CHAPTER 2: SUDDEN TEST! QUIRK ASSESSMENT!

And just like that, I made it into UA. And not just the Business and General Studies courses, which were my backup plans, but the Heroics Course itself! I was one of only 44 freshman heroics students admitted to UA in 2312, but even knowing that I was literally a 1 in 300 admit didn't help my self-esteem much, sadly. Oh well, it's time for my first day!

Cue: My Hero Academia, opening 1 – The Day

Shizukesa ga shimikomu you de iki wo tometa gozen goji

Hijou kaidan de tsume wo kamu Asu wa docchi da?

THE DAY HAS COME!

All Might is shrouded in golden light. Midoriya reaches out to him and the Symbol of Peace turns around to face the boy. The title is shown as an image of each member of 1-A is shown: Uraraka, Iida, Bakugo, Asui, Kirishima, Hojo, Kujo, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Jirou, Sero, Tokoyami, Aoyama, Ojiro, Ashido, Sato, Hagakure and Todoroki, in order.

Keshite akenai yoru mo furitsuzukete yamanai ame mo
Kono rokudemo nai sekai ni wa aru nda yo
Sukoshi mo hen de wa nai no madoromi ni ashi o torareteru
Anata o semete iru wake ja nai nda yo

Midoriya walks through the rain on an overpass. Hojo clicks the Mighty Action X Gashat, and the scene changes.

Hitori kūsō ni asobu
Soko de omoiegaita koto made hajiru no kai?

Midoriya and Bakugo are shown as children, before the scene shifts into them as teenagers, as the turn around and clash with each other. Shigaraki appears and reaches towards the screen, before the screen shows Parado, his eyes flashing red.

Karamiau meikyū meikyū soredemo yuku to iu no?
Chīsaki tabibito ga kanaderu hajimari no kane no ne

All Might and the Nomu engage in a brawl as Aizawa deals with several minor villains. Kurogiri and Graphite appear briefly. A few other UA teachers are shown: Nezu, Present Mic, Midnight, Recovery Girl, Taiga and Hiiro, before the scene shifts again.

Yuku ate mo DON'T KNOW DON'T KNOW

Hontō wa kowain ja nai no?
Fumidasu sono ippo ippo ga kaete yukeru sa
THE DAY HAS COME

Uraraka, Iida, Shoji, Todoroki, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Hojo, Kujo and Bakugo are shown running onscreen, before the scene cuts to Midoriya in his hero costume, throwing a punch identical to All Might's. The opening concludes with a few shots of the students, then an image of the main cast posing in front of UA.

"The night after I opened my acceptance letter, All Might finally got back in contact with me" narrated Izuku, see running towards the beach he cleared during his training. The Symbol of Peace stood there in his true form, staring out over the ocean. "There you are, All Might!" the boy shouted without thinking. The hero spat up blood, as a couple over on a jetty called "All Might's here?!" "Dammit kid, way to blow my cover! Quick, say it was a mistake!" the hero said in desperation. "Whoops, wrong person!" called Izuku, much to the distant couple's disappointment. "Way to go, kiddo" the voice said.

"Anyway kid, let me congratulate you again on getting in" the hero said, giving a high-five to his successor. "I-I couldn't have done it without your training" the boy exclaimed. "By the way, nobody at UA knows I trained you. You got in all on your own; all I did was watch proudly" All Might said, with a big smile. "Still, it was really cool to hear you were coming to teach at UA! I thought you'd have more business in Musutafu than just fighting villains; after all, everyone knows that your office is in Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo-!" Midoriya said, before All Might cut him off. "Getting kinda creepy there, man…" "Speaking of creepy, you should probably tell Toshi about me, kid" the voice said to Midoriya, who flinched slightly. "Hell no! I don't want All Might thinking that his successor is crazy!" the boy retorted. "Suit yourself; you'll have to mention me eventually though…"

"The school didn't want me telling anyone until they made a press release. It was honestly really good fortune that I ran into you here; it made finding a worthy successor for One For All a lot easier" the blonde man said. "That's right, he was coming to UA to find someone to inherit One For All among the students there…someone who was strong and already had a Quirk…" Midoriya thought to himself. "Your power wrecked my body, and all I did was jump and throw a punch" the boy said forlornly. "You're still learning how to control its' power; expecting to figure everything out so soon is like asking a baby to run a marathon. Gotta learn to crawl before you learn to walk" the pro said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Wait…did you know that it was going to hurt like that?!" the boy asked, hitting a sudden realization. "Well…uhhhh…we were on a time crunch, but it all turned out okay, I guess" the pro said, scratching his head awkwardly. "Right now, your power is all or nothing" the blonde continued, picking up two discarded gas canisters. "Eventually, you'll learn how to control it better, so that your body doesn't overflow with power and cause too many problems for you OR THOSE AROUND YOU" the pro said, shifting into his muscle form and crushing the two cans with ease. "Wait, it really is All Might!" came a voice from the couple on the jetty. All Might sweatdropped. "AND NOW WE RUN" he said, turning and running away, Izuku following him closely.

The hero looked back at the boy behind him. "THE TORCH I'VE PASSED TO THAT YOUNG MAN IS BUT A SMALL SPARK, BUT EVENTUALLY IT WILL BECOME A RAGING INFERNO OF POWER FOR HIM TO WIELD. THEN I'LL RETIRE, MY JOB COMPLETE. HMMMM…THAT WAS PRETTY DEEP, TOSHI." The man thought, smile on his face. The duo continued to run away, the crisp salt air blowing around them in the last flickers of evening light.

Izuku ran down the cobblestone path in front of UA, making his way to Class 1-A. "That year, UA's acceptance rate was as low as usual – about 1 in 300 got in. 38 got in via the entrance exam, and six through recommendations from pro heroes. These heroes-in-training were split into two classes of 22 students, 1-A and 1-B." he narrated, running down a hallway to find the door to Class 1-A. After being surprised by the size of the door, he thought to himself again. "The most promising heroics students in all of Japan, and probably East Asia in general, are behind that door waiting for me." He suppressed a shudder thinking of Bakugo and the tall boy, although he admitted that he wasn't all that worried by the latter after he tried to vouch for Midoriya's admission. "Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be in with Kujo, Hojo and Uraraka…" he thought, opening the door.

"GET YOUR FEET OFF THAT DESK!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"Ah shit, both of them are here" the greenette thought dejectedly. While Bakugo and Iida traded barbs, Midoriya looked around the classroom at his future classmates, spotting Kujo and Hojo near the back of the class. "It's him…" muttered Iida, as he and Bakugo stared at the doorway…which also drew the attention of every other student in 1-A to Midoriya. "Greetings, my name is Tenya Iida, of-!" the tall boy began, before Izuku awkwardly cut him off. "I know…uhhh, I'm Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you!" he said, shaking the boy's hand. "Midoriya, I misjudged you. You knew there was more to the exam than just destroying robots. Clearly you are very perceptive, and a better student than I" Iida monologued, much to Midoriya's disbelief. "Man, he's a weird one" the voice said. "For once, I fully agree with you" the boy responded.

At this point, the boy heard a voice behind him. "Oh hey, it's falling boy!" said Uraraka, smiling brightly at him. As the boy's brain began racing at a thousand miles an hour while the girl talked, Bakugo scowled at the greenette, thinking of how he confronted the boy after school a few months prior. "I don't know how he got into Heroics instead of Business or General Studies, but I'll begrudgingly admit that I was kinda impressed by the little bastard when he stood up to me for once. Maybe that wasn't a fluke and he'll finally give me reason not to see him as a bug in my path" the explosive blonde thought, still annoyed that the perpetual green-haired pain in his ass was in the same class as him for another three years.

"If you're just here to make friends, then pack your stuff and get out of here."

The voice coming from the hall caught everyone off guard as they looked behind them to see a…caterpillar? No, it was just a professional hobo in a sleeping bag who unzipped himself and stood up, walking into the classroom, draining a juice packet while doing so. "It took eight seconds for you to shut up; by the end of the semester, I expect that number to be cut in half" he continued, stepping up to the whiteboard. "My name is Shota Aizawa, and I'll be your homeroom teacher; now put these on and be outside within 15 minutes" he said in a voice devoid of energy or emotion, tossing a stack of unisex blue and red tracksuits on the desk, and turning to walk back out the door.

"If you get the wrong homeroom teacher at UA, you'll be utterly miserable. Trust me, I know." All Might thought to himself, flipping through a directory in another room. He looked at 1-A's entry, and his eyes widened. "Crap, he has Aizawa!" the blonde man thought, shifting into his muscle form and exiting the room.

Out on the sports field, the students were gathered together, expressing their surprise about a Quirk Assessment Test. "But, what about orientation?" asked Uraraka. "Orientation? Heh, who needs that nonsense? Anyway, since this is my class and UA allows me to run it how I see fit, I'm having you take a standardized physical exam like you're all used to…except this time, you get to use your Quirks" the disheveled pro said, before continuing. "The government is still trying to pretend all men are created equal, instead of letting the strong excel and the weak fall behind. It's irrational, and someday they'll have to learn. Bakugo, you placed first in the entrance exam" the man addressed the explosive teen, before tossing him a softball.

"What was your best throw in junior high?" he asked. "77 meters" the teen responded, still as dumbfounded as the rest of his class. "Now, use your Quirk on it. Anything goes, just stay in that circle" the teacher continued, as Bakugo took his position, and lined up a throw. "Don't hold back, Kacchan!" Izuku said, prompting the blonde to scowl for a moment before smirking. "Like I'd do that anyway, Deku!" he said, before releasing an explosive pitch that broke the sound barrier, roaring "DIE!" in the process. "Die?" asked Iida. "Is he some kind of thanatophile?" Kujo joked.

The ball landed 705.2 meters away, according to Aizawa's tablet. "Now, these are the scores I want to be seeing in this exam" he said, prompting cheers from the class. "That looks like fun!" said a pink-skinned girl, causing the teacher to freeze. "Fun? You think this hero business is fun? Okay, new rule with this trial: whoever gets the bottom score gets expelled for having no potential whatsoever; no refunds or retries" the man said dangerously. "If you don't like how I'm running my class…go home now."

"But that's not fair at all!" Uraraka said. "We all got in fair and square; and yet we're being threatened with expulsion less than an hour into our first day?" Iida raised his hand robotically. "It seems very unprofessional for such a prestigious institution to allow their faculty to behave in this manner!" Aizawa smirked. "You think that natural disasters and villain attacks are 'fair' or 'professional'? Grow up. The real world is cruel, tough and unforgiving. As it stands, NONE of you would survive five minutes if you faced what the average pro deals with on a day-to-day basis. Welcome to hell, kids. Hope you enjoy your stay" the man said, before turning away. "Now get started. We haven't got all day."

Test 1: 50-meter dash

"Runners, on your mark!" came a robotic voice from the measurement device at the end of the 50-meter dash course. Iida and a frog-like girl named Asui lined up at the starting line. "Ready? Go!" the voice said, and the two took off running. Iida finished first due to his Engine Quirk, while the frog-like girl hopped over the line just behind him. "3.24 seconds! 5.58 seconds!" The tall boy stopped. "Looks like I can only get to third gear at 50 meters…" he thought.

Tenya Iida! His Quirk: Engine! As you can see, his legs pack a real punch!

"Hmmmm, seems he's in his element here. But speed won't help him with everything" Aizawa remarked. Uraraka touched all her clothes and shoes with the pads on her fingertips, activating her Quirk on them. "This should lighten me up pretty good…"

Ochako Uraraka! Her Quirk: Zero G! She can nullify the effects of gravity on anything she touches…but overuse makes her barf hard!

The girl finished just behind a boy with a large tail. "5.49 seconds! 7.15 seconds!" "Faster than junior high!" the girl thought joyously. A blonde boy and a girl with pink skin took their positions, the boy standing with his back to the finish line. The boy jumped at the sound of the start, and a beam of energy shot out of his belt. Unfortunately, the beam quit a few moments later and he fell down halfway through the course.

Yuga Aoyama! His Quirk: Navel Laser! That's right, a bellybutton laser! But his stomach hurts if he fires for more than a second at a time.

A bunch of people gave Aoyama weird looks as Kujo and Hojo lined up at the starting line. "Ready, Go!" Kujo shot forward with a burst of speed, shooting across the line in 4.42 seconds, while Hojo made several big leaps and made it across in 5.03 seconds. "Nicely done, M!" Kujo said. The other boy just smiled.

Kiriya Kujo! His Quirk: Racing Gear! He's built sturdier and faster than the average human!

Emu Hojo! His Quirk: Mighty Jump! He can jump high and deliver a Mighty Kick! But too high, and his legs won't be able to handle the landing!

Midoriya and Bakugo were next up. As the robotic voice announced start, the explosive blonde rushed forward, before releasing a series of small explosions from his hands, propelling himself across the finish line in 5.13 seconds. Midoriya crossed a few seconds later, making it in 7.05 seconds. Both Bakugo and Aizawa glared at the panting greenette.

Test 2: Grip Strength

Midoriya did his best to channel One For All without destroying himself, but the best he managed was a few sparks and a score of 77 kilograms. Meanwhile, a tall, muscular student with large lips ingested a few grams of sugar and got a score of 300 kilograms, while a huge student with six arms managed to get 544 kilograms by wrapping three muscular hands around the device; holding the record until the tall girl with the ponytail created a vice grip and broke the device wholesale.

Test 3: Standing Long Jump

Aoyama shot his Navel Laser, propelling him past the measuring device. Bakugo used multiple explosions to do the same. Uraraka made herself weightless and floated by. Hojo cleared the whole thing with ease, well overshooting the end of the sandbox. Midoriya managed to summon a few sparks again, but still failed to make it to the end.

Test 4: Side-to-Side Steps

Midoriya managed one of the better scores on this test. However, the short boy with purple balls for hair created two round bundles of hair balls and bounced off of them almost faster than the eye could see, getting the overall high score.

Test 5: Ball Throw

Uraraka made the ball weightless and caused it to literally float out of the atmosphere. The boy with odd elbows created a length of tape and used it as a bolo to get the ball 312.2 meters away. The tall girl created a cannon and shot it a solid 840.4 meters. "If Midoriya doesn't get in gear quickly, he'll be going home" Iida said. "Of course he will! I've known the nerd my whole life; he's Quirkless! He should have gone for Business instead of Heroics!" snapped Bakugo. "Pffft. Quirkless? Yeah right, Explosion-Brain. I saw what he did during the entrance exam; how he took out that Zero-Pointer" said Kujo, much to the blonde's annoyance and surprise. "He what?!"

Finally, it was Midoriya's turn. He got ready to try to summon as much of One For All as he could to get the best score he could…but as he threw the ball, he felt the incredible power leave him and the ball only got 46 meters.

"Wha-?" asked the greenette. "I erased your Quirk" came the teacher's voice, as his hair floated ominously and his eyes glowed red. "The judges for the exam were not rational enough; someone with a self-destructive Quirk like yours should never have gotten in." "Wait…I know you! You're the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead! You can cancel other people's Quirks by looking at them!" the boy came to a sudden realization.

"You have no control over your power; you aren't ready for a hero course yet. Do you plan to destroy all your bones again? Will you let yourself be rendered useless in a way that would make you a liability in the real world?" the hero asked, sending chills down the spines of the other students with his tone. "I've returned your impractical Glass Cannon Quirk to you; take your final throw and accept your fate."

*cue My Hero Academia OST - You Say Run*

The boy lined up. "I can't just give up!" "Hey now, is this kid for real?!" asked All Might, spying from behind a building. Power built in his index finger, and as he released the ball, he channeled 100% of One For All behind the finger. "SMAAAASSH!" he yelled, releasing the ball, creating a massive shockwave from the force of the throw and shooting the ball into the sky. Everyone's faces were painted over with shock. The boy's finger was immediately broken, but the payoff was worth it as the ball landed 705.3 meters away. As he stood up, he flexed his burned, broken finger, eyes full of determination, and said "I can still continue!", eliciting a grin from his teacher. "This kid is something else!" the voice in Midoriya's head said. "If he keeps it up, Toshi will have nothing on him!"

NEXT TIME ON GAME START! HERO ACADEMIA:

The battle trial will test everyone! Bakugo is angry as ever! And why are Kujo and Hojo sneaking around? Stay tuned for more!

NOTES:

The overhauling of this chapter took a lot less time than I expected. It's still not a very long chapter at all, but it'll do – I'm not really a fan of 10K word chapters, if you catch my drift.

Thanks for reading!