Well, time to venture into this lengthy endeavor. First off, obviously, spoiler warning for BNHA. Don't read this if you aren't up to date. Secondly, I do not own BNHA; it is the intellectual property of Kohei Horikoshi, and I am simply a fan. This is only my second fanfiction, so it'll likely fall apart at some point. Until then, enjoy.

It had been roughly two weeks since the Sports Festival, and Shinsou felt, for all intents and purposes, crappy.

The luster of being socially accepted faded upon the realization that once again his dreams were out of reach. His transfer to the hero department didn't look likely, and considering all the intensive training that the hero students would be receiving, it was unlikely he would be able to keep up in time for next year's Sports Festival.

But, despite all of that, he had to try.

Since his defeat, he'd been going to the gym, weight lifting, jogging, and overall just doing anything he could to try to get at least a little bit closer to the goal he had set for himself.

But, it didn't feel like enough. Even with the prospect of better strength and cardio, Shinsou couldn't shake the feeling like it still wouldn't matter. That the hero students would simply be too big of an obstacle to overcome. That he'd never be able to catch up, and the hero path would become completely impossible.

So, walking out of his last class of the day, he just didn't feel great.

Since he liked to walk a little slow, he was alone when he went to retrieve his bike.

"Hey, kid."

Shinsou looked up to see the bedraggled figure of Professor Aizawa, the teacher for class 1-A, waiting for him next to his bike.

Aizawa stared at him for a moment.

"Follow me."

Aizawa turned around and started walking at a brisk pace. Shinsou snapped out of his stunned stupor, quickly catching up to the pro-hero who hadn't even paused to see if he was following.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. THE Eraserhead wants to talk to me!"

They walked across the school to a medium sized campus gym, one which had an assortment of weight lifting equipment, and punching bags. The entire floor was also one big training mat.

Aizawa stopped in the middle of the large gym space, and Shinsou ground to a halt behind him.

"Is this it? Is it happening? Am I…?"

"Am I being transferred to the hero course?"

"No."

Why did he even get his hopes up? Of course he wouldn't get transferred. He clenched his fists and fought to keep a disappointed look off of his face.

"Damn… guess there's no consolation prize for sixteenth place."

The dry depreciating humour prompted an unexpected response from the normally harsh underground hero.

"Don't sell yourself short, kid; you did just fine for a transfer."

"…What?"

"Normally, any students outside of the hero course who make it into the third round are heavily considered for transfer, granted they desire it. This was no different; the staff talked about it for a long while, but due to the threat of continued villain attacks on the current hero students, it was decided that it would be best not to transfer any students in or out at the current time."

Shinsou wasn't sure how to take that. Should he be happy that he actually did do well enough for a transfer, or upset that he was denied due to poor luck?

Sarcastic annoyance as a defense mechanism also seemed like a good solution.

"So, I didn't make the cut. Can I leave then? I have homework to do."

A flash of a smirk rippled across Aizawa's face before it turned back to indifference.

"I also brought you here because I wanted to flesh out exactly what you did wrong, because despite what I just said, your performance was far from perfect.

"You could've made it further if you'd been a bit more careful. Maybe not let others find out how your quirk worked. Could've maybe even made it to the finals. Your physical ability is laughable, and despite some admittedly clever trash talk, you haven't worked out very many ways to activate your quirk, which you rely on far too much. As it stands now, it's no wonder you lost."

"Did he literally just bring me here incase I started crying or something?"

"If you're gonna point out all of my flaws, at least touch on my general sarcasm and attitude."

Shinsou turned back towards the door with a scowl. What a waste of time.

"Come back here now."

The sternness in Aizawa's voice compelled Shinsou to turn back, if for nothing else than to frown defiantly.

"I know it's not the easiest thing to hear, kid, but you need to hear it."

Shinsou defiant frown softened into something a little sadder and more understanding. Oh, so that's what it was about. Letting him down gently; letting him know where he went wrong. Soften the blow a little. Let him know just how stupid it was for him to think he could do it, in the nicest of ways.

"I get it… the hero track isn't for me. Thanks for letting me know."

"That's not what I'm saying."

"That's what it sounds like."

"Would you like to be better? Do you want to be a hero?"

Shinsou didn't even need to think.

"Yes."

"Then I have an offer."

Shinsou looked at Aizawa with a raised eyebrow.

"The hero students will be heading off to their internships soon. I don't really have anything to do over that time, so, you could come train with me."

Shinsou's heart stopped. Eraserhead was offering to train him; the Eraserhead. The ultimate underground hero. The inspiration he'd practically idolized since he'd developed his quirk.

"This isn't going to be your average hero training. I put my students through a strict curriculum provided and overseen by the school, but, given you are not an actual student of mine, I have free reign to train you how I wish, and trust me, it'll be much worse than you think.

"This isn't going to just be flair and punching, where you swoop in, save the day, and thousands of people praise you for doing your job. The work you'll be going into will be grueling, thankless, and bloody. You'll see things that will irrevocably change you, and you'll go home every day exhausted, mentally and physically.

"I'm giving you a while to think about it; I'll be in this gym the Monday of the internships. If you think you can handle it, show up. Eight A.M., don't be late."

Without another word, Aizawa calmly walked out the door, as if he hadn't just rocked Shinsou to his core.

His mouth wide open, Shinsou began to walk back to his bike.

He almost couldn't comprehend everything that had just happened.

Being trained by Eraserhead. It seemed almost too good to be true.

Was this what he'd been missing? Could this be his big break; the thing he needed to make himself into a hero?

Only one way to find out.

(8:00 A.M., Monday of the internships.)

Aizawa walked up to the gym, and was somehow not surprised to see a mop of purple hair waiting for him by the door.

Consider this somewhat of a love letter to Shinsou's entire character. This story is semi-charted, and will likely end when I catch up to the manga. I don't really have a clue about timelines, but I have looked a few up just to get a general idea of what training goes on at what time. Who knows though, I might extend it a bit for when he actually gets into the hero course. What will this story entail? Who knows? I do but I'm not telling. Have a nice day.