The Spectacular Spider-Student
Chapter 4
It only took about ten minutes for everyone to finish changing and meet Aizawa in the grounds. Based on the usual quality of classes Aizawa was forced to deal with, this was quite the improvement. Timing was hardly a good indicator of potential or ability to succeed, but it was a start. Perhaps, if he was lucky, some of these students would last long enough for him to actually teach them something.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, let me explain what we're going to be doing." He announced. The others all appeared to be on edge, and he couldn't blame them. He was pushing them into the deep end from the start with this test, but it was necessary.
Villains never pulled their punches, and neither could he. If any of these kids were going to survive, he couldn't afford to. It was important for that reason to get this test out of the way first. It wasn't exactly fair, but it was just the reality that being a hero required a certain level of capability with your quirk, as well as the ability to control it well.
His eyes flickered towards his nephew for just a moment. His face was despondent. He looked back at Aizawa and mouthed "Please no…"
Aizawa smirked.
"UA requires a solid record of all of your abilities. If we're going to be teaching you, we need to know how best to go about it. In service of that, I am going to have you all participate in a Quirk Assessment Test." He explained to a mixed response from his students. It varied from understanding to outrage. Keiji was on the far end of the former, though he seemingly whispered "(Damn it.)" under his breath in English. He was in the minority with only about three students sharing his more rational response.
From the files UA had on their students, he recognised these three. The first was Shouto Todoroki, one of the students brought in through recommendations. He was apparently the son of Enji Todoroki, known publically as Endeavour. At least he didn't share his temperament. The second, Momo Yaoyorozu, was also admitted through recommendations. Her powers seemed very versatile but potentially very dangerous if mishandled. Certainly someone to keep an eye on. The third was Tenya Iida, whose stiff body language and strict attitude were in stark contrast to his brother, Ingenium. It seemed that those most connected to heroes were the least likely to be bothered. He supposed they understood Aizawa's logic better than most, likely from some degree of vicarious experience.
Others, unfortunately, were less understanding.
"A test? Now? What about the entrance ceremony, or guidance sessions?!" A girl near the front practically shrieked. He supposed that was to be expected. His teaching style was unusual, rational though it may be.
"You don't have time to waste on those if you're serious about becoming Pros." Aizawa replied coldly. "UA is known for its freeform educational system. This applies just as much to teachers as students."
The others did quiet down at that, even if it was more out of confusion over his words than anything. Either way, it would let him finish explaining.
"The test will follow the same basic structure as your standard gym tests from Middle School. Softball throwing, the standing long jump, the 50 metre dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper body training and the seated toe touch." Aizawa began explaining. The others were fortunately much more receptive than they had been previously been. "This country still insists on ignoring quirks for these records. It's the height of irrationality. The department of education is wasting its time like this." He couldn't be sure, but Aizawa seemed to be losing the class here. Perhaps a demonstration would be more effective.
"Bakugou," He decided. The number one entrance exam student was bound to grab their attention. "How far could you throw the softball in middle school?"
"Sixty-seven metres." Replied a voice that seemed far too gruff to be coming from a teenager. Aizawa invited him to step up to the circular area on the ground.
"Great, now try with your quirk. Do anything you need to, as long as you don't leave the circle." The blonde boy nodded at Aizawa's words, and with no hesitation, began to chuck the ball at full force.
"DIE!" he yelled as an explosion from his palm rocketed the ball forwards. Aizawa glanced at a small device in his hand and smiled. A small beep came from the device as he turned back to the class, who were now much more engaged.
"It's important for us to know our limits. It's the first step towards finding out what kind of heroes you can become." He said to the class as he presented Bakugou's score.
"705 metres?! Seriously?!"
"This looks awesome!"
"We get to use our quirks! This'll be so much fun!"
Aizawa's eye twitched.
"…'Fun' you say?" His cold aggression silenced the class in an instant. This course was not meant to be fun. It was meant to be challenging, to push them to their limits.
Perhaps an extra incentive was required? This relaxed attitude would not work.
"Alright then, let's add some stakes." He began. "Whoever scores the lowest in all events will be deemed hopeless and be promptly expelled from the hero course." The air felt still as tension filled the class. Aizawa smiled an eerie grin. Finally, they were taking this seriously.
"Your fates are in our hands! Welcome to the hero course at UA High!"
Keiji tried not to tremble in fear of his uncle as his decree was set, but it was certainly hard. He could now see why the name Eraserhead was so terrifying to criminals. And that wasn't even mentioning the pressure he was now facing.
He had barely passed the practical exam and now his future was thrown back into question. He only hoped that he wouldn't leave so soon.
"Expelled?! You can't be serious. Even if this wasn't our first day, that's just way too unfair!" A brown haired girl nearby complained. Keiji frowned.
Very few people seemed to get this whole test thing.
"And random villain attacks are?" Keiji blurted out without thinking. Suddenly, all eyes were on him. And they were hardly friendly. He gulped nervously. He really needed to work on his brain-to-mouth filter.
"Parker," Aizawa called to him and Keiji flinched. He wasn't fond of being addressed by his last name. Just hearing it made him sound different from everyone else. An English last name in Japan stood out far too much, and it made him feel oddly isolated from other people.
"You have a good point there. Care to elaborate?" Aizawa enquired. Keiji looked confused, but didn't object. Maybe Aizawa was on the same level on him on this? Either way, he supposed he did have a point to make.
"W-well, the life of a hero is never fair," He began. "A hero constantly has to risk their lives, and those of who they care about, when fighting all kinds of crazy villains and natural disasters. Compared to that, I'd say losing out on one method of education is fair game." He crossed his arms as he concluded. Aizawa gave him a nod of approval, whilst everyone else showed mixed responses to his words. Oh well. Honesty had a habit of not pleasing people. He'd still stand by his words.
After all, he spoke from the heart. Back in New York, you couldn't walk five feet without confronting some strange new villain robbing a bank, or a smashed building about to fall on someone. And after what happened with the Goblin-
"No." He hissed in his mind. "Now's not the time to reminisce. Stay focused." He took a deep breath and his right hand suddenly stopped the shaking it was doing.
Looking up, he noticed everyone had already started queuing up for the first event, the fifty metre dash. He joined hastily.
Aizawa was glad to see that both his and Keiji's words had had an effect on the class. Every student was on edge, and as a result were providing their best results. They all seemed much more invested thanks to his ultimatum. As they should be, he thought. They needed their best if they wanted him to teach them. Half-assed students would not do.
This was what bothered him about Keiji's performance.
The fifty metre dash should have been a piece of cake for his nephew. He had the proportional strength of a spider, as well as perfect traction on any surface. In theory, his performance should have been exceptional. This was why Aizawa could not help but notice the unexpected drop in quality.
His score was hardly terrible, by any means. He still managed a respectable 4.36 seconds. In comparison with the other students, this was just a little above average. But there was one problem.
Keiji's score in middle school was 3.16 seconds. And he was not allowed to use his quirk in that test.
Granted, there was a limit to how much one could restrain his abilities. Super-strength was not a power that could just be shut off, so he always performed well at physical activities. Exactly how much of this was his quirk and how much was his own training was impossible to tell, so he managed to escape being penalised. He was however banned from larger school competitions.
Keiji's present score simply did not add up at all. Even ignoring his strength, his training should have still kept his score more consistent. So, only two possibilities were plausible- Keiji was either slacking off on his training, which may have explained his poor performance in the practical entrance exam, or…
He was holding back.
Aizawa decided he would have to keep a closer eye on his nephew. Not that he would neglect his other students, but if he was right about what Keiji was doing then he might have a more serious problem on his hands.
Keiji smirked as he made his way to the grip strength testers. This was a test he could easily manage. No destroying giant robots, just holding something and adding pressure. He could take care of that easily. He lifted his right hand towards the machine, before pausing.
His hand was shaking again.
A flash of panic struck through his mismatched eyes, but he quickly repressed it. He was fine. Nothing was seriously wrong. It was just his hand shaking. No reason to panic. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again.
It was still shaking.
Keiji decided to use his left hand as he grabbed onto the device. Clearly for no particular reason, of course. He was after all perfectly fine.
"Keep telling yourself that~" A tiny voice in his head whispered. He growled under his breath and heard the machine start to break.
"700kg. That's quite the impressive score." Keiji jumped as he heard another voice- thankfully not from his head- speak to him. It came from a tall boy with blue hair and glasses. He looked familiar to Keiji, but he couldn't quite place it until he saw the engines on the boy's calves.
"Ah, thanks. Hey, you wouldn't happen to be related to Ingenium, would you?" Keiji asked. The boy gave a small smile as he responded with a kind, yet stern voice.
"That I am. He happens to be my older brother. My name is Tenya Iida. And you are?" Iida replied, offering his left hand for Keiji to shake. Keiji raised his right hand, which had thankfully stopped shaking. He gave a sigh of relief as they shook hands.
"I thought you looked familiar! Ingenium happens to be one of my favourite heroes!" Keiji gushed, before calming himself. "The name's Keiji Parker, but I'd prefer to just be called Keiji." He introduced himself. He knew it was custom to be referred to by your last name in Japan, but he found it far too informal, issues with his last name aside.
"I see. " Iida nodded before continuing the conversation. "Your words from earlier, they sounded like they came from experience. Are you also related to a Pro Hero?" Iida enquired. Keiji beamed at the chance to talk with another person with a heroic lineage. There were certain struggles that he found such people faced that were difficult for others to relate to.
"Yeah, actually! My dad was a hero in America before we moved to Japan. Does the name Spider-Man ring a bell?" He asked excitedly. Iida raised a hand to his chin to think for a moment before shaking his head.
"Apologies, but I'm unfamiliar with him," Keiji's face fell briefly before Iida spoke up again. "You said 'was'. Did something happen to him?" Iida enquired. Keiji's previous confidence briefly fell.
"A-ah, yes. He… he died a few years ago… I'm sorry, I don't-" Keiji was interrupted by Iida, who raised his hand in a stopping motion.
"There's no need to apologise. It was insensitive of me to ask."
"No, no, it's fine. It's just kind of a personal topic. I honestly don't even remember it all that well." Keiji was quick to calm Iida. He had just found his first friend in school, and he would rather not spoil the mood too early.
"I understand. Still, I apologise for disturbing you." Keiji must have shown his confusion on his face, because Iida quickly continued. "You seemed uncomfortable and your hand was shaking." He gestured towards Keiji's right hand. Fortunately, it was stable now, but Keiji still gripped his arm briefly.
"Don't worry, that's just-" He began, however Aizawa quickly interrupted, telling the two of them to continue.
"Get moving, you two. We still have a test to conduct." Keiji straightened up instantly, having briefly forgotten about his test.
"(R-right away, sir!)" He replied, slipping into English in his panic.
"Sorry Tenya. We can talk later?" Keiji apologised, but Iida simply smiled.
"Of course. Now, we best move on to the next event." He replied. Keiji smiled, glad that he had finally made a friend.
And a real friend this time, rather than just an online one. Ha! His mother lost their bet!
Aizawa watched on as the test continued, paying careful attention to the results. Most of the students seemed to be performing rather admirably, with rather high scores across the board. Some did worse than others of course, but the results were still overall of a rather high calibre.
With a single exception. He narrowed his eyes as Izuku Midoriya continued his utterly unremarkable attempts.
Aizawa had guessed this kid in particular would be the weakest link from the entrance exams. His act of self-sacrifice in the practical, noble though it may have been, was the height of irrationality from a logical standpoint. It also resulted in far too much damage to his body for it to have been possible to consider as a good move. The judges seemed to disagree, but that was fine. If they wanted to let someone destroy themselves in their first lesson, that was on them. Aizawa simply had to make sure that such an incident wouldn't happen again.
And, of course, there was his other problem child.
Keiji was certainly faring better than Midoriya, though that was hardly an issue. Aizawa had known Keiji long enough to know that he had nothing to worry about in regards to this test. Peter had certainly drilled in the right heroic ideals and drive, and the two of them together had ensured that he had the training to handle himself.
Aizawa watched as Keiji leapt up into the air, and fired a web line into the ground. He pulled himself towards it, allowing for some good distance, as well as an impressive landing. He had a wide grin on his face, full of energy. Keiji had always loved being able to swing around with his webbing, and often seemed to feel claustrophobic in the smaller buildings around Japan. Being able to 'stretch his legs' so to speak obviously meant a lot to him.
His happy attitude might have had an effect on the others in the class, as while the earlier tension was still very much present, most everyone was having some degree of fun with the events. As long as they were giving it their all, Aizawa wasn't much bothered by their attitudes.
The side stepping event also passed without incident. Aizawa found himself surprised by the good performance of the shortest student, Minoru Mineta. His was another one of the poor performances, and he seemed to carry a very poor attitude towards heroics. If it wasn't for Midoriya's poor results overall, he would most likely be the one to go.
Keiji didn't seem to be performing at his best in most of the events, but it was most obvious in the side-stepping. He attempted to use his webs to zip himself between the two sensory machines, but that was hardly very effective at close range. So he mostly just jumped from side to side, with two thin strands of webbing getting stuck to the machines. At least they would dissolve in about an hour or so.
It didn't seem like his nephew to make such an obvious error. Something must have been distracting him.
His day was just getting worse by the second. Hopefully he could finish the test without his students causing an incident.
Keiji entered into the queue for the ball-throwing event with some trepidation. He wasn't particularly worried about being expelled, as his scores, while worse than his usual average, were still passable.
He hoped they were, anyway.
No, he was more worried about his peers. Specifically, the boy he recognised from the resteraunt. Izuku Midoriya seemed to be flunking the test badly, and as he stepped up to the ball throw he didn't look like he was about to turn the tide. He looked more like how Keiji looked when faced with an actual spider.
Absolutely terrified.
"Midoriya doesn't seem to be doing very well, does he?" His new friend Iida chimed in. Keiji nodded thoughtfully, his hand in his chin.
"Yeah, hopefully he can do better here, but if this continues…" Keiji was hesitant to voice his concerns for fear of saying something that would offend the green haired boy, but it was hard not to sense his death in the air.
"Of course he's failing, he's a Quirkless runt." Bakugou- the boy from the demonstration- spoke up. Keiji glared at him. He hated such prejudice.
"So? If he's made here he's still got potential." Keiji defended. Iida meanwhile let out a gasp of shock.
"Quirkless?! So you haven't heard of his feats during the entrance exam?!" Keiji's eyes widened. There was only one thing Iida could have been referring to. He looked between him and Midoriya frantically.
If Midoriya could destroy a giant robot then how the hell was he failing?!
Literally, how?!
He watched closely, as Midoriya prepared what looked to be a devastating throw…
Only for the ball to drop at 65 metres.
"Huh? I'm sure I used it just now…" He heard Midoriya mutter to himself. Keiji raised an eyebrow. What went wrong? Aizawa was quick to answer his unspoken query.
"I erased your quirk." Aizawa announced, his scarf rising as he glared down at Midoriya, who was quick to recognise him as the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead. It honestly surprised Keiji that no-one else seemed to have recognised him.
"What're they saying?" someone next to Keiji asked. Keiji attempted to focus, but with their hushed tones, even his enhanced hearing was only hearing some of it.
"I can't quite tell, but Aizawa sounds disappointed." He muttered in response. A moment later, the two separated and Midoriya walked up to take a second throw.
"It seems he was given some kind of special instruction." Mused Iida. Keiji nodded. That sounded about right, based on what he could decipher.
"Instruction to leave the school, maybe." Bakugou retorted. Keiji frowned at him. He decided that he really didn't like this person.
His glaring was interrupted by a loud, nearly deafening boom that rang throughout the area. Upon looking back, Keiji noticed that Midoriya now appeared to have a broken finger, and the ball was soaring through the air. His jaw dropped, as did that of everyone else watching.
"Sensei!" Midoriya seemed to cry out, drawing Aizawa's attention. "I… can still move!" He smiled as he clenched his now broken finger into a fist. Aizawa stood with a stunned smile, a rare sight from him.
"This kid…!" Keiji heard him say. The throw was impressive on its own, but stunning Aizawa?
Where was this kid's gold medal?! He had practically won hero school!
His stunned admiration was cut short by his Spider-Sense setting off a sharp buzz in his head, as well as a small pain in his shoulder as someone pushed past him.
"WHAT THE FUCK, DEKU?!" Bakugou screeched as he charged forth at Midoriya. Wasting no time, Keiji let out two streams of webbing from his wrist and restrained him. He grunted with the effort, feeling himself be pulled forwards slightly.
"Both of you, stop!" Aizawa called out. Bakugou reluctantly calmed himself- or at least seemed to, he always seemed angry- and marched back to his place, while clawing off Keiji's webs. Keiji stopped immediately, and froze in place.
"Sorry about that, sir. Won't happen again." Keiji said. Aizawa hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Just take your shot so we can finish this. I need some more eye drops." Aizawa grumbled. Keiji carefully walked forwards into the circle, passing Midoriya as he rushed quickly into the back of the group.
"How can I top that…?" He muttered to himself, thinking for a moment on how to proceed. Coming up with a plan, he attached a small web line to the ball and began to spin it around vertically in his hand.
"Gotta time this right…" He murmured under his breath. "Now!" he called out, throwing the ball into the sky as it rocketed forth.
"And now, for part two of my master plan." He grinned to himself as he quickly spun a second ball out of webbing, and tossed that towards the first one. The first ball bounced off of its web counterpart once he threw it, increasing its distance.
"Not bad." Aizawa said simply, displaying Keiji's score. It was at 706.4 metres.
"Yes!" He cheered, before turning and pointing towards Bakugou. "In your face, you-" He gloated before Aizawa swiftly put a stop to it.
"Parker! No antagonising the other students." He glared at him and Keiji shivered, before dashing back into line.
The rest of the test managed to pass without incident. There were no majorly impressive scores or causes for suspicion, Aizawa found. In a way, it was relieving to have nothing more that might cause him to have to use his quirk. His eyes were dry enough as it was.
On the other hand, by comparison to the rest of the test, this quiet end seemed… off somehow. It was too calm. He shrugged his shoulders as the students all gathered forwards to see their results. It was here that he made his decision on who would be removed from the class.
"Oh by the way, I was lying about expelling someone." He called out as he displayed the results holographically.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Keiji covered his ears desperately as the class violently screeched in shock.
"Jeez, be mindful of the super-hearing, will you?!" He cried out. He was unsure if anyone else had heard him, but at least one person replied.
"Preach into the choir!" A girl with short dark blue hair, also clutching her ears replied to him. He looked towards her, and in that moment the two experienced a remarkable understanding. They nodded to one another silently as the class finally calmed themselves.
"It was just a logical ruse to bring out your best!" Aizawa called out with his trademark eerie grin. Keiji lowered his face into his hands.
"(Dammit, Uncle…)" He groaned in English so that none of the others would understand him. Aizawa shot him a look but didn't comment.
"Of course it was a lie," Keiji heard someone say. He looked over to see a mature looking girl raising an eyebrow at the rest of the class.
"I'm not so sure…" Keiji whispered to himself. Aizawa was hardly a person who resorted to bluffing often. Or at all, really. To him it was illogical to make such empty threats. Something must have caught Aizawa's attention. Something that would make him go back on his word.
Keiji glanced towards Midoriya, who was told by Aizawa to visit the nurse's office for his broken finger. He smiled as a realisation struck him.
He looked up at the results board, finding his name in the fifteenth spot. It was good to see that he hadn't failed, but he still had a long way to go.
But first, he would have to rest. This day was rather stressful and tomorrow would not be any easier. Smiling to himself, he walked back into UA with the rest of the students.
AN: "I'll just to the fitness test in a chapter, it'll be quick anyway."
Oh, naïveté, thy name is Lord Terronus.
So, this chapter is literally the longest thing I have ever written. You wanna know something else? I STILL had to cut a lot out from my original plan. There's quite a few things I now have to save for chapter 5, which may be a little longer because God, this took a while!
Anyway, a few brief things before I go. First, I've put any dialogue said in English in brackets (Like this). That's just to easily show the change in language. Secondly, I included a fair bit of foreshadowing for a BIG plot point going forward, so if anyone has any ideas what I'm talking about, please leave your theories & thoughts in the reviews. I always love seeing people's reactions to my writing. A big thanks to anyone who's read this far. You are the reason I keep writing!
Next time, the aftermath of the test and Keiji has a talk with Aizawa.
Can't wait to see you all next time!
Sincerely,
Lord Terronus
P.S: I apologise in advance for any typos. This chapter is over 4k words so I probably missed something. Sorry!