Chapter 5 Deku: The Telekinetic Hero by sremiehzla

Welcome to the Hero Course

It was April, the beginning of the new school semester. For most, it meant moving up a grade, or attending a new school. For a select few, it could mean a new chapter in one's life, new opportunities, challenges, victory, defeat. It could change everything for some people. That's what it felt like for Izuku as he finished lacing up his red sneakers that morning. Today, he'd be attending U.A.! Japan's most sought-after hero course was held there, and the school has produced many high-ranking heroes, including All Might. This was the start of Izuku's journey, too. Despite his lack of ability in tying his tie.

"Do you have everything you need?" Inko asked her son as he stood up to leave.

"Yeah, I have everything," he confirmed, hoisting his backpack over his shoulder. "I should get going, or I'll be late."

Izuku opened the door, but stopped when his mother said his name. He turned to look at her, as she smiled softly and looked down at the ground.

"Izuku... You've worked so hard, and I'm so proud," she sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. She looked up at him. "You're really cool."

Izuku smiled at his mother, before departing with, "I'm off!"

Izuku was aware of the situation he was in, almost painfully so. The acceptance rate for U.A.'s hero course was 1 in every 300. Every year, it's done the same way. Except for 4 that get in through recommendation, 36 students are put through by the entrance exam and split into 2 classes. And he was considered the best of them. Out of the elite few that were worthy of attending U.A., he had outscored all of them on the exam. The pressure on his shoulders was immense.

Walking the school grounds and looking for his classroom, Izuku realized just how big U.A. really was. He was able to find his class in time though, and was shocked at the huge door that stood before him. He assumed it was for accessibility, since some people had enlarging Quirks. He just hoped that Katsuki wouldn't be in his class, or the jerk with the glasses either. He knew that Ochako would be in the same class, and that gave him some comfort, at least. Using that thought to soothe his worries, he smiled and opened the door to his future.

"REMOVE YOUR FEET FROM THE DESK AT ONCE!" was the first thing Izuku heard when he slid open the door.

He saw Katsuki with his feet up on his desk and Examinee #7111 standing over him, chopping his arm in an almost robotic manner. Great. Izuku didn't know if he could make it through a single day if he had both of these assholes on his case.

"Huh?" Katsuki leaned his head to the side as he sneered up at the other student.

"It is disrespectful to both the upperclassmen who once used the desk, and to the people who constructed it!"

"I don't think it is. What junior high did you go to, you side character?"

The other one gasped at first, before straightening his posture and planting his hand on his chest. "I attended Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida."

"Somei?!" Katsuki laughed. "So you're one of the damn elite, eh? I'll have fun crushing you!"

"C-Crushing?" Tenya repeated, taking a step back. "That's cruel! Do you really intend to be a hero?!"

Katsuki scoffed and looked away, but when he did he saw Izuku standing in the doorway to the classroom. He scowled at him, and Tenya followed his line of sight to also see Izuku.

"You're..." Tenya gasped, as he recognized Izuku.

The rest of the students present were watching the exchange between Katsuki and Tenya, so they all looked at Izuku as well. Izuku used this opportunity to look over the students for a moment. Ochako wasn't there yet, but he did recognize a couple of them from the entrance exam; namely, the feminine blonde boy and the one with six arms.

Suddenly, Tenya began walking quickly towards Izuku, almost shouting, "Good morning! I am from Somei Private Academy! My name is–!"

"I-I heard!" Izuku interrupted, stopping Tenya in his tracks. "I-I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's, uh, nice to meet you, Iida." He wasn't really sure if they were on bad terms, so he decided to be polite at least.

"Midoriya," Tenya said, almost sounding a little somber. "You realized that there was more to that practical exam. I... I had no idea! I hate to admit it, but you are better than me!" He looked down, squinting his eyes and holding his arms out at Izuku in the same way he'd held one out at Katsuki.

"N-No, I didn't realize anything!" Izuku said, waving his arms at Tenya who he was suddenly starting to like a little bit more. "I had no idea about the rescue points!"

Before Tenya could respond, an energetic "Deku!" came from behind Izuku. Before he turned to face Uraraka, who he knew it was, Izuku saw something snap in Katsuki's expression, probably being a mixture of shock, confusion and annoyance at the nickname.

"Ah, hey Uraraka," he said as he turned, before freezing as soon as he saw her. 'She looks really cute in a uniform!' he thought to himself as his face reddened a little.

"Man, I'm so excited to be in the hero course, y'know?" Ochako said, not noticing the blush on Izuku's face. "And I wonder who our teacher will be! They're all supposed to be pro heroes, right?"

"Ah, y-yeah," Izuku replied, averting his eyes to the ground. "I-It could really be anyone."

Ochako looked around at the class, and flinched when she made eye contact with Katsuki, who was glaring more menacingly by the second. "YEEP! The mean one is here!" she shouted, pointing at the explosive blonde.

Most of the students glanced at Katsuki and started muttering amongst themselves.

"If you're here to start drama or socialize, then leave," came a dull, droning voice from the doorway.

Everyone looked, and saw a yellow caterpillar lying on the floor outside of the door. At least, many of them thought it was a caterpillar. The face poking out of the yellow mass had a scruffy beard, bags under its eyes, and long black hair poking out from the sides of the face hole.

"This is the hero course," the caterpillar continued, before reaching a hand out of the face hole and taking a long sip from a juice pouch, emptying it.

"T-There's someone in there!" somebody in the class exclaimed.

The man stood up, shedding his caterpillar-like sleeping bag and looming over the students. He wore all black, and had a grey scarf around his neck.

"It took all of you 8 seconds to quiet down," he sighed, shaking his head. "Time is a valuable resource. You're all too irrational. I'm Shota Aizawa, your new homeroom teacher. I'm pleased to meet you all."

Many of the students gasped in confusion at the fact that Aizawa would be their homeroom teacher. Izuku, on the other hand, was more concerned with what pro hero he was. He didn't look familiar to Izuku at all, and he was pretty well-versed in the roster of professional heroes in Japan.

"Put these on," Aizawa said, pulling gym uniforms out of his sleeping bag. "Once you all change, head out to the grounds. Quickly now, like you're rational people."

After changing in the locker rooms–quickly, for fear of Aizawa's wrath–the students of 1-A reassembled on the school's training field. In front of them was Aizawa, and on the floor next to him was a white chalk circle with two measured lines shooting out farther than they could see.

"Today, I'll be conducting a test of your Quirks," Aizawa said plainly.

"A test of our Quirks?" the entire class echoed.

"But what about the entrance ceremony?" Ochako objected. "Or the guidance sessions?"

"We can't waste time on pleasantries like that if you want to become heroes," he responded, not even looking at her. "U.A. is known for its freestyle education system, and that applies to teachers too.

"Soft ball throwing, the standing long jump, 50 meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper body training, and the seated toe touch are all exercises you've done in middle school. You've never been able to use your Quirks for these. This country insists on using non-Quirked averages for them. The government is procrastinating, which isn't rational at all.

"Midoriya," Aizawa said, gesturing to the circle behind him, "you placed first in the entrance exam, so step up. How far could you throw a soft ball in middle school?"

"I-I think 54 meters," Izuku said, struggling to remember as he stepped into the circle.

"That isn't too bad." He tossed a softball to Izuku, who barely caught it after fumbling with it for a couple seconds. "Now, launch it as far as you can with your Quirk. Do whatever you need to, just don't leave the circle. Give it all you've got."

"Alright..."

Izuku let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. He held up the ball loosely in the palm of his hand, concentrating.

Everything about Izuku's Quirk relied on the object's weight. How fast he could move it, the range at which he could continue to influence it, and how much strain prolonged use put on him. The only aspect of his Quirk unaffected by this was the fact that he needed to be within 15 meters of any object to activate it. With a ball this light, he could move it very quickly and easily, and he would be able to continue pushing it for a great distance before letting the laws of physics take the reigns.

In the blink of an eye, it was gone. He didn't move a finger. He flicked his eyes, but that couldn't be seen underneath his eyelids. All anyone saw was the ball starting to glow a little bit before rocketing off at an immense speed. Aizawa started talking again, but Izuku focused more on continuing to push the ball as long as he could until it was out of range.

"It's important to know our limits," Aizawa said, looking over the group of hopefuls. "That's the first rational step to knowing what kind of heroes you'll be."

There was a long silence as Izuku made his way back to the crowd of students, stretching his shoulders as he walked. Everyone was waiting for his score. It was out of Izuku's control now, since it was out of range, and he had no idea how long it'd take to land. Aizawa seemed unfazed by the time it took.

"Wow, it must have gone far," Ochako mused, the rest of the class agreeing.

Suddenly, Aizawa's face dawned a smile. He turned the small device in his hand so that everybody could see the score.

"1244.7 meters?!" The entire class exclaimed in unison. "This is awesome!" "We can use our Quirks? Sweet!" "I love this course already!" While everyone else celebrated, Katsuki just glared at the number on the device.

"Awesome, you say?" Aizawa said, his smile widening and becoming a bit sadistic. "You all want to become heroes in the next 3 years, and you think it'll be all fun and games? Alright, how about this... The student with the lowest score across all 8 events will be deemed as having no potential, and will be expelled from the hero course!" While the class began freaking out, Aizawa's voice cut through and he pushed his hair away from his face. "Your fates are in our hands. This is the hero course at U.A.!"

Izuku even felt the pressure. He wasn't actually concerned for himself, but for whoever would be in last. He knew that everyone there worked hard to get accepted. They all passed the practical exam, except for the recommended students. Everyone here dreamed to be a hero, and one of them was about to have that dream crushed. What kind of pro hero was Aizawa?

"Expelled?!" Ochako exclaimed. "But it's the first day of school! No, this would be too unfair even if it wasn't the first day!"

"Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains," Aizawa listed. "Calamities whose time or place are unpredictable. This world is filled with unfairness. True heroes are those who can reverse unfair situations. If you want to hang out with friends at McDonald's after school, then too bad. For the next 3 years, U.A. will do everything it can to place hardship after hardship in front of you. 'Go Beyond. Plus Ultra.' Overcome with everything you have!"

Tenya started drinking orange juice from his hydro flask, Katsuki began stretching his arms and legs, and the whole class was getting pumped up. That didn't distract Izuku from the fact that someone was leaving them already, but he decided to focus on his own score.

"The demonstration is over," Aizawa sighed, losing his momentary vigor. "First, the 50 meter dash."

The top scorer in the 50 meter dash was Tenya. With his Engine Quirk, he finished in 3.04 seconds. Most other times were 5 or more seconds, with a couple exceptions. Katsuki got 4.03 seconds by shooting explosions behind him, and Izuku got 4.63 by essentially flying the whole way.

In grip strength, the six-armed guy named Mezo Shoji was first with over 540 kg of force. Izuku used his telekinesis to press his fingers onto the measurement device, exerting 140 kg before hurting his fingers too much.

In the standing long jump, quite a few of the students jumped past where the measurement devices were. Izuku probably got in the top five if he had to guess, though.

In the side-to-side stepping, the biggest standout was actually a small boy with purple balls for hair, Minoru Mineta, who Izuku hadn't even noticed before.

In the ball throw, Katsuki got 714 meters, which seemed to tick him off. Ochako made her ball weightless before throwing it up into the sky. The infinity symbol actually popped up on the device. Another girl, Momo Yaoyorozu, made an actual cannon to shoot the ball from.

Nothing extraordinary happened in the situps, sitting toe touch, or the long distance run, but Izuku was in the top few of each of them, particularly using his Quirk to push himself further in the toe touch. When everything was all said and done, Aizawa gathered the students again next to the locker rooms.

"Let's get to the results, quickly," Aizawa sighed. "The scores are the sum of all of your performances in the tasks. Explaining the calculations would be useless and time consuming, so here are the results."

Izuku was first. Even though he was sure that he technically didn't get first in a single event, his average score was higher than anyone else's. He had the highest score, followed extremely closely by Momo who was a recommended student, Katsuki, and then the other recommended student Shoto. All the way in last place was Minoru Mineta, who was letting out a mournful wail. Aizawa glanced at the 20th spot for a moment, considering it, before closing the rankings.

"Mineta, come with me to the office," the teacher said, waving him over. "I'll switch you out with a student that's in the general education course."

"I-I won't be expelled from U.A.?!" Minoru exclaimed, a tear falling from his eye.

"Just from the hero course. You can choose other options if you really want to though. There are other schools with hero courses to transfer into."

"I... I guess I can still be a hero, at least..."

"Y-You mean you were serious?" Momo asked, wide-eyed. "I was certain that you just wanted to motivate us."

"I'm sure that you now understand the position this course puts you in," he responded, almost sounding bored. "The rest of you go back to class, where there are curriculum handouts. Take a look at them."

Aizawa placed his hand on Minoru's shoulder and walked him back into the building towards the office. The rest of the class changed and then walked back to the classroom.

"Poor Mineta," Ochako sighed, walking next to Izuku. "I kinda hoped he was lying, but Sensei really kicked him from the class."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed. "I guess this course is really for the best of the best."

"Speaking of the best, you did amazing, Deku!" Ochako exclaimed, smiling widely at him. "You even outscored the students who got in through recommendation!"

"I know. I have to say though, your softball throw was really cool too!"

"Aw, thanks!" Ochako blushed a bit and looked down. "T-That means a lot coming from first place."

Izuku didn't realize it until he entered the classroom, but his desk was behind Katsuki's. He was hoping to avoid him, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

"Hey, Deku," Katsuki grunted after shoving the papers into his backpack.

"Kacchan, don't make a scene on the first day," Izuku said, meeting Katsuki's glare.

"You..." Katsuki took a deep breath. "Were you really hiding your Quirk's strength this whole time? You never showed this kind of control before." He looked like he intended to kill Izuku right there with that look of rage on his face.

"I'm not like you, Kacchan. I don't show off and bully others just because I'm stronger. I never said that my Quirk was weak, I just never had a reason to use it."

"You never fought back," Katsuki said, poking his finger into Izuku's chest. "And you expect me to believe that your Quirk was this strong the whole time?!"

"Stop making a scen–"

"Fuck that! Why the fuck didn't you ever fight back?!"

"Because, I'm better than that. I'll see you tomorrow."

Izuku left without looking back, but he didn't need to. Katsuki was too shocked by what he had said to make a move after him. Izuku somehow knew that he wouldn't go after him, since he mostly left him alone after they talked with their principal at Aldera. Ochako did run out after him though, followed by Tenya.

"D-Deku!" Ochako called, running up next to him. "Man, that was tense."

"I told him not to make a scene," Izuku sighed, shaking his head slightly. "He's just so... frustrating."

"H-He said you never fought back," Ochako said. "I-I mean, I already knew that, but... Why didn't you?"

"I agree with her," Tenya said, appearing on Izuku's other side out of nowhere. "If he has been bothering you for a long time, then you should stand up to him!"

"Y-You're Tenya Iida, right?" Ochako asked, tilting her head past Izuku at him.

"Yes, I am. You are Infinity Girl."

'Infinity Girl?' Izuku thought, chuckling.

"Ochako Uraraka! Nice to meet you, Iida!" Ochako looked back at Izuku. "So... why didn't you ever stop him before?"

"Because, that's what I hate most about him," Izuku sighed. "He's so aggressive, and arrogant, and he shows off his Quirk just because he can. He looks down on people. Hurting innocent people with your Quirk is the last thing that a hero should do. I thought that, if I fought back, then I wouldn't be much better than him."

"That's not true whatsoever!" Tenya said, chopping his arm into his other hand. "It would be out of self defense if you decided to do so!"

"Y-Yeah," Ochako agreed, looking back at Tenya. "What are you doing here, Iida?"

"Well, I'm going to the station," Tenya explained. "Also, I wanted to speak with Midoriya. Congratulations on being first once again! It's being proven that I was wrong about you again and again today."

"It's fine," Izuku said, waving him off. "We were all a bit stressed over the entrance exam."

"E-Excuse me, Iida," Ochako said, arching an eyebrow, "but what did you say to Deku during the exam?"

"Well he looked like he was going to try to distract you from the exam, so I thought he was there to intervene with the applicants."

"Try to distract me?" Ochako looked back to Izuku.

"I saw you before the exam started, and I was going to thank you again for stopping my fall," Izuku said.

"It was a misunderstanding on my part," Tenya said, placing his hand on his chest. "I apologize."

"N-Not necessary," Izuku chuckled.

"Anyway..." Tenya said, taking on a grave tone. "Aizawa Sensei is ruthless. I knew that this would be the top, but it's going to be more difficult than I thought."

"We're the best of the best, right?" Izuku sighed. "It'll have to be tough."

"I don't feel like the best of the best," Ochako sighed. "But you two sure are great!"

"You did better than most people could, Uraraka. Plus you placed second in the practical exam! You're right where you should be." Izuku smiled at Ochako, who blushed.

"A-Ah, you think so?"

Tenya asked, "Uraraka, are you alright? You're a bit red."

"I-I'm fine!"

"Are you sure you don't have a fever?"

While Ochako and Tenya went back and forth, Izuku found himself content. Despite his conversation with Katsuki, his life felt like it was where it should be. He was at his dream school, he was performing well, and he had friends. Friends that might be able to make real, good friends. He smiled at the thought.

The next day came, and Katsuki didn't bother Izuku even though he sat right in front of him. There was a new student, named Hitoshi Shinso, who transferred from Gen Ed in place of Minoru. He sat behind Izuku. It turned out that Aizawa had personally walked into the Gen Ed classes and interviewed each of the students. He seemed nice enough, if a bit reserved. After meeting him and some of his other classmates with Tenya and Ochako during homeroom, the rest of the day seemed almost boring to Izuku. Sure, English was taught by Present Mic, but it was still English. The hero that he had been happiest to see was Lunch Rush, but that was only because it was lunchtime, which he spent with Ochako and Tenya.

The day flew by until they finally reached the most anticipated period of the day, Basic Hero Training! Many of the students were debating who the teacher would be, the most popular possibility being All Might. Izuku also happened to have a hunch that the number one hero was teaching that class.

"I AM," All Might's huge voice exclaimed, before he burst through the door flamboyantly, "ENTERING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

'That's not normal at all,' Izuku thought, holding back a laugh.

"It's All Might!" Eijiro Kirishima exclaimed. "He really is a teacher!"

"Isn't that his Silver Age costume?" Tsuyu Asui observed.

"He looks so different from us!" Mashirao Ojiro said. "It gives me goosebumps!"

"I'll be teaching Basic Hero Training!" All Might said, flexing in an exaggerated pose behind the podium. "This course will mold you into heroes though special training, and it's worth a lot of credits, too! Today's activity will be..." He held up a small card labeled 'Battle'. "BATTLE TRAINING!"

Katsuki started chuckling, and Izuku really wished that he didn't sit right behind him.

"For that, you'll all need your hero costumes!" All Might clicked a button on a small remote, and shelves extended from the wall, holding cases labeled with numbers going up to twenty. "They are labeled according to your seat numbers! Except, unfortunately, for Young Shinso. His costume hasn't been made, so he must wear a standard P.E. uniform Now, get ready! Meet at Ground Beta, and come out in ranking order!"

Izuku was the first to step out in his hero costume. It was a green jumpsuit that his mother got him, with a matching green hood to cover his face and a transparent mouth guard. The hood had two bunny ear-like protrusions at the top, emulating All Might's hairstyle, and the mouth guard had white vertical stripes going across the bottom, emulating his smile. He also had white gloves, a red utility belt and shoes, and black knee and elbow guards to finish the ensemble.

'It's so obvious!' All Might thought, noticing the imitation of his style. He barely kept from laughing aloud.

The rest of the students followed in their own outfits. They were all very unique, and Izuku noticed that Katsuki's outfit hadn't changed much from when he doodled as a kid, with grenade-esque gauntlets. When he saw Ochako's skintight outfit, he almost had a heart attack.

"Wow, Deku!" Ochako exclaimed, running up to him. "Your outfit looks so practical! And I love the bunny ears!"

Izuku was about to explain that they were supposed to look like All Might's hair, but he decided that that probably wouldn't seem very cool.

"I wish I was more specific with my outfit request, though," she said, blushing and rubbing her neck. "This suit is so tight and curvy, and it's embarrassing."

"I-I think it l-looks good," Izuku stuttered, blushing and glancing away.

"O-O-Oh, y-you do?" Ochako's blush deepened and she also averted her eyes from him.

A couple of their classmates noticed the exchange, but nobody mentioned it. Finally, once Hitoshi entered Ground Beta in his gym uniform, All Might began the lesson.

"Shall we begin, my wards? It's time for battle training!" he exclaimed. "You're all looking good in those outfits!"

"Sensei!" Iida's voice came from a suit of armor. "This appears to be the same complex as in the practical exam! Will we be performing cityscape maneuvers?"

'Iida's outfit looks cool,' Izuku thought, looking at his friend's costume. 'It reminds me of something... I can't put my finger on it, though.'

"No, we're going to do indoor anti-personel battling!" All Might clarified. "While most villain encounters are seen outdoors, the statistics show that most villains appear indoors! Between confinement, house arrest, black markets deals... In this hero-filled world of ours, ahem, the most clever villains lurk indoors! Now, you'll be split into hero teams and villain teams, and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!"

"We aren't getting any basic training first?" Tsuyu asked.

"Practical experience will teach you the basics! The difference now will be that you aren't fighting mindless robots!"

Suddenly, the class exploded with questions. "How is victory determined?" "Can I just blast everyone away?" "Are you going to threaten us with expulsion like Aizawa Sensei?" "How will we divide into teams?!" "Isn't my cape fabulous?"

"Quiet down, one at a time!" All Might pleaded, taking out a piece of paper. "My Quirk isn't super hearing! Alright, here's the deal."

"A cheat sheet?" Izuku muttered, quietly so that only Ochako could hear him.

"The villain team will be hiding a fake nuclear bomb that the heroes must find and secure! There is a limited amount of time. The heroes must either secure the weapon or capture the villains in the time limit, and the villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon. Teams will be determined by drawing lots."

"Lots?!" Tenya exclaimed. "Is that really the best way to decide?"

"It makes sense," Izuku said. "In most emergency situations, heroes can't pick and choose who to team up with. They have to make do with whoever is in the area."

"I-I see!" Tenya said. "I'm sorry for getting ahead of myself! My apologies, Sensei!"

"Don't worry about it! Let's just get to it!" He pulled two pieces of paper out of a box. "Team A is Ochako Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya!"

"W-We're on the same team, Deku!" Ochako exclaimed, suprised and happy. "How lucky is that?"

"Yeah, huh," Izuku said, smiling and nodding his head. "There's no way we'll lose!"

"Team B is Mezo Shoji and Shoto Todoroki! Team C is Momo Yaoyorozu and Hitoshi Shinso! Team D is Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida! Team E is Mina Ashido and Yuga Aoyama! Team F is Koji Koda and Rikido Sato! Team G is Denki Kaminari and Kyoka Jiro! Team H is Tsuyu Asui and Fumikage Tokoyami! Team I is Toru Hagakure and Mashirao Ojiro! Team J is Hanta Sero and Eijiro Kirishima! Now, for the match ups! First up will be Team A as the heroes, and Team D as the villains!"

Izuku and Ochako both froze, and slowly turned to look at Katsuki. The explosion Quirk user was grinning widely, and laughing a little bit. Tenya was looking at him too, just as shocked as his friends at the seemingly horrible stroke of luck.

"Deku and Round Face?" Katsuki said quietly, glancing sideways at them and sneering. "I'll kill the shit outta you fucks!"