Assigning the Teams

A/N: Hey all! Got the sudden craving to do a My Hero Academia fanfic this time around, this time being a love story between our main hero Deku and the lovely Uraraka. It'll be set in the future at the start of the new year but still at first year; according to my hasty Google research, this should bring them to their final semester before moving up to second year. Well enough of my babble, here's the first chapter of my newest fanfic! Woohoo!

Morning crept over the Hero School, UA. The Christmas and New Year festivities were all over and a new term was upon Class 1-A. Izuku Midoriya awoke, his eyes groggy and his mind had flashbacks of the Christmas Break; for once, things were quiet for the UA students, who were allowed to go home to their families to spend the holidays there and returned the day before to catch up with everyone and give presents to those close to them. Now with celebrations all complete, it was time for the final semester, hopefully one that has much less villain attacks on the school. But one thing that Midoriya was positively excited for was the final exams; just before the break, his homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa warned them that the final exams were on the horizon and if they wanted to get to the next year successfully, passing was mandatory. If the final exams were as exhilarating and enlightening as the last exam they faced at the start of summer, in which he and his classmate and rival Katsuki Bakugo took on his eternal idol and mentor, All Might himself, then this one was going to be even better, and with plenty more experience under his belt, with a summer filled with battles, a fierce provisional licence exam, an internship in which he met two very special people: Mirio Togata and the child wonder, Eri and an explosive culture festival, he was now ready for anything!

Once Midoriya's flashback to the days gone ended, he begun his daily routine once more, starting off with cleanly hygiene, including having a nice warm shower for the cold weather ahead, giving his teeth a thorough brush and all while he exercised with a heavy dumbbell, getting his strength back after a long break. All cleaned and exercised, Midoriya proceeded to get dressed into his school uniform; with the cold season now taken effect, the students now had warmer school coats to wear. The last thing to do now was head down to the student's common area, get breakfast and await the start of class. Descending the single story between his room and the common area, Midoriya saw that some of his classmates were already up and about and by the looks of it, just about everyone was as pumped for the months ahead as he was.

Katsuki Bakugo and Eijiro Kirishima were just as fired up as ever, with the former firing explosive blasts from his palms onto Kirishima's super hard Unbreakable form to test its durability, to which he took it like a tank; Momo Yaoyorozu was feverishly reading books of all kinds, both studying books and books on internal compositions that aids her Creation Quirk, apparently, the party they had the day before was the only day she didn't spend studying over the holidays and was now catching up, despite studying for weeks; Rikido Sato was still asleep on the sofa from last night, still in his casual clothes, apparently, everyone wanted to see the limit of his powers by watching him eat a whole box of chocolates that he received as a present, and while it was impressive to see him overpower half the men in class 1-A in an arm wrestling contest, he quickly got tired and fell straight to sleep; Midoriya could also make out the sprinting figure of Tenya Iida outside, doing morning laps around their dorm to stay in good shape, and at the meal tables was Shoto Todoroki, having a standard cereal breakfast and Ochaco Uraraka, having eggs and bacon with a glass of orange juice. Before Midoriya could even say good morning, the brown-haired girl noticed him and gave a hearty smile.

"Good morning, Deku!" Uraraka called happily, which surprised Midoriya greatly, as she spotted him the moment his foot touched the last stair.

"G-Good Morning, Uraraka..." Midoriya smiled nervously as he too started his day with a nutritional bowl of cereal and sat opposite Uraraka.

"Excited for the new semester? I can't wait to get started!" Uraraka spoke with a nice chipper attitude, not knowing that she leaned in close to Midoriya, as was her trademark.

"So close..." Midoriya swooned in his thoughts, liking Uraraka's positive can-do attitude.

"Yeah, me neither...It'll be another fun semester, Uraraka..." Midoriya spoke hopefully, raising a loving smile from the girl in front of her. But before she can reply, her thoughts drifted, causing her to blush even more so than usual.

"W-Well, better be off to get ready!" Uraraka spoke hurriedly, standing up and speeding towards the staircase faster than Midoriya can say that she hasn't finished her breakfast.

"What was that all about?" Asked Midoriya, confused as to why Uraraka went from having a nice conversation over breakfast to running faster than a Recipro Burst powered Iida. And as he thought of the class president, so he did appear, having finished his morning jog. Iida walked over to Midoriya.

"Is something the matter with Uraraka? I saw her run rather perculiarly for the stairs just now." Iida asked, waving his arms around in a robotic-like fashion.

"I'm not sure, Iida." Midoriya replied in confusion. "Uraraka's been acting strange lately. One second we're having a conversation, next thing, she changes the subject or bolts in the opposite direction. Is something troubling her?" Iida could see the confusion in Midoriya's face before patting his shoulder in comfort.

"Don't worry, Midoriya. These things resolve themselves in time. I'm sure Uraraka's worried about the upcoming exams, is all. Once she's confident she'll pass, I'm positive she'll be back to her old dynamic attitude!" Iida's words resonated well with Midoriya, suddenly it became so obvious, of course she was nervous about the exam. It's why Bakugo and Kirishima are more fired up than usual and how Iida was doing laps more often. The pre-exam jitters would get anybody like that.

"Sure! Thanks, Iida!" Midoriya smiled happily to the hero in training that would be considered his best friend. But Midoriya and Iida's hypothesis couldn't have been more wrong if they tried. While upstairs and in the sanctuary of her room, Uraraka sat at the base of her bed, her hands hugging her face while the girl herself was in a battle of wits.

"I have to keep my feelings in check...I can't let myself get distracted...Why...Why can't I just tell Deku how I feel...?" Uraraka's eyes were filled with tears, the conflict in her mind reaching breaking point, all because Aoyama had to ask if she liked Midoriya. She didn't know what to think anymore.

Once the pre-morning activities were completed between all students, they individually set off for the UA's main building for their first lessons of the day. The Winter chill was strong at this time, and none felt the cold more than Tsuyu Asui, who was shaking like a leaf despite the many layers of clothes she wore; her Frog Quirk was at a disadvantage in the cold weather, being cold-blooded herself, Midoriya felt sorry for the mutant hero. Finally reaching the comfort of the main building, the class arrived at their homeroom, waiting to be welcomed by the homeroom teacher, Eraser Head, or more commonly referred to as Aizawa. Once seated, Midoriya looked to see Uraraka had her eyes forward, focused and determined, it was a rare sight to see the otherwise happy-go-lucky Uraraka so stern. Before Midoriya could ask Uraraka what was wrong, the door banged open to reveal the even more stern homeroom teacher, Aizawa.

"Morning, Class." Aizawa grumbled in his usual fashion, before taking his place at the front of the class. "Alright, final exams are coming up, and we're making preparations as of today."

"Right off the bat?" The class gasped mentally in unison, always surprised by Aizawa's words.

"As you know, you spent all of last semester developing your Quirks to be even stronger and develop new moves to give you more diversity in combat scenarios. Some of you even got first hand experience in villain combat with your internships.

How could Midoriya forget? The internships provided many lessons, both in combat and as a hero in general, as did both Uraraka, Tsuyu and Kirishima, who were also present on the raid of Kai Chisaki's main base of operations.

"However, what you most likely don't know is that even with all your training and development, you're not gonna go far without working with the heroes around you, combining your force of numbers with your Quirks. No matter if it's rescuing civilians or battling villains, whether you're pro heroes, sidekicks or interns, heroes who don't work as a team are better off not being heroes at all." These statements made the class gulp, Aizawa's statements always struck a nasty chord with the class for his honest approach to lessons. "Which is why, for the final exam, your main focus will be..." Aizawa flicked a remote onto a projector which when flashed onto the front wall, revealed the words "TEAM COMBINATION QUIRK ATTACKS".

"So, that's what we're doing." Midoriya gasped in awe, excited at the idea of using One For All, the Quirk he inherited from All Might in conjunction with the wide variety of Quirks in the class.

"Of course, there'll still be the usual written exam, but this will be the focus of your exam preparations. Alone, your Quirks are formidable, can bring down villains and save civilians. But as a team, the possibilities of the different Quirks you'll encounter become limitless. For this final exam, you'll be separated into pairs, just like the exam at the start of summer, develop team combination Quirk attacks and use that to overcome the obstacles we set. And I hope you'll all pass." Aizawa's eyes glared at the five dropouts of the last final exam, namely Kirishima, Sato, Ashido, Kaminari and Sero, who all looked sheepishly away, hoping to do better this time around. "This will be different now as it was then, since now, you'll have three months to prepare with your teammate and become stronger from it. Oh, and no relying on the Support class for help, this is your exams, not theirs. Plus it's about using your Quirk in conjunction with others, using equipment will cheapen that teamwork." There came audible sighs of annoyance from most of the class; Midoriya knew this would be the most likely outcome, but was still sad he couldn't rely on the Support class' ace student, Mei Hatsume for help on this one, or should he say, Hatsume will be sad for being unable to test more of her 'babies' out on him.

"Once you get your teammate, we'll begin training right away. Alright, here's the teams." Aizawa presses another button on the projector that began to generate two names at a time. The air of the class was thick with anticipation as the 20 students eagerly waited for the names being drawn. Finally, the first set of names were drawn:

Katsuki Bakugo and Minoru Mineta.

"What the fuck?! I've got that wimpy loser for a partner?! That's bullshit!" Was the immediate response from Bakugo with a mad explosion on the defenceless table, while peering at the tiny Mineta, who was equally as angry for different reasons.

"I didn't get a girl again?!" Cried the perverse Mineta. "It's like the school's deliberately trying to stop me partnering with girls!"

"Unlike the practical exam from the start of summer, where we choose each pair based on overcoming individual weaknesses, these partnerships are randomised." Aizawa explained before continuing. "You don't get to choose who you are partnered with as pro heroes, so you have to be ready for any Quirk you're allied with. Understood?" The answer was still clearly no, but Bakugo and Mineta both sat down grumbling to themselves as Midoriya was caught in the middle of it. "Alright, next..." The names spun once more and landed on:

Momo Yaoyorozu and Denki Kaminari

"Sweet!" The blonde haired electric user hollered in victory. "No way am I failing this time with the smartest in the class on my side!"

"No way am I passing with the densest in the class on my side." Momo Yaoyorozu corrected as she sank in her chair in defeat, ignoring Mineta's pleas for a partner exchange. Then, the next names appeared:

Eijiro Kirishima and Rikido Sato

"Us two again, huh?" Kirishima smirked with his toothy grin. "We'll definitely pass this time!"

"You got it! We're not muscle heading our way out of this one!" The now recovered Sato declared in passion. The next names appeared:

Yuga Aoyama and Tooru Hagakure

"C'est magnifique!" The French loving Aoyama spoke happily. "We shall pass this exam with flying colours, mademoiselle!"

"Okay, is anyone else like super worried right now?" The invisible girl, Tooru, spoke with uncertainty in her voice that the student that passes exams by the skin of his teeth is on her side. The next names were chosen:

Hanta Sero and Mezo Shoji

"Sweet!" The tape-elbowed Sero grinned happily with this result. "Won't let you down, big guy!"

"Just don't fail and leave me in the dust like last time." Shoji spoke with his dupli-arm forming a mouth to allow him to speak. The next names showed up:

Fumikage Tokoyami and Shoto Todoroki

"A good result." Smiled the bird-faced Tokoyami. "Let's pass together, Todoroki." Then from his shadow came his sentient Quirk, Dark Shadow, who gave an encouraging thumbs up.

"I'll be counting on you." The half ice, half fire user, Todoroki nodded in satisfaction with this result as the next names appeared.

Koji Koda and Kyoka Jirou

"Us two again, hm?" The earphone earlobed girl chuckled and looked to the shy animal talker. "Let's do our best again, okay?" Being shy, Koda nodded with a little blush, prompting a giggle from Jirou. Next up were...

Mina Ashido and Tenya Iida

"Woohoo! Class president's on my side!" The pink haired, pink skinned Ashido celebrated. "We'll pass this thing for sure!"

"Of course! Happy to be paired with you!" Iida bowed charismatically, though did have reservations on how he'll fair with the second "densest" in the class. The next names appeared.

Tsuyu Asui and Mashirao Ojiro

"A result that's to be expected." The tailed Ojiro chuckled. "Let's do our best, Asui." But Tsuyu was still shivering from the cold under her many layers of clothes, only muttering a pitiful...

"C-C-Call me...T-T-Tsuyu..." The frog-like girl spoke with a weak thumbs up. Midoriya tried to do a head count to see if anybody else was still unpicked; if his thinking was accurate, he was the only one left that wasn't chosen and he was stuck with the other person not chosen yet, but the constant whirl of names made him forget which ones have been chosen again. That was until the names finally appeared, one that made Uraraka's heart stop for a second...

Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka

If this happened six months ago, Uraraka would have been delightfully happy, but now, when her feelings for her partner were all over the place, this couldn't have been the worst match up in the history of match-ups! Uraraka peered over to Midoriya, who gave her a gentle smile from across the class.

"Let's do our best, Uraraka." Midoriya smiled, waving his scarred hand at the emotionally mixed up girl.

"I'M DOOMED!" Uraraka squealed in her head in utter despair, knowing that if she and Deku were to team up: one of two things were bound to happen: their feelings would blossom into a beautiful flower and the two pass, but Uraraka told herself not to get distracted by such notions, or the most likely outcome: they fail, because Uraraka was the unfocused, love stricken klutz.

"Well, that about wraps that up." Aizawa spoke as he turned the projector off. "I'll be overseeing the ten groups and making sure you're up to speed. Now if you'll like to make your way to test site gamma, we'll-" But Aizawa didn't finish his sentence before Uraraka piped up.

"Sensei, I request a trade." Uraraka spoke as she stood up.

"SOLD!" Came the annoying cries of Mineta. Uraraka's outburst confused Midoriya, why would she not want to partner with him? Now he was certain things weren't quite right.

"Sorry, Uraraka, But you had an equal chance at being partnered with anyone else, just like everybody else." Aizawa stated. "Your partner is your partner til the end of semester. If you don't like it, then you can both fail together. Now back to my initial instructions before being rudely interrupted: make your way to test site Gamma on the double." With that, Aizawa headed off there now, but not before heading to the teacher's lounge to pick up Eri, who wanted to see more of Midoriya in action. The others packed up their things and headed out too, but not before Midoriya raced over to Uraraka in worry.

"Hey, are you okay?" Asked Midoriya gently, if past experience has taught Midoriya something, it's that if his friends started showing strange signs, it was best to support them in any way he could.

"I'm...fine..." Uraraka spoke and hurried out to join the rest of the class.

"What could be the matter with her...?" Midoriya puzzled, as unknown to him, Mineta had heard the question Midoriya pondered to himself and answered it for him.

"PM-" Mineta said, but before he could even finish the answer, he received a painful smack to the face from Tsuyu's tongue, which was still strong despite a weakened Tsuyu. This leaves the question of what Uraraka was going through unanswered and Midoriya hoped he would reach the answer before Winter's end, or their hero careers will be over before it even began...

A/N: Oooooooooh! The start of a new fanfic is well underway! What do you think? I hope I haven't made any characters out of character or anything. Now before you finish, I need a little advice: should Uraraka's love issues be sorted as quickly as possible or only sorted on the exam itself? Whichever way works fine, but I'm more leaning towards the quickly as possible route: I prefer writing love connections, not love conflicts. But lemme know by review or PM, your advice will be super helpful. Anyway, enough of my prattle, hope you liked the chapter and look forward to the next one! Bye bye!