Motivation - SPORADIC UPDATES

Twenty

"Wh-what's going on?" Uraraka asked in a panicked voice, taking a step back from the classroom door.

Iida whipped a robot hand up to stiffly gesture to the crowd of other first years outside the door. "What business do you have with Class A?"

"We can't get out!" Mineta exclaimed, raising a fist. "What'd you come here for, anyway?"

Kazue snorted from where he stood next to Midoriya, watching as Bakugō walked past with anger simmering below the surface. The sparks within his Quirk crackled. "Scouting out the enemy, small fry," the ash blond stated in a surprising anger-free tone, trudging towards the door. "We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack. They probably wanna check us out before the Sports Festival." He stopped in front of the other first years crowding the exit, a few of the ones in front shrinking back. "There's no point in doing stuff like that. Out of my way, extras."

Iida promptly had a robotic spasm attack while Uraraka and Midoriya watched the scene in terror. "Stop calling people 'extras' just because you don't know them!"

A new voice spoke from the back of the crowd, a taller boy with a bush of purple hair pushing through. "I came to see what the famous Class A was like, but you seem pretty arrogant. Are all the students in the hero course like this? Seeing something like this makes me disillusioned. There are quite a few people who enrolled in general studies or other courses because they didn't make it into the hero course. Did you know that?"

Kazue rolled his eyes under the bandages. Anyone who'd done their research prior to applying knew that. He was just making a scene, presumably to go on and say that the Sports Festival was the ticket for some in other departments to join the hero course in the place of some other student.

Yeah. That's exactly what came next.

"The school has left those of us a chance. Depending on the results of the Sports Festival, they'll consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out." His eyes slowly traveled over the entire class, and Kazue didn't miss the slightly unnerved look that he received, being covered in bandages and all. "Scouting out the enemy? I, at least, came to say that even if you're in the hero course, if you get too carried away, I'll sweep your feet out from under you. I came with a declaration of war."

Kazue snorted, plodding forwards while ignoring the ache in his face and arm. The painkillers he'd taken before school were starting to wear off. "If you're done, can you please move?" he muttered, stopping next to Bakugō. "Declarations of war are time consuming to listen to and I have somewhere to be."

"It looks like I was right," the taller boy scoffed, looking down his nose. "You are all arrogant."

"Actions speak louder than words for that sort of thing," Kazue stated flatly, adjusting the bandages over his eyes so he could see a little better. He shrugged, his work persona seeping through the uncaring mask he usually kept. "Except in your case, of course, with that sort of Quirk. You might want to practice your martial arts a bit more if everyone here suddenly finds out what it is you're able to do."

Brainwashing was taken aback, eyes narrowed as the cogs in his mind visibly turned at the deadpanned threat. "That reminds me. How did you get into the hero course with a Quirk like that?"

Kazue snorted at the question, waving the crowd away from the door so he could get through. "That reminds me, I have a complaint to submit to the principal," he mused, slowly making his way through the crowd while avoiding jostling his arm. A conversation he'd had on the first day of school floated to the forefront of his mind. "Whoever designed the exams was idiotic and completely irrational. I look forward to seeing you at the Sports Festival..."