Izuku felt proud of himself for the first time in a long while.
He did it! Even if by the skin of his teeth. Now he was finally part of the UA High School!
During his hellish training, All Might taught him to always give his best effort in everything he did. And now he would need to continue with that hard work and go Plus Ultra if he wanted to be the N°1 Hero like his mentor.
He stopped walking when he saw the sign that said '1-A'.
That was his class, and the teenagers inside would be his classmates for the next three years, not to mention, possibly his co-workers even after that.
Maybe he was being petty, but he didn't want to be in the same class as Katsuki or that angry bespectacled girl. Izuku had enough troubles being a decade behind his peers in what concerned his Quirk. He didn't want to have two people around him that hated his guts...
Knowing his luck, he didn't expect much, but at least not to have them both as classmates.
And yet, when he looked inside the classroom, there they were.
"Get your feet off the desk, please! Don't you have any respect for our classmates?!"
"No. In fact, I couldn't fucking care less. From which middle school are you even from, four-eyed extra...?!"
Izuku backed off immediately. 'I knew it! I just knew it!' He had the worst luck in the world. There was no other explanation.
He breathed deeply, preparing mentally for the challenge.
But when Izuku moved towards the entrance again, he found himself facing the stern-looking girl; her body inclined to be at his eye level.
He yelped in fright, feeling like his spirit almost abandoned his body.
Despite his poorly controlled reaction, recognition immediately reached the girl's eyes, and her expression relaxed.
"My name is Tenko Iida, from Soumei Middle School! It's a pleasure to meet you!" she exclaimed, extending a hand to Izuku.
His eyes shifted between the girl's hand and her face for a moment, feeling doubtful about her intentions. She didn't look as scary as the day before, but simply nervous. Not that different from him.
"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya. N-nice to meet you too, Iida-san." Deciding to take the risk, he reached out for her. But before he could make contact, Tenko grabbed his hand between both of hers and shook it vigorously.
"I have to congratulate you, Midoriya-kun, and apologize for my previous behavior! I completely misjudged your intentions! Unlike me, you saw through the practical exam and understood its true purpose! You were the better one!" Her voice was unnecessarily loud, and she moved his hand so forcefully, he felt as if his arm would fall off. It was like a nightmare.
However, not only Tenko's big strong hands were surprisingly soft, but when he looked at her, he only saw a sincere and earnest person looking back at him. She didn't seem a bad or scary person anymore.
His emotions confused him; dread, embarrassment, and happiness mixed in his brain along with a hundred of obtrusive thoughts, until he just didn't know what to think anymore.
And suddenly, the lewd and depraved part of him chained to the deep caverns of his subconscious somehow convinced him to simply let it be and enjoy holding hands with her while it lasted.
"Ah, it's you! The plain-looking boy!" Izuku turned and saw the girl he saved during the practical exam. "Nice to see you make it in, just like Present Mic said! You were amazi-. Ah?" She halted, and her eyes fixed on him and Tenko.
Then he noticed the taller girl hadn't released his hand.
Just by her funny expression, Izuku knew the brown-haired girl was misunderstanding everything.
"Hmm. Is something the matter?" asked Tenko, utterly oblivious. "Midoriya-kun saved you, right? My name is Tenko Iida, and I'm from Soumei Middle School. It's a pl-!"
"Tsk," she was interrupted by someone clicking their tongue. The source was a creepy-looking guy stuffed inside a yellow sleeping bag. "It took you eight seconds to shut up. That can't continue... If you came here intending to waste your time flirting like carefree fools, then better go somewhere else."
"Hmm. No one is doing such a thing," muttered Tenko, frowning at the annoyed man.
She was still holding Izuku's hand and showing no signs of wanting to let it go.
After being scolded a bit more by their teacher for reasons Tenko couldn't fully understand, they left the classroom to do a Quirk apprehension test.
Even if it bothered her to skip the entrance ceremony, she supposed it was the way UA's teachers did things. But that didn't stop her from worrying about Aizawa's threat.
There was no way for her to end in the last place... She wasn't so sure about Izuku, though.
She knew he had problems with his Quirk, so being careful was understandable, but he wasn't using it at all.
Izuku was fit enough to get an okay score in most trials by only using his regular physical strength. But even if that saved him from ending last, she seriously doubted their teacher would accept such a result.
Her assumption that Izuku had a plan fell apart when she noticed the increasing despair in his eyes the longer the trials went. And when Izuku was finally about to use his Quirk, Aizawa stopped him and gave him an ultimatum.
It was a 'do or die' kind of situation for the boy, and he looked beyond disheartened. He would get expulsed at this rate.
She wouldn't allow that.
"Midoriya, stop being silly and focus! You can do it!" she shouted, making Izuku look at her with a surprised expression. "UA accepted you! That wasn't a mistake! So show it to Aizawa-sensei!"
The boy smiled meekly, and after a moment, determination burned in his eyes.
He didn't disappoint.
Tenko and Ochako waited for Izuku to return from the infirmary.
"Iida-chan, did you know Deku-kun from before coming to UA?" asked the smaller girl with curiosity.
"Deku...? You mean Midoriya-kun?" The other girl nodded. "No. I met him at the entrance exam. Like you did, Uraraka-kun," she answered and received a weird look from Ochako. "Did I say something weird?"
"E-eh? No!" Ochako negated with her head. Her cheeks were redder than before. "Don't mind me, Iida-chan. It seems I misunderstood something, hehe..."
Tenko looked at her in confusion but remained silent. It probably wasn't anything important.
"G-girls!" Izuku called out and ran to them. "I thought y-you had gone home already."
"Of course not! We were waiting for you, Deku-kun," explained Ochako, and Izuku became uncomfortable the moment she called him by his nickname.
"D-deku?! Why-?" Out of nowhere, Tenko entered his personal space and grabbed him by his wrist.
"It's your finger okay, Midoriya-kun?!" she questioned him, practically glaring at his slightly red finger.
"Y-yeah, it is!" Not completely convinced, she softly touched his digit.
"Does it hurt?"
"N-NO, IT D-DOESNT!" He shook his head with fervor, while the tiny part of him that wasn't dying of embarrassment enjoyed the girl's attention and concern.
Ochako observed the exchange with amusement.
"I knew it."
Keep up the great work and don't let this get dropped