Chapter Four: The Quirk Assessment Test

"A quirk assessment test?!"

The class of 1-A stood in an empty track belonging to the school, all dressed in matching short-sleeved jumpsuits. The uniform was dark blue and decorated with white strips that spelled 'UA' in long lines up their bodies. It clashed horribly with Koharu's hair, but she thought that she was still rocking it.

"What about the entrance ceremony?" Voiced the brunette from earlier, who had introduced herself as Ochaco Uraraka. "The orientation?"

Shouta's back was to them as he responded sternly, "If you're going to be a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events." Pointless shit is more likely what he would have referred to it as at home, Koharu thought, but she was starting to see a different personality in this 'Aizawa-sensei'.

"U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are." When Shouta looked over his shoulder to the class, Koharu thought that his eyes looked especially bloodshot. His disapproving frown was evident. "That's also how the teachers run their classes. We'll be doing physical fitness tests."

Shouta pulled a small tablet from his pocket, and held it up for the class to see. There was a small mumble of interest throughout the class. From her place as far away as possible while still falling in the realm of casual, even Koharu was interested.

"You've been doing these since junior high, right? Fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks. The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks— it's not rational. The Ministry of Education is procrastinating."

It was a fair point that Koharu had never really considered, not that her Quirk improved her physicality at all. The most she could do was sabotage the other athletes, which didn't seem sportsmanlike. She would need to rely on the fact that Shouta had already been kicking her ass into shape for years— maybe experience with his expectations would give her a leg up?

Shouta furthered his slouch as his bloodshot eyes rolled over the class. Just as he had in the classroom, his eyes slid past Koharu without a hint of recognition. Instead, his eyes narrowed on someone else. "Bakugou," he called out, and then all eyes were on him. "You finished at the top of the practical exam, right?"

The boy in question had a resting bitch face full of contempt, and blond hair spiky to match his prickly expression. He gave an indifferent shrug.

"In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"

Koharu watched as the teenager's posture changed to mirror his teacher's, his shoulders slumped and his hands shoved into his pockets. When he spoke, Bakugou's voice matched his rough exterior. "67 meters."

"Try doing it with your Quirk."

She couldn't help but move closer with the rest of her class as Bakugou took his place on the painted field, a baseball in hand and a decidedly bored look on his face. Just what was his Quirk?

"You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle," Shouta continued to explain as he took a step back with the class, ready to score the first athlete. His voice had all the enthusiasm of a preteen being forced to entertain their parents' friends. "Give it all you've got."

"Well then…" Bakugou said, and this time Koharu thought that his voice sounded more like a growl. Still, she wasn't expecting it as his face twisted into a look of fierce anger, screaming "DIE!" as he tossed the ball with an explosion of fire. The ball soared through the air, significantly further than 67 meters. Koharu felt her eyes widen.

"Know your own maximum first," suggested Shouta as they watched the ball begin its descent. The device in his hands gave a loud beep when it hit the ground. "That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero." He held up the screen to them.

705.2m.

Holy shit.

Her classmates echoed her sentiments to varying degrees, quite a few of them calling out in shock at the high number. Watching Bakugou's success had the immediate impact of firing them all up.

"700 meters? Wow!"

"We can use our Quirks as much as we want! As expected of the hero course!"

"This'll be so much fun!"

Koharu felt the chill in the air immediately, but her classmates had yet to catch on. There's that leg up on knowing Shouta, she thought. She shuffled a step back from the group as if distancing herself from their joy.

"It looks fun, huh?" Shouta's sharp voice cut through the excitement. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you have that attitude the whole time?"

Oh fuck he was smiling.

"All right," their esteemed teacher said with a sinister sneer. "Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential, and will be punished with expulsion."

The class erupted. People hollered and sputtered, and Aizawa-sensei watched them with glee. Koharu thought she saw Midoriya start shaking. Even Koharu was sweating, knowing of her brother's proclivity for ruthless expulsion.

"We're free to do what we want with our students." Shouta ran a hand through his hair, and since he hadn't struck enough fear into the hearts of his students just yet, he pushed it back to clearly reveal his bloodshot eyes and a terrible grin. "Welcome to the U.A. Hero Course."

Game on, thought Koharu. However, that wasn't enough for some students. Uraraka voiced her displeasure openly with a sweet voice and fists curled up to her chest, asking why they had to do such a serious test on their first day of school. "Even if it wasn't the first day," she said, "This is just unfair!"

Now, Shouta's smile was lost as he responded to the class at large, "Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains. Emergencies whose time or place can't be predicted. Japan is littered with unfairness." He didn't need to look at Uraraka for her to flinch. "Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations. If you wanted to go hang out with your friends after school, too bad. For the next three years, U.A. will do all that it can to put you through the wringer. Go beyond, and overcome. That's what Plus Ultra means."

He raised a hand, and tauntingly flexed his fingers. "Bring it on with all you've got."

When he finished, Koharu was certain that he was looking at her. She returned his gaze with a look of hard set determination, her back straightening as the young girl tried to feel taller. If Shouta wanted her to give it all that she could, she would. She would make him proud.

"The demonstration is over. The real thing starts now."

~ o ~

The first test was a 50-metre dash. Koharu woke up to run with the sunrise every morning, so she had been feeling pretty good about herself when she was paired up with Iida for the first dash. But it turns out that Iida was a goddamn race-car, and Koharu was in way over her head. She managed to complete her sprint in 5.76 seconds— which beat her previous best— but she was still left in Iida's literal dust.

"Holy smokes, Iida!" Koharu called as she caught up to the boy, stopping next to her classmate and marvelling at the way the engines in his calves seemed to pulse. "That was really cool! Just how fast can you go?"

Iida's chest puffed with pride, but his face remained serious. "I believe you'll find out, Koharu!"

Koharu's responding laugh was quick and short. "Okay, tough guy. I'll be looking forward to it." She lifted her hand up to offer the boy a high-five, to which he responded with a resounding slap against her palm. The two nodded to each other before Koharu headed away from the end of the track to avoid getting run over by an eager sprinter.

The next assessment was a grip test. Koharu crowded in a circle with Uraraka and another classmate, who introduced herself as Jiro. Her hair was a colder shade of purple than Koharu's, and earphone jacks extended from her earlobes. None of the girls excelled at the grip test, but Koharu managed to score the highest by a slim margin.

The same was decidedly untrue for the next test, which was the standing long-jump. Koharu was short. Not "slightly below average", but short. She was not going to make it very far unless she had a hell of a running start. Still, she did her best, and at least she didn't fall on her ass like a few of the others did.

The tests continued, and Koharu continued to fall behind the others as they engaged their amazing Quirks to assist them— those lucky bastards with physical enhancements. Koharu turned to squint at Shouta for a long moment, resenting him for making her realize just how weak she was compared to some of her classmates. He didn't turn his head when he met her gaze, but lifted an eyebrow at her still before his eyes slid away once more.

Koharu was in the middle of sticking a tongue out at him when his eyes turned red and his hair began to rise. Koharu whipped her head around to see Midoriya standing frozen in the field— Shouta had erased his Quirk, whatever it was. But why?

Shouta walked through the crowd from his place at the back, the class parting like the sea as his capture device and hair floated around him. "That entrance exam was definitely not rational enough," he said. Koharu could no longer see his expression, but she could hear his scowl. "Even a kid like you was accepted."

"You erased my Quirk?" Midoriya asked in shock, before noticing something significant: "Those goggles!"

Koharu couldn't help it when her chest filled with pride, even if she thought Shouta was being a bit of a jerk at that moment. Midoriya clearly recognized Eraserhead, and as Eraserhead's number one fan, Koharu appreciated that. He had cemented himself in her good books.

"You can erase people's Quirks just by looking at them," Midoriya continued with awe. "The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

Around her, the class began to mutter. "Eraser? I don't know him."

"Maybe you should do more research, then," Koharu said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He's an underground Hero. And he's super cool."

"He's kinda scary…"

Keen to ignore the mutterings of his students, Shouta continued to reprimand Midoriya. "From what I can tell, you can't control your Quirk," he said. "Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?"

"Th-that's not my intention—" stammered Midoriya, his hands in determined fists at his sides.

Shouta snapped his capture device around Midoriya's midsection and pulled him closer, speaking low for only him to hear. When he finally released the teen, Koharu thought that the boy looked defeated.

Was this how Shouta was as a teacher? Koharu chewed on her thumbnail as she tried to watch Shouta's return to the class, but her eyes kept sliding back to Midoriya. Midoriya was being given a second chance, but what had Shouta said to him? The green-haired boy was muttering to himself, his eyes downcast and shadows over his eyes.

He just looked so different than he had that morning, Koharu thought. A smile suited him better. She just couldn't help herself— "You've got this, Midoriya!"

His head snapped up to look at her, seeing her cheer with two thumbs up. He looked genuinely shocked, like no one had ever cheered for him before. First, a smile came over his face, and then a look of serious determination. He nodded to her.

When Midoriya threw the ball, it burst through the air and soared into the sky in an arc only paralleled by Uraraka's infinity throw. Various students cried out in shock as the ball soared through the air, finally landing hundreds of meters away. Even Koharu let out a loud, "Holy shit!"

Midoriya turned around, clutching his arm and tears gathering in the corners of his bright eyes. One of his fingers was discoloured and shaking, and Midoriya's smile was more of a grimace than anything else, but Koharu thought he looked incredibly cool at that moment.

"He got over 700 meters?!"

"A hero-like record!" Uraraka cried gleefully, shooting both her hands up into the air.

"But his finger is swollen," observed Iida. "And there was the entrance exam, too… he has a strange Quirk." Koharu was really starting to regret missing Midoriya's entrance exam, she thought. She would have to ask someone what happened.

The only one who didn't seem impressed with Midoriya was Bakugou. Explosions were already firing as the heated boy began to run at Midoriya, shouting at him for an explanation. He was only a few feet away from Midoriya when Shouta wrapped his capture device around Bakugou, the cloth snapping hard around his chest and forehead. From behind Shouta, the class was frozen in quiet trepidation at the confrontation.

"What the—? These cloths are hard!" Bakugou said as he struggled against Shouta's tight hold. Koharu knew his battle well, having her own fair share of experience tangled in the cloth.

"They're weapons for capture constructed with carbon fiber woven together with a metal wire made of a special alloy," Shouta explained grouchily. He gave a small yank, and Bakugou stumbled slightly closer. "Don't keep making me use my Quirk over and over. I have dry-eye."

Complainer, thought Koharu.

Seemingly content that Bakugou wouldn't eviscerate Midoriya, Shouta released the blond. "This is a waste of time," he said in a mutter. "Whoever's next, get ready."

Koharu was glad that she had already gone— she didn't want to try to follow Midoriya's performance, not when everyone was paying such eager attention. As another student took his place, Midoriya returned to the group with his injured arm still held in his grip.

Koharu eagerly approached him, keen to make up for the Aizawa-assholery from earlier. "Midoriya, that was so cool! But is your finger okay?"

The boy in question smiled and began to stammer out reassurances, his face a vibrant pink. For someone who wanted to be a Hero, Koharu was starting to think that he didn't like the attention that much. "I— I'll be okay! Thank you for cheering for me, Koharu!"

Koharu grinned and offered him another thumbs up. "Of course! You looked like you needed it." However, after taking another glance at his mangled fingers, Koharu's smile dimmed. "Shouldn't you go see the nurse, though? That looks really bad…"

Midoriya pulled his wrist closer to his chest, and shook his head wildly. "Don't worry about me!"

"Okay," Koharu said, eyeing the boy once more. "I'll keep cheering for you, then. I think you'll really need it to finish the rest of the tests like that." Midoriya's responding smile was bashful, but it still made Koharu happy.

Koharu took it upon herself to be Midoriya's partner for the next three tests, managing to beat him with both the sit-ups and seated toe-touches. Despite her words, she was worried. The poor guy was fighting through the pain, desperate to complete the tests, but he still seemed to be coming up short compared to the rest of the class. Koharu cracked joke after joke to lighten the mood, and Midoriya laughed with her with seeming ease, but she could see the pain in his movements and the fear in his eyes. At the end of it all, Shouta would be expelling one student… and it looked like it would be Midoriya.

Even if she didn't want to abandon her new friend, Koharu couldn't help but leave Midoriya behind when it came time to the long-distance run. At the end, he was on the ground panting as she stood straight with ease. She hoped it wasn't symbolic. She offered him a hand up, and he was grateful to take it.

They walked together when Shouta called them around to reveal the scores. Midoriya was holding onto his wrist again— Koharu didn't know how much it could really be doing for the pain, so she thought it must just be for comfort. She clasped her own hands tightly together behind her back to avoid doing anything weird like trying to comfort the boy herself.

"Okay, I'll quickly tell you the results," said Shouta. "It's a waste of time explaining it verbally, so I'll just show you the results all at once." With that, he tapped on his device and a scoreboard was projected in front of him.

Koharu was in thirteenth place. She tried not to feel disappointed, but she failed entirely when she continued reading down the list and found Midoriya's name in last place. Beside her, Midoriya was already shaking. Koharu let herself place a hand on his shoulder.

Hopefully they could stay in touch.

"By the way," Shouta started blandly, "I was lying about the expulsion."

Eh?!

chapter end

My celebration continues: it's a double update :) thank you to everyone that has read this far.