Bones

Shoes on, side bag slipped over a shoulder, tie tucked under his uniform, and two tight hair ties snapped against his wrists. Nagisa nodded, rolling his sleeves up out of habit.

"I'm heading out, Dad!"

"Ah, wait a moment, wait a moment! Nagi-" The boy turned his head back with a raised brow as his snake-haired father scrambled toward him, and his hand held onto Nagisa's shoulder, turning him around completely. A small, sad but overwhelmingly proud smile fell on Dad's lips. A deep breath and Nagisa was pulled into a tight embraced. "I'm so proud of you. You know that?"

Nagisa's throat suddenly twisted closed tight while his eyes grew wide then narrowed when it started to burn. Not trusting his voice to answer steadily, the boy nodded against his dad's chest.

"I'm so sorry for leaving before," Dad whispered, lowering his head and his snake heads began to nuzzle against Nagisa's soothingly. "I- you're… you're going to be a great hero, Nagi."

Nagisa felt his bottom lip wobble and he shoved the forming rock in his throat down. Another nod. "I…" he started, voice already breaking before he swallowed again and took a shaky breath to continue, "Th- Thanks, Dad. I… I never blamed you, you know… I…"

A moment passed before they finally broke away, sky blues meeting cloudy greys.

"Love you, sport."

"I love you too, Dad."

Dad's hand ruffled into powder blue locks. "Now go be a hero."

---

Nagisa sat quietly on the train with his side bag on his lap. Earbuds were popped in his ears playing an energetic beat someone would probably play at a party. His snakes couldn't hear the music but they could feel the uppity vibrations judging by how they both swayed and bobbed their heads to the beat. Nagisa smiled softly at them, about to turn his eyes down to continue his dashboard scrolling before he made a double-take up when a familiar mop of green hair caught his attention.

Sky blues lit up and instantly Nagisa stood from his seat, unplugged his earbuds, and shuffled through the morning train goers toward the boy holding onto the hang rail overhead. An outstretched hand poked the other boy's back, and he nearly snapped his back straightening up with a yelp.

Nagisa blinked, smiling, "Izukun, it's just me. Hey!"

Wide emerald eyes finally turned at the name, and no amount of sunlight could outshine the smile on the Midoriya's face. "N-Nagisa!" They hugged then, both overwhelmingly delighted in reuniting before releasing each other from the almost bone-crushing embrace (when did Izuku get so strong??). "I-I didn't know you moved n-nearby. (Hi, Ko! Hi, Roka!)" He gave a small wave to the snakes.

"Ah, it must've slipped my mind," Nagisa replied, one hand moving behind his neck while the other held onto the hang rail. It was a half-lie (how does anyone forget to tell their friends they're moving?); he kind of wanted it to be a sort-of surprise for the green-haired boy should he make it to UA (which Nagisa had no doubts about). The other half was because he didn't want to get into the "why" though he could easily say it was to be closer to school, but he couldn't lie to Izuku—the boy made actions like that feel like a guilt trip to the abyss. Blinking at his friend with a smile, Nagisa decided to shift the conversation around, taking note of Izuku's uniform. "I knew you'd make it into UA. What class do you have?"

"Oh! Uh, it's-it's class 1-A. H-Heroics!" Izuku beamed like the sun, raising a 'peace' sign and sticking his tongue out in glee.

Nagisa's eyes widened, as did his smile and he nudged Izuku's elbow. "Holy crap! Congrats! I knew you'd make it. Ah- Oh, hey, that's the class I'm in too!" His brows raised at the realization, and by gosh, Izuku's sunshine expression could not get brighter than it was already—Nagisa swore it could blind a man. 

"Really?! That's a-aw.. uh- That's really g-great!" Izuku bounced on the soles of his feet a bit. His smile softened just a tad while his posture relaxed. "I-I'm relieved. I was afraid I was g- I was going to go in a-alone, hehe…"

Nagisa smiled endearingly at him then nodded, "Me too, honestly. Oh! Karma texted me, by the way. 'Said he's gonna wait for us at the train station with Rio."

Izuku hummed affirmatively as he gave a nod. He opened his mouth to respond but Nagisa saw his eyes twitch up twice, as if to double-take. Raising a brow, the snake-haired boy turned his head to see what could be distracting Izuku—which it turned out to be a blond, spiky haired boy whose intense red eyes were trained so angrily on his phone, it made Nagisa vaguely wonder who would send the dude anon hate at 7:25 in the morning and with what context to warrant that extremely constipated expression.

What. He shook the very strange thought away.

"Do you know him?" Nagisa muttered to his friend, who shook his head with his eyes still focused on the edgy mystery boy.

"I-I uh, I really d...don't know," he answered, never taking his eyes off him. "He, uh, he was at the, um, the-the exam the other day. He s-seemed familiar..."

"Huh," Nagisa's eyes lingered on the boy a moment more, taking note of his uniform. "He's going to UA too. I wonder what department he's in."

Izuku nodded, finally tearing his gaze off the mystery boy. "Me too."

A moment passed by with a comfortable silence between them, the only sounds being the awkward, low chatter of the train riders and the rumbling thump-thump from the train tracks below them.

Izuku twitched nervously now and then, rolling his shoulders and rubbing his free hand on his uniform or sleep while the other seemed to try to attempt twisting the silver bar it held. Then he suddenly perked up with a soft, "oh!", surprising Nagisa as he stated his realization: "I-I forgot to tell- to tell you! I only broke my arm and- and a leg during th-the exam this time!"

A moment of Nagisa staring at the green-haired boy in complete astonishment.

"...Wait, ' only '??!?"

---

"Oh, hey, it's Izukun! Heeeey! Izukun! Nagisa! Over here!"

The two boys lifted  their heads at the sound of their names, quickly spotting the waving hand of their friend Nakamura Rio, standing beside a smug yet bored-looking Akabane Karma. The boys wasted no time jogging to reach the two waiting for them by the stairs leading to the road. Neither could wipe their expressions of complete excitement as they stopped by their friends, exchanging quick side hugs with each other as bubbly greetings were exchanged.

"I can't believe you made it!" charmed Rio as she clapped her hands, nudging the eager Izuku. "Nagisa told us you weren't gonna use your recommendation to get in, so we were worried we wouldn't see you in today—well, not to mean we didn't have faith in you, it's just—"

"You're about as timid as a butterfly," Karma chimed in with a smirk, hands raising from his pockets to hang around Izuku's shoulder and pulling him close. His voice was light with teasing. "Seriously, our little Izukun taking on those menacing robots? We thought you'd die!"

"Good thing our Izukun's tougher than steel!" Rio attached herself to the short boy's other side and pinched his cheek, prompting a tiny whine from him.

Izuku's smile never wavered, but it did morph into something like exasperation at their comments, obviously not bothered too much by them. Having spent a year being coddled by the two yet sharpened like a knife by training, it was kind of relieving to see Izuku appear more confident than how he had been at the start of the year.

The three exchanged eager conversation over their pride that is Midoriya Izuku as they all walked toward school (though any outsider listening in would take it as borderline bullying but thankfully no one intervened), while Nagisa took a moment to study the jittery boy in question.

He looked tired, Nagisa thought, noting the dark edges under the boy's eyes, pronounced by his slightly paler skin and unkempt curls, and there's only one guess as to why that'd be—they've all been suffering after graduating from Kunugigaoka, even Karma, and Nagisa knew Izuku was strong but the boy took everything at 100%, full force. There was no doubt in his mind that Izuku didn't feel just as guilty, if not more, than Nagisa did about the whole Korosensei thing. It saddened his heart to think about it, and he didn't know how to bring it up. The best he could be is supportive of his friends, he supposed.

Still, Izuku seemed delightfully chipper, despite the fact that he looked like a squirrel attacked his face and then proceeded to pour about five cups of caffeine down his throat after forcing him to watch some really traumatizing horror movies.

Nagisa squinted at the thought. That was oddly specific. Maybe he should have went to bed at 10 instead of 1 in the morning. The hypocrite. Pfft.

He then realized he had stopped on the sidewalk to be perplexed at himself, but thankfully he wasn't too far behind that the others would stop and notice, so the ex-assassin silently jogged up to match their pace again. Be more careful—

They stopped at the gates of UA.

A sense of awe took them all simultaneously, and Nagisa noticed Izuku's eyelashes started to shine with unshed tears, threatening to fall. The blue-haired teen turned his eyes up to the building before them, feeling his own lump form in his throat.

The building of UA is tall and looms over them menacingly, intimidating him. Suddenly Nagisa feels so small under it, like it will crush him for his sins over and over and over again, and he's all alone. He wonders if he's even cut out for this, for Heroism, and maybe he should have decided to be an assassin after all, because that's all he's good for right? Just ruining things, destroying things—these hands, these hands that slid an anti-sensei knife into his beloved Korosensei's chest that fateful night, covered in blood of someone so dear to him, does he really deserve this? He—

He froze as rough fingers slid between one of his hands and soft fingers snuggled between his other hand, both holding on tightly, supportively —Nagisa raised his wide, tear-stained eyes to see Karma on one side, looking ahead, and Rio on the other, smiling with determination. Izuku was on the other side of her, undoubtedly holding her hand as well. All their eyes were shining with emotion.

That's right—

He wasn't alone.

And Korosensei was with each one of class 3-E. He wanted his students to persevere and reach their dreams with conviction and determination and every ounce of confidence that was drilled so very lovingly into their very souls—he'd do this. He'd do it for Korosensei, who couldn't see them all graduate and go on to attend different schools with different dreams; who couldn't see his students grow up into respectable men and women in the world that was stacked against them; who couldn't offer a tentacle to lift them up or a kind word to encourage them or a silly face to cheer them up—

For Korosensei, he'd step forward.

With a deep breath, Nagisa took his first step toward his future.

---

"1-A, 1-A, I think it should be… oh."

The two stopped at a… a door that was possibly built with 7' tall men on stilts in mind. The plate above it read '1-A'.

Nagisa and Izuku exchanged perplexed glances with each other before Nagisa shrugged oddly and slid the door open—and almost instantly, they were whipped back by the chaos strung along by two excitable boys in the class.

"Please refrain from putting your legs on the desks! This is sacred school property, have you no respect?!"

"Who cares!? I'll put my legs wherever I freakin' please, Four-eyes!"

"'Four-eye'—excuse me!? Well, I-" the exasperated boy with the glasses let out a strained sigh. "Look, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Iida Tenya, I'm from Soumei Junior High School-"

" Soumei—? Well aren't you an elite, haah?! Where d'you get off, acting like the self-proclaimed school leader, huh?!"

"Excuseme—?! The nerve-?! And you want to be a hero?!"

"Oh hey look, your mystery boy's here," Nagisa muttered back to Izuku, who only went as far as to poke his head out the door, a timid look pursing his lips and furrowing his brows. So much for being sharpened like a knife… The dark-haired boy—Iida—spotted the two awkwardly lingering at the door, but Nagisa noted his eyes caught onto the twitching boy behind him.

"Hello, I'm Iida Tenya from Soumei—" oh, frick, he was talking to both of them, also why is he so fast—

"W-we over, um, overheard, uh… I-I'm M-Midoriya Izuku," Izuku shuffled next to Nagisa, hands pulling and rubbing at each other in an attempt to calm himself, it seemed. Nagisa could almost feel the nervousness radiating from his friend. "N-Nice to, um, to meet you…" Izuku's eyes glanced at Iida's extended hand, deflating at the realization that he was supposed to reciprocate the gesture… He did it anyway, though, and Nagisa smiled proudly at his attempt at better socializing, though he noticed his friend's eyes kept skipping to see the boy behind Iida.

"You must be the boy Izukun was telling me about. I'm Nagisa. It's nice to meet you, Iida." Nagisa took his hand in greeting with a nod. Iida raised a brow behind his glasses, and Nagisa's snakes raised to taste the confusion emitting from the taller boy.

"Just Nagisa? And—you are aware pets aren't allowed in school, are you not?" Ah, he meant Ko and Roka.

The boy merely chuckled at the other's question (was it a question??), shaking his head. "Oh, they're not pets. Well—um, they're apart of me, so—"

It seemed that realization literally snapped into the other boy, judging by the sudden and sharp inhale followed by an, "oh!" He began gesturing wildly, bowing deeply as he responded with, "My apologies! I jumped to conclusions too quickly, I hadn't realized they're part of your quirk! I should have known, those two seem to be species not typically allowed as regular house pets regardless."

Nagisa hummed with a nod. "Your right about that." He left out the part where Ko's venom is probably some of the deadliest of all snakes, since it had no known antidote, which made them particularly dangerous if they weren't as well trained as they were.

Iida's attention then shifted to the muttering Izuku, who snapped back into reality (and stature) with shut lips.

"I must apologize to you as well, Midoriya-kun. I completely misread you! You knew the true nature of the practical exam, didn't you? I was...blind to it—"

Nagisa swore they were both thinking this young man was...fairly dramatic, but they kept it to themselves in favor of listening to his heartfelt apology.

"—Those were actions of a true hero! I hate to admit it, but you were the better man!"

Izuku seemed to deflate into something rather sheepish and flustered, and he looked like he was trying to shrink and hide inside his uniform. "A-Ah, th-tha-thanks-"

The door slid open behind them, and a girlish gasp was heard, followed by—"Ah!! It's curly-hair kid!! You're in this class too? I'm so glad!"

"O-Oh, it- it's you!"

Nagisa raised his brow. Izuku was just making friends left and right, wasn't he? The snake-haired boy caught the intense and confused stare of the blond boy from before, boring into Izuku's back like he was trying to solve the world's most mysterious puzzle, unbeknownst that Izuku was previously trying to do the same as quietly as possible.

"I'm so glad you made it!! Yay, go you!!" the brunette squealed excitedly, waving her hand in the air. Izuku looked so red in the face, and he wrapped his head under his arms the same way he does when he can't handle his own embarrassment. Nagisa chuckled as the girl continued, "by the way, that punch was so crazy cool!! You pulverized it!"

As if Izuku's stuttering couldn't have been worse if he tried either, the boy let out a string of incomprehensible stammers, cutting himself off and tripping over himself uncontrollably all while looking as though his brain was straight-up short circuiting. Oh, man, Nagisa should really lend him a hand—the girl only let confusion cross her face for about a minute though, before excitement over took her, wondering aloud about the ceremony this , if the homeroom teacher that— surprisingly, Nagisa was rather impressed by how quickly the girl could so instantly disarm and activate Izuku's defensive self-destruct feature just by talking and being in close proximity to him.

Just as Nagisa opened his mouth to try and 'rescue' his overwhelmed friend, the ex-assassin spotted something yellow squirming behind the girl. Instantly, the boy's expression hardened into unrivaled, exasperated, and confused horror.

What...in the name...of frick is that…

"If you're here to make friends, go someplace else." Oh god, it had a face. And it spoke. And he thought Korosensei looked...odd… And a silence fell over the classroom.

It stood itself up, and Nagisa quickly realized it wasn't some strange, warped bug-thing of horror and was in fact a really exhausted-looking man in a sleeping bag, unzipping it to slip out like a- ...aaaand why did Nagisa's brain think the man was peeling off his skin like a banana…

Note to self: take a nap after school. Also go to bed early.

"It took you 8 seconds to quiet down. Life is short, kids, and you're all lacking in common sense." His eyes scanned the room as he spoke, and finally they fell on Nagisa and Izuku—he saw the man's eyes shift with a sense of recognition, and it twisted Nagisa's gut horribly, hands clenching over it nervously. He knows, he felt his blood guilt and paranoia that hasn't risen in months hiss, he knows and you're going to die today (okay, maybe that was exaggerated, but geez did he feel lightheaded all of a sudden—Izuku didn't look so hot either).

Nevertheless, the black haired man continued, "I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Pleased to meet you. Now head to the changing rooms and meet me at the P.E. grounds."

"WHAT??????"

 ---

Anxiety came off the two hero students in almost literal waves . A Quirk Apprehension Test? Izuku still didn't have that well of a handle on his quirk yet—he had rushed tutoring in Kunugigaoka, and though the amount of self-inflicted damage had gone down considerably since he first tried it way back in one of their assassination training lessons (and man, Nagisa still can't get the image of Korosensei seething with rage at All Might's recklessness when Izuku was practicing with him out of his head), there was still a strong degree of whiplash to using his power. His control over it was subpar at best, like befriending a wild horse—there's a bit of understanding and trust but it was still a wild animal and therefore unpredictable.

Nagisa remembered Izuku describing it like balancing an egg on a spoon in his mouth, about to be placed in an oven… He couldn't easily control the output level of strength yet—like balancing the egg—but when it was done successfully, it was a matter of keeping that output steady that really concerned him. Any slip up could pulverize his bones… Nagisa shuddered.

Meanwhile the snake-haired teen had not much to lean back on when it came to, not only his quirk, but everything else that traditionally "made a hero." He wasn't strong like All Might or Karasuma-sensei. He didn't have much combat skill either. As much as he hated to admit it, but he really was a pure assassin concerning his skills. A quick kill was what he was sharpened to hone in on. If he couldn't dish the strike, then he could stall until an opening was made available. Nagisa knew the basics of martial arts, he had 'stunning' down to an art, but other than that, he was a bit behind.

The bluehead's attention brought to the present when the mystery boy was called up as an example, and the boys learned his name was Bakugou—Izuku's arm and brow twitched, scrutinizing the blond while looking as if he was wracking his brain for memories of this boy. The freckled youth began muttering under his breath of the possibilities, wondering if he was from the same Junior High then ruling it out when he realized it couldn't have been possible; they would have known if someone as rowdy as him was a student (he'd probably be in Class 3-E if that were the case).

Nagisa nudged his arm, knocking him from his thoughts and he gave his friend a questioning look before offering him an amused grin.

"DIIIIIEEE!!!"

The pressure from the Bakugou boy's near-nuclear explosion throw almost knocked the light-weighted Nagisa off his feet, but Izuku held him by the elbow mindlessly, both of their eyes glued on the explosive blond. 705.2m. Damn.

Some boy behind them gasped and whispered, "So manly…"

Aizawa-sensei then explained the basis of the apprehension test, needing to know what everyone is capable of and so forth. It made sense. It would be dangerous working with students' quirks without knowing what they actually were and what drawbacks there could potentially be. Nagisa side eyed Izuku as the thought slid by, thinking the boy the perfect example of that statement.

Izuku shook a bit, his nerves shooting signals of PANIC throughout his whole body, but he did his best to stay calm. Nagisa was the same way, though his face was more stoic and well-controlled than the anxious freckled boy.

"Oh, and anyone who scores last will face immediate expulsion."

And that's when the real fear sank its fangs like blood-thirsty vampires.

"Oh my God, I am going t-to die," Izuku whispered, covering his face.

And so the trials began.

Grip strength wasn't as bad for Izuku as it was for Nagisa. The boy had virtually no real strength in muscle; he was built with a slender body (but he really wished he was more lean than that) and had more strength in technique and knocking off cheap punches and kicks than brutal strength. He clenched that strength assessment machine by the bar as tightly as possible but it only beeped once. It was kind of pathetic.

He glanced over to Izuku holding his own and looking sheepish as he did. Their eyes met and Nagisa tried his best to convey the feeling of you can do it! in his eyes, nodding with a smile. It seemed to work somewhat, judging by how his friend's expression brightened up slightly and he closed his eyes to focus. There was a buzz of green around his hand as he put his strength into gripping the machine. It beeped ferociously in his hand before the boy gasped and let the machine drop. Nagisa's heart got cold— oh no, did he break his hand?!

Hissing, Izuku cradled his fizzing hand against his chest as his blue-haired friend neared. "Are you okay, Izukun?!" Opening an eye, the freckled teen nodded with a determined grin and unveiled his—uninjured hand? Nagisa blinked in confusion. "Your hand didn't-?"

Izuku shook his head, his grin growing. "I-I cut it off right in- right before it c-could damage me," he explained, then his excited face grew into a grimace as he flexed his hand. "Hurts like h-heck though, gah…"

A subtle sigh of relief and Nagisa relaxed. "That's good. Just- be careful, okay?"

"I will."

"WHOA!!" They both turned to two of their classmates watching a rather tall and bulky classmate crunch on the machine. "540 kilos!! Are you a gorilla or something?! No, you're more of an octopus!!"

Izuku and Nagisa turned and walked away.

The other trials were almost a walk in the park, but it reminded the two of their training last year. With the training they had, both students were well adept for the tests, but they were still behind a few students. Izuku still refrained from using his quirk; afraid of breaking a bone, it seemed. They both nailed the Standing Jump trial. Nagisa still couldn't help but feel a bit salty. He hadn't been able to use his quirk yet. Is this all there was to this assessment? Just physical strength? What about quirks like- like the invisible student in the class? Like Nagisa's?

His snakes carried incurable venom and his emitter quirk was a fear-inducing paralysis quirk…. None of these trials fit him. He was doomed from the start. The realization sank in pretty quickly, and his shoulder hunched slightly in defeat. Useless. Nagisa was sure his lack of quirk usage was going to get him expelled. He couldn't believe his lack of strength just threw Korosensei's legacy out the window. Frustratingly, the boy closed his eyes and grimaced in disappointment. I'm sorry, Korosensei.

Something buzzed inside him, though. He glanced up and saw Aizawa-sensei eyeing him while Izuku took the field to throw a ball. Nagisa swallowed and his snakes lowered nervously, coiling like buns into his hair.

He knows.

---

Izuku looked pumped up where he stood, holding the ball and staring at it like it held his future, and it might as well did. It felt heavy in his hand.

Screw this up and you're done, he reminded himself. This whole exercise was tailored for quirks, yes, and he's barely passed without it so far—but he saw the look his Sensei's been giving him and Nagisa. He felt a mantra of, 'murderer murderder murderer murderer you'll never be a hero, you'll never be a hero' ring inside his head, stirring his stomach with the deepest pit of anxiety. Seriously, half-way through the exam, he thought he was going to throw up. Not to mention, he felt the burning eyes of Bakugou trying to either set him on fire or dissect him alive. He's sorry he kept staring after every glance he caught of the blond! He just- Izuku couldn't place his face and it infuriated him. He doesn't even remember a time he was this angry at his memory—because it's never been a problem for him!

He blinked the thoughts away when Aizawa-sensei sighed, "Any day now."

"Ah...R-Right."

A deep breath to chase away the butterflies. Okay, this is it. Just let a sliver of One for All out… Red lit up his arm as he reeled it back to throw. His muscles strained threateningly under the raw power and a sudden bolt of panic ran through him when he realized— oh crap, I let it slip too much- He released the ball-

It hit the ground ahead of him like nothing.

Izuku felt he was struck to his core— what?! But I was using it! I swear, I was, I-

He shot his gaze to their homeroom teacher, seemingly threatened and horror-struck. "Wh-What just happened?"

The man's eyes were lit red and his hair raised tall. "I erased your quirk." That's it. He answered that like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"E-erased it?! How…" And there it was—Izuku's shocked face when recognition washed over him. He looked torn between being genuinely upset, straight up astounded, and honored. "You- You're the erasing hero, 'Eraserhead'..."

A chorus of confusion and astonished excitement rang throughout the class at that.

"From what I've observed," his voice sent shivers down Izuku's spine, terror grabbing him from the back and trying to jostle him around. "You can't utilize your quirk's full power, meaning you can't use it efficiently at all without significant drawbacks. And you're aware of this. You're fully intending on going out into the field of pro heroes, intentionally using your quirk as an all-or-nothing tactic at the cost of a limb or two, aren't you? Are you expecting to be saved by another hero after using your quirk and crippling yourself? It doesn't work like that in the real world, Midoriya Izuku."

Aizawa-sensei drew closer, raising a finger to point to the boy. His face embodied rage.

"That's a sure-fire way of getting yourself killed."

Izuku and Nagisa tensed at the same time, and the air outside grew chillier.

Cold, emerald eyes locked with his teacher's, wide saucers piercing as if the man just murdered his mother in cold blood right in front of his face. A dark expression took over him and Aizawa raised a brow, still staring the boy down. Izuku's vision grew fuzzy but his insides felt oddly still despite the ice that was injected in his veins, the only buzzing coming from a deep-seated compulsion to scare and let what bloodlust he had left to seep out, show the teacher and his (innocent) classmates that: I've seen Death and he's an ugly son of a frick.

He remained motionless. Then he opened his mouth.

"I've survived this long," Izuku muttered just loud enough for the underground hero to hear. His voice was even and without trembling, though his clenched fists twitched at his sides. "With my wits and s-self-preservation skills, sacrificing a-and putting everything on the line just to be here. I'm not… I am not about to let a chance like this j-just slip away so pitifully." There was venom laced in his words.

Aizawa seemed impressed and he huffed, shutting his eyes and releasing his quirk. "It seems you just barely understand the severity of the issue. We'll see to that later. I've returned your quirk. You're free to try the ball pitch a second time." He said it like he planned on drilling the concept in his head later— should he escape expulsion.

Izuku never let the seriousness fade from his eyes as he nodded.

 ---

"Are you alright? You're awfully tense, kero."

A hand touched Nagisa's shoulder, jolting him back to reality. Alarmed, he turned to his right and saw the green-haired frog girl from before staring at him with wide, curious yet concerned eyes.

The snake-haired boy took a moment to swallow and release his clenched fists, forcing his shoulders to relax. He nodded wordlessly, offering a faint smile to the girl.

The girl didn't seem all too convinced, but she didn't push. Her eyes raised to the calmed reptiles in his hair, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Your snakes seemed awfully agitated for a moment there, kero."

"Ah, y-yeah, they get like that sometimes. It's nothing to be worried about, though."

She opened her mouth to respond when both their attention was drawn to Izuku who seemed deathly still, hand clutching the ball before he mumbled something then reared back to pitch the ball.

"SMASH!"

---

The ball was blasted into the air, almost as strong as Bakugou's.

Mother trucker—

Stubborn tears lined Izuku's emerald eyes and a strained, painful smile split his lips as he bit down, gripping his now-broken finger to his chest. The darkness that had once infiltrated the freckled teen's expression now gone without a trace, instead replaced with hard determination. "S...S-Sensei… I-I… I can still move."

Aizawa—seemed exhilarated at the boy's performance, his eyes wide with a piercing smile. "I see."

Izuku's eyes drifted away from Aizawa, scanning the crowd of student gaping. Nagisa's own smile felt like it would tear his cheeks if it grew any wider—sure, he hadn't gotten many points and was probably facing expulsion, but he couldn't stop the feeling of glee from filling him up. He meant it when he thought Izuku deserved it the most, this position of 'Hero' and he had no doubt he would be Number One. He met Izuku's gaze, pridefully nodding with a cheerful thumbs up. Then Izuku's eyes skipped away, catching scarlet rage in a blond boy. Like a snapping stick, the boy exploded.

"Okay, that's it. What the hell are you looking at , creep?!" Half the class flinched away as Bakugou erupted from the line, charging the injured boy whose eyes filled like full moons in alarm with explosions ringing off his hands. "Quit your starin', you weedhead! What's your problem?! You break your stupid finger and you— HRK?!" Cloth wrapped around the boy's face and chest, restraining him from touching Izuku. "What—erg, what the hell—?!"

"It's my special 'capture weapon', a steel wire alloy woven with carbon nanofibers. Quit making me use my Quirk so much, jeez. I've got dry eye, for Pete's Sake."

Izuku's expression lit up suddenly and his uninjured hand shot to cover his mouth as a small, "Oh my God," left him. Then he smiled, ignoring the pain that made his eyes twitch, and he drew closer to the restrained Bakugou. "You're Kacchan, aren't you?! Bakugou Katsuki!" The dumbfounded slap on the face the blond just showcased could have caused the green haired boy to laugh if he wasn't so elated at the moment. Bakugou was then released after he went slack in the capture weapon. "S-Sorry if I was l-looking too much. I-I just couldn't...figure out who you were, but now I-I know!"

"What the frick are you talking abou-"

"It's me! I-Izuku, remember? I was 'Deku!'" Izuku pointed at himself as he bobbed on the balls of his feet. "We were neighbors b-but then I moved. Y-Your mom still calls mine, like, once a week."

Then recognition fell on the explosive teen and he instantly relaxed (well, as much as he could anyway). "Holy crap, you're kidding. We thought you died."

Izuku gave an awkward bout of laughter. "Honestly, me- me t-too."

An exasperated sigh from their teacher interrupted the extremely strange reunion of lost friends. "Alright, reunion's over. Get back in line, both of you. It's time to start the last trial." The tired teacher turned toward the class, eyes trained suspiciously on Nagisa, as if he were dissecting him.

Izuku nodded with a swallow, separating from Bakugou to take his place between Nagisa and the brown haired girl from before, who asked if he was alright to which he merely nodded with a hum. He vaguely wondered if he could finish the exam with a broken finger.

"The next exam has nothing to do with your quirks," Aizawa explained after he put his eye drops away, his arms crossed over his chest. "I'll be pairing you together to assess your combat skills."

A boy with red hair behind them asked aloud, "Wait, are we still allowed to use our quirks?"

"Sometimes you won't have your quirks to lean on," the pro hero responded, eyes sharp. "Imagine if I were a villain and I erased your quirk. Then what? You have no combat experience, so you'd be vulnerable. I need to assess how much you know. I would like to evaluate you each individually, but we unfortunately don't have the luxury of time on our hands today, since it's only the first day, so you'll be pinned up against the student to your right, starting with Bakugou on the end. For example, Bakugou and Ashido will spar for two minutes or until one loses balance, and so on." He scanned the class to count and make sure there were an even twenty students. There were—then he stopped on Izuku. Ah, right. Broken finger.

"Midoriya, you won't be taking part. I'll assess you individually at a later date. For now, go to Recovery Girl's office." Aizawa pulled out a packet of teacher notes, scribbled his initials on the top page, then shoved it toward the injured boy, who hesitated.

"Um, uh- it's- I-I can still fight, Sensei!" he squeaked. "I've, um, I've fought with a broken hand b-before, s...s-so this is r- um, this is nothing, a-actually." He felt a stir of alarm and potential questions fill the students around him, making him shake a bit under the perplexing stares he received. His hands were twitching and fiddling with each other in front of him.

Aizawa seemed resigned, and he sighed, taking Izuku's unscathed hand and putting the teacher's note in it. "No," he firmly said, locking eyes with him then he leaned in. "Meet me after class with Shiota. Now go."

A sigh left him and he turned to meet Nagisa's wide, nervous eyes. The blue haired boy nodded then, defeated while Izuku left with hunched shoulders.

"Shiota, you'll spar with me today."

Anxiety crawled up his throat like spiders spreading around him and he forced himself to swallow, nodding. "Y-Yessir."

"Alright, get in your teams and come up starting with Bakugou and Ashido."

McFrick . Nagisa shifted under the curious gazes of the frog girl and infinity girl. I'm gonna freaking die.