"Uraraka-san! Wait for me!" I called, running to catch up with her. I noticed engine-man was walking with her.

"Oh, (L/N)-chan! This is Iida Tenya, you didn't meet him yet, since he took the entrance exam with Deku and me." I turned to the taller male and stuck out my hand.

"I'm (L/N), (Y/N). It's a pleasure to meet you, Iida-kun." He smiled and shook my hand.

"It's nice to meet you as well, (L/N)-san," he said as he bowed a bit. He straightened his back and let go of my hand, looking over my shoulder at Deku, who was talking to Uraraka. Once he cast his gaze back to me, Iida only smiled.

"Anything on your mind?" I asked, patting his arm. He sighed and averted his eyes to the ground.

"When I got accepted into the UA, I'd imagined the classes to be extremely hard, and competitive. I didn't think it was a place to be making friends. In all honesty, I didn't even think I would be able to be accepted." I laughed and cupped a hand up to my mouth.

"Is something funny?" Iida sounded offended, but curious.

"No, no, not at all, don't worry." I calmed down and bit my bottom lip, looking at my shoes.

"Can this be a secret between you and me for now? Others will know soon enough, but I want this is to be our little thing." Iida nodded, seemingly inclined to hear what I had to say.

"It's mostly impulsive that I want to get this off my chest, and I know I just met you, Iida-kun, but I want to be able to just talk. Like friends." He nodded.

"Of course." Taking a deep breath in, I looked at the ground while we walked, not being able to meet the bluenette's eyes.

"I was not expecting to get into the hero program. When I took the recommendations test, I was filled with uncertainty at seeing the people so much better than me, with so many different quirks, and so much potential.

"And even so, today I felt I was last, despite my markings on the scoreboard. When Aizawa-sensei looked at me, I felt that he knew. Despite my place on that board, I was first on the list to be expelled." Iida gaped at my monologue.

"What? But you got fifth place, without even using your quirk. You passed into the UA through recommendations. It's not possible that you'd get expelled." I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

"He was looking for potential for anyone to be a hero. Despite it you're good or not, it depends what potential you have. Everyone, including Midoriya, had that special thing. I don't. I knew that Aizawa had expelled last year's class all together, and not failing one of us, that's not a trick."

"But why would he want to expel you?" I looked at Iida straight in the eye, furrowing my eyebrows and pressing my lips into a thin line.

"Because I just... don't have a quirk."

__

"Did you know All Might's teaching this class?" Uraraka squealed, her hero costume already on as we walked down the dirt path. "It's going to be so exciting! The real 'Symbol of Peace' teaching us." I nodded and smiled, continuing to strap on loose buckles on my costume while moving. I suddenly realized something, and turned urgently to look at Tsuyu.

"There's an odd number of people in class. What if I get singled out? What will I do?" I panicked, almost ripping the cloth.

"If you do, I still think you'd win. You're pretty powerful, (L/N)-chan," she croaked, adjusting her googles. I made a worried face and finished strapping my costume.

"Okay, okay. Let's head out."

__

"Combat Training!" All Might announced, spreading his arms out. "One team will play the hero, and one will play the villain. The heroes' goal is the retrieve a bomb hidden in that building." He pointed at a gray monument that looked like a giant brick.

"The villains' objective is to protect that bomb. You will be timed, with no time to strategize, and if the hero team so much as touches the nuclear core, they win. But if time runs out and the heroes cannot reach it, the villain team wins. Understand?"

"Yes sir!"

"There will be 11 teams. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K- Oh. We seem to have an odd number of people in the class." I could see the awkwardness and nervousness on the pro-hero's face as he murmured to himself. I raised my hand and sucked a breath in. This is what it takes to be a hero. Facing your fears. All Might brightened up and pointed to me.

"Ah, Young (L/N)! What is it?" he exclaimed, smiling as always. I put down my hand and gulped.

"If it could be possible, I would like to go alone, since there are 21 people." The class turned to me in surprise.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"It's not fair, otherwise!"

"You're going to get creamed!" All Might quieted them down.

"Listen to what Young (L/N) has to say about their decision." I smiled and silently thanked him, and began talking.

"Being a hero isn't easy. It takes a lot of training, hard work, and a good attitude in order to pass into the final stage of becoming one. Fighting against villains isn't fair either. In order for you to gain the upper hand in combat, you must practice unfairly. There are times where heroes have to fight one against hundreds. But you still see them succeeding. That's what I want to do. I don't want to call for help just because I wasn't strong enough to protect myself. A true hero can defeat anything that comes in between them and their goal."

"That's a good objective to see things. Well said, Young (L/N). But now we have to have another team go again." This time Bakugo raised his hand, smiling.

"I'd like to go again. For improvement purposes." I looked at Iida and rolled my eyes, honestly done with his teammate's attitude. The blue-haired male chuckled a bit at my expression, but quickly turned back to All Might and saluted.

"Hai!"

__

The round that came last was when I had to step into the ring, well more like building. Playing the role of the hero, I had to touch the weapon, which was almost impossible because of the defenses and offense the opposing team had.

But I just had to make do with what I got. Everyone else thinks that I have a quirk, except for Iida. He's the only one who knows my secret. Shit, this might be a disadvantage for me. But I don't think he'd tell Bakugo, right?

I cleared my head and crept into the base, hearing the timer start. It's like a game of cat and mouse, in this maze of walls. I can outsmart Bakugo, however I can't outrun Tenya. But I'll just have to come up with a plan on the run.

"Iida is most likely guarding the missile on the upper floor, due to the pattern I observed of the weapon being on the top. Bakugo is somewhere in these halls, and due to his heavy equipment, I can mostly likely hear him coming," I thought, peeking around a corner. "This will be quite a challenge, but hey, that's what I trained for." I ran towards the right and found a flight of stairs, going up. Perfect. I was about to open the door when I heard footsteps and metal clanking. That doesn't sound like Bakugo's feet. No.

It's Iida. Iida is playing the game of cat and mouse. This is bad, but that was a smart move, I'll give them that. However, it might be a fatal one. Bakugo is reckless and can control his explosions, but doesn't think about it very often. I might win by default if he damages the weapon. That's my best bet. But for now I need to hide.

I heard the door creak open and Iida coming down the hall. I dashed to a blind spot and watched carefully as he made his way down the hall, walking hastily. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued to quietly open the door and run up the stairs. I reached the top floor and cracked open the door. Bakugo was standing on my left, surveying the room, walking back and forth along the ground. I inched my way in, and shut the heavy metal door.

"Oi, engine-face, you done finding 'em?" Bakugo growled. "I'm getting bored up here. I want to come down and search for the weakling." Weakling?

"They're not weak. Don't underestimate them. If you leave your post to go and search for them, you don't know what might happen to the weapon. We have to protect it at all costs. Remember when we lost the first round?" Bakugo growled in response and clicked his tongue.

"Whatever metal-neck. If we lose this one, it's your fault for not letting me go and search for the damn hero." The intercom shut off and I sighed. Bakugo always manages to start an argument with someone. After a minute, the intercom came back on.

"I didn't find them yet. I'm going back up and switching positions with you, Bakugo." I brightened up and listened in. This was my chance. When exchanging positions, that's when both of their guards will be down. I'll then run the 10 meters from behind the pillar and touch the nuclear core. A few moments later after I thought, the door started to open. I dove even further behind the pillar, into the shadows as Iida passed by me.

Bakugo grumbled and started to walk towards him, hands balled up. They were meeting in the middle. This was my chance. Once they took a fifth step, I dashed out from behind the stone and reached my hand out to touch the metal, but a second before, I heard an explosion whirring up.

"You thought we couldn't see you, dumbass?" I sucked in a breath and cursed. My initial reaction was to keep going forwards, then I'd get hit, otherwise. But I remembered something. "You cannot cause damage to the weapon." I stopped, and jumped backwards. Bakugo didn't predict I'd move back, so he shot the nuclear core with his grenade bomb.

"Team K, the hero team, wins!" I gasped for air and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted, my heart beating rapidly, adrenaline rushing through my veins. I saw a gloved hand in front of my face. I looked up and saw it was Iida.

"That was a great round, (L/N)-san. I didn't think you'd make such a big risk. Congrats." I panted and grinned, giving him a thumbs up.

"I wasn't expecting you to come down those stairs either. That was a smart move, to have Bakugo guard the bomb and for you to chase me down." I smiled sheepishly and beamed at Iida.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" I asked, my smile faltering and my hand coming down. Iida chuckled and patted my shoulder.

"I'm a man of my words. I'd never tell anybody something someone wouldn't want anyone to know." I sighed in relief and patted the hand that was on my left shoulder.

"Thank you, Iida." We made our way back to the place just outside the tunnel where we gathered at the beginning of class.

"That was particularly well-executed, Young (L/N). Nice work," All Might commented, giving me a thumbs-up.

"Thank you, sir," I said quietly, a bit flustered. The pro hero turned to the group of teens, pointing to us.

"Can anyone tell me why both teams were impressive this round?" Momo raised her hand confidently.

"Y-Yes, Young Yaoyozoru?"

"Particularly (L/N) was the most impressive, considering they beat two trained students without having to use their quirk, and Bakugo and Iida-san were a better team this round.

"(L/N)'s skill to observe gave them the upper hand in combat, and their knowledge and prediction of moves let them win. Iida was very tactful, considering he came up with the plan that he scouted, while Bakugo stay put. It was a plan with flaws, but I could see how it could work against a less intelligent opponent.

"But the difference was that (L/N) grabbed the flaws by their reins and drove them into their advantage. That's what led to their victory."

"And Bakugo actually listened to someone for once," Sero butted in, giving the ash-blonde a Cheshire Cat grin.

"Shut up Scotch Tape nobody!" Bakugo yelled, explosions going off in his hands. All Might cleared his throat, looking at the two boys.

"Settle down. I'm sure all of you are tired. But Yaoyozoru's point is correct. All of you have much to learn after this experience, being pitted against your own classmates. You still have to learn the right skills, tactics, plans, and combat styles. Learn from each other and stabilize your unique powers. Plus Ultra!" With that, All Might sped away, into the tunnel and down the road.

"Man, he really is so cool," Kaminari commented. The class nodded in agreement.