Chapter Text
“You think this will be fun, huh? Perhaps I should raise the stakes. Whoever comes in last across all 8 tests will be judged to have zero potential as a hero - and expelled.”
There was a great deal of shock at Aizawa-sensei’s declaration, but Momo wasn’t worried. After all the fuss he had made about rationality, there was no way that he would actually expel a student on the first day of class on the results of a quirk assessment of all things. Not everyone’s quirks lent themselves to physical tests - sensei himself had a quirk with no physical relevance - and so, she thought to herself, it was more likely a way of motivating them to do their absolute best.
“We’ll continue with the ball throw, since the bin of balls is already out,” Aizawa said, his voice easily cutting through the worry and chatter and silencing the class once more. “Izuku Midoriya, you scored second-best in the entrance exam. You’re next.”
The cute green-haired boy Momo had seen casually chatting with Bakugo-san before sensei began the test blinked, as though surprised that he was up next, before shrugging and stepping forward. “Yes, Aizawa-sensei.”
Midoriya-san was one of the members of the class whose quirk gave him a rather distinct appearance, much like Shoji-san or Ashido-san. Along with remarkably fluffy green hair, his eyes were a luminous white that made Momo wonder if he had pupils or irises at all, and every time he breathed out he produced a white mist which glowed the same brilliant white, as though it was wintertime.
He took a ball from the bin beside Aizawa-sensei and stepped into the ring. “Ah... Sensei, my ball might take a while to land...” Midoriya said, a little hesitantly.
“Just throw the damn thing, Deku!” Bakugo shouted at his friend. “The sooner it goes up, the sooner it goes down!”
Midoriya flipped Bakugo off, still looking at Aizawa-sensei, and Bakugo laughed. The teacher ignored this byplay, instead saying, “We don’t have all day, Midoriya.”
The green-haired boy nodded, and brought the ball up to his lips. He breathed out, slow and deliberate, and a thick cloud of that mist surrounded the ball and began to sink into it.
Momo watched with interest as the ball began sparking and glowing with a strange aura - an odd energy that flowed out of the ball like some cross between smoke, fire, and electricity, still that same brilliant white that seemed to be the trademark of Midoriya’s quirk, whatever it was.
A moment later, the ball split down its seams, reshaping itself under the influence of that aura into something more like a bird, which was now perching on his hand instead of held in his grip.
Momo couldn’t stop herself from gasping a little, as did a few of the other girls - the bird Midoriya had created was quite cute. Even Jiro-san beside her let out a soft, “Cool.”
Midoriya glanced at Aizawa-sensei again, apparently still unsure if this use of his quirk was allowed, before he tossed the bird-formerly-known-as-ball into the air. It flapped its wings and began flying away and up into the sky.
Sensei glanced at the measurement instrument, then up at the bird as it flew, quickly leaving the range of Momo’s vision despite the vibrant aura. “How long will that thing fly?” he asked Midoriya-san.
“I put about five minutes of my energy into it,” the student answered, “which on a golem of that size should last at least half an hour. As it runs down it’ll lock its wings and glide until it hits the ground, and it’s heading up as much as it is out, so... a while.” He blushed. “I did say it would take a while.”
Aizawa sighed. “Fine. We’ll come back to the ball-throw after Midoriya’s results are in. For now, let’s start on the other tests.”
Momo made a note to keep an eye on Midoriya-san as he went through the tests, even as she banished the template for a ball-launching machine that she had been preparing for her own turn from her mind. That was an interesting quirk, she told herself, and she wanted to see more of it.
Momo’s interest in Midoriya-san only grew as the tests continued and he showed just how versatile his quirk was. He brought the full length of the 50-meter-dash lane to life as a moving walkway to carry him along, animated a stone arm from the concrete below for the grip test... while he hadn’t scored the highest in any test - Momo was a little embarrassed to realize that she was the one taking most of those crowns - he was often right behind her.
The other interesting thing, along with his impressive imagination and skill with his animation quirk, was that Bakugo - who even Momo, who knew she had been rather sheltered by her parents, could see was a rather abrasive person - was obviously a good friend of Midoriya’s, the two addressing each other by the nicknames of ‘Deku’ and ‘Kacchan’ and playfully teasing each other about their respective scores. It was an interesting dynamic, especially given that with everyone but Bakugo-san, Midoriya-san seemed shy and almost overly-polite.
Which, admittedly, wasn’t something that the equally shy Momo, who couldn’t pretend to herself that she wasn’t using formality and politeness to keep people a little at a distance, could really criticize.
Still, it wasn’t just the easy, semi-antagonistic friendship that Midoriya and Bakugo had that surprised her - she was also surprised to see Bakugo showing what was clearly genuine concern for Midoriya, who, she couldn’t help but notice, was clearly flagging, almost exhausted by a mere half-hour of using his quirk. Bakugo had chewed Midoriya out after the 50-meter-dash in particular, seeming very concerned - in an angry way - about Midoriya-san using too much of his energy. The green-haired boy had used smaller animations since then, even restricting himself to simply jogging in the distance run - the only test that he had finished in the lower half of the class.
Perhaps that was why the boy seemed to have fascinated her, Momo thought to herself, watching as he began the seated toe-touch. His quirk appeared to function off of his vitality, much like how her own quirk used her fat stores as fuel. Both of them could easily go too far and hurt themselves, potentially permanently, if they overused their quirks...
Jiro-san, beside Momo, nudged the taller girl with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Already got your eyes on someone, huh?”
“Sorry?” Momo said, startled out of her thoughts.
The purple-haired girl nodded her head towards Midoriya. “You’ve been staring at Green’s butt for a good thirty seconds. I can’t blame you, honestly - I’m not generally interested in guys, but he’s pretty cute.”
Momo blushed heavily as she realized what Jiro was implying. “No-no, nothing like that!” she denied, hiding her face in her hands and looking away from Midoriya-san. “I was just - he - no! Just, our quirks are rather similar, don’t you think, Jiro-san?”
Jiro rolled her eyes - she had quite expressive eyes despite her permanently half-lidded look - and said, “Sure, that’s all it is. And don’t bother with the formalities, just call me Jiro.”
Momo uncovered her face enough to smile at the shorter girl. “I - but -”
“I don’t go in for formalities, Yaoyorozu-san. Don’t worry about it,” Jiro assured her.
“I - alright, Jiro, if you insist,” Momo said after a moment. “But you must do the same.”
“Sure thing, Yaoyorozu.” Jiro tilted her head to the side. “‘Yaoyorozu’ is kind of a long name, though. How about ‘Yaomomo’?”
Momo found herself blushing again. “I... I think I might not be ready for such informality yet.”
“‘Yet’, huh? Alright then,” Jiro said, taking the denial easily. “You just let me know when you’re ready for a nickname. And yeah, you’re right, your quirk is kind of similar to Green’s. You both have a ton of options in any situation - I’m a little jealous, to be honest.”
“Oh, but your quirk is so useful as well!” Momo gushed. “The enhanced hearing alone will be incredible in any sort of hero work, from patrolling to search-and-rescue! And if you can produce soundwaves from your jacks as well as pick them, you’ll always have a powerful ranged and area-of-effect option, not to mention your jacks utility in close-quarters combat-”
Jirou chuckled. “You really ought to talk to Green,” she told Momo. “You wouldn’t believe the ideas he’s been getting, watching other people use their quirks.”
Momo raised an eyebrow. “He is interested in quirk analysis as well?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Jiro confirmed. “He’s been muttering up a storm every time he has the chance to watch people use their quirks. I bet you’d get along great, if you know what I mean.” She waggled her eyebrows.
Momo tried to forestall another blush, and failed. “Oh look at the time, I’ve got to go do the repeated side-steps!”
“Didn’t you already-”
“Gotta go!”
As the other seven quirk tests drew to a close, Aizawa-sensei called the class back to the ball throw where they had started. “Midoriya’s throw finally landed,” he declared without preamble, and displayed the result, which read 24,071.8 meters - more than 30 times Bakugo-san’s result!
“Holy shit, dude!” gasped the redheaded boy with the hardening quirk - Kirishima-san, if Momo remembered correctly. “That’s incredible!”
“How dare you beat me!” Bakugo yelled, leaping at Midoriya with his hands sparking. Momo gasped involuntarily and even Aizawa-sensei stepped forward, his hair beginning to rise as he took his scarf in one hand, but he relented when it became clear that both Bakugo and Midoriya were laughing.
Instead of stepping in physically, sensei just said, “Playfight on your own time, kids,” and the two separated from each other, returning to the class with muttered apologies - although only from Midoriya - for the disruption.
That friendship confused her.
As with most of the other tests, Aizawa had them go in order of their results in the entrance exam, with her and Todoroki-san - the other student in the class who can come in through recommendations - going last. Next up was Kirishima-san.
The redhead threw just over 71 meters, quite respectable given that his quirk didn’t seem to enhance his strength much, but still seemed disappointed not to match up to Midoriya or Bakugo’s massive scores. He returned to the class with his head hanging low, but was quickly cheered up by Midoriya- san shyly asking about his quirk.
After Kirishima-san came Uraraka-san, who’s antigravity quirk blew even Midoriya’s record out of the water with an infinity. Then came Iida-san, then Tokoyami-san...
By the time that Yaoyorozu finished off the tests by generating an air cannon, scoring third place behind Uraraka-san and Midoriya-san with a solid 1123 meters, she had quite forgotten about the threat of expulsion. Aizawa-sensei, however, had clearly not.
“Minoru Mineta,” he said, the purple-haired boy trembling in fear. “...you’re in luck. You have very little potential, but not zero.”
“I’m... not expelled?” Mineta-san asked, voice wavering.
“Not yet. But you’ll have to improve quickly if you want to earn your place in this course, because your performance leaves you on thin ice.”
“I’m saved!” Mineta cried, relieved. “Who wants to reward me for my heroic efforts! Ashido, with your firm thighs and booty? Ururaka, with your lush curves? Yaoyorozu, with you-”
“Never mind,” Aizawa growled, wrapping Mineta in his scarf as Momo’s jaw dropped. “Let’s go see Principal Nezu. The rest of you,” he said to the remainder of the class, “get changed and go back to homeroom. You have your first classes soon.”
“But what about-” began Kaminari-san.
“Don’t worry about Mineta,” sensei said. “He’s not your concern.”
The girls began filtering back into their changing room, talking about what had just happened. “I hate to say it,” Jiro remarked, “but I’m glad that he’s about to get expelled. Probably expelled. If he was willing to make those kinds of remarks right in front of the teacher, what else would he have done?”
“I know,” Ururaka-san agreed as she opened the jacket of her gym uniform, revealing the black tanktop she had worn underneath. “And I’m glad to see that Aizawa-sensei, at least, seems to have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment like that. You wouldn’t believe how much I had to put up with at my middle school. Well, you might,” she said, playfully tossing the jacket at Momo before beginning to pull the tanktop over her had.
Momo blushed, turning away from the other girls. While she wasn’t exactly body-shy for herself, something about the other girls had flustered her when they had changed into their gym uniforms, and she was feeling equally flustered now - too much to even notice the way Jiro tilted a curious head at her embarrassment. “I... was actually home-schooled for my entire life,” Momo confessed. “I’ve never had to deal with anything like that, so I’m very glad that he’s gone.”
“You were home-schooled? That’s pretty cool,” Ashido commented. “But, no offense, I’m glad that I wasn’t - I’m too social to survive.”
“Yeah, I noticed you making friends with Kirishima already,” Hagakure-san said cheerfully. “A real extrovert, aren’t you!”
“Yup! Altough Eijikun and I knew each other already, actually - we went to the same middle school.”
“Eijikun?” asked Tsuyu-san. “That’s a pretty cute nickname, ribbit. Is there something between you two?”
“No, sadly,” Ashido answered with a sigh, “because he’s pretty hunky. And I think he might only be into guys, anyway. Did you see that Bakugo, though? Whew!” She fanned herself. “What a man, am I right?”
“Too aggressive for my tastes, ribbit. I thought Todoroki was quite handsome though.”
“Definitely,” Ashido agreed, “but not enough passion there. I need a guy with a bit of spark, you know? Or a girl, I’m not picky.” She winked and pointed at the rest of the room. “That means you’re all in danger!”
Jiro laughed. “I get that. I’m mostly into girls, myself, and it takes a real special guy to catch my eye.”
“That sounds like someone might have caught your eye already,” Ashido remarked. “Who’re you looking at?”
She shook her head. “None of the guys really interest me, although there’s one or two who might be able to change that. Momo, though, has the beginning of a crush already.”
“Please, no,” Momo begged, pressing her forehead against the cool metal of a locker.
“Ooh, who is it?” Hagakure-san eagerly asked.
“Is this your first crush?” Ashido asked with a happy gasp. “If you’ve been home-schooled until now...”
“The guy with the animation quirk, Midoriya,” Jiro told her, and Momo felt her blush intensifying. “I can’t blame her, he’s got a nice butt.”
“He did have a nice butt,” Uraraka agreed. “I tend to go for forearms more than asses, but... his was pretty nice.”
“He had nice hair, too!” Ashido chimed in. “Very fluffy. What did you like best about him, Yaoyorozu?”
“Please,” Momo whispered, her cheeks burning.
“Alright, lets stop teasing her,” Jiro said. “I think we might genuinely be making her uncomfortable. Sorry, Yaoyorozu.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Ashido said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“Sorry,” Hagakure chimed in.
“It’s... it’s alright,” Momo finally answered. “I know you didn’t mean to.”
“Anyway... what about you, Uraraka? If you like forearms, does that mean you liked Shoji?” Ashido teased, and Uraraka laughed.
Momo just sighed, glad to no longer be the center of attention.