The sun shone through the blinds of Mina's room, hitting her eyes just right. The pinkette had spent all night watching sci-fi movies, under the pretense of 'I can wake up before 8 am, no worries'.

The rays of light made her groggily wake up, slowly sitting up and yawning, running her fingers through her now tangled up hair. She looked around, still half asleep, before jumping up as soon as she saw how weirdly bright everything was outside, for what she assumed was 7 AM. She looked at her digital clock on the side of her bed.

It was 8:30 AM. Her eyes widened as soon as she realized what time it was. She had to be at the exam site at 9 AM sharp. Panicking and falling out of her bed, she quickly put on her middle school clothes, packed some gym clothes and ran downstairs.

"I see you're up-" Miss Ashido was cut off as Mina grabbed the food set on the table and quickly ran off to the front door, "Hey hey, don't be so rude!"

"Sorry! I'm really late! I'll make up for it later!" Mina exclaimed as she ran out the door, stuffing her face. It wasn't until she got to her train that she was actually able to relax. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself mentally for her big day.

"This is it… You're gonna go there, and you're gonna kick butt Mina! Yeah!" Hyping herself up in her mind, she exited her train and ran for U.A, arriving right on time to see some green haired boy make the most embarrassing fall of his life by tripping over himself.

Running up to him, she extended her hand to him, "Hey, you alright?" A small awkward silence formed before he finally grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. "I'll take that as a yes… But say, you're here for the exams, right?" From his build, and what little personality she'd gotten from him, she could only assume he was applying for General Studies, "That's really bad luck, to just fall down like that, hehe!" She said teasingly, patting his shoulder.

"I kid, I kid." She waited for a response, but all she got was a flustered look from him and silence, "Not much of a talker? That's fine. Good luck passing the general studies course!"

Mina entered the building and sat in her assigned spot, right next to a black haired boy. "Hey… you look familiar… are you from Batuu middle school?" He simply nodded. Mina tilted her head, "Do I know ya?" The boy didn't answer this time, instead choosing to inspect his paper.

"Jeez, what's with everyone today? Do I have something on my shirt or something?" Mina examined her outfit, looking for any signs of something unusual, not finding anything. She huffed as she fiddled with her ID, kinda listening to the presentation. It was pretty common stuff really, nothing she wasn't expecting.

What she wasn't expecting was mr.I-Robot to start shouting so loudly that he almost rivalled Mic's volume. Not only that, but he even called out some green haired kid for mumbling so much. Mina hadn't even noticed it, so she didn't see why- Oh.

"That's the kid who fell at the gates… Huh, guess I wasn't far off when I said it was bad luck, eh." She thought to herself, smiling slightly. She had to admire the kid's determination to at least participate, even if he didn't look like much.

Finishing the introductions, she got up with a stretch, patting the kid next to her on the back, "Well ! See ya around, good luck!" She left to change into her gym clothes, confident that she would get at least top ten in the exam.

Eijirou dashed through the exam robots, his black medium-length hair flowing through the wind as he crushed the machines he encountered. He would like to say that this was a normal thing for him, but truth be told, he was in absolute euphoria, dashing with so much confidence, tearing through his objectives, he almost certainly was going to place high.

He was snapped out of it as he saw some green haired kid cowering in fear from the exam robot. "What- What is he doing?! He needs to run or destroy it!" He thought in his mind, before he realized what scenario this was.

This was almost the exact same thing that had happened with the giant villain a few months back. Except this time, there was no Mina to save the day. No Heroes. This was an exam, people are competing against each other, so why would they help some kid who is going to fail anyway, right?

Before he could think too hard on it, Eijirou rushed in. He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but he forced his body to move. He had to move. What kind of hero would he be if he didn't save someone in need?

Leaping into the air, he crushed the robot's arm in half, landing right in front of the kid, before spinning around and finishing it off by decapitating it. "Huff… Huff… You alright?" He asked as he pulled the green haired kid to his feet.

"Y-yeah, I'm fin-

Before he could answer, Mic announced that there were few minutes left, "Crap! Catch you later, I have to keep going!" Eijirou exclaimed as he searched for more robots. He'd lost time saving the kid for sure, but he felt… proud of himself. He wouldn't have been able to do that months back. Maybe he was finally different from his old self.

As the timer began to run low and the giant robot rose from the ground, he ran away like any sensible person would. "Do they seriously expect us to fight something like that?!" He screamed as he ran as fast as he could.

He stopped as soon as he heard the sound of metal crunching and breaking apart. Turning to look at the Zero Pointer, he saw a scrawny, green haired kid had completely wrecked it's head. It took him a moment to notice, but that was the same guy he'd saved just minutes ago.

"Jeez… if your quirk's that strong, use it earlier, will you…" He said to himself as he ran to find some last robots, "Well, at least I was able to save someone who destroyed the robot, that's a bonus! Yeah! I did something good!"

Mina grumbled to herself as she poked her food. She wasn't feeling particularly hungry that evening, not at all. "Stupid blond jerk… stole my points…"

"Is everything alright, princess?" Asked Kakusuke Ashido entering the room, his average height but bulkier build easily intimidating anyone who didn't know him, only being accentuated by his deep red eyes. The only thing that decreased that intimidation factor was his pinkish red skin and hair, alongside his manner of speech.

"Nothing… Just, ugh, some blond kid stole most of my points in the exam!" She sighed dramatically, slurping her soba slowly.

"Well, do you think you passed either way?"

"I mean, probably? I did get a decent amount of points, I just kinda plateau'd after that jerk destroyed most of the targets!"

"Well," Kakusuke ruffled his daughter's hair, "Then it ain't all bad is it?"

Mina smiled softly, "Guess not." Despite his rather intimidating build, Kakusuke was a kind, soft man. For someone with a quirk like "Toxin", he was the polar opposite of what it would imply.

"Now c'mon, your sister wants to know what you want her to get from the store." He said, walking away from the room.

/

Eijirou took a deep breath as he saw Mina in the 1-A classroom. "Just breathe Eijirou… she's not some kind of angel, she's just another student… just greet her." He muttered to himself before entering the classroom.

"Yo! Are you from Batuu?" He exclaimed to her as he approached her.

"Yeah…? Do I know you?"

Eijirou remembered how she saw him before his look was changed and lied, "Not really, just thought you looked familiar. Name's Kirishima Eijirou!"

"Oh! Ashido Mina! It's kinda nice to know someone else from my school got in! I was kinda worried at first, that I wouldn't know anyone, but I guess this is a first step!"

"Heh, guess so!"

A green haired boy interrupted their conversation, "E-Excuse me? I-I'm Midoriya Izuku, you helped me back up a-at the entrance when we took the e-exam!" He had a shy smile on his face and a blush was covering his face. "Nice to meet you!"

"Oh, so you passed? That's great! Mr.'I couldn't say a word to the girl who helped me up' " Mina couldn't help but giggle at the boys demeanor as she teased him, it was honestly endearing and a bit cute, that is until Eijirou butted into the conversation.

"Dude! You're the guy who destroyed the zero pointer, aren't you?!" Eijirou asked enthusiastically, which prompted a shocked reaction from Mina.

"Wait, what! You destroyed that huge thing? That's awesome!" She was getting closer and closer to Izuku's face, which only deepened his blush.

"I-it was nothing… hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" Izuku said, looking at Eijirou.

"Uh… Oh, right! I helped you not get your butt kicked back at the exam! Good thing too, since you ended up taking care of the giant robot! Kirishima Eijirou!"

"And I'm Ashido Mina, but I think you might have caught that while coming over."

"Yeah! But… Kirishima?"

"Yeah?"

"Wasn't your hair-" Izuku was immediately stopped by Eijirou's hand covering his mouth, making a low 'shhh' sound.

"Let's…. not talk about that, okay?" Izuku nodded, "Great!" He was quickly interrupted by their homeroom teacher, who wanted them to get into their gym uniforms and go outside for some sort of activity.

The quirk apprehension test was nothing short of tiring. Various tests had to be done by each student to judge their potential, similarly to a P.E test, except they'd be able to use their quirks. Eijirou and Mina were doing well in different areas, Izuku… not so much. He hadn't used his quirk thus far, despite it being extremely strong according to the red haired boy.

Mina expected him to fail completely, even the ball pitch test, which was relatively easy for anyone. "You sure he's the guy who destroyed the 0 pointer?" Eijirou just nodded as Mina crossed her arms. She was sure he'd gotten someone else, and Izuku was just faking it, until…

The ball flew forward several hundred meters in the air, easily passing 700 M. Mina stood there, mouth gaping. "Wha- How…"

She watched as he went to his other classmates, Iida and Uraraka, who were very clearly worried for him. She noticed how he clutched his finger. Maybe his quirk wasn't something he could use as easily as others?

"Yeah, he doesn't look like much but he's a power house! Yo, Midoriya! Come here!" Izuku waved to Uraraka and Iida as he went over to the other duo. "Dude, what was up with that? Why didn't you use your quirk in the other tests?"

"W-well…" Izuku raised his hand and showed them his finger. It was swollen and broken, the skin having gone purple and wounded. "This… happens."

"What the heck?! Are you okay dude?" Mina stared at the wounded hand in disbelief. She knew some quirks had physical drawbacks, but this was something else entirely, for something to break the user...

"Yeah, you, uh, really got messed up huh." Eijirou added scratching the back of his head, wincing as he looked at the wounded finger.

"I-it's nothing really! I swear!"

The rest of the tests went on as normal, with Izuku performing poorly due to the pain. Mina and Eijirou both taking pity in him, the amount of pain he must have been in was quite possibly unbearable, and it was evident by his scrunched up face. In the end, everything worked out, but he was still in quite a lot of discomfort.

Eijirou tried approaching him, but Iida quickly rushed over to Izuku, "Midoriya! Allow me to assist you to the nurse's office! As a Hero Student, it is my duty to assist someone injured!" Eijirou simply smiled as Izuku was almost carried to the office. Maybe later.

The end of the school day arrived, Izuku was walking home with Uraraka and Iida by his side, all of them chatting while they walked. Mina and Eijirou both ran towards the group and butted in. "Hey Midoriya! You feeling better?" Eijirou asked him, morbid curiosity in his voice.

"Y-yeah, I am." Mina quickly grabbed his hand and looked at it. "Wh-what are you doing?!" He struggled to form words, barely forming a sentence, his whole body just frozen in place from the sudden contact, the only thing making it worse was the fact that it was a girl who was touching him.

"Just checking dude, relax! How did this get healed so quickly?" Mina stared at his bandaged finger, slowly turning his hand around, when Iida intervened.

"I know you are worried for him, but please refrain from moving his hand so much, Ashido! Recovery Girl has healed his wounds, but it is best for him to not make sudden movements!" Iida chopped at the air in frustration, his motions almost robot like.

Mina let his hand go, Izuku's face once again glowing bright red. "Alright alright, no need to tell me twice. Anyway, I gotta go, I have to go take my train home!" She quickly ran to catch her train, leaving the others behind.

"O-okay, bye Ashido!"

Izuku let out a deep sigh as he walked to his train station, what had he gotten himself into? He'd met two girls and both of them seemed to like his presence… needless to say, that was an alien concept to him, so much so that whenever either even came close to him, he'd blush bright red. "Calm down… they just want to be friends, that's all…" That word, "friends", it made his throat tighten. Izuku technically had a friend back in childhood, but he quickly became his bully. His walk slowed down as he thought of that, his shoulders slumping. At least he had people he could call friends now, right?

As he arrived to the train station, he spotted the pink haired girl herself, Mina. He froze for a moment, thinking of what to do. Should he greet her? That might come off as creepy somehow... Should he just ignore her? No, that'd be rude… He took a deep breath and walked towards her, his best option was the former.

"H-hey A-Ashido!" Izuku said to her as he walked closer, hoping to not come across weirdly, but most of his body was rigid.

"Oh, Midoriya! Hey! You take this train home too?" She asked him, enthusiasm in her voice.

"Ye-yeah, I live in Shizuoka." He stopped for a moment, trying to recompose himself, a task that proved to be incredibly difficult for him when near a girl, especially a girl of his age.

"Ah, cool! Your stop's only a few stops after mine!" Mina rocked from side to side, smiling. "Nice to see you share a ride home with me, Midoriya!" Izuku gained a small blush from the comment, but they were just friends, no reason to feel like that, right?

They both entered the train and sat down next to each other. Izuku had tried to keep some distance from her, but with how crowded it was, it was either sit right beside her, or a total stranger. Frankly, he wasn't a fan of either option, but if he had to sit next to someone, then at least it'd be someone he knows. Their shoulders nearly touching and Izuku's blush deepening, how close they were managed to make even the girl blush slightly, but Mina finally broke the ice as they rode the train, "So, what was that all about?"

"H-huh?" Izuku was puzzled at the sudden question, not quite sure what to make of it at all.

"That Bakugo guy calling you "Deku", are you two friends or something?" Mina's eyebrows lifted up slightly, she was curious on what exactly was going on between the two.

"You… could say that." Izuku answered nervously, he didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to harm Bakugo's image.

"Well, he's not very nice if he calls you Deku, is he now?" Mina put a finger to her chin, thinking. "I know a nickname that'd be better!"

"H-huh?" The boy wasn't exactly fond of his current nickname, so he wasn't thrilled to hear this one.

"Midori! Since your hair's green and all! Plus it's cuter than Deku!" Mina stuck out her tongue playfully than gave Izuku a warm smile.

"Midori's fine!" Izuku answered way too enthusiastically, making him cover his mouth in embarrassment, making Mina break out in a fit of giggles, he apparently needed to learn how to handle positive attention from girls.

"Anyway, You know your quirk? It's really strong! But… also kinda weak, since you apparently break yourself just from using it, huh? Why's that?" Mina had both a curious and a worried tone. Sure, Izuku sported a massive power that he inherited from OfA, but he really didn't know how to control.

Izuku began sweating more, not just from sitting right next to a girl, but also from the fact that someone was questioning his quirk. His mind running at a thousand miles per hour to find an explanation for it that wouldn't compromise All-Might, when suddenly the girl bumped into him. "Hey, you okay? You're sweating a lot and, uh, you kinda spaced out there."

"Just use the same excuse you used for your mom, Izuku…" the boy thought, and finally spoke. "It's, uh…. It's nothing, just a-a bit ho-hot in here. But abo-about my quirk… I was a-a bit of a… late bloomer." Mina perked up in interest at the boy's explanation, motioning with her hands for him to go on. "So-so my body didn't adapt to it li-like it normally would. Although, I-I guess if I had this at four years old, it might have had wor-worse consequences like my limbs falling off, or…" Izuku's speech devolved into mumbling as he thought about One For All, rationalizing if it would have even been possible for someone so young to receive it.

"Uh, Earth to Midoriya?" Izuku snapped out of it as Mina gave him a small push. "You kinda spaced out and kept mumbling, dude."

"O-Oh I'm sorry! It's a re-really bad habit I ha-have…" Izuku said sheepishly, looking towards the ground with embarrassment.

"It's cool, I find it kinda endearing actually! It's pretty neat really, You just get lost in logical thought, I could never do that, only day drea." As the acid girl said this, the boy's blush only grew more and more, so did his stuttering, but her fun was cut short as they arrived to her destination.

"Ah, this is my stop, nice talking to ya Midoriya! See you around!" Mina walked away and out of the train, waving to Izuku as she did so.

"By-bye!" Izuku sunk into his seat as less people crowded the train, and tried to process what had just happened. One thing he'd already gathered though, is that being that girl's friend was probably going to cause him to have a heart attack, or to faint, whichever one came first.