A/N I always thought it was stupid that Todoroki wore what appear to be Converse sneakers to the entrance exam. Like, what?

XXXXX

The boy sitting two rows ahead of Shoto Todoroki at the UA written exam for recommended students forgot his pencil.

"Does anybody have a pencil I could borrow?" He squeaked sheepishly, his ashen hair falling in front of his eyes as his shoulders hunched. There were three minutes before the test was scheduled to begin.

"Yes!" Came a high voice behind Todoroki and a bit to the right. "Mechanical or sharpening?"

"Whatever you've got, I'll take anything," the boy said gratefully as Todoroki's attention faded again. He searched for a window to look out of but there wasn't one. The girl that had spoken swished by him, her hips twirling the skirt around her knees as she walked. Todoroki tapped his heel impatiently.

A glimmer in the corner of his vision pulled Todoroki's eyes back to the boy who had forgotten his materials and the girl who had taken mercy on him. As the girl pulled on her skin, a sleek black drafting pencil came out of her arm, the skin around it turning to liquid and then back again. She laid the pencil on the table before him, two perfect erasers falling out of her hand to clatter on the desk beside it.

"Wait, can I have an eraser?" Someone else called from another corner of the small testing room. The girl's eyes flicked to the clock before she started towards the voice.

Todoroki closed his eyes. He'd reviewed everything he thought the test might cover, and while there were still a few things he wasn't totally certain of, he felt confident enough about the material as a whole.

Around him, the waiting students continued to shout, requesting last minute back up from the girl with the black hair, who was now zipping from desk to desk, producing writing supplies, squeeze toys, and ink bottles. They hardly noticed the man with the large binder of tests enter the room before he knocked a gavel on the podium.

"The entrance exam is about to start. Please take your seats."

The girl that everyone had been asking for help turned to return to her place. Todoroki felt a little sorry that the whole entrance pool had been using her to make up for their preparatory mistakes. When she passed him in the row, however, he was surprised - her eyes showed no hint of annoyance. They were filled with exhilaration.

XXXXX

After his turn at the practical exam, Todoroki sat on the bleachers watching the rest of the races go by idly. He didn't really notice what each contestant was doing, but it was something for his eyes to look at as he sat and contemplated his fate.

Things were bad.

There were 42 entrants to the UA recommendation pool. While the odds of getting in were higher than getting in the normal route, they were still less than 1 in 10, so it wasn't exactly a cakewalk. There were seven races of six students each, and with only 4 students being accepted, it was easy to tell that at minimum, he needed to be the fastest in his individual race. If he wasn't, he sure as hell wasn't one of the four fastest overall.

And dammit! A lot of these contestants were good but some of them just weren't. And without a timer of his own, he had no idea what the first finishing times were, or whether they beat his.

Wallowing in self-pity wasn't something Todoroki usually did, but for now there was nothing else he could do, and it was driving him insane.

He'd already snapped at some other poor kid earlier, just as his match had ended. He'd sat here ever since. Deciding he needed some air, Todoroki stood up, brushed his knees, and started off in the direction of the water fountain.

Just then, the next race ended, and he looked up to see a girl with dark, wavy hair whooping loudly at her victory. Huffing, he started back ahead down the bleachers, more quickly, only to slip and skid the soles of his sneakers on the metal stairs.

As Todoroki turned to grasp for a handhold, one of his shoelaces got caught on a bolt. He flipped downwards, catching himself before the back of his head hit a stair, his hands skinning painfully. His pencils and wallet slid out of his pockets and clattered down several feet to the concrete below. Wincing, he heard his phone slide out after them.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said to the nurse robots that rushed to his aid. They tugged at his hands and put some kind of antibacterial spray over his fresh wounds despite his protests before scurrying off.

He was picking his shoes out of the crevasse they'd gotten stuck in when he noticed the reason he'd fallen in the first place.

The entire row under where he'd been sitting on the bleachers was covered in ice. In his panic and stewing, he'd frozen the metal around him, covering it in a slick layer of frost. No one was sitting near him.

He shook his head, stood back up, and started back down the stairs more carefully this time. But, when he was looking for his lost belongings, he didn't find them.

"Looking for these?" Came a voice next to him, at the bottom corner of the bleachers.

It was the girl from the classroom. The helpful one.

He stared at her blankly.

"I grabbed them so they wouldn't be lost," she said, offering his belongings. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you when you were falling, I was too far away."

"It's fine." He took his things from her hands and put them back in his pockets and turned to walk away. Checking over, his phone looked a little scuffed, but otherwise undamaged.

She spoke again when he got a few steps away. "If you come back, I can fix it for you."

He raised his eyebrows and looked down at his phone again. It was still fine.

"Your shoe."

And that was when Todoroki noticed that the inside of the sole of his sneakers had torn away from the rest of his shoe. His heel hung out the back when he picked it up.

"Shit," he said.

Weighing his options, he decided getting help couldn't hurt. The alternative was going the rest of the day with a ripped shoe.

Todoroki turned back to the bleachers and sat down next to the girl, unlacing his shoes as she pulled a needle and thick thread out of her arm.

"Momo Yaoyorozu," she said, taking his shoe from him. She stuck out the hand that wasn't holding a needle.

"Shoto Todoroki," he said, not really seeing a point in introductions but playing along.

"Hmm," she said, frowning as she started to sew the shoe back together.

"What?" He asked.

"Do you know what the interview process is like?" She asked.

"No, I don't." Endeavor hadn't gotten into UA on recommendations. "Why?"

"These soles are worn anyway, but they're very worn for someone with an ice quirk. If the interview involves more physical trials, you might be out of luck anyway."

Todoroki felt a flash of self-consciousness. He usually either practiced fighting or practiced making ice waves, he didn't usually have to deal with stepping on ice. He supposed it was an oversight on his part.

"I requested winter boots for thermal retention on my costume, but come to think of it some kind of cleats are probably the right idea. I might have to talk to the costume company about it."

Momo frowned, pausing for a moment before turning to him again. "Do you have a bag?" She asked.

"Not with me, no."

Momo nodded, and started to unbutton her shirt.

Todoroki stared, and then looked away, and then stared again.

"Most people look away."

He did.

When she was done, Todoroki looked back over to find Momo still partially undressed, her jacket and short unbuttoned to expose her chest. She pulled a thin string bag out of her skin and handed it to him. He folded it over in his hands. Despite its weight, it was remarkably strong.

"What's this for?"

"Your shoes. You can't complete the exam with those. I'll give you something better."

Slowly, bewildered, Todoroki took off his other shoe and put it in the string bag. He wasn't sure what to say or do. Normally, he would never accept this kind of generosity, especially from a competitor. But it didn't seem to be costing her anything, and she was right about how he needed something he wouldn't slip on.

"What color is your costume?" Momo asked.

"White."

She nodded, closing her eyes. She appeared to be concentrating. After a moment, her chest glowed a bright pink and she pulled a pair of long, soft white boots and handed them to him.

"Try them," she said, her eyes glowing.

There it was again. The apparent feeling of excitement she got from generosity.

He looked down at the boots. The exterior was a tough white material that looked resistant to scuffs. The interior was lined with something downy he'd never seen before. Rather than shoelaces, the boots opened with a sturdy zipper that locked at the top under a fold in the fabric. She'd thought of everything.

These boots were better than the top of the line. He'd be stupid not to use them.

He slipped the boots on and rolled his feet around in them. They fit well and were comfortable.

Rather than pace the arena, he decided to go back to where he'd been sitting. He was calmer now, less restless. Somehow, despite his situation, Todoroki felt things would be all right.

XXXXX

After a short lunch break, the examinees were left inside the cafeteria to wait for the interviews to start. There were no adults other than the silent chef who cleaned his kitchen after they were finished, and the students began to grow restless, whispering suspicions to each other about what the afternoon would hold.

"Attention everyone!" A voice came over the loudspeaker. "Please direct your attention to the screens opposite the kitchen!"

The lights went dark and the students fell silent as a pair of screens above the exit doors lit up, and a bunch of black two-digit numbers appeared onscreen.

"All right! We've reviewed the races and exams, and if your number is on the screen right now, we're going to need you to proceed to the doors on your left!"

Todoroki looked down at his shirt, and back up at the screen. The number 23 definitely was not on there. Students stood up, confused, some of them looking relieved. "I didn't think I'd made it," he heard one of them say.

After the students whose numbers had come up left, Todoroki looked around. More than half of them had just been ushered out. Were they the students eliminated or students moving on? He spotted a boy who had been in his race and had definitely finished after he had, so he wasn't sure.

And then he saw her. Momo. He remembered that she'd won her race, wearing rollerskates and pushing herself forward with two leafblowers. She'd left small red items on the track that flash-stunned the contestants behind her. She had to still be in the running.

She locked eyes with him. "There were only 21 names on the board. Someone left."

"Hmm."

A tired-looking man opened a door behind them with a clipboard. "Yeah, yeah, you guys are still in. I need number 16 for your interview."

The boy from Todoroki's race stood up. He looked terrified, but he followed the man.

Todoroki waited, and waited. He looked at his new boots. He thought about what he was going to say.

He wasn't really sure what he should tell them. That he was dedicated? That he had a strong quirk? That his father was a great hero, and by all accounts so would he be?

When half the remaining students were gone and he still wasn't sure what to say, he got up and approached Momo. She looked up at him, surprised.

"I have to ask you something," he said.

"Um, all right. What is it?"

"You helped me and all of the other examinees today. You could have let us fail, increased your chances of getting in. Why did you?"

She stared at him a moment, a look of determination on her face, while she considered her answer. "If I was given a place in this institution because someone smarter than me lost their pencil, do I deserve to be here?"

He thought about that. "I'm not sure. Does a person who made such mistakes deserve to be here?"

She shrugged. "Then maybe it's just for me. I want to achieve that victory when my opponent is at their most powerful. It's a personal thing."

Just then, the tired man returned. "Number 8, it's your turn."

Momo stood. "I hope I make it," she said under her breath.

"You will," Todoroki said, and then realized he said it.

She walked away, but turned around to look at him again.

"You'll make it," he said again.

He believed it.