's heart felt like it would burst, a few stray tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

Steeling himself, Izuku wiped them away, slinging his backpack over his shoulders and grabbing his case, Number 18, with his classmates.

"This is so exciting, I hope they got my costume right!" Sero retrieved the case marked with a 13.

"Me too!" cheered Mineta, case 19 in his grip.

"Look, Mineta's case is almost as tall as he is!" Kaminari pointed to the struggling Mineta.

Izuku watched as Mineta deflated, somehow making him look even smaller than he already was.

"Now, now! Chop, chop!"

At All Might's prompt the rest of the class retrieved their cases and made their way towards the changing rooms, splitting by gender.

Izuku set his case down next to his backpack, opening the latter to reveal a handmade costume. The costume his mother had created for him, in her words, it was her apology for not encouraging him in his pursuit of becoming a hero.

But to Izuku it symbolized something entirely different, his mother's love and support.

How could he wear anything else?

However, he had commissioned one piece of gear from the U.A. designers. After all, he didn't want to be copying the quirk of every villain he fought. Removing his U.A. uniform, Izuku pulled the costume on, before pulling the gloves off his hands.

Izuku opened his costume case.

In it rest a pair of thick, white gloves, with royal blue palms. Izuku had asked for the same gloves as Bakugo, allowing him to use Explosion, with just one change, a thin, gold-colored membrane over his fingertip pads, allowing him to use Zero Gravity and Heal.

"They're perfect."

"Midoriya, you're the last! Hurry up before you're late!"

Izuku jumped at the sound of Iida's loud voice and spun around to find the changing room empty, the door slowly swinging shut.

Damn it, he must have been muttering.

Pulling the gloves on and securing the wrist straps, Izuku pulled his mask and mouthguard into position, before sprinting off after his classmates.

At Ground Beta a patient All Might waited for Class 1-A to emerge from the tunnel in their costumes. As much as he wanted to conserve his time with One For All, All Might had to stay in his hero form, he couldn't afford to be caught off guard by a student.

"They're certainly taking their time."

All Might coughed up blood, almost deflating in surprise.

"Aizawa, what are you doing here?!

"I'm not here to check up on you if that's what you're worried about." Aizawa sighed. "I'm here to keep an eye on Bakugo after his behavior yesterday."

"Ah, yes. Now I see why."

The sound of many footsteps reached the two Pro Heroes, before Class 1-A entered Ground Beta, each dressed in their Hero Costumes.

All Might scanned the gathered hero aspirants, finding it was missing Young Midoriya.

Where could he be? Is he absent today? Did I not notice?

All Might turned his head to ask Aizawa, but found only empty space where the teacher had been.

Izuku sprinted into Ground Beta, the horns of his mask fluttering.

He wore a pale teal jumpsuit, with white strips sewn onto it, a matching ski mask, a black and white mouthguard, black elbow and knee pads and a red utility belt, pouches filled with various supplies.

All Might coughed, noting the resemblance to himself.

"Shall we begin, my wards?" All Might smiled and struck a pose. "Who's ready for some Battle Training?!"

The class cheered.

On the roof of a nearby building, Aizawa rolled his eyes and sighed. After all he'd done to light a fire of seriousness under this class, All Might was undermining it with one of his silly grins and a flex of his muscles.

This class showed potential, definitely more than the last lot, hence their expulsion. At least this class was interesting.

Especially the problem child.

Of course the problem child.

The ghost of a smile slipped onto Aizawa's lips.

Back on the ground the members of Class 1-A were admiring each other's costumes.

"Deki, looking good!"

Izuku looked to see Uraraka approaching, her costume pink and black with large gauntlets and boots, as well as a visored helmet, the jumpsuit was skintight, making Izuku's cheeks flush.

Why would the U.A. designers do that for a fifteen-year old's costume? It's kind of worrying.

"D-Deki?"

Uraraka nodded. "Like Yaoyorozu said, Dekiru is similar to Deku, but Deki is just easier to say. That's okay, right?"

Izuku smiled, he'd never had a non-offensive nickname before. "Of course it is. Your costume l-looks great too."

Uraraka smiled. "Thanks, it's a bit tighter than I asked for though."

"Mr. All Might!"

Turning, Izuku and Uraraka watched a silver suit of armor approach their teacher, the arm chopping the air making it very clear that Iida was inside.

"Yes, Young Iida?"

"This is the same area that the entrance exam took place in, are we going to be performing cityscape maneuvers again?"

All Might beamed. "ABSOLUTELY! Not."

"Today you will be moving on to step two, indoor anti-personnel battle training."

Everyone waited on bated breath.

"While the vast majority of villain attacks occur outdoors, the truth is that the villains you face indoors tend to be far more dangerous and deadly."

Izuku's eyes strayed to All Might's left side, looking at where he knew a starburst scar marred the No. 1 Hero's skin.

"Therefore you'll be split into hero teams and villain teams, and face each other in a two-vs-two style. Unlike all your previous experience, you will be facing living, breathing, thinking opponents, who can adapt to your actions organically. Now, any question?"

"What about basic training, kero?"

"Does this cape look tres stylish?"

"Are you going to threaten to expel someone like Mr. Aizawa?"

"How are teams selected?"

All Might struck a pose, silencing the class. "Now, now, one at a time, I don't have super hearing like Young Jiro here."

The questions were repeated, allowing All Might to listen and reply.

"This is your basic training."

" Oui ."

"Not at all."

"By lots."

Iida's arm reached maximum chopping speed, making Mineta duck. "By lots? Is that really the best way?"

"In the real world we won't get to choose who you team up with, you just have to adapt."

"Right you are, Young Midoriya!"

Izuku blanched. "I-I said that out loud?!"

All Might drew a sheet of paper. "Listen up! The villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout building, and the heroes have to go in and take care of it! Each round is fifteen minutes long, if the heroes capture their opponents or touch the bomb, they win. If the villains capture their opponents or run out the clock, they win. Understood?"

The class murmured in agreement.

All Might clapped his hands together, the sound almost deafening. "Excellent, now, let's draw teams."

Producing a box with the hole on the top, All Might passed it around the class, each member taking a white ping-pong ball from it, a letter from A to J written on them.

Izuku turned his ping-pong ball around, reading the letter A. He just hoped he wasn't paired with Bakugo.

Or worse, fighting Bakugo.

"Looks like we're a team, Midoriya."

"We arrrrr-"

Izuku's brain overheated at the sight of Yaoyorozu's hero costume.

Or lack thereof.

Izuku averted his eyes. "Y-Yaoyorozu, where's the r-rest of your costume? Aren't you cold?"

Yaoyorozu shrugged. "I need the exposed skin for my quirk to work, although it was supposed to have a pair of shorts."

"Don't worry, Yaoyorozu, I love your costume! Wanna switch teams, Midoriya?"

"Be quiet, you pervert." Tsuyu slapped Mineta with her tongue.

"Thank you, Asui." Yaoyorozu smiled at Tsuyu, but shifted uncomfortably nonetheless.

"Call me Tsuyu."

"A zipper!" Izuku exclaimed suddenly.

Yaoyorozu tilted her head. "A zipper?"

"Y-Yeah, that way you can unzip it when you need to make something."

"Traitor!" Mineta glared at Izuku, earning himself another tongue slap from Tsuyu.

"That's not a bad idea, thank you, Midoriya."

"Y-You're welcome."

"The first match will be…"

All Might pulled a ball out of two different boxes.

"Team G versus Team C! Kyoka Jiro and Tenya Iida will be the heroes. Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta will be the villains!"

Kaminari turned to Mineta and gave him a thumbs up, before being surprised to see the small boy glaring at him.

"Team C! Head on into the building, you have five minutes before the heroes begin their assault."

"HEROES, BEGIN!"

Mineta removed another ball from his scalp, completing the line of spheres across the doorway to the bomb room. Closing the doors, they stuck in place against the balls, before another line was placed along the seam between the doors.

"Oi, stop ignoring me!" Kaminari waved his arm wildly. "Jiro and the glasses guy are already in the building and we haven't discussed strategy yet!"

"Here's a strategy for you, follow mine."

"What's your problem with me?" Kaminari grabbed Mineta's shoulder. "Hey, Shorty, I'm talking to you!"

Mineta spun around, punching Kaminari in the kneecap. "Don't call me that!"

"What the hell was that for?!"

Kaminari hopped around the room, holding his leg.

"Shut up."

"You're pretty strong for someone so small."

Mineta growled, punching Kamnari's other knee.

"Shut up, moron."

"Hey, don't call me that." Kaminari continued to hop around the room, alternating his leg each time.

Finally stopping, Kaminari rubbed his now aching knees, glaring at Mineta. "You've got no right, all you do is go around leering at the girls."

"Like you're any better."

"There's a difference between flirting and just being a pervert, you make them uncomfortable."

"What's wrong with me showing my appreciation of them?"

Kaminari snorted. "Cause it's creepy the way you do it."

"And what are you, Casanova?" Mineta retorted. "You got shut down by Jiro and Ashido just this morning, pathetic."

"Pathetic?" Kaminari jabbed his finger in Mineta's shoulder. "Well I'm not the one the whole class hates, even Midoriya gives you a wide berth, and he's an absolute cinnamon roll!"

Mineta's face flushed red with anger. "Then at least they're noticing me!"

That made Kaminari pause. "You're a pervert, to get attention?"

"Of course I do, what else have I got? I'm three and a half foot tall and wearing armor that looks like a diaper."

Kaminari had no reply for that.

"I didn't even ask for it, you know, they added it to 'improve the appeal of my child-like appearance', do you know embarrassing that is? I'm fifteen. My entire life I have been mocked and dismissed because of my height, I'm so short I'm not even allowed on roller coasters. Just last week, someone asked me if I was excited to be starting middle school!"

Kaminari shrugged his shoulders, trying to deflate the situation. "Surely you're just a late-bloomer, maybe you'll have a growth spurt soon."

Mineta snorted in disbelief. "Sure, maybe then I can be four feet tall instead."

"Hey, I'm just trying to cheer you up!"

"I don't need your pity!"

"I'm not pitying you!"

Mineta glared at Kaminari. "Of course you are, pitying me and my weak quirk, like yours is any better."

Kaminari recoiled. "My quirk is weak?! All you can do is stick a few balls to the door, I'm the lightning rod badass!"

Jiro continued to listen in on Team C's argument, enjoying the show those two idiots were putting on.

"They're an absolute mess, though Mineta has stuck the door shut though."

Iida nodded. "I shall smash through the door with a kick and capture those bickering ne'er-do-wells."

Jiro smothered a laugh at Iida committing to his role, before removing her earphone jack from the wall.

"Iida, you go in first, grab Kaminari and stick him to some of Mineta's balls, wow I feel gross just saying that."

Iida frowned. "How so?"

"Iida, so pure." Jiro smirked. "I'll take the Purple Pervert."

Team G set off for the fourth floor, the sound of muffled shouting reaching Jiro's enhanced ears on the second floor and Iida's on the third.

Reaching the door to the bomb room, Jiro and Iida could hear every word Mineta and Kaminari were yelling at each other.

"Ready, Iida?"

The armored teen nodded in reply, before igniting his engines and launching a kick directly at the doors.

They smashed off their hinges, still stuck together, as Iida landed in the room, finding it empty apart from the bomb.

"Those dastardly villains must have run off in fear of us!" Iida made to walk towards the bomb and claim their victory.

He couldn't, his feet were stuck.

Looking down, Iida saw purple balls stuck to the floor of the entire room.

"Jiro, it's a trap!"

"Like those two idiots are that dangerous."

Jiro made her way into the room, before extending an earphone jack and plugging it into the wall.

"NOW!"

Kaminari dropped from the wall above the doorway, a purple sphere stuck to the inside of his palm, before grabbing the wire of Jiro's earphone jack, sticking them together.

"Indiscriminate Shock! 5,000 Volts!"

Electricity ran up Jiro's earphone jack, shocking her and sending her to the ground.

Mineta let go of the spheres stuck to the wall above the doorway, landing and throwing five spheres at Iida, sticking them in a line up his back.

Kaminari smiled. "Turns out Mineta's balls-"

Mineta sniggered.

"-are really good at conducting my electricity."

Kaminari slammed his hand down on one of the spheres stuck to the floor.

"Indiscriminate Shock! 10,000 Volts!"

The lightning surged through the spheres, jumping from one to the next and up Iida's back.

Iida groaned and fell backwards, his armor smoking.

The speakers in the building crackled into life.

"VILLAINS WIN!"

In the basement surveillance room, the gathered members of Class 1-A watched as Team G and Team C entered, the former commiserating and the latter celebrating.

All Might clapped his hands together. "Can anyone offer any suggestions on why the Villains won?"

"Ears and Glasses underestimated them."

"Correct you are, Young Bakugo, although you would do well to refer to your classmates with respect."

"Tch, when they earn it."

All Might paused, wasn't really sure how to respond to that.

Yaoyorozu raised her hand.

"Yes, Young Yaoyorozu." All Might pointed to the girl, seeing an out from the awkwardness Bakugo had created.

"While Team C's plan did actually work, if Jiro had used her quirk to scan the building again before Iida entered they would have discovered the trap. Hence, Mineta's strategy required a lapse in judgement a Pro Hero would not make, Kaminari's attack required Jiro to not heed Iida's warning of a trap."

"An excellent point." All Might beamed, the teen had said it even better than he could. "Who do you think should be the MVP of the match."

Yaoyorozu tapped her chin. "Hmm, the MVP should be Iida."

"What?" Iida was taken aback.

"He kept his head throughout the match, and acted to the best of his ability and information he had been given."

All Might gave a thumbs up. "Well said, Young Yaoyorozu. The MVP of Match 1 is Young Iida!"

A smattering of applause sounded for a shocked Iida, with Uraraka and Izuku the loudest among them.

"Now, onto Match 2! Team B versus Team I! Toru Hagakure and Shoto Todoroki will be the heroes. Mezo Shoji and Mashirao Ojiro will be the villains!"

Teams B and I left the surveillance room, chatter breaking out among the students, Iida breaking off to approach Izuku and Uraraka, while Jiro moved to stand with Tsuyu and Yaoyorozu.

"Mineta, what you said during our fake argument, that was made up right?"

"Yeah, it was." Mineta walked away, leaving Kaminari standing alone.

Jiro watched as Mineta melted into the background. "His heartbeat, Mineta lied."

Tsuyu followed Jiro's line of sight and tilted her head. "Kero?"

"How do you think we should do this, Sho-chan?" Hagakure struck a pose, appearing as nothing more than a pair of gloves and boots.

"Don't call me that." Todoroki remained impassive as the seconds ticked by, leaving Hagakure feeling awkward.

"Shouldn't we have a plan?"

"HEROES, YOU MAY BEGIN!"

Todoroki walked towards the door to the building. "You should stay out here, it's going to get very cold inside, I'm not sure your costume would be well suited to it."

With that, Todoroki took one step inside the building and slammed his right foot down.

Ice grew out from the impact and up the building, encasing it entirely.

Hagakure wrapped her arms around herself as chill seeped into her bones, even at the distance she was away from the building.

"Team B has secured the bomb. HEROES WIN!"

Hagakure sighed, this was supposed to be her first chance to actually be able to make use of her quirk. For the tests the day before she'd had to fall back on her natural abilities, which were far less impressive when compared to her classmates than she'd been expecting.

"The MVP s-should be Todoroki, in a real life situation a hero should do all they can to e-end the fight as quickly as possible. A villain attack isn't a chance to show off, it's about protecting civilians from harm."

"Right you are, Young Midoriya. The MVP of Match 2 is Young Todoroki."

Hagakure's gloved fists tightened as she stood next to Todoroki in the surveillance room.

This was supposed to have been her chance to show off, to establish herself as a budding hero-in-training, an honest, ditzy girl with no hidden depths. It was vital that she do so.

Her mission depended on it.