Chapter Text
Izuku was glad he’d spent the time before school exploring. Now he knew exactly where the locker rooms were and how to get there. For some reason, most of his classmates didn’t seem to be following him. The only people walking with him were Iida-san, a boy with red and white hair split down the middle and a burn scar over his left eye, and the boy with the sharp teeth.
“So, Molotov cocktails?” the red head said, turning to walk backwards so he and Izuku could face each other. “You going to explain that?”
Izuku shrugged. “The rules say you can use legally obtained support gear that is necessary for your quirk, or you can bring anything you can make yourself using only supplies from a hardware store.”
“Ah, you had mentioned it was within the rules,” Iida-san said. “I assume that is what you are referring to?”
“Yeah,” Izuku said, pushing open the door to the locker room. They were the first to arrive. “We should change quickly. I don’t think Aizawa-sensei will appreciate it if we’re late.”
“Right!” Iida-san and the red head both said suddenly. Izuku largely ignored them in favor of changing himself and heading out to the field where Aizawa-sensei was waiting.
There was some mindless chatter when they got out onto the field. Aizawa-sensei largely ignored them, letting them do what they wanted while he waited for the last students to arrive. Izuku learned that the redhead was named Kirishima Eijirou and was a big fan of Crimson Riot, and that was the reason he dyed his hair. Iida-san was just generally a little stuck up, but still friendly enough. And the brown-haired girl from the exam was Uraraka Ochako with a gravity quirk. Even while talking with his new classmates, Izuku kept half an eye on Bakugou, shifting himself towards the back of the crowd, so he was as far from Bakugou as he could be without making it extra obvious. Or making it look like he was avoiding half the class.
When the last student arrived, a short boy with purple hair that seemed to form into balls, Aizawa-sensei started talking. Lucky for them, everyone had learned quickly from the classroom and stopped talking instantly. “Today we’ll be doing a quirk assessment test-”
“A quirk assessment test!?” at least half the class cried out. Really? Were they a hivemind or something?
“But what about orientation?” Uraraka-san said. “We’ll miss it!”
“If you really want to be in the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies,” Aizawa-sensei said. It sounded almost… rehearsed. Izuku wondered idly how many times he’d had this conversation before. “Here at UA, we’re not tethered to tradition, which means I get to run my class however I want.” Huh, UA gets to do what they want because they’re the top and teaching unusual things. 3-E got to do what they wanted because they were at the bottom and no one was watching. This was going to be an interesting year.
A quick glance around confirmed that most of the class was starting to get a little afraid of Aizawa-sensei.
“You’ve been taking standardized tests all your lives,” Aizawa-sensei continued, taking out his phone, “but you’ve never been able to use your quirks in any physical exams before. The government’s still trying to pretend we’re all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel.”
Okay, that made some sense. You can’t get an idea for what the population is capable of if you make everyone hold back. On the other hand, that was about two steps away from some very uncomfortable statements about those that didn’t have a quirk to help them in the tests. But… Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t think that, would he?
“It’s not rational, one day the Ministry of Education will learn. Bakugou, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. What was your farthest distance on the softball throw in junior high school?”
Izuku could see where this was going.
“67 meters, I think.”
At least he knew there were some people here that would excel at this about as much as he would. The invisible girl in particular had about as much advantage as he did.
“Right,” Aizawa-sensei tossed the ball to Bakugou. “Now, try it with your quirk.”
Bakugou grunted and stepped into the circle. Izuku just sighed internally. Here we go again.
“Anything goes, just stay in the circle,” Aizawa-sensei said, just to make sure they were all clear. “Go on. Quite wasting time.”
Bakugou wound up. “Alright, old man, you asked for it.” He swung forward. “Die!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, just audible over the explosion that launched the ball even further forward. Murmurs rippled through the class. Izuku rolled his eyes at the theatrics.
“All of you need to know the full extent of your capabilities,” Aizawa-sensei said as the ball finally came down. “It’s the most rational way of determining your potential as pro heroes.”
No, it wasn’t. That was just their physical limits. Something they needed to know, yes, but it was hardly the be all, end all. Something Izuku knew Aizawa-sensei knew, so why was he saying this?
He showed them the screen, which read “705.2m.”
“705 meters,” a kid with bright blond hair said.
“Oh, I wanna go!” the pink girl said, practically squealing and dancing in her place. Izuku couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. “That looks like fun!”
“Aw, yeah! This is what I’m talking about!” said another kid with… those were some really big elbows. “We can use our quirks as much as we want!”
“Sounds like fun, huh?” Aizawa-sensei said. The class went dead silent and even Izuku couldn’t suppress a slight shiver at the malice and bloodlust that washed over them. “You have three years to become a hero. If you think it’s gonna be all games and play, you’re a bigger bunch of fools than I thought. Alright then. Let’s add a little weight to it. Today you are competing in nine physical events to gauge your potential. Eight of them are standard fitness tests. The last is a surprise round. Whoever comes in last over all the events will be expelled.”
What. No. They couldn’t- He couldn’t do this. He… no. Something was off.
“Like I said, I get to decide how this class is run. If you’ve got a problem with it, you can head home now.”
Aizawa-sensei had a quirk that wouldn’t help him in the first eight events at the very least. He wouldn’t be able to guarantee a pass even for himself. There had to be something more.
“Wait, you can’t do that!” Oh, bless your heart Uraraka-san for being the one to step up for this. “We just got here! It’s hardly fair to expel one of us over a fitness test!”
Aizawa-sensei scoffed. “And you think natural disasters are fair? What about power-hungry villains? Or catastrophes that whip out entire cities? No. The world is unfair, and as heroes, it is your job to take on that unfairness. To bear its weight and force some fairness on the world through your own strength of will. If you want to be a pro, you’ll have to push yourself to your limit, over and over again. For the next three years, UA is going to throw one challenge after another at you.” Aizawa-sensei grinned coldly at them. “So… go beyond. Plus Ultra style. Show me why you’re here.”
Okay. That was kinda cool, but still absolutely terrifying. How in the world was he supposed to ensure he didn’t get kicked out on day one?
The class was silent. “Well then?” Aizawa-sensei said after letting them think for a moment. “Let the games begin.”
Izuku watched carefully during the first event. They went two at a time for the fifty-meter dash. Almost everyone had little methods here and there to shave something off their time. Some, like Bakugou and Iida-san, had quirks perfectly suited for the task at hand. Izuku, meanwhile, had nothing but his completely normal body and a bunch of assassin training that didn’t actually help him here.
It was a test of his physical abilities, so Izuku did what was asked of him while trying not to get too scorched by Bakugou’s blasts. 7.13 seconds. That was actually really good. An improvement from last time at the very least. And Izuku was the fastest flat land runner in 3-E, as well as one of their best free runners.
As the last person crossed the finish line, Izuku was struck by a thought. “Don’t disappoint me,” is what Aizawa-sensei had said to him. He definitely thought Izuku had some kind of potential, which also lined up with the note on the autograph he’d given Inko. Hard work and strong morals.
Either he was bluffing to get the best out of everyone, or that surprise round was going to level the playing field.
They moved onto the grip strength test, which was quick. UA had a lot of testers for it, so they were able to get almost everyone done at once. Izuku, firm in his belief that something had to go right, calmed himself down, and went with the flow of things. Once he stopped worrying, he was able to spend some more time chatting with his classmates between tests. (While still carefully putting distance between himself and Bakugou at all times. The last thing he needed was the asshole getting angry over Izuku’s chatter.) He got to talk with most of them at some point or another, usually at least getting a name out of them. Some were chattier than others and would go for a little while once he showed some interest in what they had to say. Others, like Shouji-san and Kouda-san, were much quieter, preferring only a small greeting.
Izuku also made sure to give some quick encouragement to both Kouda-san, whose quirk allowed him to speak with animals, and Hagakure-san, the invisible girl.
Eventually, during the seated toe touch, Izuku got to speaking with the red-and-white-haired boy, or, as Izuku had figured out during the tests, Todoroki-san. “Why are you being so friendly?” Todoroki-san asked. “We’re not here to have fun. We’re not here to make friends. We’re here to train.”
Izuku sputtered. “Todoroki-san, our classmates are going to be our coworkers in the future. We need to know who they are, and we need to be able to get along and work with them. If you can’t do that, there is going to come a day where you are alone, and you need backup, and no one will be there. You don’t want to talk right now, that’s fine, but don’t expect others to follow your world view.”
Izuku quickly made his retreat, leaving Todoroki-san to think about what was said. It didn’t matter. He had other things to worry about. Like the mystery event, for example.
The class now stood outside a familiar set of walls and a massive doorway. And All Might was there. Why was All Might there?
“Hello there, students!”
“Drop it, All Might,” Aizawa-sensei interrupted. “You can do your grand introduction later. Now, for your final test. This one should be a familiar little game for you.” He took a small case from All Might and opened it, tossing an item from inside at Izuku. A… tracker of some sort? “You all are going to wear these trackers and go and hide in this fake city. While you are hiding, I will be hunting you. If you are caught, the tracker will flash red, and you must return to a holding area that will be clearly marked. All Might will be guarding that area. Classmates that are free can release those held, but All Might can and will capture anyone who gets too close.”
“So… Cops and Robbers?” Izuku interrupted.
“That’s right.”
“Sensei!” Iida-san said, raising his hand. “How are we to be graded for this test?”
“That’s what the trackers are for. They’re keyed to the boundary of the ‘jail.’ You will be graded by the percent of time out of jail. Keep in mind, your classmates are under no obligation to help you here, and it would be a huge risk to try and free anyone, so if you get caught early, you may be there for the rest of the game.”
“I’m not about to let anyone slip by me,” All Might boomed with a quick laugh.
“How long is the match?” Izuku said. He needed to keep an eye on the clock for this one. At least it was something they all knew. On the other hand, coordinating a strategy would be difficult given most wouldn’t want to take the risks.
“Twenty minutes.”
Not a lot then, but enough for a little chaos.
“Any other questions.”
There were none.
Aizawa-san nodded. “All Might, get in position.” All Might jumped over the wall and into the city, drawing delighted gasps from some students. The doors opened. “You kids get a one-minute head start.”
One minute! Izuku started running. He needed to get out of there immediately.
“One minute!?” Iida-san “Don’t we get any time to-”
“Shut up and run, Iida-san!” Izuku yelled over his shoulder. “No, we don’t get time to talk and strategize. That’s the point!”
Iida-san let out an offended squawk, but stopped complaining, quickly overtaking Izuku in the process.
No time like the present. Izuku turned off to the side allies and began to use his free running skills to his advantage. He climbed up, down, and over buildings, sliding through open windows and trying to stay both moving and out of sight. Periodically he’d hear yells and bangs, or explosions at one point, that told him someone had been found or slipped and fell. If they got found, they were almost guaranteed to have been caught. Eraserhead was an underground hero with an ambush and capture specialty. This was his playing field. Not to mention most of Izuku’s class would be effectively crippled once in Eraserhead’s line of sight with how they rely on their quirks. Izuku was pretty sure only himself, Asui-san, and Hagakure-san would be unaffected by their teacher’s gaze.
Five minutes in and Izuku wouldn’t have been surprised if half the class were captured.
Seven minutes in and Izuku was darting across a wide road when he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made his heart stop and his feet move faster than they were before. Izuku dove for cover and pressed himself against the cement ally wall.
He found the jail.
He found All Might and his classmates.
Seconds ticked by and nothing happened. All Might hadn’t seen him. Or maybe he had and was playing it safe in case Izuku had managed to get someone to work with him. Izuku scaled the building and began creeping across the rooftops to get a better vantage on the situation.
Afterall, if he had the option, he might as well make some trouble for Eraserhead. In the distance Izuku could see a massive glacier of ice that told him exactly where Todoroki-san was. The annoying part was that his strategy would probably work. If Eraserhead didn’t have a way to melt the ice, there was going to be no way through to Todoroki-san.
Izuku made himself as small as possible up on the rooftop and looked down at the jail. Sitting inside were Bakugou, Tokoyami-san, Kirishima-san, Ashido-san, Mineta-san, Kaminari-san, Aoyama-san, Satou-san, Sero-san, Yaoyorozu-san, and Ojirou-san. Both Kaminari-san and Satou-san seemed to have gone overboard with their quirks, judging by their braindead expressions.
All Might stood in the middle of the group, surveying his surroundings diligently. But never looking up. Following the normal rules for Cops and Robbers, all Izuku had to do was tag them to free them, but that meant getting close to All Might and being in grabbing range. The jail was certainly big, for a normal person it would be incredibly easy to get the captives out with just a little bit of distraction, but All Might was fast enough (and focused enough), that he could simply come back and capture everyone again.
Izuku didn’t like this situation. How on earth was anyone supposed to get through that?
Izuku turned away from the view and found a stairwell to go down a few floors. Settling down near a window, just out of sight, Izuku waited. He doubted Aizawa-sensei would search for anyone this close to All Might. It would be downright stupid to stay this close. Unlike when they played with Korosensei and Karasuma-sensei, there wasn’t anything keeping All Might from pursuing them if they were seen. Also, unlike Korosensei, All Might couldn’t be bribed with pictures of women in bikinis.
Time passed, and Izuku got bored. Iida-san, Uraraka-san, and Shouji-san had joined the captured group, but nothing else had happened.
Well… there was one way he could cause some trouble, but Izuku wasn’t sure he wanted to mess with Yagi-san like that.
On the other hand, if the hero was foolish enough to answer at a time like this, that was his fault, not Izuku’s.
Izuku: “hey yagi-san”
Izuku: “whatcha doin”
Yagi: “Izuku-kun. Please focus on the test.”
Izuku: “you actually brought your phone?”
Yagi: “Dont you need to worry about Aizawa-kun finding you?”
Izuku: “nah. he won’t look here”
Something moved in another room.
Izuku: “never mind. speak of the devil and all that”
Izuku: “bye yagi-san”
Izuku tucked his phone away and slowly rose to his feet, trying not to shift his weight more than necessary. Someone was in here with him, and given the state of his class… odds were it was Eraserhead. Not great for him.
Izuku listened closely, trying to identify where the noises were coming from. Once he had an idea, Izuku began using his stealth training to creep along the walls and out of the room, moving quickly away from the source of the noise. He safely made it to the stairwell without crossing paths with the intruder and began making his way up to the roof again.
Keeping to his stealth, Izuku continued across the roof. Halfway to the edge, the door closed behind him.
Shit.
“Hello, Midoriya-kun.”
Izuku didn’t look behind himself before he bolted. A second of delay could easily mean the difference between getting caught and not.
Izuku launched himself off the building they were on, crossing the gap to the next. As his feet touched the ground, he heard a snap of cloth and dropped and rolled. Something ruffled his hair as it snapped again above his head, retreating back to Eraserhead for the next attack.
Izuku needed to get out of here. The wide-open space was making him easy to track and capture. On the other hand, while tight corners may make harder for Eraserhead to use his capture gear to actually capture Izuku, it would give him plenty to maneuver off of.
Either way, he needed to get off this roof and fast. The more often his feet were off the ground, the less maneuverability Izuku had.
A street light. Not the best option, but certainly the fastest, and Izuku knew he could use it safely.
He could hear Eraserhead getting closer. Izuku changed his course, angling to the side.
He jumped.
Eraserhead yelled something behind him.
So did Izuku’s classmates.
Shit. This was the main street to the jail. All Might would be able to see him. Too late to go back now.
Izuku’s hands caught on the cross beam of the light, swinging him forward. He released it and began dropping again. The ground was coming up. Izuku tucked and rolled with his momentum, coming gracefully to his feet. He needed to get out of sight now.
Ally. He needed an ally.
Turning, he found Eraserhead glaring at him and blocking his path.
“Out of my way!” That was All Might. Izuku allowed himself a half second to glance back and saw his classmates scurrying out of the path while All Might struck a sprinter’s pose.
“Eyes on me, kid.”
Izuku snapped back and was just barely able to dodge Eraserhead’s hand. Why wasn’t he using his capture gear? Was Izuku too close?
Not important right now. All Might was coming.
Izuku dead dropped and rolled along the ground towards the jail.
All Might blew past over Izuku’s head and into Eraserhead.
Oh, Izuku was completely screwed. He scrambled back to his feet and began sprinting away from the now bickering heroes.
Was that…?
Izuku grinned and reached out, pushing himself just a little bit faster. “Hope you have a lot of hands, Shouji-san!” he said, slapping a hand attached to a long arm-like protrusion that Shouji-san had made to get closer to Izuku.
All Might and Eraserhead shut up behind him.
“Jailbreak!” Izuku screamed, cackling. Shouji-san immediately turned and began tagging the rest of their classmates, many of them sprinting off and tagging others along the way.
None of them stuck together.
Oh well. Time was almost up anyway, and Izuku was going to get captured between now and then. Nothing could change that.
A loud growl startled Izuku as a massive hand clamped over his shoulders and lifted him off the ground. Izuku’s tracker turned red. Izuku stopped struggling.
“You’ve caused us a lot of trouble, Midoriya-kun,” said All Might.
Izuku grinned back at him. “That was the point!”
All Might sighed and put him down. “Well, at least I’m not the one that has to go track them down.”
Izuku hummed in agreement as he stepped over the line into the jail. “Do you think any of them will come back for me?” he asked.
“Probably not. The risk is high and many of them need to spend as much time out of jail as possible to better their scores.”
“Yeah, some of them did get caught pretty fast.”
Grumbling caught their attention from one of the side roads. Mineta-san had been caught again. Izuku wasn’t really surprised. His quirk certainly had its uses but making himself faster didn’t seem to be one of them. At least, not without proper set up, which he couldn’t get with Eraserhead breathing down his neck. Add in Eraserhead erasing his quirk, and Mineta-san had nothing to fall back on.
“How much time is left?” asked Izuku.
“About two minutes,” said All Might.
Izuku shrugged to himself, resigned to waiting. Nothing else he could do.
In the end, only Kirishima-san and Ashido-san were recaptured. Judging by the way Aizawa-sensei and Bakugou approached the gates to meet up with the rest of the class together, it had been a close call for Bakugou as well.
“Good, you’re all here,” Aizawa-sensei said. “Time to go over the scores. You’ve been ranked from best to worst. You should probably be able to figure out roughly where you are already, so I’ll just show you. No point in going over everything individually.” Aizawa-sensei used his phone to project the scoreboard and let the class look over it.
Todoroki-san was first. No surprises there. Not only was he physically fit with a powerful quirk, but he had been able to hide in his ice fortress the entire match. Bakugou was down at fifth, which was clearly grating on him. Izuku himself was at thirteenth, and, at the very bottom, was Mineta-san.
The scoreboard disappeared as Aizawa-sensei put it away. Izuku slowly glanced over at the shorter boy. Mineta-san was pale and shaking, his mouth hanging open and his eyes locked on where the scores had been, seeing nothing. Izuku couldn’t say he was surprised Mineta-san was last, but he didn’t think it was fair to expel him either.
It reminded him too much of being sent down to 3-E.
“And I was lying, no one’s going home.”
Mineta-san collapsed to the ground.
Amusement radiated off Aizawa-sensei. “That was just a logical ruse to get you to do your best.”
Yeah, that sounded about right. While Korosensei was more the kind to offer a carrot than a stick, putting something on the line was a great way to make sure students paid attention. While Izuku had no doubt Aizawa-sensei could expel them at the drop of a hat, doing it on the first day would be a bit hasty.
The rest of the class was not as assured as Izuku was, crying out in shock at the announcement, a few of them heaving sighs of relief. “I’m surprised the rest of you didn’t realize that,” Yaoyorozu-san said. “I’m sorry I should have said something.”
Izuku laughed. “Relax, Yaoyorozu-san. They’ll be fine. Just give them a little while to recover from the shock.”
“You knew, too!?” Uraraka-san said, pointing a shaking finger. “And you didn’t tell us? Rude!”
Izuku shook his head. “I suspected,” he corrected. “I didn’t really know. I’m pretty sure Aizawa-sensei could expel us if he wanted, he just decided we’re alright for now.”
And Bakugou was getting mad again. Probably best to stop attracting attention.
“Alright, that’s it for today. Head back and pick up a syllabus from the classroom,” said Aizawa-sensei. “Make sure you read it before tomorrow morning. Midoriya-kun, meet me at the office before you leave.”
Bakugou unleashed some explosions as he left, huffing to himself.
“Yes, Aizawa-sensei.”