Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia, or any of its associated characters and lore. That right belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

[TFPHS]

To Find a Place in Hero Society

[TFPHS]

Having once dreamed of becoming a Hero before he was diagnosed as Quirkless, Izuku Midoriya eventually learned to keep his ambitions to himself and was able to keep his friendship with Katsuki Bakugo, even if on begrudging terms, by vowing to become the best Police officer he could be to help people from his favorite All Might to the symbol of undefeated strength Katsuki intended to become in the future. Thankfully, Izuku's commitment to his studies paid off and he became a student of U.A. High School's Department of General Studies in Class 1-C while Katsuki was placed in the same school's Department of Heroes attending Class 1-A. Even more fortunate, compared to Izuku's previous schools, there were hardly any Quirked students or faculty who disregarded him simply because he lacked a superpower which gave Izuku the opportunity to relate with other students from Katsuki's classmates, an energetic Support student who shared his interest in Support Items named Mei Hatsume, and his own classmate that aspired to be a Hero named Hitoshi Shinso. Per Principal Nezu's request, Izuku was also meant to take up a tutoring assignment with an American transfer student in Class 1-B who was struggling with the Japanese language.

"You know, Midoriya, there's technically no rule that a Quirkless student couldn't participate in the upcoming Sports Festival." Hitoshi was telling Izuku when classes were ending for the day and the latter was about to meet his tutee.

"Uh, what?" Izuku responded in surprise mixed with embarrassment. "Shinso, I don't even see how I could even accomplish anything in such an event, and even if I did, I still wouldn't get in the Heroes Course. You got to admit that's pretty insane."

Hitoshi narrowed his eyes as he responded. "But it's what you really want to do, isn't it?" Seeing Izuku looking down on the ground in dismay, Hitoshi's glare softened as he added. "For what it's worth, Midoriya, I think you've got a heart that's more suited to Heroism than even mine is. I mostly just want to make a point, especially to people who always said that I was a Villain in the making, but you really want to help people for the sake of helping them." Clearing his throat, Hitoshi then took his leave and said. "See you later."

Taking the time to reflect on what he was told, Izuku soon started to headway for Class 1-B to see what kind of student and person Pony Tsunotori was supposed to be.

[TFPHS]

Upon Izuku's arrival, he was waved at by a blonde-haired girl with equine characteristics who had two horns on her head, which gave him the strong certainty that she was Pony. After a good introduction between each other, the two headed to U.A.'s school library to undergo the studies. While Pony still struggled with the Japanese language due to how accustomed she was to English in the United States at first, Izuku's patience and general helpfulness were both reassuring factors and by the end of the session, Pony was able to familiarize herself with the Japanese writing system as a start. Afterwards, the two formally took their time in acquainting with each other as they left U.A. together.

"Really?" Izuku couldn't help but reply to Pony's statement about her age in relation to the rest of her classmates in surprise. "You're the oldest in your class?" He then recognized what he said and added. "Not that I'm saying you're lying, it's just that, well…"

Pony giggled at Izuku's embarrassment before telling him. "Yeah, I do have that short, innocent look that fits most girls, but I can assure you that I'm the oldest in my class by far."

"Uh, right. Probably older than me then." Smiling a bit at hearing Pony laugh at his last comment, Izuku then asked. "Any friends in your class?"

"A lot of my classmates are pretty cool and nice people once you get to know them, even if some of them take the unspoken rivalry with Class 1-A a bit too far for whatever reason."

"And you don't?"

Pony showed a sheepish smile as she answered. "I might have my moments, but a Hero who doesn't work harder on doing good for the sake of being good probably isn't much of a Hero at all, at least to me."

Smiling wider at Pony's words, Izuku couldn't help but remember how he wanted to be a Hero just for the sake of helping others which made him sadly frown and turn away from his new friend which got her concerned notice.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?"

"Uh, it's nothing, Tsunotori, I'm fine." Izuku lied through a forced smile.

Pony, however, took Izuku's right hand in both of hers as she asked again seriously. "No, what?"

Exhaling uncomfortably, Izuku answered with a question of his own. "Do you think that a Quirkless person could be a Hero as much as a person with a Quirk?"

A bit stumped by the question, Pony soon saw the raw honesty in Izuku's expression and decided to answer as best she could. "I honestly don't know, Midoriya. I guess back in the older days when superpowers were just a fantasy, many people were considered Heroes of some sort or another no matter how ordinary they were, but now? I don't think it's impossible, but it would still be a serious challenge for anyone, Quirkless and others, to catch up with the Pro-Heroes." She then showed a small yet sincere smile towards Izuku as she added. "But just because being a Hero isn't your calling doesn't mean there's anything to be ashamed about."

Izuku sighed. "I know. It's just that ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be like All Might saving people with a smile. When I found out I had no Quirk and my only friend started to distance himself from me just because I still wanted to be a Hero in spite of it, I changed my words and told people, including myself, that I was just going to be a Police officer, and while that's not a bad job, it just doesn't feel the same compared to what All Might does."

Pony was quick to wrap a stunned Izuku in a hug. "It's okay." She told him. "I think you'll become a great Policeman, Izuku. You were smart enough to teach me Japanese." Izuku made a small smile at Pony's half-joke as she continued. "Even more important, you've got the commitment to truly help others which some people admittedly don't have."

Returning the hug, Izuku at last replied. "Thanks, Pony. Hearing you say that means a lot to me."

Stepping back, Pony left a quick peck on Izuku's left cheek, giggled at his blushing expression, and said. "It's no trouble. See you again tomorrow?"

Izuku nodded eagerly regardless of his own embarrassment. "Absolutely!"

[TFPHS]

I asked on some forum websites if Katsuki would've tolerated Izuku better if the latter opted for a different choice of career, even if he still wanted to be a Hero deep down, like a Support Techie, a Policeman, or a Hero Agency Manager, and while I didn't get an actual response, I did get enough likes to make it sound doable. Of course, that would work best, if U.A. does allow Quirkless students to attend the other departments in canon, so confirmation would be nice, but nonetheless, I can also imagine that an Izuku with One For All could apply to those other departments to get the layout of U.A. while training his Quirk in time for the Sports Festival.

Speaking of the other departments, I wonder why some writers feel the need to place Hitoshi occasionally in the Heroes Department when his Quirk doesn't really have an offensive edge to it like the telepaths and telekinetics we see in DC and Marvel Comics, and he's only recently undergone combat training. I suppose he could've Brainwashed his fellow examinees to help him get some points, but that might create more resentment than he could handle, so if Izuku was in a different department or even school, I'd personally go with an AU that has Inasa stick with U.A. regardless on whether or not he could get along with Shoto, which would put him in either Izuku's empty seat in Class 1-A, or swap seats with someone in 1-B.

Decided to do Pony in this one-shot because I figured a General Studies student would have a better time studying the linguistics that would make it easier to communicate with a foreign exchange student, even though, as a Dubbed anime watcher, I view the whole thing as being kind of silly. The school library also seemed like the right place to do tutoring, even if I'm not completely certain U.A. has one, but it probably does.

Kind of sad and distracted at the moment, though, so be mindful if I don't post/update much when I haven't in so long. A good feline companion of mine passed away on March 14, 2020, so those of you who lost a loved one of any kind should know what it's like.

Either way, everyone is welcome to check my Pat-reon to offer support, which I would appreciate.