Title: railgun

Rating: T-M

Summary: In a world where everyone has superpowers, having a Quirk means both more than you can imagine and less than you might think. Luckily, Kiri is no stranger to hard work. A hero is defined by more than just their Quirk, anyways, right? [OC, AU]

Warnings: N/A for this chapter. Uh, aside from a brief description of severe injury for Midoriya's finger.

Disclaimer: I do not own BNHA

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railgun

"07: First Day"


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The alarm on her phone rings shrilly, as grating as ever. Kiri turns over and blearily slaps a hand over her phone, groping around blindly a few times in the darkness before her fingers finally brush against the cool metal.

She swipes across the screen immediately the moment it lights up. Somehow, even in wake of the sweet ensuing silence, it still feels like her ears are ringing.

Kiri lies in her bed for a moment. Just a brief moment, to drink in the silence peacefully, before it's time to get ready for the day again.

To be sure, it's definitely an important day ahead of her. After all, today is Kiri's first day of high school: Her first day attending UA.

There's a slight tingling sort of sensation that prickles down her spine as she slowly clambers to her feet. Nervousness? Check. There's certainly no denying that Kiri is most definitely nervous for her first day as a student at one of the top hero schools in the country. The top hero school in the country, even.

Is she really ready for this?

... Probably not. But that's not going to stop her from trying.

Kiri sucks in a deep breath, and looks directly into the murky glass of the cracked bathroom mirror. She looks... tired. Apprehensive. Which, honestly, is a pretty succinct summary of how Kiri is feeling at the moment.

When Kiri begins tying her hair in front of the mirror, her fingers automatically reach out for the white Mirko hair tie she'd been wearing so often lately, before pausing.

Nene. It's a present from Nene, but Nene...

Nene hadn't made it into UA. Which was shocking, and made Kiri's own acceptance into UA almost feel like a betrayal of sorts –and, Kiri's not blind. Even though Nene had put up a brave front, smiling sweetly, there was no missing the disappointment in her friend's eyes. Nene's acceptance into Shiketsu in the aftermath of UA's rejection had been a godsend in that respect, but even though Nene had been immensely cheered by her Shiketsu acceptance, it was...

Well, UA had always been her dream school, or so Nene had once confided in her before. That Kiri had been accepted into UA, despite all those long hours of preparation Nene had been putting forward, the tireless training... something about it just doesn't sit quite right with Kiri.

Nene should be the one going to UA, she thinks. It's not the first time this particular thought has occurred to her, even though Kiri had even been scolded by Nene herself for thinking such things –several times, actually. But still, Kiri can't help but wonder. There's no doubt in her mind that Kiri would definitely not been able to make it through UA's entrance exam without Nene's help. Between the two of them... it really should've been Nene instead.

Kiri sucks in a short, sharp breath, roughly shaking her head.

No. There's no sense in getting lost in a depressive spiral like this. Nene would be disappointed, if she knew. And... and Kiri had ranked third on the exam. Even if it was probably largely due to the unfair advantage that her Quirk provided, clearly she'd been doing something right, at the very least?

... Or so she hopes. It's not like she can send in a letter to UA's judging panel asking if they were sure they hadn't made a mistake.

The girl's uniform for UA consists of a white undershirt and a dark-colored skirt over black leggings, the entire ensemble topped off by the school's distinctive sharp grey blazer. Kiri struggles with the red tie around her collar for a good several minutes, before eventually resorting to looking up how to tie a proper knot on her phone. Her first few blind, fumbling attempts at tying it on her own had yielded some... interesting results.

... Anyways. Moving on!

The house is still dark, when Kiri tiptoes out of her closet-room again and into the hallway. That's perfectly normal, considering that it's just barely past five in the morning right now. Kiri creeps past her parents' room on light footsteps, pausing briefly by the doorway as she catches the soft sound of her mother's quiet breathing.

Her mother is still sleeping, then. That's good –ever since the woman had summarily taken charge over wrangling the details of the substantial loan for Kiri's schooling, it's seemed that she'd barely been able to get any measure of proper sleep before having to leave for work again. It's good, then, to know that her mother is finally sleeping soundly.

Kiri gives her school bag one last glance-over, checking her pockets for essentials like her keys and cell phone, then eases open the rickety old door of the apartment as quietly as she can.

The sky outside is dark, the air chilly. Kiri readjusts the jacket she'd thrown on over her new high school uniform, and hurriedly makes her way down the rickety stairs.

It's about two hours' worth of commuting from where Kiri lives in Naruhata to reach UA. Technically, Kiri could've chosen to sleep in a little bit longer, but it's the very first day of classes today, and Kiri would much rather be potentially early than late to class. She highly doubted that UA was the sort of school to have lax policies regarding student attendance. It's UA, after all.

UA. I'm... really going to be attending UA.

Even now, dressed in UA's uniform and on her way to the school itself, it still doesn't feel quite real.

News of Nene's acceptance to Shiketsu had been easily received by their classmates in East Naruhata Middle. Kiri's own acceptance to UA had not. No one outright accused Kiri of cheating or anything, but the lingering gazes that followed her in the hallways, the incessant whispers before graduation –Kiri might not be the smartest, but she's not oblivious. And it had been so very obvious what the majority of her classmates really thought about her, a Level 1, somehow miraculously passing the notorious UA exam.

Was it a fluke?

... If Kiri is being honest with herself... yes. Yes, it probably was. Her Quirk had been unfairly suited for an exam that forced students to take on robots. Is she really supposed to be hero material, like Nene?

Kiri's fingers tighten around the strap of her school bag.

Deep breaths, she thinks to herself. One, two, in and out. She's doing it again, this endless cycle of self-doubt –Nene would be so very disappointed in her. Kiri has every faith that Nene possesses the capabilities to become a great hero someday, but sometimes it's still hard to believe sometimes that anyone would think the same for Kiri. Nene is really a much better friend than Kiri deserves.

First day of high school... Kiri's not quite sure what she should be expecting. Rote introductions, orientation? Something along those lines, probably? Then again, UA also happened to be pretty well-known for its... unorthodox... teaching methods... which meant that Kiri could only cross her fingers and hope for the best.

Sometimes, it seems like hoping for the best is all she can ever do.

The girl sighs, closing her eyes.

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There's no bus line that leads directly to UA's premises. As such, after two hours' worth of swapping public bus lines and a train ride somewhere in the middle, by the time Kiri is finally hiking up the last stretch of the woodsy path that leads to the school proper, it's already well past seven. Nearing eight in the morning, even –meaning that it's almost time for classes to begin. She'd hoped to have been able to make it to UA a little earlier than this, but it is what it is.

Kiri bites her lip as she reaches the entrance of the school. The gates gleam beneath the sunlight, tall and imposing, looking exactly the same as when Kiri had arrived here to take her exam. Somehow, though, everything still feels so different in this moment. She's not quite sure how to describe this feeling.

Catching sight of the other students around her making their way in, Kiri hurriedly cuts off her blatant staring and scrambles to follow, hoping against hope that she actually looks like she belongs here.

Class 1-A, Class 1-A… 1-A…

Kiri walks down a hallway that's nicer than any other building she's ever been in before in her entire life, doing her best to keep calm and not look like she's completely out of her depth. Which, she kind of is, if she's being honest… not that anyone else needs to know about that!

"Are you lost?"

Kiri lets out a completely undignified squeak as she startles and spins around, heart pounding. Behind her, a blond boy slowly raises an eyebrow at her reaction.

"U-um… a little bit," Kiri admits in defeat, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. So much for not trying to look out of place. "I'm, ah… looking for 1-A?"

"Cool. This should actually be the right way, then –I'm in 1-B and it seems like we're both headed in the same direction. I assume the classrooms are fairly close to each other, in that case."

Kiri breathes a small sigh of relief, "Oh that's good to know, thanks."

"No problem," the boy shrugs and smiles smoothly. From his mannerisms, it's obvious to see that he's confident and self-assured; a far cry from how Kiri herself is feeling at the moment. This is someone who actually belongs in UA. "Since you're in 1-A, I'm guessing that you're a fellow first year? My name is Monoma Neito, it's nice to meet you."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you!" Kiri returns the greeting politely, "I'm Inaba Kiri."

"Inaba…?" Blue eyes widen, and Kiri has about roughly half a millisecond to register that she's probably not going to like the direction that this conversation is about to take a turn in. "Wait, you're one of the top scorers on the entrance exam, aren't you?"

… That's true, but considering that Kiri doesn't really deserve her score, the words spark something a little uncomfortable in her chest. Kiri laughs nervously and tries not to fidget too much, "Y-yeah, but I just got lucky during the exam. My Quirk happened to be well-suited for it, that's all."

"Hm, really? I'm certain that there was more to it than just that," the boy remarks, then extends his arm for a handshake. "Well, even though we'll be in different classes, I'll still be looking forward to working with you this year."

Kiri blinks, not thinking too much about things as she automatically raises her own hand–

"Oi, cut it out, Monoma!"

A massive hand suddenly appears out of nowhere, cutting in between the two of them. The blond boy –Monoma– gives a startled yelp as the hand closes around him, bodily lifting him up, and setting him down again a good several paces away from Kiri.

Kiri blinks again, thrown for a loop by this sudden, unexpected turn of events. "… Eh?"

"I'm so sorry about that," a new voice sounds behind her. Kiri turns around, only to find a girl standing there with her hand rapidly shrinking from a truly gargantuan size to a normal hand once more. Long orange hair, bright teal eyes. The girl smiles briefly at Kiri, before turning back to Monoma and frowning lightly in disapproval. "You were going to be using your Quirk on people again without telling them, weren't you?"

Kiri's eyes widen in surprise.

"None of your business, Kendou," Monoma groans, rubbing a hand over his face. "It's not like I'm stealing Quirks or anything. And besides, she wouldn't even have noticed anything out of place if you kept your nose out of this! It's the Quirk of one of the top rankers, aren't you curious to know what it does?"

'Kendou' folds her arms across her chest. "It's still rude to copy someone else's Quirk without their knowing. C'mon, we've been over this before, Monoma."

"Yeah, yeah," the boy waves a hand dismissively, heaving a heavy, theatrical sigh. "And I've told you, it's not like my copying affects them in any way, and it only lasts for ten minutes in the first place. It's for the sake of science, Kendou, the science!"

The girl rolls her eyes hard, with all the annoyance that comes from digging up a long-time argument yet again, and turns back to Kiri apologetically. "Sorry about Monoma here. This guy has a power-copying Quirk that's touch-activated, so sometimes it's easy for him to get a little out of hand. He doesn't mean anything by it, though, and he's usually pretty well-behaved. I guess Monoma was just really curious about your Quirk."

"… Excuse me, 'well-behaved?' What am I, a dog?"

The orange-haired girl ignores him entirely. "I'm really sorry about his behavior. He should really know better, right?"

For a moment, the duo glare at each other, before the blond boy finally deflates and backs down. To be fair, Kiri probably would've done the same if she were in his place –the orange-haired girl certainly seems sweet enough at a glance, and it speaks well to her character that she'd stopped her friend from copying Kiri's Quirk without permission, but…

Suffice to say, if Kiri were to face off against someone who can literally flatten her under a single hand, she'd probably choose to surrender in short order, too.

"U-um, it's fine, don't worry too much about it," Kiri raises her hands in what she hopes is a placating manner. "I… appreciate your help. And I'm flattered that you're interested in my Quirk, er, Monoma-san? But… I'm a Level 1, so my Quirk probably wouldn't have helped you very much anyways."

The orange-haired girl blinks in surprise, but doesn't comment on it. On the other hand, that is definitely a shocked look on the blond boy's face there.

"H-huh? Aren't you supposed to be the third-ranked student?!"

Kiri shifts uncomfortably. I just got lucky, that's all. It seems like she's been repeating that a lot, recently –both mentally and aloud.

"Hey, Monoma, cut it out," the other girl says sternly. It seems that she's astute enough to have caught onto some of Kiri's feelings regarding this subject, and Kiri is inwardly grateful for this. "… In the future, if you want to copy a fellow classmate's Quirk, then ask them first instead of just going for it, okay?"

"She's 1-A, not 1-B!"

"Nope, doesn't matter, the same reasoning applies. C'mon, I know that you're better than this. You know that you're better than this."

The boy sighs, "… Yeah, whatever. Sorry about that earlier, Inaba."

Kiri eyes the blond skeptically for a moment. It's not quite insincere, even if the words do seem to be a little forced. That's not really any of Kiri's business, though. "Apology accepted. Personally, I don't mind if you want to try copying my Quirk sometime when we're not about to be late for class, but… don't get your hopes up, okay? Also, your friend is right. I think most people would appreciate being asked for permission first before you copy their Quirk."

Monoma rolls his eyes, "What they don't know won't hurt them –ow!"

His friend smiles, bringing her arm back from where she'd just jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "What he means is, 'I'll definitely take that into consideration in the future!' Right, Monoma?"

"… Right, Kendou."

At this, Kiri shakes her head, smiling a little at the duo's antics. Although Monoma's personality certainly seems to be a little eccentric and abrasive, it seems like his orange-haired friend has no qualms about reeling him in with a firm hand. He probably needs it, honestly.

She parts ways with Monoma and Kendou fairly quickly after that, waving a little in farewell as the two vanish into the room labeled '1-B.' Her own classroom, '1-A,' should be just a little farther down the hall–

1-A! There it is! … And still with a few minutes to spare before class begins, nice.

Kiri gently eases open the door to her new classroom and peeks in, trying to muster up a friendly smile to her face. It would be nice to make a good impression–

"Heh, so you're one of those so-called 'elites,' eh?! I'll fucking end you!"

"Excuse me, 'end me?' What nerve! Someone like you is here to become a hero?!"

Kiri just as gently slides the door closed again, still smiling, although there's definitely a fixed edge to her expression now.

… What in the world was that?! A shouting match, in the middle of the classroom, before class has even started? Is she really in the right place?

Woodenly, Kiri takes a few steps back to look at the label emblazoned over the door again. 1-A stares back at her in solid, glaring letters, unchanging and unmoving. Nope, she's definitely in the right place. Then… that means…

"Hello! Are you a 1-A student, too?"

She blinks, and turns around.

Warm brown hair, wide eyes. The girl smiling at her from a few steps behind is cute, cheerful, bouncing lightly on her heels.

"I'm Uraraka Ochako!" the brown-haired girl says brightly. "Looking forward to being classmates together!"

Kiri smiles back reflexively, "Hi, I'm Inaba Kiri. I'm looking forward to it as well."

"Nice to meet you!" Uraraka cheers. "… Um, is there a reason why you're just standing in front of the doorway…?"

Kiri's mind flashes back to the enraged shouts she'd just witnessed inside the classroom.

"Nope, absolutely no reason at all," she declares.

Right. There's no doubt that this is her classroom. If these are her new classmates for the year, hiding out in the hallway probably isn't going to help things any, even if it looks like one of her angry classmates is on the verge of exploding. Literally.

Kiri grips the handle, and pulls open the door again.

… Thankfully, it doesn't seem like there's a shouting match going on anymore. Small mercies, that. The two boys who had been arguing earlier –the explosive ashen-blond is looking off to the side, a sharp scowl etched into his face, while the taller boy seems to be currently preoccupied with talking to another green-haired boy.

"Oh! It's you!" The girl standing behind her brushes forward, making a beeline towards the green-haired boy. "You made it, just like Present Mic said! I'm so glad that we're in the same class together. Back during the entrance exam, the way you just punched and took down that giant zero-pointer –it was really, really cool!"

Kiri's mouth drops open in slight surprise. Wait, is this the student that Nene had mentioned during her own exam? The kid who took down the zero pointer with a single punch? And he was in her class?

… Wow, Kiri definitely would never have guessed it on her own, especially not with how the flustered boy was reacting towards being approached by a friendly, excited Uraraka. Something about his demeanor seemed almost shy, which was odd –most of the students with strength-type Quirks that Kiri knew from school were confident and outgoing. Shy, withdrawn personalities tended to be reserved more for those with mental-type Quirks and the like. Then again, that was a bit of a generalization; it's not like the nature of one's Quirk directly determined their personality now, did it?

A vague shuffling noise sounds from behind her, and Kiri absently moves a few steps to the side to let the new student into the classroom. Except… there's no further movement at all from behind her. Kiri turns around, and it's a–

A…

… Bright yellow… sleeping bag?

The sleeping bag suddenly flips around, and Kiri abruptly finds herself staring into the bloodshot eyes of a man's pale, haggard face.

She doesn't scream, but it's a near thing.

And then it speaks, "Oi, quiet down, you lot."

Kiri swallows roughly.

As it turns out… this is their homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. It's not a familiar name that rings any bells for Kiri. But considering the fact that it was well-known that all of UA's teaching faculty were pro heroes, then… maybe an underground hero? That was exciting.

Exciting, and nerve-wracking. Because as it turns out, their teacher wanted them to all promptly change into PE uniforms and hustle off to the field. Immediately.

"What do you think he's planning?" one of the other girls mutters while they're in the changing rooms, a fellow student with elongating protrusions from the bottom of her ears. There's a collective murmur of confusion from the others. Kiri doesn't have a good answer to this, either. The man had said that he was their homeroom teacher, right? Was he also the PE teacher or something?

Shortly thereafter, once everyone is out on the field and awaiting further instructions, Uraraka asks the burning question on everyone's minds. "Aizawa-sensei, what about the entrance ceremony and orientation? The guidance counselor meeting?"

Their teacher barely lifts his eyelids to look at her. "You're here to train so you can become heroes, aren't you? There's no time to be wasting on frivolities."

Ouch, Kiri thinks. That was a little… harsh. Wasn't the ceremony supposed to be important, though?

Regardless of her private thoughts, it still doesn't change the fact that they're students in a learning institution, and what their teacher says goes. What Aizawa-sensei then ends up saying is this:

"Listen up, all of you. We're going to have a physical assessment test. Softball pitch, standing long jump, fifty-meter dash… in short, these are all going to be activities that you are familiar with from middle school. However, unlike middle school, where you've all been barred from using your Quirks... this time you'll be encouraged to actively use your Quirk for each test."

Oh. So like… a Quirk assessment of sorts? That definitely sounded interesting! Although, Kiri's not sure how minor electrokinesis would translate to anything useful for a physical assessment, since it wasn't like–

"The person who ranks last in total points will be instantly expelled."

Kiri stiffens, an ice-cold chill shivering down her spine at the words delivered in a low threat. It doesn't look like their teacher is joking around.

Expulsion on the very first day? That must be breaking some sort of record somewhere out there.

Kiri's hands clench into fists at her side. Although she's uncertain and unsure about whether her place in UA is truly deserved, it doesn't change the fact that Kiri is here. She's here, and… and she's not going to give anything less than her best effort.

Plus ultra, right?

"Geez, talk about harsh," a boy mutters quietly next to her, and Kiri hums lightly in agreement.

Then does a double-take, when she actually realizes just who is talking.

"It's you! The boy with the tape!" she exclaims, then flushes when her outburst causes a few other classmates glance over in her direction. That's… mildly embarrassing. "I mean… er…"

The dark-haired boy brightens, thankfully undeterred. "Oh, hey, I remember you! From the entrance exam, right? Wow, I can't believe that we're actually in the same class together."

"Eh? Who's this, Sero?"

Now it's the boy's turn to scratch his neck awkwardly as another fellow classmate wanders over. "Uh…"

Kiri laughs, even despite the pressure of imminent expulsion looming in her future. "I'm Inaba Kiri. It's okay, I know there wasn't really any time to sit down for introductions during the entrance exam. Um… I just wanted to say thanks? You helped me out of a tight spot with the zero-pointer during the exam, so…"

"Oh yeah, sure, no problem," the dark-haired boy nods. "I'm Sero Hanta! And this here is Kaminari Denki."

"Hey there, Inaba," the other boy flashes Kiri a sly little smile and a lazy two-fingered salute. His hair is interesting –he's blond, but there's a dark stripe in the shape of a black lightning bolt across the side of his bangs. Was it natural, or something he'd deliberately dyed? "So… the two of you were in the same exam center?"

"Mhm," Kiri nods.

"Sero said that someone in your group took down the zero-pointer, too! Is that really true?"

… Kiri doesn't think that she likes they way this conversation is going. "Yeah… It, um. It went down."

Eloquent.

"See? I told you!" To the side, Sero folds his arms across his chest. "We all saw it, y'know, the giant robot kinda just froze for awhile, then blew apart on its own! It was crazy! … I still don't know who actually brought it down, though, there was just too much rubble lying around to really see anything. Oh, hey, Inaba, did you see who took the zero-pointer down?"

"Oi! Hurry up over there, guys! The assessment is already starting!"

… Thank you, thank you, classmate whose name she doesn't know! Kiri honestly doesn't know who it was exactly that called out to them just now, but they'd definitely saved her from an awkward situation.

As Kiri approaches the running track where students are lining up for the fifty-meter dash as the first test, she sucks in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and get her head back in the game. Focus.

Okay, okay. Using Quirks for a physical assessment test –that's great, except Kiri isn't really sure how her Quirk is applicable to something like this. Minor electrokinesis is only good for messing around with electronics and performing some tricks with electromagnetism, but for something as straightforward as running a fifty-meter dash? Doubtful.

The thing is, Kiri's Quirk isn't exactly a very physical one, for the most part. But if she can't think of some way to use her Quirk effectively… their teacher's threat of expulsion looms over her head, dark and heavy like a guillotine just waiting to fall.

Do your best, Kiri.

But will it be enough?

Her score for the fifty-meter dash that she soon ends up running is –average. Well. It's somewhere solidly in the middle portion of the class rankings, with all the others whose Quirks weren't very well-suited for outright sprinting. Kiri cautiously chalks that up as a win in her books. Maybe if she can just try to be consistent in performing averagely, then…

Do your best. Plus ultra!

It's during the grip strength test later, when Kiri is holding the contraption for strength testing that a new possibility occurs to her. Although these tests are nominally to test their physical abilities… their teacher had clearly specified that they should be using their Quirks. So it was entirely possible that this was a test of creativity as much as it was just a baseline physical test; Kiri wouldn't put something like this past UA, considering her whole debacle with the rescue points on the entrance exam.

But for the idea that she had in mind, holding this electronic strength-testing device… it veered a little too close to outright cheating for her peace of mind, so it would probably be best to double-check and ask first before she did anything.

Just in case.

"Ano… Aizawa-sensei?" Kiri tentatively looks towards her intimidating teacher. The man doesn't say anything, but from the way his head vaguely inclines in her direction, she knows that he heard her. "May I ask if we're actually being tested on our physical strength here, or is it… more so on how we're using our Quirks?"

The pink-skinned girl taking the same test next to Kiri gives her a strange look. "Eh? Isn't that the same thing?"

"… You may use your Quirk to give yourself any sort of upper hand that you're able to manage during these tests," their teacher responds after a brief pause. He lifts his head, and his gaze on her is sharp. It's almost as if he already has an inkling of what Kiri is planning to do, which… well, if UA was aware of what Kiri did to her robots during the entrance exam, wasn't exactly all that surprising. "That's all."

That's permission, then.

Buoyed by her teacher's tacit go-ahead, Kiri looks down at the grip strength device in her hand, and squeezes.

As she does, a faint crackle of electricity flickers over the machine. Brief and instantaneous, to the point that it would be nearly indiscernible to anyone who wasn't looking for it in the first place–

Kiri chances a subtle glance towards her teacher's direction. Sure enough, the man's eyes are fixed on the machinery in Kiri's hands, focused on the red numbers flashing across its screen.

"Ehh?! Two hundred kilograms? You've gotta be kidding me, you barely even squeezed it!" the pink girl next to Kiri yelps, before dashing forward. "Here, switch with me, switch with me. Maybe yours is just broken?"

Kiri accepts the new machine from her classmates and repeats the process. The result is precisely the same, 200 kg.

It's a result that's definitely towards the higher end of the high scores earned by fellow classmates whose Quirks played well to this, just to prove that Kiri is most definitely using her Quirk to influence the results, but definitely not the highest score. Because it's enough to show that Kiri is using her Quirk; there's no point in using her ability to give herself the highest possible number, considering that it's not exactly her grip strength that Kiri is showing off here in the first place.

Across from her, the pink girl is struggling with all her might with the device that Kiri had previously been using.

"Ashido, Thirty-six kilograms. Inaba, two hundred kilograms." Aizawa-sensei reads off in a monotonous drone, then waves both of them off the testing field. "The two of you are done here. Kouda, Tokoyami, you're next."

"You're really strong!" Her pink-skinned classmate –Ashido– exclaims as they walk away together. "Wow, I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover, eh? Do you have one of those strength-type Quirks, too?"

"Um, no, it's nothing like that," Kiri waves her hand in a vague 'so-so' gesture. "I just... happened to take advantage of our sensei's rules for this test, that's all."

"Eh?"

Things go by in a similar fashion for the remaining tests. For the tests using machinery to display their results that Kiri can influence, she does so without hesitation. For the tests like the fifty-meter dash and long jump, Kiri just grits her teeth and does the best that she can on her own. It's not like she's the only one who has tests where her Quirk is pretty much useless; it's actually rather gratifying to know that she's actually decent in terms of physical shape in her class. Must be all the parkour that she's been doing ever since she'd decided to apply for UA.

The tests all go by smoothly, for the most part, although there's a... hiccup, when it comes time for the curly green-haired kid's turn for the softball pitch. Midoriya, Uraraka had called him? He was the zero-pointer kid –the actual zero-pointer kid, who took out the massive robot from their entrance exam in a single punch.

Kiri cringes at the sound that the boy's finger makes when he launches the softball a second time, after Aizawa-sensei had erased his Quirk the first time around. In the split-second right before his finger had made that horrible crunching sound before flopping down uselessly, bruised and most definitely broken, Kiri had seen a bright glow of crackling energy lighting up his finger. Considering that on his first attempt, Midoriya's entire body had lit up with that very same glow –Aizawa-sensei might've been rather harsh with his scolding words, but Kiri firmly believes that he'd definitely made the right choice in stopping Midoriya then.

What a truly terrifying Quirk. Undeniably strong, though.

… Even though Kiri's own minor electrokinesis isn't particularly strong, as far as Quirks go, at least she has fairly decent fine control over her ability. If her Quirk was anywhere near as unwieldy as Midoriya's… it would've taken a lot of additional practice for her Quirk to be anywhere near as usable as it currently is. For the first time in her life, suddenly Kiri feels a little relieved for just being a Level 1.

"Inaba, you're next."

The moment that Kiri takes the softball from her teacher's hands, she can sense the electronic device embedded inside. It feels… vaguely connected to the handheld machinery that Aizawa-sensei is holding. From there, it's simple enough to deduce that the device inside the softball is what's used to determine the throwing distance; it certainly explains a lot about how Uraraka's pitch had registered an infinity. That score is definitely going down in UA's history for sure –really, how does anyone beat an infinity?!

Kiri hefts the ball in her hand. She could just mess with the readings directly, just as she'd done for several of the other tests earlier… but it would probably cause a bit of an uproar with her classmates if she were to, say, throw the ball just thirty meters but have it register as one hundred meters on the scale instead. A softball pitch was visible in a way that was very different from something like a grip strength test.

Should she just throw it normally, then? Do it Quirklessly, and just accept her fate?

It's not like the softball pitch is something that you can really excel in unless you have some sort of physical augmentation Quirk –or unless you're Yaoyorozu Momo, who'd spontaneously generated a canon from her own body and proceeded to shoot her softball out through a canon.

Yeah, that's definitely a no-go for Kiri. So what could electrokinesis do, hypothetically?

Magnetism… due to the miniature device embedded inside the softball, Kiri could probably make it float a little. But that was useless here. More than just floating, she needed some way to actually launch it. Magnetism would be useful for accuracy, then… and if she could increase her voltage…

If I could do that… no, but then I'd still need… or maybe if it's something like… assuming…

Two rails.

Yes, that sounds right. Two rails, leading towards the target, and… a magnetic field, created along the imaginary rails…

"Any day now, Inaba. You're holding up the rest of the class."

Kiri startles out of her thoughts and nearly drops her softball. There's some good-natured laughing from her classmates, but Kiri can literally feel the blood rush to her cheeks in this instant. Now's not the time to be getting distracted!

"A-ah, yes. Sorry!" she fumbles with the ball in her hands, rearing back, and tosses it with all her strength.

"Thirty-nine meters," the dark-haired teacher scribbles something down on his clipboard. "Next, Aoyama."

"What took you so long?" Ashido leans over and pokes her in the side, once Kiri returns to standing with the rest of her classmates. "You were just like, staring at the softball like it held the secrets to the universe or something! For a solid minute!"

"Sorry about that," Kiri apologizes sheepishly. Ashido is upbeat and friendly in a way that reminds Kiri of Sayuri, even though their appearances are completely different. "I got a little distracted, I guess? I was just… trying to think of potential ways I could use my Quirk for that. I didn't really come up with anything good in the end, though."

"Huh," Ashido blinks wide eyes. "Weird, I would've thought that you'd be able to get like, three hundred meters or something like that, with your super-strength Quirk."

"… I don't know how I can say this any more clearly to you, Ashido, but I really don't have a strength-type Quirk," Kiri sweat-drops. "I told you, it's just minor electrokinesis."

"Ehh? But electrokinesis looks something like that, right?"

Ashido points to the field, where the blond boy who'd been with Sero earlier –Kaminari?– steps up to throw his own pitch. The boy grins, winding his arm back and–

"Forty-two meters," Aizawa-sensei's voice rings out in dull monotone.

Ashido blinks rapidly. "… Huh?"

"Seems to me like he just threw it normally," Kiri comments breezily from the side, and the other girl groans dramatically.

"Nooo! Aw man, I really thought he'd do some boom freaky lightning thing and throw it super fast!" Ashido puffs out her cheeks, pouting. "Although… I guess I can kinda understand why he didn't. Using his Quirk too much apparently fries his brain, so he probably doesn't want to be completely useless afterwards for the rest of the day."

Fries his brain?!

Kiri winces. What's with her new classmates and self-destructive Quirks? Was this a common downside to higher level Quirks or something? "Oof, that sounds like an awful drawback to have."

"I know, right?" Ashido nods empathically. "But hey, if we're talking about Quirks with awful drawbacks –did you see what happened to Midoriya earlier?"

Something lurches in Kiri's stomach, the ghostly echo of that nasty crack sounding in her ears again. "I-I did. It looked… extremely painful."

The other girl nods fervently. "I hope that Aizawa-sensei lets him go to the nurse's office soon, he doesn't look so good."

At this, Kiri glances towards the green-haired kid –Midoriya. He's trembling slightly, and his face is stark white –no doubt from the pain– but there's a focused, determined light in his eyes. Almost as if…

Almost as if this Quirk assessment test means more to him than his own health and well-being.

Kiri looks away.

Thankfully, the tests wind to a close soon. Which is great news, because even despite his dogged determination, Midoriya really isn't looking so good. It's good that Aizawa-sensei doesn't seem to be much for theatrics, either, because he swiftly releases the class' final scores without further fanfare.

Kiri holds her breath as she searches for her name on the list. She experiences a brief moment of panic when she can't find her name anywhere on the bottom half of the list, but–

"Wow, you're ranked seventh, Inaba! That's three spots higher than me, I got tenth," Ashido cheers, and Kiri drags her gaze towards the top half of the class rankings.

Rank 7: Inaba Kiri.

… Really? She'd actually finished seventh in the entire class?

That was… unexpected. Definitely, definitely unexpected.

I passed, Kiri thinks wondrously. But… but in the end, she's just a Level 1. And Aizawa-sensei had mentioned that the student in last place would be expelled. If anyone here really deserved to be expelled, then, surely–

"Oh, and by the way… no one's actually getting expelled," their teacher says blithely at that exact moment. as he turns away and starts trudging back towards the school's main building. "That was just a logical ruse on my part to bring out your best performances."

Kiri's jaw drops at their teacher's casual, nonchalant admission. She is not alone in this.

"EHHH?!"

Yaoyorozu, the top-ranked student in the entire class, folds her arms and sighs. "… Seriously, did everyone all fall for this? Of course the threat of expulsion was just a ruse."

Kiri flushes a little, but it –it helps, knowing that it wasn't… that they hadn't really been facing expulsion based on the results of this Quirk assessment. Honestly, she wouldn't have put it past Aizawa-sensei. He seemed like the sort of person who would have no trouble carrying out good on his threats, after all.

"Also, Midoriya, go visit Recovery Girl and get your finger patched up. We'll see you back in class."

… Aizawa-sensei was scary, of that there was no doubt. But at least he also cared, right? That, too, was undeniable.

For a moment, Kiri stops and looks back at the empty softball field. Then, she turns and hurries to catch up with the rest of her class.

Nene-chan… my first day at UA was really, really weird. Our homeroom teacher almost gave the entire class a heart attack. I hope your first day at Shiketsu is going a lot better than this!

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EDIT: Nene makes it into Shiketsu, not Ketsubutsu as in the original draft! ... This is why I shouldn't be trusted to make any edits to my own writing past midnight, whoops. Thanks to NinjaGogeta for pointing it out!


Author's Notes:

Canon characters are rolling in! First day + Aizawa's quirk assessment test. Somehow, Monoma elbowed his way into this chapter before 1-A did...

Nene did not make it into UA, unfortunately! I promise that this is not the last of Nene that we'll see, though.

As a reminder and a heads-up: I myself am not much of a science person, unfortunately, and as a result I'll probably be getting a lot of the pseudosciency stuff and what not wrong in this story. I'll be trying to do some cursory research for it at least, but consider yourselves warned!

Also, I've decided to keep the lowercase title for this fic! Most of the feedback I've received regarding the capitalization seems to be along the lines of "lowercase is fine," and it appears that the lowercase rather suits Kiri's personality as well. Thank you very much to everyone who pitched in with their thoughts on this.

A new update has been added to cabbage patch earlier this week, featuring an OC in the SNK-verse. (For anyone who might be interested, cabbage patch is just a collection of OC shorts I've written that I have no plans to develop into full fics... so into the cabbage patch the plot bunnies go!)

Chapter eight for railgun is currently in-progress.

-XxZuiliu