Chapter Text
“Hey”
“Yeah?”
“You ever wonder why we’re here?”
The two boys stood, leaning against the wall, side by side, staring absentmindedly forwards.
“It’s one of life’s great mysteries, isn't it?” Kaminari murmured, “Are we some cosmic coincidence? Or is there a god? With a plan and stuff?”
There was a moment of silence between them. “What?” Sero frowned, turning to his friend. “Kaminari? Did you fry yourself again? I meant why are we here , in this stupid courtyard while Midoriya tries to-“
Ka-BOOM!
“...do that.”
They simply stared as the green haired maniac started to bounce up and down, giggling sadistically with the others.
“Oh, yeah, right…” Kaminari replied hesitantly.
“What was with that god stuff?” Sero questioned.
“NOTHING!” he squealed.
“Do… you wanna talk about it?”
“No…”
“Wanna just follow these idiots for a while instead then?”
“...Do we really have a choice?”
The mood between the boys quickly fell.
“...No.”
________________________________________
“You all know why you’re here.”
The twenty new members of class 1-A listened in with various degrees of interest.
Aizawa sighed, “You all have your individual reasons for ending up here, with me - but the fact remains that -”
“Do we?”
Aizawa blinked - student number 18 sat upright, glaring in his direction.
“Sorry - bit of a late response there. I-I only just processed what you said,” he continued, tapping the side of his head as if to make a point. “But, do we all know why we’re here?”
Aizawa stared at him.
Izuku Midoriya . Of course, it simply had to be him who made the first move. There were a few in every class A - someone who knew how to mould their words - someone who knew how to get their way.
“I would hope so,” Aizawa replied through gritted teeth.
“B-Because I don’t,” number 18 stammered. “And if I-I don’t - who’s to say any of us do?!”
Aizawa glanced over the classroom. Some of the kids averted their gaze, staring at their shoes blankly as perhaps they too, wondered why they had been put there. Others stared right back at him - daring him to explain.
It was student 15 who spoke next, “Are you going to try and redeem us, Mr. Eraserhead?” The two-toned boy paused, clearly waiting for Aizawa’s reply.
“That is what I’ve been hired to do,” Aizawa shot back with an equally blank tone at the wayward son of the number two hero. “And you will be calling me Mr. Aizawa , here.”
“Why do we need to be redeemed?” croaked number 3.
Now that was a good question. The truth was, Aizawa didn’t always know why some of the kids sent here needed his help - or what he was going to do about it. They were of all kinds - delinquents, thieves, thugs, blooming vigilantes or simply people with dangerous, uncontrollable Quirks. Either way, they all wore the same label in the eyes of society - future villain .
“Get up,” Aizawa told them, standing from his seat himself. “Pick up your PE uniform - unless you’d rather join orientation. And trust me, Class A never mingles well with the hero course.”
With a scraping of chairs, they all rose, taking the orders. Some were hesitant; others excited to move - all except a boy in the third row, who remained slumped over his desk.
“Hey, 13?! Are you awake?” Aizawa half shouted.
A good proportion of the class flinched at the noise.
“Huh? What? Y-Yeah?” The dark haired boy perked up as he was called out.
“Would you care to join the others in getting their uniforms?” Aizawa glared, daring him to try his patience.
Taking the challenge, the boy replied, “Nah,” he smirked. “Not really feeling it today, teach.”
Aizawa tried not to roll his eyes - ‘ Oh no, not another one like this…’
He saw some of the others smirk at him and giggle - their eyes darting between 13 and Aizawa to see how he would respond. This was the big test, after all - they needed to see who was in charge - the teacher, or the student.
“I mean, I could , or there’s also several minutes until the bell for next session goes, at which point I actually do have to follow your orders.” He continued smugly.
Aizawa flashed his eyes red - that got his attention. “Do you want to know what the alternative is, Sero?”
He blinked back at him, “W-What alternative?”
“Well,” Aizawa grinned, “I could expel you. And that would mean I’m admitting that I simply can’t do anything about your behavior. And after that, they’ll have to find somewhere else to put you. And you might not like that alternative. You do have one of the worst records here.” Aizawa casually flipped through the file he held under his arm. “Nothing dangerous, but enough quantity over quality to get you quite a sentence.”
The rest of the class watched on as 13 gulped, barely wavering before rising from his seat, grabbing the remaining set of clothes from the front desk, and joining the line by the door.
Aizawa didn’t fail to notice the way his students’ eyes flicked around their new surroundings. They hadn’t been at UA long, at least, most of them hadn’t. Some had been dropped off that very morning, with nothing but a bag in their shaking arms and their uniforms on their backs. Others had been held there for a few days at most. But every single one of them glanced at the security cameras on the walls - at the way the windows were sealed shut - or how tightly their tracking devices were tightened around their wrists or ankles.
As they were marched down the corridors towards the changing rooms, students from older years exchanged whispers and glances - gazing at the numbers written on the backs of class 1-A’s blazers, which matched those on their PE kits.
That’s all they were at the moment, numbers. Number A01 all the way through to A20. Given time, Aizawa would remember their names. He only knew a few at the moment - the ones of the students who most easily caught his eye.
They stopped at the entrance to the changing rooms. Aizawa had been following behind them, droning directions to the front of the line as they went. Aizawa had learnt the hard way to not turn his back on newbies. Although, the changing room part was always a trouble. It was the second test. Where he learnt who would do as they were told, and who would do anything to stay out of sight, and slip back into the shadows they were so harshly pulled from.
“Get changed,” Aizawa ordered, narrowing his eyes at the troublesome twenty. “At the other side of your changing rooms is a door that leads to a corridor, taking you to the green I will meet you on.”
Every single moment - every order - every word - glance of his eyes - mattered to these kids. For them, this would go one of two ways. Either they would graduate a respectable citizen, and be transferred to general studies by the end of the year - or they would be expelled - and it would all be over. Their future was now in their hands.
______________________________________________
As soon as they left the imposing teacher's sight, the previous notions of “good behaviour” quickly devolved to the usual cries of rumour and conversation.
“Woah, did you see Sir?”
“That teacher is crazy!”
“Yeah dude! You had some guts for a second, real manly!”
“You got a death wish, soy sauce?”
“Wow, soy sauce? That’s a new one…”
Midoriya retreated to the furthest corner of the room to change, trying to block out the chatter of his new… classmates . Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but let his mind race. He wondered how many of them had budding criminal records - probably a good proportion, definitely that A13 guy. Does Kacchan count? Oh, wait - Midoriya counted, didn’t he?
His sleeve got caught on his tracking bracelet. In his frustration, he pulled at it, hard.
Everyone turned and stared as a sharp ripping noise filled their ears, and the end of Midoriya’s sleeve paid the price.
He ignored them further, turning away as he pulled his tracksuit over his head. That bore a number too. Was that it now? How long would he be stuck as A18? How long before he could have his life back - his home, his mother - everything? He didn’t even have access to a computer here. They’d made sure of that.
Slowly but surely, the rest of the boys finished changing, and Midoriya followed them glumly outside. Kacchan bumped shoulders with him harshly as he went.
Midoriya sighed - he supposed it was to be expected. After all - he was the main reason that Kacchan had ended up in this place to begin with… and vice versa…
Midoriya walked right into the back of someone. He jumped back about three feet as the tall, square student, numbered A04. But he didn’t seem to take much notice - only turning around to say, “What do you think you’re doing?!”
Wait, was he talking to Midoriya, or -
Midoriya turned to see numbers 7 and 8, happily relaxing on one of the benches in the middle of the room.
“We need to get going. Didn’t you hear what Mr. Aizawa said earlier?!” he snapped, waving his arms about as if he was karate-chopping the air.
“Dude, cool it, I’m just trying to find my shirt jacket,” 7 mumbled, seeming a little on edge compared to the apathy of red headed number 8.
“Bro, you’re wearing it,” the other pointed out.
“Oh, right, yes, sorry,” he mumbled, “I guess I don’t really have an excuse? Gimme a minute.” He seemed disoriented for a few seconds before to the dismay of the other students, he pulled a fork out of his pocket and stuck it in a power socket, electrifying himself for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the slightly unnerved boy that Midoriya had walked into. “Ok, I’m awake, what were we doing?”
There was a moment of silence between them all, as every single one of them individually wondered how life had come to this.
“I’m staying here,” were the words that broke the silence. The famous face of Shoto Todoroki waltzed back into the changing rooms and collapsed onto the bench, staring at the ceiling.
A giant of a boy nodded in approval, his white hair and face mask raising more than one question in Midoriya’s busy mind.
“Are you insane?!” exclaimed the ever righteous number 4.
“They won’t put security cameras in the changing rooms,” mumbled Todoroki, not even turning to him as he spoke.
“Mr. Aizawa could have come in here to supervise,” Midoriya acknowledged.
Todoroki did look up this time.
“I-I mean - that’s what you would expect him to do, r-right? Especially on the first day - and then he should have gotten a female teacher to supervise the girls.”
“So?” Todoroki groaned, “It’s not my fault if he’s a bad teacher.”
“No - that’s not it at all. He’s done it on purpose - to see who will try his patience and who will just follow orders,” Midoriya explained, crossing his arms in frustration. Surely, it was obvious? “If you want to cause trouble, wait until they’re not expecting it - or else there’s just no point.”
Everyone stared at him.
And then, after a moment’s hesitation, Todoroki swung his legs back over the bench, stood up, and then marched out the door, “Fine,” he replied as he went.
Midoriya… hadn’t expected that to work - but if it meant less trouble for him - then so be it.
When the group finally congregated on the green that Mr Aizawa had mentioned to them earlier, Midoriya had to suppress a smile at the sight of their new teacher’s pleasant surprise.
“Today, you’ll all be doing a quirk apprehension test, your usual middle school events, but with your quirk, if you can’t understand this then I don’t think I can teach you anyway.” He made a creepily smug smirk as he continued, “I need to know what I’m supposed to be working with in the case of you kids, so try your hardest because I will give you detentions for being in the bottom five.”
At this, Midoriya’s classmates, or at least those listening, began to make their complaints known.
“Sir, you can’t-“
“That’s not-”
“You’re kidding?”
“This is- “
“ You’re kidding me. Detention? That’s the best you can do?” Bakugou scoffed.
Without missing a beat, Mr Aizawa smirked, and added, “Detention which will consist of cleaning the 1-B dorms and helping your classmates unpack and assemble their furniture, before moving in yourself.”
“You extras are going down. ” He grinned like a madman.
“Bakugou, you have a threat level of 5, among the highest here, what was your distance for the softball throw in middle school?”
“67 metres.”
“Now do it with your quirk.”
The resulting explosion and sonic boom were almost deafening. The purple haired number 12 flinched more than the others, almost clutching her ears as he screamed, “DIE!”
As everyone stared in awe at the distance the softball flew, Midoriya simply rolled his eyes. What a brilliant way to introduce himself to the class of would-be-villains - by screaming die as he used his explosive Quirk.
Midoriya sighed to himself as he walked towards Aizawa.
“Hey. Mr. Aizawa. I-I wanted to let you know. I-I’m quirkless, this whole test is useless for me. Just use my school data and we don’t waste either of our time yeah?”
As he spoke, Todoroki walked away from the group and just sat on the grass, glaring defiantly at Aizawa.
Aizawa frowned slightly as he responded to Midoriya. “Sure go ahead, but- 15, what are you doing.”
“Sitting out.”
“15 you will fail if you don't participate.”
“Fine by me.”
“It's your funeral.” Aizawa replied, already starting to get a headache.
“Alright everyone, let’s get started, times wasting.”
Event 1: 50-Meter Dash
The results for most were to be expected, with No. 4 blasting across the line in 3.04 seconds, No 3 making it across in 5.58 seconds. The rest were to be expected, but No. 7 had tripped halfway across, and took 13.2 seconds, and No. 20 leisurely walked across, getting 35.7 seconds before glaring at Aizawa, daring him to judge her.
Event 2: Grip Strength
Midoriya sighed, staring at most of the people with quirks that didn’t amplify their strength getting from 20-60 kg other than No. 20, who just lightly pressed it before yawning then going off to lie down on one of the gym mats, eyes closed. He was particularly impressed by the white haired No. 11. However he did note his reaction to No. 13 comment.
“540 kgs? Are you some kind of monster? That's insane!”
Immediately after he finished the second sentence a low threatening growl could be heard, as No. 11 stepped closer to No. 13, raising his fists angrily before hearing the last part, putting his arms down before slamming the grip machine to the ground, shattering it.
Event 3: Standing Long Jump
More of the emitter quirks cleared this obstacle, and some with mutant quirks, but most didn't make it all the way across, most notably No. 7, who seemed like he gave up before he even jumped, and No. 20, who stepped in the sandbox before heading back to chat with the others.
Event 4: Ball Throw
The final event.
Midoriya was bursting with questions about No.5’s quirk, seemingly nullifying the gravity on the ball. He wondered if she removed the mass or if she removed the effect of gravity. It would make the world of diff- Oh. He got distracted again.
“Number 20. Right now, if you don’t even make an attempt to use your quirk to the best of your ability, I’m going to expel you and maybe you can find some place to stay that isn’t as boring as it is here.” Aizawa said, his eyes glaring crimson as his hair floated eerily.
Number 20 seemed shocked by whatever had happened, and immediately shrugged off the fabric on her arm, before forming a cannon, loading the tennis ball into it and launching it a distance of almost a kilometre.
After the last student had thrown the ball, Aizawa stepped forwards, checking his clipboard and consulting his notes.
“So, some of you did quite well, however, I’m sure that you are more concerned about which of the 5 are going to be headed to detention. The 5 students are numbers 7,11, 15,19,and 20.”
Murmurs broke out, as No. 7 slouched, staring at the ground, and No. 19 seemed slightly annoyed, while No.11 was a calm mask, and the only sign of tension you could tell of his frustration was a low, bone-chilling snarl and how tightly his fists were clenched.
“Now I’m sure some of you have questions-”
“Who said we have questions?” Midoriya interjected with a smirk. “It's quite clear why each of them were selected.”
“Pray tell 18?” Aizawa said, tilting his head.
“7 didn't really try at all, h-he had already given up before the tests had even started. 11 was, on most of the parts, trying his best, but he obviously held back on the grip strength, seemingly to avoid comments like 13’s, which c-came anyway. He crushed the machine, s-so he obviously had much more strength than he was showing prior and he obviously wasn’t doing his best. Like, Plus Ultra and all that jazz. 15 just refused to participate, and for the most part, so did 20. 19, there isn’t much else to describe your behavior than just being absolutely disgusting. You bombed on most of the tests you could have done well on, simply because you were chasing after one of the girls and trying to grope them.” Midoriya said, seemingly growing more confident the more he went on.
“Not bad kid. That's exactly why. Detention will be tonight, the five of you will be helping the 1-B students move into their dorms.”