Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's the 23 century. As of the last two centuries, 80% of the human race has evolved to gain powers simply known as 'quirks'. In this kind of a world, superheroes and supervillains take center stage.

As quirks change and grow more dangerous, the demand for quirk combat experts, also known as superheroes, needs to be met. As time passes, those who misuse their abilities, vigilantes and supervillains run rampant in society.

With the rising crime rate across the globe, hero high-schools, hero colleges, and hero agencies are erected to provide supply to the demand. There, those gifted with quirks can practice and study to better themselves and the world.  

Three brothers stare at the entrance to UA Highschool. They're here each to take the hero exam and to hopefully join UA's hero course. They follow the crowd of students and move their way into the academy.

The oldest of the brothers walks past the gates nonchalantly. He walks with a visible slouch, hands in his pocket, large headphones on, and a 'can't be bothered attitude'. This standoff boy is Minato Arikuyo, fifteen years old. His full height is an average five foot seven. He's currently wearing his dark blue hair swept to the side covering one of his eyes and half of his face. His middle school uniform is as ordinary as can be, however he's wearing it very open and sloppily. Overall, he's the last person you would expect to see darkening the doorstep of UA.  Less so during the hero entrance exams.  

Next up is the second brother, Yu Arikuyo. Being the same age as Minato, only 30 minutes younger, he's also fifteen.  Standing at a staggering five foot eleven inches. He's just one shy of being an even digit. He sports a pair of rectangular glasses with yellow wings, and has a silver bowl cut that obscures his brows. His uniform is the same as the Minatos, untucked, jacket flared and collar popped. It's like night and day.  He walks with his back straight, shoulders squared, and chest forward. He oozes a silent confidence, similar to how a delinquent would when ordering around their gophers, not that he'd actually do that.

Last, but not least, is the youngest brother, born an hour after Yu, apparently taking his Sweet time. Akira Arikuyo stands at a modest five foot nine inches. His black-ish hair is a messy fringe of uncontrollable fluff that frames his face and reaches the nape of his neck. He has frames on his face but has instead chosen large square shaped ones, liking the shape more.  Unlike his elders, he wears his uniform properly. It's pressed, tucked in, and buttoned neatly. He shyly trails behind the other two, showing that he's the most nervous of the trio to be here.

As the three brothers go in, the youngest, Akira, breaks the silence, "Do you think all of these people are here for the hero course exam too?" He glances around at the other freshly minted middle school grads.

Yu smiles at Akira, knowing he's only asking due to his frayed nerves, "I would assume so," He puts a hand to his chin. "Although, I'm sure after today we won't be seeing half of these faces."

Yu looks over to his right. Akira follows his gaze. There they can see a green haired boy, same nondescript middle school uniform as theirs. The boy's eyes are flown wide, bloodshot from not blinking, pupils are unseeing, and his knuckles are bleached white from gripping the straps of his yellow backpack too tightly.  

"Look, someone who's more nervous than you," Yu points out. "He's even rocking a bed head like you."

"Don't bring my hair into this," Akira starts, "He looks nice, and who knows, maybe he's got an awesome quirk. Everyone gets test jitters!"

"Except for me," Yu adds his two cents.

As the broccoli looking boy tightens his straps, he puts a hand to his mouth like he might throw up. A spiky haired blonde boy comes up behind him, “Move aside Deku!” They hear the blondie shout. The green haired boy turns around and addresses the one that shouted at him.

“They seem to know each other….” Akira trails off. The angry one swirvs the nervous one, ignoring his greeting. Effectively snubbing him. “That guy wants to be a hero too?” Akira is confused, do they let anyone take these tests? He hopes that he doesn’t have a class with that guy. He seems dangerous.

“Hey, isn’t that Bakugou?  You know, from the sludge incident…?” Another random student besides them, watching the blonde labeled as Bakugou, asks a question to their friend.

“Sure is…” The friend answered in awe. The sludge incident must have been something.  

“Any idea what they mean by that?” Akira watches the blonde walk past him.

“No clue,” Yu starts, “But it must be a big deal, if he’s getting people to recognize him.”

  The freckled, frazzled lad takes his first step through the entrance. Which might also be his last.  They witness as his legs turn to jelly. He stiffly trips over his own two feet. Akira wants to go help him, not being the type to ignore others in need. However, before he has to do anything, the boy hovers in place as a girl with chestnut colored hair stops the greenette's descent. She seems to have used her Quirk to catch him. Concern and kindness on her face as she reassures the broccoli child.

“Are you okay?” Asks the girl wearing a pink scarf and brown jacket.“I stopped you with my quirk, I’m sorry I didn’t ask first.  But I figured you didn’t mind me catching you.”  She puts her hand together, giving an angelic smile “Isn’t this all nerve racking?” She doesn’t get a response from the greenette but it’s not for a lack of trying. The big eyed boy’s mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for water. “Anyways I’ll meet you inside.” she walks away from the kid, who seems to be too stunned to be able speak.

Yu chuckles "I don't know about him, but I'm sure we'll see her around, right Minato?" Yu turns to look at the blunette who is already gone. "..." He stops smiling briefly.

"Seems we've been left in the dust." He pulls Akira into a one arm hug and drags him along. Akira has to concentrate on not falling flat on his face, or getting choked out from the silverette’s idiotic strength. "Let's go, knowing him, he's probably managed to get himself into some trouble. Some way, somehow." He tutts like a mother hen.

Akira wrenches Yu's meaty arm off, somehow seeing someone more clumsy and nervous than him helps. “What kind of trouble can he be in? It's been like…. Not even a minute…" he stares ahead, trailing off. Honestly, should either of them be surprised? Yu holds back laughter, showing no concern while Akira looks ahead in shock.

Up ahead, in the beautifully kept halls of the most prestigious hero school is a calm blueberry and explosive Pomeranian. Minatos shirt is being gripped in the fist of an angry blond. Minato is refusing to talk to, acknowledge, or hold eye contact with the guy. Enraging him more.

"Oy! Headphones, I'm talking to you! You bumped into me .  And you won't even say sorry??" He looks the emo boy up and down, assessing him. He gets up in his face "listen here you little shit, shut-ins like you, with no manners, don't get far," he holds his hand up, a dangerous display of smoky fireworks dancing on his palm. "If you catch my drift. " He finalizes darkly. Giving the stony face boy one last hot glare before leaving.  

As much as Bakugou thinks he's tough stuff, he's smart enough not to start a fight before the exams. He also won't be wasting his time on extras and small fries. He chuckles to himself while smugly walking away in his baggy pants glory.  

"So, who was she?" Yu is smiling ear to ear.  Thoroughly amused. "I thought you'd be the last of us to get a girlfriend."

Akira looks at Minato worriedly, Minato looks fine. Not at all like he just had sparky the angry dinosaur in his face. "Stop messing around. You two took too long gawking," is all the enigma of a person adds.  

They move their little party from the mostly empty hallway to the entirely too full exam room. With how packed it is, they have to sit apart.  Minato sits in the back, managing to be next to a black raven. Yu manages to make his way between another rectangle glasses wearer and a girl with aux cord earlobes. Akira sits towards the front, shortly being joined by the green haired boy from earlier.

  "ALRIGHTY!" booms a powerful voice "it's TIME, for UA's written exam." He smiles as he pulls out papers and hands them out face down. The collective of students recognize the man, he is unmistakably the hero present mic. The ‘teacher’ in front of them is tall, with unbelievably high blond hair, yellow aviators, a small mustache, and an impressive speaker on his neck. “You have one hour. Take your time on the questions and be sure to be thorough.” His voice lost all it’s joy, turning into a stone cold test proctor.  “No one peak at your tests, be sure to have a 2b pencil, sharpener, and eraser out on your desk.” He pushes up his yellow sunglasses. “Teachers will be roaming to make sure no one cheats.”

  He smiles getting his vigor back, “ARE YOU READY TO RUUUUUMBLE?” he booms his voice, making the test room shake slightly. Akira agonizes, regretting sitting so close to the teacher. “Ok! your time begins NOW!” he waved his hand and a large TV screen behind him lights up with a timer.  Displaying 59:59, and slowly counting down.  

Everyone flips their tests over. For the next hour, the sounds of pencils scratching answers onto a paper fill the air. The questions for the most part are basic knowledge. If you passed middle school you can answer these questions confidently. It’s the last five questions that are trickier. 

What kind of hero do you want to be?

Why does UA need you as a student?

In your words, what are your biggest flaws and strengths?

Who is your favorite hero, and why?

If you aren’t able to make it into the hero course, what would you instead choose to do?

Up in the cold, darkness of the back.  Minato reads the questions carefully.  He figured UA of all places would have these kinds of questions. His hands on autopilot tap at the paper while he thinks of his answers. In thought, he leans on his left arm and uses it to push his heavy fringe to the side. With both eyes out it’s easier to think.

The answer to this question isn't something he sits on for very long. He already knows how he wants to use his abilities. ‘I want to be a hero that protects people. That acts to keep them safe from danger.’   

On the next line he decides to be brutally honest. With questions like these, honesty will more often than not get you brownie points and sympathy. ‘UA doesn’t need me, but I need it,’ he writes; it’s the cold hard truth.

He stiffens at the flaws and strengths. Yeah he has a lot of flaws, but what are his strengths? ‘I’m not a social person. People get mad often, because they don’t understand me and my silence causes misunderstandings. I could care less about my impression on others and I don’t take the time to consider their feelings. My strength lies in my quirk, and that I’m tough.’

Lips lift in the faintest smile, memories of a simpler time playing in the background. He remembers coming to UA to watch his older brother compete at the sports festival three years in a row. ‘My favorite hero is my older brother. He just graduated from UA and is attending a hero college. His focus is people and family and is always working on improving himself as a person. It’s something I really respect.’   

Now on the last fill in the blank he wonders about the question. Is this a trick?  Aimed to weed out those who already have a back up plan. To be real, he doesn't have a plan B. His plan is to become a hero to keep certain idiots safe. ‘If I don’t make it into the hero course I can always attend another school. I’ll be apart from my brothers but they’ll understand. I won’t settle for anything else.’ This should show that he's planned ahead but won't budge on the end result.

He smiles as he flips the test over, done early. He stretches and leans back in his seat. He starts counting ceiling tiles, looks like there’s a few minutes left to the test.

Over with Yu, he coolly breezes through the test. Answering with confidence and gusto.  

With nothing slowing his momentum, he answers the five questions. ‘I am going to be a hero that fights villains! I want to stop those who do harm to others with my own fists. That’s the best way to keep people safe and to help them as a hero.’ he smiles as he can see it now. Duking it out with some big villain.   

His smile widens and he moves to the next question. The answer is so obvious that he just writes exactly what runs through his head. ‘UA needs me. Not only am I great to work with, but I am a good student and learn quickly. Simply speaking, you will be missing out on a great partnership.’ Now that's a good answer, he compliments himself.

His pencil scratches away as he answers the next line. ‘My flaws consist of: being too excited, charging in without a plan, and no risk management whatsoever.’ He nods to himself, ‘My strengths are: getting along with others, confidence, strength, and an unbreakable will.’ Yu has to stop himself from laughing out loud.  Even his flaws, in the right light, can be seen as good things.

Satisfied, this test is far too easy for the likes of him. The bowl cut goes to start writing about his favorite hero. ‘I like so many heroes it’s hard to choose just one. They all have their own reasons for wanting to help and fight for others. Picking one hero is like saying one is better than the rest. To me, all heroes are my favorite, simply because they are out there making the world a better place!’

He pauses on the last question, it causes him to falter. What would he do? He’s always been a good cook, but would he actually pursue a career as a chef? This is confusing for him. He puts his pencil down, steeples his hands, and glares at his test from his arm church. He sits there glaring at his test, deep in thought, right up to the buzzer going off.

With Akira, he takes his time being thorough, making sure to double check all his answers. Once satisfied, he gets to the trickier self evaluation questions. He is the type of test taker that scans through the test as a whole to know how long he should take on each question. He bounces his eraser on the table quietly as he thinks about the answer to the first question. 

While staring at the ceiling, exactly what to write came to him. Flipping the pencil over, he begins writing ‘I want to be a hero that helps people. I want to make sure everyone is safe and happy. The type of hero that weeds out small time criminals before they become major threats.’ he nods to himself. That answer is as good as it’ll get.

He keeps writing, ‘UA needs me because…’ he trails off. He thinks of the best way to put it. ‘UA needs me because not only do I have a strong quirk, but I will be a hard worker.’ he hopes that’s enough. It seems really basic, but he doubts these are worth a lot of points.

He takes a deep breath while writing. Picking what flaws and strengths to share on paper is hard. On one hand, he could be brutally honest and tear himself a new one which might impress a few. Or he could only make himself look good by focusing on his strengths. He silently puffs the air in his lungs, I'm going to just cherry pick the good ones, he tells himself. ‘I am very shy, and want to break out of my shell.  I also get nervous when talking to people. However, my quirk is a helpful one. I’m fast and can fly.’ The fluffy black haired boy tries to think of a better way to finalize the statement, but decides not to overcomplicate it.

At the next question, he pushes up his glasses. This question is pretty open ended.  Leaving room for him to talk about whomever he wants. ‘My favorite hero is Robin Hood! He might be from a children’s book and not a real person, but he’s the kind of hero I want to be. He steals from the rich and gives to the poor. He’s a neerdowell who is out to make everyone equal. His actions, despite being vigilantism, are altruistic and I find it inspiring.’ He sends a nervous plea to whoever might be listening, please don't let talking about a vigilante doc him any points he might need.

At the last question, after reading it he glances up at the timer. He's only got a few minutes! He starts writing quickly, wanting to make time. ‘If I don’t make it into the hero course then I would work towards learning how to assist heroes in any way possible.’ is his short answer due to the buzzer's impeccable timing.

Present Mic shoots up, “That’s TIME!” The teacher claps his hands with vigor.  “Alright pencils down, and start passing your tests to the front, I hope you all signed your names!” He sing-songs. “Now that the written portion is out of the way, we’re going to take a short break. You all have 20 minutes to get up and stretch.  Don’t wander too far, because we’re going to go over the practical exam!” He grins ear to ear, almost splitting his face from glee.  

Akira gets up, glad he made it in the nick of time. He turns around to convene with his brothers. He waits for Yu to exit the aisle he's in. Yu moves slowly, it's obvious to Akira that his big brother didn't finish the test. It's not the first time he has witnessed such a look. The tallest Arikuyo slinks up to the youngest. Akira grabs his sleeve and drags the zombie up to Minato. Akira vibes up next to Minato.

  "How'd it go for you?" He is just relieved the written part is done.

"Fine." Minato takes one glance at Yu. He knows that the big lug didn't get everything in, what's new? "The written test doesn't mean much. It's the practical you have to focus on," he states. Knowing that is enough to get him to cheer up.   

Yu perks up, "yeah you're right!  The practical will be my time to shine. I'm getting pretty fired up," he says genuinely.  

Akira smiles at Minato, knowing he did that to cheer up Yu. "Maybe we should go walk around and get some water?  Sitting for an hour made me so stiff." The three agree and go take their water break. Enjoying the sights the school has to offer.

Just like that, 20 minutes pass in no time at all. The brothers head back early and decide they will sit next to each other in the back. Yu is practically vibrating in his seat while Akira keeps taking his glasses on and off. Minato listens to his music until Present Mic gets back on the podium.

The lights go dark, and a spotlight lands solely on Present Mic. This is clearly his bread and butter. “Welcome back, did you all have a great break???” he waits, like he was expecting some kind of reply. The crowd remained silent. “...Are you all ready for the practical exam!? It’s going to be EXCITING!” he shouts with his quirk. Akira has to cover his ears from the extreme volumes of the parakeet man. 

“My Examinees Listen! I’m now presenting to you the guidelines of your practical! Open your ears and tune in your eyes!” He strikes a pose, pointing to the heavens. As his finger reaches its zenith, the man squeals in delight “YEAH!” the crowd doesn’t seem to get any extra fired up from this. 

However, on cue the large screen behind him lights up. On it shows ‘current location’ inside a neat little box, with the letters A to G stemming from it. “This is how the test will go, you will be experiencing ten minute long ‘mock cityscape maneuvers’!! Bring along anything and everything you think you’ll need. When this presentation is over you will all be assigned to a random test location. This is to keep the odds fair and prevent pre-planned team ups!” 

The man pauses, catching his breath.  How he said that all in one go is a mystery to even Minato. Once he properly recovers, he goes right back to shouting, “YEAH!” He pumps his fists up. “Each site will be filled to the brim with faux villains. In total, there’s three you can potentially face! They all have their own respective levels of difficulty, ranging from easy level 1 to the hardest level 3.”  

On the screen, four robots show up on the screen, their specs clearly on display for the prospective students. The 1 pointer seems to be a robot on wheels with arms. The 2 pointer looks like a robot with four legs, and a scorpion tail. Then the 3 pointer seems to be a mix of the first two, seeming to be on wheels with arms and what appears to be gatling guns on its back. Then there’s the odd 0 pointer. It appears to maneuver on a tank with arm and gun attachments. It doesn’t seem that different from the 3 pointer. Didn’t he say there’s only 3 enemies?

“Of course, attacking other examinees and playing the antihero during the test is prohibited and will lead to automatic failure!” He warns. He looks satisfied.  Like he’s done explaining. 

Someone in the crowd’s hand shoots up. A boy in square glasses and a rigid posture stands up. “Sir, may I ask a question?” He begins, “You seem to have made an error in your explanation! You failed to mention the fourth faux villain shown on screen. This blatant omittance of information for such an important exam is egregious for such a prestigious school such as UA!” as if that wasn’t enough, the glasses boy whirls around, pointing back to a kid in the crowd. From where the three are sitting it’s hard to tell who exactly he’s singling out.

“You’ve been muttering loudly to yourself this entire time. It’s distracting.  If this is just for you to fulfill your fanboy fantasy of meeting heroes, please leave!” Snickers rain throughout the room, seems people could hear him muttering as they all take glee from the kid being picked on.

Present Mic coughs into his hand, pulling the boy’s attention back to the front, “Ahem! Alright, Alright. Calm down uhhhh” He pulls up some notes and looks at a piece of paper in his hand “Examinee 7111, Good catch!  However, the fourth faux villain variety will get you absolutely no points! He’s meant to be an obstacle. Have you ever played video games before? Think of Super Mario Brothers, it’s kind of like a Thwomp!”

“There will only be one per test site. It’s a ‘gimmick’  in a way. It’s meant to rampage around and raise he-” He stops himself and coughs. “Raise havoc!” he recovers. 

The glasses boy bows into a perfect ninety degree angle. “Thank you sir, I apologize for the interruption.”

Present Mic throws his hands up dramatically, “that’s all from me deer listeners!” he takes a teacherly tone, “The great hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said ‘True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life!’” He winks at them. “This is just like our infamous school motto. You all know the one!” 

“Let me hear you all scream it out! You know the motto, to surpass your limits, push yourself to the best you can be! To go further beyond!” This time, the entire stadium gets excited. Yu, Akira, and Minato (only slightly though) all join the hype. “And that is…” He trails off, expecting the students to join this time. To which they do.

“PLUS ULTRA!” rings out through the entire room shaking the foundation. Some students even jump into the air, getting a thrill from those two words. Yu stands up, putting a foot on the table in front of him, whooping. Akira stands up, smiling and clapping. Minato pumps a singular fist in the air, that’s about as much excitement as you’ll get out of him. With an air of finality to the presentation, present mic ends with an ominous statement.

“Break a leg everyone.”

At test site B, Minato steps off his bus, wading into the crowd.  He takes stock of his surroundings. There’s several unique people. First off, he spots a boy with golden shimmering hair, a gaudy belt on his belly. The next person of note is a tall boy with six arms webbed together. He spots a girl with brown hair, nervously taking in deep breathes, clearly getting ready for the trial ahead. He on the other hand is just blaring his music. Not really wanting to take part in the chit chat surrounding him.

He can more so feel people pointing and jeering at him rather than him see it.  

“He didn’t even bring a change of clothes!” Someone starts.

“How can he expect to run around in that middle school uniform?” A female voice asks, concerned.

“He probably already gave up on the exam.” Another faceless person adds. 

‘If only they knew,’ Minato thinks.  Appearances can be deceiving. He’s not belittling any of them. He chooses to ignore what they say, as it doesn’t pertain to him. They don’t know him just as much as he doesn’t know them. So why would he care about what they think? Once he reaches that conclusion, a commotion can be seen being started.

“Why are you here? Hoping to meddle??” A loud accusatory voice rings out.  Minato turns his music down, wondering if a fight was going to break out. He really shouldn’t be paying attention, but he knows the exam is going to probably start any minute now.

An “Eep!” rings out. Looks like the glasses boy who corrected the teacher during the presentation is singling out the same boy again.The blue fringed boy doesn’t think it’s very admirable behaviour. He wonders if he should interfere. Murmuring starts up around the two boys ahead. The surprisingly buff glasses boy puts an arm on the shorty boy, forcibly turning him around.

“That kid tripped at the front gate too”

“No wayyy what an idiot.”

“This isn’t the first time he jumped from the slightest of touch.”

“He’s not someone we need to worry about.”

Rang out the voices of his supposed peers. This type of gossiping won’t get anyone anywhere. Minato could care less, but if he can take points away from those jerks, then he will. 

Before the green afroed boy has a chance to respond, a loud booming voice echoes in the air.

“...AND BEGIN!” clearly rings out.

While everyone is standing around, wondering if they even heard that right.  Minato puts his music player and headphones in his pocket. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He has ten minutes to get as many points as he can. He feels his quirk simmering up. A familiar pang is felt in his head, the start of a headache.

To the people standing around him, Minato lets off a fierce blue light. It temporarily blinds those too slow to shield their eyes. Brilliantly blue flames lick up his being, engulfing him. The sound of glass crackling and shattering can be heard. Once the sound dies out, the flames abate. There stands a transformed Minato.

The boy’s clothes completely change.  Now sporting large metallic, white boots and gloves. His torso and pelvis are covered in a teal metallic armor. His head covered in a bandana with a vibrant scarlet scarf covering his neck. On his back, a giant harped shaped shield is tethered to him. His new form looks like a robotic doll with marshmallow boots and gloves.

He takes a runner’s stance. ‘I’ve been practicing this,’ he reassures himself.

“What’s wrong? The Test has started!”

“RUN RUN RUN!” rings out the powerful voice of Present Mic.

All pandemonium breaks loose, as Minato and the crowd start running. That is...if Minato didn’t trip. Not used to his big bulky rounded feet. He hits the ground with a loud metallic clang. Not letting that get the better of him, he picks himself up, and starts stomping his way into the test site. ‘Baby steps,’ is the only thing going through his head at the moment.

Despite tripping, he’s not that far behind the other test takers. They’re all running around and shouting. He can’t tell if it’s from the sudden start or just plain old excitement. He’s about to round the corner of a skyscraper, when suddenly a massive 1 pointer crashes through the concrete. 

‘Guess these robots like short cuts,’  is all Minato can think, as he grabs his shield off his back. A student way too close to the wheels of the 1 pointer screams. They’re too scared to make it out of there. Minato lobs his shield at the bot, taking a batters stance to do it. 

The shield smashing into the 1pointer with a satisfying crunch. It crumples and sparks, out of commission. Minato walks over and rips his shield out of it. He helps the other kid up. Without even so much as a ‘thank you;, the kid runs off to get points.  Minato shakes his head, ‘This better not become a pattern.’

Minato heads into another frey, a cluster of robots formed a circle around their prey. The people in the middle are too panicked to defend themselves. Minato looks at the bots, three 1 pointers and two 3 pointers. The 3 pointers cock their guns.  Making a split second decision, Minato throws his shield once again. It slams into the ground. Splitting it and disrupting the 3 pointers. The shield also does its god made purpose by stopping their rubber gunfire as well. He uses the distraction to go up behind the other three 1 pointers and he presses their deactivation switches. Luckily, this test is more than just a brute strength one.

During the pure chaos, a laser beam pierces one of the felled 3 pointers. It was that sparkling blonde he spotted at the start.  Minato nods at him, and the twinkling boy winked back. Minato disables the 3 pointer by pressing the button on it’s back as well. 

He picks up his shield. ‘If only it bounced back like in the comics.’ he laments. ‘I have seven points so fa-’ his internal thoughts are cut off as he’s plowed in from behind. A hollow sound reverberates from his metal form. He’s sent tumbling in a messy pinwheel. This leaves him dizzy for a moment, ‘that’s what i get for letting my guard down.’

“Sorry about that man! Are you ok???” He’s hoisted up by strong arms. The person that bowled him over apologizes sincerely. His red eyes roam over his form. “Woah there’s not a scratch on you! Are you a defense type too?” The spiky red head grins, showing his pearly row of sharp shark teeth.

Minato silently nods and dusts himself off.  The redhead smiles at him. Minato pulls out his harp and with speed it looks like he is about to retaliate against the red head. 

“Wait wait wait! I said sorry!” He covers his head to protect himself. The harp crunches. Minato smashed a 1 pointer that came up to attack the spiky ripped kid.

“I am.” Minato mumbles, answering the question asked earlier.   

Red stares at blue. “That was so cool! Thanks for the save.” He takes a deep breath.  “I thought you were going to hit me with that thing.” He laughs, like that’s somehow funny. “Well, see ya! I hope to see you around man, that save was totally badass!” He waves and runs off. Activating his quirk along the way. He rams into a 2 pointer with his shoulder. It crumples under the raw strength of his quirk.

‘There really are all kinds of people.’  

Minato uses his time to the best of his abilities. He’s using his harp as a weapon and manages to smash through several bots.  Breathing heavily, Minato wonders how long it’s been. He can tell it’s been a while, because of the sledgehammer going off in his head. It has to be almost ten minutes.    

Before he has a chance to rub his head or take a small break, the small broccolini kid comes into view. A 1 pointer is charging him and he doesn’t make an effort to dodge it. ‘This looks so familiar,’ Minato thinks as he remembers the start of the practical.  He wields his shield in front of him, like how a SWAT policeman gets ready to charge someone.  He runs at the robot and rams into the 1 pointer.  Stopping it, and protecting the boy.

That kid...didn’t even talk when the glasses guy singled him out.  Not once, but twice.  How can he be a hero, let alone a functioning human being if he doesn’t stand up for himself?  Minato sees the panic in the green eyes he helped.

“What are you doing just standing around?  If you can’t use your quirk why are you here?” Harsh, he knows.  But maybe it’ll help snap the guy out of it.  He looks back at the robot, and starts bashing his shield into the bot, repeatedly.  Smashing the thing to pieces.  His headache feels only slightly alleviated.

He turns around to say more, but the sweet saccharine voice of Present Mic rings out.

“Six minutes, and two seconds remaining!” 

He’s really starting to dislike that grating voice.

The green track suit wearing boy turns around and runs off. ‘He’s not getting anywhere like this.  He really shouldn’t be here.’   Minato passes his verdict.  He’s not thinking it to be mean, he’s just worried.  He doesn’t want someone who’s so small and fragile looking to be hurt.  The kid, who’s the same age as him, looks like a harsh breeze would knock him over.

Time ticks and Minato doesn’t see any familiar faces anymore.  He doesn’t see  rude glasses, timid green, sparkle twinkle, or spiky.  He runs into the brown haired girl who he saw meditating earlier.  She looks as sick as he feels.  She’s showing signs of dizziness and keeps her hand to her mouth.  Hopefully she doesn’t puke.  It’s only been six minutes into the test  at this point.  Holding his transformation is taking a lot out of him.  The more his headache grows, the more the need to bash bots outweighs the need to protect unguarded people.

“Huff-tw-cough.” the brown haired girl mumbles to herself, obviously nauseous and exhausted. She wheezes a few more times, “twenty-eight points…” she manages. 

Her statement makes him ask himself, what is his score at now? He stopped counting when he pressed the button of his tenth faux villain.  It was too much work to have a running count.  

Throughout the test ground, an explosion shakes the ground.  It crunches the air and the people nearest to it feel their entire beings seize up.  Up ahead in the distance.  The zero pointer looms.  This captures his, and everyone within a 30 mile radius’ attention.  The sound that ushered the harbinger made Minato feel like he was struck by a truck.  Seeing it is another story. 

‘No one said it’d be this large!!!’ Minato cringes.  He’s running out of time.  He can’t stay transformed much longer, and now this!?  He figures now is a good time for a break, he’s already done enough.  As he turns to find a place to rest, his vision swims from the motion.  He can’t hold his transformation for much longer.  He holds his head and uses the nearby building to steady himself.

He can hear people panicking and shouting.  He opens his eyes and pears into the crowd.  In the warbling mass of shapes, he makes out a green blob.  The crowd carefully comes into focus as he squints, doing his best to get his sight back.  People run past a fallen boy, someone who is so startled by the behemoth all they can do is tremble and stare.  A boy he recognizes as the green haired one he reprimanded earlier in the exam.

“What is he doing??” He rhetorically asks himself.  He watches as that so-called ‘upstanding better then thou’ buff glasses boy, the same one that was so focused on correcting Present Mic and calling the downed boy out, takes one glance at the distressed boy and runs past him.  Abandoning someone who needed a hand.  He’s so pissed.  Beyond angry.  All that huffing and puffing, jeering, and prim and proper act, amounting to that.  How can he say he wants to be a hero?  Shameful.

He goes to help the idiot up and get him out of there when he hears a high pitched voice yelp.

“Ow!” A girl, the brown haired girl with twenty-eight points is stuck under rubble.  And that giant Thwomp isn’t stopping or detouring.

‘What kind of school puts kids through this?!’ he demands as he goes over to try and dig the girl out.  His head screams at him to just drop the form and take a nap, but he knows he can’t leave the girl there.  Fighting off his migraine, double vision, and vertigo, he trudges to the girl, visibly shaking.  Unsure of the damage to her pinned leg, but knowing a broken bone or two is better than being crushed, he tries to lift the rubble.

“Y-You don’t have to help me, I’m fine!” The girl squeaks.  The rocks don’t budge.  The debris stemming from the damaged buildings is interlocking with itself.  Making it not easy to shift or push off.  

“Are you stupid?” Minato snaps at her, she flinches from his harsh tone.  His head feels like it’s splitting in half, it’s a wonder why he hasn’t just passed out.  “If you are as ‘fine’ as you say then why aren’t you using that float quirk I saw earlier to get yourself out?” he demands.

He pulls out his harp, and shakily starts banging at the rubble.  Each time he hits the rocks to break them up, it’s like he’s hit himself.  The vibrations travel up his metal form.  At the beginning of the test he could easily ignore the vibrations but now they just make him sick.  He falls to his knees, dry heaving.  He looks over to see how close the zero pointer is.

It’s practically on them at this point.  Dread colors Minato’s face.  ‘Can I get her out in time?’ runs through his head.  He...doesn’t know anymore. 

“I said it’s ok, I’ll get myself out when my quirk recovers.” She reassures.  He doubts the brunette’s words.  He plants himself on the ground right next to her.  “What are you doing?!?  You’re in danger!” She speaks, ignoring her own peril.

“I’m waiting.” Is all he can say, as the rumble of the robot steadily advances on them.  Behind them, the concrete crackles, and erupts.  He whips his head around, is it another test machine?  But nothing was there. 

“What’s that?!?” The girl grabs him and points up.  Their gazes follow her pointer finger.  High in the sky a green blur soars through the sky.  Is that...a person?  Minato is kind of stunned.  Were there any flyers in the exam?  He never saw anyone in the skies.   There was also the concrete that shattered behind them.  Wasn’t that where the one guy  was still sitting, frozen in fear?

His mind slowly puts two and two together.  Figuring out what’s going on.  That boy in the green tracksuit jumped, and is now hurtling towards the zero pointer at an insane speed. 

“SMAAAAAAASH!” 

Echoing in the sky, was that green haired boy’s war cry.  The zero pointer is utterly obliterated in one punch.  Minato and the brunette stare in utter awe.  He stopped it.  He saved them both.  The boy he wrote off earlier, just saved his and the girl’s life.  Yes, he’s willing to admit that he couldn’t run away in his state. 

The boy seems to hover in place for a moment, before he begins his descent. There’s something wrong with his legs and arm...is it him or do they look like..jelly.  In a flash, Minato is hit with a cold realization.  This guy is like Yu...too strong for his own good.  He bashes the rubble.

“We have to help him!” The girl starts, she turns her body and touches the rubble, making it lift up.  Minato drags her out. The boy in the sky is increasing in speed.  The girls turns to minato, giving him a determined look.  “You’re strong right??? Throw me, now!”

She pats herself, a glow taking over her, she’s now weightless too.  He grabs her arm and throws her with all the might his form will allow.  Like a strange arrow, the girl heads at the screaming boy.  There’s tears in his eyes from his free fall, and Minato figures it might also be because he’s coming to terms with his mortality. 

The strange tag team paid off.  The girl smacks the boy right in the face.  The slap is the only thing Minato can hear as the two float in the sky.  The girl is a strange color of green, purple, and yellow.  She pyramids her hands, each finger tip pressing into its twin.  The two hit the ground with a dull thud.  Once on the ground the girl hobbles to the side and immediately starts vomiting out everything in her gut.  Minato looks away, grossed out.

The green haired kid has tears in his eyes, as he starts trying to crawl with his one limb.

“Thank goodness you t-two are okay….” He holds his shoulder, looking at minato and the floaty girl.  From what Minato picks up, the kid's voice is weak from pain.  He puts his fist to the ground, “O-One point…”   he mumbles to himself as he begins to drag himself with his one good arm.  He’s sobbing fat tears as he pulls himself.  

The bluenette’s form falls, blue flames eating away at his metallic armor and devouring his shield.  Pain still lances through his head, however it is far more tolerable now that he’s not keeping up his transformation.  He staggers up and stumbles over to the crippled boy.  He pulls him up and carries him on his back.  It’s not the best idea to move someone with shattered limbs like this...but he can’t give up on this person.

“What’s...your name?” He asks the boy, dying to know the name of the hero that saved him.

The kid can barely keep his eyes open. “I-Izu...ku.” He chokes out.

Minato walks with him on his back, taking slow steps.  “Let’s get you some points.” He states with finality.  He won’t let this guy fail this exam.  Izuku...is someone that has to make it into the hero course.  He ignores how wet the nape of his neck gets, while looking around the battle zone.  ‘What a ridiculously overpowered quirk’ he thinks.  “Izuku...thanks.” he adds, wanting to say so much more to his savour...his hero.  However his words failed him here, as they always seem to.

He saw izuku’s fear earlier, but despite the fear, Izuku still rushed at the zero pointer to help him and the pinned gravity girl.  There was nothing to gain from it, except maybe their gratitude.  Izuku acted exactly like...All Might.  Swooping in and defeating the enemy swiftly and decisively.  It was really cool.  He can’t let him down, he has to find a way to get izuku some points, Minato resolves.

“IT IS ALLLLLLLLLLL OVER!”

For a moment, the voice doesn’t register to the boy with the curtain fringe.  Izuku flinches on Minato’s back and goes limp.  Minato figured the pain and announcement overwhelmed him and he finally passed out.  Minato feels anguish as he falls to his knees.  There’s...no way Izuku passed the practical with no points.  He gently sets Izuku down onto the ground, and sits next to him.  Mind for once blank except, ‘I really do hate that voice.’

He sits by a passed out Izuku. Waiting.  People are surrounding them and talking but Minato ignores it. He puts his headphones on.  Blaring his music, he pets Izuku’s head, the only semblance of comfort he is capable of offering.

Making their way through the students is a little old lady.  She uses a medical instrument as a cane.  Her thinning hair is pulled into a tight bun, with a syringe needle pressed into the bun like a chopstick, keeping it perfectly wound.  She is probably only three feet tall, and has a visor protesting her eyes.  To onlookers, this woman is the famous youthful heroine Recovery Girl.

Even in her old age, she hasn’t retired.  Working at UA as a nursing instructor.  She hobbles over to Minato and Izuku.  

The back bone of UA tuts. “Poor boy...Your own beloved quirk did this to you…”  She stops smiling, her wrinkled darling face taking a concerned look.  “Looks like your body isn’t tempered for it yet.”  She leans forward, puckering her lips, they take a sheen as she wets them with her tongue.  “Gimmie some sugar.” she coos, as glossy lips stretch to plant a hot wet one right on the passed out Izuku’s head. 

“Old lady!” Echoes through the crowd as everyone is shocked the school nurse kissed the power house, and in such a strange manner.  Izuku’s body takes on a green glow.  As his pulverized arm and legs twist back into place. 

“You’re watching the school nurse in action,” The twinkling blonde boy from earlier begins.  “She’s the only reason UA can hold such crazy exams in the first place.” he fluffs his flamboyant hair and poses himself by crossing his arm, looking like a french prince from those 90’s anime Minato watched with Yu.  “This is the forever young, beautiful heroine Recovery Girl.”  The boy winks, a sparkle coming from it.  One almost wonders if he carries glitter around just for these moments. 

Recovery Girl turns on Minato, he takes one look at her, and tries to run.  He doesn’t want some random old lady smooching him!  As soon as he turns to make his great escape, a hand grabs his shoulder.  It was the surprisingly strong grip of said old heroine.  “Now now, you need some attention too my dear.  Your pupils are horribly dilated.”  Was that...an insult?  Her lips stretch as she kisses him right on the cheek.  A loud and cutesy ‘chu’. 

Shivers run through Minato, as he’s thoroughly grossed out.  He feels a cooling and soothing sensation fall over him as his headache is practically erased.  Recovery Girl turns his hand over, and puts some haribo gummy bears in his hand.  “Here, some candy.  It’ll make you feel better honey.” she winks at him. 

Despite not liking the smooch, he closes his hand on the gummies.  If she’s handing him candy, who is he to turn away such sweet treats.  Suddenly a warm tiredness envelopes him.  He is so tired sleeping for an entire week sounds so nice right now.  He has things to do and brothers to grab.

He gulps the gummies down, chewing on them.  The burst of fruity flavors distract him from his exhaustion.  He turns to a passed out Izuku, picks him back up, putting him on the same perch as before.  He carries Izuku piggy back to the nurses office.

On his way out of the testing sight, he’s joined by the brown haired girl from before.  Now that he doesn't have a symphony of pain playing in his head, he can take a better look at her.  She's a bit disheveled from previous events, her tracksuit has soot, and he can see her ankles supporting her weight fine.  Her brown hair curls around her, in a cute bob and face framing bangs.  The hair gives her a cute and round appearance, complimenting her eyes perfectly.  ‘Her eyes are just as round as Izuku’s.’ he compares.

She looks at Minato holding Izuku.  “Are you taking him to the infirmary?” She inquires, looking nervous to be asking.

He shuffles Izuku around, and nods at her.  She smiles.  “Really? Can I join you actually?”  She puts her hands on her shirt and grips at it.  “I..I want to thank him when he wakes up.” She looks to the side “Do you think..uhm…” she worries at her bottom lip, clearly not sure about what she was about to say. “I was going to ask staff if they can give him some of my points.  Do you think they’ll do that?” 

He stares at her.  That’s a good idea.  He wonders if he can give his points too?  “...I don’t see why not.” He feels comfortable talking to her.  Normally words catch in his throat and they can’t leave.  The only time that’s not the case is when he’s talking to Yu and Akira...or when he’s saying hurtful poisonous things. 

The girls almost squeals in delight.  “Let’s drop him off together then!” She comes up besides him. “Do you want me to use my quirk to lighten him up for you? To make it easier to carry him?” She is already ready to help.  “Actually, I don’t know your name.  My name is Ochako Uraraka! And yours?” 

This is a lot of attention for him.  He’s not used to talking so much to someone who isn’t one of his twins.  “I’m...Minato Arikuyo.” He blushes faintly.  “Can you make him lighter?” he mutters out.

Uraraka beams.  “Yeah! It’s nice to meet you Arikuyo.” she taps Izuku, and he slightly lifts off Minato.  Minato adjusts so he squeezes Izuku’s legs so he doesn’t fly away.  Minato looks at her.

“I...please call me Minato.”  It’s too much work for Minato to explain that he has two brothers..and that it’ll be really confusing once they’re all in class together.  Minato knows for certain they’ve all made it into the hero class. 

Uraraka blushes “Y-Your first name?  Isn’t that kind of soon? I mean you were helping me.”  She starts rambling “We just met, but it feels nice to know I’ll have a close friend after this.  Besides I do like the name Minato, and we’ll probably end up in the same class.  It’d be weird if we weren’t close after passing the practical together.  We also made a good team at the end there.”  She puts her hands on her face, blushing from joy.  This causes her to start floating.

“Oy!” Minato looks around for something to grab her with.  He jumps up, grabbing her, but inadvertently this makes Izuku on his back swing around and almost fall off.  He’s now desperately clinging to both of them. “Ochako stop your quirk!” He lets slip out, already using her first name.  Feeling that she will be his first UA friend next to Izuku.   

As if it was possible, Uraraka turns even redder.  “Eeep, hearing my first name, it’s way cuter than ‘Uraraka’”  she seems really embarrassed but pleased to have made a friend so fast.  She closes her eyes and puts her hands together, making Izuku and her fall to the ground, Minato twists his body to an almost impossible angle to not drop the sleeping greenette onto the ground. 

She is still pink, “ehehe...sorry about that. I am overjoyed to be friends with you.” A warmth envelopes Minato, her joy infecting him.  He smiles at her, and bounces Izuku back into a comfortable position to carry him in. 

They make their way to the infirmary, with Ochako doing all the talking.  She’s a very energetic and animated girl.  Miming out what she was saying while talking a mile a minute.  Turns out, Ochako wants to make money to support her family.  It’s not a bad goal.  She also seems fit for the hero work. Minato recalls how she was able to wipe the floor with robots and she also managed to save Izuku from becoming modern art on the concrete.

Izuku is carefully tucked into one of the beds in the nurse office.  Minato checks his phone, sixty-seven message notifications on his phone.  Probably all from Akira, he closes his phone without checking the messages.  He pulls out a piece of paper and writes his phone number on it, and slides it onto Izuku’s forehead, when he wakes up he can’t miss it.

Ochako grins ear to ear, the smile perfectly natural on her face.  “Oh phone numbers! That’s a good idea.”  She writes her phone number down too, and puts it in the same place on Izuku’s forehead.  She snickers, holding back a laugh, Minato has a bizarre sense of humor, putting that on his head and not on the side table or in one of his pockets.  “Let’s exchange numbers too! We can tell eachother our results when we get them.”  she pulls out her phone and opens contacts, making a new one ‘Minato A.’ typed out. She hands the phone to Minato who fills it out promptly.  She sends him a gif of a waving potato, it being the most recent on her messaging app.  Minato taps at his phone, entering the new contact onto his device.

Satisfied, Ochako bows to him, “Minato, I’m going to go talk to the staff!  It was really nice meeting you, and thank you for not leaving me in the rubble.” She rushes out.  “Truth was...I was really scared.  But you being there was really comforting.  So thanks.” She waves as she heads out, looking for staff.

Minato finally checks his messages.  Most of them consist of pictures of Akira’s face asking him ‘where u at’.  The photos are hilarious. He sends them a reply.

‘In infirmary, new friend passed out.’  He hits sends, and his phone immediately starts vibrating.

‘You made a friend? An actual genuine friend?  How’d you convince them to put up with you? - Yu’ Was Yu’s immediate text.  He usually doesn’t text anyone, but when he does it’s like an old man’s.  Proper punctuations and even including his name at the end, like an email.

‘No waaaaaaaayyyyyy’ followed by a slew of mind blown emojis and shocked emojis.

‘Well I made two friends actually.’ He adds, wanting to stir them up a little bit.

To make it even better, he closes his phone.  Putting it on silent and ignoring them.  He starts looking for staff too.  He better talk to them and then find his two idiots.  As he leaves, he takes one look back at Izuku.  ‘I’m getting you into the hero course if it’s the last thing I do.’ he silently vows.

He stolls the halls of the school, it’s large.  Using the signs, he makes his way to the teacher’s lounge.  He knocks lightly at the door.  He hears a chair creek and some wheel roll.  Sounds of someone getting up.  The Instructor Present Mic opens the door.

“Another one?” he asks the air.  He looks down at Minato. “Hello there, can I help you? Are you lost…? Perhaps...you’re my fan!?” He gets excited.  “Oooh but I’m sorry, I can’t sign an autograph for any of the examinees.” 

Minato really can’t stand this voice.  He looks to the side, taking a deep breath.  Reminding himself to be patient and calm.  “Sir.” He starts.  And he looks to hold eye contact with the parakeet man.

Present Mic sobers up, “It’s about that one examinee from test sight B right?” He gives a warm, understanding smile.  “Listen, just like I told the girl from before, everything is going to be okay.”  He winks at him and ruffles Minato’s blue fringe.

Minato pushes his hand off and goes to smooth his hair, he glowers at the man who remains unfazed.  “I want to give him my points.” Is all he states.

Eraser Mic smiles, and leans back.  Pocketing his hands “Unfortunately, that’s not possible.”

Minato prepares to argue.

“Because.” there’s a because? Minato pauses.  Wanting to hear what he had to say.  “That boy already has enough points.” he concludes.

Minato pulls a blank.  “He does?” he asks, too shocked.  ‘I thought he had no points?  Was the zero pointer actually worth a lot of points?  Was there a part of the exam that earned you special points?’  Many thoughts shoot through his head as Present Mic starts stepping back into the teacher lounge.

“He’s been taken care of, look forward to your results, yours are something else.” He looks minato up and down impressed. “You’ll be getting the results back in a week.  Tell your brothers I said hi.” with that he closed the door.

Being left with even more questions than answers, Minato decides he’s just gonna go home and sleep.  He’ll just have to wait and see what this teacher was talking about.  He sends his brothers a message to meet him at the gate. They’re going home.

Chapter Text

Earlier in the day, Yu boarded a bus heading to exam site A.  He stared out the window, grin never falling.  The bus stops and the driver opens the doors.  People begin filing out.

Yu hops off, radiating energy.  He’s fired up and ready to go.  He wastes no time transforming,  activating his quirk. 

Yu is engulfed in a yellow light.  He glows and grows five more inches in height, thanks to his knife geita.  The static of a blank tv and small sparks come from yellow flames that begin at his feet and work their way up his lithe form.  The Examinees near him take a step back, surprised to see such a flashy quirk being activated so soon.

“Hey man watch it!” someone admonishes the transforming boy.

“I wonder what his quirk is doing?” Someone else asked, curious.

“Whatever it’s doing it can’t be that good, he’s scorching the ground.”

The flames ebb, Yu waves his arm in front of him, blowing the flames out with a mighty swing.  What stands before the examinees have them in awe.  Yu was a tall but unassuming individual.  His gray eyes are replaced by glowing, citron eyes.  He’s sporting a white leather headband with two long leather ribbons streaming all the way to the ground, pooling at his feet.  His middle school uniform is replaced by a long leather jacket.  It’s got a biker motif and seems to blend into his gloves, making his shoulder to arms look seamless.  The inner lining of his coat is a striking red, standing out against his warm gray jacket, boots, and pants.

Before he towered at almost six feet, but now he can easily be mistaken for seven feet.  He twirls his arm, yellow flames wrap around his arm like a smaug.  When he fully extends his arm the yellow mass congeals.  Condensing into the shape of a long knife.  To those who study weapons, they can tell it’s a modified solid metal naginata.  However, no one there knows what a naginata is, that includes the titular summoner himself.

Yu overall, is impressive to look at.  Power and authority radiates off him in spades.  He pockets his glasses, showing just how piercing his eyes really are.  Several female test takers look stunned at his shift.  The guy test takers are unnerved. 

‘He’s going to steal all the points!’ The guys all think.

Yu looks at all them, smiling “Those points are mine.” He unknowingly confirms to the crowd. 

“Haaaaah?”  Was all Yu heard as a challenger approached from behind.  He steps, turning around.  His shoes cleave the ground as he turns, he’s not bothering to show restraint.  “Did I hear you right?” The one from the gate approaches him.

Yu remembers him, he’s Bakugou from the sludge incident!  He can remember rumors really easily. “You heard right, I’ll be taking all the points.”

“You can’t be serious. You’re dreaming, Chrome-Dome.” Bakugou leans back, he’s slouched with hands in his baggy pockets.  “Although, you’ll be better than the other extras of this test.  You at least smell strong.”  Bakugou was hoping he’d run into someone at least somewhat interesting.

“You smell like caramel.” Yu leans over, sniffing him.  This...throws the entire crowd off.  The Bakugou from the villain attack was...getting an attitude from this no name.  Yu smiles at him, not knowing how close Bakugou's rage meter is to skyrocketing.  “By the way, a lot of the people here were talking about you behind your back about some kind of sludge incident, what was that?  Were you attacked by a villain?”

The crowd recoils, they give the two an ample birth.  Avoiding as much of the crossfire as they can. Bakugou's eyes are pulled into his fringe.  They take a shadowed look, hiding them from Yu, who is gazing down at the sweet smelling boy.  Several tick marks appear on Bakugou as he trembles from insane amounts of rage.

Yu misunderstands, well it’s more like he doesn’t bother to understand the bomb of a boy.  “Oh was it scary?  Sorry about that, you don’t have to answer,” he says, coming off as condescending. 

To Bakugou, this statement stings like salt in a wound.  Like a paper cut under a fingernail.  He jumps up, bloodlust radiating off him. “Listen here you piss eyed delinquent wannabe, Pick a god and pray, because you’re dead.” Is all he says, he holds his hands up, sparks chasing each other's tails in a deadly and delightful display.

“I don’t have piss in my e-” Yu can’t even finish the statement, the fight is abruptly brought to an end before it even has a chance to start.

“...And begin!” Rings out from the tall podium.  The crowd at the test site all look at eachother, it didn’t sound like a whisper but can’t believe they heard that right.

However Bakugou and Yu both spring into action.  Argument forgotten as they fly to the test sight.  In their wake, the ground shatters apart from the force of their strides.  For Yu, he just has to run and it shatters the ground beneath him.  Bakugou is using his nitroglycerin like sweat to propel himself forward like a NASA rocket about to break through the stratosphere. 

The two are long gone, only taking seconds to leave the sight of the crowd.  Perhaps these examinees really are just extras compared to the might of Yu and the speed of Bakugou.

“What’s wrong? The Test has started!”
“RUN RUN RUN!” Present Mic’s voice echoes through the crowd.

The examinees all break into a dash of their own to get into the test sight.

With Yu and Bakugou, the two are ripping through the robots like they’re paper mache.  Yu pierces three 1 pointers on his weapon.  Mimicking a morbid kabab.  They spark and explode.  This isn’t enough, not yet, he jumps off the remains of some of the robots and lands on them, a deadly squat.  Each foot lances through the perspective robot’s heads.  The stomp kicks burying two more down into the ground, showing just how little these robots are to him.  Each attack of his causes buildings to tremble and each step of his leaves small splinter craters.  

Bakugou is next to him, using his quirk with equal finesse and aggression.  He’s scorching robot after robot.  He pulls off graceful twists and turns never once landing on the ground.  Every single Faux villain meets its end under the strawberry blonde’s acrobatic prowess.  In some instances, he rips the head of a bot clean off, and lobs it using his enhanced strength to impact and blow up another bot. 

Bakugou screams in sheer ecstasy, “YEAH! Die Die Die!” he shouts he uses his naked hands to rip one bot in half down the middle.  In a matter of seconds, Bakugou and Yu both secured eight points in one fell swoop.

Yu laughs, “This is my kind of exam!”  He’s so happy to be able to tear into something without any reserve.  Holding back is too hard for him after all!  His hands shoot out at the approaching robot; he grips the head of it and squeezes.  The robot’s head crumpled, shutting down.  

For the next couple of minutes, it’s pure carnage.  Bakugou and Yu cleave, rip, chop, smash, explode, kick, and punch through the robots.  The way they fight….witnesses begin to feel bad for the robots.  

“Hey, this isn’t challenging enough right?” Yu asked as he kicks a 2 pointer into a building, the building crumbled on the robot forever entombing it. 

Bakugou leers back at him, wondering where he’s getting with this.  “You’re right about that! I’m not even trying against these crappy toys.” He smiles as he puts a palm to the robot’s chassis mercilessly blowing it up.

Yu grins, this guy is great! His fighting style was intuitive and carnal.  Felt like his own.  Yu can sense the two are kindred spirits.  “Do you want to take on the zero pointer? Together? It’d be fun!” 

Bakugou thought about it. “No way, are you stupid? Me, work with you?!?” he shouts, more adverse to team work.

“Then want to compete until it shows up? Highest scorer gets the first shot”  Yu adds, he likes him more and more.

“Hmph.” Bakugou harrumphs.  “You really think we’re even in the same league? I’ll wipe the floor with your snotty face and laugh while I do it!” He’s already grinning, sharp teeth quirked in what can only be seen as an expression the most depraved kind of person can make.

“You’re a prickly pear aren’t you!” He laughs maniacally, too gleeful to be normal, “But that’s fine! If I don’t beat you you have full rights to do that.” 

Bakugou whirls on Yu, “What’s that you called me you Chrome-Dome???” He winds his arm back, ready to throw a punch at Yu.

Yu laughs, liking his funny reactions.  He also pulls a fist back, mirroring Bakugou.

The two lunge at each other, fists raised; the force of their swing stirs the air around them.  A swing and a...miss?  The fists fly past the heads they were aimed at.  Effectively plunging into metal skulls instead.  Yu and Bakugou both share the same absolutely insane look.

“I really can’t get along with guys like you.” Bakugou concludes, his reddish-orange eyes hotly bearing into Yu’s own electric ones.

“You know,” Yu starts, “I never thought I’d like a tsundere.”  The air rises by ten degrees.  Bakugou is clearly pissed.  He rushes off, a beautiful ark of explosions carrying him away.

“We’ll meet at the zero pointer asshole! You better have your snot ready!”

Yu bends his legs, the concrete appears to warp under him, as he himself explodes into a skyscraper high jump.  Bakugou and Yu both hurdle to opposite ends of the fake city hoping to out point the other.

The two create chaos in their wake.  Entire buildings are destroyed and an endless amount of 1pointers, 2pointers, and 3pointers all lay on the ground.  At some point Present Mic’s voice echoes through the land but they don’t care about what he has to say, because it didn’t contain the word’s ‘over’ or ‘done’.  The two are working up a good sweat.  Being just a jog in the park.

Suddenly, there's a loud rumbling as a massive, larger than life robot looms into the scape.  It rolls over the buildings like they’re sand castles.  Yu and Bakugou take the cue, and jump/explode their way to the zero pointer.  They land in front of the massive thing.

“How many did you get?”  Yu starts.

“No I’m not saying, we’re announcing it at the count of three!” Bakugou points his finger into Yu’s chest.  “I had time to think about it, and if someone says what they had first then the other one can just lie and say a number higher than that.”

Yu stares at him, “Huh...you’re right!”  he nods, “Rival, you really are something.” He nods sagely.

Bakugou resists the urge to choke him. “...One the count of three.”

1.

2.

3!

“80!”  the two cry out in unison.

“What’d you just say?!?” Bakugou gets in his space.  “Because I thought I heard-”

“80.”  Bakugou snarls at Yu’s statement.  “You heard right.”

Bakugou shakes his head, he never loses.  There’s no way…”You...You bastard.  You playing me for a fool???” He shakes yu’s collar, but before things can get too heated or personal.

The zero pointer sends them flying.  The two groan, mostly annoyed they have to dust themselves off.  “You...I won’t accept it.  There’s no way you got the same amount as me,”  He vehemently denies reality. 

“...Fine.  I did get the same amount as you, but…” Yu stomps to him, Bakugou only just now realized just how...intimidating Yu looks.  He doesn’t shrink, never backing down from anyone or anything.  Yu picks him up by his tank top’s scruff.  “Since you seem to be a sore loser, I’ll let you get the first hit in.” 

It’s now the ninth out of the inning.  The crowd all sits on the edge of their seats.  In the golden hour, the pitcher sets up his curveball.  He squares his hips, slightly bends his knees and in a fluid motion lifts a long leg up in a dramatic fashion.  He twists, putting all his momentum and weight into a perfect pendulum swing.  The pitcher released the odd ball. 

“YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!” the explosive boy screams in pure rage.  Yu, done with all of Bakugou’s arguing, decided to treat him like artillery.  Bakugou soars through the air like an ash-blond comet.  He uses his explosions to correct his trajectory, and then uses the heat from his palms to speed himself up, He twists himself like a top, leaving a round trail of smoke in the air.

Yu takes off running, he starts using the rubble to gain height.  Once at the highest peak possible, he pistons his legs, crushing the ledge and spring boarding into a massive leap.  He leaves an atmosphere trail behind himself, as he raises his naginata, ready to spear right through the robot with it. 

Bakugou's spinning body zooms towards the massive obstacle.  He puts his hand out to slam it into the face of the zero pointer.  Simultaneously Yu is right beside the other, thrusting his bladed weapon at the giant. Red sparks trail off the gray delinquent’s hands.  The two let out a battle cry, obviously enjoying the rush of this,

“HOWITZERRR IMPACT!!!”

“RAGING LIGHTNING VOLLEY!”

A massive explosion engulfs the test sight.  Blinding flashes of orange plumes and red lightning rain around the sight.  Luckily, the normies in the test took one look at the zero pointer and turned tail and ran.  Leaving the site void of anyone who could be caught as collateral.

As the destruction clears out, the heat from the electricity and fire dying.  Where the zero pointer once stood is nothing.  Left in its wake, a large mile wide crater sits. In the middle of the void zone, lies two prospective students.

Yu’s transformation falls off him as he sits up.  “You ok Bakugou?” He asks.

Bakugou sits up, sweaty, covered in soot, and a panting mess.  He looks at Yu.  “Never been better Chrome-Dome.”  He lays back in the soft sandy debris. 

Yu lays back too, staring at the blue sky.  His hands are shaking but he hides that from the other.  “That was...so cool.” He concludes.

Bakugou turns away from him. “Shut up idiot...that was nothing special.”  However, if anyone gets close enough to see Bakugou’s face, he’s sporting a soft grin.  It really was the raddest thing Bakugou has ever done.

“My name is Yu Arikuyo, let’s be friends!” Yu smiles.  He and Bakugou possess a synergy that he wants to pursue.  This is the start of a beautiful bromance.

“In your goddamn dreams,” or so he thought. Was Bakugou's quick reply.

Yu frowns, “Hey you’re hurting my feelings,” he lies,  “What is your full name?”

A silence stretches between the two.  Yu rolls over, staring at Bakugou's back.  Did he fall asleep?  Maybe all that bravado finally tuckered the tyke out?  “It’s Katsuki. Bakugou Katsuki.”

Yu grins.  “Alright, thanks for letting me know Katsuki!” He starts. 

Bakugou sits up, giving him a demonic glare.  Eyes flown wide and iris’ shrunk into tiny pin pricks.  “Don’t call me by my first name, we’re not friends!”

Yu sits up to meet his glare, but he’s only smiling jovially, he really likes getting reactions out of this guy.  It’s just so easy! “But you call me Chrome-Dome, that is a sign of affection! We are friends!”

Venom seeps out of the rabid chihuahua.  In all of Bakugou's years, however miniscule they are, someone standing up to him didn’t compute with him.  He’s never had to deal with someone who didn’t at some point just cave to his personality.  “We’re not friends you stupid a-” He’s cut off.

Loudly through the test area Present mic excitedly makes his announcement.  “IT IS ALLLLLLLLLLL OVER!”

All the way over to test site F.  The bus drops off the testees.  Ready to be rid of it’s burden.  It speeds off. 

Akira shakes from nerves as he looks around.  He can’t believe he’s actually here.  To keep himself from having an anxiety attack, he takes a deep breath. Can’t forget to breathe!  He checks the time on his phone, welp...it hasn’t even been a minute since he was dropped off.

He starts doing some light stretches, to hopefully work out the nervous energy.  He goes through the exercises, one by one, carefully.  He can’t afford to pull a muscle before he even starts.  Unlike Minato, he’s not indestructible and unlike Yu he doesn’t possess herculean strength.  He decides that he’ll go through his strengths.

First of all, he knows he’s fast...He can go fast and he can fly.  A determination flickers into his eyes.  Being a hero isn’t just being strong or sturdy.  There’s all sorts of heroes.  He also remembers back to the diagrams on the robots that were handed out during the explanation.  Every robot, except for the zero pointer, has kill switches.  Giving people opportunities to utilize their quirks if they’re not combat oriented. 

The fluffy haired boy knows he will probably need somewhere around thirty points to pass.  He also needs to do that in ten minutes.  That would mean if he hits three 1 pointers every minute then he’d pass for sure.  He pauses.  He can’t get that many per minute because at some point they’ll unleash that pesky zero pointer.  Something he noticed while looking at the various ways to take the pointers down, the diagrams included weak spots on the zero pointer. 

Why would they need to do that, didn’t Present Mic say to just ignore it?  ‘Treat it like a Thwamp’ plays in his head.  Anyways, he moves on.  He wonders if he goes after the 2 pointers. Then he only has to get 2 every minute...but that won’t work either!  Akira scrubs at his fro.  

He shakes his head after messing his mop of a head even more.  Once in the exam, he won’t be able to check to see how long it’s been.  Minutes also tick by far faster to human cognition when they’re moving. 

‘I’m going to have to hit the kill switch of 3 pointers...aren’t I?’ he asks himself, in despair.  This is going to be passable….he hopes.  It would be embarrassing to be the only triplette to not get into UA.  Yu and Minato wouldn’t let him live it down...Especially Minato.  He shivers, thinking of those judgemental gray eyes.  He’s roused out his musings when he hears the last thing he’d expect.

“...AND BEGIN!” clearly rings out.

He stands there blankly, as do the rest of the examinees.

“Did you hear that?”  comes from the crowd.

“Yeah….heh...sounded like Present Mic.” another pipes up.

“That’s funny, because I thought the same thing.”  A third reply inserts itself in.

‘There’s….no way…’ Akira thinks.

“What’s wrong? The Test has started!” Present Mic adds.

The examinees freak out.  Everyone taking off into the test ground.  Akira starts sprinting too.  With his long legs he’s able to bound to the front easily.  While sprinting he activates his quirk.  

“RUN RUN RUN!” Present Mic eggs them on.

Red flames lick at his feet.  Red smoke rises to slowly engulf him.  He’s leaving a bright, candy, cherry red trail behind him.  As the transformation picks up in speed, transforming his regular uniform, it becomes  much harder for him to run.

His silent footsteps transition from ‘tmp tmp’ to a sharp, metallic ‘clink clink’.  Akira begs every form of higher entity he doesn’t slow down, lest he wipe out mid transformation.  The flames ever so slowly lick up Akira’s legs. 

Out of the brothers, Akira has the least practice out of transforming.  His form is different, just thinking about it makes him turn to a shade of red that matches his transformation color.  He transforms into knife sharp stilettos!  He was embarrassed by the form, not even knowing the first thing about walking in heels. 

He’s just letting his natural sense of balance guide him through his strides.  As the red flames travel up his form, hues of black and white join the fray.  Coming out for the ride too.  Akira can’t see it, being too focused on looking right in front of him, but he’s leaving behind a gorgeous rouge tinted path for all to see.

As the ribbon of colors stretch out behind him, they weave together, forming tiny multicolored feathers.  With a swift snap, like the snap of a magician performing a vanishing card trick, the plumes vanish being replaced by fully formed long wings.

They fluff up, and stretch out wide, causing a lot of drag for Akira. ‘NO don’t do that!!!!’ he mentally yells at his wings, as if they were sentient.  The wings lower to the ground, as the rest of the transformation finishes bathing Akira.  He’s yanked back, as his wings drag on the ground and get caught.  He flips up, and is slammed onto his back.  The air knocked out of him.  ‘I really hope no one saw that.’ is all he can think as air slowly seeps back into his lungs. 

With a gasp he sits up and stands.  Big mistake.  The young man wobbles, ankles shaking.  He’s not used to standing in these...these knife shoes!! Frustrated, his wings respond to his flustered emotions.  They begin to flap undignified, knocking him into the nearest building.  He thuds into it lightly, and uses the wall to steady himself.  He closes his eyes, there’s no one around and there’s no robots here.  What’s going on?

Unbeknownst to him, while running with his eyes closed, which he really shouldn’t have been doing in the first place, he managed to zoom to the complete other side of the mock city.  Covering a spread of miles in seconds. 

He takes stock of himself, never having seen his full transformation before now. He’s only done it once or twice to just his hands and back to admire his claws and wings.  Akira previously was at an even five foot nine.  However with the addition of his talons, he is now an impressive six feet tall.  His previous clothes were replaced by a dark red bolero jacket and matching thigh high boots with intricate patterning, forming feather shaped ends on the fabric.  He’s now sporting a white cravat, pinned in place with a red gem brooch.  And a gray vest and pants combo. 

There’s also the wings and the claws...in place of his hands are now razor sharp talons.  He’s sprouted a magnificent pair of dark brown wings that shimmer from starling gold, iridescent purple, lapis-lazuli dark blue, and a peacock green. 

As he moves his head to look himself over, he notices wips of shimmering blacks and reds in the corner of his eyes.  Did...did his quirk transform his glasses too?  He tenderly reaches up to touch the thing on his face.  He feels a solid...mask.  He’s got a mask. 

He wishes he had a mirror to see the full glory of the transformation.  He’s blushing, ‘I’ve wasted enough time checking myself out’  He stares at his wings..’can I fly with these?’ they puff up.  Almost like they’re saying ‘YES, FLY DAMMIT’, Akira unfortunately doesn’t speak feather.  He concentrates, visualizing the wings tucking into his back.  The large, but light wings snap in.  settling into their seat.  Akira starts running to a main road, hoping to find robots or people.

The world blurs into colors and chaos while he runs, fast! He finally registers.  He puts his feet back, using the sharp heels to dig into the concrete hoping they’ll act like breaks.  Sparks ignite from the contact, he skids, a metallic grinding noise assaults the air.

His boots snag a chasm in the ground, causing him to flip into the air.  He looks like a blur to the other test takers.  Determined to master his form, his wings shoot out, being airborne makes it easier for him to attempt flight.  His wings flap in an uncoordinated manner as he lands on his feet again, skidding.  He just so happens to skid right under a 3pointer bot.

The robot tilts down, almost like it’s looking at Akira.  Both surprised to be in that position honestly. 

“As flattered as I am, normally you’d have to take me out to dinner to get this far.”  He snarks, a certain someone taught him that line.  The bot pinning him appears to almost blush.  Akira sticks his hand up and hits the kill switch, shutting the bot down,

“Did you see that???” someone asks.

“He’s so..fast.” an examinee mumbles, awestruck.

“He’s also got wings.” a jealous voice pipes up. 

Akira stands up, now that he’s in front of people, he doesn’t want to embarrass himself.  He steals his legs, and to his surprise he’s able to smoothly stand up without tripping.  Everyone is looking at him.  His jittery energy transfers to his wings, causing them to shake and flap.  More and more whispers bounce around him.  They’re all about him.  His speed, his ‘acrobatics’, his appearance all being talked about.  ‘This...isn’t so bad.’  he thinks.  He thought he’d be embarrassed but he kind of likes the attention. 

His stands tall, and his wings flap.  ‘I have...such an urge to show off.’ he thinks.  He takes another running stance, bending over as his wings rise into the air.  The more confident he feels, the better he can control his wings.  Running through his head, he imagines his next course of actions. 

He turns to the awestruck crowd, a two finger salute finding its way to his forehead.  He tips his head at them. And his wings excitedly flap, stretching open into streamlined V shape.

“The show’s just getting started!” he gleefully salutes.  He takes off, speeding to the nearest building.  At first, onlookers thought he was just going to run into it.  But no, he jumps up, and starts running on the side of the building.  His heels act as an ice pick would, burrowing into the concrete building walls just enough for him to ascend up the wall.

Reaching the top of the building, he uses it like a springboard.  Jumping full speed he arcs gracefully into the air, his wings still out and stretched.  Time seems to slow for him, as he decides where to land to slide under the most test robots. 

‘I’ve got it!’ he shouts to himself, his wings flap.  It’s uncoordinated again, but gets the job done.  He twirls around, and does a flip, sticking his legs out at an angle.  The skidding on the ground earlier gave him a great idea on what he was going to do. 

His metal heels extend up his shins, giving him aerodynamic shin guards that are perfect for him to slide on the ground with.  He touches down, skidding at a speed that no land vehicle can ever hope to achieve.   He sticks his claws up, getting ready to push the kill buttons one after the other. 

A shout of joy roars its way out of the blackette’s throat,  He hollers and woops like he’s on the greatest roller coaster ride of the century.  People pause what they’re doing just to watch the display.  It’s too interesting to miss. 

He careens right under a row of five bots, not caring to look at their points.  His claws combined with his speed managed to push the buttons and rip them clean out.  Within seconds, akira wiped out five bots. 

Something he forgot about, was that this ride has no breaks.  He has no method known to himself on how to stop. ‘If I can’t stop...then I’ll just run right ahead!’ he declares to himself.  He remembers what happened when he tried to stop before. 

Tossing the kill switch parts over his shoulder, he leans forward, slowing slightly.  This gives him a chance to flap his wings.  He isn’t really sure how he’s supposed to do it.  He’s seen...birds fly before...so why is he drawing a blank.  An animation of bird wings flapping play in his head as his own respond to the imagery.  They copy the motion.  It’s not enough to fully lift him off the ground.  He’s still sliding around on the concrete, heading right for a wall.

He starts internally screaming in fear.  He turns on his side, sticking his right arm out, his claws leave sparks on the concrete too, joining the boots in their metallic screaming.  With this he alters his path, steering himself away from a wall and towards other robots and people.  He regrets all his decisions.

Biting his lip in concentration, he pushes with all his might with his right arm to push himself up and out of the skid.  The combination of the speed, momentum, push, and the flapping he’s doing results in him throwing himself high into the air.  High up in the air, his wings flap in desperation to keep him air boy, he starts falling right back down to the earth.  He looks around, needing to cushion his fall.

Below himself and to the right there’s a large three pointer, looming onto an examinee.  ‘Maybe if I land on it, it’ll distract the bot long enough for them to get back up.’ he decides.  He straightens his legs, aiming right for the bot’s large gatling gun.  Hopefully it’ll stop his downward fall and knock the robot over at the same time. 

He feels the urge to say a one liner.  Unable to resist the sweet hypnotic lullaby of a delicious one liner, Akira shouts out.  

“There’s better ways to ask a girl out!” ‘I hope that sounded cool enough.’ His boot talons slam into the robot with the force of a runaway train.  The strike painfully makes its way up the bird boy’s leg.  It is similar to when you go batting with a metal bat, and hit the ball wrong, causing static pain to run up your phalanges.  The robot is sent flying on it’s side, whirring and trying it’s best to get back up.

Akira holds his leg in pain.  That was such a bad idea.  At least he’s stopped now and his leg isn’t broken.  At least, the attention-seeker hopes it is not broken, could have fooled him with this pain. 

“Are you ok…?” someone comes up besides him, inspecting him.  She pushes him into a sitting position.  He takes in the girl’s appearance, her ginger hair is pulled into a side ponytail and her gem like teal eyes stare him right into his currently red ones.  He blushes at her closeness.

“I’m fine.  What about you?” He asks her, getting up to his feet, he’s shaking but that’s mostly due to the excitement of going into a free fall to drop kick a bot. Speaking of the bot, he turns to look at it.  Ok, still on its side.  When he turns his head at the bot, it flinches, like it’s been caught red handed.  He walks over and presses the kill switch on it, earning more points.
 

“I got pretty lucky actually...I was just taking a break and then that robot caught me by surprise.  I would be sporting some pretty bad welts if it wasn’t for you.”  she rubs at her neck, embarrassed at being caught so off guard.

Akira can’t resist.  “I’ll come running any time you’re in danger, saving a pretty girl is a hero’s job after all!”  Before the girl can witness his face turn cherry red from the cheesy line, he runs off, heading into the fray.

The girl, Itsuka Kendo, watched as Akira sped away, almost a blur.  Her warm smiles warbled.  Face puff into a red steamed haze.  ‘Such a hot guy called me pretty.’ she puts her hands to her face.  She usually would deck someone across the room for calling her pretty… but she’ll allow it. Especially if the one complimenting her is that handsome.

“Six minutes, and two seconds remaining!” Is announced throughout the test ground.

Akira has gotten the hang of his speed, able to zip around and even do minor glide dashes to help people and shut off robots.  The practice has done him a world of good.  The only thing he hasn’t mastered is flying.  He wonders if he should do as the animal kingdom does, and just throw himself off a high ledge and hope he can figure it then.  He suddenly has an all new sympathy for those baby chicks that get thrown out of their nests. 

At some point, the showoff’s intentions changed.  He went from wanting to score a certain number of points to just wanting to have fun.  The attention received when he rescues someone from a robot is all the better.  He’s even gotten better at complimenting the ladies!  Yu would be so proud.

His wings shiver, sensing some kind of danger.  He whips around to look at the distance.  It’s the zero pointer!!! He forgot about it.  He saw all it’s weaknesses on the diagrams but seeing it in person is very different.  Running away from this thing is probably the best idea. 

The zero pointer begins chasing the examinees around.  Aiming to scare them away from the opportunity of more points.  It rampages through the city unimpeded.  Akira uses this chance to zip around, practicing his leaps while helping those who've fallen and shutting down straggler bots that still threaten the more exhausted examinees.

Confidence through the roof, this test has been a real confidence boost for him.  He’s almost got flying down too.  With his performance he can hope for an average score.  What’s most important to him is how...free he feels right now.  Getting to freely use his quirk for once.  He’s never had this kind of a chance before. 

As he gets ready to detransform, someone runs up to him.  The orange hair from before! The one with the gem eyes.  She grabs his bolero by it’s fringe.

“H-Hey! We need help getting some people out!”  She begins. “The zero pointer knocked down a structure in a way it took an entire city block.  There’s other kids like us still buried under there, and we can’t get them out.”  Akira gulps.

“Lead the way, that zero pointer won’t be stopping anytime soon.” He picks up the gem eyed girl, “point me in the direction, I can get us there faster.”  With how serious the situation is, he can’t let himself be flustered by holding her.

She points ahead, “Go straight for three blocks, then take a right, proceed for 2 more blocks, and we’re there.”  She orders, decisive and leading no room for argument.

Akira however sees another option, going up and over the building blocks will save them even more time.  He takes off in a straight line, holding the ginger close, careful not to cut her with his claws.

“I said to go straight, but not like thiiiiiisssssss!” She shouts as he scales the wall effortlessly.  He hops up onto the building, this girl is by no means heavy but having a passenger is definitely affecting how high he can jump. “Well this works.” the girl concludes, realizing his shortcut.

Carefully, he makes his way rooftop to rooftop.  Getting to the disaster site in seconds.  He sets the tomboy onto the ground gently.  He takes stock of his surroundings.  The zero pointer is too close for comfort.  “Listen, take care of getting other kids unstuck, I’m going to go distract the final boss!”

Kendo is adamant “I’ve seen how you fight, you can’t take it on, let alone distract it.  Do you have a plan at all for this thing?” Kendo doesn’t want to just let him leave and get hurt. There's already enough injured examinees as is.

“It’s okay, I do have a plan.” Akira starts. ‘I don’t have a plan’ he says internally.  Before he can out himself and his poor planning, he decides he’ll distract with a joke! “I’m going to distract it with seduction!” 

Kendo for a minute goes stiff, like she’s been turned to stone.

“You can’t be serious.” Is all she can say.

“It’ll be ok!” He winks at her before leaving.  

Kendo wastes no time in rushing over to her friend Ibara, activating her quirk to break apart the rubble.  Big fists move to clear the larger pieces of rubble while the girl with vines for hair uses her vines in the ground to move the people out from underneath.  Once freed, the kids run off screaming, without so much as a thanks.

“It’s not going to be ok.” She deadpans, clearly worried.

“Believe in him, you asked him for help because you trust him right?” the prickly girl asks.  She manages to get a large section scooted over.  “We’re almost done freeing them anyways.” She gestures to the almost completely cleared pile of rubble.

“True.  Luckily he won’t have to seduce the zero pointer for long” She chuckles to herself.  She can’t believe he said he’d seduce the robot of all things.  He’s an odd one, but she likes that about him. 

Elsewhere, Akira has used his speed to reach the zero pointer.  It was way too close to the rubble site for comfort.  He runs up the side of a building, now a master of wall-walking.  When at the top he jumps around, catching the zero pointer’s attention.  The many beady red camera lenses on it flash in recognition.  It seems to be assessing him.

“Hey! Over here!”  He starts flailing, doing a little dancy dance.  “Yeah you!” He now has it’s full attention. “I bet you can’t catch me~” he sings songs.

He leaps off the building, his wings work to cushion his fall for him.  Once on the ground, he zips around the zero pointer’s tank track wheels.  In a shock, the thing smashes the ground before him.  He smacks into its arm.

WHAM!

He leaves a solid dent in the arm and falls back.  Pain.  All he knows is pain. 

“Uwaaghhrrr..” He groans.  “What hit me…?” He asks, knowing the answer.  Instead of giving him any reprieve, the robot reels back another hit.  Massive robot knuckles sail at Akira. All he can do is gulp. 

The robot’s hit shakes the ground, causing more destruction.  Buildings are felled and the rubble is knocked over.  The clean up efforts of Ibara and Kendo seem to have been for not.  The zero pointer lifts it fist.

The kid isn’t in the knuckle shaped crater.  The zero pointer tilts its head, a question mark appearing above it.  If the zero pointer was capable of intelligent thought, it would be asking ‘where’d that kid go? ’  It simply shrugs.  Kid is gone, so why would it care?  It’s got a job to do.  Building to smash, kids to scare.  Having a nine to five job is tiring even for robots.

The giant mass of metal starts heading back to the big rubble pile. 

“Did you forget something?” comes a voice right next to the robot’s head.  It swivels around but doesn’t see anything.  Akira is using his claws to stay stuck on the robot’s back.  One of its many blnd spots.  

Akira climbs up, her knocks on one of it’s optics “Helllooo?  Anybody home?”  He snickers, he shouldn’t be enjoying this so much. 

The robot’s fist flies at its own head, aiming to shake Akira off.  It damages itself.  Denting in half it’s head.  Sparks and smoke fill the air.  The robot starts malfunctioning.  It lets out a loud whirring noise as it starts spinning on it’s hip swivel joint.  The treads start to spin out.  The zero pointer is now on a high speed collision course for the kids trapped in the pile.  

Akira’s heart rate picks up while his stomach drops.  It’s no longer fun and games.  ‘I have to stop this thing and now!’  Akira’s mind goes into overdrive, coming up with the best plan of action.  He thinks of how he can stop or deter it. 

He looks ahead, this thing moves way too fast.  He sees Kendo clearing the rubble and evacuating people with her friend all the faster.  ‘I can’t just swoop in and knock the zero pointer over like I did to that other robot before.’  He pauses.  Wait a minute…

Wait just a minute.

Akira can do what he did earlier!  If he gets high enough, he can kick it on it’s side.  The memory of earlier is playing in his head.  ‘If I jump high enough, it might hurt less too,’  he hopes.  Question is, how does he get high enough to pull this off?

He looks at the zero pointers, it’s arms spinning in a pinwheel around it’s own body, leaning forward as it rampages onward.  ‘If I time it right...the zero pointer can launch me high enough.’

He steals himself, his brothers won’t believe he did this.  He can’t believe he’s doing this.  He times it just right.  Jumping out he lands square on a hand, he crouches on it, bearing the G forces as he swings him around in a messed up loop-de-loop.

The highest point comes all too soon for Akira, as he’s launched.   Hurtling hard into the sky, he feels as his stomach is left behind.  His eyes prick with tears and he has to clutch his mouth shut to keep his jaw from snapping open.  He’s fast approaching the cloud line.

His ascent slows to a crawl, as he hovers just below the clouds.  ‘No! This isn’t enough.’ He reaches out, hoping to somehow grab a hold of the fluffy cotton balls.  ‘It’s not enough!’ Is repeated.  His prays to heaven and hell, basically anyone willing to listen at this point, ‘please, wings work!’

It’s as if the wings heard him, they furl out and cut through the air.  Akira holds his breath, not wanting to break concentration as he managed a few more feet.  This happens to be enough.  Breaking the cloudling, he breathes a sigh of relief.  Time slows to a crawl for him.

As far as the eye can see, is a blue and white expanse.  Akira’s never witnessed something...as calming as this.  The sky is pure blue, devoid of planes and other disturbances.  He feels a chill on his back as he begins his descent.  The clouds are colder one his way down.

Akira smiles, the wing starts wiping at his hair and clothes.  All he can hear is the sounds of his own heart beat.  His descent gains speed and momentum by the second, his wings even push him to go even faster.  Looking around, he can see the entirety of UA and the other test sights.  Everything from this height blurs together into indistinct shapes.  ‘They really aren’t going to believe this.’

Getting closer and closer to where he accelerated from, he can see the zero pointer.  His wings fold in, and his legs extend.  Doing exactly what he did before.  However, this time around he’s gained enough velocity.  The ends of his heels start to glow red, superheating from the pure speed of his dive.  A dome of condensing stratosphere surrounds his heels.  To onlookers all over the battleground, it looks like a shooting star. 

Akira closes his eyes.  His form lances through the zero pointer.  Entering from the head and exiting at the torso.  When out, he opens his eyes and softens his legs.  He lands forcefully.  Bouncing of the concrete like a skipping stone.  His wings stayed nestled to his back the whole time, thankfully minimizing the damage to his wings.  By the eighth bounce, he’s thrown right into a building.  A meaty smack ringing through his entire being.  He’s going to be feeling it for weeks to come.

The bird flops off the building, head and back on the ground, with his legs folded over him.  Arse over teakettle. He weakly brings a hand to his head, pain reverberating through his being from being ragdolled.  He does a faux salute with two fingers, and winks at the zero pointer.

“Now that’s a way to end in style.” And as he says that, the Zero pointer condenses on itself, the heat from Akira dive bomb generating enough heat to create a vacuum.  The massive form folds creating a sparkling chain reaction of explosions throughout the gigantic being’s ore organs. 

“IT IS ALLLLLLLLLLL OVER!” Comes the impeccably timed voice of Present Mic. 
It’s quite the show stopper.  At least it would be, if the bot’s arm didn’t fly off. 

As the arm hurtles at the rubble site, Ibara uses her quirk to create a large strong wall, protecting Kendo and the others.  She however, is not safe.  Akira can tell, she’ll get hit if she doesn’t move out of the way.  He cartwheels over, having to do an awkward half flip and begins clawing his way into a sprint.  

Springing into action, he races to push her out of the way.  Moments before the arm can crush her, Akira tackles her at a high velocity out of the way.  While heading towards the ground akira flips them, cushioning her fall.  His wings scrape against the pavement, feathers getting torn off.  He’s just overall having a bad time.

They slow to a halt.  Ibara’s wall held steady, stopping the behemoth’s arm.  Akira’s back can’t say the same.  He sits up to inspect Ibara.  He realizes too late his claws went into her shoulders.  He freaks out.  She’s wincing. 

“Y-You shoulder...aaghh.. I’m sorry!!!” He panics.  His form falls in a plume of red fire.  He bows deeply despite the fiery hot burning on his back.  The guilt is already eating up his insides serving as a distraction. 

Ibara holds at her injuries. “It’s...ok.” she hisses out. “Don’t apologize.”  She puts a hand on his shoulder, and gets him to sit up.  Akira looks at her, like he’s a kicked puppy.  “You got hurt to save me, so thanks.  I can’t stay mad at someone earnestly atoning.”  The devout girl manages a slightly pained angelic smile.

Akira looks down, blushing slightly.  “I…”  A lot of thoughts running through his mind.  On one hand, he saved her, on the other, he hurt her to do it.  There’s also the fact she wouldn’t have been hurt at all if he did better. However, before he has a chance to respond, an old lady hobbles over.  

“Now now, this is quite...something.”  She takes stock of the test grounds.  The rubble that was moved and shifted.  The still slightly trapped kids.  The two injured kids right in front of her.She huffs, but gives Kendo an approving look as she hands her some gummy shark candies.  “You girls did a great job showing just how capable us ladies can be.”  she nods in approval.  She hobbles up to ibara.  “That was some of the best rescue work I have seen in this test.

“My...those are some cuts.”  She compliments coming up to Ibara.  “Those won’t be fixed with just a bandaid or ice pack.”  Her lips stretch out, giving Ibara a big wet old lady smooch right on the cheek.  

“Chuuuuuuu” can be heard, as the sweet old lady holds the kiss.  Ibara blushes, thoroughly embarrassed.  Akira.exe has stopped.  

A glow envelopes Ibara, Akira can see the wounds on her shoulders heal up.  He leans in, looking at the old lady confused.  He looks between the two.  “Was that your quirk?” he asks, surprised to see a healing quirk in action.

“What has this generation come to?  You kids don’t know much.”  She tuts, “I am the school nurse and retired heroine, Recovery Girl.  At your Service.  She uses her needle cane to walk up to Akira.  She hands him an ice pack and some chocolate kisses.  Akira looks at them a little bit shocked.

“What do I do with this?”  He holds it up. 

“...” Recovery Girl stares at him, and then chops him on the head.  “How can you not know how to use an ice pack???” She exclaims.  “Put it on your back while I treat the other test takers that are still under the rubble.”  She turns snippety “You’re almost as bad as that one boy in green…and just as the grumpy blue one.”

Some more heroes emerge from the wood works, Midnight, Present Mic, and Thirteen all show up to help free the trapped kids.  The clean up is swift.  Recovery Girl provides first aid to the children and offers them a variety of sweets.  None of them were seriously injured thankfully.  The Teachers of UA leave, cheerful nothing went wrong this test year.

All the while, Akira sat aside, his back on fire.  Looking at the asphalt, it looks like a chicken explodes out on the pavement.  Lots of feathers and some blood.  He wonders if his back is the same?  Is it a bloody mess?  He is too scared to find out.  Meanuvoring to put the ice pack on his back was too hard too, so he ended up just sitting there.  Ibara and Kendo were chatting with him the entire time. 

Recovery Girl hobbles over to Akira again, “Ready to be treated young man?  I’m sorry you had to wait so long, But we weren’t sure about the injuries of the kids in the rubble.”  She rubs her neck slightly.  

He blushes “Uh...Do you have to kiss me?”  He rubs his cheeks, “It’s kind of embarrassing.”  Akira is flustered, he likes attention, but this is also an old lady kissing him on the cheek in front of the teachers and girls.

Instead of answering him, Recovery Girl’s lips stretch out and peck Akira right on the forehead.  He turns an even brighter red, a warm tingling sensation blossoming from his head to toes.  The warm feeling transitions to a cooling numb.  Washing over the stinging back, aching shoulders, and protesting legs.  He can feel everything healing over, and when the quirk has run its course, he feels physically drained.

Recovery Girl smiles at him.  “There you go, you kids did really well today, it’s suffice for me to say an early ‘welcome to UA’.”  She winks at the three, and hands them all extra candies.  For Akira he receives tootsie pops, Ibara gets swedish fish, and Kendo gets gummy frogs.  The three kids munch on the sugary sweets, getting some energy back from them. 

“T-Thanks Ma’am” the fluffy haired boy politely starts.  “Do we have rides back to UA?” He asks, not sure if he can leave yet.

“I don’t know, figure it out yourself.”  She quips, tired after a long day of walking to multiple test sites, healing injury after injury.  “I’m just kidding, stop making that face.  Go hop on the bus at the entrance.”

She smiles, laughing at the joke.  The kids all three sigh with relief.  Akira opens his phone, checking the messages as he and the girls head back.  

Chapter Text

When Akira gets back to the main building, Yu can be seen waiting at the entrance waiting for him.  There’s a wide berth around him, almost like people are avoiding him.

The silverette is standing tall and strong, smiling slightly while looking to spot Minato or Akira.  Every time it seems like he’s going to ask someone a question they flinch and run from him.

Akira gets off the bus, making his way to his brother.

“That’s the guy that took out the zero pointer.” He can hear whispering.

“No wayyyy, is he going to go fight with the other zero point slayer?”

“Won’t they get expelled?”

“I hope so, No one wants those two to be in the class, they’re way too overpowered.  I heard one of them even got another examinee injured!”

Akira went from walking on cloud nine to trudging through lead.  His stomach twists as rocks settle in it.  His memory of Ibara’s shoulders hitting him like a brick, guilt wrenching his gut.  He depressedly walks up to Yu.

Yu is blissfully unaware of Akira’s despair and the gossiping surrounding them.  “Aki! How’d it go?” He comes up and pats Akira’s back. The bird boy shys away.

“It went well.  I know I passed for sure.” He nods, not mentioning how his test actually went.

“That’s great! I know I passed too.  We can talk about it over dinner.  I’m starving.  By the way, I think Natto is ghosting us again.  He isn’t replying to his texts.”   Akira smiles, remembering how the nickname Natto came about.

“Minato you’re stinky like natto! Stinky fermented bean boy!” A taller insults.  He jeers at the smaller Minato, “From now on I’m calling you Natto! Until you stop being a stinky stinker!”  Comes the voice of his older brother.  Yu and himself were on the floor laughing while Minato turned angrier and angrier.  It looked like he was going to use his quirk on their joking elder. 

Akira opens his phone, takes a selfie of his own forehead, and sends a concerned text Minato’s way.

“Where u at” is typed out with the selfie attached,  Every few seconds Akira takes a new photo, and sends it to Minato.

 “You think Natto’s ok?” Akira asks his brother, Yu shrugs in reply.

“You always get so concerned for him, but nothing can hurt him, physically and emotionally.”  Yu acts like it’s normal for someone to be sturdy.

Seconds after sending that Text, Akira gets a text back in the group.  A ‘ping’ rings out.  Yu doesn’t get jealous, not one bit. 

Yu pulls out his own phone and opens the group chat.  Getting ready to be involved in the group chat conversation.  

‘In infirmary, new friend passed out.’   Is what greats the two brothers.  They both look at each other for about a second before replying with lightning fast speed.

‘You made a friend? An actual genuine friend?  How’d you convince them to put up with you? - Yu’ Is what the tall brother types.

‘No waaaaaaaayyyyyy’ Is Akira’s reaction.  He makes to accent it with flavorful reaction emojis. 

Akira chuckles at Yu.  “When will you stop texting like an old man?” He jabs Yu in the rib, talking to his brothers has helped him to forget his gut wrenching guilt for now.

“I’ll stop when I’m dead.  Texting is no excuse to not use proper grammar.” He almost starts lecturing his little brother.

‘Well I made two friends actually.’ Is the text that interrupts their goof and gafs. 

“No way.” Akira is awed. “This isn’t him.  Who is texting us and what did he do to our stinky Natto?”

Yu is just as scared “I don’t know Aki, but whoever it is, they were strong enough to beat him.  I’m afraid we won’t have a chance to stop this diabolic mastermind, whatever their plan is.”

Akira and Yu send a slew of replies to the chat, they can each tell with their phones that the messages aren’t being read.

“He grows more powerful by the minute.”

“I’m scared.”

The two looked at each other, grinning ear to ear.  They laugh together.  Yu leans against Akira, laughing so hard he can’t stand anymore. While laughing, they finally get another text from Minato.

‘Go to the gate, Stop just standing around laughing at your little inside joke.  We’ll meet there.  Let’s go home, you hyenas.’  Was the text they got.

“How’d he know we were standing around laughing?” Akira asks, now genuinely afraid.

“He always knows, let’s go.  Best not to make him wait.”  Is Yu’s reply. 

The two swiftly became three.  The triplets started heading home and talk the whole way about things that happened during their respective exams. 

When the three make it home, they’re greeted by the whole Arikuyo family.  Their oldest brother opens the door for them. 

“No soliciting please.” Was his reply as he goes to slam the door on them.  Akira snickers for a split second.

Minato shoves his foot into the jam. “You better move.” He threatens.  His aura radiates around him, promising death and violence.

The oldest brother, Naoya Arikuyo steps back, sweating and gulping. “S-Sorry Natto! It was just a joke, thought you’d laugh is all.” Because of the time, Naoya is currently in pajamas.  

He’s wearing a gray fleece set, paired with blue slippers and a white band t-shirt underneath.  He also is wearing a robe on top, really completing the book reading hermit look.  If only he read books.  Despite dressing like he’s going to bed, Naoya also has his Dark purple hair styled in perfect tips.  Made to flip up around the edges of his face and bangs framing his sharp eyes.  His large brown eyes are also perfectly framed in black eye liner and lower lash mascara.  His left ear sports a simple silver hoop earring.  To really pull the whole look together, he’s also wearing purple matte lipstick.  

Minato pushes the door open forcibly.  “Do not step where I step.” Is all he says to his elder.

Naoya shrinks in fear.  Yu walks in behind Minato, he shouts to the parents, “Mom, Dad! We’re home!” He goes to his room to change and get ready for dinner, and Minato follows suit.

Akira walks to Naoya “I thought the door prank was funny Nao-nii,” is all he offers.

Naoya puts a hand on Akira’s shoulder, smiling. “I always knew you were the smartest one Aki.  Did you do the lines I taught you?”  He wonders, excited to know if they worked.

Akira turns rosy pink.  “Y-yeah...It was cheesy but it worked.”

“Wait, it worked?” Naoya coughs into his hands “That’s awesome Aki, I knew you could do it,” he looks away as he flashes a thumbs up.  He retreats to his room and finishes in removing his makeup.

Akira smiles, as he too heads up to his room, getting ready for the night.  He could smell dinner from the entrance and it’s making him drool a waterfall. 

The Three triplets waste no time in changing.  Akira comes out in a gray baseball T, tucked into his green sweats, big fluffy white socks on his feet, and an open black, knitted cardigan.  Minato is wearing long sleeves and even longer pants, but the outfit is entirely too baggy on him.  For some reason, as soon as he saw the prison stripes he was attached to them.  Yu walks out carrying Minako, their younger sister.  Yu is wearing a thick long sleeved V neck shirt, black sweats, and a sweater tied to his waist. 

Minako smiles,  “You’re all back!” she chirps.  Their dad comes out of the kitchen, apron on, dishes in his hands.  He hands it to the boys, the signal to set the table.  They can hear Tatsuya humming in the kitchen, probably finishing up dinner. 

Once the table is set, Minato rushes to go help Tatsuya set the food on the table, not only foaming at the mouth to help his beloved Tatsuya, but also super hungry.  Yu sets Minako down, and the youngest does a little twirl for them.

“Look, Mom helped me pick this! It’s my princess sleeping dress.”  True to its name, the dress is pink, frilly, and covered in cute little flower babbles.  Overall, she looks like a comfortable princess. 

“That’s nice, are you ready to hear about how totally cool and amazing we were today?” Yu asks, Minako already basically eating out of his hand. Or maybe the other way around.

Minako nods and bounces, running around the table, excited as can be.  Tatsuya walks out from the kitchen drying his hands, “Minako, be careful, you might trip.”

“I won’t!” she sing-songs— and then proceeds to then trip on the rug. However, unlike most other kids would, she springs right back up, not crying.  “I’m fine!”

Yu falls to his knees, like he’s been struck by lightning.  “Minako!!! You’re so inspiring!” He bows to her as a joke...or is it?  

Their mother comes downstairs, toweling her white hair off.  “Dinner smells great, are we going to eat or keep staring at Yu throwing himself at Minako feet?  Either way, I’m entertained!” She jokes around. 

Minato sits at the table, his stomach rumbles loudly.  “If you don’t sit down in the next few seconds I will eat all of this.” 

Akira and Naoya both jump into their seats, not wanting to miss the meal.  Yu sits down dejected and Minako jumps to sit with her mom.  Their dad and Tastuya sit by each other.

Everyone begins digging in, compliments to the chefs are passed.  The meal is a jovial one, as the boys regale their family on the happenings of the exam. 

Once full, the family goes about their own way.  All having their own pass times.  Yu and Minako go to watch TV.  Naoya sits by them working on his graduee hero thesis.  Tatsuya cleans up the dining table, having already taken care of his homework.  Akira decides to head back up to his room.

Minato goes into the kitchen, and rummages in the fridge, but feels a tap on his back.  Turning around, he sees that it’s his father.  His dad smiles at him and ruffles his hair.   If anyone else did this to him, he’d stop them— if he was in a good mood. If it was a bad mood, you wouldn't be able to identify the body.  Unless they were Tatsuya of course, Minato worships the ground Tatsuya walks on, so a head pat from him is perfectly acceptable.  His dad hands him two spoons and gives him a thumbs up.  He signs,'you're a good big brother' to his middle son.

Minato blushes a bit, and takes the two spoons, he leaves the room and heads upstairs.  Instead of going into his room, he goes to Akira’s room.  He walks in without knocking, giving the bespectacled boy a heart attack. 

Akira jumps, turning from his desk to look at the emo boy in shock. “M-Minato?”

Minato walks up to him, handing him a spoon and a pudding cup.  His little brother will eat anything sweet or chocolate/coffee flavored.

“Talk,” he orders. His tone leaves no room for argument.

Akira stares at his pudding.  It’s Mocha, his favorite flavor in pudding.  He smiles, taking off his fashion glasses.  He looks at Minato.  “Talk about what?”

Minato glowers,  “I know something is wrong, stop hiding it from me.” 

Akira sweats a bit, his cheeks blushing a bit.  “...Nothing gets past you does it?” 

He gets no reply.

“A-Alright...uhm...During the test, I, uh...It’s embarrassing but I hurt another examinee.  I...I was the reason she was in danger in the first place.  I just...feel really bad about it.”

Minato keeps staring.  Akira sweats.  He’s growing more nervous,  “...”

Minato’s gaze pierces into Akira’s soul.  “I...I’m also worried about going to UA...I know I passed the exam but...During the exam I never figured out how to fly.  I..I don’t know If i’m really cut out for this.” 

Minato sets his empty pudding cup down on Akira’s desk and pulls him into an awkward hug.  He presses Akira’s head into his chest, only hugging his head with one arm.  Akira knows how much Minato doesn’t like to be touched, so this gesture of comfort means a lot to him.  He feels warm and fuzzy, and although it’s embarrassing, he inhales his big brother’s comforting scent.

“You’ll be fine.  You did perfectly okay.  If you’re worried about hurting another examinee, then do everything you can to earn their forgiveness,” he pauses, ruffling Akira’s fluffy locks. “No matter who they are, if they see you doing your best, then they’ll forgive you.”  

Those words mean a lot to the bird boy.  It’s not every day that the aloof eldest provides a shoulder to lean on.  He smiles and nuzzles into Minato’s chest, getting hair all over his brother’s pajamas. 

Minato pushes him off.  “You ruined it.” He says while smoothing his shirt.  “Don’t forget to bring the spoon down,” he walks out with his trash and spoon. 

Akira smiles; he has the best brothers ever.  Minato’s quite the reassuring figure when he wants to be.  In spite of the blue haired teen’s apparent apathy, he’s never failed to have Akira’s back.  Though he supposed reliability is a necessary trait to have with Yu as a brother.  The silverette could be a real handful at times.  And yet, they both always know exactly what to say to him.

He sleeps with a clear conscience that night, the weight on his chest having faded into a distant memory.

When they receive the exam results, it comes as a shock for all.    

Early in the day, during the exams, all of the UA staff sits in one massive control room observing the happenings.  There’s a multitude of screens high above and below the staff, making sure they miss no details and ensuring they get the full picture of all the exams.

“So many Battlefields for those children to cut up.” Someone begins.  “Such a wide arena with the limited time as a factor, this really brings out their best.”

The small mouse creature gestures to one screen, a boy whose stretched out six limbs into an umbrella shape, and then to another screen with a girl plugging her long earlobes into a wall.  “Here we have those showing an aptitude for gathering information.  They’re able to assist and assess the situation in an instant.”  The small bear-mouse thing looked positively giddy.  

He then goes on to wave three more screens into view, showing a boy with black hair using metal to move around.  Another boy with exhaust pipes coming out of his legs rockets around his designated arena.  Then to the final boy with wings, running around at insane speeds as he is able to jump at just as insane heights.  “Then we see those speed demons.  People who will always arrive early at any sign of trouble.  Mobility experts!”  

He waves away that footage in favor of some more, “Then we see natural adaptors.  People that are able to stay calm under the situation and act for others.  True leaders and decision makers!” It shows a twinkling boy firing a navel lazer at a faux villain to protect a group of scared examinees, somehow he's smiling right into the holographic screen.  The same is being done by a boy clad in marshmallow shaped boots, blue hair, and giant shield.  A girl with a big hand is also shown to be protecting others while commanding them where to go.

“We even have a new unique kind, people who don’t falter and protect others.  Rallying their fighting spirit!  Team builders and natural born performers!”  This time it cuts to a boy spiking up, and charging a faux villain, others cheering for him.  The same is said for an equally enthusiastic boy, however this one takes on a metallic sheen as he powers up.  The test also reveals a pink girl with horns, spewing acid at a faux villain and flashing a cheery grin to the onlookers.  

The principle creature doesn’t stop there.  “And finally, we see natural born warriors.  The perfect fighters, always on the front line.  The loose, uncompromisable cannons!” The creature compliments while insulting?  It cuts to two boys absolutely ripping through the villains. Not stopping for a single second to rest.  The screens also show another examinee as a beast, charging through and rag dolling the robots like they’re a chew toy.

The staff and judges all grin. This year’s examinees seem so promising!  

“These examinees are judged by the points they earn, but that alone doesn’t quantify their abilities to preserve the peace in our cities!  They act for points right now, so let’s see how they act with a certain obstacle!” The principle creature grins.

A cheerful female teacher gets up; she’s grinning as she presses something labeled ‘Yaruki Switch’, which, when translated, means ‘Motivation Switch’. 

“These final moments will tell us all we need to know about the future students.”  The Principle says, absolutely beside himself.  

The judges seem confused, one pipes up.  “What do you mean Principle Nezu?” He politely asks.

“That obstacle I mentioned before? It’s not meant to be conquered.  We want for the examinees to be completely overwhelmed.”  The principle answered, the mirth gone for a moment.

The judge gulped as another one joined the conversation.  “Sir...that makes no sense.  How can you have kids pass like this?  Isn’t this unfair?”

Nezu goes back to grinning. “That’s right!  People show their true colors when they face that thing.  Some walls can’t be overcome right?  Do you really think UA wants a student that gave up so easily?”

The female teacher of UA adds her two cents.  “We’re being fair to these kids, by being unfair!  This is UA’s first lesson: never give up!  Don’t stop until the last villain is defeated and behind bars and the last civilian is safe at home.”  She puffs her chest out with pride, crossing her arms.  “Life is unfair, villain fights are unfair, and no man is created equal.  With that in mind, we create an impossible situation to overcome, and those who didn’t shine before, have another chance at the spotlight!”

The judges all blush at the beautiful teacher, wishing they could hear her talk to them all day.  However, as if on cue, several screens enlarge themselves.  One has a young man in a green tracksuit soaring through the sky, and punching the zero pointer into oblivion.  Another camera comes up showing how a girl is stuck in rubble.  A bluenette digs her out and together they save the falling green boy. 

Another screen lights up to a spiky explosive blond being thrown at the zero pointer, and the thrower jumping to join him, both aiming to destroy the behemoth.  They blow it to bits as the other examinees scramble to run away.  

A third screen zooms in.  Showing how a winged boy makes the zero pointer punch itself, before piercing it like an arrow.  A secondary shot shows it was so two other examinees could do rescue work!  Along with the last minute rescue being performed by the winged boy.

Nezu and the teachers all shivered.  The judges are all excited, each sporting their own face splitting grins.

A large teacher, built like a brick house, starts. “...did we just see that right?” comes his deep rumbling voice.

“My eyes miss nothing, but even I am doubtful.”  The western gunslinger adds.  

“I...I can’t believe it.  Not one...not two...but four! ”  The female teacher squeals.  

Nezu starts chuckling from his perch on a certain someone’s shoulder.  “Marvelous! Wonderful! Superfluous!” He clasped his paws together.  “This year’s students are going to be amazing!”

The someone serving as a perch for the principle puts his face in his hand. ‘Every year.  Every year, it somehow gets worse.’

“It’s pretty obvious those kids that did the zero pointer smashing and evacuating are getting in the hero course.”  She turns to the two Hero Homeroom teachers.  “Soooo who’s going to who?”

“Shota I know you want the two angry ones, right?”  The female teacher starts jabbing.

“No.” The one known as Shota shakes his head.  “Nemuri, your jokes get worse and worse.  Honestly, can I just take the rescue students and then have Kan take all those violent kids?  At least with those rescue ones I can nap and leave it to them.” 

Kan shakes his head.  “No...I can’t take those hot blooded ones, you should know this.  However, can I request to have the one with wings and the navel laser?”  

“Why those two?” Present Mic asks, walking back in after announcing the end of the exam. 

“Not now Hizashi.” Shota sighs.  “Don’t some of you have kids to dig out?” He points at the exam footage, that’s still live.

“Oh crap you’re right!” Present Mic rushes to leave.  “I’ll need help!”

Recovery Girl stands up, slow and steady.  “I have to go heal these punks in order.  Sorry but one of you is going to have to carry me around.  We need to go to that green boy first.”  She peers at the footage of the bluenette picking him up.  “What bone in that young man’s body isn’t broken?” She sighs.  “Poor thing.”

Kan stands up.  “Please allow me, Recovery Girl.” He respectfully picks her up and carries her out. 

With all the teachers helping with rescues, clean ups, and healing, that leaves just Shota and the principle.  

“I’m serious when I say I don’t want them.” Shota starts.

“Your mouth says one thing, but your heart says another.”  Principle Nezu chimes.  He’s still grinning. “Besides, I can’t give the winged one to Kan, he belongs with his brothers!” A tick appears on the raggedy black haired man’s head.  “The three compliment each other in a way!  Like how Jack can’t be seen in a deck without a King and Queen!”

“You can’t be serious.” Is all the hobo looking man can say.  “Stop with the card analogies, they make no sense.”

“They were good and you know it!  You can whine and mope all you want, you’re not getting out of this.  So I hope you have fun reigning those kids in!  They need you!”  He claps his little paws, finalizing it.  “Good luck with training your new wild cards, Eraserhead-sensei!” 

“You take too much pleasure in giving me an aneurysm.” Eraserhead grumbles out, as he gets up to take a nap, still having to do his night shift.  

Once the examinees are sent home, the points are assigned as the judges and teachers reach a conclusion. 

The Exam Results are the following:

1st Place.  Minato Arikuyo 45 Villain points and 55 Rescue points.

2nd Place.  Akira Arikuyo 45 Villain points and 40 Rescue points. 

3rd Place tie.  Yu Arikuyo & Bakugo Katsuki 80 Villain points and 0 Rescue points.

4th Place.  Eijrio Kirishima 40 Villain points and 39 Rescue points.

5th Place. Uraraka Ochako 28 Villain points and 50 Rescue points.

6th Place.  Izuku Midoriya 0 Villain points and 75 Rescue points.  

7th Place.  Ibara Shiozaki  36 Villain points and 38 Rescue points.  

8th Place.  Kendo Itsuka 25 Villain points and 45 Rescue points.

9th Place.  Iida Tenya 52 Villain points and 9 Rescue points

10th Place.  Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu 49 Villain points and 10 Rescue points.

And thus concludes the UA entrance exam!

Chapter Text

The day started early for three brothers.  The moon is just about to dip below the horizon, while the sun is only just waking up.  Minato and Yu both work to drag Akira downstairs. 

Everyone is up except for Minako.  The father, Serf, tends to his sons like a mother hen would her chicks, fixing their hair and smoothing down their collars.  The mother, Margaret, has a camera at the ready.

“Oh your first day! How exciting!” She cooes.  “Not only did Naoya and Tatsuya get into UA, now my three babies are going too!”  Her happiness goes through the roof.  “Ok you three, pose, I want a decent photo of you three before you go and ruin your uniforms.”

All three of them blush.  Akira gives a big yawn, his hair somehow a bigger mess than normal.  “Why are we up this earlyyyyy?” He drawls out.

Yu pulls him into his signature one armed hug.  “Well we’re going to have a big breakfast after this.  Tatsuya and I made it together.” He winks.

Akira only slightly wakes up. “Your cooking…?” He drools a bit.  “Mmmm Tatsu-nii's and Yu’s cooking.”

Minato nods in agreement. 

The three pose for the picture.  Minato puts his hands in his pockets, his hair brushed out of his face for the photo.  Yu stands at his full height, looking large and in charge.  Akira gives a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head. 

Click.

The flash goes off, and all at once the photo shoot is over.  Akira and Minato are both sitting at the dinner table, having rushed to their seats as soon as the flash went off.  Yu tuts, knowing the enthusiasm is because of his culinary skills. Minato can’t cook to save his own life, and while Akira can make a mean bowl of curry, anything else he tries is mediocre at best.

Naoya and Tatsuya both smile at the triplettes.  “This reminds me of my first day.” Tatsuya  begins.  “Do you two know your classroom?” 

“It’s 1-A.” Yu answers, him being the only morning person of the trio.  Yu pours himself a cup of coffee, and proceeds to butter his warm toast, setting it on a plate full of rise, fish, and other breakfast arrangements. 

“Hah.  Figures. Naoya and I were taught in 1-A too when we started.”  Tatsuya becomes thoughtful.  “You should see if you can find mine and Naoya’s desk.  We put our special little marks on them.” He snickers a bit while remembering.  

Akira chugs his own cup of coffee, complete with cream and a copious amount of sugar, needing the rush to wake up.  He starts nibbling at his beautiful breakfast.  “Tatsu-ni, did you really mark school property?” 

Tastuya laughs. “I did wayyyy worse things than that.  I was in Recovery Girl’s infirmary more than the homeroom I think!” 

Naoya snickers.  “OH, you don’t even know the half of it.  There were so many rumors swirling around about us too!  Some people thought we were fake, like robots.” 

“Why’s that?” Yu asks, curious.  “How come you didn’t mention this before?”

Tastuya and Naoya look at each other.  “It never came up.  Hopefully, those rumors died with our graduations.” Tatsuya shakes his head.

“I think a couple staying around would be nice, and my little monkeys here can continue my legacy!”

“The rumors were started because well...people thought we were...too perfect?  We both did well in our classes.  Academically and practically.  I guess people are jealous of hard workers?” Tatsuya shrugs. “But none of that matters, today isn’t about us.  It’s about you three.” He smiles at them and hands them more food.  “Make sure you eat up, you have a big day ahead.”

Naoya nods. “No matter how nervous you are, just eat.  You’ll need to keep your energy.  The first day is always somehow the longest.  Like time has stopped.”

Minato doesn't have to be told twice, he starts shoveling his third plate of breakfast into his mouth.  

Once breakfast is done, the three pack their backpacks with the essentials.  Minato uses his time to untuck and mess up his UA uniform.  All three siblings are wearing UA’s winter uniform, as it’s still chilly at the very beginning of spring.  

Minato wears his coat open and disheveled.  He’s far more comfortable with it untucked and looking messy.  He sports his signature blue headphones and paint splattered shoes.  But something is missing.  He takes his red tie off and ties it on his arm, like a band.  If you were to look up the word ‘sloppy’ in the dictionary, a picture of Minato would be what you see.

Yu was similar to Minato.  He also wore his coat open, shirt untucked, and collar popped.  Somehow, he managed to make the pressed collar of the UA outer jacket to pop as well.  He’s tucked his tie hastily in his pocket.  He’s got black shoes and bright yellow laces.  He pushes up his yellow glasses, showing that the two match.  Essentially, just imagine a stereotypical biker gang leader, then give him a silver bowl cut.  

Unlike his laid back brothers, Akira decided he would wear the uniform properly.  It looks smart on him, being the tall, dark, and handsome image he is, the uniform complimenting his slim and long form.  He has bright red shoes and pushes up his black fashion glasses.  Akira is the nervous type, and having fashion glasses helps.  It gives him a sort of bookish appearance, which keeps him from standing out terribly.

Tatsuya and Serf both smile as they hand the boys their lunches.  Naoya runs in with 3 water bottles, he hands it to them as well. 

“You can’t forget, It’s bad form to drink the tap water of unfamiliar places.” He says resolute.  It doesn’t make sense— all of the tap water in the city comes from the same water plant.

Minato shakes his head. “Again with your nonsense.” He tchs, but takes the water bottle anyways.

“This better not be salt water again.” Yu says as he takes his.

“I thought the salt water was better than the one time he gave us bittermelon blended up.”  Akira adds, taking his. 

Margaret looks at her three babies. “Oooooh you three are so cute.  I would take more photos but I don’t want you to be late!  Us Arikuyo’s are overachievers! Well, except one.  Just look at Naoya, he managed!”  She points to the oldest, razzing him despite getting the top in his class.

“Wait did you just use me as an example as an underachi-”

He’s cut off, as Minato leads the trio out of the door.  “We’re off.” He says, snubbing his biggest brother.

Tatsuya smiles and shakes his head.  “Well good luck you three, break a leg!”

Yu smiles. “It’s just the first day of school, what’s the worst that can happen? We somehow get expelled?” 

The second eldest shrugs. “With your track record? It just might happen.” Tatsuya replies.

“Huh, you’re right,” Yu deadpans, in all seriousness.

Naoya comes up and gives Akira the biggest hug, fluffing his hair. “Akira won’t get into any trouble, isn’t that right my dear Aki-pocky?” He asks, while rhyming.

“Don’t worry Nao-ni!  Out of all of us, I’ll be sure to set the best example.” He grins, despite being a nervous wreck on the inside.

Naoya gives a lasting squeeze before letting go.

The brothers head out, the sun only beginning to rise into the sky.  It’s still early, and not even the birds are chirping yet.

The three arrive to UA in record time.  The head up the vast halls of the towering school.  Once they reach the class labeled 1-A, all they can do is gawk at the door.  It towers over them, being three times Yu’s height.  

Yu lets out a low whistle as he opens the door.  The three walk in, and it turns out two others arrived early as well.  Sitting in the back is a black haired girl.  Her hair is pulled into a messy spiky ponytail, and some hair is pulled out, dangling on the right side of her face. She gives off a vibe of a very mature beauty.  The other student was a male, with half red hair, half white hair.  Looking like the living embodiment of peppermint, he gives them a hard stare, and Akira gulps, noting that he seems to be the same height as him, and has a single blue eye and a single grey one. 

The three look around the empty classroom.  Minato simply glides in and plops onto the first desk, in the front row, right next to the window, showing just how brazen he really is.

Yu looks around, and decides he’ll sit smack in the middle of the classroom.  He goes and places his stuff down onto a seat in the center.  Once situated, he goes over to introduce himself to the other two students.  

Akira decides he’ll just sit in the back.  He doesn’t like talking much, and people in the back don’t tend to get called on.  He puts his stuff down on a seat in the back row, picking to be next to the peppermint boy. 

Akira smiles and waves at him.  “I’m Akira Arikuyo, what’s your name?” He asks politely.

Simultaneously, Yu is talking to the black haired beauty.  “I’m Yu Arikuyo, and you are?”  He asks in an open way.

The peppermint boy doesn’t even bother turning to Akira, just giving him a side glance. “Todoroki.” Is his one word reply. 

‘Just my luck.  I had to sit by the iciest guy possible.’ runs through Akira’s head. “U-Uhm...Nice to meet you Todoroki...A-Are you excited for the first day of class?” 

One the other side of the room, the blackette gives Yu a polite smile.  “I am Momo Yaoyorozu.”  She puts a hand out cordially.  “You are the one who tied in 3rd place if I’m not mistaken.” Momo starts, having done her research. 

His grin widens as he reaches out to shake her hand. “You’re right, I forgot I tied.”  when they’re done shaking hands he leans back.  “Do you have first day jitters?” 

Shifting back, Akira is striking out. “No.” Is the one word answer he receives. 

He looks down, being thrown for a loop.  How can someone continue a conversation with another who clearly doesn’t want one?  He wishes he sat by Minato, the silence wouldn’t be so awkward then.  

On cue, another student comes in.  It’s the angry explosive guy Yu tested with.  Minato recognizes him from the hallway as well.  The explosive teen saunters in.  He slumps forward, portraying an indignant aura.  Something seems to have happened to make him agitated, or is he always like that?

Yu perks up. “Katsuki!” He goes over to him.  “Good morning!”  His friendly and cheerful greeting only serves to upset the platinum blonde.  His blood red eyes pierce into him like a hot knife.

“Call me that again chrome-dome, and you’ll lose a finger.” His threat rings oddly hollow.  Like the heat is gone from the fight.  He pops his feet up on the random desk he chose.  He looks away from Yu, ignoring him.

Yu unperturbed, waves a hand in Bakugo’s face. “Katsuki! It’s not nice to threaten your friends this early in the morning!”  He tutts. “Save it for after lunch at least.” He deadpans. 

Bakugo snaps.  “You little punk!” He grabs Yu’s arm, his explosion quirk turning up the heat. “I warned you!”

Yu just shoves his hand onto Bakugo’s skull.  “I said to save it for later, it’s too early for this.” He doesn’t back down. 

Minato has his head turned slightly, ready to step in.  Akira has shrunken into himself, not believing that Yu is already causing trouble.  Todoroki remains unfazed.  Momo stands up from her seat.

“You two shouldn’t fight, this is the first day. You’re Bakugo Katsuki right? The other third place tier?” Momo tries changing the subject but unknowingly triggers Bakugo’s tidal wave of rage. 

“Did you just say I am third rate??” He asks, having completely imagined something else.  “I’m not some third rate LOSER like this idiot!” He points at Yu, crackles coming off his palms. 

Momo shrinks back.  She didn’t expect… this.  Bakugo’s rage is wild and untamable, lashing out at whoever is nearest.  

Minato stands up, putting a hand on the smoking boy.  “Sit down, hot head” He simply commands. 

Bakugo sprouts several veins at this.  “Who do you think you are ordering me around???” He glares at Minato.  Minato glares right back.  Bakugo can’t take this.  First there’s someone with a backbone, not only rising to meet his taunt but seeming to be just as blood thirsty as him about it.  And now this, some blue haired, gray eyed… emo that spends time on tumblr is not only ordering him to sit down, but with eyes that promise to make him do it if he doesn’t choose to. 

Bakugo tch’s audibly.  “Whatever Tumblr...Chrome-dome...Just leave me alone if you know what’s good for you.”  With the threat hanging in the thick atmosphere, he hotly sits down, feet propped up and all. 

Minato sits back in his seat, and a clueless Yu decides to try talking to Todoroki for a change.  

With that exchange forgotten, more and more students trickle in.  They’ve all picked seats they like, not sure if they’ll be moved later.  The brown haired girl from before walks in.  She makes a b-line for Minato.

“M-Minato! Good morning!” She claps her hands together, cheeks tinted in pink happiness. “I knew you’d make it into the hero class!  Have you run into the green haired boy at all?  Can you believe he didn’t text me at all this entire time?  Do you think he missed our phone numbers?”  She gasps, and leans in. “He didn’t miss the notes, did he?” 

Minato slowly blinks at her, like how a robot might look when booting up.  “Ochako.” he nods in greeting, like a faux morning bow. 

She squeals, still getting used to being called her first name.  “Oh right, I forgot you don’t talk much! Silly me.”  

He shakes his head.  “I haven’t heard any news about Izuku.” Is all he can say.  He really hopes that the broccoli would walk in at any second. 

The door flies open.  Minato looks over, perhaps the universe answered his prayer?  But alas, it was him.  The one Minato disdains.  He huffs and turns away.

A young man, clad in UA’s uniform walks in.  Looking prim and proper, his navy blue hair is combed and slicked, glasses completely square, matching his rigid posturing.  Looking closer, it would seem he managed to even make his irises square shaped. 

“Good morning, classmates of 1-A!  It is an honor to greet you this fine morning.”  He stiffly bows, going into a ninety degree angle. 

“G-Good morning!” Akira chimes back, trying to be a little normal.

“Too slow!” The square chimes in.  “You should keep your replies fast and concise.  Please refrain from stuttering in the morning. It is very undignified.”  The oddly deep voiced boy commands.  

Akira winces and shrinks in on himself, while Minato scowls even further, giving off a deadly aura.

A blonde kid kicking it back smiles and laughs.  “Geez, what’s up with you?  It’s the first day. Learn to relax a little.”  He pushes his yellow spiked bangs back.  Something of note, he has a black lightning stripe of hair going horizontally on his bangs. 

The bluenette shakes his head.  “More and more improper undignified students. UA really took you in?” He gives the blondie a glare, causing the blondie to sit up a bit straighter.  

Bakugo leans back, making his chair scuff.  Minato is glaring at the back of the glasses wearer.  ‘Why is this guy so annoying?’ He asks himself.  ‘Who does he think he is?’   Telling strangers off.  It’s exactly what he did during the exam too.

The 1-A door slides open, but Minato doesn't have a chance to see who has walked in.  Putting his focus on the argument starting.  The whole class is watching.  

As if summoned by the chair scuff, square boy rounded onto spiky.  “Remove your feet from that desk!  Such an action is an affront to those before you, and those to come!  You should hold more respect for school property and the craftsmen who toiled to create this desk!”  

Bakugo rounds on him, turning his head, a cackle forming, happy to be able to butt heads with the Four Eyes.  “Like I care!” He starts laughing creepily, taking too much joy from this.  “What middle school spit out a lame brain like you?”

Not understand the rhetoric, the deep voiced boy answers. “I am Tenya Iida, the younger brother of Ingenium.  And I hail from the Somei Private Academy.”  

Bakugo stands up, hands twitching, still smiling despite the intimidating glare in his eyes.  “Somei?  So you really are just a stuck up elitist!  Did you make sure to use your private school connections to get in this class?  Maybe I should just blow you to bits!”  Emphasizing this, his hands smoke and pop.

Iida reels back, even his shocked actions looking stiff and robotic.  “Blow me to bits?!” He gasps out.  “You’re awful! Do you really want to become a hero with that vernacular???” He asks, dreading the answer.  

Something in Iida’s line of sight distracts him from the dangerous exchange.  A young man hovers behind the 1-A classroom door, looking ready to bolt at any second.  Uraraka bounces, and Minato stands up.  Standing in the door is none other than Midoriya Izuku.

Izuku stands in the doorway, clutching his backpack like his life depends on it.  His eyes are wide and he’s already half backing out of the doorway like a baby mouse ready to hide in the smallest hole. 

Iida shuffles to him, looking stiff and apprehensive.  Minato moves out from behind his desk, not wanting for that glasses guy to bully his timid...uh..would he even be considered a friend?  It’s not like Minato spoke to him outside of the one time during the exam.  

Shaking his head, he moves to interfere, because whatever Izuku is, he won’t stand by while he’s bullied.  He soon learns he didn’t need to do that at all.

“I-Iida Tenya, a Somei alumni.”  He reaches out to shake Izuku’s hand.

“I-I heard you earlier…” He talks in a quick mumble.  “Ah.. I’m Izuku Midoriya, it’s a pleasure to meet you Iida.” He puts his hands in front of him, waving them around nervously as he can’t hold eye contact.

Iida peers right at him, doing a full hand point. “Midoriya...you...you surmised what the practical was actually about.  While I did not.  I completely misjudged you.”  He looks away, grinding his teeth in shame.  “I hate to admit this, but you were the superior candidate by far!”  This causes Midoriya to go pink and somehow radiate more nervous energy.

Minato and Uraraka are now much closer.  “Hey there!” Uraraka starts.  “Did you miss our phone numbers?  We put them on your forehead after the exam.” She asks, getting right to the point. 

Izuku jolts up, his hair standing up from Uraraka calling out to him.  He turns to her, going from pink to red.  It’s clear he’s admiring her bubbly and charming aura.  

His eyes go dizzy from looking all over.  “I-I didn’t miss the numbers...I-I just was too nervous to s-save them to my phone and then they ended up in the wash and got destroyed and by then Ihadn’twrittenitdownanditwastoolate” He mutters out in high speed.  Somehow managed to talk faster and faster.  

Minato blinks.  That was a lot to take in.  “That’s fine.” He replies.  Being the first to understand everything Mirdoriya mumbled out.

Uraraka laughs. “Yeah, Minato’s right!  Besides, you got in! Just like Mr. Mic said!'' Uraraka throws a hefty air punch. “It makes sense though, your punch was awesome!” She cheers. 

Midoriys manages to turn an even darker shade of red, as he reaches up to cover his face with his hand and his head with his arm.  He’s now effectively blocked out the world. “Aw shucks...I mean aahhh so embarrassing...B-But thanks!!! Both of you...for speaking on my behalf...I’m...it’s a...hhh.”  Midoriya fumbles the words out.

Uraraka tilts her head. “Huh, how’d you know about that?” 

Midoriya goes quiet, and Bakugou glares at the green haired boy.

Minato nods, agreeing with Ochako’s rant.  “We’ve got our entrance ceremony today right? And then the guidance sessions next?  It’s going to be so exciting! I wonder what our homeroom teacher will be like?” She keeps talking, also showing her own nerves. “Boy I sure am nervous!”  

Midoriya keeps shrinking away from the pure mirth coming from the girl.  Minato has leaned away as well, not wanting the mirth to spread it’s inky claws into him.  By now, every student is in a seat besides Iida, Uraraka, Midoriya, and Minato.

“If you’re here to gab like it’s some tea party, then get out.” Comes a voice...from outside of the door.  On the ground. 

The four look down, slowly processing.  On the pristine clean floors of UA, lies a homeless man.  He’s in a yellow, puffer sleeping bag.  His messy long locks of hair hang out of his banana abode.  His chin is peppered with stubble and his eye bags appear to also have eye bags.  For a moment, Minato wonders if he should call security.

The man on the ground pulls out a juice pack, his hand covers most of it, but from what the kids can glean it says, ‘Peach sauce flavored pure caffeine sludge! Great for on the go!’ 

“This is-”  He puts the pack in his mouth.  In one good suck, he downs the packet in less than a second.  Minato is jealous of such eating speed.  “-the Hero course.”  The man hobbles up.  Peeling the sleeping bag off.  He looks like a butterfly emerging from its pupal.  

None of the kids can react.  Akira is just too...weirded out.  Yu on the other hand is just watching.  The kids all stand in unison, not really knowing what to expect from the strange man in front of them. 

“It took...eight seconds for you all to quiet down.  Time is too precious to be wasting like that.  You’re not a very rational bunch are you?”  He fully steps out of the sleeping bag. 

Midoriya is so stunned, he momentarily forgot he was supposed to be anxious.  “So he’s a pro hero too…?”  He wonders aloud.

“I’m your homeroom teacher.  Shota Aizawa, pleasure to meet you all.” He deadpans.  Somehow his red, shot eyes look more pronounced when he introduces himself.

  ‘He’s our homeroom teacher???’ rings out from the collective mind of 1-A students.

Aizawa reaches into his puffy sleeping pod.  After a bit of rummaging, he pulls out...a track suit.  “Without wasting any time,  change into your gym clothes and meet at the fields.” One by one, a student comes up and takes a uniform of their measurement.

“A test of our quirks??”

The kids of 1-A cry out, indignant to be doing a test so early on the first day.  

Uraraka comes up behind their teacher.  “Sir what about the entrance ceremony?  Or the guidance sessions?!”  She asks, worried to be missing them.

“No time to waste on the miscellany.  Heroes forgo that fanfare.”  He informs them, while guiding them to the large sport field.  

He walks a couple paces ahead of them, and raises his voice enough to be heard.  “I’m sure you have all heard, UA is known for its ‘freestyle’ educational system.  This applies to my job as well.”

“With that in mind, think of this...

“Soft ball throwing,

Standing long jump,

The fifty meter dash,

“Endurance running, grip strength, upper body training, and seated toe touch.”

He turns to address the class. “Those are all gym events you’ve done up until now without being allowed the use of your quirks, correct?”  

The classroom nods, following what he’s putting down.

“This nation has perpetuated these tests without allowing the use of quirks to create a national average that doesn’t acknowledge quirks.  It’s completely irrational.” 

Aizawa goes and picks up a softball.  He holds it up.  He looks at a list.  “Minato Arikuyo.”  Whispers start up, everyone recognizing the name of the top student from the practical that managed to score a perfect hundred. “How far could you throw while in middle school?” 

The student collective looks around.  Everyone wants to find out who the highscore boy is. The quiet, slouched boy in the crowd steps forward.  “ 55 meters…” Is his answer.

“That’s underwhelming.” Aizawa points out.  The whole class agrees.  Aizawa tosses the softball at Minato.  “I want you to try it with your quirk.  Go all out, just don’t leave the circle.” He points to the circle on the ground.  

Minato stares at the ball.  Everyone is wondering what he’s going to do to throw the ball. 

“Did you happen to catch what his quirk was?” Momo asks.

“It’s Armament.” Yu answers. He grins.  This is going to be soooo sweet.

“Armament? What’s that?” The lightning mark blond asks.

As if to answer the question, Minato is engulfed in brilliant blue flames.  They momentarily color everything a tinge of azure.  The sounds of a gun shot seems to come from Minato as the flames dissipate.

He stands in his transformed glory, cooler than the ice straight from Antarctica.  He pulls his shield from his back.  “Any way right?” 

Everyone leans forward, looking at the quirk.  Izuku from where he is puts his hands up to his face, already fanboying.  He starts muttering about how he thinks Minato’s quirk works.  People move away from the muttering boy.

Aizawa grins.  “Give it all you’ve got kid.” 

Minato nods.  He readies his shield in one hand and tosses the ball up in a straight line.  He swiftly pulls the shield back, his right elbow is tucked, while his left arm wraps around him.  He is practically resting his cheek on the harp shaped slab.  When the ball is in sight, Minato rotates with all his might, hitting the ball with the power and efficiency of a baseball player hitting a homerun. 

CLANG!  Rings out the hollow sound of metal.  Minato stares bored, as the ball soars out of sight.  Aizawa nods, glad the kid got it.  

Aizawa has a device in hand. “It’s important for us to know what our limits are.  In order to overcome them.  This will be the first rational thing I have you all do as your teacher.  All of this will be the building blocks for figuring out what kind of heroes you’ll be.”  He points the device out to the others.

702.3M

The device registers over seven hundred meters.  The whole class freaks out.  Smiles on their faces. 

“Whoa! This is so awesome!”  A pink haired girl jumps up, stretching her arms into the air.

“Over seven hundred meters!” A spiky red head cheers, fist bumping.

“So we can use our quirks for real! Man this hero course is awesome!” the electric boogaloo boy says while smirking.  

The mood shifts.  As a dark and oppressive smaug emanates from the homeroom teacher.  “Awesome...you say?  Here you are, hoping to become heroes in just three short years.”  He leans forward, the atmosphere seems to be sucked in by this teacher's intimidation alone. “And you think it’s supposed to be all fun and games along the way?”  

He waits for a response, and receives none.  “Huh…” He gives them all a dead stare. No joy, no pleasure, no sadness, no anger.  Just a judgmental voice.  “Right then.  The one to score the lowest across all seven events of my choosing, will be deemed hopeless and expelled on the spot.” 

“WHAAAATTT?” The kids cry out.  Looks like there won’t be any fun and games today.  What was looking to be a nice afternoon, filled with testing oneself and improving, will have to be put on the back burner.  Aizawa has effectively put the biggest burden on them possible.  Hanging the ever looming sword of expulsion over their heads, expecting that they all outperform themselves.  

Aizawa gains a sparkle to his eyes finally.  “Welcome to your first day of Hell.  Your fates are at the mercy of us teachers, so you better be able to take the heat.  That’s right kiddos, this is the devilish hero course of U.A high school!”  He concludes, cackling like he’s on a power trip.

Chapter Text

Aizawa is met with immediate resistance.  All the kids jump up to protest him.  The aura surrounding the teacher doesn’t dissipate and grows even stronger.  He gives them all a challenging look with the hopes of motivating them out of spite or fear.

“Lowest scorer...will get kicked out.” Midoriya parrots with his voice shaking as he is scared witless.  His eyes turn into nervous swirls as he chews on his own fingernails.

“It’s only the first day... I mean even if this was the last day, it still wouldn’t be fair!” Uraraka cries out.  She faces the teacher head on with her large eyes boring holes into his head.  She gives him a fierce and determined look despite being afraid of getting kicked out.

“We all just got here sir, please reconsider!” Akira tries politely begging.  His hair goes even more frazzled as his glasses slip down his nose.  His eyes panicky look around trying to see if anyone else feels the same way as him.

Minato just huffs as he looks down ‘I knew this would happen...This is UA.’  He just shrugs as he mentally begins to prepare himself.  He looks at the panicky students, ‘they will be fine, why are they freaking out?’  The blueberry shakes his head, making his hair swoosh about but other than that he doesn’t outwardly emote past that.

Yu and Bakugo both smile as they are the only two not worried about this.  Bakugo looks menacingly manic as he grins feraly and his quirk crackles to life on the palms of his hand.  Yu does a pumped up gesture by pulling his fist into his side with gusto.

Aizawa shakes his head, tutting.  “You think this is a fair world?  Natural disasters...highway pileups...rampaging villains...Anything and everything goes wrong in this world.  I’d say, Japan is full of unfair things.”  Aizawa sighs as he musses his scraggly mop.  “...Heroes...we’re the ones that correct that unfairness.  If you kids were hoping to coast through this and have time to hang out and have free time...I’m sorry to tell you all but for the next three years you’re all going to be painfully reborn.”

“That’s Plus Ultra.”

“Use every advantage you have today.  Use your strength to overcome this, and everything to come.  Bring it on you youths.”  He waggles his finger at them, in a ‘come and get me’ gesture.  His pep talk helped to fire up the entire class.  They now no longer fear the gym exercises.  

“The demonstration from earlier is over, Now it’s for real.” 

Event 1: 50-Meter Dash

Everyone takes turns racing and being timed.  This event seems simple at first, but several kids get a chance to shine and show their creativity.  Minato goes up against Uraraka in the first event.

Before the race Uraraka used her chance to use her quirk cleverly, making her clothes and shoes completely weightless.  Minato however fine tunes his transformation so he only has his shield.  At Homeroom’s signal, the two take off.  Well Uraraka does.  

Minato instead throws his shield like a snowboard, and he hops on it.  It seems like a good idea in hindsight.  However, hindsight isn’t 20/20.  The shield stops sliding mid dash, and he runs the rest of the way.  Leaving it behind.  

Uraraka still had a better time than Minato.  Her’s being 7.15 seconds.  And his being 8.06 seconds.  Minato slumps.  He’s thoroughly disappointed his amazing shield-board plan didn’t work out correctly.  Uraraka laughs a bit, thinking it was hilarious, and he glowers at her.  

Next up is Akira vs. Tenya.

Aizawa might have rigged this match up, he saw how both of them moved in the practical.  He wants to know if the fluffier one will be able to actually stop properly.  He’ll give him a second chance to do it, and if he can’t stop in both times, he’s out.  UA might get mad for expelling this one from the hero course, but he doesn’t care.

Iida and Akira line up for the 50 meter dash.  Akira transforms, red flames curling around him and making his wings bloom.  The whole class oo’s and aw’s at this transformation, seems how it is so extra.  

Akira gushes from the attention, he winks at the fawning girls, as he takes a running stance.  Iida joins him at the start line.  Waiting for the signal.

Aizawa shoots the blank gun, the noise signalling the start.  The two take off, and within nothing short of seconds clear 50 meters.  Iida clocking in at 2.98.  Akira would have gotten 2.97, but he overshot, somehow managing to fling himself into the nearby dividers.  He gets up chuckling. 

Iida stares at him. ‘If he had better control of his quirk, he’d probably be faster than me.’  He does some cool down stretches as his engines start cooling off. 

“Do it again.” Aizawa's voice comes.  “if you can’t stop this time you’re out.” A cold chill washes over the group.  “Unlike most of the others here, you seem to have no control or grasp of your quirk.  I’m not going to let you stay in this course if you keep endangering yourself and others with your lack of control.”  Aizawa ends this by giving Akira a once over ‘he’s so much like his older brother, but nothing like him...I hope he’s not going to be as much of a handful as the other one.’

Minato and Yu both look at Aizawa. ‘Did he really just say that?’ Yu glares at the teacher as walks up to him. He’s an inch shorter than his new mentor but while walking up to the older he transforms.  The yellow flames wash over him as static tv noises rain off him.  Now that he is transformed, he’s almost a foot taller than him.  He focuses his intense yellow eyes onto dull black ones as he is ready to fight with his teacher.

“Would you mind repeating that sensei?” Yu says while getting very protective.  The group of students are unsure of all this and collectively decide to back up.  Minato, knowing he needs to interfere, comes up and bumps into Yu’s knees from behind.  Knocking his behemoth brother down to the ground.  He grabs Yu by the ear and begins dragging him away in a painful and undignified manner.  

“He’s right, If Aki can’t do this he’s out.” Is all he says.  Yu looks stunned at his older brother, he knows that Minato can be cold but not this cold.  He looks away from his older brother and drops his transformation, holding his ear in pain, he looks down with a heavy frown on his face.

“Sorry Sensei…” He trails off still not fully understanding what the purpose of putting Akira on the spot is for.  He looks at Akira with worry, mentally he prays that his younger brother succeeds.  Akira gets up and rubs his head, making his fluffy hair even fluffier. 

“A-Alright, let’s do it again.” he jogs back to the start line, focusing on the task at hand.  Instead of looking nervous he instead looks determined.

“Aizawa-Sensei, should I repeat it too?” Iida asks. “I believe I can go even faster.” He sips more orange juice up, providing fuel to his engines.  With his drink finished he sets the cup down and goes to stand by Akira.  He nods at the red speedster showing he’d eager to redo this too.

“Sure why not, it’s no fun running alone.” The sloppy man shrugs.  The two get ready, taking runner’s stances.  As they prepare, Aizawa gets out a clipboard and writes down some notes.  ‘Definitely doesn't talk back like his elder.’  The mentor gives Yu a cursory glance before turning back to the two racers.  ‘That one certainly didn’t fall far from the tree.  He’s a lot like him, height and attitude wise.’  Aizawa watches as Akira and Iida mentally prepare to run again.

Akira usually would be panicking, however mentaly he is calmly thinking on how to go slow enough to stop. ‘I can summon parts of my transformation… maybe I can choose to just bring out my boots and wings?’  He closes his eyes tightly, focusing on pulling on just those specific parts.  He has to be able to do this to become a hero after all.

“...how can you be so calm?” Yu asks Minato as he is still visibly upset.  Yu doesn’t like that his older brother isn’t standing up for the younger.  “What if he doesn’t pull this off?”  Yu rambles, almost biting his nails. “He could trip again, not transform right...he could fail.”

“Do you not believe in him?”  Minato asks. “You doubt him that much?” Yu swivels onto his older brother, ready to defend himself.  Minato himself holds Yu’s gaze.  The two seem to be mentally arguing. 

Over at the start line, a red plume of flame surrounds Akira as he tweaks his over the top transformation.  When the flames ebate, they reveal he now only has his wings and boots.  The red of the boots clash with the blue of the UA gym uniform but none of that matters now. 

Aizawa grins already proud of his students.  He signals the start again by firing his noisy little prop.  Akira and Iida take off for the second time both simply being blurs of color.  They manage even better times in the second round.  Akira skids a bit but sticks the proverbial landing as he manages to properly stop himself.  He clocked in at 2.94, while Iida got 2.95.

Akira whoops and hollers from his accomplishment.  He jumps up and down as his form drops.  He runs over to Minato and Yu. “I did it! Did you see, did you see?” He grabs Yu and shakes him vigorously.  He smiles a wide joyous grin at his two brothers as his excitement makes his gray eyes sparkle with happiness.  The smiles melts the hearts of everyone who sees it.

Yu is shaken but not stirred.  Sirved on ice. “Y-Yeah I saw.” He grins. “That was great!” He picks him up into a big bear hug.  Minato gives him a knowing stare.  Only he can somehow make a stare oh so smug.  Yu sets Akira back down as he does a big brother, pro gamer move, and ruffles the blackette’s messy fringe.  Akira gives a soft smile and giggle as he enjoys the affection his older brother offers.

Iida also grins, making his best time yet. He comes up to Akira. “Thanks for competing with me.” He bows a perfect angle. “Without you there to push me I wouldn’t have improved so fast.” Akira grins and puts a hand out for him too.

“I was pushed to go faster by you too!” They shake hands.  Izuku comes over too now more comfortable to ask about their quirks.  He starts talking to them by asking them about their quirks in rapid fire succession.

“Ok, next.” Aizawa calls.  More and more kids go, one by one.   They’re all doing a lot to show their quirks.  The sparkly kid from Minato’s practical uses his naval laser to push himself in the dash.  The peppermint looking kid uses ice to skate through the course.  Another girl runs on all fours, hopping across like a frog.  A pink girl slides on a purple-gray slime.

Soon it’s up to Bakugo and Izuku to race.  Aizawa saw the exam, and he is making sure Yu and Bakugo never get to pair up.  He puts a gun up, readying to start the race. 

Bakugo puts his arms around himself, palms facing out behind himself while the green haired squirrely boy takes a weak running stance.  

Bang ! And that’s the sound of the starting pistol.  

“Explosive Speed!” Bakugo cries out with enthusiasm.

“Huh?” Izuku looks over, as Bakugo uses his explosions to rocket himself across the finish line. He gets a 4.13.  Izuku crosses, after picking himself up, due to Bakugo’s explosions knocking him over.  Getting a 7.02.

Bakugo looks back at Izuku, to see the score he got.  He wants to know where he places.  He’s trying to figure out how some Deku got into this class.

Next up, Yu lines up with a crow boy.  The two look at eachother and nod.  Aizawa fires his gun making them take off.  Yu decided not to use his quirk in this event, as his quirk provides no advantages to him in speed.  Tokoyami, the young crow boy, uses his quirk dark shadow to glide across.  He manages a 4.20.  Yu gets 5.01.

The bowl cut puts a hand out for Tokoyami to shake.  Tokoyami nods at him.

“Yu Arikuyo, nice racing you.” He introduces. Tokoyami shakes his hand.  He nods back at him. 

“Tokoyami.  Good race.” The two give the other a small smile. 

The rest of the kids complete the dash.  They move onto the rest of the events.

Event 2: Grip Strength

Midoriya gulps.  He didn’t do that well in the last event.  He’s worried about being expelled, someone already had the whip cracked on them!  He looks at Akira.  ‘That guy has an amazing quirk and even he was almost expelled.’  Panic courses him, he doesn’t know what to do to get a better score.

Minato transforms his arm and grips the machine, 80 kilograms is what the screen reads.  He puts it down and looks at Akira.  The boy is holding his arm and gripping the heck out of the machine.  It reads 55 kilograms.  He lets out the breath he was holding.  Minato nods, he looks at Izuku and sees him struggling.  He sighs, knowing that Izuku’s quirk is bad for him to use.  He turns his head to Yu.

Yu transforms fully, gripping the machine.  It reads 700kg before it’s smashed to bits.  He laughs, enjoying this event.  Minato walks over, grabbing ear again.  “Yu, come help me with something.” 

Yu looks at Minato, the words ‘help me’ echoing in his mind.  Minato asked for help from him.  That’s a novelty.  He wonders if up is down, and if left is right.  His eyes dart around in fear.

“Stop freaking out you idiot.” He drags Yu over to  Izuku.  “Izuku.  This is Yu.  Here.” He hands his younger, taller brother over and walks away.

Yu looks down at Izuku, his height slightly going down as he de-transforms.  He looks back at Minato, Minato makes a gesture by swiping his neck. Yu gulps, not knowing what to take from Minato’s normal death threat.  He receives one at least twice a day, sure, but at least he usually knows why his brother is getting ready to kill him.

“Why did he…?” Izuku asks Yu, who just shrugs. 

“He brought me over, and if I don’t do whatever he expects….” He grimaces. “Then I’m a dead man.” 

“Heh…” Izuku looks at his face.  “U-Uhm…”  The two just stand there awkwardly.  The silence is palpable. The longer it lasts, the more the two want to talk.

“So…” Yu starts “these events… amiright?” He laughs.  He is sooooooo bad at small talk all of a sudden.  Izuku looks away, not sure what to say to the tall boy.  

Yu gulps.  He’s going to die.  Minato comes up next to him.  “...”  Minato’s aura intimidates Yu and Izuku. 

“You both have the same strength problems.” He pushes out. “...So..I thought you could help him. ” He makes a face, it’s written by expression alone that he doesn’t like the idea of asking Yu for help.  

“So help him. ” He leaves them to it.  Yu already knows what’ll happen if he doesn’t help Izuku.  

He stands up rigidly. “Of course! So you have a strength quirk too?” He asks Midoriya.

The greenette gulps, not sure what he’s going to have to say.  “I-I recently d-developed my quirk…” He wraps arms around himself, body language emanating the same as that of a timid bunny, clearly nervous and unsure. “I-I don’t really have control on it like I should… Last time I used it I sort of… broke every bone in my body?” He chuckles, even though it is not funny at all.

“Huh.  They just… broke?”  the silverette asks.  “You broke every bone?  How?”  He’s genuinely worried and curious.  “My quirk doesn't do that man, are you doing it wrong?”

Izuku jumps a bit.  “I-I uhh clenched… and threw a punch… ummm I went all out?” He tries to explain.  It comes out in broken thoughts.  “One minute I am on the ground… the next I'm in the air and the zero pointer was blown to smithereens.” He looks at his fist and shudders, remembering the absolute damage he endured.  

“So you managed to throw a punch amazing enough to smash a zero pointer… but can’t use your strength past that?”  He thinks out loud.  “Does your power work all at once?  Like do you fully flex everything?” He looks at him.  The bowl cut boy tries to understand.

The hapless boy shrugs.  “I’m new to it… but that sounds right… I think my bones broke from that.”  He throws a fake punch.  “When I actually hit the robot it felt like… nothing at all.  So I think my own quirk activating is what smashed my bones.  I did some reading that some power quirks strengthen just the muscles and not the bones.  Bones are stronger than steel and have ten times the compression rate of a metal.  However, there’s been cases where some people’s muscles can flex with enough force to crack their own bones resulting in stress fractures.  I think that is what happened when I used my q-” Izuku’s long winded quirk observation is cut off by Yu putting a hand on his mouth, to stop him from going on.

“...” His eyes look like piercing gray radars, and his ears are releasing steam.  All the rambling and information is making Yu overwhelmed.  “...So… you already know the problem.” He steps back.

“What do you mean?” Deku asks.  The freckled boy looks confused. 

“I mean...well…” Yu scratches his chin and looks away. “I don’t flex… every muscle to throw a punch.”  

Izuku stares at him.

Yu stares back.

A silence stretches out.

“....”

Yu tilts his head at Izuku. “Do you still need...strength advice…?”

Midoriya grimaces.  “I-I...uhh...hh..I’m fine, no thank you.” He bows awkwardly. “Have a nice day!”

He flees.  Yu stands there, he wasn’t wrong!  Where is the lie?  You don’t use every muscle to throw a punch.  He looks at his own hands.  He hasn’t been punching wrong this whole time right?  He begins to self doubt.  

Minato and Aizawa both glare from their separate perches.  ‘These frickin kids’ running through each of their minds.

Izuku finds a corner.  He looks at the grip device.  He already knows he has to practice regulation!  All Might already talked to him about regulating it.

A memory replays itself for Midoriya.  “If you’re imagining your power like an egg in a microwave… Then try reducing the power, shorten the cooking time, do what you can to keep the egg from exploding.” He gulps… easier said than done.

Izuku hasn’t had any sort of quirk to fine tune like this before.  It’s nothing like he expected.  He contemplates on how to do this.  He can’t control his new quirk.  As All Might’s successor, he can’t afford to use all his strength in this one event and then bow out. The last time he attempted to use this power, it broke him. 

“I don’t flex every muscle to throw a punch.” plays in his head as well.  It was strange advice.  He puts the gripper in his dominant hand.  He wonders if he should activate his quirk, but then he remembers his bones turning to powder inside of him during the practical.  He shudders as he unconsciously grips the machine, making it read 40kg.  

Izuku grimaces, as he knows this was another failure of the day.

Third Event: Standing Long Jump

For this event, everyone lined up, going one by one to show their stuff.  This one was pretty simple: jump as far as you can. 

Bakugo rocketed himself across, showing he’s capable of gliding.  Shiny boy, who’s by now introduced himself as Yuga Aoyama, uses his belly button blast to travel a vast distance.  Akira uses his wings.  A frog girl also managed to clear a far distance from her impressive hind legs alone.  

Overall, this event went by without a hitch.  Aizawa recorded all their jumping distances.  Everyone performed as expected.  He writes down their scores as they move on.

Fourth Event: Side stepping

This event went about the same as the last.  It involves jumping side by side and seeing how fast you can do it.  By now the kids are used to implementing their quirks to benefit their scores.  Aizawa huffs a lazy grin on his tired face, ‘ these kids are starting to actually act like they belong in the hero course.’ 

Chapter Text

Event Five: Throwing

This is the event from the demonstration.  Throw the softball as far as you can.  The kids were really excited for this one.  Seems how it’s what the homeroom teacher started with.

The event flies by, Bakugo steps up first.  Muscling his way to the front.

“I’m first, teach!  Mister Number One in the practical got a pathetic seven hundred right?  Well I’m going to beat that right now!” The blonde takes the ball and goes into the pitcher circle.  He does a dramatic wind up, and when he throws the ball, a blast of heat and fire shoot it from his hand like a cannon.  He lets it fly, shouting a solid “DIE!” as it goes.

The whole group stares, their hair being kicked up from the sheer winds blowing off of Baku.  Did they hear that right? Because it sounded a lot like he told the ball to die.  

Aizawa shows the explosion boy his score.  Bakugo whoops. “Seven hundred and five!  How about that!?” He goes up and gets in Minato’s face.  Minato doesn’t react or care. “I scored better than you! What now?” Minato leans back, turns out these two are the exact same height.  Minato gives Bakugo and amused smirk.  Like he’s mocking him. 

This pisses the blonde off to no end.  He looks rabid as he grabs Minato’s collar. 

“Hey now, I wouldn’t do that.  Especially because I’m going to beat your score.” Yu jokes around.  He brushes past Bakugo, bumping into him intentionally.

Yu grabs a ball for himself.  He gets into the circle mound and transforms fully, grinning as he grips the ball.  He reels back and then shoots forward, throwing the ball high and dry.  He bounces over happily to Aizawa, reading his score. 

He is all smiles as he goes  to Bakugo.  “Heh.” He says to Bakugo.  “We tied again.” He laughs.  

Bakugo loses it.  “WHAT?” He forgets about Minato for now.  “Not this bs again piss eyes.”

“I told you before I don’t have piss in my eyes!” Yu corrects.  His form falls, making his lemon yellow eyes go back to a neutral gray.  “I think you’re just a jealous prickly pear.”

Bakugo turns stiff like a statue.  In the background Deku fully jumps, hands to his mouth, entire form screaming out disbelief.  The rest of the kids in the group back up. 

Before Bakugo can continue this, Ochako steps up. “C-Can I go next sir?”  Aizawa nods and hands her the ball.  

Ochako looks close to throwing up as she steps up to the plate, and it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with her quirk.  With a loud swallow, she uses her gravity quirk on the ball, causing it to float into the sky.  And it keeps going.  And going.  And going, and going, and going, until it’s nothing more than a twinkle in the sky.

Aizawa whistles.  “I’ve never seen this score before.”  All the kids get curious,  Uraraka tilts her head.  Aizawa points it out for them all to see.

It’s infinite.  Her score is an infinity symbol.

Bakugo grimaces. “No. Way.”

Yu claps. “That’s… incredible.” 

Instead of being happy for Ochako, Izuku seems to get even more worried.

Minato gives Uraraka a small smile and a thumbs up.  Uraraka beams at this, happy Minato is congratulating her.  

She runs up to Izuku.  “You seem so worried about this, why don’t you just get it out of the way?”  She maneuvers Izuku to the front.  He stiffly walks his way to grab a ball. Grimacing the whole way.  

Ochako looks at him, still worried.  Iida walks to stand by Ochako and Minato.  “Midoriya isn’t doing very well...” He says, showing concern. He crosses his arms and Ochako nods while holding her arms up with worry.  

Bakugo leans back, hand in pocket.  He points at Izuku. “Well duh!  He’s a quirkless runt!”  The others turn to him.

Iida chimes in, “Quirkless?!  Surely you’ve heard of his feat from the entrance exam!”

“Huh?!” Bakugo hisses.

“He told me he recently got his quirk?” Yu adds.

“WHAT?” Bakugo screams.

Aizawa breaks them from the conversation. “46 Meters.” He says.  

Everyone’s heads whip back to the event, moving so fast they all but leave a blur where their faces were originally.

“Huh?  But… I was trying to use it?” Izuku seems to ask his hands, despair leaking out of him. 

“I erased your quirk.” The homeroom teacher answers for him.  He starts ruffling his hair back and the fibers wrapped around his neck unravel.  “You’re abilities… it’s utterly irrational they voted someone like you in.” 

Izuku comes to a realization. “Erased…? That would mean you’re—!” He starts muttering.  Seems he knows something about the teacher the group doesn't.  “You are... the erasure hero!” the broccoli points at the teacher.  “You’re the underground hero Eraser Head!”  

Aizawa approaches his prospective student. “I saw it, how you can’t control your quirk.  I know you’re just a glass cannon.  Were you hoping that you would be healed after?”  The fabric unwraps from Aizawa’s neck and ties itself to Izuku, pulling him in.  This isn’t the same as earlier.  He just made Akira redo his run.  Aizawa however seems genuinely mad at Izuku for some reason.

Izuku protests, denying what Aizawa is saying, desperate to make it clear that it isn’t true.  “No, that not what I—!”

“Whatever you were planning,” Aizawa cuts him off. “You would have just become a burden for your peers.  Over a decade ago, a certain hot-blooded hero saved over a thousand people during a disaster.  He turned himself into a living legend.  You’re just like him.  Completely reckless.  The biggest difference?  You’ll be completely crippled after saving just one person.”  He leans in, holding eye contact with the anxious boy.

“Izuku Midoriya.  You won’t become a hero continuing to use your power the way you are.”  The teacher sighs, gently releasing the boy.  Despite his scathing words, he is simply speaking from his own experience.  “Go on and give it another go.  I won’t erase your quirk again.  Get it over with.” The teacher says sadly.

Izuku grimaces.  The kids look worried.  They’re unfortunately far enough away that they didn’t hear Aizawa’s words.  Uraraka looks ready to go talk to Izuku again.  Yuga pulls her back.

“Are you worried about him?  I’m not worried at all.” He gives her a dazzling smile.  

Instead of reassuring her, it just confuses her. “And you are..?” She asks him.

Iida put his hands to his chin. “It would seem sensei has given him a secret instruction.”

Bakugou scowls, “Yeah. The instruction to leave.”

Yu crosses his arms. “It kind of seems that way doesn’t it?”

Akira stands by Yu, he cheers on Midoriya.  ‘If I managed, you can too!’ he mentally cheers.

Minato clenches his fist.  He’s not sure if Midoriya will be able to do this.  He has no control and he knows that he can’t practice such a destructive power.  For once, he can’t help but feel worried.  

Izuku does an odd wind up.  He throws his arm back and then fully leans forward with his arm locked and completely extended.  Izuku completely desecrates the technique of throwing a ball.  When his arm reaches the point where it’s completely perpendicular to the ground, the atmosphere shifts. 

Minato and Aizawa both lean in.  Almost in slow motion, it looks like Izuku’s hand leaves the ball, and in that last moment his index finger is the only thing on the ball.  

‘I’ll give it my all… in the smallest way.  Instead of flexing my entire body… I’ll focus on a tiny iota of my body!’ Izuku thinks.  “Now! SMASH!!! ” He cries out, creating a small sonic boom.  

Bakugo seems to flinch from this display of raw power.  The ball goes sailing, gleaming as it leaves sight.  Izuku grinds his teeth together.  “This pain...it’s nothing like before,”  Minato’s eyes widened, realizing what Izuku did.  “Sensei.  I can still move.” Izuku says resolutely. 

Aizawa gives a toothy grin, absolutely blown away and proved wrong at the same time.  He seems to be elated.  “This kid!”  He utters, delighted.  Minato gives a small genuine smile of his own.  He nods to Izuku.  

“That was so cool!”  Yu cheers.

Akira jumps up. “I knew he’d do it!” 

Aizawa points to the device for the class to see, and 705 m displays in bold numbers.  Same as Bakugo and Yu’s.  

“WOO!” Ochako throws up her hands.  “Now that’s a hero-like record if I ever saw one!” 

“His finger is purple and swollen.” Iida squints his eyes to get a good look.  “Thinking back to the entrance exam… what a strange quirk.” 

Yuga smiles, aiming a sparkle at the readers.  “Stylishly done!” He congrats.  

But Bakugo angrily starts yelling.  Explosions go off as his fingers crackle with orange sparks. “DEKU!  Explain yourself!! What the HELL is this?!?!”  He charges him at a high speed. 

Before the Eraser Hero even needs to interfere someone jumps in to stop him.  Bakugo charges head first into a harp shield.  A clang rings out.

“ARG!” Bakugo holds his face. “What’s the big idea you blue Tumblr looking ass—” 

Minato reels back, pushing the platinum blonde down, and pinning him in place with the shield.  Bakugo hisses as he can’t seem to get his explosions to work at the moment.  “Sensei, you don’t have to keep using your quirk.  I can keep him here for the rest of the day.” 

“Quit your squabbling!” The instructor lectures.  “I can’t believe this… I’m getting dry eye over here!”  He cries out, as his eyes are beet red.  

The curtain fringe gets up, he offers a hand to help Bakugo up with as well.  Bakugo doesn't just shove it away, he slaps it, open handed all five fingers.  Minato waves his now stinging hand.  Adding another name to the list…

“What a waste of time… get ready for the next event.” Aizawa orders.

Izuku slinks back to the group, holding his hand.  His index finger is clearly broken.  Ochako comes up and fawns all over him, eyes filled with stars.

Bakugo looks back at Deku, seething.  First he didn’t take the number one spot in the exam.  Then stupid Deku here miraculously got a quirk that puts him on equal footing?  This is all… morifying for Bakugo.  Everyone in 1-A, Deku included… they were just his stepping stones to becoming the number one hero!   But now it’s looking like there’s more then one hurtle in this class!

The next events were completely unremarkable.  [So unremarkable that the writer didn’t bother to check what the anime decided to do for them.]  Aizawa walks to the front of 1-A.  “Moving on, it’s time for the results.”

All the kids gulp.  Bracing for worst, but hoping for the best, they wait with bated breath.  “Your total scores simply reflect your performances you did today.  Explaining how each of you did is going to be pointless and take too much time.”

Aizawa holds up a device. “By the way.” A hologram begins to fizzle up. “I lied about expelling someone.”  Everyone is stunned.  “That was a rational deception.” He cackles, face going into what can be best described as complete and utter spite.  “It was all in the name of getting all of you to do your best!” 

There’s varying reactions, Izuku, Iida, and Akira all look like demon ghosts. “WHAAAAAAAAT?” The entire group cries out.  

“Well of course it was a lie, it didn’t take that much to figure out.” Momo adds, putting a hand on her hip.  This earns her a glare from Minato, but he says nothing.

With that, Aizawa heads out. “We’re done, get out.  Don’t forget to pick up your books from the classrooms.”

He pauses. “Oh! Midoriya, go have Recovery Girl and fix that finger.” He hands Izuku a slip.  As he strides off, people look at what’s on the scoreboard for the day.

1st place: Momo Yaoyorozu

2nd Place: Minato Arikuyo

3rd Place: Shoto Todoroki

4th Place: Katsuki Bakugo

5th Place: Yu Arikyuo

6th Place: Tenya Iida

7th Place: Fumikage Tokoyami

8th Place: Akira Arikuyo

9th Place: Mina Ashido

10th Place Eijirou Kirishima

11th Place: Ochako Uraraka

12th Place: Mezou Shoji

13th Place: Koji Koda

14th Place: Rikido Sato

15th Place: Tsuyu Asui

16th Place: Yuga Aoyama

17th Place: Hanta Sero

18th Place: Denki Kaminari

19th Place: Kyoka Jirou

20th Place: Izuku Midoriya

Izuku gulps at seeing his name dead last.  

As Aizawa leaves, he rounds the UA building, and is accosted by Japan’s number one hero.

“Aizawa! You big fat liar!”  He says with a beaming grin.

Aizawa’s eyes trail up the big form.  “All Might… So you were watching.  Good to know you like wasting time.”  

All Might tuts.  He’s so jovial, his smile doesn’t drop once.  “A rational deception?!” He throws out.  “April Fool’s day was over a week ago!”  All Might’s mirth drops.  “I saw your record.  Last year you expelled an entire class of first years.”  

“You mercilessly cast aside those you deemed unworthy.  They had zero prospects, yes?”  He puffs his chest out, putting his arms on his side.  His pinstripe yellow suit all works to make him stand out like a big red exclamation point.  “But now you go back on your word?  Could it be... “ He trails off, a giddiness taking over.  He finger guns at Aizawa.  “That young man, Midoriya!  You sensed his potential as well, yes?!?” He asks.

Aizawa just glares at him. “As well?” He asks right back.  All Might jumps like he’s been caught.  He swerves the question.

“You will be supporting him?  It’s my understanding you don’t do this, it’s not your teaching style.”  He pushes through.  

Aizawa walks away, his back turned to All Might.  He gruffly replies. “He doesn’t not have a chance.  That’s all I can say.” He begins his strides anew.

“Because, if he had no ‘prospects’ he would have been cut loose right away.  There’s nothing crueler than letting someone chase their half-baked dreams only to wind up in a ditch later on.  It’d be like having their blood on my hands.” He slouches and walks away, clearly thinking of something personal.

“Right, let’s agree to disagree!” All Might ends, not liking that Aizawa didn't immediately agree with him.

Izuku walks away from UA.  As he leaves he walks with a bone dead slump.  Every part of him looked ready to collapse any minute.  “I’m poooooped.” He drawls out.

“How’s your finger?” Iida stops him by grabbing his shoulder.  Izuku jolts in shock. 

“I-Iida!  It’s fine thanks to the school nurse.”  He shows the bandaged phalange to Iida. 

“Good.  But that Aizawa Sensei!  He sure fooled us.  He made me think ‘this is how it is at the top!’ but… our own instructor deceived us like that…”

Iida’s rambling was cut off as four people scramble to catch up. “Hey!” A girly voice sing-songs.  “You two! Heading to the station? Wait up!” Ochako calls.

“Yeah we want to walk with you!” Yu adds.  He and his brothers trail along.  At the sight of Iida, Akira runs up to him.

“I’d like to talk to another speedster!  I had a lot of fun racing with you! Maybe we can do morning runs together?” Akira smiles as he asks.  Iida nods, just as enthusiastic.

“It’s the bird boy and infinity girl.” Iida notes to Akira and Ochako.  “And the shield boy and the thug who threatened the teacher.” Is what he respectively is calling Minato and Yu.  

Yu slumps sadly. “I’m a thug…?”

Minato and Ochako run up to Izuku.  “I was wondering, can I call you Deku?” She asks, “I heard the Bakugo guy calling you that.”

Izuku gets all twitchy.  “Um..Um...My real name is Izuku.  Deku is something Kacchan came up, as an insult.  In case you haven’t noticed he’s kind of a bully.” 

Iida chimes in. “A derogatory pet name then?”

Yu tilts his head. “Where does Deku come from though?”

Akira turns a bit pink as he looks down. “It’s kind of cute sounding… like something from a video game.”

Uraraka nods. “Yeah! It’s super cute, it just...well ‘Deku’ just screams to me ‘do your best’!  I really like it!” She blushes as she strikes a ‘can do’ pose.  

Deku turns a brilliant shade of vermillion, the nearby roses all wilt in jealousy of his vibrance.  “ Deku’s fine!!! ”

Yu and Iida both looked shocked at him. “Midoriya, you simp, no!” Yu cries out.

Iida starts. “Show a bit of back bone! It’s an insult isn’t it???  This is going to be just like the Copernican Revolution!” 

“Four Eyes is right! That was a flawed way of viewing the solar system.” Yu agrees with Iida, surprisingly actually knowing what the revolution is.

“Hang on, you are a ‘four eyes’ too.” Iida tells Yu, pointing out he has a bowl cut and glasses too.  Yu’s glasses look more like goggles but they’re glasses nonetheless.

Minato grins. “I’m calling you Izuku, call me Minato.” He gives Izuku a thumbs up.  

Izuku blushes, turning shy at the thought of being on a first name basis but excited nonetheless. “O-ok!” 

Akira and Yu look between the two.  “We want to be on a first name basis too!” They say in unison, doing that creepy thing where twins usually talk in tandem.  They’ve sometimes been able to do that, and Minato always makes fun of them. (Most likely he’s jealous of their mental connection, since he doesn’t seem to have one.)

“Call me Aki!” Akira tells the group, looking subdued but excited, like a kitten.

“You can call me Bancho!” Yu smiles.  Minato hits his arm.

“They’re not doing that.” 

Yu pouts. “I don’t get a nickname!”

Uraraka smiles at the triplettes. “I get it, you want us to use your first names because you’re all brothers right?” 

Iida puts his fist into his palm, in an ‘I get it now’ gesture.  “Then we’ll be using first names with each other.  Marvelous.” 

Midoriya lets out the sweetest smile possible.  He managed to make a whole group of new friends.  On his first day no less!  He can’t wait to tell his mom.  Tears of joy begin welling up in his eyes.  It hit him, how he’s here.  He’s finally here. He made it.   The useless Deku is no more.  He’s on the path to becoming a hero.  He’s made precious friends… His homeroom teacher has even seemed to warm up to him.

Everyone freaks out, slews of ‘don’t cry’ ‘what’s wrong’ and ‘is it your finger’ ring out.  For some reason, those words warmed Izuku even more.  Causing the warmth in his chest to bubble up and pour from his eyes.  “I’m just… really happy .” He wetly giggles out.

Chapter Text

After an exciting first day of school, the 1-A students soon discovered how normal the curriculum is.  All of the heroes act as normal functioning teachers.  The core classes are all covered English, math, science, and foreign languages, showing just how well rounded UA is.  

The Homeroom teacher Aizawa keeps the homeroom short and sweet.  Present Mic teaches a fun and open English class, focusing on using music and one liners to help improve hero repertoire.  Cementoss teaches modern literature, using it as a means to help the students appreciate poetry and modern adaptations of old classics.  Hero Ectoplasm teaches mathematics, he uses his quirk, clones, to help each student figure out equations at their own pace.  Midnight teaches History, incorporating modern hero art to help give it all context.  

The question burning through 1-A’s mind was ‘who actually taught the hero course?’  Through the day they followed their schedules, and saw their last period was the hero course but the planner didn’t tell them who actually taught it.  They all assumed Eraserhead was probably the one going to teach it.

The three brothers all snicker, remembering how the attendance roll call went.  Aizawa took the time to call out, ‘Arikuyo’ three times in a row.  It was something that the whole class had to hold back from laughing about.  “Arikuyo one, Arikuyo two, Arikuyo three”  Somehow, the boys knew which was which.  Akira giving a ‘I’m here sir.’ followed by Minato grunting.  Yu gave a proper ‘present!’ .  

After that, classes went on normally.  The first year students were mostly quiet on the first day, trying to learn UA’s maze like school grounds.  Classes went by smoothly, until the kids found themself in their second to last class.

Present Mic pipes up in the middle of his English lesson.  This class was just before last period.  The students are too distracted by the thought of their first hero class to pay attention to the jubilant teacher.

“Hey Hey Hey!  Everybody!” He cries out.  He raises his hand in his excitement, hoping to infect the other students with it.  “Answer the question! Hands up, show me some spirit!”  He looks at them, seeing a lack of volunteering.

He flashes a saucy wink at his students. “Perhaps instead of cold feet, everyone has cold hands?” he makes a joke.

A loud snap rings out.  Yu, sitting in the middle, has snapped his pencil in half. “Sensei.”

Present Mic gulps, jumping back from the animosity radiating off the bowl cut. “Y-Yes...Arikuyo?” 

“That joke wasn’t funny.” Yu stares him down, face flat and completely unreadable.

“Honestly dreadful, sensei.” Minato adds, slumping back into his chair more.  The bluenette’s fringe shadows his face as he too stares at the manic blond up front.

“Someone should burn it.” Minato swivels back, looking to his right. Sitting in front of his brother is a girl with a front swept, blunt bob.  Her black hair is framing her down cast face, eyes accentuated with thick, black eyeliner.  Her bottom lashes have mascara on, making them more pronounced.  Overall, she’s styled in a rock punk aesthetic.  Her most unique feature is her long earlobes; flesh toned headphone jacks.

Minato stares at the girl, she smiles at him, giving him a cool two finger salute.  The two it would seem are having a silent conversation.  They nod to each other, the bonds of friendship forming. Minato, it seems, has acquired a new social link. 

Yu is still glaring at Present Mic, who flounders. “Y-You know, you all seem ready for the hero course! I think I’ll head out early!”  He sweats.  Present Mic gathers his papers. “First day means no homework!” He scurries out of the room like a little pudgy bird fleeing with puffed up feathers.  

Izuku looks over to the clock on the wall. “He ended...twenty minutes early.”  He trails off.  Izuku pulls out a notebook, labeled ‘ hero notes, classmates .’  he starts mumbling about earphone jacks and telepathy, hastily scribbling notes into his book.

“Ah.” Yu looks at his snapped pencil.  “I didn’t bring any other pencils!”  He stretches forward to tap Minato on the shoulder.  Minato turns his head slightly, acknowledging him.  “Niisan” Yu starts.  “Can I borro-”

“No.” Comes a quick reply as Minato faces forward.  Yu blinks.

“Minato?” Yu asks again, grinning a bit in disbelief.

“Suffer.” Is all Minato replies with.  It appears he will not be sparing a pencil.

“I got you bro.” Someone pipes up next to the glasses wearing silverette.  Yu turns to address the new voice.

Next to him, someone with vibrant cherry hair, spiking up like stalagmites, gives him a smile.  He’s got pointed features, pointed hair, pointed eyes, pointed pupils, pointed teeth, and pointed chin.  He even has a singular scar striping upwards from his right eyelid.  To someone not paying attention it looks almost like a really long eyelash.  “Thanks!”  Yu grins. Despite looking at someone who seems to be the living embodiment of knives, he has a surprisingly soft smile. 

He reaches out and gladly receives the spare pencil; it’s red to match the owner’s hair.  “You’re Kirishima Eijiro right?” Yu asks, remembering how he did during the quirk assessment. 

“Woah you already know my name Arikuyo?  That’s so… manly!”  He grins more, becoming talkative and open.  The two seem to mesh well.  

“Yeah, you were really great during the assessment.” He compliments. “Also just call me Yu, There’s three Arikuyo’s here.” 

Kirishima seems to radiate pure warmth as he grins even wider, showing off his magnificent set of shark teeth.  His red eyes seem to sparkle. “You’ve got it man!” He gives a thumbs up.  

From behind Yu and Kirishima, a girl leans forward. Her bouncy pink afro bobs as she inserts herself into the conversation. “Can I call you Yu too?” She asks.

“Of course!” He grins at her.  “You’re Mina Ashido right?” Yu’s always been great with names, unlike his impassive older brother, who never really bothered to learn anyone’s names, and his introverted younger brother, who was too shy to talk to anyone anyway.  

“Woah, you’re good!”  Mina compliments.

“It’s not hard to notice you.” He winks at her, causing her to flush a pastel purple.  She turns all flustered.

“Oh stop playing! You player!”  she starts smacking his back, and from the room can tell, it wasn’t a light little tap either.  Yu wrenches forward and grimaces with each blow.

Iida turns around. “Mina Ashido, we’re technically still in class, can you keep it down until the next instructor shows up?”

“What’s the harm in talking?” Ochako asks. “It’s not like it hurts anything, and I want to get to know all my classmates!”

Mina nods in agreement.  “Besides, sitting here for twenty minutes in silence would be torture!”

Yu nods. “Silence is pretty torturous.”

Kirishima grins. “Maybe we can pass the time with a competition?”

Yu turns to him, intrigued.  “I’m listening.”

“No, no competition!” Iida tries to stop them. But they just ignore him in favor of their new found bromance.

“We can arm wrestle!  I’m strong, you’re strong.  Let’s see who the stronger is!” Kiri says with excitement.

“I can judge it too!” Mina leans on the desk, now using Kiri as a means to keep herself propped up.  Yu agrees and the two line their desks up and begin the round as Minato refs it.  All of them are grinning like idiots. 

A girl in the center, left of the classroom gets up.  “We haven’t even really introduced ourselves properly to each other yet.”  She sticks her tongue out slightly.  Everyone takes in the girl's appearance: she has a nasally but cute sounding voice, and long dark green hair pulled into interesting loops towards the bottom, resembling a bow.  She’s also sporting large and round green eyes.  “I’m Tsuyu Asui, kero, but my friends call me Tsu.”  She introduces herself to the class. 

Catching on, the others use their time to talk and introduce themselves to the person sitting nearest to them.

Akira uses this change to talk to the people he’s sitting by.  He turns to the peppermint colored boy, still hugging his midsection slightly.  He’s been cold all day sitting here, like the AC’s been cranked on high.  It’s always the back row that suffers such a fate.  He shivers and faces away.  “I-’m  Akira Arikuyo.” He forces out to the guy sitting in front of him.

The boy in front of him turned.  He was large, built like a firehouse.  Despite his stacked size, he has a timid face.  He shakes and seems to visibly shrink in on himself.  His skull seems to be molded out of rocks, and his jawline is a perfect square, skin tone peachy just like the fruit.  He raises shaky hands and waves with one, then proceeds to do a series of hand motions.

‘I’m Koji Koda.’ is what those hand motions mean.

Akira stares at them.  The other student seems dejected.  “So your n-name is Koji Koda?” Akira asks.  He’s still cold but he knows what Koji signed.  Koji perks up.  He seems genuinely happy that he knew what he ‘said’.  He makes more gestures.

‘I really like your quirk, your wings are gorgeous.’

Akira turns bashful. “My quirk isn’t so great.” He blushes. “Thank you.” He leans forward, rubbing his messy puff mess.

Some of the others turn to the conversation.  A boy with big lips and spiky brown hair starts. “Wait, you can tell what those random hand motions are?”

Akira nods. “It’s not random, it’s sign language.”

“Huh.” Sato leans back. “I thought he was so nervous he was waving his hands around.”  He rubs his cheek.  “So your name is Koji Koda?” He asks aloud, but to no one particular.  “I’m Rikido Sato.” He puts a hand out, in a hand shake gesture to Koda. “Sorry about earlier, I didn’t know what you were doing, no hard feelings?” He gives a sheepish grin.

Koda shyly smiles.  His timidness softened his hard edges.  Akira for a moment thought he looked kind of cuddly.  With how cold he is right now he’s willing to sidle up to even Bakugo.  Koda and Sato shake hands, and Akira smiles at the two making up.

“I really appreciate you translating this lug.” He nods at Akira smiling.  “I was worried you’d be stuck-up or something with your preppy look but you’re actually a nice guy aren’t you?”  He asks Akira now.

Akira pirks up. “I’m not that preppy looking…” He gives another shiver.  

“Dude are you sick or something?” Rikido asks.  “You keep shivering back here.”

Akira is surprised he noticed.   “It’s just….really cold back here.  Like the AC is cranked up to the arctic setting or something.”  

“Sorry.” comes a short apology from Todoroki. 

Momo turns to the three.  “It’s not that cold for me, it feels pleasantly warm.  Maybe you have a spring cold?”  Yaoorozu stands, she comes over to take Akira’s temperature.

Akira blushes as she touches his forehead, pushing his messy fringe up, he can’t look at her.  He’s too embarrassed!  “I-I’m fine! Just cold…” 

“Your face is all red though.” Momo adds, voice dripping with concern.

Sato and Koda both lean a bit in, checking on Akira too.  Koda nods as Sato verbally agrees with Momo.  Neither of them catching on to the fact he’s just nervous to have someone as nice as Momo basically petting his forehead.

“He’s just not used to these temperatures.” A fifth person joins.  It’s a really deep voice.  Akira looks up to see it was the bird boy that raced Yu.  The one with the bird shadow emitter quirk.  The crow head’s red eyes burn into Akira’s own gray ones.  “He must also be a fallen angel.  We are used to much higher temperatures.” 

Akira stiffens for only a moment, he grins widely.  “T-That’s right!” He starts, taking on a joking tone. “I prefer the term demon, but anyways I’m just going to need to get used to the AC.” 

“It’s not the AC.” comes a deep reply, it is yet again the red and white haired boy.  What does he even mean by that? Akira wonders. 

Tokoyami ignores Todoroki, he nods at Akiras words.  “Demon works, I just feel like, as two birds, a fallen angel applies better.  We are both night dwellers, having been forsaken by the cold light, taking comfort in the sweet encompassing embrace of warm shadows.”  

Akira grins more.  The two seem to have a similar sense of theatrics.  Sato is smiling and shaking his head.  Koda is smiling.  Todoroki is ignoring the group again.  Momo is back in her seat, and she huffs slightly.  

Akira grins and looks back at the clock, wondering how long it’s been.  The clock shows it’s about five minutes until the hero course starts.  He gets butterflies in his stomach at the idea of meeting the hero course instructor.  He’s nervous and excited at the same time.  A special blend of his own anxiety, he calls nervicited.  

Speaking of anxiety, Izuku is done making his notes.  He turns back to the excited classroom.  Prior to honing in on his notes, the room was dead and quiet.  However, now it’s bustling and teeming with chatter and energy.  He looks around at everyone smiling and making friends with another.  The boy grins a bit as he feels a tap on his shoulder.  He turns around, wondering who would want to talk to him. 

The frog girl from earlier is now behind him.  “Are you done writing, ribbit?”  She asks, tongue blepping out as she looks at him.  Izuku blushes, nervous to be talking to a girl, a cute girl.  She tilts her head.

“U-U-I am.” He stutters out.  “Can I help you?” He asks bashfully.

“I know you didn’t hear me earlier, I’m Tsuyu Asui, my friends call me Tsu.” The frog girl reintroduces herself.  Izuku looks everywhere except at her, He jumps up and bows.

“I’m Izuku Midoriya.  P-Pleased to meet you.” He yelps, as he overcomes his hurtle and actually talks back to her.  “Y-Your q-quirk is really amazing.  I saw you use your tongue to throw the ball.  You also run really fast on all fours… or was it hopping?”

Tsu tilts her head.  “Thank Izuku.  I think yours is pretty cool too.” She doesn’t seem phased by his shyness or his awkwardness. 

“T-Thank-wait…” He pauses, getting more and more flustered by the second.  “M-My…” He can’t even finish his sentence.

“You extras are being way too noisy.” a gruff voice cuts in.  silencing the room momentarily.  Bakugo leans back and puts his feet up.  “Keep chatting, it’s all you extras seem capable of anyways.” 

“You’re the only one talking right now, what does that make you?” 

If people thought it was quiet before, the silence that ensued was unbearable.  People held their breaths.

Bakugo jumps up. “Who the hell just said that?!”  Sparks fly off his hands. “Who was it?!” 

Everyone glances at a certain blunette. Minato is currently just chilling in his seat, slumped back, headphones in his ears.  He is bopping his head to a beat none of them can hear.  He acts like he didn’t just light the world’s shortest fuse.

Bakugo goes up, grabbing him by the collar. To Yu and Akira, this scene is so familiar.  Minato doesn’t even look at the explosive boy. 

“You bastard. Think you’re a tough guy don’t you? With your smartass little comments.”  He asks, leaning in, people are wondering if they should jump in.  “Huh???” He growls at Minato.  Yu gets up, ready to break the fight up.

The blueberry merely frowns. “Get your hot ass breath out of my face.”

“Do you want to die, punk?!”

“Yes. Next question.” Minato responds.

The Immediate response surprises Bakugo to the point of dropping Minato. Whatever he expected, it wasn’t that.  “....”

“K-Kacchan, class is going to start soon.”  Izuku chimes in, approaching before Yu could.

“Yeah Kacchan.   Sit .” Minato could not resist just adding more fuel to the fire.  He puts his hands up to his head, miming dog ears.   

Bakugo fumes, smoke wafting off him.  There is a knock at the 1-A door.  Everyone startles and jumps into their seats.  It’s the hero course instructor!  Someone they couldn't wait to meet.  Even Bakugo was curious enough to take his seat.  The mystery of the day was going to be finally answered.

The door slides open as someone very familiar to the class leans in. 

Dramatic entrance:

- - Location: UA 1-A Class room - Midday - - 

- A man enter’s stage right.  Facing the Audience, being sure to show his good side.-

Mysterious Figure

“I HAVE…” the figure will lean in, holding the door frame, letting his sick cap drape over his impressive figure.  “Come through the door, LIKE NORMAL!”

--The Man will make sure to use a raised voice the entire time.  The figure will be required to talk through their teeth, they can’t stop smiling. --

Izuku puts his hands up to his.  Admiration and love shining in his green eyes.  “He’s here!”  He is absolutely giddy.  “It’s ALL MIGHT!!! Incredible, he’s really teaching us!  That’s even his silver age costume.  He was written differently from the rest of us! It’s giving me goosebumps!”  He rambles on.  Helping to give the joke it’s context.  

All Might, the titular hero, walks forward.  Stride exuding prose and skill.  He’s built like the old champions depicted in greece.  He looks like a living marble statue.  “HELLO CLASS!”  He greets.

The man crouches down, striking a power pose.  “Hero basic training!  This is the class that will put you through all sorts of trials and tribulations to help forge you all into magnificent heroes!”  He pauses. “You also get a ton of credit for this course!”  As if they needed to hear more.

He pumps his fist forward, his cape draping behind himself.  Smile plastered on his face and his eyes gleaming with dignity.  “No time to dally, the first activity for this course will be battle training! ”  

Several kids lurch forward.  Some looked absolutely blood thirsty, while others looked worried.  A colorful array of expressions.  All Might just smiles at them, a twinkle coming off of him in reassurance.  He flexes his biceps in, remote in hand.  “And for that, you need these!”  He clicks the remote.  The walls to the left of the room start whirring. 

Slots open up on the walls as a hidden bookshelf reveals itself.  The book shelves all have metal containers with numbers on the.  “When you all got accepted, UA took into account your quirk registries and your special request forms you filled out before coming to school.”

Everyone jumps up, knowing what those special forms were all about.

“Costumes!!!” Echoes throughout the room, shaking the desks.  “YEAHHH!” 

Izuku in particular clutched his bag to himself, squeezing it.  “Costumes…!” He grins, already imagining his design. 

“Once changed, Come out in ranking order to training ground Beta!” All Might orders.  The kids all reply with a resounding ‘okay!’.   All Might leaves, cape swishing behind him, never once touching the ground.  His grin seems to have grown ever so slightly wider heading to the training ground.  

“Looking good is very important Ladies and Gentleman!”

“Look Alive now!! Because from today on…

“You’re all Heroes!”

All Might eagerly looked over the sea of new heroes.  Everyone is styling their first basic images of the kind of heroes they want to be. 

Bakugo walks out, grinning ear to ear.  He’s got a pointed black mask painted onto his face, and explosive hair pieces, looking like he’s wreathed in a crown of quills.  His chest is adorned with dangerous looking shoulder braces wrapping around him in an x formation.  His belt looks like it has grenades attached to it.  Cascading off the belt are matching leather harnesses, put in place to keep his knee pads in place.  His most defining feature however, is his grenade gauntlets on each hand.  He is over the top explosive theme, suits him to a T.

Walking next to him in Yu.  Despite Bakugo standing strong, Yu towers over him.  Even standing taller than Mezo Shoji.  His glave geita the ones behind such height.  He effortlessly walks on the geita, his long bacho coat and leather tie tails billowing behind him.  The front of his jacket breaks into flat paneling and his arms match the design.  He pockets his glasses, not wanting them to soil his cool biker appearance.  He squints his glowing yellow eyes, letting them adjust without the assistants of his lenses.  The air around him seems to vibrate, like clouds of static are clinging to him as he exudes power, confidence, and danger with his form. 

Uraraka is the next one of note, she has marshmallow boots with white wedges.  She’s in a black bodysuit with white and pink accents.  She’s carrying a helmet with her, looking like something that just walked out of a space themed electronic music video.  The space suit is finished with a large bubble belt draping off her hips.  The heroine looks out of this world.  

Minato is walking next to her, sporting matching white marshmallow boots.  The only difference being he doesn’t have heels.  His legs and arms look mechanical now, with ball joints for his knees and elbows.  His torso and chest are now covered in teal toned metal.  A gray plate on his chest as an accent.  His eyes are now a cyan, matching his hair.  He has a green head back on, attaching itself to a red wrap around scarf.  The transformed hero seems to almost be emitting light, a bluish sheen coming off him.  

IIda strides right behind Minato.  He’s decked out head to toe in white pleated armor.  He’s sporting a knight helmet, complete with jutting out winglets.  His legs are covered in thick pieces of various engine parts.  Meant to accent his leg motors.  The helmet has built in lenses as well, protecting his eyes from debris while still allowing him to see.  He looks like a knight that serves directly under hermes.  

Akira bounces next to the group, a distinct metallic click resounding out with each step.  His hero costume, like his brother’s, is his transformed form.  He’s got carmine red thigh high boots, and a matching bolero jacket.  Heels and talons appear to be made from bronze. Underneath his bolero, He’s wearing a sophisticated gray suit.  His glasses have also transformed into a smoking mask, leaving an evaporating trail of brown plume behind him.  Red eyes are perfectly framed by the mask.  His wings sparkle in the sun, he walks with them tucked in for now.  This transformation seems to be soaking up the sun, casting a large shadow as Akira walks.  He would look way better if every third step he didn’t obviously wobble on his knife sharp heels.  

Once lined up, the students of 1-A begin to check each other out.  Admiring their choices in hero costumes.  With their new garbs, the kids feel unstoppable.  Adorning outfits of their own design.

As the energy grows, someone is rushing to exit the hallway.  A certain greenette took too long to change it would seem.  He’s frantically adjusting his helmet while running.  ‘I’m the last one’ can be heard as he too emerges.  Showing off his own hero outfit.

His costume...is very plain compared to the rest.  It’s a green jumpsuit with white accents and matching puffy white gloves.  He has black knee and elbow pads.  He’s also sporting dark red runners and a dark red belt with large pouches.  He’s got a mask that’s styled into a grinning bunny.  It helps to make his eyes appear larger.  He has two large jagged bunny ears sticking straight up from his head.  It looks like a minty all might.  Izuku still wears the costume with pride.  

All might coughes into his hand, swallowing his comment on the...familiar appearance.  “Well, Shall we begin my young wards?!?”

“It’s time for battle training!”  

The kids all start chatting, waiting for All Might to begin explaining. 

“Ah, Deku!”  Ochako puts on her bubble shaped pink helmet. “Cool costume!  It looks really comfy.” 

Deku runs over “O-Ocha...Uraraka!” He tries her first name, but fails to do it.  Izuku takes his first real look at Ochako and promptly blushes, putting hands to his face. “Woah!”  is all he can say.  The highest form of flattery.

“I wish I’d been...more descriptive on my form.  This suit’s so puffy and curvy…” She looks away, blushing as well.  “And embarrassing...you can see everything.” she says, obviously uncomfortable.

Akira slumps slightly. “Talk about it….I never wanted to know how I looked in thigh highs…” He looks down.  “At least it’s not a bad look.” He adds, as an afterthought. 

Minato looks at Ochako’s boots. “...we match.” He observes.  Uraraka brightens.

“Do you like them? I got the idea for them after seeing your form Minato. I thought your boots were really cute and I asked for similar shoes to yours!  But look!” She raises her foot up. “They have heels! Now I’m not so short! I’m at least Deku’s height now!” She stands by Izuku, putting her hands back and forth between the tops of their heads. Showing that they are indeed the same height now. 

Minato smiles and gives her a thumbs up. ‘She really does look nice.’ he thinks to himself.

All Might throws his hands up.  “We’re all here then!”  He is ready to begin.

Iida steps forward and raises his hand.  “Sensei!  This appears to be the same field used for one of the entrance exams, will we be once again performing cityscape maneuvers?”  

All Might beams. “Nope!  You’ll be moving on to the next phase!  Indoor anti-personnel battle training!”  

“Villain battles are seen day-to-day outdoors but statistically, the most heinous of villains are going to be lurking indoors!”  

All Might puts a hand to his face, like he’s pondering. “Between confinement, house arrest, and black market…...the cleverest of villains will be inside!” 

He points at the students. “You’ll now be split into villain and hero teams, and face off against each other in two on two indoor battles!”  

“So no basic training…?” Tsuyu tilts her head at the teacher, pondering how this helps.  

“Practical experience is the best way to learn the basics!” The large teacher pumps his fist.  “The thing that sets this apart from the exam is that you won’t be fighting disposable robots.” 

“What determines victory?” Yaoyorozu inquires.

“Can I just blast everyone away?” Bakugo asks, looking way too ready.

“What about breaking the walls?  Is it ok to destroy the property?” Yu wonders aloud.

“Are you going to threaten to expel one of us like Mr. Aizawa did?” Ochako anxiously asks, holding her chest to calm her worried heart.

“How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?” Iida asks, raising his hand once again.

“Can we decide what kind of villains and heroes we’re going to be?  Is this going to involve role playing?” Akira asks, ready to put on an act.

“Are we going to need to gather points like the exam?” Jiro twirls one of her earphone jacks, jutting a hip out in wonder. 

“Sensei, do you like my fabulous cape?” Yuga holds up a sparkling cape, genuinely curious if the teacher likes it.

“What about my hero costume Mr. Might??? It’s like Crimson Riot’s!”  Kirishima does a pose, pointing at various parts of his outfit.

“Oooh yeah! Do you like my green and purple color scheme Sensei?  I thought it’d look cute with my complexion.” Mina also seeks the approval of the teacher.  

The newly minted instructor leans back, already overwhelmed by the enthusiasm. “Students! One at a time, my quirk isn’t super hearing!!  

“To answer in order, 

“I’ll explain, 

“No, 

“You can break things if the situation calls for it, 

“No, 

“I’ll assign the teams at random,

“There will be a small element of acting,

“Not necessarily,

“Yes, your cape is quite dashing,

“Crimson Riot is one of my esteemed colleagues, I love it,

“You look very nice Miss Ashido.  Those purples and greens go well with your pink.

“....that should answer everything.”   He sighs out.

“....alright.”  He ahems into his hand, and pulls out a tiny piece of paper from his belt.  It appears to be a tiny cue card he wrote himself. “Listen up!!! Here’s the deal, the villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout, and the heroes have to go in and take care of the situation!  The heroes will have a limited amount of time to either capture the villains or secure the weapon.  The villains must either capture the heroes or run the clock protecting the weapon.”  He read off.

All Might pulls out a box, it has a hole on top and ‘lots’ written in bold lettering on the front.  “To decide pairs, we will be drawing lots!” 

Iida looks affronted. “Sir!  Is that really the best way?!?”  He exclaims.

Deku nods. “It actually works really well for this training Tenya.”  Ochako notices that Deku has no problem using Tenya’s first name.  She’s not jealous...not at all. “Heroes usually end up randomly teaming up from various agencies on the spot during emergencies…”  Deku rambles confidently.  It seems any and all knowledge about heroes makes Izuku more confident.  

Iida has no problem with Izuku correcting him. “I see!  I apologize for doubting you Sir.  My Mistake!” 

Yu looks at Iida.  “You don’t have to apologize man, Mr. Might isn’t even upset.”

The instructor nods magnanimous.  “That’s right!  It’s fine, let’s just get to it!  Come draw from the bin!”  The kids line up and one by one draw their lots.  

The kids teams are the following:

Team A:  Midoriya and Uraraka

The two are beaming.  Deku’s sporting a bashful smile while his freckles become more pronounced, the pink of his cheeks contrasting with them.  Ochako gives an open mouth smile and lifts her hands in delight.

Team B: Todoroki and Shoji

The two silently nod at each other.  Despite saying nothing, they obviously click.

Team C: Yaoyorozu and Asui

This dynamic duo of heroines look ready to rock the training.  Momo smiles at Tsuyu, the two sizing each other up and already coming up with combinations.  

Team D:  Bakugo and Iida

The two size the other up.  Obviously not liking this outcome at all.  Iida more so because he can’t get along with Bakugo.  Bakugo is upset he got paired up with the tightwad four eyes, he'd rather be paired up with another certain four eyes.

Team E: Ashido and Aoyama

The two grin.  Mina gives Aoyama a big grin as he strikes a pose.  Seems these two will be working together just fine.

Team F: Sato and Koda

The two big boys familiarize themselves with one another earlier in class. They stand side by side, an intimidating sight.

Team G: Kaminari and Jiro

The two look away, Jiro refusing to look at the electric idiot.  They can make a dangerous team up because of the friendship they have before they entered UA.

Team H: Tokoyami and Arikuyo #3

Akira grins at him.  Tokoyami swishes his cloak.  The two bonded over the darkness earlier.  Akira winks at Toko as the bird boy nods, smiling. 

Team I: Arikuyo #1 and #2

Minato and Yu somehow drew the short end of the lots.  It seems fate has played a cruel joke on these two.  Yu grins at Minato who ‘tchs’ and whips away from him.  Already getting pissy it would seem.

Team J: Sero and Kirishima

Kirishima blinks and smiles.  Sero sands with him and poses with his tape elbows.  The two get along swimmingly.

With the teams formed, All Might gets ready to begin the battle training!

Chapter Text

The kids buzz with excitement.  After breaking off into their teams they all start conversing.  The area fills with chattering and exclamations. 

Ochako turns to Deku “This must be fate!! I can’t wait to do this!”  she pumps her arms, showing how gungho she feels.  Dekus slumps away, too shy and awkward to speak.  

Akira looks at Tokoyami, “this is so amazing.  I can’t wait to see what we get.  I hope it’s the villains, I really want to play the villain because I've been working on my evil laugh!” 

Tokoyami nods his head.  “Yes.  It would be more fun to play into our strength for this training.  Together we can be formidable foes to our classmates.”  

Yu and Minato on the other hand…”This is gonna be great.” Yu starts. “We’re like..the dream team!! How can we not nail this?”  He asks rhetorically.

“...I hate this.” Minato sighs out.  “....tch.” He scoffs. Yu pats his back.

“There, there.  I won’t overshadow you in the training, I’ll be fair and let you in the spotlight too.”  He pats Minato's head.  Pissing the shorter bluenette off more.  Minato’s eyes shimmer as his temper makes them flare. 

“Don’t touch me.” He shoves off Yu’s hand.  ‘I already have one headache to deal with, two is just….ug.’ He mentally sighs.

Bakugo and Iida just stare.  Neither knowing where to start. “You gonna say something Four Eyes?” Bakugo leans in, he has to look up to hold eye contact with the taller.  

“What is with your fixation on my poor eyesight?”  Iida asks, not intimidated in the least.  

All Might interjects, ready to begin the training.  “Moving on, First up are these!!!”  He puts one arm in a box labeled hero, and another box labeled villain.  He pulls his arms out, holding a red ball and a white ball.  The white ball has a single bold A.  The red has a bold D. 

Deku and Bakugo both look at the draws stunned.  Today, fate seems to be messing with a lot of people.  Minato promptly drops his transformation.  Waiting to use it until it’s time.  The four students run up to All Might, ready to begin the training.

Iida and Bakugo walk around in the building they were stationed in.  Iida goes up and taps the convincing looking rocket.  Upon the tapping, it is revealed to be made from paper mache.  Iida looks down by the rocket.  He frowns, and takes a deep seated breath.

“Training or not...assuming the role of a villain pains me.  I do not think I can believably act villainous.  Is our prerogative to merely guard this?” Iida asks, not expecting Bakugo to reply.

“Hey.” Bakugo is brooding, he turns to Iida, clearly thinking deeply on what he’s about to ask.  “So….Deku has a quirk,...?”  He looks away at the last part, not wanting to face Iida while he asks.

Iida turns to him, stunned he asked him something, but willing to offer an honest reply.  “You saw his monstrous strength, no?”  Iida turns and puts a thumb to his lip, thinking.  “Although, it puts him at great risk.  I have to ask that you don’t charge straight at him.”  

Bakugo Ignores him, as he emits a murderous aura.  It would appear he’s ready to play the role of a villain.  “That damned nerd..!” He curses under his breath.

“I really think we should strategize.” Iida sighs.

Back outside, Izuku and Ochako stare at a piece of paper.  Ochako nods to herself. “We better memorize this.  It has the building blueprints on it...and we probably can’t use this during the training.”  She grins, like all the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders.  “Since there’s no punishment like expulsion for this, I ‘m not worried at all.  All Might seems like a much nicer teacher then Mr. Aizawa.”  

Izuku trembles.  He squints as he forces a smile on his face.  He seems to be filled to the brim with trepidation. 

Ochako’s eyes widen. “You look really worried though!” 

Izuku swallows the lump in his throat. “Well...I mean...this is Kachan we'll be going up against...Tenya too.  We….We have to be on guard.”

Ochako tilts her head, it seems with deku concentrating on other things he can talk to her, these are the most words he’s managed.  “Bakugo used to bully you right?” She asks.

Deku looks down, studying his shoes.  He taps them together.  “He may be a jerk...but he’s honestly just so amazing.  His goals...his confidence...his strength...his quirk.  Everything he does is just..better.   He’s stronger than me in many ways.”  He compliments his tormentor, showing that despite suffering under the blonde’s thumb, he is willing to recognize his good points.

Ochako swallows, she didn’t think it was possible to...respect someone who was your bully.  “But that's exactly why….”  He trails off, pulling his mask up, renewed determination fills his gaze.  

“I don’t wanna lose to him.”

Ochako smiles. “Here I was worrying you didn’t want to!  You sound like you’re his fated rival or something!”  She radiates positive energy.  “Let’s come up with a killer hero strategy!  We’ll show Tenya and Kachan what’s what!”  “

She pulls deku in close, causing him to blush heavily. “Let’s make a strategy!”

Deku smiles and looks away. “Yeah! I-I was thinking how does this plan sound…” He goes on to explain his game plan.  Ochako nodded and interjected occasionally.  

In a third location, the rest of 1-A stands with All Might.  There’s several scenes lit up showing the building interior in multiple angles.  “Watch closely and learn from these four.  You can pick up several things just from observing your peers.”  All Might pulls out a clipboard and a pen.  He’s ready to take notes.

‘Young Midoriya, You’re just another student to me.  No favoritism for you when it comes to grading! So do your best!’ 

Akira leans forward, using Yu as a leaning post.  “This is so cool, I can see everything.” 

“Do they know we’re watching?” Yu ponders.  “Either way...Izuku looks really nervous.”  

Minato, in his tracksuit, shushes them,  “Be quiet, people want to watch in silence.  They don’t want to hear your narration.”

Yuga poses.  “I think it’s c'est magnifique, Afterall, there’s no audio coming through.  There’s no harm in a riff track.”  He puts a rose in his mouth and winkles a Minato.  One of the twinkles flies from Yuga and pierces Minato in the head.

“Too bright.” Minato says to Yuga.  

“I agree with Arikuyo, I would appreciate a contemplative silence.”  Yaoyarozu crosses her arms.  

Minato sends a glare towards his brothers.  He makes a zipping motion at his lip, and then does a thumbs down motion.  Yu and Akira hug each other out of fear.  Such a simple gesture to the group came off as really intimidating to the younger Arikuyo’s.  They tremble as they sink to the floor, not making another peep.  

Deku and Uraraka circle around to the back of the building, looking for window access.  Once they find a low facing window they open it as quietly as they can.  They sneak in.

“There’s a lot of blind corners...so watch out.” Deku whispers.

“Infiltration, successful!” Ochako cheers softly.

Izuku leads the way cautiously.  Making slow progress, checking around every corner.  ‘I still can’t control or regulate one for all….so I can’t use it directly against a person.  One hundred percent would probably kill someone.  All we have is my natural strength and Uraraka’s zero gravity.  We’ll need to make that do.’ He keeps his head low as he surveys.

‘Scope out the whole space.’ He repeats mentally.  ‘My notes on indoor scenarios and tight spaces in general, I have to just remember them!’ he affirms.  

The duo make their way through the maze of a building.  When suddenly something leaps out at them,  Using the upper parts of the walls to jump between.  It is a sneak attack!

Bakugo vaults off the wall, aiming his explosive hand grenade at Deku and Ochako.  Deku in a split second pushes Ochako out of the way.   The ensuing bang of Katsuki’s quirk singes off parts of Deku’s hero mask.  Chunks of the wall are also blown apart.  

“He grazed me…! Are you okay Uraraka?” He wipes at his face, rubbing off the soot and parts of his mask that were still burning.

“Yeah thanks!  He came outta nowhere.” She frets.

“Nice dodge Deku.”  Bakugo compliments, looking like some kind of looming berserker emerging from the debris cloud that now surrounds them.

“I was right.  I knew Kachan would target me right away.”  The green boy gets up, facing his opponent.  Ochako crawls back slightly, not liking the look Bakugo has on his face at the moment.  

“I hope you’re ready nerd.  I’m going to mess you up just enough to not be disqualified!” He shouts gleefully, a strange rage and bloodthirst emanating from him.  

Bakugo rushes Izuku.  Reaches widely behind himself, he begins a forward motion to throw a punch.  As his arm arcs in front of him, Izuku quickly jumps in.  Putting his entire body in front of the blond’s shoulder.  The greenette boy grabs large grenade gauntlets.  Using the explosive boy’s own momentum.  Izuku pulls Bakugo in, and over, rolling him off his hip.  

“AAAAAAAAAGH!” Deku shouts, as he slams Bakugo into the ground.  The ferocity of his successful throw echoes against the walls.  The hollow sound of all the air being slammed out of the blond is the only thing the pink and green duo can hear.  

“What a pro move!”  Ochako compliments. She quickly regrets that as the spiky haired boy immediately rises into a crouch.  She covers her mouth. 

“Kachan.” The broccolini leads with. “You always start with a right hook….I’ve seen you do it so many times, over and over again, you see….I’ve analyzed heroes I think are awesome in all of my notebooks!  Even...the one you blew up and chucked out the window!”  He refers to his own past.  In an instant recalled how the blond used to mercilessly torch his things for giggles.  

Izuku starts trembling as Bakugo shoots him the dirtiest look he can manage.  The explosive boy clenches his teeth, like the freckled one just told him the dirtiest comment he could.  Izuku, talking to Bakugo at all, fills him with white hot rage as his pupils shrink to tiny dots.  “I’m not gonna be your worthless punching bag deku forever….Kachan I’m…”  His eyes sparkle and shine. The light of new found courage coloring them.  His voice trembles but holds strength.  His knees are shaking and his arms look like noodles with how much they’re wiggling.

“I’m the Deku who always does his best!”

The declaration bounces off the walls, being cemented into the concrete.

Bakugo snarls.  His teeth clacking and grinding together, he looks like he might start foaming at the mouth from how much panting he’s doing.  “You...spout that crap….while you’re scared out of you mind….”

“IT PISSES ME OFF!”

The grenage gremlin gets up.  Eyes looking inhuman.  Deku remains resolute, with tears brimming in his eyes, but not falling.  Time seems to freeze for all three present.  Ochako stares at deku, happy he’s...quoting her.  He found strength in her words, she’s flattered and stunned.  

Noises come off Bakugo’s neck piece, it sounds like Iida asking him for an update.  Bakugo presses into a part of the collar. “SHUT UP!  Keep watch!  I’m ready to wreck someone!” He shouts into the piece, breathing heavily and glaring with searing hot rage.  

Throwing his hand behind himself, he launches at Deku.  A loud boom emanates from his palms.  He leads with his feet, aiming to kick the lights out of the green boy.  He’s already adapted and changed his fighting style. 

Izuku flinches. “Run on ahead Ochako!” He uses her first name in the instance, he throws up a seemingly sloppy guard to shield his head from the very accurate kick of an enraged blond.  Seems Bakugo never misses.  

The pink heroine rushes ahead, abandoning the fight.  A loud crack sounds out as katsuki’s kick connects with Midoriya’s guard.  “Worry about yourself!” The Blonde orders, not liking that Izuku thinks he can look away from the fight.  

A ‘zwiiiiiip’ follows up the shout.  It sounds like a zipper zipping itself up.  Bakugo looks down, startled.  Turns out the green guy can throw feints.  The guard he put up was a ruse, to wrap Bakugo with a strong elastic tape.

Bakugo tuts. “The capture tape!!”

Izuku’s eyes glaze over as he stares into space, tightening the tape. “Page 18, notebook number 10!  Good thing I re-read it.”  He breaks into mumbles. “What comes next, if I know Kachan he’ll rage and come at me again!” 

“Damn you!!!” the blond shouts.  He mid air starts up his explosions again.  Using them to propel himself into a strong blow.  It’s his usual right hook.  Which Izuku puts a guard up to cover his exposed eye as he ducks right under the explosions.  Bakugo flinches, expression turning desperate.  Being read like an open book is throwing him off too much.

Izuku throws himself into a roll, deciding to tactically retreat.  He ducks around the nearby corners and starts running from Bakugo. 

“GET BACK HERE DEKU!”

“HEYYY”

“MUST HAVE BEEN FUN HUH?!?! TRICKING ME THIS WHOLE TIME!”

“RIGHT?!?  HIDING THAT FLASHY QUIRK OF YOURS!”

“SO COME BRING THE HEAT I’LL STILL CRUSH YOU!”

Bakugo shouts, like some rabid dog, barking at a squirrel.  The squirrely boy however uses this chance to escape.  He ducks around behind several corners, leaving the other behind.  ‘He came straight for me, flat out ignoring Ochako.  I think I know what’s going on now, Iida should have been the one to come to us.  With his better speed and maneuverability.  I think even Iida knows that.  This is probably Kachan just blowing steam and going on a rampage.  They aren’t working together at all!’   he works out as he recovers.

He looks around his surroundings, taking stock of where he fled too. ‘If they both came at us, we would have lost for sure.  If I didn’t split up with Ochako the chances still remain slim at best.  We would have burned up our fifteen minute time limit.  This is starting to really work out!!  Ochako can go after the weapon and even capture Iida!  Of course….that can only work if I can beat Kachan.’

He ducks into a new corner, wiping his nose while still deep in thought.  Memories of Bakugo bullying him, egging him on, tormenting him… ’Think you can rub shoulders with me?  You’re totally quirkless, a useless Izuku.’ playing in his mind. ‘I wasn’t saying I could compete with you! Not at all! ’ came his own timid response.

“I…”  He raises his head with bravery. “Take that all back!”

Bakugo looms as he’s trudging through the building on a mission.  “That...That pebble!”  He tchs.  Remembering how things were when they were little. ‘Izuku you really can’t do anything can you?’ comes his younger voice.  ‘I’m Deku who always does his best! ’ counters that statement.  He seethes.

While checking the corners two small kids ‘playing’ flashes in his mind,  ‘Y’know Izuku can be read as deku’ comes his young voice again.  People praised him for being able to read kanji so well.  The others couldn’t do that.   ‘And, Deku means someone who can’t do anything!’ the young voice concludes.  More people praise him for being so smart.  ‘How about you deku? ’ his younger self asks, again lording another skill over the greenette.  Grinning like mad at being able to best deku at stone skipping.

Showers of compliments rain on him when he first awakened to his quirk.  It was incredible, flashy, heroic.  He used that he could do so many things better than others to come to the conclusion he was better than everyone else.  Everyone is just...below him!  He remembers...how izuku would always smile and encourage him.  Because it was the truth.  Then came the day Izuku came back from a Doctor visit.  It was like hope died in the toddler that day, it was ingrained in Bakguo’s mind.  That was proof of deku being useless, ‘ deku he’s not awesome at all.’  with that in mind...seeing someone so utterly beneath him.  

He has to stop for a moment, breathing hard.  This walk down memory lane is mentally tiring. 

Bakugo leads a ragtag group across a big rickety log.  It’s molded over and slick.  He doesn’t care though.  This is the Bakugo hero team!  Nothing stops them.  He walks on the oak bridge, blasting his quirk away.  Only able to produce small little ‘pop pops’ at the time.

Young Bakugo’s foot slips on the log.  His wide confident gate worked against him in this case.  He remembers falling from a big height into a running river.  It was shallow, he hit his side hard.  It left a bruise in his side.  He also swallowed water and did his best to not cough it out.

“Kachan fell in!” Came stooge number three’s voice.

“Hey you okay?” Stooge number two asks.  

“I bet he’s fine! Kachan’s so strong.” Stooge number three concludes.

“Yeah get back up here!” Stooge two nods.

Bakugo pulls himself out of the river, wet, muddy, cold, embarrassed, and shaken up.  The small one hides his insecurities. “O-Oh yeah! I’m ok.”

‘I was just fine, no big deal!’ Current Katsuki cuts in.  ‘So then why’d he have to...look at me like that?’   

A hand enters the smaller bakugo’s vision.  He looks up to see deku wading in the river, running to come help him up.  Extending his hand like it was nothing.  “Are you ok?  Need Help?  Can you stand up?”  Concern seeped in the young freckled boy’s face.  “Hope you didn’t hit your head or scrape your knee!” 

The concern...the care...it made Bakugo angry.  He felt weak when Deku gave him that look.  He’s never needed help from anyone before, so why did that stupid useless, quirkless Deku think he needed it! 

Another memory presented itself, reminding Katsuki this wasn’t the only time this happens.

A crying boy runs up, throwing his backpack at the sludge monster consuming Bakugo.  He’s using his quirk and fighting with everything he has just to shake the bastard off.  But nothing he does works and he can feel his dwindling air supply running out.  The backpack explodes upon contact, sending supplies flying.  Distracting the sludge villain enough for himself and the crying one to pull the sludge off his mouth.

‘KACHAN!’

‘You?!?! Why?’

Bakugo’s air is sealed up again.  He feels pain explode in his head.  ‘You looked like you needed saving!’  Izuku smiles at him, while crying in fear, despite being terrified out of his mind.  He came to rush to help Bakugo.

Bakugo’s eyes wobble.  He can feel his pride and ego shatter.  He tightens his features to keep himself from...doing something.  ‘But I’m better than him!!!’   repeated in his head.  Another smaller voice, the voice of truth and reason pipes up.  ‘Why can’t you understand?  Why’re you such a sore loser?’   He breathes hard again, unable to calm himself down.

‘You aren’t as important as you think.’  

Meanwhile, at another part of the training ground.  Ochako sneaks into a room with a rocket.  She’s doing her best to stealth her way in.  ‘Found you!’ she thinks as she looks at Iida and starts forming a plan.

She can see Iida standing by the rocket, chin in hand, clearly thinking of something.  ‘I have to wait for Deku to show up, for now I’ll just keep an eye on him.’  She nods.  Iida who was pacing up till then, pauses.  The brunette tilts her head.  

“Bakugo has a natural tendency to troublemaking.  So this exercise is perfectly suited to him.”  He harrumphs. “I suppose I must also take on the role of a proper villain.  Though this brings shame to the Iida family name, this training will help me to be a better man!  I shall commit!”  He finished his rant.  

“I am...The ultimate evil. MWAHAHA!”  His deep voice fills the room.  Oozing an awkward intimidation. 

Ochako can’t help but laugh.  “PFFT!” She puffs out, unable to stop herself in time.  Her laugh alerts Iida to her presence.

“So you’ve come Ochako!”  The pink heroine doesn’t have time to hide her smile as she was caught.  “I calculated as much.  Once Bakugo ran off on his own!  I know your quirk allows you to levitate objects you touch, so before you arrived,...”  He spreads his arms, gesturing to the room, showing just how spotless it is.  Did...Did Iida even polish the floor while he waited?  It seems so.  “...I enacted a counter strategy against you by removing all the objects on this floor!”  He laughs, doing a full on mwaha villain laugh for emphasis.  “You little tricks won’t work here heroine!  I’ve beaten you!” 

Ochako sweat drops. “He’s really getting into this!”  She steps out, and presses the communicator on her helmet.   “Deku, Tenya found me! Sorry.”  The two two inch away from each other, neither wanting to fight.  It’s like night and day to Bakugo and Deku’s fight.  Some noise comes from her helmet, as Deku responds to her. “I’m on the fifth floor, right in the center!”

Ochako and Tenya take on semi fighting stances.  “I won’t hold back against you Tenya!”

“Same goes for me.” Tenya lies, he really doesn’t want to hurt her. 

The two start planning what they’re going to do next.  Both looking for openings.  Iida figures he can just run at her fast enough and tie her up in the capture tape.  He won’t even have to be rough to do so.  He takes a runner’s stance, as she flinches back knowing he’s getting ready to attack.

BOOM!

The entire building shakes, knocking Ochako and Iida to the ground.  Something happened in the lower levels.  Tenya and Ochako look around to see if the ceiling is going to give in or hold up.  

Iida picks himself up. “What the-?!?! Is that Bakogo??? What earth is he doing?  At this rate he will bring down the entire building!” While Iida is distracted, Ochako starts running right towards him.

She secretly used her quirk on herself!  ‘This is my chance!’ Ochako thinks as she rushes the engine boy.  

“Oh!”  Iida goes to stand in her way. “I won’t allow it!”  He shouts.

However before Iida can grab her, Ochako leaps into the air.  Reaching the full height of the room.  The villain was too stunned to grab for her.  He swiftly turns around to watch her float towards the rocket. “You can make your own body levitate!” He observes, thoroughly impressed.

“Dispel!”  Ochako shouts as she touches her hands back together, now plummeting right for the paper mache device.  “That’s right!  I can do this special move, but it takes a lot outta me!”  She inches away from being able to grab the weapon, securing her victory.

However, in the last second Tenya zooms in.  Picking up the rocket.  He speeds away from her.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaat?”  Ochako watches him leave, still falling.  She bounces on the ground and tumbles into a wall. “Ack!”

Tenya entera cool down, emitting vapors from his engines.  He sets the device down.  He keeps on hand on the object, securing it. “Your quirk poses no threat as long as you can’t touch anything!  Now struggle!  I will just continuously take away your previous time GUA HAHAHA HAH!”  He finished with another heart villain laugh for good measure.

Ochako looks frustrated but also nauseous from her earlier stunt. “Ugh...this sucks.  I’m counting on you Deku!”  With that in mind.  Ochako gets into a ready stance, her communicator from her helmet buzzes to life. 

A loud order is barked out of her device.  “Okay!”  The brunette nods as she hugs a concrete pillar.  Tenya just looks confused.  He keeps a hand on the device.

“What are y-” 

KA-KOOOOOOM!

The building shakes again.  The floor explodes into a million pieces. Debris and smoke fills the air.  The gravity girl clings to her pillar, expecting this.  “Tenya!!! Sorry!  Gotta improvise!”  She swings the pillar, using her quirk to keep it afloat.  She smacks the floor debris at Tenya and the rocket.

“Comet Home Run!”  Ochako names it, on the fly.  Iida dodges the debris. Weaving in and out between them.

“That’s no home run!” He corrects, focusing on something unimportant.  Unbeknownst to him, this was all a big diversion tactic.  Uraraka soars past him, using her float quirk on herself yet again.  Dispute the triumphant moment, she looks nauseous as she steals her stomach.  

She soars right into the rocket, hugging the faux weapon.  “Secured!”  The marshmallow girl grins with a hint of a grimace.  The nausea is temporarily ignored, in favor of celebrating her team’s victory.

“Aaaaah the weapon!!!” Iida shouts, whipping around looking at the victorious vixen in shock. 

“THE HERO TEAM WINS!”   comes Japan’s number one hero’s voice, booming with finality.  

At that Uraraka slides off the paper mache figure, and starts spewing her guts out.  The recoil of using her quirk on herself so many times hitting her all at once.  Iida zooms over, taking his helmet off, he panickedly comforts her.  patting her back and saying words of comfort.  The loser of the match doesn’t have a single scratch on him, while the winner is currently on the ground losing their lunch.  One has to wonder, who’s the real victor of this match?

Shortly after Izuku steeled his resolve, he pulled out his capture tape.  He twiddles in between his fingers trying to think of a new strategy.  He anxiously peaks around the corner he’s crouching by, brainstorming. ‘He knew I was just going off previous notes on him...so he changed things up with a kick.  He’s now on guard.  I can’t get past his defense without some kind of strategy.’   He fidgets around, as the ideas fail to come to him.  

On cue, his communicator on his collar crackles to life.  “Ochako?  What is it?” He asks worried.  Izuku listens to her response.  “Where are you right now?”  Izuku looks up, a physical response to her answer.  ‘She’s right above me!’   He stores away, a plan starting to form.  

Izuku pulls himself out of his crouching position, tightening his capture tape.  It was working as a good fidget toy at the moment.  ‘ Not here… ’  He trails off internally.  “Only a little time left!  And it’s their win if we run out the clock!”  He shifts around, eyes roaming, looking for something.  ‘I don’t wanna lose here!’

A voice filters into Izuku’s ears.  “I’m loaded up….”  The voice coldy seethes.  “Why not use it?  You mocking me Deku….?”  It’s Kachan.  Deku looks at him with apprehension.  His..childhood bully looks different.  Deranged.  What happened to him? Bakugo is pointing at him, accusations hanging in the air thickly.   

Deku clenches his teeth, almost shaking his head to clear his thoughts.  ‘It’s now or never! I can do it, I can!’ repeats in his head, like a mantra.  He glares at Bakgo.  “I’m not afraid of you anymore!”  His eyes shine with a bright green flame. 

Bakugo saunters closer.  His chin is lifted in the air, pupils small prinprics as his smile doesn’t seem right.  “Guessing you know this from all your stalking but, the sweat glands on my palms secrete something like nitroglycerin.  That’s how I make my explosions.”  

He starts reaching for his grenade gauntlet, the one pointed right at deku.  His smile wobbles as his red eyes take on a slightly sickly color.  His hand trembles with an anxious excitement.  “Assuming they honored my design requests….then these gauntlets have been storing that fluid…”  His face is tilted down, the light casting shadows on his mask.  For a few brief moments his eyes are hidden from Izuku’s view.  His pupils are gone, as the shadows work to conceal them.

Izuku’s tight guard falters, he looks at Bakugo with pure confusion.  ‘There’s...no way.’ Izuku breaks into a cold sweat.  Chills prickling his neck as he senses where this is heading.

Bakugo sets his grip onto the pommel of his arm bands. Setting of a tiny click as something small swings out.  It’s a finger latch of some sort.  He sets his index finger into the pull tab.  Wiping his head up, grinning ear to ear, sharp teeth on full display.  He looks at Izuku with nothing short of murderous intent.  “HE WON’T DIE IF IT’S NOT A DIRECT HIT!”  he shouts, talking to someone on his communicator.  The small metal key lets out a soft and unassuming  ‘ping’.  

BOOM!

A white, hot explosion comes to life.  Searing and blinding everything in it’s path.  The entire building shudders as a huge chunk is blown out of it.  Smoke and Steam waft around the two.    

Midoriya sits up, breathing heavily as the explosion threw him into a wall, stealing all the air out him.  “T-T-They...gave you that?” He asks softly, still finding his missing voice.  Trepidation anew colors his face.  His pupils are but tiny pricks of green as his freckles stand out against his sickly pale cheeks.  His heart is hammering, but blood doesn’t seem to be flowing, as he’s frozen in fear for a moment. 

“Use you quirk Deku.”  Kachan heaves out.  He smirks at him, looking ready to devour Izuku whole.  The look he gives the smaller is absolutely predatory.  “”I wanna obliterate you at your strongest.”  The normally loud, explosive teen quietly orders.  His voice clear despite the smoke and crumbling of the building around them.  A strong contrast to Bakugo’s usually racious shouting.  

Bakugo jeers at Izuku, goading him with hand gestures.  He lifts his chin as his eyes don’t seem to focus on anything.  “Hahaha…” He laughs, sounding just like a villain without trying.  “Awesome huh Deku?”  He asks, not expecting a reply.  “What’s wrong?  Come on now.”  He gestures more openling, inviting the greenette to stand and fight.  “Stop trembling, you’re not dead yet !!!”  He adds, like it’s supposed to be comforting. 

Instead of crying, trembling, or running away.  Izuku gets up, wiping his face clean of rubble as he opens his comms to his partner.  “What’s happening Ochako?” He whispers to her, slightly turned away so Bakugo can’t see his mouth moving.

“OooooOOOoooh!”  The explosion themed boy crones.  “Ignoring me eh?!?” He holds up his hands, as the gauntlets click again, like he’s rearing to unleash another massive explosion.  Izuku manages to stay calm despite the taunting.  He mumbles into his comms more.

“The pillar by the window? Got it!” He stops himself from nodding in front of the villain.  The torn tracksuit clad boy stands up fully, still managing to hide the fact he’s communicating with another.   

Bakugo throws his hands up in defeat.  “ARG! Come on man!”  He runs his hands in his explosive locks as he rubs at them furiously.  The grenade boy jumps up into a charge, using a small explosion to propel himself at a high speed. “TIME TO POUND YOU!” 

Izuku realizes too late he won’t be able to dodge this.  He clenches his teeth as he prepares a counter-attack, readying a flimsy guard getting ready to throw baku-boy again.  When The soaring boy angrily gets closer Izuku whips his hands out, grabbing thin air.  He opens his eyes to see an explosion cloud in front of him.

White hot searing pain explodes from his back.  As an explosion mercilessly pounds into it, “Gah!” He shouts.  The burned boy turns around, gripping at his pained spine, the debilitating pain dulls his reaction time.

“Here weeeeeeee go! Your old favorite! My right hook!”  the broccoli can only watch as a large gauntlet is driven into his side.  The blondie wasn’t done there, he grips onto a spindly arm, letting out a slew of explosions he pinwheels around midair, and using all the motion and force he’s generated from such a move he mercilessly slams Izuku into the ground.  “You’re nothing compared to me!!!”  He adds, heightening the defeat.

The green bot scrambles up coughing. He scrambles away from his attacker, trying to use a wall to cover his back.  He looks Bakugo as the orange boy just stands there, waiting.  Izuku is a bit confused, ‘what is he waiting for?’ He worries to himself.

“Why?!?” He looks down at the ground, fists trembling.  He starts a large cocky gate towards deku.  Walking slow, with deliberation. “Why won’t you use your quirk???  You mocking me?!?! Ever since we were kids!! Still just looking down on me!  I JUST KNEW IT!!! YOU’VE ALWAYS JUST LOOKED DOWN ON ME!”  He roars out.  No longer is he looking at Izuku, all his insecurities unconsciously spilling out.  Bakugo is surprisingly honest when emotional. 

Izuku bites his lip.  Words tumble from his mouth, disjointed but meaningful.  “You’re...wrong!”  His eyes water with awe...fear...determination...admiration...too many emotions to describe at once.  “It’s because you’re...It’s because you’re Katsuki Bakugo!!  You’re just so awesome...that I don’t want to give up! I want to beat you!”  The tears are there, but don’t spill out, He raises his head high, holding Bakugo’s indignant gaze.  “It’s because it’s YOU that I want to beat you...YOU IDIOT!”  He manages to weakly insult.  

“You!”  Bakugo seethes, he’s full on dissociating. Not paying attention to his surroundings, not even to Izuku.  He’s holding eye contact but his mind is elsewhere.  Trapped seeing memories of their childhood on repeat.  “STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT YOU DAMNED NERD!” he screams out.  Throat cracking from just how raw he’s made it.  

The two charge at each other.  Bakugo going straight for Izuku.  Right arm reared back gearing up to throw a nasty right hook, he leads with his left shoulder adding more torque to the punch.  Izuku mirrors the attack, his own arm reared back, clenching his fist and bending his elbow.  He’s got his left arm tucked in close, clenching his abs to get straight forward power.

An explosion comes to life on the blonde’s palm as his eyes shrink to mere dots.  Izuku’s arm sparks with green lighting, ripping his raggedy track suit even more.  “DETROIT-”

Izuku swallows, “NOW OCHAKO!” He barks out in the last second.  Bakugo aims for Izuku’s face, lost in his own imagined revenge.  A bomb discharges off, right in front of Izuku’s face, while Izuku arches his arm straight up.  Lancing into the air.  

“SMAAAAASH!”  The young hero belts out as he punches the air.

KA-KOOOOOOM!

BOOOM!

The entire training block shakes, as Deku’s punch lances through several concrete floors before exploding out the roof.  Spider fractures cover the building’s exterior, as all the windows crack and shatter.  

Bakugo looks up, shaking.  The sheer power Izuku just exerted was far more destructive than the blonde’s own stored up sweat.  He can see the concrete, scaffolding, support beams, and rebar in the now wrecked building.  He trembles from what he’s witnessing. “That….you’ve...you’ve gotta be kidding me,...”  He shakes his head as he can’t believe what just happened.  “From the start...you’ve been mocking me.”  His voice was quaking.

Izuku himself is stuck in position, a flimsy guard raised in the last seconds to shield himself from the point blank attack.  His arm is decorated in gnarly burns and bruises.  His consciousness slowly starts fading. “I didn’t...want to use it because I can’t really….the blowback messes me up too much...it’s just what Aizawa Sensei warned against...but...but it was all I could think of... to be able to beat you .”  He finished mumbling.

Izuku’s eyes roll into the back of his head, as Bakugo stares numbly.  Izuku falls bonelessly to the ground, collapsing to the ground as what just happened sinks into Katsuki’s brain.  His mouth is open, still closing and flapping like he’s trying to find the words to say for this moment.  He’s covered in a cold sweat as a voice resonates through him.  Bakugo looks absolutely devastated.  

“THE HERO TEAM WINS!”   comes Japan’s number one hero’s voice, booming with finality. 

Chapter Text

The 1-A Class gathered around several screens as the battle training began.  Everyone was excited to see how the first round would go.  The next 15 minutes would be good, they could feel it!  

As much as people wanted to do a running commentary, they didn’t want to upset the bossy Yaoyorozu and the intimidating Minato.  Upon All Might’s affirmation, the classmates observed as Izuku and Ochako sneak into the building. 

Their eyes never stray from the heroic couple.  Everyone uses this chance to familiarize themselves with the training grounds.  Absorbing as many things as they possibly can, to help their own scores later on.  

Minato flinches.  Everyone notices him tense up, looking at his  gaze, they can see Bakugo doing a leaping sneak attack onto the duo.  Kirishima steps up, breaking the silence.  Not tolerating the lack of commentary any longer! “That’s so low Bakugo!  Sneak attacks are so unmanly!”  

The blonde teacher off to the side stands tall, “Yet!”  He cuts in. “It is a valid strategy for him to use!  The villain teams aren’t there to just lose! They’re there to pose a challenge!  This is all for the gaining of practical experience!”  As if to accent the lesson, the camera shows Izuku side stepping and catching the other.  He even manages to do a self defense throw! 

Mina looks back and forth between the cameras and Kirishima.  She’s beaming as her antenna twitches from excitement. “That Midori has some moves though!!! Look how he protected Uraraka and how he tossed Bakugo!”  

Tsuyu and Tokoyami look at that move in awe themselves. “I was not expecting one as tawdry as that green rabbit to pull off such a graceful takedown.”  Tokoyami compliments.

Tsuyu nods. “Yeah, he must have studied a form of martial arts before coming to UA.” she sticks her tongue out as she lets out a sweet sounding croak.

On the cameras Bakugo gets up, anger and violence on his face, as Izuku stands with determination.  They converse and Izuku seems to declare something. It’s obvious this fight turned personal fast just going off the two’s body language.

Kirishima frowns, he crosses his arms as he complains.  “What’re they saying?!?  These fixed cameras don’t have any sounds.” He clearly wants to know what the exchange is.

Akira scratches his neck, no longer fearing Minato’s threat, he’s the youngest so he can get away with this.  “I mean...do we want to know what they’re saying?  It seems kind of personal.”

All Might puffs up, his chest seems to expand a size. “That’s right, It is getting a bit fired up, but I want to see how this goes.  Besides, they’re using communication micro transceivers!  All four received one to use for this task, along with building blueprints to really give them a chance to formulate a plan and coordinate.”  He holds up a round piece of white ribbon.  “Also, this is capture tape!  This will be what we use to determine your victory over your foes!  Just tie this around your opponent and that’s proof enough of their capture.”  

Momo turns to All Might, “So they only have fifteen minutes, but the heroes aren’t informed beforehand the location of the weapon right?”  The smart girl pushes her hair back, as she looks back at the cameras.  

“YES!”  The teacher cheers.  

Mina cringes, at the realization how stacked the task is against the heroes.  “The hero teams are at a real disadvantage!”

Yu grimaces as well “I hope I don’t get the villain role though, I don’t think I could handle roleplaying!”

Akira cuts in, “speak for yourself!  I hope I get the villain role! I want to be the best villain this training can offer!”

People sweat drop at Akira’s declaration.  The teacher chuckles in the room.  “Hahaha, that’s the spirit young man!  Always be open to new things! Push past your limits and see what you’re truly capable of!  It’s like Aizawa said, now say it with me!”  He strikes a pose, standing with arms wide and high.

“Plus Ultra!”

The kids cheer with their teacher, also doing their own fist bumps.  

Yuga twinkles brilliantly as he points at the screens, “Monsieur Bakgo is on the offense.” Minato nods with Yuga, having never taken his eyes off the skirmish.  They watch as Bakugo viciously charges Izuku, Ochako runs off while he’s distracted.  While deku goes in to do a block, he uses the capture tape to stop the explosive boy in his path.  

The two grapple, Izuku using fancy footwork to evade Bakugou, it looks almost like he’s predicting bakugo’s every move.  Sato lets out a low whistle, “He’s amazing!  Going toe-to-toe without using his quirk!”  

Sero nods in agreement, the tape elbow hero leans in more. “And against an exam stop scorer no less!”

Minato looks down, ‘I think he’s doing incredible...but I can tell he can’t keep this up...and he can’t even use his quirk.  This guy is just...too nice to use it on another, even if it’s someone who used to bully him.’   Minato bites his lip, on the edge of his metaphorical seat, hoping that Izuku pulls through this.

On screen Izuku deploys a dodging tactic.  He’s diving around avoiding all of Bakugo’s attacks.  Breaking free from the fight and running away from the rabid teen.  This clearly pisses off the explosive boy. 

Kaminari gulps. “He’s really angry.  It’s scary.”  Most everyone in the room nods at the statement.  

Minato turns to all might, wondering what the teacher thinks of the clear escalation happening in front of them.

All Might is busy watching the screens, furiously taking notes on his clipboard.  He’s keeping a keen eye on the training.  ‘Young Midoriya told me about how Bakugou is as conceited as they come but it looks like his head’s swollen up a bit too much….hmm!’  he makes some more notes, wondering what steps to take to break Bakugo of such a pride….It reminds him too much of his red headed rival.  

Back to the training at hand, it appears that while Deku is leading Bakugo on a wild goose chase Uraraka has found Iida and the weapon!  The room buzzes to life.

“Uraraka found him!  Nice one girl!” Jiro cheers, she then coughs into her hand, embarrassed at her own outburst.  She twindles an earphone jack, partially hiding her face with the action.  

Kaminari nods along.  “I wonder if Iida will spot her?” He points to her screen. “She’s not very hidden.”

On the cameras Bakugo keeps roaming around as deku is hiding behind a corner. Iida seems to be monologuing?  They’re not sure, but whatever it is it makes Uraraka laugh into her hand.  This leads to her being spotted, the two stand in a western showdown.

Momentarily the classroom turns their attention to the heroine and speed villain, thinking this is where the action lies. 

Kirishima pumps his fist. “Yeah! Let’s go Uraraka!”  He cheers, wanting her to win against Iida.

“Don’t give him any mercy!” Mina cheers side by side with Kirishima, the two acting like the perfect hype men.   

It’s a real western style showdown between the two, Iida and Uraraka inch away from each other as they await for the other to draw or act.  Everyone’s eyes are on the two, waiting with bated breaths. 

“Izuku!” Minato softly shouts, drawing everyone’s attention.  

“Bakugo! Stop it now kid!”  All Might issues out an order into his own little intercom.  The entire room shakes, causing the monitors to fizzle for a moment.  The ensuing shock of the rumbling causes some people to be thrown to the ground, not expecting it at all.

“I thought this was only practice!”  Kirishima shouts, picking up Mina from the ground.  

Tokoyami helps Tsuyu up, “Thanks for the hand, kero. ”  Tokoyami nods at her.  His gaze falling back onto the screens as they come back to life.  

Yu hefts up Akira, who tripped on his own heels again.  “You really should learn how to walk in those things.”

“I know! I’m working on it!” Akira dusts himself off, embarrassed he tripped in front of everyone. 

Yuga helps Yaoyorozu back into a standing position as well. “What désastreux dynamite.”  Momo thanks him politely as she dusts herself off, Yuga even offers her a tissue.

On screen, the two boys are facing the other down.  It looks heated, as the blond boy looks downright deadly.  Simultaneously, Uraraka and Iida start moving.  Uraraka makes a leap for the rocket while Iida snatches it away.  Deku is barely pulling himself out of the rubble.

“Sensei!  Shouldn’t you stop this??? Bakugo’s crazy!  He’s looking to kill”  The spiky red headed boy implores the teacher.  

All Might shrugs him off. “No Young Kirishima.”  They all wait for All Might’s reasoning, but he never provides it.  ‘I’ve never seen this strangely calm part of him...it’s hard to tell if he’s just being petty or if it’s more. Anyhow…’ He holds his microphone back up. “Bakugo, use that move again and I will forcibly end the match, with your loss.”

On cue, Bakugo frustratedly charges Izuku, he uses his explosions to maneuver into the green boy’s blind spot, pummeling and burning his back. Todoroki, the peppermint boy now half encased in ice, offers his own observations for the first time.  “He used the fire explosion to simultaneously feint and change his own tack.”  He looks impressed with the blond.  “Then he followed up immediately with another…”  

“He doesn’t seem like a thinker but that strategy was fairly intricate.” Yaoyorozu adds.  She’s absorbing his technique, already thinking about ways to incorporate his moves into her own repertoire.

“Dang….This guy’s good…”  *Kaminari compliments, looking sullen.  “I’m really glad I didn’t get chosen to fight him.”  He slouches full body, relief radiating off him,

Bakugo then slams his gauntlet into Deku, and rotates around, throwing the boy into a graceful ark.  Izuku hits the ground so hard he bounces up, like a messed up rubber ball.

“This is just torture now!! He could’ve already ended it with capture tape!”  Mina waves her arms up and down anxiously.

Yu stares at Bakugo on the screen, towering over izuku, “I don’t think you’re far off...calling it torture.”  He frowns.  ‘Is this who he really is?’  He seems almost...disappointed.  

“Not very hero like of him…”  Sato adds, crossing his arms. 

“Yeah but like...I thought Midoriya was good but bakugo’s battle sense just can’t be beat.”  The tape boy nods his head, saying what was on his mind.

Midoriya hops back up and runs away.  Everyone in the room is practically biting their nails.  Minato, now standing in the back, clenches his fist, ‘please have a plan Izuku!  You...You look like you have one.’ He bits his lip in worry, he doesn’t want to doubt izuku again, so he watches with anticipation, never taking his eyes off the greenette.  ‘I know you are planning something.’  

“He’s running!” Mina looks between Kirishim and the screens.

“It’s not manly, but he has no other choice!  It’s just….odd.”  Kirishima puts a hand to his chin.

Tokoyami’s head feather bushel out. “I concur.  It is odd.”  He seems to know what Kirishima is getting to.

“Does he really think he can win without using his quirk?”  Momo asks the room, she’s genuinely confused on just why he’s not using his quirk.

“He will use it.” Minato affirms from the back of the room.  The students turn to him.  “He’s just waiting.”  He supplies further, what they do with this knowledge is up to them.

They watch as the two exchange words again.  They’re clearly in the middle of something all too personal, “That guy sure is something…” Yu shakes his head, still frowning slightly.

The two look ready to kill each other, both powering up their strongest attacks.  The room can just feel the end is nigh.  “Hey What’s Ochako doing?” Akira points a claw up a few screens, and in it Ochako hugs a pillar.

All at once the building shudders again, as quirks are unleashed.  This time the cameras remain functioning.  Izuku unleashes an upward blast that tears through the roof of the buildings while Bakugo lets out a searing attack point blank.  In all the chaos Uraraka uses her chance to distract Iida and slip past him, grabbing the weapon.  

All Might Flexes as he shouts out, “ THE HERO TEAM WINS!”  The entire room drops to the ground, letting out the breath they’d been holding.  Those last couple of seconds being clutch.  

“The losing team is nearly unschathed...and the winners are down for the count.”  Shoji observes, his cool analysis of the situation makes everyone realize just how right he is.

“They’ve lost the battle, but won the war.”  Tokoyami gulps.  

Tsuyu pops out from next to him. “It’s just training though.” she reminds the room.

All Might waves to his charges.  “Well I’m off to gather teams! Don’t have too much fun without me, young ones!”  He chuckles as he trails out of the room.  The screens in the room shut off, the kids don’t need to see this part.

Bakugo stares down at a passed out Izuku.  He’s numb, cold, and time seems to stand still.  Ever slowly the world seems to collapse onto the explosive blond.  ‘Deku,...he read me like a book!! And...and….and he...this was a plan he had all along.’

He shivers as he lets out unsteady heavy breaths.  Heat seems to rush through his entire system causing him to shiver.  The boy shakes as he stares at his hand.  ‘ He was calculating this entire match...this entire time...in other words…’  His chest restricts as his heart beat hammers in his chest.  He can’t breathe, the world is gone and all he can see is when Izuku pulled off that punch.  

The amount of damage Izuku caused outweighed the damage his own quirk could do.  He hyperventilates hot breath leaving him, he can’t breath it back in. He’s shaking as he can’t see straight anymore, nothing makes sense to Bakgo anymore.  He wants to scream but he can barely exhale and inhale at this point.  ‘aaahhh….AAAAHHH...I-In other words….even in a full on fight... I totally lost to Deku. ’

His world is crashing around him, as all he can do is panic.  All at once, a hand on his shoulder brings him back.  It shocks him out of his stupor.  His body seems to come back to life as he breathes in hard, shaking subsiding.  “Let’s head back young Bakugo, it’s time for your grading.”  

Bakugo’s eyes are still blown wide, not fully seeing his surroundings.  All Might’s hand is the only thing grounding him right now.  “Whether you win or lose, you can always come out ahead by learning from this experience.”  He shrugs off All Might’s hand, studying the ground as his feet.

He follows All Might back to the training classroom.  During the exchange Izuku was loaded up onto a gurney carried by robots.  “To the Nurse’s Office.”  The lead bot states.

“I know.” The second bot intones,=,  Seems these robots were programmed with sass?   together they wheel izuku away from the wreckage.  Bakugo watches Izuku get taken.

‘Deku…’  He feels...so many emotions all at once.  It’s nothing he’s ever felt before.  For once in his life, he was no longer the top dog.

Back to the classroom the participants, sans Izuku, line up.  Uraraka in her puffy costume can’t seem to fully stand on her heels anymore.  She looks positively green, like she’ll start throwing up again.  Bakugo is still staring at the ground and staring at his shoes.  He has a gloomy aura surrounding him as he unhappily looks down.  Iisa stands there, the least affected.  Yes he’s sad he lost, but he’s not taking it as personally as Bakugo was.  

All Might poses. “Well then!!! Who do you all think the VIP of this battle was?”  He starts by rhetorically asking.  Everyone looks at the teacher confused.  All Might proceeds to answer his own question. “The VIP of the battle was Iida!”

Iida jumps up, flabbergasted, the usually talkative nerd is at a loss for words. “WHA?!?” He squawks.

Tsuyu looks genuinely curious, she puts a puffy glove to her face, finger on her chin.  “Not Ochako or Midoriya?  Even though they won?”  

All Might throws his hands up in high speed. “I wonder why?!?! Anyone know?!?!? No wrong answers!” 

A hand rises into the air. “I do, All Might sensei.”  It’s Momo Yaoyorozu.  “It’s because Iida adapted the most to the scenario.  Just making some basic observations, Bakugo’s ever action and move was motivated by a personal grudge and he put his own team in jeopardy letting loose his attack with no warning.”  Bakugo looks down, not responding to her analysis.

“Midoriya suffers the same problems as Bakugo.  The only difference is he’s stuck in the infirmary.”  To emphasize this, she gestures at the empty space where he should be right now.

“Uraraka lost focus halfway into the training, laughing which resulted in her getting caught too soon.  She also failed to take the training scenario seriously, attacking what is considered to be a delicate weapon too leniently.”  Uraraka looks down in shame, her cheeks flushing a deeper pink from their usually light hue.  “If the weapon was real her actions would have caused horrible repercussions.”

Iida flinches, not sure he wants to hear what Momo has to say about him.  Momo turns to look right at Iida, holding eye contact, him being the only one willing to face her critique. “However, Iida formed several counter strategies.  He used his time wisely and prepared for the hero team.  His only shortcoming was ironically, not reacting fast enough to a threat.  I’d say he might have even held back too much.”  Iida puts a hand to his heart, raising his head up more.  Shaking from how touched he is from Momo’s praises.  

“The hero team only won because they used the fact this was a training exercise and using that to bend the rules and exploit the constraints in place.” 1-A is silent. Even All Might can’t seem to find words.  Momo out observed all of them it would seem. 

All Might shakily holds up a thumbs up, to say good job to her.  ‘She said it better than I ever could!!! She should be the teacher…’  “I-I’d also add that iida might have been too stiff but YES you are correct!”  All the wind in his sails lost, his spiky blond locks deflate slightly.

Momo puts her hands on her hips.  She hmphs, letting out an authoritative puff of air.  She exudes intelligence and charm.  “We’ve got to start at the bottom and work our way to the top!  And If we can’t be looking at eachother like the peers we are, and offer genuine advice, then we’ll never be top heroes!” 

All Might grins, impressed by Momo Yaoyorozu, the number one recommended first year.  He gestures to his Villain and Hero draw box.  “Alright let’s see who’s next!”

He sticks his hands in.

Akira crosses his fingers ‘please let it be us, please, please, please.’ He chants.  

Yu holds his breath, ‘I want to go let it be me!’  He begs.

Minato huffs, not wanting to transform again so soon. ‘I will kill you fate if you pick me.’

All Might lifts up the teams, The red ball possesses a giant bold letter I and the white ball possesses a giant letter B.  Akira cheers and does a power slide to emphasize his joy.  Momentarily forgetting he has an audience.

“Yesssssssssssss!”  He fist pumps into the sky.  Tokoyami smiles, laughing at Akira’s enthusiasm.  

Todoroki and Soji look away.  They both nod.  Both are pretty quiet, not even commenting on Akira’s exuberance at being a villain.  Akira stands up and points at the two.  “We the Crows won’t lose to you!”  His wings flap, accenting the crow nickname.  Tokoyami looks at Akira, he nods in agreement.

“We will show no mercy.”  The raven adds.

“Alright enough fraternizing with the opponents!  Let’s go, my students!” All Might jokes, leading the four to the next testing sight.

Tokoyami and Akira stand around the weapon.  The room is grimy and filled with dust with the afternoon daylight accentuating all the dust bunnies.  “So...this is it?”  The raven haired boy knocks on the paper mache rocket shaped weapon.  “It’s hollow.”  going the extra mile, he even picks it up, holding it above his head. “And light.” 

Tokoyami nods his head towards the other, he summons up Dark Shadow, and starts using his quirk to start surveying the building.  Red eyes take in their surroundings, ‘there’s a lot of empty rooms we can use that to our advantage.’  Tokoyami starts thinking about what to do.  

In the meantime Akira moves the weapon around, trying to find a good spot to put it.  He keeps moving it behind various pillars in the room and into the corner.  He puts a hand to his chin slightly miffed at the lack of concealment.  “Would it be cheating to hide it outside?”  Akira asks with his voice rising in pitch.  He gives Tokoyami a cheeky grin as he waits for a reply.

“More than likely, the answer is yes.”  Tokoyami shakes his head. ‘Just because we’re villains doesn't mean we should bend the rules.’  The crow headed boy crosses his arms and scowls slightly at Akira.  “This is indoor combat training.”  He carefully adds, listening to Dark Shadow’s report on his findings.  The building is completely empty and void of anything useful.  He looks up to Akira, not liking that he has to crane his neck so much to address him.  Curse his confounding height of five foot two inches and a quarter!

Akira turns around with the faux bomb placed in the very back of the room, reeking of his handy work. Tokoyami notes, ‘Akira is more anxious then he comes across, he must be worried about how this training will go.’  Tokoyami wonders if he should reassure the taller at all?  ‘You know for someone in crimson red high heels longer than my beak, he’s got the maturity level of a hatchling.’

“So is that your quirk?”  Akira asks, looking away as he plucks at his wing’s feathers.  With growing resolve, he shuts his eyes and shakes his head before curiously going up to touch Dark Shadow.  “Can I pet him?”

‘Bad idea!’ Tokoyami shouts internally, he gets ready to reign his quik in, worried his fleighty partner might do something to upset his shadow.  The shadow in question jumps a bit, obviously surprised someone is genuinely interested in it.  The inky creature looks back at Tokoyami mentally asking permission if it can accept Akira’s affection.  So far nothing seems to go wrong.

“Yes, this is Dark Shadow.  He is my irreplaceable ally, capable of many things.  He’s my other self…..Y-You can pet him if you want to...”  Akira’s mouth opens in a small ‘oh’ shape, he seems dumbstruck that Tokoyami possesses such a quirk, ‘I’ve never met someone Dark Shadow himself wasn’t cautious of…’  Dark Shadow accepts the extended hand.  The black form rubs its head into bronze colored claw.

Akira pets the shadow beast being careful not to scratch him. “So he can think on his own?  Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”  The transformed boy asks, he kneels down due to being too unbalanced to squat, he’s now two handed kneading Dark Shadow.

“We’ve only talked briefly,” Fumikage looks away, second hand embarrassment affecting him.  “At which interval could I divulge my secrets?” He asks, flourishing his hands out as dramatically as he can.  “Besides, Dark Shadow is always with me and watching.  He can come out on his own if he wishes to do so.”  The crow boy blushes, completely flustered that Dark Shadow is practically sitting in the other’s lap.

“That’s so cool!” Akira grins, the smoky trail of his mask hiccups as his nose crinkles a bit.  “I can just transform into...well….this.”  He gestures to his entire being, moving his hands up and down, providing a visual aid to his statement.  Tokoyami’s eyes travel up and down the other boy, his transformation brings sharp talong, red thigh highs along with matching waistcoat, and, arguably the best part of all, giant black wings.  

The shorter narrows his eyes, ‘he’s praising my quirk like his own isn’t just as spectacular, if not more so.  Does he not realize there are those who want nothing more than their own pair of wings?’   He takes in a deep breath, looking away, trying to push down his jealousy.  

“I just realized!”  The dark angel starts up.  He puts a fist into hand, obviously hit by some kind of epiphany. “There are three now!”

“Three of us?” Fumikage blinks slowly, processing what the other has just said.  He looks up, holding Akira’s equally red eyes waiting for an elaboration. 

“Three of us!  You know!  Three crows!  Don’t you know what a group of crows is called?”  Akira turns giddy, bouncing slightly as he taps his metallic fingers together. “We’re a murder!  This is just too perfect.  We’re a murder!  That automatically makes us the best villain squad!  Shoji and Todoroki are probably so jealous, they can’t call themselves a murder.”  He throws his head back, letting out a triumphant laugh to psyche himself up. 

Tokoyami shakes his head while a small grin ghosts his features.  “We should seriously speak of a plan instead of making silly names.” He snorts, ‘that was pretty funny, me and him can get along even though he’s just a chickadee.’

“Oh no!  You’re right, what should we do?  Did we talk too long?  Do we even have time to set up a trap or make a plan??  As villains can we hide the weapon outside?”  The taller paces around causing his heels clicking away on the concrete.

“Again, no, that would defeat the purpose of this exercise.  However, we can’t just sit around like ducks waiting for the hero team to come in.  Like Iida, it would be prudent to set some kind of trap.  Do you have any idea what either are capable of?”  He looks around, taking in the mirky room.  There’s still just the pillars and a whole lot of empty floor.  He looks up, noticing all the windows.  ‘Can we use these?’ 

“Nope, none at all.  What if we move the bomb to the roof?  We can make each floor a pitfall then.”  Akira gives a semblance of a plan.  He’s already moving to pick up the weapon.

“Putting it on the roof…”  Tokoyami pinches the bridge of his beak, “I’m not sure...It’s technically not against the rules....Plus, I don’t think it’d be cheating, so long as we keep the fighting inside and don’t move the bomb beyond the building.”  The two nod, agreeing.  they work on moving the weapon up to the roof, with how light it was it took no time to do so.  Once the weapon is moved to it’s new hiding place, Tokoyami looks at Akira.

“On our way down, we should open all the windows.  You have a lot of maneuverability, and we should take advantage of that.”  He rushes down the stars, boots clunking along, Dark Shadow whips out and opens windows as they go.  Akira also does his own part and opens the windows while running through the building.

With their prep work done, they work to set up their trap.  Akira sits on an open window sill, waiting for Tokoyami’s cue.

Two tall young men stand outside a skyscraper.  They are both leaning against a street guard rail as they wait for the teacher to announce the start of the match.  The two look away, avoiding eye contact, not having a need to make small talk.  Time stretches on for them, as what’s just a couple of minutes feels more like an hour.  The comfortable, endless silence is shattered by a certain teacher’s announcement to start.  

Shoji pears up to the building as he stands from his lean. “Look, here’s an entrance to the left.”  He gestures with his thumb, while the rest of fleshy webbing follows along.  The white haired boy walks in the general direction, guard raised as he gets ready to enter the building.  The peppermint colored boy nods to Shoji and uncrosses his arms, pushing himself off the railing.  He follows after the taller teen not speaking a word.  Looks like silence between them is quickly becoming a common occurrence.

Shoji calmly leads Todoroki towards the entrance. “I can use my quirk to locate them.”  Several ears grow out of the webbing he has for arms.  He raises his webbed arms as his ears seem to stretch out.  His quirk is oddly dubbed ‘dupli-arm’, but he possesses more traits like an octopus or starfish.   The strange body parts shuffle around as the ears wriggle into the air as he uses them to listen.

Shoji’s ears perk up, and pout towards the fifth floor of the building.  “Looks like one is standing alone five floors up.  I can tell because the same floor board is creaking.  I don’t know where the other one is, let’s be careful. “ He looks back to Todoroki, having to slightly look down to make eye contact.  The ears that he produced slowly morph into functioning mouths.  This is a really gross process and the end results are even nastier.  Shoji talks with his newly formed disembodied mouths.  “This reeks of an ambush, they’ve clearly planned something.  The one I can’t hear must be hope to use the element of surprise in some way.”

Todoroki lifts a hand up, flexing and cracking it.  He brushes past Shoji effectively ignoring his offer of help and teamwork. “Get outside.  It’s about to get frosty in here.  Our opponents think this is going to be a defensive game but that means nothing to me.”  He exudes confidence with his strides as he steps through the doorway without looking back. 

Shoji watches him leave as he scratches at his masked cheek. “I don’t really like leaving this all to you.  I’ll keep my eyes and ears to the ground in case anything goes wrong.”  Despite his grievances with being shooed out, he decides to be a team player and walks back to the front of the building, hanging out on his rail again.  Letting a classmate have their moment to shine is fine with him.

Walking up four floors, the half n’ half boy takes in the room, windows open and a warm breeze filtering in.  Todoroki waits about a minute, which is plenty of time for shoji to get considerable distance.  He closes his eyes while exhaling calmly.  His breath swiftly turns visible in the vast drop in temperature.  Sprouting from his left foot is an icy tundra that swiftly consumes the entire building.  Ice creaks and crackles out of the concrete building, like it’s growing small crystals from it.  

Todoroki walks up the stairs, taking his sweet time, ‘Ice in this amount will easily freeze their shows to the ground.  With this, I’ve won.’  He smirks to himself, ‘Just another victory against him. ’   He tightens his right hand which is encased in ice, his red half clangs in protest to the action.  He looks at the ice sloughing off of his away and with a glare it freezes back over.  

Reaching the fifth floor, Todoroki looks around, looking for his opponent.  The tricolored boy spotted a doorway with a cold breeze wafting past him with the scent of challenge following it. ‘This is where Shoji said they’d be waiting, I better keep my guard up even if the other one is probably frozen stuck in their hiding spot.’  He cautiously walks in, peaking in and looking around the room.  

Tokoyami is standing in the middle of the room giving him a red hot glare, contrasting nicely to the frostbitten room.  The windows being open allows for the breeze to caress and dramatically whip his cape around.  ‘Looks like he won’t be just another stepping stone.’   He cocks his chin up, using his height as an intimidation factor.  “I’m not surprised you managed to break free.  Bring it on, however I hope you know how to maneuver on ice.”  

Tokoyami swooshes his hand out, spreading his cape open and revealing fists at the ready, “I wouldn’t have this any other way! Don’t hold back Prince of Ice!” Dark Shadow springs out from under Tokoyami, he uses him like a surfboard and skirts right above the icy ground. 

Todoroki responds in kind, he stomps his left foot on the ground and sends thick chunks of ice towards the bird.  The Ice grows from the ground, creeping its way towards the villain, when it shoots from the ground it creates intricate crystalline structures.  They resemble small shards of glass.  

Tokoyami simply jumps through the crystals, weaving around and even using the growing structure to springboard off of.  He’s showing off his superior reflexes and speed.  Dark Shadow speeds ahead of Tokoyami growing slightly in size and starts picking glass shards off the structures like they’re made out of styrofoam.  Dark Shadow throws the glass like substance right back at Todoroki.

The icy hot boy narrows his eyes at this, swiftly side stepping the projectiles, “You think you can use ice against me?” Mismatched eyes rise in shock, he squats down and sprints behind a pillar.  Placing his hand on the pillar he’s hiding behind, he creates a wall of ice before Tokoyami can get any closer. 

“I see you’ve hidden the weapon further up.  No matter, I’ll still win.”  He declares to his opponent.  Tokoyami doesn’t give up, he starts ripping up concrete from the ground with Dark Shadow’s added might and pounds away at the new barrier. Ever so slowly, he starts chipping away at the glass wall.

“Are you sure about that?”  

A disembodied voice caresses Todoroki’s ears.  On Instinct,  whips his head up, searching the roof.   ‘I didn’t see anyone there earlier!’   He scans the ceiling only to come up blank.  He whips his head around frantically searching for the voice.  Before he can spot the second voice something plows into his back, hard.

“I think you should cool off!” 

“Whe-Aagh!!!” is all he can get out before he’s sent flying unceremoniously. He bounces off his own ice wall and ricochets into a nearby pillar.  He flips over, quickly correcting himself and looking at his would-be attacker.  Sitting on the window sill of the building is Akira, how wings are stretched out wide as he smugly cleans out his nails.  His face sports a devilish smirk as he sends a leer at Todoroki.  “You should pay attention to your surroundings more.”Warns the red clad boy before he ducks out of the window.  A ‘tack tack’ noise rings out as he whips out of another window frame.

Akira charges at Todoroki, swiping at his icy side, Todoroki has only seconds to dodge this, he shoots out a sheet of ice to trip up the speed demon.  Akira’s foot swipes out from under him and he cracks his chin hard onto the concrete and ice, ‘either his chin is bleeding right now, or he bit his tongue,’ Todoroki wants to look away.  

Akira holds at his chin, tearing up. “ Hhhhhhhhhh ” he groans out, rolling around on the ice, out of commission.  With this display, the hero is thoroughly distracted, he doesn’t even notice a certain crow boy coming up from behind.

Capture tape at the ready, strong arms dive from behind the distracted boy ready to tape him up head to arms.  With only a moment to act, the half n’ half boy unleashes a circle of jaggedy ice, spikes surrounding him protectively and knocks Tokoyami back.

“Akira recover and move already!” Tokoyami barks out, Dark Shadow coils around his feet, cushioning his fall.  The fluffy haired villain snaps up, hastily getting up off the ice.  Which only causes him to wipe out again.

“It’s a lot harder to move around in knife shoes! Give me a second!!!” He shouts as he slides across the slippery surface.  Using his claws to create some kind of handhold, he starts clawing his way to a windowsill again.

‘He’s going to try to get the drop on me again!’ Todoroki observes, getting ready to stop the red villain.  He lifts his hands, shards of ice forming, ready to pin Akira against the frostbitten ground.

Dark Shadow clambers into Todoroki’s vision, ‘not this again!’ He hastily backs up as the inky form smashes all of his hastily formed ice. Clenching his teeth, he forgets about the speedy one at the moment to focus on the more dangerous shadowy one.  

“It would seem you’ve sorely underestimated us.”  Tokoyami mercilessly states before sending his emitter quirk into a charge.  Todoroki has to concentrate as he creates volley after volley of painful snow pellets, all of which the bird shaped form breaks through like it was made of clouds. 

Tokoyami uses this chance to completely overwhelm the panicking boy.  He charges into the taller’s blind spot which also happens to be his completely frozen side. Unable to turn his head in time, Tokoyami comes in with a strong right hook, jumping up and belting the other right across the cheek with a solid punch. 

Tokoyami grimaces in pain, holding his forearm.  His knuckles oozing some blood from hitting solid ice with all his might.  The armor on Todoroki’s right side begins to crack.  The mask he made splinters and sloughs off his skin, revealing an angry faced tricolored boy.  With furrowed brows furrow, a realization hits him like a bag of bricks.  ‘I need to stop holding back.’ 

The icy-hot boy unleashes his largest ice tundra yet.  Half of the building becomes engulfed in a glacier within seconds.  The structure begins to fracture and groan with the new weight bearing on it.  The ground begins to shake, drywall begins ripping, and the rebar is exposed as the glacier’s weight begins to tear the building in two.

“No!” Tokoyami shouts with horror, eyes wide as half his leg is now encased in ice.  He grabs at his leg as a painful numbness lances its way deep into his bones.  He hisses in pain, gritting his teeth and clamping his eyes shut.  Dark Shadows knocks on the solid form, looking at his summoner with obvious concern.  In this situation, it is unknown if breaking the ice is safe for his leg.  “I’ve been thwarted!” Tokoyami grits out in frustration.

“Shatter that, and you shatter your limb.”  Todoroki warns hotly, knowing just how damaging ice to a human body really is.  A soft ‘thunk thunk ’ sounds out behind him, he ignores that thinking it’s the sound of the building breaking apart.  He pulls out his own capture tape and approaches Tokoyami.  Toko glares at him as he relents his hands, knowing he’s lost.  It’s not like he will really be able to do much now that his entire leg is in white hot agony.

Todoroki’s communicator buzzes to life, he reacts to the statement and grimaces.  With the capture tape wrapped around Toko’s hands the peppermint boy goes to melt the ice, not wanting to prolong the pain he caused to his classmate.  However, before he can thaw the ice, someone strikes him from behind yet again.

“I’m coming Fumikage!”  Akira shouts as he kicks Todoroki away again, aiming for the icy side so his heels don’t accidentally cut his opponent.  The tri-colored boy is sent flying yet again, and Akira does a mid air flip, landing right in front of Tokoyami.

Akira stomps on the ice with his heels, using them like ice picks.  The ice gives way to the knife shoes but it’s just too thick for him to get Tokoyami out in time. “Your leg!!!  And you were captured…What do I do???” 

“Don’t mind me, our adversary is back up!”  Tokoyami grinds out, his eyes still screwed shut in pain.  Todoroki recovers, sending more ice Akira’s way, who’s not paying attention.  Dark Shadow shoots forward and pushes Akira out of the way.  The shadow whips around and glares at Todoroki.  

Akira hits his back to the ground hard, sliding a few feet on the frozen ground. “You two should just give up now, there’s no way to win.”  Todorok stands up, dusting himself off.  “Besides, any longer and permanent damages can happen to his leg.  Give up now and I’ll let him out.”  He stares down Dark Shadow but makes sure to keep Akira in his peripheral. ‘Just give up, You can’t win!’

Akira glares. “I’m not going to give up, I’m a villain, shouldn’t I be the one to take a hostage anyways?” He asks, trying to crack a joke.  Todoroki shakes his head, and sends a volley of ice spears his way by placing his palm to the ground.

The building lets out another mighty shake, as the ice encasing the building splinters and fractures audibly.  The giant glacier takes pieces of the building off with it, the indoor training ground growing more unstable by the minute.

Using his speed, Akira dodges the ice chunks, zooming towards the white and red haired opponent.  His wings beat as he leaps high out of the ice’s range, using this sudden burst of height he flips around, now landing behind Todoroki who’s just now turning to intercept him.  “Ice of you to drop by!” Akira belts out before kicking his opponent into the back of his knees.

Todoroki grunts as he lands on his knees, the ice providing no cushion for him.  He whips around, thrusting a kick out right into Akira’s gut.  Akira is knocked back and hits the wall.  “You keep just jumping around and making a mockery of this training, Why go on?  You know you can’t win.”  He sneers at the other.

Akira glares at him while standing up.  “I won’t know unless I try!”  He rubs his stomach before taking a runner's stance. “You think you’ll win by destroying the building?  Well you’re the same as Bakugo!  I won’t give into you, just because you have a powerful quirk!!!”  He starts running around the room, darting between pillars and using them to jump into the air.

Todoroki whips his head around, trying to keep track of his fast movements.  He can’t follow the fast movements with his eyes alone.  He starts shooting out ice after ice, he’s beginning to reach the point of getting frostbite himself.  ‘How can he move around so much?!?’ Todoroki clenches his teeth, getting annoyed that he can’t stop the speed demon.  

‘I have to get some distance now!’ Akira shouts at himself, darting around and looking for an opening.  Todoroki seems to pause as he shivers and clenches at his left arm. Frost seems to be growing on his exposed limbs as he grabs to rub some warmth back into them.  ‘He can’t handle his own ice?’ Akira asks himself before realizing ‘this is an opening I can use!’  

He leaps high diving over the other.  He lands behind the peppermint boy gracefully.  Todoroki is grabbed by the back of his shirt, holding him by his oddly placed harness.  “You’ll never see this coming!”  Quickly lifting him off the ground, unknowingly preventing the icy boy from countering, he spins at a fast pace and throws Todoroki out of one of the many open windows.  “Bon voyage! Enjoy your trip, see you next fall!”  He ends with a wink and smirk, giving todoroki one last salute before he’s out of sight, out of mind.

The half n’ half boy is flung out of the window, Tokoyami chimes in, “Don’t mind me, go protect the bomb in the last minutes.  I might be captured but we can still win this if we don't let them touch the weapon!” Orders his partner, Akira nods, getting ready to jump out the window again and scale the building.  He flips out of the window frame, a different one from which the enemy was tossed out of.  He starts running up to the roof, noticing that the building is now split in half from Todoroki’s use of his quirk.

“Geez!  I think this is worse then what Bakugo did!” Akira winces, “How do I keep the weapon away from someone who can put an entire building on ice???  No wonder it’s so cold to sit by him!”  He shivers, remembering the chill from earlier.  He climbs his way to the roof, once on it he notices the weapon teattering and getting ready to fall into a growing ravine.  

He rushes over to pick it up and move it carefully, remembering that the weapon shouldn’t be too damaged or they’ll lose points.  He looks around for the best place to rest it.  

“So you put it on the roof?”  The deep voice sent a chill down Akira’s spine.  He shrieks as he whips around to see Shoji and Todoroki are now on the roof with him. 

‘This is bad!!!!’

Earlier in the training, Shoji stepped out of the building and watched as it was instantly covered in ice.  He sighs, ‘guess Todoroki was serious.’   He sits and waits for him to return with the two captured villains.  Keeping his promise, he uses his quirk to summon up some extra ears and listens to make sure everything goes well.

He hears a commotion on the outside of the building, to the back right side.  He walks over to it preparing to investigate.  What greets him, is something pretty funny.  Akira is hanging five stories high, completely upside down.  He’s dangling while his heels are frozen stuck to the side of the wall.  He indignantly flaps his wings to help him sit up enough to claw at the ice.  This takes several attempts.  

Shoji watches as Akira breaks himself free, and then scales the side of the walls like it was natural for him.  The masked squid picks up what sounds like a commotion inside the building, ‘Sounds like Todoroki might need some help.’  He gets ready to enter the building, but pauses.

Shortly after the fighting starts, Akira scales a floor up and fives into the building through the window, seconds after he can hear Akira dive out another window frame.  The clink of his metallic shoes on the concrete indicates he’s outside again.  ‘I think he’s doing a hit and run tactic.’  Shoji changes his ears into hands, getting ready to scale up and fight the winged opponent in his own territory.

Moments before his hands make contact with the building half of the building is encased in a massive glacier.  He flinches back at the sheer size, loud creaks and groans fill the air as the building starts breaking in half from the weight of the ice.  ‘He really should learn some restraint…’ Shoji sweat drops.  

He sees Akira climbing around the ice, “Cold! Cold! Ow! Ow!” He calls out, clearly in pain from groping the ice.  Akira dives into an open frame that wasn’t impeded by ice.  Using this change, Shoji begins scaling the side of the building, using his many hands.

‘This does hurt to climb on.’ He sighs as he’s hands stick longer and longer to the rough ice, the hard substance cutting into his hands slightly.  He keeps his eyes and ears perked up to the sky, wanting to know if anything happens while he’s climbing.  

On cue, by the third floor, Akira tosses Todoroki out of the same side Shoji happens to be climbing.  He digs his feet and hands into the building, reaching out to catch Todoroki, the boy looks at him with surprise.

“Shoji?”

“Came to help.”

“....Sorry.”

“Let’s go, I can hear Akira climbing the walls again.”

Shoji flips the peppermint boy around, situating him onto his back as he climbs up with renewed speed.  Seems like Akira is now heading for the roof.  He follows after the red bird boy, working to not be spotted as he moves.

Once they reach the roof, they can see akira rush to move the weapon so it doesn’t fall into the cracking building.  “So you put it on the roof?” Shoji asks, wanting to surprise Akira.

Akira shrieks, turning around looking shocked at the two. “You two-” He cuts himself off, realizing just how stacked the odds are for him right now.  Todoroki uses this chance to send another volley of ice at the high heeled clad boy.  Akira jumps into action, grabbing the bomb and dodges the ice.  

“Stop fighting, just give up.  It’s two against one.” Todoroki tells him not wanting this to drag on.  

Akira sticks his tongue out at them, “In your dreams! I’m not giving up! Catch me if you can!”  He lifts the bomb up, sending a silent prayer before jumping off the rails of the building, Shoji and Todoroki lunge to stop him.  Akira’s wings beat, however they’re not used to the added weight of the weapon so he doesn’t make it far.

Ice traps him toe to knee, tripping him mid air and causing him to drop the bomb.  “No!!!”  He shouts out, watching the weapon fall.  The bird boy squirmed around trying to break the hastily made ice, not realizing if he breaks out he’ll fall off the building without his wings having proper preparation. 

As the ice shatters Shoji whips his octo-arms out and grabs Akira before he can fall, he pulls out his capture tape as Akira kicks at his strong arm.  Tightening his grip, Shoji's hold doesn't falter, a hollow ‘thunk’ is heard from their place on the roof. 

“BOTH TEAMS LOSE!” Booms All Might over the intercoms they’re all wearing.  All three look confused.  Akira pears over the railing along with shoji, at the bottom, covering the entire alleyway, are scattered fragments of what was supposed to be the weapon. 

“We both lost…?” Akira asks confused, he looks at Shoji, who just shrugged.

Todoroki bites his lip, but releases a warmth that works to melt all the ice in the area.  Upon doing so, it releases a trapped Tokoyami but also half of the building  that was breaking.  A loud shifting crack resonates out, as half the building slides down and collapses into the streets.

“How are we getting down?”  Akira asks, seeing that the stairs side was now completely missing.  “Wait!  Tokoyami!”  He rushes to climb down the side of the building, worrying, making him forget he probably shouldn’t be climbing the side of a collapsing building.  He reunites with his fellow villain, and they make their way down cautiously.  Shoji and Todoroki scale their way down separately.  

All Might greets the four, looking at the destruction of the building and the weapon, he tutts.  “Alright then….that was something….” He trails off, not sure what to tell them, all four seem worse for wear and aren’t having some kind of panic attack like Bakugo was earlier.  “Well then you four, let’s go to your grading!”  He ushers them back to the viewing room.

Earlier, before the training began, everyone in the observation deck got ready for the next match.  Yu paces around Minato, practically digging a ditch into the concrete.  “I hope this goes well for him, he has no practice against anyone or anything….”  His eyes are wide as he rambles, static clicking off of him in waves.

Minato sighs, “You know, he scored higher than you in the entrance exam.  Stop worrying.”  He looks away, wanting Yu to stop mumbling.

“You should believe in him, he’s your brother right?” Kirishima asks Yu while patting his back comfortingly.

“I do! But I’m worried.”  Yu sheds crocodile tears. “A doting mother can’t help but worry about her baby!” He deadpans out with watery eyes.

Kirishima’s eyes sparkle a bit. “That’s pretty manly!”  He fists bumps. “Brotherly love sure is awesome!”

Jiro scoffs. “No brother worries as much as him, just look at blue, he’s chill.”  She twirls her earphone jocks before pointing them at the emo blueberry.  

Kaminari stands by her. “If it was me I’d be worried, I mean have you seen Shoji and Todoroki?  The two are built like tanks!  And have you heard?”  He leans in, like he’s going to reveal some kind of big secret.

“Heard what?” Mina comes over, wanting to know all the gossip.  She leans by grabbing Jiro’s shoulders to listen in. 

“Todoroki is the son of a top ranked hero!  He probably has heaps of training.  Sorry but I just think Crow head and High heels won’t make it.”  Kami swipes at his throat, sticking out his tongue in a pretend death

Mina gasps. “No way!  That’s so cool!”  she puts her hands to her face in faux shock, her eyes sparkle at the juicy news.

Yu sighs. “I wish we got him to practice more, even if it was just wrestling Nii-San…” He shakes his head, looking at Minato for some kind of reply.

Minato shrugs, “it’s his own fault if he fails.”  He looks away from Yu instead opting to stare at his own shoes.  He sighs and kicks at some dust bunnies.

Froppy pears at him with her large eyes, “Do you really mean that?”  Her look is deep and piercing.  Like she can see right into and through Minato.  He shrinks a bit and moves away from her.

Mina nods in agreement. “Yeah that’s super mean to say about your older brother!”  She leans more on Jiro, dragging Jiro down somewhat. 

Minato looks at them grimly with his hair shadowing his entire face. “What?”  He squares his shoulders ready to correct them. 

Before they can ask further, All Might interrupts, with a simple. “Begin the training!” He poses before hitting the button and turning on the cameras again.  They light up and show the hero team on the outside. 

“Oh looks like Shoji and Todoroki are strategizing!  le plus adapté!”  Aoyama speaks, twinkling his eyes towards the cameras. He puts a hand under her chin to pull off the princely pose.

With the screens now trained on the hero team, the kids of 1-A turn their attention to the training.  On the screen Todoroki and Shoji walk up to the front entrance of the building and loop around to the left side of the building.

On screen the two share brief words.  What they are doing can’t be called a conversation.  Todoroki on camera nods towards the building before going in alone.  Shoji walks back, obviously not helping.

“Why would they split up?” Uraraka asks with her hands put together in anticipation.  Her eyes dart around looking at multiple different camera angles looking for Akira’s team.  She’s hoping to spot him and Tokoyami.  “Did we ever find out what Todoroki’s quirk is?” 

“It’s ice.” Minato responds, he doesn’t elaborate further.  The boy keeps his singular eye focused on screen as he watches Todoroki calmly strolling up the stairs of the building.

  “Oh! Wonder what he’s going to do with his ice then, does he think he can take the two on alone?”  Ochako further inquiries, eyes still roaming for the tell tail bronze wings.

On Cue, Todoroki steps onto the fifth floor and they all watch as the cameras around him visibly freeze over. Frost and ice covering  the entire building.  The cold even manages to reach them, all the way at the observation deck.

“Woah that’s COLD!”  Mina shouts, hugging herself and rubbing her arms.

“Geez, that quirk is way to op!” Kaminari adds, pulling his own jacket in tighter.

Bakugo who’s been silent this entire time flinches.  With a grimace that clouds his entire face he hazily peers at the screens.  Seeing Todoroki completely freeze an entire block awakened a realization within him.  ‘I have...so much more to worry about then the nerd….everyone here is…’  He shuddered in horror, ‘I’m...not...the best one here.’

Yu is biting at his fingernails. “He just froze the entire building!!! Is Aki going to be ok???  What if he trips?”

“Stop talking.” Minato snaps, not able to take the audible worrying Yu is doing.  He turns back to the screens while rubbing his left temple.  Todoroki is on the move again, normally people would mention this by now, but they’re all too busy shivering to talk.

Todoroki walks to the next floor clearly ready to capture the villain team.  His plans are thwarted though, as Tokoyami is standing in the middle of the room very obviously not frozen in place.  

“N-n-n-nice job getting your footing Tokoyami!” Kirishima cheers through chattering teeth.  He holds his bare arms and rubs them to get some heat into himself.

Todoroki and Tokoyami charge each other, wasting no time to talk.  The battle begins as Todoroki sends ice volleys at Tokoyami, however the young man dodges them and weaves in between. 

“Tokoyami has impressive strength, speed, and reflexes!” Iida points at the camera while his glasses gleam. “Todoroki’s display of ice was impressive, however I think Tokoyami’s combat prowess is far more spectacular!”  He compliments.

“w-where’s...A-A-Akira?” Koda asks quietly, the cold adding to his stutter.  He looks away from the other students when they turn to see who exactly spoke.

“He must be waiting to do a surprise attack!” The boy with the yellow helmet adds, he grins widely despite being just as cold as the others. “I’m sure we’ll see him soon.”

Sato nods in agreement. “Yeah, He and Tokoyami definitely have something planned!”  He pats Koda on the back providing the shy lad some comfort.

On the tv’s, it shows Tokoyami starts to push Todoroki back.  In response, Todoroki creates a wall of ice to protect himself, and the shadow user begins to chip away at the newly made wall.

“That quirk is really versatile.” Momo observes, by now she’s used her own quirk to create a blanket for herself, and gives more blankets out to the especially cold classmates.  She stares at the fight with piercing eyes. “He is underutilizing it.  Seems almost like he’s holding back.”

With that, on the screens, something red zips in and kicks Todoroki in the back.  The red blur does several flips midair before landing.  Todoroki is slammed into his own ice wall.

“YES! Nice Aki!!!!” Yu whoops as he jumps up and down.  He metal geita makes a loud clanging noise as he hits the ground.

The rest of the classmates back up to give yu the room to cheer.  During the fight Akira uses her impressive speed to get in close and personal with Todoroki, Tokoyami still can’t get to him because of the ice wall.  It’s chaotic blur as Todoroki summons up ice and trips Akira.  Akira smashes his chin on the floor, blood gushing from that area.  It’s just really gross.

“Oh no his chin!!!” Uraraka cringes. “I hope he didn’t bite his tongue!”  She shivers at the thought of biting through her own tongue.

“Akira!!!” Yu shouts in pure grief.  “His poor baby chin!!  It’s bleeding!!”  He grabs Minato and shakes him in fright.  Minato is shaken and looks downright murderous.  He grabs Yu and sucker punches him in the gut.  With Yu, he will always choose violence. 

Yu sinks to the ground in pain, All Might looks at the two. “I know you two young men are brothers but that’s no excuse to fight!  Please get along!”  Minato turns his glare to All Might and for a moment All Might wondered if Minato was a secret villain.

During Yu’s freak out, Tokoyami broke through the ice wall and is now helping Akira to take on Todoroki.  The two tag team him and Tokoyami hits him with a meaty right hook.  The attack clearly has an effect on Todoroki as he retaliates by freezing the entire half of the building.  A new wave of cold washes over the classmates.

“Hey All Might this is bad!!!” Kaminari shouts, pointing to the training tvs. “Todoroki froze half the building!!”

All Might whips around, looking at the destruction. “That is no good!”  He pulls up a mini microphone. “Todoroki do that again and you’re disqualified!”  Todoroki makes a face on the screens but keeps fighting.  Now that Tokoyami has his leg frozen it’s up to Akira to fight him. 

Everyone watches as Akira darts around to surprise attack the ice making boy.  It seems to work as eventually Todoroki lets up.  Seems he needs a break like everyone.  Akira uses this time to attack him and throw him out the window.

“Did he just…” Mina looks shocked. “Can he even do that?”

All Might coughs into his hand yet again. “Well...I didn’t say he couldn’t?” He grins at her.  “I’ll allow it, but only because Todoroki froze half the building!”

The cameras pan out, showing that Shoji actually caught Todoroki after he was tossed out the window.

“Hey nice!  Shoji’s doing something!” The black haired tape boy points. “I thought he’d eventually show up to help.”

“Yeah well he couldn’t just sit idly when half the building suddenly grew a glacier.” the frog girl adds while poking her tongue out.

“Hey look! Akira’s running up the walls!” Uraruaka points to a camera in the upper right.  She’s on her tippy toes to emphasize this. “I didn’t know he could do that!”

“Neither did I.” Minato adds in, watching his younger brother.  His shoulders sag a bit, wondering if Akira can even hand both Todoroki and Shoji alone.  He looks away, not actually wanting to see his brother get tag teamed.  

When Akira reaches the roof of the building, he rushes to relocate the weapon, moving it from a crack it was precariously dangling from.

“He hid it on the roof?!?  That’s just so...sneaky!” Kirishima looks at the footage, his jaw set with an apprehensive face. “I don’t like how good of a villain he makes.”

“Bending the rules like this is disappointing.” Momo sighs, she pulls her self made blanket in more. “I do hope we don’t see this for the rest of the training.” 

“I agree,” Iida starts, “Such behaviour isn’t becoming.  They should abide by the same rules we all are.  Even if they’re not explicitly stated.”

Akira is cornered by Shoji and Todoroki, looks like this is the end for him.  However, it appears there’s some dialogue exchange before Akira picks up the weapon and jumps off the roof.  From their view, they can see as ice crawls its way over the railing and pins itself to Akira’s red legs.  With his momentum stopped he drops the bomb off the roof.  Everyone watches as it shatters into a million papery pieces.

All Might jumps up and grabs him microphone while he dramatically fans out his cape.  “BOTH TEAMS LOSE!” He booms into the mic.  His voice makes the other brace slightly.

At this declaration a warmth fills the room, as Todoroki melts his own ice.  The Camera feed shuts off. ‘Can’t say I expected this match to go any better...I really should have said something when they made their plan but honestly I wanted to see if they could push Todoroki out of his icy shell….let’s hope this didn’t backfire.  Enji, I hope your son turns out to be nothing like you.’  With a hidden sigh, All Might cheerily turns to his students.

“I will now be leaving to pick them up! Don’t fret, for I shall return shortly!”  The 1-A students cheer as they eagerly await the grading.

The four line up in front of their peers, ready to hear the verdict. 

All Might raises his hands. “Alright then, Who do we think the VIP of this training session was?”  He looks at the room that remains quiet.

Iida raises his hand. “Sir if I may, would the VIP of this match be Tokoyami?”  He pushes his glasses up, “Tokoyami showed the most teamwork, and we could tell from the cameras that he told Arikuyo where to go.  He also acted as the perfect distraction for his partner to swoop in and do a sneak attack.”

Before All Might can confirm if Iida is correct or not, someone interrupts.  “I don’t know about that, He seemed more like he was trying to take Todoroki head on.  I didn’t see any use of comms either.  He also acted too hastily, challenging his opponent head on and he got injured in the process.”  It’s Momo Yaoyorozu cutting in, she points to Tokoyami’s leg and knuckles.  

Iida stands at attention. “I see, so I was wrong!”  

All Might gets ready to answer, ‘I agree Tokoyami is the VIP…’ he thinks internally.  He’s about to open his mouth to speak before he’s cut off once again.

“Hey now! You can’t forget, Todoroki was really cool in that match!  He froze the building and went right in guns-a-blazing!  It was so manly how he was ready to take charge!”  Kirishima chimes in.  “I mean did you see the damage he caused?!”  

Momo sighs. “Are you not getting the point of these exams?  It’s to act in the capacity of your roles.  Akira took the role of being a villain maybe too seriously, moving the bomb somewhere out of the building, and also cheating, by using the outside to maneuver around.  It was clever, but it was also not the point of the training.  It’s to improve on our indoor skills.”  At this Akira flinches, he bowed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  He lets out a small chuckle, embarrassed to be so thoroughly called out.

“Then with Todoroki, he rushed in alone.  It appeared to me he purposely told Shoji to remain behind.  He then uses his quirk to slightly freeze the entire building.  It was an unnecessary show of power, which gave the villains plenty of time to act.  We all saw how easily Tokoyami broke free and even managed to set a trap in the time it took Todoroki to walk up.  He was showing off his quirk to show it off, he didn’t think of the consequences and was quickly overwhelmed.”  Todoroki gave Momo a piercing glance.  His face is schooled into a perfect poker face so it’s hard to tell if he’s bothered by this or not.  

“Shoji also is at fault for just leaving the training in the hands of another.  Yes he acted towards the end, but it didn’t make much of a difference and there was no team work involved at all.”  She shakes her head and crosses her arms as Shoji slumps.  Seems like her words cut him deeply.  

“So in my honest opinion, I don’t think there should be a VIP of this match, because no one operated at their very best.” Momo concludes.

All Might sweats slightly as he coughs into his hand. ‘She makes a point!’  All the students turn to look at All Might, waiting for his own answer to all of this.  “Once again...Yaoyorozu is right!” He agrees meekly, not wanting to sound dumb in front of his class. “She’s hit the nail on the head once again!   While I think it was an interesting test overall, in the end no one won due to the weapon being smashed.  If this was a real world situation you’d all be dead.” 

All four slump, Akira going so far as to detransform.  “With that in mind, let’s just agree to move on and learn from the rest of the training!  Tokoyami my boy, would you wish for the nurse to take a look at your leg and hand?”  He leans in, concern emanating from him.

Tokoyami shakes his head. “I am fine, Sensei, I want to see the other matches too.”  He crosses his arms, covering his bleeding knuckle as he leans back against the wall, as stoic as ever.

All Might nods. “Alright then! Moving on!”  He pulls out his selection boxes once again.  “Wonder who’s next!” He reaches in.  He pulls out of the villain box a bright red ball with a bold G and the hero ball he pulls has a bold I.

“Alright, Team I vs Team G!  Kaminari, Jiro, And the other two Arikuyo’s please line up!”

Jiro and Kaminari high five as they head to line up in front of All Might, eagerly accepting the comms and capture tape.  Meanwhile Yu has to drag Minato over.

“Oh no.” Minato monotones, not wanting to transform again and deal with the double headache Yu and his quirk bring.

“Oh yes! It’s going to be great!”  Yu grins, unaware of his affect on his older brother.

“I’m going to die.” Minato sinks more to the ground, hoping Yu let’s him go.

“Of fun!” Yu grins, definitely not letting go, not anytime in the near future.

“Somebody end my suffering.” Minato sighs. ‘Baby steps….baby steps…..be patient...you’ll get through this somehow.’  He repeats to himself.

Chapter Text

Yu successfully drags his older brother to the designated building.  He smiles at Minato as he puts his communicator in his ear. “I’m really raring to go!  I bet we can easily beat Kaminari and Jiro!.”  The gray haired boy grins doing a pumped up pose by jutting his arms out enthusiastically.

Minato looks away as he scoffs. “I wouldn’t be too sure.”  Mentally he adds, ‘I sometimes forget how idiotic he can be.  Who just rushes into battle, without any plan?’  The blue haired boy shakes his head, as he activates his quirk once again.

The blue flames climb around him and cover him in his usual doll like armor.  His limbs turn into pristine silver gloves and boots while his torso becomes a baby teal color. His headphones melt and change into a teal headband that doubles as a neck protector as well.  The only thing adding more color to his outfit is his red scarf wrapped around his neck.

Transformation now complete, his form emits a soft glow while his eyes are now a bright sparkling blue.  “How come you never just stay transformed?”  Cuts in Yu, the one always invading someone’s personal space and asking too many questions.

“I told you already why.” Minato quips, not wanting to waste time explaining again.  ‘He really needs to start remembering what I tell him.’  He glares up at his little brother, ‘It’s so unfair that he is so tall!!!  He and Akira both.’  He seethes internally, hating he has to crane his neck.

“You haven’t told me why, the answer you gave last time didn’t answer anything!” Yu gets up in his space as he crosses his arms. “You know you don’t have to keep your answers to one sentence all the time.  Believe it or not, I do want to hold full on conversations mister grumpy.”  His glowing yellow eyes bore into the sparkling blue as the smile he was wearing up until now melts into a frown. 

Minato can’t help but take a step back.  “You want to talk? Fine, strategize.  We can’t charge in blindly.”  He looks away and mirrors Yu’s pose by also crossing his arms.  His guard is raised while he is slowly more and more on edge.  The headache of Yu always pushing his buttons along with his transformation are working in tandem to give the bluenette the worst migraine he’s ever had in his short existence.

“Oh! You want a plan?  I have one alright, We just have to charge in!  If we work together, we can overcome any trap the villain team makes and we can cover each other's blind spots!”  Yu takes out his naginata and twirls it before planting it solidly into the concrete causing it to crack from the force.

“That’s the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard.” Minato shakes his head. “I swear dad dropped you as a baby.”  He shakes his head as he grabs at his nose bridge, massaging it. “We have to capture the villains, not fight them.” 

“What, that's not heroic! We should fight them head on and then capture them.” Yu huffs at Minato clearly not backing down from arguing with his equally stubborn brother.  “Also, I was never dropped so stop saying that!”  He slams his naginata down on the concrete resulting in more hairline fractures splintering out across the concrete even more.

“Alright let the training begin!” Chimes in All Might from the two communicators.  This stops the two for the moment.

Yu and Minato glare at each other.  Yu leans in, lording his superior height over Minato. “So, we’re doing my plan right?”  He stares at his older brother unblinking.  Doing everything in his power to make his brother buckle under his will.

“No we are not, keep leaning like that and I’ll break your knee caps.”  Minato seethes at him as he narrows his eyes.  He doesn’t back down knowing he’s right. 

Yu stands back up nice and tall.  He looks down at Minato.  “You shouldn’t threaten me, we’re on the same team.  Why are you against using the front door?”

Minato lets out a deep and suffering sigh. “Yu, you test my patience.  We can’t use the front door.  Is that simple enough for you?  Do I need to speak slower?”  He is already testy as a result of migraine and the fact Yu always manages to annoy him so easily.

For a moment, there’s only silence as the two stare at each other.  Yu breaks eye contact and looks away, he coughs into hand. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.  Lead on.”  He pushes out with a strained voice.  With the vein bulging out of his neck, it appears that despite giving in the younger is still angry.

Minato nods. “Good. Glad you can listen to reason.” He looks at the building. ‘Let’s just sneak in from a window like Deku and Ochako’s team.’   He gives Yu a ‘come hither’ gesture with his arm.  As he leads the two to a window.  “We’ll get in through here.”  

Yu nods but isn’t paying attention.  He’s still seething from earlier. In the back of his mind, he gets a devious idea. “Hey Minato, What’s that?” He shouts as he points to the second floor.

“Wha-I don’t see an-” Minato is swiftly cut off, as Yu hoists his brother up by his red scarf.  Minato has to grab at his neck to keep the scarf from choking him.

“I think it’s the villain team! You should go in first!” Yu smiles devilishly as his yellow eyes glow with a mayasmic mirth.  Rearing back, he twists his hips getting ready to throw his brother like a rock through a window.  

“You be-” Minato threat is stopped mid statement due to his airflow being restricted.He locks his elbow while snapping forward causing Minato to become a teal and white blur as he is used to make a new front door.  

BAM!

Resounds out as Minato flies through the second floor window.  The teal and white blur bounces around and manages to go through several pillars.  Finally, he stops bouncing when he is thoroughly embedded into the other side of the building drywall.  It acts as a crispy cushion.  

The sounds of dry walls crumbling and hitting the ground fills the second floor.  Minato wrenches himself out from the wall. “I’m going to KILL him!” He shouts, pulling his shield off of his back. He sends a glare at the now smoking and dusty Minato sized door. 

Yu’s hulking form barrels through the dusty smoke as he leaves a cloudy trail.  The leather streamers on his head crown billow as he draws his naginata.  He brings it down with a heavy swing at Minato.  “I knew there were villains on this floor!”

The dust clears, revealing Minato stopping Yu’s naginata with his harp shield.  Minato is sending Yu a rage fueled death glare.  “Oh it’s just you.  I swear I saw the gleam of villainy.” Yu shakes his head as he relents his attack.  

“What you’re seeing is the light at the end of the tunnel.” Rages Minato as he proceeds to smack at Yu with his shield. Hitting him harder each time.  He smashes Yu on the side and in retaliation Yu punches at his head resulting in a hollow metallic clang.  Yu holds his hand in pain.

“I forgot...about your thick skull…” He laments as he blows air on his fist.  Minato is still glowering at him as he keeps rushing his younger brother.

“So…” A third voice rings out.  The two momentarily stop to turn and look.  There stands Jiro and Kaminari.  Both standing by the faux weapon with equally confused expressions. “Do you two want to just turn yourselves in?”  Jiro asks.  

The two Villains in the building survey their surroundings.  Jiro sticks her earphone jacks into the concrete nonchalantly.  She leans back with her hands in her pocket effectively showing off her entire hero costume.  Her slanted jagged bob matched her jagged and torn orange punk shirt.  She paired her dark purple locks with a black leather crop jacket.  Along with matching black pants and thick platform combat boots.  The only splashes of color to her ensemble are her orange face decals, shaped like moons, orange shirt, and orange headphones.  

“So thanks to the first two exams, we actually know how to act in these tests.”  Jiro starts explaining.  “I’ll be on the lookout for the hero team and I’ll tell you where to direct your lightning.  You’ve got it Kami?  We’re one-shotting them.”  She stares at him, a pout on her face as she boredly relays her plan.  The monotony in her voice contrasts sharply with the intelligent gleam present in her eyes.

Kaminari for his part did a good job listening.  “You’ve got it, I’ll use thunderbolt on them.  It’ll be super effective!” He smiles at her widely while joking.  He gives her two thumbs up, already fully relying on her to lead the team to victory. 

Kaminari’s hero outfit is similar to Jiro’s, he’s wearing black pants and a black leather jacket.  The only difference is that he has white lightning bold accents streaking down his shins, wibs, shoulders, and collar.  He’s got a white V neck underneath and a black joker on.  He’s also rocking some blue wide lens sunglasses.  

The two look like a matching pair.  Kaminari uses the prep time to look around the room, ‘it’s surprisingly clean.’ He notes.  ‘I thought there’d be more mold and dust. ’ “So….it’s kind of quiet now.” he points out.

Jiro sighs as she closes her eyes. “Kaminari, we want the silence.”  She shakes her head but smiles nonetheless, knowing her partner is just nervous and wanting to make small talk.  “Those two are formidable, so we need to be careful.”  She looks up at the slightly taller.

“I know, did you see their scores?  Yeessshhhh….I know that Todoroki guy got in from his dad but did you see his quirk? He’s the real deal.  Then that Bakugou guy….and we’re going up against someone who tied with him.  The bowl cut Arikuyo looks nice and all but something seems so off about him.  Is it just me?”  Kaminari looks around as he fidgets, he untucks his shirt from his clunky belt and pushes his glasses into his bangs.  He goes to look out the window.  “I mean you feel it too right?”

Jiro looks at her large platform boots, she taps them together while processing her own thoughts.  “I think they’re not that bad.  I can hear the music in the blue haired one’s headphones.  He’s got good taste. Anyone with good taste in music is trustworthy.  I do hear odd rhythms from all of them though.  So I do agree...they're weird.  I don’t think they’re bad though.”

Kaminari hums while looking at the clouds. “Hmm. Yeah...They all seem nice enough.  I mean the older one seems funny, I like how he bent the rules.  Can’t believe someone like that got second in the entrance exam.”  He chuckles to himself.  “Yeah, they’re not so bad.” 

Jiro smiles as she’s about to add more to the conversation.  However, before they can gossip for too long, the voice of All Might interrupts them.  

“Alright, let the training begin!” 

The two give each other a serious nod as they get ready.  Kaminari sticks by the window watching the outside while Jiro keeps her earphones plugged into the walls.  She listens to their approach.  “They’re going to be on your side Kami, stay low but keep an eye on them.”

Kaminari pulls his blue lenses back on. “You’ve got it chief.”  He leans against the wall but keeps his eyes trained at the outside, watching as Minato and Yu walk towards the side.  The transformed bowl cut boy suddenly points up at them.

“Ack! We’ve been spotted!” Kaminari panics.  Yu grabs Minato’s neck scarf, effectively choking his brother. Kaminari is visibly confused. “Hey Jiro do you know what they’re doing?”

“....”  Jiro looks stunned as she listens.  She can hear Yu taunts Minato and the shuffling of movements.  “Incoming! Kami get back from the the win-” Jiro herself runs to the other side to stand by the weapon.  Kaminari heeding her warning but also witnessing for himself what Yu is about to do.  Dodges out of the way in the last second.  He dives to the side.

BAM!

The entire second floor trembles and groans as it’s hit by a living wrecking ball.  Minato is sent flying through the window resulting in glass and metal framings to go flying everywhere in a frenzy.  His path of destruction doesn’t end though as he bounces off the concrete ground, cracking it with each bounce.  He also manages to break through several pillars as well before his eventual stop when he meets the other side of the room.  Minato becomes one with the drywall.  

He lets out a low grown, as the entire room fills with a sinister aura.  “I’m going to KILL him!” He seethes out from clenched teeth.  He pulls himself off of the wall with him landing on the ground with a dull thud.  He dusts himself off while getting up.  Once standing at his full five foot seven height, he takes his harp shield off his back.  Glaring right at the hole he made.

Kaminari and Jiro look at one another.  Visible confusion is on their faces as they both start shrugging.  To add more confusion to the chaos, Yu bounces into the room.  Kicking up more debris.  He has his naginata weapon drawn and Minato and Yu both clash.

A loud clang rings out as the two cross paths, Kaminari and Jiro both get up and dust themselves off. “What do we do?” Kaminari whispers to Jiro. “they’re fighting, this isn’t normal.”

“I mean...All Might isn’t stopping it….Is this something we just have to deal?” Jiro looks just as perplexed.  The two move the weapon further away from the fighting siblings.  The blue and grey boys wack each other with their weapons.  Several clangs and bangs ring out as the floor is more and more destroyed.  Jiro can’t take much more of this, ‘I can’t believe our training is being ruined by these idiots.’

The two eventually reach a stalemate with Yu clenching his obvious red and cracked hand while Minato glares at him with a smirk.  Jiro clears her throat. “So...Do you two just want to turn yourselves in?” She asks.

The two whip around to look at her.  Both have wide eyes as they look equally shocked to see the villain team right there standing right next to the weapon.  Yu’s yellow eyes widen in surprise and Minato’s blink as he works to calm his rage.  

Jiro looks at Kaminari “just zap the two idiots.”  She looks pissed off, not wanting to deal with them.  “Let’s just get this over with.”

Kaminari gulps.  “Is that...a good idea?”  he points at the two meekly.  He doubts he’d be able to shock them and get away with it, one just leapt two stories like it was nothing while the other just was thrown through a window and several pillars without any scratches.  He looks at Jiro with a shaky smile and leaky nose. “You can’t seriously want me to take them on right?”  His voice wavers as he fears her answer.

Jiro looks at him with a completely unamused look.  Yu and Minato also seem to shake out of their stupor.  Yu starts first. “I told you we’d find them faster if we used the front door.”

Minato turns on Yu  teeth bared. “You! Are! Dead!” He swings the harp Yu again, only for Yu to catch it like a samurai catches a sword.  Minato sucks in a breath as he rears up and push-kicks Yu in the sternum with his bubble boots.  

Jiro sighs “Kaminari get in there.” She grabs Kaminari’s popped color.  Kaminari tears up and looks at her incredulously, his nose dripping more.

“No no no! I’m not getting involved in that, haven’t you heard? Never get between siblings when they’re fighting!!! They just turn on you!”  The yellow haired boy squirms around and tries to wrench himself free from Jiro iron grip.

Currently, Yu is now using his superior arm reach to steal Minato’s own harp to use against him.  If this wasn’t training it’d be hilarious to watch.  “You need to stop! You should be attacking the villains not me! I’m your team mate!” Yu tries reasoning, despite him being the one to throw Minato into a building.  

“I can’t take this anymore Kaminari.” Jiro sighs as she just kicks Kaminari in the back, sending him flying into the other two.

“Jiro how co-” He’s cut off as he plows into the two.  Upon constant, Kaminari throws caution to the wind and just activates his quirk.  The three are lit up in a yellow and white blaze as lightning fills the area.  The lights in the room all grow in brightness as more power is channeled into them.  The comms of all four students pop and fizzle as they short out from the static in the air.

Kaminari’s hair lights up a brilliantly bright yellow as he and Yu’s quirks work in tandem to raise the voltage.  Now creating a closed loop.  Minato’s own transformation acts as a grounding wire for the two, being made from solid metal.  The electricity as it expands and crackles about reacts to every outlet near them.  Shorting them out and effectively cutting off the power to the entire city block. 

As soon as the power cuts out, the lights above their heads super heat from this new found surge in power and burst one by one. Raining sparkle and glass onto the ground.  Jiro lifts her arms to cover her head and eyes from the onslaught of sharps. 

Lighting begins to careen off of Yu as well, as he and Kaminari shout from the rising release of electricity.  In a last ditch effort to cut off the feedback loop between the two Minato grabs his harp and slams it stiffly into the ground, not having full control of his own muscles at the moment.  

The ground arches and it’s just enough to knock the two apart.  Yu’s own lightly glowing air fades as he passes out onto the ground, smoking as his transformation falls.  Kaminari lays on the ground himself as he drools and makes a dumb blank face.  He then does a strange ‘whey whey ’ noise as he gives several consecutive thumbs up.

Minato drags himself up into a standing position. His blue hair is now a tangly afro.  His form is letting loose a hissing steaming noise as shakily stands up.  He is glaring at a passed out Yu and Kaminari.

“Had enough?” Jiro asks, twirling her earphones.  She is unperturbed by the chaos that has been brought about.  She’s leaning into the weapon that somehow managed to remain intact despite everything.  

The entire room smells of ozone and smoke and Minato sniffs at the horrid smell.  “...”  He glares at her, before finally singing. “This is one big mess.”

Jiro tosses the capture tape to Minato. “Tie yourself, I know the cameras aren’t working anymore.  The others are panicking right now too.  We better head back and face the music.”  She crosses her arms.  “Loser as to carry them, by the way.” 

Minato groans as he detranforms. “I just was struck by the equivalent of several bolts of lightning and you’re making me carry them?”

“Yeah, now cop chop, unless you want to wait for All Might?” She asks with sarcasm leaking into her voice.

Minato shakes his head at Jiro. “I want out of the simulation now.” he closes his eyes.  He concentrates on hoisting Yu and Kami onto his tiny soldiers.  Someow, he manages to drag them along.  Jiro guides them out of the dark building. They head back to the conference room.  

Before this training round began the students all meander around.  They’re all getting to know each other while they wait for the round to start.  Akira paces while transformed causing his heels to click.  He has a feeling Minato and Yu being paired is going to end in disaster.

Tokoyami gives him a glance.  After their training Tokoyami decided to lean against the wall with his arms crossed.  “You should stop pacing, they’ll be fine.”

Akira stops and looks down at Toko.  He shakes his messy bird nest hair. “It’s not that…”  He goes back to pacing as Tokoyami arches a brow.

“If it’s not that then what?”  Tokoyami inquires, he turns to look at the group and notices they’ve now gained several spies.

“Haha..you’ll just have to see.” Akira awkwardly laughs.  He scratches at his cheek. “It’s hard to explain…”

Tokoyami simply nods at this.  “Fine then, choose to remain cryptic.” He gestures his chin to the side. “Be warned you have unwanted listeners.”

Akira turns, “Oh?” He looks behind him, seeing Mina, Tsuya, and Uraraka all approaching.  “Oh!  I do.”  He looks at the three of them, all showing different elements of guilt on their faces.

“It’s not like we were intending to eavesdrop. We just wanted to know why you were so worried, you were pacing to the point you almost left a track in the ground!” Uraraka points out.  Akira’s own gaze followed her index finger’s path and noticed the visible scuff marks on the ground.

“...oops?” He sheepishly smiles.  “I guess since the training is done I don’t really need to be transformed anymore.”  He’s engulfed in reddish flames that quickly ebate away revealing he was wearing his UA uniform underneath.  He messes with the cuffs of his sleeves before looking back at the other girls, losing several inches in the process due to not being in heels anymore 

Mina waves her arms around. “I can’t take it anymore, what’s your quirk called??? It’s so cool!! Seeing you run around and you even did a good job fighting.  We could tell you have no experience but your fighting on the fly is really awesome!”  She hops up and down.

Akira watches her bounce moving his own head up and down to match her jumps. “Oh thanks! I kind of got carried away, you can ask Todoroki and Tokoyami.  I’m embarrassed…” He blushes as he rubs at his nose. “But….I had a ton of fun.  I’m really glad to have gotten the experience I did.”  Tokoyami nods at this statement clearly agreeing.

Tsuyu tilts her head, “So you really don’t have a lot of experience?  Your brothers seem more trained...from how the quirk assessment went.”  She has a finger on her chin and her large eyes bore into him.

Akira gulps and looks away. “I didn’t practice with my quirk….they sometimes wrestle our older brother so that’s probably why it seems like they have more practice.”

The three girls nod but more questions fill their minds.  However, before they can pose them some commotion brings everyone's attention to the front of the room.

“Ok I’m starting the next round! All of you Prepare your young brilliant minds and be ready to learn from your peers!”  All Might flips on all the tvs, they display the hero team sitting outside.  He pulls a microphone up to his mouth.  “Alright let the training begin!” He announces with mirth.  All Might looks at the TV screen ‘I hope this goes well, the first two matches went less than ideal…’

Breaths are held, as the two heroes on the screens seem to be bickering.  Akira bites at his nails “I knew this was going to happen.’  He looks at his exits. Prepared to leave at any moment.

On the screen, an angry agreement seems to be met by the two as they make their way to the building.  “You know they seem off…” Tsuyu notes to the group, to which everyone nods in agreement. 

“Naw I bet it’s just because they’re tense to do as well as their older brother!” Krisihima crosses his arms, nodding to himself. 

“Oh you know our older brother did well?” Akira asks quietly, to which he proceeds to be ignored, as on screen Yu grabs Minato’s scarf.

“I think monsieur blu is turning blue from lack of oxygen.” Aoyama points out as his hair withers a bit. 

“Oh no….” Akira looks around, wondering if he should transform.  “I know how this is going to go….”

“Hey there’s no w-” Mina is cut off.  The slight grimace she had on her face grows even darker as Yu chucks Minato through the window of a building, sending him hurtling into several pillars.

“Oh...my….stars….”  Uraraka has her hands over her mouth. “He just….and now he’s...is this like a valid strategy?”

Akira shakes his head. “No...no it’s not.”  He backs up a bit ready at any moment to bolt.

Iida waves his arms around.  He looks too stunned to speak. His mouth looks like a block.  He watches as Yu and Minato are now bickering and fighting, punching, kicking, and also using their weapons.  “I...I’ve never fought like this with my elder brother.”

The air turns really awkward, watching the two brothers fight. “Sir…” Momo pipes up. “Sir shouldn’t you be stopping this…?”  She rubs her forehead. “This is an insult, they’re not even taking this seriously.”  

All Might stares at the tvs intensely. “No...the villain team hasn’t given up yet...and this might be good for those two to learn from this…” He so badly wants to call it. ‘I don’t think I’m cut out for teaching.’ All might internally sighs.  

The two brothers on screen stop fighting for a moment, only to turn their heads to the villain team.  Jiro looks at them pissed off.  She speaks a few lines before grabbing Kaminari.  The two brothers go back to physically throwing down.  With Yu catching Minato’s harp between his hands.  

“I don’t know whether to find this whole thing impressive or sad….” Sato crosses his arms.  “They’re both pulling off awesome moves...but it’s against...their partner.”  He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

The others look back to the tvs, on the screens Jiro in multiple angles is shown kicking Kaminari at the two.  Upon Kami’s impact lightning lances out everywhere.  Tokoyami lets out a low whistle.  “Impressive elemental powers.”

The tv’s fizzle as their connections grow hazy.  In a matter of seconds the screens all project white and yellow light before simply going dead.  All Might gulps.

“Now nobody pan-” And the lights cut out too, casting the entire room in darkness.  Sounds of fumbling and stumbling occur.

“No way! An entire city block???”  Mina is in shock. “They blew the power lines!”

“I didn’t think...it was possible.  Doesn’t UA have back up generators?”  Iida asks, remember this school is the top in quirk training.  The power does not return.

“I better go get them, All of you please wait here and do not panic!” He adds. “You have nothing to worry about!” He flashes then a grin they can’t see before fumbling around himself.  After a few moments the sound of a door opening and closing resounds.

“All Might’s gone.” Tsuyu croaks.

“Actually I am still here, sounds like someone else left!”  All Might sighs secretly to himself. ‘I’m really not cut out for this’ He shakes his head but manages to eventually find his way out.  He heads out to fetch the training students.  

Akira in the meantime is now looking for somewhere to hide, so nobody can see his absolute embarrassment from his brother’s behaviours. 

Akira hides in the rafters of the hallway.  He snuck out when the lights were out and swiftly climbed to the very top of the roof.  He watches as All Might hurriedly walks under him.  He stays up there, ‘it’s better I remain up here then see how this goes down…’  Nodding to himself he waits for his brothers and the other team to return.

Shortly after, Minato lugs in Yu and Kaminari on his back into the hallways.  All Might striding by him. “Young man you can just hand them to the bots, they shall carry those two to the infirmary.” Minato looks down at the ground with a spiteful glare. 

“Why did you let me carry them this far?” He seethes out between clenched teeth.  He wrenches the two off his back and unceremoniously drops them to the ground.  A dull thud rings out.  He huffs out a sigh and closes his visible gray eye.   

Jiro walks up from behind.  “Did you have to drop them like?”  She nudges Kaminari with her foot, the yellow haired boy gives another ‘ wheeyyyy ’ noise.  “By the way Teach, we won.  The villain team won.”  She slowly blinks as she calmly points to Minato’s wrists with the capture tape wrapped around them.  “I captured him.” To which Minato grimaces further, shrinking into himself slightly.  He starts grumbling again.  

He looks down at Yu, clear rage on his face.  He lets out a long suffering sigh before he reaches up to massage his temples.  “...Yeah...Her team won…”  He relents.  On cue, two arguing bots come along and start loading the two onto a gurney.

The robots artfully lay Yu and Kaminari onto the little dingy before the shorter one turns to the taller one “lift on three.” 

“We’re robots, we don’t need to count down.” The other one answers, before they both lift the two students in perfect unison.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” The two robots beep and boop on their way back to the infirmary.  The two conscious students both are wearing looks of utter disbelief.  They turn to All Might, who’s still posing with his ever brilliant smile.  Then the two look at each other as if to ask, ‘did those two robots just argue?’  Minato scoffs as the bluenette shakes his head, his fringe settles a bit from it’s zapped afro.   Jiro just watches silently as the two robots leave, still bickering.  She smiles at the entertainment. 

All Might loudly clears his throat. “You two...did the best you could.  Young Miss Kyouka, will you go on ahead?  I need to ask this young man something in private, we won’t be long!” He points to the sky while looking at them still, failing to notice Akira watching the three with wide bug eyes.

Jiro looks confused and worried as she casts a glance between the two.  Her dark eyes take in Minato’s tired and pained looking state and also All Might’s almost...strained happiness.  She decides, ‘this is best left untouched. ’ and gives All Might and affirming nod. “Alright, but I’m not dealing with the press in the other room for long, so please hurry up.” She cringes as she realizes she’s going to have to deal with a room full of other classmates that ask way too many questions.  

Minato’s tired gray gaze follows Jiro as she walks away and disappears behind a door.  ‘I have no idea what this is about.’ He tells himself as he turns to the yellow haired monument.  He stays slouched as he reaches a hand up to smooth his frazzles blue ends.  He gives All Might his lazy but undivided attention.  “Why do you need to speak to me?”

All Might looks away as he coughs into his hand.  ‘That can’t be good…’ Minato cringes, knowing full well All Might is going to probably have choice words with him.  He resolves himself for what’s to come.  He’s not sure why it’s happening but he won’t be caught off guard.

“Young man, I hope you are aware...I can hear what everyone says over the communicators.  I heard your conversation with your brother, from what I can understand, you are the eldest of the three.”  The blondie steps up to the bluie and places his large calloused hands onto the boys small but broad shoulder.  “You should be a better example young man.”  He leads with obviously working out how to say the next part.

Minato blinks slowly as he processes what this is all about.  He blinks again and again.  Just trying to understand what is going on with the flow of this...lecture?  He was ready for a verbal lashing but not this...All Might sounds so resigned and tired.  Minato is very off put as he looks away from the teacher and instead looks at the large tanned hand sitting on his shoulder.  He squints his eyes as the power comes back on to the building.  The sudden light filling his vision acts like a hammer to his already pounding and aching head.

“Minato, do you understand?  You’re an example for the entire class.”  Minato’s eyes grow like saucers as a burning in his chest ignites.  “You scored the highest in the UA entrance exam...ever.  You beat my old score.  You’re the first one to do that.”  The large adult looks to the side pausing to regain his smile. “Which is incredible!  I always hoped to be alive to meet the next hero that breaks my record!”

The boy felt those words were genuine but the angry hot smouldering burn in his chest rises to his throat.  He struggles to breath a bit as a sickly feeling settles into the depths of his guts.  “ So I have faith you will do incredible things here!  One of those things hopefully being a class leader?  However, right now you wouldn’t fit that role.  You need to be a better example for your classmates.  Young man, I am very disappointed by how this training went today.  I expect more from such a promising student!  I saw your older siblings scores too.  You have a lot to live up to!  Don’t let that get you down!  Small hiccups always happen at the start!”  He tries ending his speech on a lighter note.  He pats Minato on the back, hardly giving him a push in the right direction. 

Minato doesn’t stumble like a certain other spindly green haired student.  All Might expects him to gush, smile, thank him, maybe even change his ways possibly.  But none of the things the new teacher hoped for came to fruition.  Minato for a moment stands completely still in place before whirling around on the teacher.  His glare would have most villains turn themselves into Endeavor then be on the end of those steely orbs. 

All Might gulps and contemplates taking a step back.  Minato walks into the adults personal space and hotly places a hand on the teacher’s concrete chest.  “You’re disappointed?  You. Are. Disappointed. In. Me?” He punctuates each word with a jab to the chest.

“Now calm do-” All Might raises his arms as he goes to placate the student.

“No!” He snaps.  “You think you’re the only one disappointed?  I thought UA only hired qualified teachers!  You might be the biggest hero in Japan but it’s so obvious you have no idea what you’re doing here!”  He seethes at the teacher with a slightly upturned lip.

All Might frets as he’s unsure on what to do or say.  He’s completely right but at the same time he shouldn’t let this student get away with bad mouthing his teacher.  “You have a problem with how I talked to my brother? Well he’s my brother, not yours so stay out of it.  If you truly had a problem with it you shouldn't have done arbitrary random teams!”  He takes a deep breath, his small five foot seven frame shaking with pure fury. 

“A semi-decent teacher wouldn’t have let the first round happen at all.  Not even that hellish Eraserhead teacher would have paired a bully to go against his victim.  He has an actual working brain in his head.”  He doesn’t move his flickering gray eye away from All Might’s own sunken in glinting aquamarine blues.  A visible frown paints the teacher’s face completely as he is unsure of how to proceed in these shark infested waters.  He really wishes he read that teaching for dummies crash course before doing today’s training.  “You also failed to end the second round early.  Not only was an entire building decimated making the indoor training assignment moot.  You also allowed for the cheating of the bomb placement.”

“Young man you’re go-” He tries again.  This time he places hand on both of Minato’s shoulders hoping to ground the fuming lad.  He huffs and shoves his hands off.

“Don’t touch me!” He backs up still upset as he brushes at his shoulders.  He breathes heavily as he tries to calm down.  His cheeks are tinted pink and he has to take large deep shaking breaths.  He looks down at the ground. “You should focus on meeting the classes’ expectations...before you start heaping your own expectations onto me.”  It’s only then how tired Minato actually looks registers to the elder’s mind.

‘Perhaps this wasn’t the best timing..’ Toshinori laments as he rubs at his neck.  He looks at the vulnerable boy and how uncomfortable he made him.  He remembers back to Bakugo’s...meltdown.  ‘Why are there so many..promising yet...precocious students?  They never did say it would be easy.’  The teacher wishes he could sigh but he doesn’t.  “I’m sorry young man, I realize I’m not doing my best for this class...I appreciate the feedback but do understand.  The next time you speak to me like this you will be assigned detention.”

Minato scoffs. “Whatever. I don’t care.  I’m only speaking for the others...Izuku...really looks up to you.  He deserves better. ”  He whispers the last half so softly the teacher couldn’t pick it up.

The two awkwardly shuffle back into the training room.  All Might wonders how to facilitate more of a discussion critique versus Yaoyorozu just ripping them a new one.  His form wanes as he so desperately already wants a break.  ‘Only the rest of today to go.’ He tells himself, like that’s supposed to cheer him up.  “Being a teacher….sure is tough!” He exclaims with a confused cheer.

A scuffling noise is heard from the rafters as Akira adjusts his position. “I’m not going back there.” He looks down. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Minato use that many words in a conversation before.” the blackette shudders as a new found fear fills the youngest of the trio.

Chapter Text

All Might heeded Minato’s words resulting in much smoother training.  He made sure the scenario didn’t change much but he laid out some new ground rules and told the kids he is always listening in.  That sure changed a lot of their tunes.

After the disasters of the first three rounds, the rest were large successes.  The kids all worked on improving their teamwork and quick thinking.  They did learn a lot on what not to do in those first rounds. 

After a day that felt entirely too long, the kids all assembled in front of All Might ready for his final briefing.  They all smile and grin at each other, feeling much closer after the fun training exercises.  

All Might stands tall in front of them with his hand on his waist and cape billowing in the soft breeze.  He decided he’d debrief them all outside because it is still sunny and warm and he knows the kids need the fresh air.  “Well done everyone!!!”  He grins genuinely at them.  “We’ve managed no serious injuries…apart from Midoriya’s...So great teamwork out there!!!.”

At the mention of ‘teamwork’ Minato tch’s and looks away.  The class gives him slightly more of a birth.  At the mention of ‘Midoriya’ Bakugo emits a strong oppressive aura.  He glares at the ground blankly as he bites his lip in frustration.

“You all did splendidly! You all have remarkable talents, especially considering today was your first training exercise!”  He smiles as he looks at each one.  He holds eye contact with each individual student, making them all jump at attention under the warm gaze of the number one hero.  

From the crowd a student pipes up. “Coming after Aziawa….such a straightforward class is almost….a let down.” The group nods in affirmation.  

All Might grins before swiveling around making the class stare at his large back. “We teachers are free to hold no-nonsense classes!  If we choose so.  Now I’m off to give Midoriya his evaluation!  Change out of your costumes and head back to class!”  With a dramatic wave, he takes off.  Leaving behind a cloud of swooshy dust in his place.  

Everyone is swept up in the wind he generates.  They raise their arms to shield their eyes from the dust being kicked up.  Their hair and costumes get ruffles in the wind.  As the large teacher soars in the sky from his effortless leap, he looks back at the group, zeroing in on Minato and Bakugo.  ‘That young Bakugo…That bundle of conceit.  And then that young Minato….He has a lot of promise.   The most inflated egos are often the most fragile….as their instructor I’ll have to give them some counseling!!!  But for now...I only have barely enough time for one class!’

Inside of the UA Infirmary nurse’s office there’s a funny sight.  “They year’s only just started!!!  This is his third time here!!”  Recovery Girl starts laying into All might.  She’s shouting and fuming at the younger teacher.  “Why didn’t you prevent this All Might???  We also have two others who passed out!”  She sits there huffing and puffing.  

All Might, but a shadow of his former self, stands tall and gaunt.  He leans forward and coughs into his hand that’s balled up into a small fist.  His costume sags to the ground and pools at his ankles.  “My apologies, Recovery Girl….” 

Recovery Girl bites back. “It's not me you need to apologize to!” She points to Deku on a gurney with iv’s in his arm.  She then gestures to Yu and Kaminari asleep on their own separate beds.  “The two are passed out from overloading...and then….him!!  Yesterday and today, he came to me completely fatigued!!!  This isn’t so easily healed.  I basically have to just give him first aid and IV drip with painkillers!”  she shakes her head angrily causing her little old lady bun to bob around.  “Now all we can do is wait for him to heal on his own.”

She goes back to her desk making some quick notes before swiveling her large chair back to face him.  “Come one now….I know you gave him your power, but whether he’s your favorite or not….you have to stop indulging him.”  She gives him a stern scowl.

All Might rubs at his now sucken and bony cheeks as he sweats slightly in embarrassment.  “No...you’re absolutely right.  I was sympathizing with him too much so I hesitated.  But um…” he looks around frantically, still sweaty. “Can you keep it down?” He asks in a whisper.  “At least when talking about one for all?” 

The aged nurse sighs and looks away. “Oh right right….Yes sir Mister natural born hero. Mister symbol of peace.” She shakes her head, clearly despising both nicknames.

“You should know….This true form of mine and my injury are common knowledge to the UA Staff….however only you, Principle Nezu, an old friend of mine, and Midoriya know about the nature of my quirk.  It’s a secret to everyone else.”  He explains as he mentally thinks of the people he knows he can trust.

Recovery Girl swivels her chair around so as not to look at All Might.   “I don’t suppose that’s just you resting on your laurels then?  It’s that important huh?  That you are a ‘natural born hero’ and ‘the symbol of peace’?”  

All Might stands tall causing his rigid and weak form to let loose several bone crackles. “It’s for everyone’s peace of mind.  Without me, this superhuman society would fall to evil.”  His blue eyes shine with determination and dignity at that statement.  

“This is my responsibility to bear.” He looks at his large and skinny fingers.

“Then it’s all the more important that you learn how to guide him properly, so he can follow in your footsteps.”  She looks down at her own hands, shrunken and withered by age, she rubs the loose wrinkled skin as her brow furrows.  She closes her eyes with a hint of melancholy.  “Don’t forget you have more than one student, Toshinari.  Every single student you have right now can also be taught how to bear this responsibility.” 

All Might looks at her then his gaze travels back to the sleeping Yu and Kaminari on their own beds.  “....”  He remembers back to the incredible feats these two pulled off in the training despite it being a disaster...and their performances at their entrance exams.  ‘Be that as it may, I have to focus on training Midoriya to be able to handle his own quirk to at least remain as their equals…’

During the same day, after school hours, the three young men were all released from the nurse office’s hold.  All of them trudge back to the large 1-A classroom door.  Dreading the moment they’ll see their homeroom teacher and their peers.  

Yu kindly offers to open the door for Midoriya because his arms are both still bandaged and hurt.  Mirdoriya meekly nods and steps aside so Yu can open the intimidating gateway.  Kaminari gulps as he messes with his jacket doing his absolute best to look calm and collected.  

Kirishima is the first to notice the three and pirks up immediately. “Hey! They’re back!!  Welcome back dudes!” He grins and rushes the three as several others join in.  Yu, Kaminari, and Midoriya get surrounded on all ends.  “Midoriya I don’t know what was going on back in your toss up but that was such a wild battle!  Kaminari, did you know you short circuited the entirety of UA!!! They had to do a full repair of all their generators! You even fried their backups!  And, And!  Yu!  You are mega strong!!!”  Kirishima gets into their spaces happily and exuberantly.  His eyes are wide and sparkly as he’s complimenting them.

Yu grins a bit as he enjoys the attention.  Kaminari looks surprised. “Wait I did?”  He and Yu look at eachother their eyes flying wide open.  Grins slowly form on their faces. 

“We did that!” They shout in unison.  Understanding the closed loop they made shorted out the entire block.  They jump up and high five, making both their hair light up slightly.  This goes unnoticed for the most part as other students keep showering the injured trio with compliments.  

Mina pumps her arms up and down with an ear splitting grin on her face.  She flashes bit pearly whites as she almost shouts. “Midoriya you can dodge!!! That hand to hand was so sick!!  And then Yu you threw your brother through a building what compelled you to do that??? Actually I don’t really want to know, but it was still great to see!!! And Then your lightning quirk! It’s so cool!!!”  She fires off in succession.  Her black scleras swivel around hastily going from each person she addresses.

The larger boy Sato leans down to stand more at Midoriya’s humble height. “Did you watch wrestling at all, pipsqueak??? Because your moves super pumped me up!”  He pats Midoriya on the back, being careful to avoid his injuries.

Akira bounces up to Yu “I didn’t think anyone could do worse than me!!! But then you threw Minato through a wall!!! That was so bad! I hid from embarrassment!” He cringes just remembering.  His face looks morbid as he touches his messy black locks.  Yu simply chuckles and gives an impish grin as his gray eyes get warmer.

“I didn’t think you’d get embarrassed by me Aki, but good job holding out.  Me and Minato had a disagreement is all…” As Yu finishes, the room goes slightly dimmer as a murderous aura fills the space. Yu gulps with a grimace coloring his face.  He goes into a cold sweat as he turns around to look towards the source.

Minato sits there glaring at his younger brother.  “Yu.”  He starts.  Yu gulps in response.  Minato gets out of his seat causing Akira and Yu to instinctively flinch.  Both step back but Yu looks the most afraid.

“H-Hang on B-Brother...can you find it in your heart to for-”

Yu gets promptly cut off. “Better start running.” Minato simply pipes up as he slings his bag onto both his shoulders, securing it in place, he stands tall doing simple stretches.

“He doesn’t mean it.”  Yu laughs, as the entire room looks at the two.  

“When does he joke around about murder, especially when you are involved?” Akira asks rhetorically as he does his best to back up and climb onto the highest surface yet again.  He is smiling slightly as he does so, taking immense joy from Yu’s impending demise.  A snicker finds its way out of his throat.

Minato jumps in place for a moment as he rotates his shoulders really working to loosen himself up.  He stops and takes a big breath before opening his eyes.  He gives Yu a steely glare.  “You’ve been warned.”  He bends down taking a runner's stance never once taking his eyes off his younger brother.  “Hope you wrote a will.”

Yu goes cold as he sweats more. “Oh…”  Is all he can say before he bolts for the door.  Booking it with everything he has.  He takes big strides and even vaults over a desk.

“Don’t play with the desks!” Iida points his entire open hand and arm at Yu.  His deep voice breaks the tense silence. 

All Hell breaks loose as Minato goes into a surprisingly fast sprint.  Zeroing in on his giant, little brother.  Both run out of the door leaving only a trail of dust and slightly moved desks.  The classroom turns to Akira who is now calmly packing his bag.  “This is normal.”  He whistles out.  He gives them all a polite bow before pushing up his fashion frames.  He also pushes his messy hair back a bit.  “I’ll be taking my leave! Have a good night everyone!”

He grins as he meekly walks out.  The group looks out the window.  In the distance Yu is still running with all his might as his blue haired reaper chases him.  They watch the blurs approach the UA gate before zooming away and leaving.  Confusion fills the room as they all wonder if this is going to be the usual.

Uraraka worriedly approaches Izuku.  She holds her own arm and cringes in sympathy pain. “Deku your arm! Did you….It’s still….just ow.”  She antsily strokes her arm as a nervous energy radiating off her.  “How come it’s not healed???”

Izuku looks away sheepishly.  His arm is still in a sling and the other one is completely wrapped up  in bandages going from his fingers all the way to his shoulder.  He smiles timidly as his eyes roam the room searching for someone or something.  “Ah well….I’m pretty...worn out...sooo….hehe...Uraraka sorry.” He bows sheepishly trying to worm his way out of the conversation. “I have to…” He dips out running out of the door.

“Go!” he ends with a sleight shout running out.  He books it for the outward courtyard trying to intercept the one person he wanted to see.  His green hair bobs around as he sprints the best way he can sans arms.  He lets out a warm moist breath. “KACHAN!”

The explosive blond walks with no energy to his step.  He slouches heavily into his gate.  His stride exudes a depressive energy causing everyone to give him a wide berth.  His red eyes look sunken in but still contain some heat to them.  He swivels his neck  and gives Deku the dirtiest glare he can muster. “Huhhhh?  Whaddya want?”   He seethes out while trying to add venom to his tired voice.  

Deku stands with his legs shoulder width apart as he clenches his one available fist.  He chews at his lips as his shoulders sag heavily.  ‘I...I have to tell him.  But….not even my mom knows about this.’  He worries at his lip to the point of breaking skin.  “...I can’t say much.” His voice wobbles a bit as fear clenches at his throat.  “Y-You should know this at least…!” He shuts his eyes as he musters the words out with the last ounce of strength he has.  “I got my quirk from someone else.”  He states plainly.

For a moment it’s just the two of them.  Bakugo is staring izuku blankly while izuku holds eye contact with the concrete.  Time seems to stand still for the two as Izuku forgets how to breath.  He stands there turning blue in the face waiting for some sort of response from the usually loud boy. 

“I can’t say from who!” He adds on. “But...I mean this sounds so unbelievable...like a comic book or something...I mean there’s also the factor that I can’t even use it right yet….So this borrowed power is still a bit useless to me…”  While izuku is ranting at the ground Bakugo’s face goes over several series of emotions.  

“That’s why...I tried beating you without it but you’re like...so awesome...I couldn’t win! Not without using this new power….I had to rely on it to even stand a chance against you!”  Bakugo’s blank depressed face goes into a more confused face.  It’s clear he might be believing Izuku.  

“I still have a ways to go and need a lot more practice and training to even stand next to you as a peer…”  He keeps rambling, going on and on about his new power.  The blondie goes from confusion to annoyed.  He clenches his teeth the more deku speaks.  Rage starts flowing into the explosive boy as he goes from annoyed to pissed.  

“But...I’m going to make it my own someday.” Izuku looks up and stares Bakugo right in the eye.  His voice no longer shakes and carries his own air of an awkward confidence. “And when I do, I’m going to overcome you when it’s my own power.”

Baugo’s pissed face goes completely blank again.  He goes stiff as his brain tries to wrap itself around what Deku just said. Izuku himself blinks for a moment, realizing he didn’t say what he meant to ‘ah….I came to tell him I wasn’t...lying to him our whole lives…’ he mentally kicks himself.  

Bakugo staggers in place for a moment before wobbly walking towards izuku.  “What the hell?  Borrowed power?” He takes one step closer. “I have no clue what you’re talking about…”  He staggers a bit more dragging his feet as he goes about.  “But you’re just going to keep making a fool out of me right?!?” He snarls as he clenches his jaw.  Fire and brimstone ooze off him as his blond locks fall forward and cover his sharp eyes. “I mean what the hell!!!  I LOST TO YOU TODAY!! And...and as if that weren’t enough!!!” 

He leans forward to hide his face further.  “AND THEN!  T-That icy bastard! The blue haired gremlin A-And that monstrous yellow eyed guy that keeps copying me!!!….They all have insane...How do I measure up to that?!?”  He clenches his teeth.  “DAMMIT!”

He raises a shaky hand to his face to hide how wobbly his form truly is.  He sucks his nostril in clearly trying to get some snot up.  “It’s what ponytail girl said it all...really...dammit!”  He bends over again and hits at his own thighs.  “Dammit dammit!”  He has a haphazardous energy to him as he keeps doing everything he can to distract from his face.  “WHY?!?  You too...deku.”

He looks up with blazing hot tears in his eyes.  He shakily holds eye contact with a completely silent and stunned izuku.  His red eyes wobble as he scrunches his nose and cheeks doing everything in his power to stop his tears from falling.  “From here on, I….!!!” he pauses to take a shaky hot breath. “From here on y’hear me!!!  I’M GONNA BEAT YOU ALL!” 

He aggressively affirms.  The might of his own vow shakes the trees around him.  He swivels out and hastily heads for the front entrance.  As he does so, he lifts his elbow up to wipe away the shame on his face. His bag and hair bounce around from his unsteady blind walk.  “Enjoy this victory, because it’s never ever happening again!  Dammit!”

Izuku huffs but gives a dignified nod of acknowledgement.  Before every fiber of his being sags and he exhaustedly lets out a sigh.  He shakes like a leaf as some unidentified object zooms past him and seemingly tackles his odd rival. 

“BAKGUO!” The voice shouts out.  It’s All Might.  All Might was the one to rocket from nowhere to stop Bakguo.  He tenderly places a large hand onto the crying student’s shoulder.  “KID!  Glad I got to you in time!  Let me tell you young man! What you showed just now was true character!  It was some real self respect.  Without a doubt you’ll make one of the best pro’s of this class!” All Might grins as the words of positivity flow like water out from between his teeth.  He is slightly wheezing but keeps talking regardless.  “From now on you just have to-”

And like earlier, with a certain angry bluenette, All Might is cut off for a second time today.  “Get off me All Might. “ Bakugo tersely quirps out.  His entire body coils tightly like a rubber band being stretched.  Through tight lips he hisses, “I can’t walk.” 

He turns more to hold eye contact with the gleeful teacher. His hot blazing gaze almost burns the back of the top hero’s skull.  “Needless to say, I’m going to be a hero surpassing you too!” 

All Might’s large and in charge blond peaks droop slightly.  The hair crumples a bit in shock. “A-ah...I see!”  Even All Might’s grin falters for a moment.  ‘Not just one...but two students.  At least he wasn’t sad for long!’  He lifts his hand off of Bakugo and gives a somber wave. “Being a teacher….sure is tough!”  He wonders to himself if this is going to be a trend?

Izuku stares on and huffs a bit.  He nods again as he understands the promise Bakugo made to him.  A promise to never fail again.  It warms Izuku’s chest to know he didn’t...crush his bully’s spirit.  As odd of a sentence as that is.  His green eyes shine with respect and understanding. ‘Kachan’s fuse has been lit.  And his resolve is clear.’ That strangely comforting thought almost brings a smile to his face.  He turns to look at his large heroics teacher.

All Might looks at him with pride shining. “Midoriya!  What exactly did you say to him?!?”  The Instructor asks his protege.

It's a pleasant afternoon at the local cafe. 

A young woman with dark violet locks sits by the window to bathe in the sun. She pulls her hot chocolate up to her mouth and sips the sugary concoction. This abomination contains cinnamon and salted caramel; essentially just sugar in a cup.  The woman turns her magenta eyes back to the newspaper and excitedly scans the front page.

'Breaking News! All Might teaches at UA'  

She hums to herself. "Aaah.... Good ol' UA. Didn't the boys just start classes there?" The woman starts, talking to herself, her eyes taking on the distinct glint of mirth and mischief as her smile reaches ear to ear. "I think I'll be paying my sweet little brothers a visit! A special interview wouldn't hurt either " She coughs into her hand to hide her absolutely feral grin.

The woman pulls out her phone and texts her boss, letting him know about her next ‘big lead’. Shoving her phone back into her purse, she rummages around for several long seconds before triumphantly pulling out her wallet. She retrieves a scratched up piece of plastic and holds it between her index and middle finger.  "Never know if I'd need this, but it wouldn't hurt to flash this at the gates." She shuts her eyes, taking a moment to admire her own genius, before smoothly standing.  She grabs her mug and chugs the rest of her drink, letting out a satisfied sigh when it’s finished.

Her maroon toned lipstick doesn’t go unnoticed, as it now stains her mug. A shiver runs through her as the sugar hits. "Maybe I can mess with Aizawa, if that hobo is still teaching there." With a pep to her step, she clears off her table and heads out to her next destination.  UA!  That school better watch out because they won’t know what hit them when she comes knocking!  The mysterious woman nods to herself yet again. ‘That was a good one!’  

The two standing baristas give each other a look after she leaves. “...”  They both refrain from saying what they’re thinking.  But if someone had to guess, it would probably be, ‘She’s really...something.’

While Maya walks out of the cafe she passes an employee as they enter.  'He's usually a closer,' she notes to herself.  Maya gives him a wave as she passes by him. The employee pauses as he notices her.  He stops in his strides and goes to talk to her.

"It's nice seeing you Jun! Are you working early?" Maya starts by fishing for information.  Her nosy habits on full display.  For her line of work, it certainly pays to be inquisitive.

Jun grins at Maya.  The slight upturn of his lips frames his melancholic face nicely. His black hair shines in the sun and reflects bits of chocolate hues.  It’s smooth from grooming and products.  His hair is parted in a way that covers his right eye.  It reminds her a lot of her downer, bluenette brother.

The mid-day breeze carries his cologne as well.  It carries notes of iris, orange blossoms, and gaiac wood.  Despite working at a cafe Maya always wonders why the boy refuses to smell like coffee.  Nonetheless, Maya always appreciates a man that cares about his looks.  The instant she met the young barista she took a real shine to him.

"Maya!” He softly greets her, his meek voice carries like music to Maya’s ears.  “Running into you is always great."  He looks to the side as his smile turns downright dreamy.  "You always notice these things.” He laughs to himself.  “Yes, I am working a bit earlier.  My hours might be permanently changing because of my new job."

Maya blinks as she files this away into her brain under new information.  'He has a second job now?  Why would he need a second one?  Does he have time for it despite being in school?'   She mentally monologues as she shifts her weight and puts a hand to her hip.

"Well, It’s good you have a new job but don’t go overworking yourself!  I can't afford to lose a pretty boy like you, the coffee just won’t taste the same!"  She finished with a cheeky grin.

Jun turns away and blushes meekly, light chuckles shake his petite frame.  " Pretty boy . ... I wouldn’t go that far...but thanks for the compliment.”  While peering down at his own hands, he twiddles them to help get the jitters away, his silver wrist watch catches his attention.  “Oh! It is getting close to my shift time!  I have to get going.”  He bows to her politely before turning back to the shop.  As he passes her he pauses and looks back, turning his head to peer over his shoulder sleightly.  His face dons it’s own cheeky grin.  “Are you heading out to snoop again?"

Maya smiles and nods proudly. "What kind of reporter would I be if I wasn’t always snooping!”  She leans in close as she gives random people on the streets the side eye.  Jun tilts his head slightly in confusion.  “I'll let you in on a secret.  I'm going to go snoop at my baby brothers’ school!  There's a new teacher I am hoping to get the dirty on."  Her grin almost turns malicious as she shows her pearly whites.

Jun's eyes go stormy as he turns back to her.  It’s clear he is reinvested in the conversation despite the fact he’s running late.  "You're talking about All Might right?  I remember you mentioning your triplet brothers are going to UA."

"Yup!" Maya ignores how Jun's expression turns tight at this reply.  He physically turns from her  and slightly inches back.  It’s clear he’s drawn the proverbial line in the sand.  Maya knows what’s about to happen.  “So far I haven’t even gotten wind of how their first classes have been going.”

Jun quietly looks down.  “Yeah...I’m glad they got into UA….but do you worship All Might like the rest?”  This is a touchy subject for him and Maya can tell he’s genuinely asking her.

Maya shakes her head vehemently to answer. " No.. I'm hoping to ask him about a case actually.  I can't talk about it at all right now because of an NDA and all that.  But I can tell you, I think it’s important to look at all angles and aspects."  She gives him a kinder smile. “Hopefully, someday you’ll let me run a piece on you.  Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your promise.”

Jun looks visibly relaxed at Maya changing the subject so easily.  "I'm so glad you're different from all those other hero worshippers.  Anyways, I really have to go now.  See you around, we can catch up soon!" The pretty boy waves goodbye to her as he ducks into the cafe.

Maya hums out a goodbye as she herself resumes her jaunt to UA.  ‘Hopefully, he feels comfortable enough to talk to me someday.  He did promise me!’  The full grown twenty one year old woman starts skipping her way to the high school.  She’s halted mid stride by a boy with a yellow scarf and slicked back hair as he runs right into her.

Both are heavily knocked to the ground.  Maya sits up thoroughly confused as she looks around wildly wondering if a train just hit her.  The boy with the fashionable scarf also bolts up at lightning speed. He rubs his head with a groan as he finally opens his eyes to see who he ran into.

" I'm so sorry!!!! I wasn't looking!!!"  His panicked voice comes as he leaps to stand.  He puts a hand out to help Maya up.  “Are you ok?  Unhurt?”  He meekly asks as he starts sweating from nerves and worry.  Maya simply takes the boy in as she reaches to take the hand.

'He seems to be around the triplets age. '  The big sister spaces out a bit as she gives herself a pat down.  Once she’s done dramatically showing she’s unharmed she looks back at the young lithe boy in question.  She puts his cheeks into her hands and almost smooshes his face together a bit.  "I'm a-ok!” She smiles brightly down at him.  “No harm, no foul!"

The boy blinks in confusion at the sudden contact.  He reaches a hand up and grabs at her arm. “Uhmmm…” He looks everywhere but at Maya.

She stares at him for a moment, almost in a trance, “Ah.” It occurs to her she shouldn’t do this to a stranger.  “Sorry! You just really remind me of my younger brothers!”  She blushes from embarrassment as she waves her hands about wildly.  In an unsure maner she pockets them and ducks her head a bit to avoid all the stares from the pedestrians around them.

The boy across from her sheepishly bows again which causes his long yellow scarf to hit the ground.  Apologizing again it seems.  "N-No it’s ok, I'm really truly sorry.  If anything was hurt or if you were scratched...I-I would feel awful."  He rubs at his neck pushing his scarf up a bit.

“Isn’t it hot for a scarf?”  She blurts out.  The long scarf just wouldn’t stop bugging her.  While it was cold recently, today happens to be really warm.  “Is it a fashion statement of some kind?  Not that yellow is a bad color...”

The boy blushes a deep crimson as he looks away.  A nervous energy pours from him. “I’m sorry.” He leads with this again. “I-I just like it...yeah it’s fashion.”  He holds it in one hand to stare at it fondly.  “I feel oddly reassured while wearing it.” 

Maya leans back as she hums once again.  She looks up at the sky. “Why were you running so fast…?”  Her question trails off as she realizes she doesn’t have a name.  “Actually, what is your n-”

Maya’s question is cut off.  "That’s right!! I’m late!  I-I'm in a hurry because of errands I didn't mean to..."  He almost breaks into a mumbling fervor but stops himself.  He looks at her with wide gray-blue eyes. “I’m sorry! I have to go now or I’m going to be yelled at.” He softly replies before bowing to Maya once again.

Maya is learning to really like this strange boy's voice.  "You're a funny kid.” She starts but before he can run off she grabs him by one of his scarf tendrils.  “But before you can leave, take my business card.”  The boy squeaks as his scarf is yanked.

He looks back at her utterly confused.  He tilts his head, making his slicked black tresses fall along one side.  “Your business card?”

“Yeah!”  Maya nods as she gives him her card.  She forces into his hands and closes them on it.  “I am a reporter….and your comment earlier about being yelled...It makes me wonder if you know things?  Shady employer?  You are around highschool age and yet you’re out running around during school hours.  I think there’s a story there, yes?”  She asks the boy.

His eyes get a bit swirly as she’s way too close.  With each question she leans into his personal space more and more .  This causes him to lean back slightly as she hovers over him.  The walkers and onlookers on the streets give the weird couple a wide berth, steering clear of the bizarre interaction.  

"uhm….I..." He goes pale as he looks away.  “I’ll consider your offer...Miss…”  He opens his hands and reads the name on the card.  “Miss Arikuyo?” 

“Don’t question it, not even I know how my family got such a name.” 

He gulps and nods.  With that he backs up and pockets the business card.  He gives her one last bow before frantically taking off again.  "Now I’m really going to hear it!" He laments loudly as he gains distance from the nosy big sister.

Maya crosses her arms with triumph.  Before the boy disappears from sight she cups her hands around her mouth and takes a deep breath.  "Don’t forget about it!  You promised!” She shouts out with her hand megaphone acting to help carry her voice to the child’s ear. 

Satisfied, she turns back to her path to UA.  ”What other fateful encounters shall occur???" She asks herself excitedly while she begins writing notes on the questions she’s going to be asking the titular number one hero.

Chapter Text

When the first day of the hero course got out, three triplets were seen chasing each other off of the UA school premises.  A tall blond man snorts at the sight.  He watches as the other students filter out and go home as well.  He returned to his study after he bid Bakugo and Midoriya farewell.  He blinks to himself and adjusts his tie.  Letting loose a cough as steam envelopes the man.

The giant man known as the ‘Number One Hero of Japan’ slowly shrunk.  His yellow pin stripe suit starts loosening before hanging off of his form.  His blond locks that once stood tall and proud withered and crackled.  A dullness settles on the yellow strands.  A bony hand reaches up to choke out the itching cough in his throat.  A tiny sliver of blood trickles out of his clenched jaw. 

Once the steam clears, the number one hero, All Might, is no more, what stands in his wake is the emaciated and sickly form of Toshinori Yagi.  His sunken blue eyes gleam with defiance and dignity despite the skeletal form.  To any outsider looking in, Yagi appeares to have a foot in the grave.  A mere shadow of a man.  Pure spite and grit keeps this hero going.  He has a duty to do after all.