A physical assessment test.

The words rattle around Izuku's head as he follows his new classmates into a changing room.

Eraserhead -Shota Aizawa, or Aizawa as he commanded they address him as- wanted to test their Quirks. See for himself what they could do, firsthand, in a controlled environment. Bring them to their limits.

It set his nerves on edge.

Izuku had tiptoed around that line before, had pushed Styxfire to the limit of what his power could handle before it turned on its owner and tried to devour his body like a slobbering, starved beast. That limit was a faint, foggy line, one clouded with pain and empty hunger-pit that sent shivers down his spine just thinking about.

What am I going to do?

There's only one clear route going forward.

He'll have to work with that he had.

It was day one -surely Aizawa wouldn't put them through the wringer? Most of the students weren't scouted; their only experience with hero work was basic physical training and some Quirk manipulation in private property. Likely none of them had personal trainers or had real combat training. They're all on a similar level, with only a few deviants there and there.

It can't be that hard.

It can't be anything worse than father threw at him and Shouto.

Around him, his new classmates buzzed around as they got dressed, unable to keep their excitement and anticipation restrained. Shouto and Izuku are one of the few who were quiet. Kacchan, the crow teenager and the six-armed boy were part of that group. The rest were chattering away. Loudly.

"-so I came here from Mustafa-"

"-did you see that dark haired girl?! She's hot!"

"I can't believe I'm here!"

"Dude what's with that black thing in your hair!"

"What, this? It's my natural style!"

"You serious? That looks like hair dye!"

"Nah, man. It's all natural! Runs on my mom's side." The yellow haired boy exclaims -Kaminari, as he had introduced himself somewhere in his conversation with the redhead that Izuku was not eavesdropping. He was just within hearing range! "And who are you to talk about weird hair color? You look like you've been dipped in cherry sauce!"

Are locker rooms always this loud?

Kirishima makes a choked noise that seems close enough to laugh. Izuku diverts his attention away in favor of putting on his jacket and zipping it up.

Shouto's already putting his things away in his locker, and he makes quick eye contact with him to communicate that he was ready to go. Izuku picks the one right above his brother's for his own things.

Quickly tying up his shoes, Izuku's eyes strayed across the room. Kacchan picks the far end of the room to change. Izuku doesn't miss the fact it's the farthest distance away from himself.

The message is clear enough.

.

.

.

After they change into their sportswear, they meet back up with the girls. Eraserhead is quick to herd them outside.

Izuku sticks to Shouto's side like glue throughout. He takes the moment they are all walking after their teacher to get acquainted with each of his classmates' heat signatures -not that there was much he could get acquainted with. Most of them were average, almost indistinguishable from each other save for minor variations due to size differences.

The only ones that stood out were Shouto, for how unique he was, and how well Izuku was acquainted with it. ANother was the six armed boy, for how oddly shaped his was compared to the rest due to the extra anatomy. A third one, curiously enough, was the boy with the avian head; while his body heat was at a normal temperature, it dipped oddly enough around his chest. The girl with the green hair and frog or toad Quirk had a lower temperature too, but across her body. Then there was the odd blond haired, purple eyed boy, whose midriff was just a few degrees higher than normal.

Lastly, was Kacchan.

As Izuku thought, the other boy had a higher heat signature than the average human. Not at his father's level and nowhere near Touya's scorching, nearly inhuman heat, but certainly enough to be noticable. Izuku silently commits the information lingering at the edge of the group -far away from himself- to memory, keeping his gaze forward to the back of Aizawa's head as the Pro-Hero leads them into a wide open area that seemed suitable for training.

With short, quick words, he has them spread out in front of him. It's about that time someone finally has the courage to speak up.

"Huh, sir?" Someone at the back of the group asks. It's the boy with the spiky red hair. A few heads turn to look at him, Izuku included, making his face almost as red as his hair. "Aren't...aren't we going to miss the orientation?"

Every head snaps back towards their teacher. Aizawa doesn't even take the time to consider.

"Yes."

The response is delivered with such bluntness even Izuku realizes something was off. To his left, the brown haired girl's shoulders slump and she makes a bummed out noise.

"...isn't...isn't it important though?" The brown haired girl at Izuku's side speaks up, voice wavering when a pair of tired red eyes pin her in place.

How the man managed to look so tired yet maintained some intimidating sense of intensity was beyond Izuku's knowledge. Unlike his classmates though, he doesn't feel that nervous. At least, about Eraserhead. In many ways, his strictness reminded him of his father.

And if there was one person outside of Shouto that Izuku knew how to appease, it was Endeavor.

"Depends how you look at it." Aizawa replies, reaching into his pockets and pulling out a phone. He scratches his chin with the other hand as he continues, tone apathetic. "Here in Yuuei, we aren't tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit. And I'm not one for big ceremonies. It's illogical."

Well, that was one way to say it.

His flat, uninterested delivery didn't surprise Izuku. From the wary glances his classmates didn't seem to share Izuku's beliefs, but they keep quiet. They've been here for less than twenty minutes and it was clear just how no-nonsense the man was.

"We'll start the assessment test. Bakugo." Izuku's eyes snap to the side where he sees his childhood friend step forward fearlessly. Kacchan has his hands in his pockets, shoulders back. Utterly nonchalant to the way every eye in a thirty meter radius locked on to him.

Izuku wished he had that kind of confidence.

"Ball throw. I'm sure you've done this before -this time, do it with your Quirk."

Aizawa points at a white circle drawn on the ground just a few feet away in front of the group. Kacchan is silent as he walks over it. His hand rises up lightning fast to catch the small, white ball Eraserhead pulls out of his pocket and tosses his way.

"You can do whatever, just stay in the circle." Aizawa calls after him, one hand in his pocket, the other one holding the phone.

Kacchan lets out a soft right that barely tickles Izuku's ears, looking down at the ball in his grasp. He turns towards the wide open area in front of him, gauging, his expression solemn and almost calculating….

-and then Kacchan then proceeds to fling the ball with all the grace of an enraged bear:

"DIE!"

BOOM.

Izuku's eyes fly wide as he feels his hair get yanked back from the wind force; the explosion Kacchan let out was giant, a far cry from the tiny sparks and pops from their childhood. Gravel flew around the students, and someone yelped as it got in their eyes.

Kacchan straightened from his throwing position. Despite his straight face, the blond was practically oozy smugness as he turns back to Aizawa. The Pro-Hero was looking at his phone now, unconcerned. Kacchan didn't seem that bothered by the lack of response.

After a long pause, Aizawa holds up his phone and utters:

"705.2 meters."

Izuku has to keep himself from gasping.

Woah.

Around him, the students starts muttering amongst themselves. Their disbelief is evident though some look excited at the prospect of letting their Quirks loose. Izuku was not part of that second category.

Aizawa's voice cuts right through that, instantly making them go quiet:

"This is how things will go. Today's all about knowing what your current limit is. That way, you'll have a greater grasp on your powers." Their teachers intone in a nearly bored manner. The way his eyes surveilled the crowd of students clashed with his physical demeanor greatly.

Izuku really doesn't like the way those scarlet eyes pause on him, holding him captive with just his gaze. He keeps his own expression as calm and blank as he can muster. Styxfire sparks furiously in his ribcage, reacting to his anxiety. It only stopped once when the Pro-Hero switches to another victim.

"You'll compete in eight different physical tests to assess your strengths and weaknesses, and find your limit."

Find your limit.

Izuku knew what that was. He knew his and maintained track of it near religiously. And eight physical tests? With his Quirk? Terrifying to do amongst other people but definitely something Izuku could do. It wasn't anything different from what Endeavor made them do.

Izuku breathed a little bit easier at that realization.

This didn't seem that hard, compared to what the Todoroki Patriarch's training sessions usually had in store.

"By the way," Aizawa delivers with all the grace and nonchalance of someone talking about the weather. "-not only will you compete against each other, you will be ranked. And whoever comes last will be sent home."

….oh.

.

.

.

Understandably, there's a bit of tension after that.

Student after student go through the ball throw test. They all try their best and their Quirks make Izuku's brain hurt from the urge to learn more about them, so much so it's almost painful having to keep his mouth shut.

He'd never had much issue refraining from mumbling until now.

For all the students' efforts, none of them come close to scratching Kacchan's results. The only one close enough is Yaoyorozou, whose Quirk somehow consist of her opening her shirt and assembling a small cannon out of the parts she materializes from her skin in a flurry of colorful lights.

It's so beautiful and unlike anything Izuku had ever seen. His fingers twitch at his side with the urge to write what he saw down. How did it work? How did she create such materials? What was the cost of using her Quirk?

"-Todoroki Izuku."

Izuku blinks, suddenly noticing the pair of tired red eyes looking at him -alongside nearly everyone else in his class. He nearly shrinks back from the amount of attention.

Wait, it was his turn already?

Stepping forward, he focuses his attention on Eraserhead. There was something about the way the man was looking at him that put Izuku at just the tiniest bit on edge. When he wordlessly extends a hand and gives him his ball, Izuku snatches it up with almost trembling hands.

He's not liking the sensation of twenty pairs of eyes on him. It's easier to focus on his teacher, but it doesn't negate the fact he was the center of attention.

It was quite a different way of being in the spotlight.

Izuku doesn't like this either, but just like all the times his father shoved him in front of him, he had to swallow the anxiety up and shut up. Eraserhead's staring wasn't helping though. If Izuku had to describe it, he would say there was anticipation in those eyes.

It's then that he suddenly realizes something.

He probably saw my Recommendation test.

Izuku swallows imperceptibly, clutching the ball tightly in his hands.

...that means he knows about Styxfire, too. At least some of it.

He steps into the circle, focusing on the problem ahead and leaving everything else at the back of his mind for future torment. He had a job to do -a task to complete, and if it was one thing Izuku learned to be good at, it was compartmentalizing his feelings in order to complete something.

There were many ways he could go through with the ball throw. If he shielded the ball -not in a cylinder to shoot like a canon but as a complete sphere and then threw it with his Quirk...there wouldn't need to be any worry about incinerating the ball…

He turns his head to look at his new teacher.

"Do I have to throw it as far as I can?" He asks quietly.

"This test is to assess your limit." Aizawa responds blandly, uninterested. "It's only logical."

There's a spark in his eyes that said otherwise. It's comforting, somehow. The man was expecting something out of him. Something more. Izuku just hoped he could deliver it.

"Alright." Izuku takes a breath, turning towards the open space and pulling his arms back. "I'll do it."

-and throws.

B O O M.

Styxfire screeches something horrible as it goes off like a bomb, an arch of white, purple and black flames bursting across his arms. It propelled the encased ball high into the sky; Izuku can barely track the trajectory of the projectile, so fast it moves.

It doesn't take long for it to reach the maximum reach of his Quirk. Izuku can only faintly sense the last of the casing dissipate and the ball goes on in its merry way. Not too long after, Izuku can't see it anymore.

Kacchan's had done similarly so he doesn't worry too much, turning his attention to his new homeroom teacher.

Aizawa's face remained unchanged. Izuku didn't know if it was a good thing or not, so he just stood there, waiting in silence. None of his classmates were speaking either. Silence reigned supreme as their teacher checked his phone.

After a full fifteen seconds, the man looks up at Izuku and intones flatly:

"975.3 meters."

Just like that, it starts again. Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin as some of his classmates cheered, for some inexplicable reason. The murmurs were no less terrifying.

"Holy shit!"

"How the fu-"

"Okay, I'm scared now."

Izuku fights off a grimace.

He knows exactly why that last comment was voiced out -the cause was right behind him. As he turns around, his heat sense already informs him of the damage wayward flames had caused and yet, even knowing what he was going to find, it's another thing to look at the stretching gap of darkened earth and melting sand-glass behind him.

Well.

….its less damage that Izuku had hoped, at the very least.

Aizawa doesn't seem to have anything to say about the giant hole Izuku punched in the earth, already looking at his phone again for the next student. Izuku takes his opportunity to scurry quickly to his brother's side. He tries to ignore the weight of Kacchan's gaze drilling on the side of his head.

It's almost baffling how he can tell its the other boy.

Some of the students say something to him as he passes by them, but its static compared to the white noise in his head. He just nods faintly and hurries up; getting back to Shouto took priority. As interested as Izuku was by the other teenagers, he was also very, very lost as to what to do with them.

It didn't seem as daunting back in class, when they'd all been pretty quiet and behaved….

Shouto barely acknowledges his return, but the faint bump from his left side against Izuku's shoulder is all he needs for comfort. Quickly enough the class seemed to be losing interest in him, the whispering dying off in favor of watching other students take the test.

Then it's the brown haired girl's turn.

"Uraraka Ochako!"

Izuku watches as she shyly walks forward at Aizawa's request. The Pro-Hero hands her the ball. Uraraka picks up the sphere and looks at it, biting her lower lip as she goes and assumes her position in the middle of the field.

Oddly enough, she's glancing up instead of forward.

She raises her other hand, hovering it over the ball. Izuku notices with curiosity how her finger pads were a pinkish color. Was that part of her Quirk -was that the location where it came out? What was it, exactly?

Uraraka stares down at the ball intensely. She was nervous, that Izuku could tell. She looks up, looking at the open blue sky, then back at the ball. Then, without further ado, she taps the ball with her other hand then tosses the ball in an upward arch. There's the faintest of pink sparks when her finger pads make contact with the ball.

It's not a hard throw; she doesn't put her entire body behind it, and Izuku winces as he looks at the ball. It wouldn't travel very far with such angle and force, did she get too nervous-

Wait.

Izuku blinks, squinting at the ball as it continues its upwards arch. It should be coming down now, barely five meters from Uraraka ...but its not. Far from that, actually.

Definitely, it just-

It keeps flying.

Floating.

Up.

And up,

And up.

Until two minutes later, its was nothing but a speck in the firmament. And then nothing at all.

Izuku waits with bated breath as Aizawa checks his phone, looks up, then checks the phone again and shrugs. Waits a bit more, then finally calls out gruffly:

"Infinity."

At the other side of the group, Kacchan makes a noise like a cat that got stepped on.

.

.

.

They quickly move on from the ball throw.

Aizawa has them running through eight different physical tests for the assessment. After the ball throw there's a grip strength test, one that the six-armed boy, Shoji Mezo, wins easily. The cannon girl, Yaoyorozou Momo, comes second when she creates a machine to do it for her. Izuku snags her idea as well as third spot with a quick if not careful application of Styxfire that costs a lot more than he expected.

He'll have to work on that when he got home.

On the distance run Izuku doesn't even dare to use his Quirk for anything beyond short bursts that put him squarely in the middle of the flock, point wise. Flying required far more power than he was comfortable using: especially since while he had learned pretty well how to control Styxfire from licking at his clothes mid flight, he was still not able to contain the flames to burst solely backwards and not go all over the place behind him.

He'd rather not turn the entire track into a mixture of cooked earth and malformed glass, thank you.

Shouto had no issue using his ice for that, and Kacchan flies in a way that eerily reminds Izuku of his own application of Styxfire …except Kacchan was far more graceful and quick about it, what he lacked in power compared to Izuku making it up in precision and flexibility. It was fascinating to watch, and Izuku memorized it for his own training.

It was clear Kacchan hadn't just idled around after he left.

His grasp on Explosion was exceptional, and each new test made it all the more so. All of Izuku's classmates were exceptional in their own way, too, with their Quirks and how they applied them, but Izuku's gaze always came back to Kacchan.

Even if the other teenager was ignoring him.

An opportunity to talk -or at least, exchange something- occurs for the fifty meter dash test, where they are paired to race against one another. Izuku trots to his half of the track; Kacchan was already there, ignoring him just like he'd had since the first time they saw each other in years, stretching his arms that without a doubt had to ache after the long distance run.

Izuku knew how hard propelling oneself was on the body, especially the shoulders. Biting his lower lip, he somehow musters up some ounce of courage from within himself. His voice is quiet but definitely loud enough for the other boy to hear:

"Kacchan-"

"Shut your mouth."

The response was immediate and sharper than a serrated knife. Izuku's mouth does so without further thought, instinctively snapping shut before he can even realize what he's doing. Mute, he watches as Kacchan takes position on his own track.

He barely gets in position himself when the little machine at the other end of the tracks shouts out cheerfully:

"Start!"

Unprepared and upset as he was Izuku didn't do as well as he normally would. He loses a full two seconds after Kacchan's 4.13 seconds. The shame burns at him and he quickly resolves to leave that behind and focus on the tests.

Izuku knows he's not going to be last with the track record he'd had so far with the tests, but he wants to do his best too. And if that meant ignoring Kacchan like how Kacchan was ignoring him, well..

… he'll have to make due.

The rest of the tests go by quickly, now that he pushes worries about the other boy away. Side steps is as annoying as the first day when Izuku was seven and he learned what those were. Seated toe touch was as easy as breathing with his agility training and the sit up tests was nothing different from what he did nearly every day.

Soon enough, standing long jump was one of the last ones tests left.

Izuku is one of the last to go up.

Aizawa doesn't say a word after calling him up. Izuku spots his stare from the corner of his eye as he makes his way to the sandbox.

He's not sure how exactly the man was ranking them. It was clear in his speech that Eraserhead wanted to see their limit, but Izuku also believed that he was also adding points for their versatility in application of their abilities. He'd looked pretty interested when Yaoyorozou created her compression machine during the grip strength, and there had been a sparkle in those tired red eyes when Izuku imitated her technique in his own manner.

That could explain why there were multiple tests instead of a single grand one -it wasn't just to see the sheer power of their Quirk, its to see how they used it.

If he wanted to get a good number of points, he needed to be more versatile with his application.

Izuku looks back at the sand pit, eyeing the other side. He can feel the gaze of everyone in the class -Kacchan, Shouto, Aizawa- on his back as he takes a stand at the edge of the jumping pad.

Breathing in, Izuku cements his idea in his head and lifts his arms up, feeling familiar warmth curling within his flesh, spreading out through his veins. He memorized the length and width of the area he had to traverse, using the warmth of the sun pooling on the ground to gauge the distance with his heat sense.

Reassured, he opens his eyes and lets Styxfire free.

This time however, it wasn't in the form of fire.

He hears gasps from his classmates behind him as Styxfire weaves itself into a solid mass, threads of purple-black-silver stretching across the gap, filling out into a narrow bridge with railings.

Satisfied -if a little winded- Izuku lowers his arms and daintily hops up the stairs and starts walking across the tiny bridge. No one could see his face so for once he allows himself to smile.

"Whoohoo, that's awesome dude!"

If it wasn't for the railings Izuku created alongside his bridge, he would have tripped and fallen over into the sand from how high he jumps in the air.

He hopes Aizawa doesn't dock points for that.

.

.

.

Soon enough, it all comes to an end.

Groans and muttered curses ran rampant through the group as Aizawa herds them to the side. They gather at the edge of the training grounds, sweaty, exhausted, panting and very much yearning for water.

Shouto discretely shoves a tiny ice cube towards him and Izuku takes it gleefully, popping it in his mouth and letting it melt. Shouto had made the ice structure bubbly this time instead of a solid mass, allowing it to quickly break into easily consumable shards when Izuku presses his tongue against it.

That was one of Izuku's suggestions from a year and a half ago, when they discussed rescue techniques. It was one rare time where Izuku's brainstorming had brought fruit that their father approved of.

Aizawa gives them just enough mercy to let them rest in the shade while he points his phone at the building they were hiding against. A projection is cast on the wall from the device -it's a table of names and numbers.

Their names.

To his slight surprise, Izuku finds his own name squarely at the top, with Shouto snugly nested in second place.

Someone named Yaoyorozou took third.

Kacchan took the fourth spot.

Iida took fifth.

Someone named Tokoyami took sixth.

So on and so forth, until the last person, Kaminari Denki, took last position.

Izuku scans the crowd, discreetly trying to find whoever was this Kaminari Denki. Most of the students looked relieved, so it was easy for him to spot the electric blond looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

The redhead at his side was squeezing his shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort him. It did little to stop the growing pallor on his face.

Part of him was torn on the issue. If he wasn't a fit he wasn't a fit. Pro-Hero work was harsh and unforgiving and the weakest would fall behind. It was a brutal way to think about it and while part of Izuku hated thinking in such a way, he also understood the necessity of only the best getting through.

From what he learned of his father, it was normal that some students at Yuuei dropped out before their first semester was even completed anyways.

Still, this felt...cruel.

This was the first day, surely Aizawa couldn't be expecting perfection from them? Some of these students had only minimal Quirk training done at home, pitting them against each other like this?

It just didn't feel quite-

"By the way, it was a lie. No one's going home."

Izuku's brain freezes. Around him, the entirety of the class did pretty much the same, freezing in place from the sheer disbelief of Aizawa's declaration.

He clenches his hands, a mixture of surprise and relief swirling in his heart. Those feelings are pretty quickly replaced by apprehension when there's a sudden explosion of noise around him. The other students are yelling and its pandemonium.

Loud, uncomfortable pandemonium.

"Wait, are you serious!?"

"This isn't funny!"

"Is this like a hazing thing?!"

Kaminari lets out a loud series of sniffles. The redhead and another boy, a tall one with dark hair, move to pat his shoulders and head. It's uncomfortable to look at and it only cements the belief that this was a terrible thing in Izuku's heart. Terrible, but understandable.

Becoming a Pro-Hero was far from easy.

"It was just a logical ruse to get you to your limits. Plus Ultra." Eraserhead says it so flatly once they quieten, so uninterested in the class' crisis that Izuku nearly breaks out in a fit of tiny hysterical giggles from just how unbothered the Pro-Hero looked. "Next time, you will not get a pass."

The yellow haired boy, Kaminari, shudders and slumps back, defeated.

Izuku glances at him from the corner of his eyes, barely keeping himself from frowning with worry. His classmate was lucky today. Aizawa didn't seem like the kind of teacher to fool around; this mercy would not happen again, Izuku was sure.

Kaminari was just lucky, today.

Tomorrow might not be just as easy.

.

.

.

Their first day is over faster than Izuku expected.

Aizawa abandons them as soon as they're out of their sport uniforms, into their regular ones and sitting quietly back in class. They're all still sweaty and maybe a bit asleep on his feet. At least, some of them. Izuku feels perfectly fine; overheating was not something he was very familiar with, given Styxfire could simply absorb the excess temperature.

It's the cold, in truth, that was the danger.

None of his classmates dare make a peep when Aizawa looks at them.

"Take today as a taste of what's to come." He tells them. Standing in front of the class, unperturbed by the frazzled looks the students gave him, he continued on. "Yuuei and most importantly, my class has no place for those who prefer to take it easy. You'll have to bring your best every day if you wish to even pass this semester."

He pauses, surveilling them once again.

"That is all. You're dismissed."

And just like that he spins on his heels, picks up his bright yellow sleeping bag and leaves the class without further ado.

There's a visible relaxation of the tension in the room. Some of the students flat out collapse on the desks, laying their heads there and melting. Some stagger to their feet and blearily make their way to the door. A few start talking but it seems like not a lot of them have the strength or energy to socialize.

One individual though gets up immediately and heads for the door.

They're blond, they're quick, and as Izuku scrambles to pick up his backpack and dart after his target they are already almost down the hallway.

As soon as he's out of his seat Shouto is as well, and Izuku senses his brother following after him. He rushes into the hallway with a fast walk, dodging a student or two only to catch just the faintest glimpse of a familiar mop of blond hair disappearing around the corner.

Irritated, anxious and faintly terrified, Izuku turns his head towards his brother. Shouto's face was as calm and neutral as it ever was in public. Izuku knew better. The look in his mismatched eyes was dark and thoughtful, but lenient.

He was waiting for him to decide.

Want me to come with you?

"Gates." Izuku whispers to his brother instead, and Shouto nods, understanding. At least, in his own way.

His brother breaks off, heading the other way while Izuku spins around and starts truly chasing after his childhood friend, barely keeping his pace below a full fledged run. There's a few heads that turn when he rushes down the hallway, backpack bouncing against his back with each quick, hurried step.

The stairways leading to the ground floor had no trace of Izuku's former friend, but Izuku hadn't lost track yet of that blob of heat amongst the river of other heat signatures. There's not enough students out and about yet for him to miss Kacchan. He's at the bottom of the stairs and quickly crossing through the main hall towards the front door of the main compound.

Already he's starting to get to the edge of Izuku's Quirk and that makes him panic.

He practically flies down the stairs, skipping steps as he hurries because he can't lose track of Kacchan, not yet, he has to talk to him at least today, at least a few words, anything to try to sort this tangled mess out between the two of them-

Izuku trips a bit as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, barely catching himself on the railing. A young girl with pink hair turns towards him as he accidentally bumps her shoulder, piercing yellow-gold eyes looking at him with a mixture of disinterest and confusion.

"Sorry!" Embarrassed, Izuku apologizes quickly before running past her, not even waiting for her reply.

When he's out of the staircase he finally catches a glimpse of that familiar blond mop of hair again. Kacchan was at the entrance door, speed walking down the steps towards the main gates of Yuuei. He was nearly out.

Unable to stop himself, Izuku yells after him:

"Kacchan!"

The teenager's shoulders instantly rise up defensively; his feet's rapid pace falters. He doesn't turn around but it's clear that he'd heard Izuku. It's more evidence to how much he doesn't want to deal with it and for a moment, Izuku considers giving up and letting him go along with his day.

But he quickly finds he just can't.

He can't let this go. He can't let those old memories of Kacchan go. He knows it's not his place, that he's being selfish and intruding on someone who clearly did not want anything to do with him, someone who is not who he remembered him to be. A young teenager that had his own life and his own worries and Izuku finds it in himself that he can't care about that and use it to push those longing feelings away. Izuku knew there was no point trying to argue with himself.

He's a selfish little monster. And he just wants a part of that old Kacchan back.

He wants his friend back. Before the Quirks, before Todoroki Enji. He wants the warmth and happiness he remembers, even as old and fragmented the memories were.

I just need something good to happen. Please.

His feet carried him down the small staircase outside the main building. He's only feet away now from Kacchan. The closer he got the faster his heartbeat was and if he could only just reach-

Kacchan whips around.

"What?!"

Izuku flinches back on reflex, stomach dropping as a pair of furious red eyes look down at him. The sheer amount of venom in his voice has nausea gathering in his stomach. It's a rusty old knife digging carelessly into that swelling hope.

People were staring. Izuku did not care as much as he should. His nervousness for once did not rear its head anymore. It was tightly coiled in his heart, suffocated by something darker and more despairing.

Hesitating, he murmurs. "I want to talk-"

Those red eyes narrowed to slits.

"There's nothing to say, bastard." Kacchan retorts, tilting his chin up. "Run back home to Endeavor for all I care. I'm not dealing with your shit unless we're in class, so you can screw right off."

"But-"

"Deku." Oh, it's been a long, long time since he's addressed by that name but it doesn't fail to make his mouth snapped shut. "Leave me alone. Just because you got a shiny fucking Quirk doesn't mean I'm not going to beat you into the ground." Kacchan finishes, his voice so full of promise that Izuku has no doubt he would follow through with that threat.

And even if he's stronger now, even if he's not Quirkless anymore, even if he could hurt Kacchan so easily with a thought -no not a monster, not Touya- Izuku never felt smaller and weaker.

He'd hoped that Kacchan let go of his anger from their childhood, that he'd held no grudge against him over the years. Now, it was evident that this was not the case.

Kacchan didn't just dislike him.

He hated him.

And it was just another stab into the already gaping, infected wound in Izuku's heart, left there by the courtesy of his father.

"...why are you so angry?"

His question comes out more tired and dead than he'd even expected.

The bluntness seemed to catch Kacchan off guard, if the slight widening of those almond shaped eyes and clenched jaw was anything to go by. The blond adjust his grip on his backpack, hand pulled tight on the strap.

"Like that's any of your fucking business, nerd." He grits out, like even talking to Izuku was painful and that has his shoulders slumping. "I don't want to deal with you -the fact we are in the same goddamn class is annoying enough."

"Kacchan…"

"-don't fucking look at me and I won't make you regret it, got it rich boy?" Kacchan steamrolls over the weak call of that old nickname, unaffected. "Because you should watch it, Deku. I'm not going to let you get the best of me just because your daddy is in the top five."

Izuku can't bear to look at Kacchan anymore. It's painful. He looks down at his shoes, swallowing.

He'd never felt smaller.

"I understand."

He hears Kacchan move in front of him. Izuku slowly flicks his eyes up, only to find that his old childhood friend had turned his back to him. A single, baleful red eye stares over the blond's shoulder, peering at him like he's dirt at the bottom of its owner's shoe.

"I won't let you win, you hear me?" Kacchan throws his way, conviction so strong that it left Izuku feeling faintly nauseous. "Just watch me. Fuck you and that Quirk of yours, I'm going to become the Number One Hero."

Izuku falters.

Kacchan seems satisfied with the look on his face, for he turns around and walks away, victorious, leaving him standing in the middle of the main entrance of Yuuei. Even if he wanted to try Izuku could not move, feet rooted to the ground.

There's a feeling in his throat, like he can't breathe.

Like that old, familiar noose was finally tightening up again.

Why did it always come back to that?

Yeah, that was rough.

I had many ways of writing this shit out, but I think this makes a great start for Katsuki and Izuku's reunion.

r/sarcasm

Izuku's not really catching a break, not even this early into the semester.

Also let me be clear about one thing -there will be NO bakudeku as long as Katsuki is being a idiotic angry shit. Abusive relationships is not my style and while Katsuki is normally a somewhat sane person, there's a huge glaring spot in canon and here when it comes to Izuku. He holds a grudge better than an old man.

Sheesh.

Don't worry, he's going to get the Endeavor treatment. Aka, a few punches in the face. Izuku is going to have a nice time de-stressing in a chapter or so.

Punching his ex-childhood friend in the face is best kinds of therapy.

For the test, I kinda mixed up some things while keeping some as in canon. I couldn't see Izuku taking anything other than first place due to the sheer versatility of his Quirk and honestly Kaminari is a better fit for dead last than for example Mineta, who can bounce off his Quirk to complete some of the obstacles. That doesn't mean that Izuku is overpowered though; while here he's pretty strong, there's a VERY big difference between tests and actual living opponents. Not to mention that as soon as he starts running out of fuel -which he as to keep careful track- he's essentially fucked. His costume will only help a bit with that.

And given Izuku's planet sized guilt complex, well, going up against a human and having to use his Quirk on them is gonna go swell. That trauma is totally not gonna bite him in the ass when he needs to use it most.

Once again, 10/10 Aizawa is one of my favs to write even tho I dont have quite as much of handle on him than Endeavor or Toshi. Just love the fact that in this fic he actually is interested in Izuku and sees him as someone with potential. Meanwhile in canon Aizawa would rather deal with the USJ Nomu than have to work with the problem child and the gremlin.

Next Chapter:

Tall with glasses and round face make their entrance. Izuku's kind of confused and lost but he thinks things might be okay in the end.