Chapter 9: First Day at UA

------Author's Note------The picture above is the seating arrangement for the class with the bottom being the front of the room. You'll notice that Jiro is not included in the picture. This is because she will be in class 1-B. I needed to keep the class size at 20 and I feel like her quirk is similar enough to Koto's that she was the right person to remove from the class. Don't worry, though! She will show up in (much) later chapters, so I'm not taking her out of the story completely.

•°•°•°•

April finally arrives and so does my first day of school at UA. Why do they start school in April? Don't even ask me. I just go along with it. It's definitely been a culture shock since moving to Japan.

I wake up in a bundle of nerves, much like the morning of the entrance exam. I'm not usually an early riser, but on mornings like these, I can't sit still in bed. I walk around my bathroom, reveling in the coolness of the tile and the acoustics of the room. I bet Mic is up already, but I'm still very thankful for the soundproofing of this house so my humming won't bother him. I dress in my new uniform, a green skirt, white button down shirt, red tie, and a grey blazer with green stripes on the hems. Checking the placement of my black choker, making sure it covers my scar, I walk over to my bedpost and remove the chain with my mother's engagement ring. This is my first step to becoming a true hero, I think while slipping it over my head and under my shirt. The cool metal rests on the center of my chest, providing just enough weight to remind me that it's there.

In the kitchen, I drink my usual orange juice and force down a couple bites of egg and rice. My stomach protests, but Mic assures me that I'll need it today. 

We head in early. He has to get a few things sorted before the day starts and I don't have anything better to do, so I walk in with him. He leads me to my classroom and I can feel my whole body shake as we near the door. It stands at least 4 times as tall as me with a giant "1-A" on the front. 

I take a deep breath and he places a hand on my shoulder. "You have Mr. Aizawa for a homeroom teacher! He's a good guy, but be sure to not piss him off!!" Mic says in his sportscaster voice. 

I nod to him and open the door, greeted by an empty room. He sends me one last smile before he's off. I find my assigned seat and sit down. I'm so thankful to be towards the back. That way I can see everything happening in class. I hate it when people sit behind me. It just makes me nervous. I'm not entirely sure why. I'm just hoping the one person that sits behind me is chill.

I pull out the iPod and headphones. Since receiving the precious family artifact, I have transferred all the music to a playlist on my phone, but I still listen directly from the little device when I am nervous and need a bit of my family's love. 

Def Leppard blares into my ears and I focus on the chord progressions. I have to memorize every part of a song before I can even begin to try and replicate it. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I take it out to see Ochaco will be late. Of course. She missed the train she would usually have to take, so she has to catch the next one and then run to try and make it on time. 

I grab my whiteboard and start doodling to pass the time. I'm not good at drawing, but I enjoy it. After 30 minutes, people begin filing in, checking for their seats and mingling amongst themselves. When I dare to look up, three very loud guys sit around me. 

A guy with spiky red hair and equally spiky teeth sits in front of me, laughing at something the spiky yellow haired boy in front of him said. The black haired guy to the redhead's left laughs along and I look around them to see what they're looking at. I roll my eyes as I see a midget on the left of the room with purple balls on his head (weird) ogling the girl sitting behind him. She has long black hair tied up in a ponytail and she wears a stern expression as she reads...a textbook? It's only the first day! We didn't have homework due today, did we?

I see out of the corner of my eye that the boy with yellow hair with a black lightning bolt on the side nudges his red haired friend. They all turn their attention to me as he points and says "look, she's alive." I turn my attention to them and give them a blank look as they snicker. I pull my right headphone out and he continues talking. "So what's your name, pretty thing?" 

I fake a gag and the other two laugh as their friend's smile falls. I'm about to write "none of your business" on the board when a shout on the left side of the room makes us all snap our attention over. 

"Take your feet off of that desk now!" The blue haired boy with glasses from the entrance exam orientation yells at the hotheaded blonde kid from the practical exam. The latter lounges in his chair. 

"Huh?" The blonde says, smirking devilishly. 

"It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!"

"You're kidding me, right?" The lounging boy says with amusement. "Your old school put a stick up your ass or were you born with it?"

The taller boy looks taken aback, as does the rest of the class. I notice the blonde's hair is sticking up just as much as before, as though reflecting his explosive nature. What is it with boys in this class having crazy hair that sticks up at all angles? He also isn't wearing his tie. Whether he forgot it or is choosing to neglect it as some sort of statement, I'm not sure, but I certainly have a guess. 

The boy with combed, blue hair looks as though he's about to retaliate, but composes himself and reaches out a hand to the other student. "Let's start over. I'm Tenya Iida from the Soumei Private Academy."

"Soumei, huh?" The blonde interjects. Iida looks appalled that he was cut off, mid-introduction. "So you must think you're better than me. I'm gonna have fun tearing you a new one."

Despite Iida towering over the other boy as he reclines, the blonde has a much more threatening presence that makes the taller boy retreat a step and gasp. 

"You would threaten me?!? Your own classmate?!? Are you sure you're in the right place?"

This seems to wipe the smirk off the explosive kid's face. He scowls and leans back, turning his attention away from the walking rule book and towards the door where he notices somebody standing there, with a start. 

"It's him," the bespeckled boy says, also turning his attention to the door. We all look over to see a green haired boy standing in the doorway. 

Oh, yay! It looks like he did get in! I'm sure Ochaco will be excited about that. Maybe we'll have friends here after all. They can't all be as bad as these other guys. It looks from the poor kid's face that he's as intimidated by these guys as I am. 

"Uhh, hi!!" He says, voice trembling and averting his gaze from the whole class. 

"Good morning!" Iida shouts across the room, marching determinedly over. "My name is Tenya Iida from th-"

"Yeah, uhh, I know," he puts his hands up to stop the taller boy from coming any closer. With a nervous smile on his face, he lowers his hands and introduces himself shakily, "I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's super nice to meet you!"

Iida's hands fall to his sides. "Midoriya, you realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you?" The boy looks shocked at his words. "You must be very perceptive. And I completely misjudged you." He bows his head slightly as he scowls to himself, obviously working hard to get these words out. "I admit, as a student, you're far superior to me."

I take a second to glance around at the room. Explosive boy on the left side looks like he's about to burst from anger. His red eyes glare down the poor boy as though he could set him ablaze with just a look. I'm not really sure why, but he definitely has some sort of alpha male presence that he might think is being threatened. Behind me, I feel someone's eyes on me. I turn to see a familiar face sitting behind me to the left. The boy with two hair colors sits silently and watches the whole scene take place. Shoto, I think his name is. Let's hope he's as quiet as Mic claims him to be and that he can keep his word.

In front of the golden haired lightning bolt boy sits another familiar face. The boy's tail sits up behind him in his chair, bristling at the action taking place in the room. 

"Hey, I recognize that messed up hair!" A very familiar voice squeaks from outside. "Falling Boy!!" Ochaco exclaims. Midoriya turns around in shock to face her. She continues on about how good he did in the exam, while his face turns beet red and he mumbles his gratitude. 

"If you're just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now." A man's voice says from outside. The people at the door seem shocked by his sudden appearance. "Welcome to UA's hero course. It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that."

The students back up as a man dressed in black with long, shaggy, black hair and a grey scarf enters the classroom, pulling behind him a worn, yellow sleeping bag. He has bags under his eyes and wears a tired expression that matches his voice. 

He addresses the full class, "Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa, your teacher." I feel the whole class recoil every so slightly. He may be intimidating, but that reaction was a little uncalled for. He begins rifling through his sleeping bag, pulling out blue and white clothing. "Right, let's get to it. Put these on and head outside."

Everybody looks at him questioningly, but nevertheless obliges. I stand and walk to the front of the room with the rest of the students as he passes them out and directs us towards the changing rooms. 

I grab mine hastily and walk out of the room with Ochaco, putting the uniform under my arm. "Hey," I sign. 

"Hey! What a crazy morning, huh? I barely got here in time! What do you think we're doing?"

"No idea," I sign back. We fall into a pensive silence as we enter the changing rooms. 

A girl with pink skin and hair, black eyes with amber irises, and little horns approaches us as she pulls on her new blue shirt. "Hey guys!! I'm Mina Ashido!! So nice to meet you!!" She squeaks happily. 

Walking clothes approach her other side and it occurs to me that the person they belong to is invisible. "And I'm Toru Hagakure!!" She squeals. 

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka!" My friend pipes from beside me. I know she'll get along well with these two. They're all very peppy. 

"I'm Tsuyu Asui, but you can just call me Tsu," a short, green haired girl says in a raspy voice. Her long hair is tied into a bow at the end of her ponytail and her extremely long tongue hangs slightly out of her large mouth. She definitely reminds me of a frog. It must be something to do with her quirk. 

"And I'm Momo Yaoyorozu," a tall girl with a high black ponytail says, walking around the corner, fully dressed. 

They all look at me expectantly, but I just look at Ochaco. "Oh, this is my friend, Koto Yamada. She doesn't speak."

"OHMIGOSH, REALLY??" Ashido exclaims. 

"So, do you use sign language?" Yaoyorozu questions. 

I nod, keeping my eyes pointed at the floor. 

"Awww! She's so shy!!" Hagakure squeals. 

"You guys should get changed. We have to all be out there in three minutes," Yaoyorozu instructs with a stern tone as she and Tsu leave the locker room. 

"Oh, right!" Ochaco jumps and we both walk over to free lockers, putting our stuff down and changing hastily. 

•°•°•°•

"What? A quirk assessment test?" The whole class shouts together as Mr. Aizawa explains what we're going to be doing today. 

"But orientation! We're going to miss it!" Ochaco whines. 

"If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies," our teacher replies with his back to the group. People gasp as they realize he's all business. "Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit," he turns to glare at us dangerously as he explains. 

"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives, but you've never gotten to use your quirks in physical exams before." He holds up his phone to show us a list of physical exams we've all been put through many times. "The country's still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn."

He turns to the blonde, explosive kid and addresses him. "Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam." The boy looks up, shocked to be called out so early. Everyone's eyes turn to him to see what he'll do. "What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in junior high?"

He lowers his gaze, determined. "Sixty seven meters, I think," he replies.

"Right, try doing it with your quirk." Aizawa says to him. He hands him a softball and directs him to the circle he must stand in. "Anything goes, just stay in the circle."

This will be the first time we'll get to experience each other's quirks. I don't know if they're prepared to see what this kid can do. 

"Go on, you're wasting our time," the teacher says when Bakugo makes no move to throw the ball. 

"Alright, man. You asked for it," he says, stretching out his limbs. He winds up and throws the ball. "DIE!!!!!" he shouts as the ball explodes from his hands, flying far down the field. Wind kicks up from the force of the explosion and blasts us with dirt. 

"Die?" Isn't that a little extreme? 

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities," our teacher says as we all watch the ball drop from the sky. He turns the screen of his phone towards us. "It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero."

705.2 meters.

"Woah, 705 meters?!?" The lightning hair kid says in awe. "Are you kidding me?!?"

"I wanna go!" The pink girl, Ashido squeals. "That looks like fun!"

Thing 3 of the mindless boy gang with the black hair and weird elbows pipes up, "This is what I'm talkin' about! Using our quirks as much as we want!"

Everyone seems to be more excited except for the teacher. If anything, his expression becomes more stormy. "So this looks fun, huh?" Everyone becomes silent as he continues. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and play time?" He lowers his gaze and smiles deviously. "Idiots."

I get what Mic was saying now about not wanting to piss this guy off! I'm officially terrified. 

"Today, you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none...and will be expelled immediately." He seems to revel in his words as the class protests. 

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand?" He levels the class with a challenging glare, a sick sort of pleasure in his eyes as we all steel our nerves. "If that's a problem, you can head home right now."

Ochaco steps forward and I pray she knows what she's doing. "You can't send one of us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, that isn't fair!"

"Oh, and you think natural disasters are?" Aizawa interrupts her pleas and the whole class is silent at his words. "Or power-hungry villains? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No. The world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond, plus ultra style," he quotes our school's motto. Reaching out a hand, he beckons us forward. "Show me it's no mistake that you're here."

The class gasps and we ready ourselves for a grueling day. 

"Now then, we're just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin."

In our first test, we run a 50 meter dash. I pay attention as the tall boy, Iida, from before uses the engines in his calves to rocket over the finish line, followed by Tsu who bounds over the line with her frog-like abilities. Ochaco nullifies the gravity on her clothes so she can run marginally faster. She runs up against the boy with the tail, who uses it to fling himself forward. I don't have a quirk that can help me here, I think to myself as I face off against Hagakure. I don't use my quirk as we sprint across the finish line. I finish just barely before her. I'm so glad I've been doing endurance training. But I'm worried for her. How is she going to get through this test if her quirk is invisibility? That can't help her here, I think with a start.

A boy with shoulder length blonde hair and purple eyes flies over the distance, using a laser from his belly button, though he falls to the ground just before crossing the line, allowing Ashido to finish before him. "Shooting my beautiful beam for more than a second hurts my tummy," he says in a French accent, turning to face all of us. We all roll our eyes and watch the rest of the people go. 

Midoriya runs normally as Bakugo soars ahead, using well timed explosions from his hands to fly over the finish line. 

The next test is grip strength. As I hold the little machine in my right hand, I focus on the air behind my fingers to make a bass drum tone. That has so far seemed to be the sound that provides the most force. The whole class looks over to me, to see what made the noise. I wave them off and check the screen. My fingers hurt, but the 318 kg of force it provided was worth it. 

"Wow! You hit 540 kg?!?" The guy with the weird elbows exclaims at the large boy with six arms and a light blue mask covering the lower part of his face. His white hair is swept forward to cover even more of his face. "You're such a beast!!"

"Yeah, like a muscly octopus!!" The midget interjects with a lisp. 

"Hey, you did pretty well, too!" Ochaco says, looking over at mine. "Good job covering up that bass drum by the way. I know that packs a punch," she says with a grimace. "How are your fingers doing?"

"Alright," I sign with a smile. We follow our teacher outside to the next test which is the standing long jump. 

Of course there are many students who have quirks that can propel them, so many people land past the sandpit. Maybe if I get creative, I can get far enough, I think, focusing onto the ground in two spots under my feet as it becomes my turn. 

I feel people's eyes on me as I crouch down and launch myself up, providing two more bass drum tones below my heels just before they leave the ground. I feel the force rocket me forward and make it over the sandpit. My eyes widen as I discover my legs are still out behind me and not in the best position to land. I try to force them forward, but I won't have the time, so I decide on a plan b. Tucking my chin into my chest, I roll forward as I hit the ground, coming back up to my feet after just one roll. I hope that looked cooler than it felt. 

Ochaco hops up and down, clapping for me as I walk back to the group. They all look between me and the spot I jumped from. Under further inspection, I notice that the force of the vibrations left cracks in the cement right where I had been. 

"Woah, she cracked the ground with the force of her jump!" Midoriya exclaims quietly, mumbling to himself under his breath. 

"That was so cool!!" The spiky red haired boy shouts over to me, "hey, good job!"

I raise my hand and incline my head in acknowledgement. 

The next test is repeated side steps. I do okay, but still not as fantastic as I could. The midget takes his turn with those balls from his head forming clumps on either side of him to bounce off of. Why didn't I think of that? I could've done so much better if I had used vibrations on either side to redirect me, I think with a frown. 

The fifth test is the ball throw. Ochaco nullifies the gravity on it, so when she throws it, it keeps going off into the distance. Aizawa turns his phone around to reveal an infinity symbol. The rest of the class is shocked, but I knew she could do it. 

When it becomes my turn, I throw the ball as hard as I can. When I see that it is starting to lose momentum, I focus just below and behind it and make the sound of a guitar being continuously strummed. The force keeps the ball up in the air until I feel my head start to ache. The people behind me exclaim how far I got it when I finally release my power, head pounding.

As it falls, something wet rolls down my upper lip. I lift my hand to wipe it off and see blood. What? Why do I have a nosebleed? 

"684.4 meters. A respectable distance, Yamada."

I nod and go over to where Ochaco is waiting for me. "You did grea- oh my are you alright?!?" She shrieks, noticing the blood on my hand as I wipe my nose. I squint my eyes as my head rings from the sound.

I remove my hands from my face and she gasps. "Yeah, I'm fine," I sign to her. 

"Why does that happen?" A voice to my left asks. I look over to see the boy with a tail from our entrance exam. 

I cock my head to the side and Ochaco asks what's on my mind. "What do you mean? Why does what happen?"

"The nosebleeds. It happened before in our entrance exam." He walks over to me to examine closer. "Are you feeling okay?" 

I nod and ignore the pounding that hasn't stopped since I let the ball drop. So this happened before too? I didn't use my quirk too long after my head started hurting this time, so I shouldn't have another concussion, but I must've just given myself a headache and a nosebleed. So that's what happens when I overuse my quirk, huh?

"I'm Mashirao Ojiro by the way," he says, putting his hand out, then retracting it when he examines my own, covered in blood. "We never got to properly introduce ourselves at the exam."

I nod at him, pursing my lips with a blush, embarrassed about how he must've carried my unconscious body all the way back to the school. 

"And you are…?" He asks with an awkward smile. 

I nudge Ochaco and she glances at my hands, ready to translate. "I'm Koto Yamada. It's very nice to meet you. Thank you for helping me out during the practical exam."

His eyebrows furrow for a moment before understanding comes over his face. I hate that progression and I can see it on everyone's face every time. I just wish I were normal. But I can't bring myself to talk. I've tried, but something always seems to stop me. It's like a wall I just can't get through in my mind. 

On Midoriya's turn, we all watch on, anxious to see if he'll use his power. I hold the collar of my uniform up to my nose, trying to staunch the bleeding. 

"If Midoriya doesn't shape up soon, he's the one going home," Iida observes from the sidelines. 

"Huh?" Bakugo gets in his face. "Of course he is! He's a quirkless loser!"

"He has a quirk," Iida protests. "Did you not hear about what he did in the entrance exam?"

"Huh?" The loud blonde questions once again. 

The boy in question winds up his throw, his whole arm glowing from power. My eyes widen. He hasn't used his quirk all day! I finally get to see it in action!

Just before he releases the ball, the glowing stops and the ball flies only a short distance before landing. 

"46 meters!" The device calls out from our teacher's hand. I look over to him and jump.

Aizawa's eyes glow red and his hair is floating up above his head. His scarf floats around him, revealing yellow, slitted goggles dangling around his neck. 

The green haired boy mumbles to himself, staring at his hands. Aizawa speaks lowly to the boy and he turns around shocked. 

"Those goggles!" He exclaims, loud enough for his voice to carry over to the rest of the class. "I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers! The Erasure hero: Eraser Head!"

"Eraser?" Someone asks from our group. "Who's that?"

"Oh, I've heard of him," someone else says. "I think he works on the down-low."

Meanwhile, Midoriya and our teacher continue talking. The scarf around Aizawa's neck reaches out and grabs the small boy, dragging him closer. He speaks threateningly towards him as the boy cowers. Suddenly, our teacher's scarf retracts and his hair falls back down to his shoulders. He walks away as Midoriya returns to the circle with another softball. 

He's giving him another chance? Why?

"I wonder if our teacher gave him some advice," Iida thinks aloud. 

"He probably told him to start packing," Bakugo was quick to reply. 

The boy with the naval laser turned to Ochaco. "I'm here, Cherie," he says, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

She looks at him, confused. "Wait, who are you again?" I laugh silently to myself for a moment, looping my arm through hers on her other side. 

She meets my eyes and I give her arm a squeeze as we watch Midoriya's final throw. 

He mumbles to himself for a bit before winding up his pitch with a determined expression. "SMAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSHHHHH!!!!" he shouts as he releases the ball, sending a gust of wind up into the sky, carrying the ball far into the air. The backlash covers us with dirt once more. 

He stands, watching the ball drop as his hand falls limply to his side. His first finger is broken and purple. Ochaco mentioned that when he used his quirk, he broke his bones. Did he only use his quirk in one finger?

The class watches on with wide eyes as Aizawa turns his phone for us to see. 

705.3 meters. Wow.

He clenches his fist with his broken finger and turns to our teacher. "Mr. Aizawa, you see? I'm still standing." His muscles shake and he bites his lip, but there is determination in his eyes. 

Aizawa inclines his head, regarding the boy with something new in his eyes: respect. He mumbles something under his breath with a smile. 

"He threw it over 700 meters!" Exclaims someone. 

"Nice! He's finally showing us his true power!!" Ochaco cheers, hands in the air. 

"But his finger appears to be broken now," examines Iida. "Just like in the exam. His quirk is very odd."

"It wasn't a very pretty throw," the French boy with the laser observes.

Our teacher turns to the rest of the class as Bakugo causes an outburst. Explosions burst from his hands as he bends over in rage, running towards the boy in the circle. "HEY!!! DEKU, YOU BASTARD!!! TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD!!!"

Midoriya screams as the boy closes in, but never gets the chance to attack. Mr. Aizawa's scarf flies over and stops Bakugo in his tracks. He fights against it, but it won't give. 

"What?!? Why the hell is your damn scarf so strong?" He says, still fighting against the strain. 

"Because it's a capture weapon made out of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy. Stand down!" He commands. "It would be wise to avoid making me have to use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye."

The boy stops straining against it and Aizawa blinks, letting his scarf return to him. His hair falls and his eyes return to their normal color. "You're wasting my time now. Whoever's next can step up." He motions towards the circle as he walks away. 

We watch the two boys, nervous of what Bakugo might do with the teacher's back turned, but he just glares dangerously at his classmate until Midoriya runs back to us. The blonde remains standing there, staring down the field at the ball that went 0.1 meter farther than his own. 

"Ouch! Is your finger okay?" Ochaco asks as the messy haired boy approaches us. 

"Sure!" He responds, lifting his hand to show us. Everybody crowds around him and I suddenly feel claustrophobic. 

I make my way to the outside of the pack and take a deep breath. The only other student not gathered around Midoriya, except for Bakugo of course, is Shoto. I think his last name is Todoroki and we are supposed to use last names here, so I will have to refer to him as that. Does that also mean I have to call Ochaco by her last name? Surely she won't mind me just using her first name, but everybody else will be calling her Uraraka. I should definitely only refer to Todoroki by his last name, seeing as we don't really know each other and it is more respectful that way. 

I glance over at him as he watches the group of people churn around the small boy, all pushing to get a look of his broken finger. He seems to notice my gaze on him and looks over. I nod my head up in greeting. He inclines his head in return and we watch silently as Bakugo storms off the field. 

After everybody has thrown the ball, we go inside to complete the sit ups, the seated toe-touches, and then back outside for the long distance run. I'm pretty flexible, and have good core strength, so I think I did pretty well with those two tests, not being able to use my quirk. For the run, I amplify the sound of my feet hitting the track, providing a small amount of extra force underneath me. I don't want to overexert myself after that throw and I certainly don't want to put more cracks in the pavement

After the tests, Aizawa gathers us around to show the results. We examine the hologram chart from his phone, trying to find our names. I scored 7th out of 20, a pretty respectable score, given the powerful quirks of the rest of my classmates. 

My heart sinks as I realize Midoriya got last. I look over to him as he clutches his hand, tears brimming in his eyes. 

Aizawa turns off the hologram as everyone looks towards the boy in 20th place. "And I was lying. No one's going home." We all look over with shocked expressions as he smiles. "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests."

Midoriya makes a strangled sound as he stares, agape, at the teacher. 

Yaoyorozu, the girl with the black ponytail, looks on, calm. "I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out. I'm sorry, I guess I probably should've said something."

The class, especially those in the bottom places, look over at her with pained expressions. Others begin chatting with each other. 

"That's it, we're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning." Aizawa hands a paper to Midoriya and says something to him, then returns to the school and we watch him leave, groups beginning to form between the students. Ochaco goes over to check on the injured boy and I stand by myself, looking around at everyone else. 

So these are my classmates. My only friend is over there and I'm all by myself. I could go over to the girls, but…

I glance over towards them and see Hagakure and Ashido squealing to the group. 

They're too peppy for me. 

"Hey, Yamada!!" I turn at the sound of my name to see Ojiro beckoning me over. 

I walk over cautiously, unsure how to feel about this group. He stands with the large guy with six arms, a boy with the head of a bird, and Todoroki. 

"Hey! You did great out there," he says, giving me a warm smile. I nod in acknowledgement and gesture towards him, implying he did well also. 

He smiles again and turns to his friends. "Uhh, so this is Koto Yamada," he introduces me. 

"Fumikage Tokoyami," the bird guy says in a shockingly deep and smooth voice, bowing low. I return the gesture, looking to the tall "octopus" guy. 

He extends one of his arms towards me. The hand on the end morphs into a smiling mouth and begins speaking. "Mezo Shoji. You did well out there."

I pray my face doesn't convey any of my shock as I bow to him as well before turning to Endeavor's son. "Shoto Todoroki. Nice to meet you," he says quietly in his low voice, bowing to me. I reciprocate the gesture and the butterflies in my stomach ease. 

So he's gonna keep our secret. Good.

Ojiro scratches the back of his neck as he seems to formulate his next words. "So, umm… as I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong," he turns to me before continuing to the rest of the group, "Yamada is mute and uses sign language to communicate. Am I right?" 

I just nod. Anything to get them to stop asking questions. 

Iida rushes over, obviously under the pretense of ushering people inside. Groups have already started making their way to the doors. "What are you guys standing around for?!? We don't know how long we will have access to the room! We shouldn't waste time out here!" He gestures wildly as we all head inside and back to the locker rooms. 

•°•°•°•

Back outside, Ochaco and I hurry out the doors and she spots Midoriya and Iida walking down the path. "Let's go talk to them!" She exclaims, pulling me along. "HEYYYY!!! WAIT UP YOU TWO!!!" She shouts, making them stop in their tracks and turn around. "Are you going to the station?!? We'll join you guys!"

We come to a stop in front of them as Iida says "Oh, you're the infinity girl."

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka!" She introduces herself. "And this is my friend, Koto Yamada! She doesn't talk, so she uses sign language. She taught me, so we can communicate!!" I nod as their attention is turned to me. "Let's see, you are Tenya Iida," she glances towards the tall blue haired boy, then to the green haired one, "and your name is Deku, right? Midoriya?"

"Deku?" The boy exclaims nervously. 

"Uhh...yeah! Isn't that what Bakugo called you? During the fitness test, he said…" she slips into a deep, angry voice, "'DEKU YOU BASTARD!!!' Right?" Her voice returns to normal. 

The poor boy looks embarrassed, but she keeps prying. 

"Uhh, well… my name's actually Izuku. Deku is what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me."

Hold up, 'Kacchan'? That seems like an awfully familiar name for someone who's bullying you. Is there something else here we're missing? Did something happen between them?

"That's unsportsmanlike," Iida observes. Wow these two really know how to make this poor boy uncomfortable. 

"Oh, I didn't realize that. I'm sorry!" Ochaco says, scratching the back of her head. "You know what? I like 'Deku!' It could make a great hero name! Plus, I think it sounds kinda cute!" 

His face turns deep red as he replies, "Deku it is!"

"Just like that?" Iida shouts at him. "Weren't you saying...that it was an insult?!?"

"Paradigm shift! It feels like my whole world is upside down!" He mumbles into his hands. 

"Wait, what?" Ochaco questions. 

"Nothing, nothing," he replies hastily. "Uhh… should we get to the station?"

"Oh yes! Of course!" Iida replies, beginning the walk down the hill. 

The three talk all the way down while I walk quietly beside them. I tap Ochaco on the shoulder as I turn, walking the opposite way towards my house. 

"See you tomorrow, Koto!!" She yells as I continue, giving a small wave as the two boys reciprocate.