I join with our new friends Mr. Aizawa and the rest of the class outside. There's a large dirt field outside the main building, and everyone waits for the gloomy teacher to begin. I check the time. At this rate, we're gonna miss orientation. What gives?
Finally, Aizawa tiredly announces. "Alright. So we're gonna start the semester with a quirk assessment test."
"What? A quirk assessment test??" The whole class parrots.
"But orientation!" a girl with brown hair whines. "We're gonna miss it!"
"If you really wanna make it to the big leagues, you can't waste time with pointless ceremonies," Mr. Aizawa responds. "Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class how I see fit."
If this is the case, it really seems like he's influencing us to skip out on meetings in our future, pointless or purposeful. I smirk as our dark teacher glares at each and every one of us to make sure he's got our full attention. He's pretty scary in a way, and I know scary; I'm basically a ghost for crying out loud!
"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives," he continues. "but you've never gotten to use your quirks in physical exams before." He shows the class his phone that listed the standardized tests we've all taken quite a lot. "The country's tryin' ta pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. That's not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn." He then looks at to Sicuto's attitude twin. "Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam."
My eyes shift at the blonde in a bit of surprise. Guess I shouldn't be though. One of us had to get the most points out of all of us.
"What was your furthest distance throw with a softball when you were in junior high?"
Who on earth keeps track of that?!
"Sixty-seven meters, I think."
Right. I guess people like him do.
"Right. Try doing it with your quirk." Mr. Aizawa hands him a leather ball and leads the boy into a circle with a lane that looked like in a hammer throw arena. "Anything goes; just stay in the circle."
The blonde, or Bakugo, glares at our teacher, not making a move to do as he was told.
"Go on, you're wasting our time," Mr. Aizawa tiredly demands. It's all about time with this guy, huh?
Bakugo shrugs and smirks. "Alright, man, you asked for it." He takes a pitching position, winds up, and violently hurls the ball. "DIE!!!" As he screams his word up motivation, a huge chain of explosions erupts from his hand, giving the ball more speed as it flies an insanely large distance down the lane. I squint at the sudden dirt and dust that blows up into my face from the devastating force.
Explosions, huh? Interesting quirk there.
As we wait for the ball to land, our teacher explains, "All of you need to know your maximum capabilities." We can all faintly see the ball land in the distance, and Mr. Aizawa turns his phone towards us to show us Bakugo's results. "It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero."
705.2 meters. Man, he's got some quirk. No wonder he placed first.
"Woah!" the lightning kid gasps. "705 meters?! Are you kidding me?!?"
"I wanna go!" the alien girl enthusiastically volunteers. "That looks like fun!"
"This is what I'm talkin' about!" Sero interjects. "Using our quirks as much as we want!"
"So this looks fun, huh?" Mr. Aizawa corrects. He's become more strict as if he just heard an insult. Probably shouldn't have said anything. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and playtime?" He glares at all of us with widened eyes, and a crooked, devious smile spreads across his lips. "Idiots."
. . . Standing there, pretty disturbed, I expect child abuse any second now. This really sounds like he'll beat us to death if we cheese him off.
"Today, you'll be competing in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none... and will be expelled immediately."
My eyes widen as I silently take in what he just said. Expelled!? Either he's wanting absolute potential to teach or he's just trying to lazily find a way to get his class to leave so he doesn't have to work.
"Expelled!?" Auxi exclaims. "As in kicked out??" She glances and whispers to Samae. "That is what that means, right?"
"Yes," Samae sighs.
"Like I said:" our teacher continues. "I get to decide how this class runs. Understand?" The way he says it sounds more like a threat than a challenge. "If that's a problem, you can head home right now."
"You can't send one of us home!" The first girl whines again. I wouldn't do that! "I mean, we just go here! Even if it wasn't the first day, that isn't fair!" It really sounds like she's not trying to defend herself but either everyone else as well or one specific classmate.
"Oh, and you think natural disasters are?" The whole class leans away, pretty shocked. "Or power-hungry villains? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out entire cities? No. The world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness."
That is surprisingly specific. Almost makes me wonder if this guy has had a depressing history or something.
"If you wanna be a pro, you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink," he continues. "For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond, plus ultra style." He brought out the school motto. What seemed at first like a threatening warning has turned into a somewhat speech of motivation. He beckons we take on his challenge. "Show me it's no mistake that you're here."
I lower my gaze that's still upon our tutor as if to show that I accept. I hear Tojuta sheepishly groan next to me before he steps up, completely nervous.
"Now then, we're just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin."
Our first test is the 50m dash. Groups of two are formed among the twenty-four of us. I'm paired against Samae, and Tojuta's against Auxi. I try to find ways to apply my quirk in the best possibilities I can think of throughout the tests. I wait for my turn as I watch each of my classmates compete. The walking rule book has insanely high speed. Makes sense though. It's like he's got motors on his calves. Iida soars over the finish, followed by the tongue girl, hopping down the lane like a frog. It seems like some of the students here don't have quirks that'll help them here. Not only Tojuta's as far as I know, but quite a few others as well. I observe the other students' performances as well. The ones that caught my eyes were some French blonde's and Bakugo's, who used his explosions to propel himself all the way down.
I trudge up to the start and take my position. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Samae flash his spiky, white teeth. I don't know if he's planning something, but I got something of my own. As soon as the word is given, I quickly bring up a couple of my flames to allow myself to slightly hover across the lane. After I pass the line, I jolt to a stop and watch Samae follow behind. His feet keep slightly sinking into the ground over his morning shadow for every step he takes. Not quite sure what his quirk is exactly.
There's not really anything exciting in Tojuta's match. Like a few of the others, his quirk doesn't match up with the test. At the same time though, Auxi doesn't either, so they're evenly matched. Tojuta's slightly faster and comes in before Auxi. In the middle of catching her breath, she smiles and gives a thumbs up to him as if to politely admit defeat.
The second test is grip strength. This isn't hard to apply to. I bring in all my flames for my full potential and have them again serve as their levitation duty. Plus those, I use my own grip on a grip pad's handle. After holding a few seconds, I glance at the results: 368 kg, not bad.
"Wow!" Sero exclaims from across the room. "You hit 540 kg?! You're such a beast!!" I look over to see he's talking to some dude with a mask and six connecting arms. In a way, he looks like a human octopus.
"Yeah, like a muscly octopus!" the midget adds. My words exactly, weirdo.
The third test: a standing long jump. This is too easy. My levitation abilities are definitely getting MVP in this series of tests. Like you probably guessed, I once again used my levitation on myself as I jumped from the start and over the sandpit. The tricky part is keeping myself balanced in midair. Other than that, piece of cake. However, I'm not the only one using the same strategy repeatedly: Bakugo and the Frenchie keep up their tactics as they did in the dash. Go figure.
The fourth test is repeated side steps. I can tell that I don't do so well on that one. I usually only rely on my phasing to dodge things, so I'm not the quickest on my feet. The midget does pretty well on this category, creating two large clumps of his bouncy orbs from his head and allowing himself to bounce between them. Tojuta also does surprisingly well here to, definitely better than me. He's always been one for dodging instead of fighting; probably from all the trouble he's encountered back in Naetwo Middle.
Then comes the test we got a sample of: the ball throwing. (Thankfully, I'm not asked how far I was able to throw a ball in my previous school years, but that's not even important.) I watch the students before me show off their results. The one that really catches mine and everybody else's attention, is the first girl's performance. She throws the ball as if it weighs nothing at all, and we all wait for it to come down. When it never does, Mr. Aizawa flips his phone to show us all a big infinity sign on it. How?!
Next up is me. I hold the ball in my hands and concentrate my levitation flames again. Without using my actual arm, I telepathically hurl the ball through the air with great velocity. Unfortunately, the flames are put out from the wind after a few seconds from take off, only putting me at 371 meters.
Tojuta does somewhat good. He throws the ball, and apparently all that target practice pays off. He launches several of his quills, pinning them dead into the ball, trying to force it to go farther. He only puts it at 154 meters, but there's worse.
Auxi shows off an interesting tactic. She continuously wraps the ball in her bandages as if to form a ball and chain of straps.
"This girl knows where it's at!" Sero exclaims. Yeah, I can see the quirk resemblance, too.
Finally, Auxi places the ball on the ground and holds the loose strap at the end. She twirls with it a few times before sending it off down the lane like it were actually hammer throw. She calls as she flings, "So long 'ay, Bowsa!" I slightly smile at her connection and compare her results: 262 meters. Plausible.
Next up is Midoriya: the supposed early rescue legend. I cross my arms and observe closely, trying to figure out what quirk he has that could possibly make him so powerful. I can see the hope in Tojuta's eyes that's praying that the nervous kid throws in his quirk.
"If Midoriya doesn't shape up soon, he's the one going home," Iida points out among us.
"Huh?" Bakugo again sneers. "Of course he is. He's a quirkless loser!"
'Quirkless?' Then how'd he even pass the entrance exam?
I nudge Tojuta, who is glaring at the big, bad blonde, not knowing what to say to defend him. I try to confirm my thoughts as Iida and Bakugo continue arguing about whether the boy's quirk exists or not. "I thought you said he's a rescue legend."
"He is!" Tojuta loudly whispers, turning to me. "He's got the strongest quirk I've ever seen in person!"
"Stronger than All Might?" I question with a hint of skepticism.
"Like I just said: in person."
The questionable kid takes a pitching position. Then I see it: his arm starts to glow, and his veins are definitely flowing with power as they're shown pulsating through his entire arm. My eyes widen as I'm ready to witness this new, intense power. I watch the ball as it escapes his hand and flies down the lane... for only 46 meters.
I can tell Midoriya is completely shocked and hopeless, while Tojuta is downright confused.
"Wow," I sarcastically comment. "His arm can become a glow stick. How powerful."
"What?!" Tojuta gasps. "There's something wrong. Why did that happen? He's supposed to be-... hey, what's with Mr. Shota's hair?"
I follow Tojuta's gaze and stare at our home room teacher. His hair is raised up from all sides, and his scarf that used to hang around his neck is now hovering around him, completely denying the laws of gravity and revealing yellow goggles around his neck as well. He walks up to the quivering juvenile. They seem to be having a conversation. Don't really know what it's about, and I probably shouldn't either.
Finally, Midoriya exclaims, "Those goggles! I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers! The Erasure Hero: Eraser Head!"
"Eraser?" one of my classmates asks. "Who's that?" Can't really say I've heard of him myself.
"Oh, I've heard of him," another classmate says. "I think he works on the down-low."
While we're debating on the actual identity of this pro, Midoriya and Mr. Aizawa continue their conversation. Again: don't wanna know what it's about. His scarf does grab Midoriya and uses it to help get a message to him. Once they finish, Mr. Aizawa's scarf and hair subside, and he passes him another softball.
"Wait!" Auxi cries. "We can get do-overs? I want one! Why didn't I get one?!"
"Hush!" Mr. Aizawa calls, obviously cheesed as his hair and scarf briefly jolt a few inches in the air before slowly falling back around his shoulders again. Auxi retracts a bit, and a few snickers mumble in the crowd of classmates. I'll admit: one did come from me.
She's got a point though: how come he's letting him go again? Maybe it's a minimal limitation thing.
"I wonder if our teacher gave him some advice," Iida shares his thoughts.
"He probably told him to start packing," Bakugo smirks. I honestly wouldn't be surprised. I glance over at Tojuta again to see that his hope has returned to his gaze.
I shrug and watch the walking glow stick perform his retry. I keep my arms crossed and observe something: his arm doesn't light up entirely. He throws again, but for a brief second, the tip of his pointer finger glows at the exact moment where he releases the ball. "SMAAAAAAAAASSH!!!" As the ball violently soars down the lane, I regret widening my eyes in surprise, because more dust and dirt sprays up into my face. I quickly rub my eyes and stare farther down the lane in awe. There's an enormous improvement between his two attempts.
"705.3 meters!" Mr. Aizawa's phone cheers.
There's no way! How on earth did such an improvement happen compared to when his entire arm lit up? He clutches his fist, and I quickly return my attention to the sender, who turns to face our teacher.
"Mr. Aizawa, you see?" he calls through his shaking pain. "I'm still standing."
"Yes!" Tojuta cheers. "What'd I tell ya, Yurei? What'd I tell ya?"
"Truly incredible," I simply reply.
"He threw it over 700 meters!" one of my classmates observes.
"Nice!" the first girl celebrates. "He's finally showing us his true power!"
"But his finger appears to be broken now, just like in the exam," Iida adds. "His quirk is very odd."
"As are a lot of quirks, stiff," Samae chuckles. "But you at least gotta admit: that was crazy powerful!"
"It wasn't a very pretty throw," the Frenchie notes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Bakugo shaking with absolute rage. His record was topped, so I can see why he would be. Before Mr. Aizawa can give us our next test, Bakugo races at the boy in the ring, chains of explosions propelling him to Midoriya to no doubt strangle him! "HEY!!! DEKU, YOU LOSER!!! TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD!!!"
Midoriya screams in horror. I feel like I've gotta do something, but don't know what! Before I can consider my tactics, our teacher's scarf flies from his shoulders and holds the violent student where he is, just inches from his petrified target. Bakugo struggles to fight back, but can't budge forward.
"What?!?" he rages. "Why the crap is your dumb scarf so strong?!"
"Because it's a capture weapon made of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy. Stand down!" he commands. "It would be wise to avoid making me have to use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye." His weapon lesson turns into a lecture.
"I gotta get me one of those," Auxi breathes. A few of the girls around her stare at her in confusion.
Seeing as he's at a disadvantage, Bakugo stops his struggling. Mr. Aizawa blinks and has his scarf return properly around his neck. He continues on with the tests, "You're wasting my time now. Whoever's next can step up."
Midoriya shakily steps around the explosive blonde to the rest of us. As the first girl asks if the boy is alright, Bakugo glares down the throwing lane. I think he's just a sore loser.
Most of my class gathers around the returning student to examine his broken finger, including Tojuta. I instead hang outside the excited crowd with another class mate: the kid with double-colored hair. He and I stare blankly at the our intrigued classmates. We then glance at each other just to acknowledge the other's presence.
After everyone has calmed down, we continue the test then move onto the others. The last few tests are pretty much fitness tests. We go inside for sit-ups and repeated toe-touches. I do pretty well. I remember myself squeezing in some stretches after I meditate in my spare time, so I do okay. Then finally is a long distance run. In that, I keep up my strategy of simply levitating myself and hovering down the field.
Once the tests are over, (plus a well deserved break,) Mr. Aizawa calls us all over for the results. When we're all accounted for, he displays a holographic scoreboard from his phone to show the results. I scan the screen until spotting my name in the eleventh tag. I breathe a sigh of relief then look for Tojuta. At first when I didn't see his name in the first fifteen, I get worried but then calm down when I see his name in twenty-second. I again sigh as Tojuta clutches his chest in relief. Curious who would be leaving, I read the unlucky victim's name in twenty-fourth place: Izuku Midoriya.
I nudge Tojuta and motion to last place. Upon reading it himself, Tojuta's eyes widen, and he stares back at the unfortunate "legend," whose eyes begin to well up with tears. Too bad really. He just showed off his quirk and yet wasn't able to pass.
Suddenly, the hologram turns off and Mr. Aizawa stares us all down again. "And I was lying, no one's going home," he admits. Everyone freezes and stares at him in disbelief. He smiles grimly. "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests."
We hear a chocked up sound from Midoriya when he hears this.
A tall girl with a black ponytail glances at us all with a calm expression. "I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out. I'm sorry, I guess I probably should've said something." Most of the class glares at her in shock, wondering why she didn't in the first place.
"That's it, we're done for the day," our teacher continues. "Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over by tomorrow morning." I understand, and as soon as he dismisses us, I head on back to the classroom to acquire it. To no surprise of mine, Tojuta joins me.
Up in the classroom, I grab a couple papers off the teacher's desk. I hand one to Tojuta, and he skims over it. He then folds it and sticks it in his pocket for later.
"Excuse me," a high voice asks behind me. I turn to see the girl with brown hair along with a few of the other girls of the class. "Can we get some of those?"
"By all means," I reply and step aside. Tojuta copies as the girls grab their syllabuses. While I try to stay silent, Tojuta speaks up, "Hey, you're that girl who got infinity on the ball throwing."
"That's right!" she nods with a smile. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka! Nice to meet you!"
"I-I'm Kuiru Tojuta. And this is my friend Yurei Seshin." I give a small nod.
Wanting in on the introductions, the other girls introduce themselves. A possessed uniform steps forward. "I'm Toru Hagakure!
Tojuta blinks at the strange sight.
"Oh! I'm just invisible. Sorry if I scared ya."
"No no, it's fine. Anyone's quirk can change their appearance."
"I'm Mina Ashido!" The alien from earlier interrupts. "So nice to meet you!"
"I'm Tsuyu Asui, but please, call me Tsu," the frog-like girl introduces.
"Nice to meet you all!" Tojuta responds. "I can't wait to spend the school year with you guys."
"Yeah! We'll see you guys around!" Ochaco agrees.
Before we can leave, Tojuta glances at and nudges me to say something. I simply look back at them all and reply, "Sure. See ya."
I scoop my bag off me desk and walk out. Tojuta waves to his new friends and follows. From there, I find the nearest bus stop and get on the twenty bus. Tojuta says he'll just walk home from there, so I wave goodbye and leave him. On the bus, I take a seat and stare our the window with my thoughts about my new school.
So far, so good. I'm doing well, saving some people, making a few friends, even Tojuta's more social than normal. Mr. Aizawa's definetly a bit intimidating, as well as that Bakugo kid, but given time, they seem tolerable. I watch UA's huge building shrink out of sight as the bus gets farther away.
I think I'm gonna like it here.