13

5:06 PM, Friday(First Reset)

Ochako loved flying. 

Well, it wasn't technically flying, like say Hawks or Captain Celebrity, but it was close enough. By making herself weightless, Ochako could leap as far as she wanted and then straighten her body like an arrow to dart through the air at high speeds, her arms tight at her sides. It felt powerfully exhilarating to move like that, to glide way above the world below.

Of course, it'd taken months of hellish torture before she could even hover in place without violently vomiting up rainbows. Ugh. Her soft, green-eyed cinnamon roll turned into a harsh and unforgiving taskmaster when it came time to train quirks, unrelenting until she was completely at her limit. At this point, he knew when she was about to lose her lunch before she did!

But all that work had been worth it. Now, Ochako could speed around a cityscape with ease, using all the footholds around her- the green robots, the gray walls, the tall blank buildings- to bounce around like a pink ping-pong ball and slam every robot she passed into the concrete. 

She'd stopped counting her points a while ago, lost in the crashes and lasers and metal. It was just so fun to use Zero Gravity like this. 

Ochako finally stopped wrecking robots when the zero pointer arrived in all of its metal glory, recognizing the enemy from Izuku's memories. Actually watching the giant robot smash through buildings and roll towards her, the street crumbling under its massive tracks, was a very different experience from witnessing it in Izuku's calm mind.

Terrifyingly epic.

She sprinted away just as debris started to fall around her.

4:31 PM, Friday

A full, anxious week passed before the two of them finally got their exam results through the mail. They each received a small holographic disk in place of a normal letter because evidently, U.A was very, very rich.

Izuku carefully opened his first, a slight tremble in his hands, and it lit up to display a small, blue projection of All Might.

"Hello, Young Midoriya! And likely Young Uraraka!" Small Might grinned. "I'm in charge of delivering a bulk of the letters, you see! It's a little tiresome, but very satisfying. If this is what tea-"

"All Might." An exhausted voice called from off-screen. Izuku perked up next to her. "Just tell him what he got."

"-ah, of course! My apologies." The sound of crinkling paper. "Young Midoriya, you passed the written exam with flying colors and then on achieved an impressive score of 41 Villian Points on your practical exam- we were all very impressed with your strategy and skill! However, killing robots wasn't all there was to the practical."

What?

Small Might chuckled. "If breaking things was all we cared about, we wouldn't be very good heroes, would we? There was secretly a second points system in the practical- Hero Points! You got some of these bad boys if you saved other examinees out of goodwill, as you certainly did."

"And so, when we add in your 15 Hero Points, your total score is a formidable 56; more than enough to earn your spot into the hero course. Congratulations, Young Midoriya, and welcome to your Hero Academia!"

The recording clicked off, leaving the living room in silence.

"...I passed," Izuku realized belatedly. "I actually passed."

Ochako couldn't help but grin. "Yep. I told ya, didn't I?"

Izuku smiled back at her, tentative but warm. "You did."

Ochako ripped open her letter next, turning on the disk with her own mix of nerves. It was a miracle she didn't accidentally float the thing.

"Hello, Young Ochako! And likely Young Midoriya! You got a high score on the written exam and did absolutely incredible on the practical, Young Ochako, earning a stunning 62 Villian Points! That's already more than enough to win you a spot into U.A's hero course!"

"Holy shit," Ochako breathed.

"However, destroying robots wasn't all there was to this exam. We had a secret, second points system in the practical- Hero Points! You got some of these bad boys if you saved or helped other examinees out of goodwill, just like you did!"

"So when we add in your 20 Hero Points, your total score comes out to a full 82 Points. With that, Young Ochako, you've earned first place in the practical exam!"

" Holy shit! "

"Congratulations, Young Ochako, and welcome to your Hero Academia!"

Ochako looked over at Izuku, stunned, and his smile widened. She pulled him into a tight hug and he didn't resist, both of them feeling just as giddy. 

She called her parents a couple of minutes later, holding it so that she and Izuku were visible in the frame. 

"Oh, hello-"

"Mama, we got in!" Ochako yelled. "We got into U.A!"

Mama beamed instantly, full of pride. "That's amazing, honey! I know how much you both wanted this. Hold on, let me get your Dad over here..."

Papa poked his head in a few seconds later. "I knew it! I bet you showed them all who's boss, Ochako."

"Yeah, she definitely did," Izuku informed him happily. "Ochako got first place!"

"She got first? That's incredible! Hana, you hearing this?"

"Yep. Our daughter's really gotten strong, huh?"

Ochako waved her hands wildly, feeling a flush creep up her face. "Guys, I really didn't do that much-"

"She definitely has!" Izuku agreed easily. "She destroyed so many robots that she terrified the other students, and she saved a ton of people while she was at it. She wasn't even tired afterward!"

Papa laughed. "She's going to be such a great hero, isn't she? Haha, it seems like it was only yesterday that she was this absolutely adorable little girl seeing Thirteen on the TV for the first time. Where did all that time go?"

"Aww, I remember. That was so cute-"

" Guys! "

6:03 PM, Friday

Izuku gave her an amused glance. "Ochako, are you actually complaining about going out to buy mochi?"

"Of course not!" Ochako rushed to clarify. That'd be blasphemy! "I'm just saying that we still have plenty of stuff at home from last time. And this place is a bit expensive, isn't it?"

"A little, yeah," Izuku admitted. "But we're celebrating right now, aren't we?"

Ochako couldn't really argue with that.

They bought more than enough mochi for both of them before finding somewhere to sit and munch happily across from each other. They talked about what they hoped U.A would be, how great it felt to start to realize your dream, and debated who's mochi tasted better(it was Ochako's, obviously.) 

The mochi was simply heavenly, the sweet goodness filling Ochako up completely. It was absolute perfection. Every bite just made her want to buy more- an extremely dangerous thought for her wallet. If only she could perfectly immortalize this taste or something-

Wait a minute.

Ochako swallowed down a mouthful of mochi and leaned forward. "Izuku-kun!"

"Mm?"

When was the first time you devoured this delicious, divine dessert?"

Emerald eyes blinked twice. "Uh, around seven years ago. Why?"

"Can you show me the memory? Please?" 

Ochako realized what she was asking for too late. Memories were what Izuku treasured most; they were the purest part of him. Wasn't it super personal to-

"Sure." Izuku didn't even hesitate as he reached over to grab her hand. 

He sat on the living room couch, a half-full notebook sitting snug in his lap. A pencil dangled between his index and middle fingers as he thought of what to write next.

He was completely alone, his mom working late today. Again.

At eight, Izuku had a pretty good hold on Perfect Recall. And he really, really loved having a quirk like this.

But at the same time, it was clearly doing something to his mind. 

Izuku was constantly being drawn towards his eight years of memories, to experience and travel through them instead of existing in his present. No time passed when he was in a memory, he knew, but being stuck in memories forever would probably be very bad. 

But today, the house was eerily silent without his mom's warm voice and presence, and there wasn't anything to anchor Izuku to this lonely couch, to this moment. He was in danger of losing his footing and slipping away into his mind.

Hence, his desperate quirk analysis. Izuku really liked using 'hence.' It made him feel very smart to use, even if it was just in his thoughts.

Izuku was halfway through another page on Hawks's Fierce Wings when finally, there was a knock on the door. Yes! He bounded over as fast as his small legs could take him, peeking through the peephole before he swung the door open.

"Mom!"

Inko flashed him a tired smile, a plastic bag clutched in her left hand. "Hello, Izuku. I'm sorry for being late."

"No, it's fine. I know your pretty busy, and stuff..."

"I'm very sorry for the wait. I did get something for you, though"

Izuku blinked owlishly. "A present?"

"Something like that! Give me a minute."

Soon, there was a plate laid out on the table in front of him. He looked on curiously as several small objects piled up on it- some kind of sweet, maybe?

"What's that, Mom?"

"It's called mochi, Izuku! Try some."

They did look very tasty. Izuku picked one up and took a bite.

His eyes widened as a sense of bliss warmed his mouth and continued through his entire body. He took another bite, then another, his mind instantly memorizing the taste and ranking this precious sensation just under katsudon.

Delicious.

"It's soooo good!" Izuku exclaimed, his mouth full.

Inko smiled. "It is, isn't it? I almost forgot what mochi tasted like, it's been so long since they've sold good mochi in this area."

"It's almost better than katsudon, Mom! Why don't we just have this every night?"

"My, my, that's very high praise. Though every night's a bit much- maybe every once in a while? As a special kinda thing?"

"Yeah!"

Reality suddenly slammed back into her, the memory's taste slipping just out of her grasp. Something wet slid down Ochako's cheek.

Whoa.

"Ochako?" Izuku asked, concerned. "Are you okay? Was that too much?"

She blinked, lifting a hand to her face to find tears. Huh. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just the memory mochi, y'know- I didn't think that'd work so well ."

Experiencing something for the first time again was a truly wonderful feeling.

She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, looking up to see him still watching her. Ochako smiled back.

"Your quirk really is beautiful, Izuku-kun. If you don't mind, you should really show me more memories, sometime. Y'know, outside of Prophet stuff." 

A bit of red entered his cheeks, one hand reaching up to scratch at his green hair. "Maybe. My life before I met you really isn't too interesting, though."

His other hand was still holding hers, the two clasped together at the center of the table.

"I doubt that," Ochako told him honestly. "And it doesn't have to be something major- I just love experiencing the way you see things."

His hand was a bit bigger than hers when she lined them up, and he didn't have little pads along his fingertips as she did. His fingers were also thinner and more dexterous, probably because of all of the writing and drawing he did. 

But his callouses matched hers, and when she interlocked their fingers like this their hands fit together perfectly. 

Izuku hummed, not moving his hand away. "But that's not completely fair, is it? I mean, I can't see any of your memories."

"That's true," Ochako admitted. "What if I traded you stories in exchange, then? They might not be as good as actual memories, but I think I'm pretty decent at storytelling."

"Really?"

"Mhm. It's a little embarrassing, though, so I haven't told one in a while. But uh, yeah."

"Sure, then." Izuku smiled softly. "I think I'd like that a lot."

7:46 AM, Monday

"You know, we're pretty lucky that we both ended up in 1-A," Izuku said thoughtfully. 

Ochako blinked. Oh, she hadn't even considered that. 

 "Your right- what would we even have done if they put us into different classes?" 

"Reset and have Yagi convince the rest of the staff," Izuku stated simply. "But if they had an actual reason to separate us, well, we'd pretty much stuck."

They were both clad in their new U.A uniforms. Ochako's consisted of a gray dress jacket that she was forced to wear a tie with and a dark-green skirt. She didn't like the gray- terribly drab for a school uniform, really- and she definitely didn't like the tie; ties just weren't her thing.

But the skirt was very pretty, though, and the whole uniform was quite comfortable. She wouldn't even mind fighting in this.

Izuku's was mostly the same but with pants. He was also wearing his classic red sneakers instead of the provided U.A shoes because the dork absolutely loved that pair. 

They navigated through the maze of halls easily- Izuku had the school's layout memorized- and soon, they were in front of their new classroom. 1-A's door was ridiculously tall, so much so that if she stacked three whole Izukus she'd only barely reach the top. 

Only five other students were already inside. A tall, elegant dark-haired girl was talking quietly to a shorter girl with ear jacks for ears, both of them wearing small smiles. And near the front of the room, a tall guy with glasses seemed to be lecturing a redhead with spiky hair and a pink girl with horns. And by that Ochako meant that she was completely colored pink, including her skin color and cotton-candy hair. Mutations could be so cool sometimes.

Ochako curiously wandered over to the second group, knowing that Izuku was following behind her. 

"-and that is why you cannot take off your tie," The glasses guy was scolding, his hands chopping through the air as he talked. "It is against the dress standard of this prestigious institution, and by doing so you fail to represent this school's honor and history!"

The redhead's eyes were wide, his hands raised high in surrender and his tie firmly in place.

But the pink girl only pouted at the speech, her hands still fiddling with her uniform. "C'mon, man! The tie they gave us is this terrible red that doesn't go with my face at all!"

"Be that as it may, as a fellow classmate I still cannot allow you to do this-"

"What if I dye it a different color, then?"

He sputtered at that, absolutely horrified. 

"Bad idea," Ochako interjected, cutting the guy some slack. "I mean, I passed a lot of other students and upperclassmen on the way here and they were all wearing perfect ties. You don't want to look out of place at orientation, do you?"

The pink girl blinked, exposing black scleras. "That's a good point! I'll ask Sensei when he shows up then, see what he says. Thanks, uh-"

Ochako smiled. "Uraraka Ochako. And the guy behind me's Midoriya Izuku."

Izuku nodded politely. After so long, it was almost odd to refer to him with his surname. 

"Nice to meet you, Uraraka-chan, Midoriya-kun!" The pink girl responded cheerfully. "I'm Ashido Mina."

The glasses guy actually bowed. "I apologize for my late introduction and extended lecture on rules! My name is Iida Tenya, and I look forward to learning with you all."

The redhead waved the apology away. "Don't worry about it, man- caring about the rules is pretty manly! Oh yeah, I'm Kirishima Eijirou by the way."

"Iida?" Izuku repeated. "Like the Iida family that's been in heroics for generations? Your Ingenium's brother!"

Iida straightened up with pride. "Correct. My brother is a truly excellent hero, and I hope to one day follow in his footsteps!"

That explained why he was so formal- he was totally a rich kid!

"Speaking of heroes, who do you guys think our homeroom teacher's gonna be?" Ashido asked. "I heard that everyone on U.A's staff is a pro-hero."

"It's probably gonna be someone high up in the rankings, right?" Kirishima said. "Like alumni or something. U.A's a pretty big deal."

"Like someone in the top ten, maybe! That'd be so cool!"

Iida's eyes gleamed. "I would be honored to learn from such an experienced individual."

Ochako didn't think it'd be someone in the top ten- excluding All Might's special circumstances, all of them were probably busy. But a school that constantly pumped out high-ranking heroes and had a budget bigger than Ochako's total lifetime earnings would no doubt get someone super professional and skilled. A well-known and respectable hero, right?

Wrong.

Once as all twenty students were present, 1-A's homeroom teacher slid through the doorway in a fucking yellow sleeping bag. 

The hell?

It was like watching a huge, ugly caterpillar slowly crawl across the floor, and the worst part was that he still managed to be so stealthy that only a handful of students saw him.

The caterpillar stood up when he got to the podium, unzipping his bag to reveal a scruffy, black-haired man with the biggest eyebags Ochako had ever seen. His dark clothes and scarf only barely looked like a hero costume.

Half the class startled when they finally noticed him, the classroom's conversations fading into surprise.

"It took you all almost seven seconds to quiet down." Their new teacher huffed. "How inefficient- we're going to have to work on that. My name is Aizawa, and I'm the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A."

Aizawa was nothing like what they expected. He sounded and looked unkempt and completely exhausted as if he wanted to be asleep somewhere instead of teaching a class. If he really was a hero, no one was going to recognize who he was.

No one, that is, except-

"You're Eraserhead!" Izuku blurted out in excitement. "One of the most skilled underground heroes in Japan!"

Ochako blinked, gradually seeing the resemblance herself. The rest of the class just looked confused.

"That's right," Aizawa raised an eyebrow, a slight hint of surprise in his expression. "Haven't been recognized in a while." 

Izuku practically beamed.

"Anyway, we're not going to be wasting any more time. So all of you, get changed into your gym uniforms and meet me out on the field. You have ten minutes."

"But Aizawa-sensei, what about orienta-"

Aizawa was already walking out the door.

The class stared for a second, dumbfounded, before frantically scrambling after him. He didn't even tell them where the locker rooms were!

After a hectic few minutes, twenty students dressed in iconic blue stood in front of their homeroom teacher.

Izuku was next to her, his emerald eyes sweeping over their new classmates. Ochako could recognize Bakugou a couple of meters away, a scowl fixed on his very punchable-looking face. There was various exercise equipment strewn about the area, like grip devices and sandboxes. 

"8 minutes," Aizawa stated flatly. "Within expectation, but I definitely expect improvement."

The exhausted, messy man they had met back in the classroom had suddenly transformed into a stern, unyielding instructor. He seemed even stricter than Tanaka, and that was really saying something. 

"Instead of attending your U.A Orientation, we will undergo a Quirk Apprehension Exam in order to properly assess your current limits. Uraraka, you were first in the practical exam, right?"

Ochako straightened at her name. "Yeah?"

"Stand in that white circle over there." Aizawa handed her a small ball. "How far was your furthest throw in middle school?"

Ehhh?! How was she supposed to remember that- no one cared about those tests! Ochako shot Izuku a pleading glance. 

62.4 . Her savior mouthed.

Thanks!

Ochako looked back at Aizawa. "62.4 meters."

Aizawa didn't mention their exchange. "Alright. Now, try it with your quirk." 

Well, alright then.

Zero Gravity was practically made for this test. Ochako threw the ball with all of her might, activating her quirk at the last possible moment. The projectile glowed pink as it flew off into the sky, higher and higher until the dot was completely out of sight. 

When Aizawa held up his gauge to display a blinking infinity, Ochako couldn't help but smile.

"Whoa!"

"...Did she just launch it into space?! "

"Testing you without your quirks would be simply illogical," Aizawa continued. "So instead, to accurately assess your potential you will all be competing against each other in eight physical exercises. You're allowed full use of your quirk."

"You mean we really get to go all out with our quirks?" The guy with weirdly shaped elbows repeated. "Awesome."

"Alright, now we're talking!" A blonde yelled, a lightning bolt running through his hair. "So this is what U.A's like."

"This is going to be so fun!" Ashido exclaimed.

"Yeah-"

"Fun, huh?" Aizawa's voice sliced through the noise, low and harsh. "This isn't some game. All of you are going to be full-fledged pro heroes in three years, with all the hardship that entails. If this test isn't serious enough for you, then maybe I need to add some real stakes."

His grin turned almost malicious. 

"How about this? Whoever gets last place on the Quirk Apprehension will be instantly expelled from U.A High School."

Chaos.

"What?! I can't be expelled!"

"C-Can he even do that?"

"There's no way he's allowed to-"

"But I am," Aizawa stated simply. "With its prestigious status, U.A High School and its teachers are given a lot more freedom in their methods. So if you're lacking in potential, I have the ability to kick you out right here."

Could their homeroom teacher really expel one of them, just like that? Even after they put in all of that effort and passed the entrance exam? It didn't make sense.

Ochako met Aizawa's gaze, determined. But she could tell that the hero was 100% serious. And either way, there was no way in hell she was letting herself get last place.

And so 1-A competed in Aizawa's tests, all of them filled with varying amounts of panic and resolve. Well, except Bakugou- who was always full of rage- and that scarred guy, who just seemed completely indifferent. 

It was cool to see how everyone used their quirks to their advantage, some more creatively than others. Some students excelled at particular tests- Ochako herself got the highest score on the ball throw, and then later aced the standing long jump by floating across the sandbox. Iida won the 50-meter dash, naturally, and the tall masked guy with multiple arms utterly crushed the grip strength test. Ashido did best on the flexibility exercises, claiming that she was a dancer. 

The short boy with purple balls for hair got the most side jumps by rapidly bouncing across the line with his quirk. His physical condition was absolutely terrible, though, and he was getting super low scores on all the other tests. 

And Ochako really hated the way he was staring at her and the rest of the girls- it made her feel uncomfortable, like needles were stabbing into her back. Class 1-A only had six girls, so it was super obvious too. The tall, dark-haired girl already looked like she wanted to be far away from him. 

Ochako didn't want to even know what he was saying.

The mentioned dark-haired girl(wow, Ochako really needed to learn everyone's names!) easily had the most total points so far1, her quirk's sheer versatility giving her an edge on practically every exercise. She could create anything; making the object she needed pop right out of her skin; a metal clamp for the grip test, a bike for the endurance run, a literal cannon for the ball throw. 

Ochako could almost feel how badly Izuku wanted to analyze that quirk- the only reason he wasn't already muttering was that he was entirely focused he was on not getting last place himself. This test was a lot tougher for him than it was for her, after all.

But Izuku was doing super well nonetheless. His score was currently somewhere near the middle through his sheer physical prowess, just below that guy with a tail. He was almost as flexible as Ashido, he could kick a ball at the perfect angle to get it further than that frog girl, and he was second only to the dark-haired girl on the endurance run(and that was because she was driving an actual motorbike!)

The exercises finally ended with the endurance run, and Aizawa pulled up their complied scores. 

1st Place: Momo Yaoyorozu.

2nd Place: Shouto Todoroki.

3rd Place: Katsuki Bakugou.

4th Place: Tenya Iida.

5th Place: Fumikage Tokoyami.

6th Place: Mezo Shoji. 

7th Place: Ochako Uraraka.

Oh, there she was. Seventh place wasn't bad, especially considering that this was a physical test and the guy in front of her was huge and had like eight arms. Her eyes slid down further until she found Izuku's name. 

10th Place: Izuku Midoriya.

And beating half the class with a memory quirk was even more impressive.

Someone did have to come in last, though, and face Aizawa's wrath. Ochako glanced at the last name on the list. 

20th Place: Minoru Mineta.

The short boy with balls for hair was practically trembling in place, gaping at his name with wide eyes. Ah.

Ochako felt kinda bad for him- being expelled really sucked- but she also couldn't deny the pure relief she felt knowing that he wouldn't be in their class. 

Yikes. 

Aizawa's voice brought them to attention. "Actually, the expulsion was simply a logical ruse. No one will be expelled from U.A High School today."

Ochako blinked. 

"It was a lie?!" Ashido breathed out a sigh. "Wow, you totally got me there, man."

"He was motivating us to do her best, and none of us even noticed." The tailed boy realized.

The dark-haired girl spoke, her head held high. "I did, actually. No hero school can simply punish or expel their students so easily, especially after such a long entrance process. It was simply an impossible thre-"

"Instead, Mineta Minoru will be immediately and permanently transferred into the General Education course." Aizawa continued mildly. 

Silence.

"Wha- you're really going to kick me out?" Mineta sputtered. "There's no way! You can't!"

"Why not?"

"I passed the hero exam!"

Aizawa nodded. "You defeated some mindless robots and just made the points cut, yes. You have decent strategy and planning skills. But that's not all that hero potential is, kid." He gestured back at the scoreboard. "Several of your classmates have quirks that are barely helpful or even completely useless for these physical exercises-" Izuku shifted next to her. "-while your Pop Off lets you shine in more than a few of them."

"Yet as a result of your lack of effort and training, you still managed to end up in last place and do worse than every single one of them."

Mineta's mouth opened, then closed. Damn.

"Moreover," Aizawa drawled on. "The way you treat your female classmates within only minutes of meeting them is a harassment case waiting to happen. That's simply not the kind of student anyone wants to turn into a professional hero- including me- so yes, I can easily justify your transfer to Gen Ed. Pack up your things and we'll discuss the details on that later." 

Aizawa turned back to them as a very dejected Mineta shuffled away. "And for the rest of you, class is dismissed. I'll see you all tomorrow- don't be late."

And with that he walked off, leaving the nineteen remaining students of 1-A in stunned silence. 

Did that really just happen?

Notes:

I don't want to bash too much in this fic, but wow I hate Mineta and really wanted him outta there.

Funnily enough, he does actually get 19th on the Quirk Apprehension test in canon. That's pretty terrible considering how Hagakure, Jirou, and Kaminari were at much more of a disadvantage there than he was quirk-wise. On that note, there is literally no way Izuku got 20th place in canon when he gets a huge score on the ball throw and is definitely more buff than Kaminari, Mineta, Jirou, and Hagakure. There's the broken finger, sure, but Izuku clearly doesn't give a fuck about injuries or pain lmao.

I'm going to start writing more chapters from Ochako's perspective cause it's a pretty fun challenge for me, and also makes them feel more like a duo. Ochako is just really fun in general, which is why I wanted to write a little bit of her entrance exam too.

Izuku's placing a whopping 10th with only Perfect Recall seems generous until you look at everyone below him. Koji is Koji, Sato doesn't have his quirk so he's just a decently buff guy, Asui's mutation would only really help her in the Long Jump and a slightly in the ball throw(tongue or kicks). Aoyama is uh, Aoyama. I could go on, but you get the point. An Izuku who started his ridiculous training way before canon is probably more physically fit than a ton of them. If I missed anything, though, please tell me.