You're playing with the big boys now

Flashback

Fifteen-year-old Uraraka, with her chubby cheeks and even chubbier body, despite all the hard work she has put into it to make it slimmer and perhaps more muscular, looks up at the sign in front of her, letting her know that she was where she had always dreamed she would be.

The academy to train future pro-heroes.

She takes a deep breath, begging her heart to just calm down for a goddamn second just for her to put her thoughts straight. She knows she has the written exams in the bag, it's the physical one that is making her want to turn around and never set foot in this place again.

Still, she worked for this, day and night. She promised her mother that she would make it as a hero, and they would be able to afford any lifestyle that they wanted and pay off all of their debts.

Her mother ended up dying just last year, her sickness was too far gone and their money far too less, and she couldn't make it. Young Uraraka threw herself into her training since her own father didn't give her the comfort she needed after losing her mother.

So there she is, with nothing but her guts and ambition, watching people pass her to enter the gates, no doubt having the same dream as her.

In the corner of her eyes, she sees a short guy with green hair, mumbling under his breath and his head down, not looking where he's going. He keeps on walking, and even his steps seem a little off, going diagonally instead of straightforward.

She's amused as he somehow manages to dodge people even so far up in his own head, but then he trips on his own feet. Her body moves without thinking and then she prevents him from falling by grabbing his backpack and pulling him up straight again before he smashes his head on the ground.

He's not that much taller than her, just an inch or two and she sees him scratch his hair, as if wondering how the hell that happened.

She smiles and clears her throat, and then he turns to her.

He blushes immediately seeing her, his eyes frantically moving around as if he doesn't know where he should be looking at. Just like his hair, his eyes are also green and he has freckles in his entire face, he's also too scrawny for her taste.

In the end, she finds him rather plain-looking, but she can't deny that she finds his attitude towards her quite charming.

He clears his throat "Hum, did you- hum, y-y-you know, save-"

"It would be bad luck if you fell before the exam don't you think?" she asks, her voice sweet and pleasant, and she watches as his face gets even more red, as well as his ears. She felt weird, no one had ever reacted to her like that, so he must think that she was cute, or he never talked to girls.

She'll go with the last option.

He doesn't respond, he just stares at her brown eyes, a storm behind his green ones, as if he has something to say but can't find the words to do it.

Her watch beeps, and looks at it to see that the written exams are starting soon. So she gives him a quick goodbye.

"And be careful, because next time I might not be there to catch you when you fall!" she calls out over her shoulder, waving at him.

"Okay, I will!" she heard him yell, before the doors closed behind her and she looked for the classroom.

She was glad that she found someone who looked just as nervous as she did, and she found herself rooting for the plain-looking boy.

~~

Three hours later they were all gathered to start the physical exam.

Just like she predicted, her written exams weren't that hard, but she knew that it wouldn't matter if she didn't get at least one point here. All of her work would be in vain if she lost here. Truth be told, she didn't train as much as she wanted, with school and work, but she hoped that what she got would be enough to at least get into one of the other courses, like management or something. But her heart really called out to the hero one, she was going to do everything she could to show the school that she was worthy of it.