Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Oh crap, I’m gonna be late!”

This is the anxious cry that marked the beginning of Peter Parker’s enrolment at U.A. High. This is what I get, he thought, bashing himself in his mind. He quickly charged down some side alley, jumping up and hunching down on the stairs of a fire escape, whipping his bag off his back. He then pulled his hands up and ripped off his mask before moving on to taking of his hoodie and sweats. It was as amateur as you could be with a super suit, but it was the best Peter had been able to do what he had.

“Damn, I should’ve just gone straight to school, but no! ‘Stop and catch the bike thief’”, he admonished himself, “‘And then don’t forget about helping those kids across the street. And of course take time to take a picture’.” He groaned, buttoning up his school shirt. “Jeez, I’m gonna be murdered by the teacher-- I’m so late!”

Now that he was fully clothed in the U.A. uniform, Peter jumped back down onto the alley floor before running out into the street. Luckily he’d ended up in the direction of the school he’d taken last week for the test, so he didn’t really need any guiding or pointing. But still, he knew that even though his destination’s point was known, it wouldn’t change his lateness.

Just have to persevere, the boy thought, basically sprinting along. He weaved through the other pedestrians easily, but still felt a little anxious. Peter had recently figured out he had become much faster than he used to be, and sometimes that new speed was a little too much. Luckily his senses were up to the job of keeping him safe though. I think I’m almost there now. 

His hope was correct it turned out, as after sliding around one more corner he came face-to-proverbial-face with the entrance of the giant academy. A grin crossed the boy’s face, but he decided to keep his relief low for the moment. I’m still not in the clear, he reminded himself, And unless the class or teacher’s a snail, I’m going to be dead last to class.

With a sigh he raced through the entrance, until one, simple thought came to the forefront of his mind.

Do I even KNOW where my classroom is?

Letting out a long-suffering groan, Peter ran for the closest building. Hopefully there’s a map or something. It was to the boy’s convenience that just as he entered the building, he saw someone who seemed to be a teacher calmly walking along. The- hopefully- teacher was some lanky guy in a yellow suit, with just as wild, yellow hair. Quickly running over, Peter went to get his attention.

“Uh, hello? Excuse me, sir”, he started, stammering a little, “Do-do you know where class 1-A is? I’m pretty sure I’m really late.”

The teacher seemed to still for a moment, taking in Peter’s frantic words before answering. “I do know where that class is as a matter of fact, young man.” The guy let out a breath before continuing. “It’s just upstairs. Name should be on the door.”

Peter gave a thumbs up. “Thanks for the direction, sir!”

“You’re welcome”, the older man replied as Peter sprinted over to the stairs.

Once he reached them- and seeing no one else was around- Peter decided to take the easy way up and jumped, clinging to the wall. Not a moment later he bounced off, jumping wall to wall until he reached the next floor. That was easy, he smugly thought to himself, But if I keep using my powers like that I might have to change my name to FROG-MAN!

The young boy chuckled to himself as he finally started to slow down and walk, scanning the doors. Admittedly, it didn’t take long to find the classroom, seeing as it was the first door he came across. Thrusting the door open, Peter didn’t even take a second to scan the room, simply crying out, “I AM HERE!”

At the silence, Peter opened the eyes he’d closed for some reason, instantly noting emptiness of the room. He blinked. 

“Wha-? Wh-where is everyone? Am I... early?” Peter squinted as he said that. “There’s no way, right?” Getting it in his head that he’d somehow misread the time that badly, the boy walked into the room, scanning for a clock. He quickly found one and saw that it read ‘8:45’. Peter hummed to himself. I must have just missed everyone. With another suffering sigh, Parker ran out of the classroom, heading to find someone who could tell him where to go.

...

Elsewhere, not long after Peter left that classroom, his yet to be met classmates of 1-A were all standing around the PE grounds. 
The students semi-nervously listened on as their teacher- Aizawa he’d said- listed and informed them of what they were doing out on these grounds. Little did any of them know that right as they were starting Aizawa’s test, a frantic student was running with all he had to their location.

“Bakugo”, Aizawa said to one of the students, “I want you to pitch the softball using your ‘Quirk’. As long as you don’t cross the line, anything goes... and don’t hold back.”

The student smirked as he picked up the softball, moving into the circle and getting ready to throw it with all he had. The boy could hear a faint, weird and demented sound as he set himself up, but tried to pay it no mind. Suddenly, just as he went to throw, he heard it again- much louder- the sound- a yell, actually- throwing him off and messing up his throw. It pretty much plopped down right next to him.

“I’M HERE FOR REAL NOW!!!” The group’s sudden newcomer cried, his breath ragged. “I-I-- fwah!- made it!”

1-A’s teacher frowned at the boy who had run up, looking at him inquisitively as he caught his breath. “And who are you?”

The student didn’t look up as he answered, still hunched over and catching his breath. “Peter... Parker. Sorry, I jus-just need a minute... ran basically from the middle of the city then ‘round the school to get here.”

As that was explained, Aizawa went over the boy’s name in his head. Peter Parker. It finally came to him and he let out a quiet, understanding sound. This was the American boy- the one who had paraded as a Vigilante in New York until he got too in over his head, if the man was remembering properly. He hummed, walking until he was right in front of the boy. “You’re quite late, Parker.”

Having caught his breath, the boy looked up at the teacher, scratching the back of his head and giving a guilty grin. “Sorry, I uh... ran into some trouble on the way here and lost track of time.” Peter left it there, but after another thought crossed his mind quickly added something else in a panic. “Oh, and I promise it won’t happen again! Uh... sir, sensei, mister...”

As Peter awkwardly muttered off titles until silence Aizawa tiredly scoffed. “Sure. Now stop distracting the class.”

“Yes sir!” Peter quickly said, moving over to the side. Realising how many eyes were on him, he awkwardly waved around. He took half a notice as some blonde kid out front yelled something at their teacher which got a shrug in return, then the kid was picking up a ball and throwing it. When it was propelled by an explosion though, it made Peter’s eyes widen in astonishment. “That is so cool.”

“Huh, seven hundred metres”, Aizawa noted of the throw, going on to say something else as everyone excitedly chattered. Peter however, pretty much stopped paying attention, noticing a familiar face on the other side of the class’s group. Midoriya? Slowly, Peter started moving over to the familiar face, trying to refocus back onto what the adult was saying. Lucky too, as just as he did Aizawa stated: “The student who ranks last in these tests will be judged hopeless and expelled from the school.”

That... is a big thing, Peter slowly thought, looking at all the shocked faces of his peers. Guess I’ll have to do my best then.

“Eight tests to prove yourself worthy to stay in this class”, the adult reminded the students, “So it’s a good idea to put your all into them.”

The students all gave determined positives to their teacher at his words. With Peter, he stayed on what had been said, thinking it over thoroughly. “So there’s eight tests, huh? Despite being in the actual Heroics program now I doubt they’d be anything too ridiculous. Dang, sir probably explained it before I got here. Still, if I have to guess he just wants to see how good we are with our abilities, so as long as I exert myself a little I should be okay. But then again, I shouldn’t underestimate anything that happens...”

Peter continued muttering to himself about his thoughts as he moved around the grounds with everyone else, eventually drawing attention to himself. Unbeknownst to him, he had started to become a temporary conversation starter.

“Who even is he?”

“He’s not in the sports uniform...”

“That kid comes along and makes me mess up my throw!”

“Wonder why he was so late? His reason sounded like a lie.”

These questions and lines were all unheard by Peter, until a tap on the shoulder took him out of his own rant, almost jumping at the contact. He looked around with wide eyes, seeing who had disturbed him. “Mi-- Izuku?”

The green-haired boy gave a small wave. “Hi”, he greeted, “I think you’re being talked about. Sorry.”

A shrug. “I don’t really care”, Peter admitted, looking up. He noticed lots of curious eyes look away around him. “Okay, maybe I care a little. But I guess it’s my fault for showing up how I did. If it’s alright, think you could fill me in?”

“Sure”, Midoriya agreed, starting his very stuttered explanation of their activities- Peter listening as closely as he could...

Chapter Text

Test 1: 50-metre dash!

Class 1-A stood to the side of the running track on the grounds, waiting for their teacher to finish making the final preparation so they could begin. As he waited, Peter pulled off his school jacket, deciding to tie it around his waist. I could just throw it to the side, but I’d probably forget, he knew- being painfully honest.

Finally, Aizawa came back and stood in front of his students. He looked over them one at a time, then let out a tired sigh. “Alright”, he slowly began, “You will be doing the 50-metre dash first. I’m sure you know how this works.” He let out a short hum before nodding. “Originally I was going to carry this out in groups of two, but since Parker finally showed up-” The boy mentioned awkwardly chuckled at his name being called, “- You’ll go through this in groups of three instead.” After a few moments of letting that sink in, the man started speaking again. “The first runners will be Tenya, Tsuyu and Peter. Go set up at the line.”

Those three walked up to the line, getting ready to run. Tenya got himself into a sprinter’s starting position, Tsu crouched down, getting ready to hop, and Peter rolled up his sleeves. “Good luck, guys”, he said as he did so, bending his knees once he was finished.

A silent beat passed, then their teacher yelled out “GO!”

The three took off, Tenya rocketing past the others. To the surprise of the onlookers though, Peter was close on his heels, crossing the line just after. Tsu crossed not long after him, a small ‘ribbit’ coming from her.

Aizawa’s eyebrows rose at the display. I knew the Iida boy would be fast, and that Asui’s frog mannerisms could be potentially limiting to her speed- but still. Very good. Parker though... He looked over at the boy who was excitedly complementing his two classmates’ ‘Quirks’. The boy’s fast-- faster than I expected. What exactly is his ‘Quirk’? I’ll have to keep an eye on him.

“You guys are so cool!” Peter excitedly said to the two he’d raced. “That-that-- you have like, rockets or something on your legs, right? And you were hopping. Is that based on your pow- ‘Quirks’, sorry- or is that something that gives you an advantage in speed or manoeuvrability or something?”

“My ‘Quirk’ basically gives me frog-like abilities”, Tsuyu simply explained, “So I just hop really far.”

“As for me”, Iida began, “I have an ‘Engine Quirk’ which lets me move incredible fast.”

“Yeah, no poop”, Peter joked, circling around and admiring the engines on his peer’s calves. “That’s really cool.” He moved back after a moment, smiling brightly at the two. “Well, I think that was a pretty good show of our abilities! Good job Tenya, Tsuyu. I got your names right, didn’t I?”
The two students nodded, Peter pumping his fist in victory. At that moment Aizawa let out an exaggerated cough, drawing the three’s attention.

“Want to know your times?” When the three quickly scampered over to him he nodded. “Iida, you came in at 3.04 seconds. Asui, you made it in 5.58 seconds. And Peter”, Aizawa oddly chuckled before continuing. “Your time was 3.39 seconds.”

There were surprised mutters all around at Peter’s time, the boy himself having his eyes widen almost comically. “Holy... I didn’t realise I was that fast!”

“Congratulations, Parker”, Tenya said, bowing. The other boy awkwardly chuckled.

“Uh, thanks man, but you did way better than me.”

“Don’t lower yourself”, Aizawa surprisingly said, “Take credit where credit’s due. It’s better than being called a menace, isn’t it?” Peter perked up at that particular title, looking at his teacher strangely. He hadn’t heard that one in a while. “Now get off the track”, Aizawa ordered, “We’re not don’t yet.”

The students quickly obliged, moving away as their teacher called out the next three. As those people went over to participate in the dash, Peter looked on, arms crossed and eyes narrowed in thought.

Okay, I definitely wasn’t expecting that to be my speed- for 50 metres at least, he mused to himself, But then again, it’s not like I’ve ever really had a good time to test myself this way; I’ve always had to work and adapt on the fly. Thinking on it though... I guess my time makes sense; I’m always able to catch up to bikes and sometimes even cars pretty quickly.

The American student lingered on these thoughts, only half-watching the test. After another group went though, he decided to leave his thoughts for the moment. There’s still more tests. I can think this over once I’ve measured myself completely. With that decided he zoned back in, just in time to notice who was at gearing up for the final lap of this test: Izuku, the loud, blonde guy, and another student with red and white hair. Peter stood a little straighter as the three got ready to move. He remembered back to the day of the Entrance Exam, how Midoriya had bashed the zero pointer and basically killed himself. He’d heard from others’ mumblings the half-red half-white-haired one had been recommended, and could only assume the loud one was just in another area for the Exam.

“This is going to be interesting”, a brunette said- Uraraka, Aizawa had called her when she’d gone up for the test, Peter remembered. “From what I’ve heard, those two have a rivalry.”

“Midoriya and the blonde?” Peter asked, moving back to stand next to her.

She nodded. “Yeah.” A couple of beats passed, and then Aizawa moved forwards, telling the runners to get ready. “Here they go”, Uraraka excitedly whispered. Peter gave her a weird look, but quickly returned his focus to the three runners

“Go!”

The three were off! Midoriya was quick to start running, seemingly using no abilities Peter noted. The blonde was unmoving for some reason, until he suddenly blasted forwards, explosion from his hands sending him forward. The one with two colours in his hair was running just ahead of Izuku until he put a hand towards the ground, then was sliding across ice until he reached the line. Once all three passed the line, their teacher walked over, giving them their times. Peter easily caught the dismay on Midoriya’s face. He just... ran, Peter plainly thought, But I guess with a power as self-destructive as his, you wouldn’t feel like using it, would you?

Now that all the students had completed the test, Aizawa motioned for them to move on.

Test 2: Grip strength test!

The students all stood around in an almost-circle, their teacher in the middle. They all held one of the grip testers in their hand- excluding Aizawa of course. “This should be self-explanatory”, he simply instructed, “Do it.”

There were nods, and then the students got to it. As they did so, Peter looked over at Midoriya. He stepped a few steps closer, nudging the boy with his elbow. “Hey Izuku, what do you think about this?”

“I-I’m not sure”, he mumbled nervously, “I’m not p-particularly strong and... yeah.”

Peter’s face softened for a moment before he slapped a grin onto it. “Hey, don’t worry too hard, man. You never know how good you can do until you do it!” With that, Peter pressed down on the device he held, gripping it as best he could. When he heard a crunch, his eyes widened enormously. “Uh...?” He held up the tester, looking over the crushed device. When he saw the flickering number however... “HOLY SHIT!”

His shocked yell grabbing everyone’s attention, the boy gave a wide-eyed and incredibly awkward grin. “Uh, s-sorry about that-- just a surprising find.”

“Is it your score with the grip thingy?” A spiky-haired redhead said. Peter just nodded, holding up the device. Everyone saw how badly he’d crushed it, which drew the attention of Aizawa. He walked over, taking the test from the boy. He looked it over, seeing that the number- when it showed up- was at its max. The teacher hummed, walking away. “What’d you get?” The redhead asked curiously, walking over to Peter.

Seeing no reason in lying or not telling, Peter decided to answer. “It maxed out at 999.”

That got a surprised expression in response. “Woah... really?” Peter hummed an affirmative. “Damn, that’s cool! And super manly!” Parker laughed at that, both of them grinning now. “My name’s Kirishima if you didn’t know.”

“Well I do now”, Peter quipped, “And you can call me Peter if you want.” He got a thumbs up. After another moment he brightened up. “How about you? What did you score on the thing?”

Kirishima put his hands on his hips, a slightly disappointed look on his face. “Well for starters, I didn’t reach the maximum strength like you, I only got 420 kilograms.”

“That’s still pretty solid”, Peter tried to console, surprised with the number himself. He had to try and remember that everyone here could do exceptional things. The other boy just grinned.

“I was thinkin’ the same thing! This just means I can learn my limits now and strive to push past them... because that’s what Heroes do!”

The American boy couldn’t help but admire his redheaded peer. “You are so cool!”

The two boys were about to continue their conversation, but before they could, Aizawa came back out. In his hands was another grip tester, but this one was noticeably bulkier and seemed more difficult to handle.

“Here”, the teacher said, “Try using this one.”

His student nodded, taking it in his hand. Again, Peter gripped it hard, taking a chance and trying to go harder than he did before. There was a beep. Peter looked down at the device and sighed in relief. This one seemed to be fine under his surprisingly powerful strength. After another moment the boy held it up, looking at the number on it and gasped. “TWENTY THOUSAND KILOGRAMS!!!”

Everyone froze again. “What?!” Someone disbelievingly said- Peter not sure who.

“Interesting”, Aizawa muttered, taking the tester back. “Have you ever tested yourself before, Parker?”

“No, sir”, Peter answered, shaking his head. The adult blankly looked at him for a few moments before shrugging.

“If you say so... Has everyone else completed their test?” There were positives all around. “Good. Let’s move on.”

Test 3: Long jump!

Now out next to the stretch of land that made up the long jump track, 1-A started pumping themselves up. Two tests down, five to go! When the jumps finally began, all eyes expectantly looked on, curious to see how good their classmates were.

Unlike the first test, this one was carried out two people at a time. That meant the test would take a little longer- not that anyone necessarily minded. Either way, the time came for the first group to prepare themselves.

“Hmm”, Aizawa hummed, deciding which students to go first, “Okay... Ojiro and Asui will be first.” Following the orders the two students got themselves ready. They stood at the line. “Go.”

Ojiro and Asui went off, running the short distance they had to. Then, when they got to the jump’s line followed the expected action: the frog-like girl leaping far across, while the boy with the tail used his extra appendage as a sort of springboard which helped him jump much further. With that completed, the students turned to see they had cleared the sandbox they needed to.

“Good job”, Tsuyu congratulated her classmate.

“You too”, Ojiro replied with a smile.

Moving out of the way, Aizawa called up the next students. “Uraraka, Sero...”

“Yes sir!” They basically said at the same time, moving over to the starting line. As they got ready, the girl had an idea. If I use my ‘Quirk’ like I did in the sprint, she planned, I should be able to jump WAY farther than usual!

Grinning, Uraraka got to work, activating her ‘Quirk’ on her clothes again. This didn’t go unnoticed, as to the side where the other participants gathered, Peter leant over to Midoriya. “Isn’t that the trick she did earlier?”

“I think so”, Izuku said, paying close attention as well, “B-But I’m not completely sure either.”

“I believe it is”, Iida added in, have heard what the two in front of him were discussing. “By making her clothes weightless with her ‘Quirk’, Uraraka will be able to travel quite far. It’s a decent strategy.”

“I’d say it’d be a good one to exploit”, Peter stated just as Sero and the girl in discussion started running. “Let’s see how this goes.”

As predicted, Uraraka’s plan went off well, the girl virtually floating right over the sandbox once she jumped, and dropping onto the other side.

“Yes!” She cheered, punching up.

Sero on the other hand, was unfortunately just off clearing. He sighed, walking out of the sandbox. “Man, I was so close... better luck next time.”

With that said the boy walked back to the side, Uraraka just ahead of him. While they moved off, Aizawa was quick to get the next to students on. “Bakugo and Parker, you’re up.”

“Here I go”, Peter said to himself more than anyone else as he walked over. Standing at the start line, he took a breath and got himself ready. All I gotta do is push myself; treat this like the 50 metres and I won’t have a problem gaining speed for my jump.

“Go."

That said the two boys went to complete their test. In a similar fashion to the dash, Bakugo flung himself forwards, launching straight past Peter and easily clearing the box. The other boy let out an exasperated sound before pushing forwards then jumping as hard as he could. Peter easily noted how far and high up he went during the jump, and upon landing was just able to stop from finishing with a roll. Seeing that he had completely cleared what he needed to Peter sighed in relief before walking off the course. He just noted the other participant’s seeming annoyance to the side. He’d think over the meaning later...

Trial 4: Sideway jumps!

This was the one test Peter decided he didn’t like. It felt too constricting an area to move side-to-side in. Of course he could do it in a satisfactory manner, but he wasn’t happy. With a wider area I would do WAY better! I know that for a fact!

Sighing, Peter looked over. Everyone else was doing pretty well- even better than him in some cases. Not that he minded. The boy found it really cool to see others doing so good with these things. If they were to become Heroes one day, he didn’t doubt for a second they’d make good ones-- he could tell already. After another look-around as he continued though, he noticed one peer who seemed to be having a worse time than him.
Keeping his eyes on them he spoke up. “Midoriya, you okay over there?”

“Not really”, he quickly said, an obvious tinge of rising panic in his voice. “I have-haven’t been doing any good a-at these tests at all! Will I really get e-expelled?!”

Peter couldn’t help but feel slightly amused at the thoughts of his probably-friend. “Listen man”, Peter sighed, wanting to help out Midoriya. “Just take a second to calm down.” Shrugging, Parker stopped his steps and walked over to where Izuku was doing his. “Just do the best you can and see how it turns out. You can’t be that bad-- besides, I don’t think anyone can do better than Ball Boy over there.” He pointed over to the short boy bouncing between the balls as he said that, an amused chuckle escaping him. His friend took that point into consideration, letting out a shaky laugh. “Plus”, Peter added, hands on his hips, “I think sir was bluffing when he said he’d expel whoever did the worst."

“Really?” Midoriya asked in shock over the accusation. Peter lightly shrugged.

“I mean... I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Or maybe it’s my self-destructive personality trying to make me fail.” Peter laughed after saying that before continuing, lightly concerning Midoriya in the process. “But still, do your best. Even if you come dead last, just try to stick out for one test and you won’t go wrong!”

“You think so?” Midoriya asked his friend.

“I do”, Peter confirmed with an air of complete sureness. “And isn’t the whole point of this thing to see how we can improve? Anyways, I’ll leave you to it now.”

“Sure”, Izuku said, steeling himself- reaffirmed and getting ready to put even more of himself into the tests. Just before Peter was about to walk off though, he added on another thing. “And thanks, Peter. You’re a good friend.”

The other boy grinned widely. “O’ course. You’re welcome.”

Test 5: Pitch throw!

“Here we are”, Aizawa stated, addressing his class, “Test number five. Remember to give it your all.”

“I’m gonna crush this stupid test”, Bakugo stated, pushing up his fist.

“We know man, you showed it off earlier”, Kirishima reminded in amusement, a few amused chuckles from others as well. Bakugo just scoffed, rolling his shoulders.

“Move out of the way, Extras”, he barked, walking to the pitching line, “I’ll show you all how a real Hero does it!”

“He realises he’s just throwing a ball, right?” Peter wondered aloud.

Meanwhile, Bakugo picked up the ball again, getting ready to throw it. This time he wouldn’t get distracted by someone’s stupid lateness or anything! He pulled his arm back, then skipped a step up to the border and threw the softball with a furious roar. As he did so he slammed it with an explosion, the force sending it much further than when he threw it at the beginning of the lesson.

Once the softball hit the ground, Aizawa checked his measuring device. He hummed after the number. “Eight hundred metres on the dot. Impressive.”

The blonde just huffed, moving out of the pitching circle. “I’d like to see any of you losers beat that!”

No one felt like arguing, so just let Bakugo be. In the meantime, the class’s teacher just sighed, then started calling out other students. The time went on as the test’s results varied for everyone.

“Kirishima: two hundred and ninety-eight metres.”

“Ashido: sixty point five metres.”

“Iida: fifty-eight point seven metres.”

“Sato: three hundred and twelve metres.”

“Mineta: thirty metres.”

With Peter’s turn up, he picked up the softball, tossing it from his right to left hand. He already knew he wasn’t going to perform the best though. Give me a stop sign on the end of a web line though... he thought, chuckling slightly. He shook it off though, getting his throw over with.

Going to the back end of the circle, Peter set himself up in, then skipped forward, throwing the softball a little awkwardly, but putting his best effort in. It sailed through the air, coming to a landing after a couple of seconds. 

“Parker: one hundred and fourteen metres”, Aizawa announced. Peter couldn’t help but grin. That’s pretty good to me.

After Peter’s turn a couple of more students went, their results just as varied and sporadic as the ones that came before. Eventually, it came to be Uraraka’s turn, drawing the boy in completely in again. This’ll be interesting, he mused. Like I said to the others earlier, Uraraka could easily find ways to exploit her ‘Quirk’ and smoke her competition. Just depends on if she can figure out the best way to use her abilities I guess.

So eagerly watching on, Peter observed as Uraraka threw her ball, having used her ‘Quirk’ on it. For a moment it was surprising to see how high up the softball went, until it was realised what was going on. As it went higher and higher, everyone gathered craned their necks, trying to follow the ascension of the softball.

Deciding to call it now, Aizawa showed the class their peer’s measurement for the test. “Infinity?!” They all collectively cried.

Aizawa shrugged. “It’s only going higher up. Unless it’s coming down soon...?”

“Nope”, Uraraka victoriously announced. “Infinity sounds like a pretty good score to me.”

“If you say so”, Aizawa agreed, the most miniscule traces of amusement in his voice. He shrugged after saying that, sighing. “Alright, one left. Midoriya, you know what to do.”

The boy nodded, shakily walking forwards. I’ve really got to do something here, Izuku desperately thought, There’s only three tests left after this one, and they’re things I’m not good at at all! He frowned as he picked up a new softball, holding it tightly. Okay then; I’ve got to go all out with this throw! It’s like Peter said: even if I’m last, sticking out for just one should be enough to keep attention on me! Gearing up to throw the softball, Midoriya channelled One For All into his arm. This is for you, Mom and All Might!

The ball was thrown. 

And then hit back on the ground after barely traveling anywhere.

Midoriya looked at it blankly. “Wh-what...?”

“What happened?!” Peter wondered to the side.

“I have no idea”, Tenya said, standing next to Peter, just as confused.

Logging the time, Aizawa hummed. “Midoriya: forty-six metres.”

“But... I’m sure I used my ‘Quirk’. How...?” Midoriya dejectedly explained, looking down at the hand he’d thrown with. 

His answer wasn’t long in waiting. “I erased your ‘Quirk’”, Aizawa simply stated, hands in his pockets and his hair flowing up for some reason. “Your ability is... unnatural. How did you use it, or even manage to get into this academy?”

Wait, he erased my ‘Quirk’? Midoriya wondered silently. So that means... “You’re the Hero who can erase someone’s ‘Quirk’ just by looking at them- the erasure Hero: Eraserhead!”

“Eraser-who?” The other students asked amongst themselves. “I’ve never heard that name before.” “Don’t look at me for answers!” “He must be an underground Hero!” “Or sir retired from Heroic work?”

“Quiet”, the Hero ordered, the students quickly shutting up and letting him continue. “Tell me Midoriya, you can’t properly or effectively use your ‘Quirk’, yes; so what did you hope to accomplish? There’s no one here who can heal you when you break all your bones again. You would horribly fail. Your power isn’t helpful to anyone else or yourself, Midoriya. It won’t help you become a Hero if you can’t use it.” With all that said the man let out another sigh, turning around and walking a few steps away from the boy before speaking again. “You’re ‘Quirk’ has been returned. Try again.”

With that knowledge, Izuku glumly walked back into the pitching circle. He picked up the ball again, looking down at it and brooding. What was he supposed to do? His teacher was right after all-- he couldn’t control his ‘Quirk’ at all. But even still, Midoriya thought, steeling himself, This is my one shot! I don’t have a choice! Getting himself into the moves, he started advancing to throw the ball.

Here it comes, Aizawa observed. He’ll either damage himself or settle for the bottom of the board.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class watched on, on the end of their proverbial seats, wanting to see how this would turn out. Bakugo knew with certainty that idiot Deku was going to horribly fail. Iida was cautious; if it ended like it had on the Entrance Exams, Midoriya wouldn’t be getting up from this that easily. Uraraka’s train of thought was similar to Tenya’s, although she was a little more hopeful. As for Peter however, he fully believed in his friend. You got this in the bag, Izuku!

On Midoriya’s end, he was entirely focused on what he was doing at that moment. Wait for it, he repeated in his head over and over. Wait for it. Wait for it... As the last possible moment for throwing the softball arrived, the boy activated One For All in the tip of his finger. NOW!!!

With an echoing SMASH! the softball rocketed through the air, hurtling at incredible speeds. Everyone followed its trajectory carefully, watching as it sailed along. Eventually, when it finally hit the ground again, Aizawa read out the ball’s distance. “Hmmf. Midoriya: seven hundred and five point three metres.”

All Might’s successor grinned at that, looking at his teacher. “Also, Mister Aizawa... I can still move!”

The Hero couldn’t help but let out a short and surprised laugh. “Oho! This kid! Maybe I was wrong after all!”

Chapter Text

After Midoriya’s astonishing pitch, the tests continued on. There was a small, semi-scuffle between the boy and Bakugo immediately after the pitching test though, but it was quickly put to a stop by Aizawa. The rest of the tests afterwards went off without a hitch- a few standouts and regular enthusiasm put into them all. Eventually though, it all came to an end.

The tests finished, the stress and worries of being in last place- the student who would be expelled- started to creep back up onto the students who had mostly forgot that fact. So now, they all stood around, waiting for their teacher to announce who would be the person to go.

“I was lying”, Aizawa admitted with a careless shrug. All of 1-A cried in shock.

“What?!” “Seriously!” “We were tricked!” “What the heck!” These were just a few of the frantic thoughts the students couldn’t help but blurt out.

“Called it”, Peter proudly mumbled to himself, just as another student said something similar to Parker’s thoughts out loud- more respectfully to everyone else though.

“It was just a calculated ruse”, Aizawa elaborated once the voices had mostly died down, “To make you all do your best.” That said, the Hero started walking off. “Go back to the classroom and check your curriculum sheets”, he threw over his shoulder as he turned back. “And Midoriya, go to Recovery Girl and get yourself patched up.”

Midoriya nodded, jogging off after taking the sheet his teacher gave him. As he did so, his classmates started trudging back over to their classroom. The day had been quite draining physically, and since it didn’t seem to be necessarily important to rush over, they all took their time. 

As they went- mostly squished together as a group- Iida took the initiative to move out in front of everyone else and address his peers. “I’d like to take the time to congratulate everyone”, he announced, “We all did very good today, and despite Aizawa-sensei’s deception, we should all be proud of ourselves for doing our best. I for one would like to say I was impressed by everyone. I’m excited to work together with you all when we get the chance.”

Several replied in thanks- as well as a few ones in similar nature to Iida’s small speech- followed his words. There was one exception though, this being Bakugo. “Please”, the boy scoffed, “I outperformed all you losers here. And if I have to work with any of you Extras it’ll just be a way to show off my abilities better!”

“Come on, man”, Peter sighed in response to that more negative response, “Why’d you even need to add that on?”

“Because it’s true!” Bakugo barked. “I’m the best here! I could beat each of you easily.”

A few just sighed, ignoring their peer’s slightly ego-filled words. The day had got them quickly used to his behaviour already. Peter though, couldn’t help but feel tempted to continue the subject. “Really; you could beat all of us?”

“Did you listen to anything I said?” The other boy shot, agitated.

Peter just continued poking the bear. “I don’t know, man. I think I’d beat you.” Bakugo just glared, making Peter chuckle. “How about it? When an opportunity comes around, we’ll see if you can live up to that claim and beat me.”

Bakugo continued glaring at his classmate for a few more moments before huffing. There was a grin on his face as he replied to Peter’s words, his expression having a mix of fury and determination in it. “I’ll be waiting for that time to show you how much you suck then.”

The other boy just smiled again, watching as the other walked away, slightly separating from the group. I have no idea what possessed me to push so far with Bakugo, Peter thought as he continued walking to class, feeling his competitive side flare. But I have the feeling I’m not going to regret it.

Walking for a couple more minutes, all the students eventually reached the class, pretty much everyone flopping down into their seats once they got in. Being the last one in, Peter could easily see two of the seats remained empty. He almost instantly figured out one was his, which meant the other would be Izuku’s. The boy let out a breath as he walked for the empty chair in the front row.

“This isn’t Midoriya’s spot, right?” Peter asked Tsuyu, who was seated to the left. She shook her head. “Awesome; this is my one then.”

Sitting down, Peter took notice of the paper on his desk. This must be the timetable or curriculum or whatever. Picking it up he looked it over. Seems pretty standard, he mused, until he came across one subject in particular. “Foundational... Hero Studies? What is that?”

“Foundational Hero Studies is the subject the teaches us all we need to become Heroes”, Tenya helpfully explained from Peter’s right. “We’re taught things such as how to gain the qualifications to use our ‘Quirks’ in public, battle skills, first-aid and a number of other skills that are vital to Heroic work.”

“Oh”, the American boy huffed, sliding down in his chair until he was slouching in a slightly comical way. “Sounds kinda boring.”

Iida basically jumped out of his chair, startling Peter and a number of their other classmates. “Boring?! How can you think that? Don’t you want to know how to become a great Hero and gain all the right skills?”

The other boy shrugged meekly. “Well... yeah, I’m always up for learning new stuff, but it sounds like I already know half of this anyways. I already know all there is to first-aid- both for others and myself- and I also know a pretty good amount of stuff when it comes to fights and strategy-” Thanks, New York mafia “- I can admit though, I don’t know a whole lot about public ‘Quirk’ usage.” Peter snapped his fingers. “And isn’t there a thing about Hero licenses, too?”

“Correct”, Tenya answered with a couple hand signs, “You’ll need a Hero license if you want to be treated as such. Without one, you’d just be a Vigilante, and most countries strictly forbid that.”

“That part I knew”, Peter chuckled with a lopsided smile. He sat up properly after doing that, leaning back and looking at his classmate. “Alright Iida, I get it now. Besides, getting to use our powers somewhere we won’t get in trouble will be pretty fun.”

“I agree with that sentiment completely”, Tenya stated, smiling himself. It will be fun AND useful, he thought, All the practice will be especially useful. Perhaps I’ll be able to convince my classmates to practice with me sometimes as well.

A few minutes went along after that conversation, everyone more or less content with doing what they were at that moment. Slightly surprisingly, 1-A’s door opened, and in walked Aizawa. He looked over the students, then wandered over and stuck a large paper to the board. 

“All of your results for the apprehension tests are up there”, he informed as he pointed at the paper. The students were quick to race up and see what they ranked.

Peter slowly got up, not seeing a use in looking at his result while everyone else was up there-- a few other people seemed to think this as well. Eventually he got up though and looked. And when he did, he couldn’t help but grin. Third place?! Not bad, me! Parker chuckled, scanning the rest of the list before sitting down again, glancing back at his classmates as he went. So the top five were... Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, me, Bakugo and Iida. The boy hummed as he though it over. Might have to see if any of them would be willing to train with me once or twice. Reckon I could learn from them. Deciding to wrap it up, the boy quickly scanned the rest of the list. Dang, tough luck Midoriya. Last place. But hey, at least you got that one standout in!

Going to sit back down again, Peter got back with no problem. He turned around though, sensing a glare on him. Bakugo, he realised. Makes sense, seeing as I placed higher than him. I might be setting myself up for more trouble on that end... Oh well.

“Anyways”, Aizawa piped up, the Hero looking up at the clock, “Seems like that brings today’s lessons to an end. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Don’t be late.” He looked directly at Peter as he said that, the student nervously chuckling. 

With what the teacher had said altogether though, the class of 1-A started packing their things and exiting the classroom. As Peter followed suit, he finally remembered that he had tied his uniform’s jacket around his waist. He fixed that up- rolling his sleeves down too- then put his bag on.

“Uh, see you tomorrow, sir”, he awkwardly farewelled with a wave. His teacher just let out a departing hum and nodded. Out of the classroom, Peter started jogging along down the hall. When he got to the stairs he hopped down them a couple at a time, glad for his useful abilities as he did. Reaching the bottom he started jogging again, right out of the building. Parker sighed as he walked out through the campus, heading for the academy exit.

I’ll probably go out around the city tonight, he predicted as he walked along and planned his ‘extracurriculars’. While he was walking though, Peter’s head perked up, hearing a voice calling his name.

“Hey! Peter!” Midoriya, the boy realised with a grin. He turned around, spotting the boy, along with a few of his other classmates: Iida and Uraraka.

“Hey guys”, he called back, giving a half wave as he held his bag’s straps. “Is something up?”

Midoriya shook his head. “N-not really. I just saw you walking alone and thought I’d say hello.”

“Oh... cool”, Peter muttered, a little surprised. Have to remind myself I’m not particularly a social outcast anymore. Then, the boy remembered about his friend’s injury. “Hey, what about you, Midoriya? Did you get your finger checked out?”

“Yeah, it’s alright”, Midoriya answered, sticking out the bandaged finger. “I think that bandage is more for-for show than anything now.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.” 

A few silent moments passed, only a tiny bit awkward. “Are-” Peter quickly cleared his throat “- Are you guys doing something?”

“Yeah!” Uraraka piped up, a big grin on her face. “We were just going to walk around together for a while and get to know each other a little better. Would you feel like joining in, Parker?”

Peter’s smile was beaming at the invitation. “I-I would, actually. Said it just before I could ask”, he answered and admitted, surprising himself with the flash of shyness he felt. Once the group of four started walking together, Peter turned to the other three. “And uh, I’m not especially well-educated on the culture here in Japan, although I do know there’s a thing with names. But feel free to call me Peter if you’d like-- I don’t really mind.”

“Of course. Thank you for the permission, Peter”, Iida replied, giving a small bow as thanks.

The American boy chuckled. “Yeah, you’re welcome, Iida”, he responded, giving a bow of his own- although it was a little more awkward. Noting the unfamiliarity with the gesture, the other three couldn’t help but laugh, causing Peter to grin in a mix of amusement and confusion. “Did I do it wrong? I-I uh... I’ll get better at that- all this respect and culture stuff.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out quickly”, Midoriya complimented with a smile.

“I believe in you, Peter!” Uraraka cheerfully added in, punching into the air.

“And feel free to come to me if you would like any help getting familiar with anything”, Iida offered, ever the responsible one. Peter nodded, giving a cheery thumbs up.

“Thanks, I’ll keep your offer in mind, Iida.”

In his head, Peter couldn’t help the mental smile from coming on, all thanks to the kindness his three classmates were showing. You know, with these guys as my friends, I think this whole thing is going to go really well! I can’t wait to see what happens!