The next day, the class was again, training in the arena. I noticed that a lot of students had gotten fixes to their costumes. Currently I was training on perfecting my moves until Kaminari stepped in front of me, complimenting my gadgets.

"Oh, you got upgrades? Nice!" I nodded, smiling at the energetic blonde in front of me.

"I like your new style, Kaminari, it really does suit you." He beamed, proud of his work with the costume.

"Of course! I really like it as well, Hatsume did a great job, honestly." We both talked until Vlad King and his class came in, interrupting our nice little catching up session.

"Today, Class 1B is scheduled to use this place in the afternoon! Eraser, hurry up and get out of the way!" 

"Oh, Class 1A got some new toys to play with?" I groaned, knowing that voice came from only one person. "What, is it because you all aren't good enough on your own?" Monoma laughed and I glared at him.

"He's so annoying," I muttered, turning back to Kaminari. He hummed in agreement, eyes half-lidded as he stared at the cocky student.

"We're going against the prestigious Class 1A for the exam! How exciting! Tell me, how will it feel to finally get a taste of defeat when we beat you? The title of the best class in the hero course will now be nothing, thanks to your hopeless efforts!" 

"Actually," Aizawa said, cutting him off short. "You all won't be battling each other. There are three different locations for this exam across the country. One class from one school is allowed to participate in the exam per location." I swear I heard Monoma breath a sigh of relief before going back to belittling us.

"How sad we won't be able to face each other directly!" he exclaimed, laughing maniacally. 

"Man, this guy's nuts," Kirishima commented, looking at Kaminari and me, then back to Monoma. 

"Yeah, I think he's officially gone off the deep end," the blonde responded, his eyes following Neito. Aizawa cleared his throat and the crazed boy stopped laughing, looking at my homeroom teacher.

"As I was saying," he continued, eyeing the interrupter, "The people you all will be battling against are not first years, but mostly second and third years, so they'll have a lot more experience than you. There are very few first-years trying to obtain their provisional hero licenses. The contents of the exam are unclear, but what is clear is that you will have a hard time. Just a word of caution."

I looked around to capture the reactions of my fellow schoolmates, but their faces didn't really say anything about what they were thinking. My eyebrows furrowing, I thought about it more as we got sent back to our dorm rooms, retiring for the evening.

__

In my room, I was scrolling through my phone, looking at the news, texting my parents, and whatnot, until someone knocked on my dorm room door.

"Come in!" I shouted, too lazy to move from my position on my bed. A figure stepped in, a small glow emitting from their face.

"Oh, Aoyama-kun. What brings you here?" He walked over to my bed after closing the door, smiling as usual.

"(L/N)-san, I actually have some questions that I'm not quite sure I understand," he said, staring at me directly in the eyes. I shrugged, thinking nothing of it.

"Alright, fire away, I guess."

"I never really understood your hero name. Pardon for the intrusion, but there seems to be something missing. Like a meaning." I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.

"Honestly, my hero name means what it says. The first of my kind to not really have a quirk. That's all." He sat down, silent for a moment, then looked at me again, his head titled up.

"We're a lot alike, you and me," he began, hands folded up in his lap. "You know that, right?" I averted my eyes, breaking the tension and started to sweat. What could that mean?

"I'm afraid I don't know. Sorry about that." It sounded creepy, in a way. The phrasing, the timing of it all. We were all alone, and due to my secluded room, I didn't think anybody could hear us. I was getting nervously, visibly so, as my hands started to fiddle with each other, my heartbeat increasing.

Then Aoyama got up with a flourish, winking at me.

"All right, my questions have been answered. Thank you for your time, (L/N)-san, and I will see you tomorrow. Good luck on the license exam." I stared at him, stunned as he walked to the door. Before completely going out, he stopped, not looking back.

"I hope you're feeling better than before."

He then vanished.

__

"If you can pass this test and get your provisional licenses, you'll hatch into semi-pros. Do your best." The class cheered, Kirishima starting a chant.

"Plus-"

"Ultra!" Startled, I whipped my head in the unknown voice's direction, only to find a very burly guy in a different uniform than ours. I hadn't seen his face since he was so tall. He noticed our surprised expressions and immediately acted.

"I am..." he shouted, voice bursting with energy. "Very... Extremely..." His hands and arms were clapped straight at his sides, legs spread apart in a wide stance as he smashed his head on the ground.

"Sorry!" The most powerful and exaggerated performance of a bow was enacted right before my eyes. I didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse, or just that this guy was a little bit crazy. Midoriya squeaked, body brought back as he recoiled in fright.

"Wait, that uniform-" Jiro muttered, eyes widening.

"UA in the east, Shiketsu in the west..." Bakugo said under his breath, his expression stone. 

"I just wanted to try saying it just once! Plus Ultra! I am extremely honored to be able to compete against UA students! I'm looking forwards to it!" His forehead started to bleed and Deku started to freak out, yowling until his lungs gave in. I narrowed my eyes, looking closely at his features as he stood back up again.

"Yoarashi?" I whispered, my eyes finally focusing on his face. He must've heard it, because after the words left my mouth, he looked at me, his crazed smile fading into one of recognition.

"(L/N)! It's you!" he exclaimed, excitedly running over to greet me. "Hi!" I smiled, bowing slightly.

"It's been a long time, Inasa! How have you been?" He grinned, proudly puffing up his chest.

"I've been doing great! How are you? I can't believe you got into UA, of all schools! Honestly, I thought you'd be joining me at Shiketsu," he laughed, hands on his hips. 

"You even tried out for UA, so don't give me that talk." 

"I guess you're right," he chuckled, looking down at me. "Hopefully things are running smoothly for you."

"Speaking of which, why didn't you go into UA? The last time we met, you were doing exceptionally well. What happened?" 

"Just complications, I suppose," he laughed, scratching his cheek. "Shiketsu was closer to my home, after all." I nodded, understanding the circumstances, but still a little bit confused.

"But you still did better than Todoroki-san. I was expecting you, Inasa," I teased, not realizing that the male in front of me had slowly turned his head towards Shoto. Once I stopped playing with him, I noticed the tension between the two when Yoarashi left his spot in front of me to slowly go up to him. Then I realized the shocked faces of my classmates, staring at either me, Inasa, or Todoroki. 

"Todoroki." That was the coldest I'd ever heard his voice. The low, firm growl sent shivers up my spine, chilling me to the bone. Shoto said nothing, only to stare at him. 

"Hey, guys-" I tried to break the feud, awkwardly going to stand in between them. "There's nothing to fight about, alright? We should probably head out. Time's a-wasting!" With one last look at each other, the pair broke apart. Inasa put a hand on my shoulder before heading in the opposite direction as my class.

"Good luck. I hope to see you do well." Everyone stood still, the aftermath of the initial shock still catching up to them. A few moments of silence passed before Hagakure piped up.

"So what was that about? (L/N)-san, do you know him?" I pressed my lips firmly together, sucking in a breath.

"Yeah," I admitted, "I've known him since kindergarten. But he moved away to a different middle school, and I didn't see him until the UA entrance exams. As you may know, Yaoyorozu-chan, Todoroki-san, Inasa, and I all took a test through recommendations. But the thing is, I don't know why he didn't go to UA. I was excited to see him again, and hoped that we would end up together in the same class."

"But why didn't he accept the invitation to UA?"

"I... I don't know. What ever further complicates things is that he got the top scores out of those who were admitted through recommendations." Everybody went silent again, slowly deciphering the message behind my words.

That means his abilities are above Todoroki's.