AN: So here we are again, thanks for all the support so far, I really appreciate it! Hope you continue to enjoy the story, and support it. Please do check out my other stories if you have the time.
Thanks for reading, please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.
( - )
(Last Time)
Around the room a number of the assembled students shifted. Shota Aizawa was not giving them a good first impression, especially since the man was supposed to be their form room teacher.
"Good, now put these on and go to the training grounds, your first test begins now!" Aizawa continued speaking as he gazed around, locking eyes with everyone in the room at least once, before he reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a bunch of blue and white track uniforms.
'Our first test! Already!' Izuku thought, his eyes widening as the class began to grab the track uniforms and leave the room. 'This is more like it!'
( - )
Chapter 5
( - )
(With Izuku)
Currently, Izuku, along with the rest of class 1A, was stood waiting patiently at the side of one of U.A.'s large training grounds, all of them wearing the Academy's standard blue and white track uniforms.
At present the group of twenty were all, for the most part, standing around awkwardly, one or two of them occasionally making attempts at small talk, or at introducing themselves to their classmates for the next three years.
The class had only fully assembled for the first time around fifteen minutes ago, and not many of them had had the chance yet to properly introduce themselves to one another, the kind of things the students were usually expected to do on their first day at school.
Instead, their form room teacher, Shouta Aizawa, had thrown them all track uniforms; told them to get dressed, and then told them to head out onto one of the school's sports fields once they were ready.
Standing in front of the assembled students, still wearing his dark clothing, and a mess of bandages around his neck, like scarf, Aizawa continued to explain just what this test would consist of, his expression dour, and his tone never changing from a his now customary bored monotone.
"A Quirk Assessment Test?!" Tenya Iida, the bossy and abrasive teen Izuku had met at the exams, spoke up in surprise, the bespectacled teen's brow furrowing as he pushed his glasses further up his nose with one of his hands, his mouth set in a thin tight line. His tone filled with both confusion and consternation as he looked to Aizawa for an explanation.
Aizawa sent the tall, broad shoulder teen a bored look, before he gave a curt nod in response. The dull look not leaving his face as he then looked away from Iida and over at the rest of the class, after which he finally replied in a bored tone. "Yes, now get ready."
"W-wait!" The short, curvy girl with shoulder length brown hair spoke up, her hazel eyes wide as she waved one of her hands in air to try and get Aizawa's attention. "What about the introduction ceremony that we are supposed to be going too!? Or the tour of the school! Or the briefing on what we'll be covering in Hero Class this year?!"
Izuku glanced sideways at the girl, it seemed he wasn't the only one to have read the information pack complete with the itinerary for the first day, that U.A. had sent out before the start of the school year.
Amongst the rest of the group several other students nodded, frowned or muttered as they too began to question what they were all doing out here in track uniforms, when they should by all rights be either on a tour of the school or at the school's opening ceremony.
"Enough, Uraraka. I'll say this now, so I don't have to repeat it. If all of you actually want to be heroes then it is best that you learn quickly, that you won't have time for things like that," Aizawa replied, barely even glancing at the girl whose question he was addressing, or at any of the other students either. Instead he seemed to be looking through them, and at the rest of the school's campus behind them. "U.A is so successful partly because of the great freedom it allows on campus. That freedom extends to the teachers, allowing them freedom to teach their students in the manner that they deem fit."
Izuku, who was currently within the crowd of students frowned as he heard Aizawa's words, and processed just what he was actually saying.
Such a system was based on a lot of trust, one which could very easily be abused and could very easily lead to inconsistent teaching throughout the different classes. A bad teacher, or an unmotivated one, could cripple an entire class's learning.
Personally, it made him uncomfortable that his entire career at school would be based, to some extent, on the kind of homeroom teacher he got. With this being something that could affect the type and quality of the hero he could one day become.
Considering who he had apparently been landed with, his discomfort only increased as he eyed the pale, dark haired teacher cautiously. He didn't make it into U.A. just to fail because he was lumbered with a useless teacher that didn't even seem to want to be teaching them.
Yes, after all the effort and all the backbreaking work he had put in just so he could make it to U.A. and then graduate and become a Pro Hero, he would be less than pleased if all of that were to be for nothing, all because he been lumbered with a piss poor teacher from the offset.
"You all remember the exercises you had to do in middle school, right?" Aizawa continued speaking, apparently oblivious to his student's thoughts, as he instead got on with what he wanted to say. "The physical tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks? This country like many others in the world still hasn't gotten around to standardising those sort of things. As far as I'm concerned it's completely illogical."
Izuku cocked his head to the side as he heard this. Having not been to a proper school since he was five years old, he had no experience of the standardised tests Aizawa was talking about.
Back at Asphodel he had always been encouraged, when in a safe and controlled environment, to go all out with his Quirk, after all control could only be gained through experience.
That said though, Aizawa's statement about the current system being illogical, that was something he could agree with. If people, students, were being held back from reaching their full potential by society's obsession with everyone being on an equal footing, then that was indeed pretty stupid.
That was something that worked and was acceptable back in the day, before Quirks, and even then people had had different levels of intelligence and fitness due to either genetics or the way they were raised. Those days however, were long gone.
In a world where eighty percent of people had some kind of superpower, limiting students so that they didn't pull ahead of others due to the innate abilities that they had been born with was in fact damaging the development and growth of people and society as a whole. It was the kind of thing that would cause stagnation and decline.
If you limit everyone so that they never surpass the lowest common denominator, then you would be crippling the development of entire classes, no entire generations of future heroes.
The world was not a fair place, and not everyone was born equal, or at least not in terms of what Quirks they were born with.
"Now" Aizawa began as he pulled out an android tablet from his pocket. With him then absentmindedly tapping the touch screen to turn it on, even as he surveyed the class, no doubt looking for a candidate/ test subject that he could use to make his point. His dull eyes noticeably locking onto him, Izuku. "Let's just get to it. You, Izuku Midoriya, the so called 'Titan', you scored the highest in the Entrance Exam, so tell me, how far can you throw a softball?"
Izuku frowned as he heard this, ignoring the muttering from the rest of the group as they all eyed him. Most curiously, though again the short kid with purple balls on his head backed away terrified, whilst the kid with red and white hair just scowled at him.
Honestly though, the reactions were tamer than he had expected.
"I didn't go to a normal school, sir." Izuku finally said after a few moments, his brow furrowing as he watched Aizawa carefully. Unless this man was stupid, then he should have already known this. "Whenever I did things like this I was allowed to use my Quirk, I was supervised of course, but I wasn't limited."
"Hn, I didn't ask about your school. I asked about how far you can throw a softball." Aizawa replied bluntly, his tone still bored and his gaze flat.
"Erm, well when I'm in my base form, but still using my Quirk I was able to throw it nine hundred and thirty two metres." Izuku replied carefully, watching Aizawa carefully as he did so. He didn't know what the man was up too, was this some kind of trap, was he being singled out for a reason?
All around him the other students started whispering, many of them audibly muttering how he was 'lucky' to have been allowed such free rein to use his Quirk.
In his opinion their words came from a place of ignorance. He didn't feel lucky to have grown up like he had, not at all.
"Give it another go," Aizawa said abruptly, tossing a softball to Izuku as he did so, his expression not changing as he then gestured for him to stand in a nearby circle that had been set into the ground, one that was specifically made for events like shotput and discus. "Without using your Quirk."
Frowning as he heard the last thing Aizawa said, Izuku threw the ball up and down in his hand, testing its weight as he walked into the circle. After which he pulled his arm back, not drawing on his Quirk like he usually did, as he instead focused on technique.
Taking a deep breathing, Izuku made his throw, the ball hurtling forward with quite some speed as it looped up, over and then down, before bouncing a couple of times, rolling, and then coming to a stop.
"Seventy eight metres, not bad." Aizawa nodded, his expression not changing as he looked out at the rest of the students, all of whom were muttering.
Listening in on what they were saying, Izuku couldn't help but roll his eyes. They all seemed surprised by the score and the fact that it was so low, even with him not using his Quirk. It was like they thought he possessed monstrous strength even when not using his Quirk.
It was almost like they expected him to be inhuman, as opposed to what he was, and ordinary kid, with an extraordinary Quirk.
"Right, now do it again. Use your Quirk this time though. As long as you don't leave the circle, it doesn't matter what you do. Don't hold back, though." Aizawa called out, his voice sounding out over the rest of the class's muttering, garnering their silence as they all watched on. Their gazes all fixed on Izuku as the teacher threw him another ball.
Nodding his head, Izuku looked down at the circle he was standing in. It was five foot in diameter, if he took on his Titan form then he would be unable to stay within the bounds of the circle.
Gritting his teeth, and ignoring all of the attention he was receiving, Izuku drew on his Quirk, not fully assuming his Titan form but accessing some of its strength as he pulled his arm back, using the same technique as before, and then hurled the ball.
This time as he threw it, the ball did not so much as fly out of his hand as it did explode, a slight shockwave blasting outwards from Izuku at the force of the throw, even as the ball; shot up, arced threw the air, and then landed much farther than it had done previously.
Once again the class started muttering, many of them talking about how strong the throw was, a far cry than it was when he had used his Quirk. Others meanwhile were questioning why he hadn't gone full Titan when he threw the ball.
Not even blinking at the reactions or at the force of the throw, Aizawa instead just watched as the gauge on his tablet continued to rise as it tracked the distance the softball went before it finally hit the ground again in the distance. "Before you can think about training to become heroes, you first need to know your uppermost limit. That's how we form the basis of your hero training."
With that said Aizawa turned the tablet around and showed the class the final score, with the screen showing that Izuku had just thrown the ball just over nine hundred and sixty five metres.
"Are you serious?!" Kirishima, the kid with spiky red hair shouted out, a surprised look on his face as he saw how much further Izuku could throw the ball when using his Quirk to enhance his abilities. He had no doubt heard him tell them how far he could throw it before, but to actually witness it, to see irrefutable proof that was a whole other thing. "That's nuts!"
Izuku grinned as he heard this, turning around as he saw several of his classmates, Mina, Toru, Kirishima, the spikey blonde haired kid, the girl with vines for hair and a number of others clapping and jeering him on. With a number of others nodding their appreciation or muttering excitedly to one another, clearly eager for when they would be taking their turns.
There were no overt displays of fear or caution.
Though that was not to say that all the reactions were entirely positive; the red and white haired boy had gained a competitive glint in his heterochromatic eyes and was sending him a speculative look. The teen with big lips and a ponytail was cracking his knuckles, a smirk on his face as he sent Izuku a challenging look. Iida meanwhile had grit his teeth and was muttering to himself about how he would approach the task.
It looked like he would have a lot of competition.
But really that wasn't surprising. The Hero Class of U.A. was made up of the best of the best, all of these teens had put in the work and had the determination to make it here.
Izuku very much doubted that any of them would settle for second best, not if, like Aizawa said, they wanted to be heroes!
"This looks like it's going to be fun! We can use our Quirks all we like?" Mina said loudly, throwing an arm around Toru gleefully, the pink skinned girl clearly hyped for the challenge to come.
Aizawa however shifted slightly as he heard her words, his attention turning to the vibrant, pink skinned girl. "It looks fun, huh?"
Mina froze as she heard the tone of the man's voice, a slightly different tone than before. All around her the other students also looked a bit taken aback by the sudden display of what could almost be called aggression. Aizawa didn't look happy, his expression might not have changed, but his tone definitely had as too had the look in his eyes. It was no longer bored, instead it was a look of annoyance.
"Were you planning on having a good time during these three years here? If that's how you feel, then let's change things up. The student who ranks last in the eight tests I'll be giving you today… will be judged as having zero potential and will be immediately expelled from the Hero Course." Aizawa continued a slightly creep smile spreading across the man's face as he saw several of the students recoil in shock and horror at his statement.
Izuku though scowled as he heard this, he did not like the way this was going.
Everyone here had just passed through a rigorous entrance exam. They had all surely proven that they at least deserved to be here, that they had potential. It was unfair for them to be tested before they had had any further training to hone their abilities, especially since it was only the first day.
He wasn't worried for himself of course, his Quirk was naturally geared towards physical power and fitness. It was practically made for the tests Aizawa would be throwing at him.
No, he wasn't worried about himself, he was concerned about others. Not everyone's Quirk was suited to purely physical exercises. Some Quirks focused on heightened intelligence and analytical abilities, others meanwhile were better suited to rescue work than fighting and physical test, or to tracking and searching.
If Aizawa's test were going to be like Izuku expected, then he was concerned. The man would be weeding out all those who didn't fit his personal criteria for what made a hero.
This in turn could be damaging for society in general. The diversity of heroes and the diversity of what they specialised in was important. There were very few Pro Heroes out there that excelled in every kind of hero work.
It was this kind of bullshit that, Izuku hadn't liked, when Aizawa had explained about the freedom the teachers had when working here at U.A.
He knew the school would be difficult, and that they would weed the lacklustre, the ill-suited, the inept from the group, but this isn't what he had in mind, not on the first day anyway!
As he scowled at this, Izuku quickly noticed that some of the other students were having slightly more extreme reactions than others. The little kid with purple balls on his head had begun to shake his eyes now quite weepy. The girl with vines for hair was frowning slightly, she seemed as displeased at this as Izuku, and Iida. Well he looked like he wasn't sure whether to wholeheartedly support, Aizawa's statement or condemn it.
Glancing sideways Izuku, who by this point had fallen in line with the rest of the group, was able to see that Mina, at least, although looking a bit shaken, still retained a semblance of her old confidence as she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists.
Aizawa grinned as he saw the mixture of reactions; from excited, to nervous, to angry, the older man not at all perturbed as he saw the expressions on some of the student's faces. His grin sharpening even further as he saw the terrified expression on Mineta's face, a big contrast to the confidence several other students were showing. "In this school, the teachers can also use their freedom to expel students as we choose. Welcome to U.A's Hero Course kids..."
"Wait a minute!" Toru spoke up, catching the rest of the class's attention as she voiced Izuku and several other's concerns. "This is just our first day! You can't just expel people without giving them any training, that's way too unreasonable!"
"Indeed, it is injustice, reckless and illogical." The girl with vines for hair added, her expression angelic, and her voice soft, melodic and beautiful, despite the accusations in her words as she frowned at Aizawa.
"That's the life of a hero, and the sooner you learn that, Hagakure and Shiozaki, the better." Aizawa replied as he glanced at the invisible girl and then over at the green haired girl, his smile widening and his tone now rich with dark amusement. "Natural disasters, horrendous accidents, rampaging villains. These are the kind of things that can and will happen when you least expect it. It's the job of a hero to stand strong through all that insanity and calamity and bring order. If you were thinking that you could just have a good time playing around out here every day, then let me burst that little bubble for you right now. From here on out, for the next three years, U.A is going to throw more hardships at you than you could count!"
The entire class looked taken aback at that.
Not even Izuku knew what to think. The man had a point, no matter how much of an arsehole he came across, and he really did come across as a massive arsehole. It was painful, but he did have a point. A hero had to be able to react to the unexpected, fight through adversity and always endeavour and fight come out on top, no matter the odds arrayed against them. For if he or she did not, then innocents would suffer.
Heroes should always strive for excellence, for in a life and death situation even a single mistake could spell calamity.
"You want to be heroes don't you? Well overcoming these hardships and coming out stronger and better than before, that is the only way you will become one. Now step up and show me what you've got!" Aizawa said challengingly, his smile still creepy as his dark eyes scanned the assembled students, momentarily lingering on Izuku's scowling face as he did so.
( - )
(Sometime Later)
What followed next after Aizawa's 'uplifting' little speech were as he had stated, a series of physical tests.
With these tests including; the softball throw test, the fifty meter dash, grip strength, standing long jump, continuous side jumps for a minute, the long distance run and toe touches, and for the most part the entire class did well, with most people scoring very highly on at least one of the tests.
For example the pretty girl with shoulder length brown hair, Ochako Uraraka turned out to have a Quirk that allowed her some semblance of control over gravity, and through the use of her Quirk she managed to somehow score an infinity on the ball throwing test, easily getting the best score in the class.
In fact most of the students in the class had at least one of the events that they excelled in or several that they did relatively well in. With some of those who had more versatile Quirks, like Izuku, Ibara Shiozaki, Momo Yaoyorozu, Fumikage Tokoyami and Shoto Todoroki all excelling in the majority of the events.
Unfortunately though some of the students in Class 1A had Quirks that weren't as versatile, with some like; Mina Ashido, Mashirao Ojiro (the guy with the tail), and Kyoka Jiro (the girl with the extended earlobes), and Mezo Shoji (the kid with six arms), only doing well in one of two of the events.
Suffice to say as the morning continued and the students progressed through the eight different tests, things started to become tenser and tenser as some students noticeably pulled away from the main body of the students in terms of their scores, whilst others began to trail behind.
With those that weren't particularly suited to the tests like; Toru Hagakure, Minrou Mineta and Yuga Aoyama, noticeably get nervous that they themselves might not make the cut as the tests continued.
As for Izuku, well he wasn't anxious at all, but that was more to do with the sheer versatility of his Quirk in terms of these kinds of tests, and the experience he already had using it.
For the most part he had scored well on all of his tests. In the fifty yard dash he had managed to score second in the class, his enhanced physical abilities allowing him to easily outscore all but, Tenya Iida, whose Quirk it appeared allowed him to run incredibly fast thanks in part to the weird engine like devices on his calves.
In the grip strength test Izuku had once again scored very well, as like with the fifty yard dash, he had used his Quirk, which in turn allowed him to use around ten percent of the strength he had in his Titan form, even whilst in his base form. This had been more than enough for him to score at the top of the class, ahead of even Mezo Shoji, who with his three pairs of arms was able to rank second in the hand grip.
For the rest of the events, Izuku had also scored highly in all of them. Not quite grabbing the top spot in every single test though. The side to side jumps were not really his forte. But the rest he had excelled in, his enhanced strength and stamina allowing him to get within the top five for the; standing long jump, long distance run, and toe touches.
As the last of the events came to an end, and Izuku jogged passed the finishing line for the long distance run, his face and body a bit sweaty but his breathing still even, he looked around briefly, noting as he did so that Iida had finished before him, as had the big lipped boy, Rikido Sato.
Though admittedly the tall, bulky teen looked dead on his feet as he collapsed to the floor tiredly, several empty packets of what looked like sugar falling out of his hands as he fought to catch his breath.
"H-Ha, I finally beat you… Midoriya" Sato grunted out, looking up at Izuku, even as several of their other classmates crossed the line one after the other. Momo Yaoyorozu was amusingly enough using a motorised scooter that she had formed with her Quirk, Creation.
"So you did," Izuku acknowledged, a slight smile on his face as he saw the taller teen's exhaustion. He hadn't even realised that the other kid had been directly competing against him. "Well done!"
Sato grinned tiredly at that, and then gave him a thumbs up.
Smiling, Izuku, looked away and instead waited as the last of the class filtered passed the finishing line, those that were capable of doing so using their Quirks to help them, whilst the others that didn't have Quirks suited to the task just did the best that they could.
"Right," Aizawa said as the last of the students finished the run, the final test. "That's it, for most of you the test is now over."
"For most of us?" Momo asked, a frown on her face as she caught onto what he had just said.
"Yes, nearly all of you gave everything you could, and did your absolute best in the tests. You gave it you're all, so most of you have got at least that going for you." Aizawa drawled, as he looked over at Momo and gave her a flat look.
Izuku stiffened as he heard this, a sudden tension had descended on the class. They could all sense trouble, their teacher was about to single someone out for not trying hard enough, and everyone was no doubt worried about who that person would be.
Personally, he felt a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach as Aizawa's eye locked onto him.
"Midoriya," Aizawa said after a moment.
Almost unconsciously all the students around him moved back a few steps, making a small circle form around him as he felt the eyes of both his teacher and the rest of the class rest on him.
"Sir?" He replied cautiously, ignoring the others and instead locking gazes with Aizawa.
"You didn't perform to your full potential." Aizawa said after a moment. "Not once during the test did you go one hundred percent, instead you only used ten percent of your total."
The class around him started audibly muttering to one another as they heard that.
Izuku though ignored them. "Did I fail?"
"No," Aizawa replied after a moment. "You actually came in first out of the whole class, closely followed by Yaoyorozu and Shiozaki."
Again yet more muttering from the class, with there being some consternation now about him performing best out of all of them, in spite of him only using ten percent of his power.
Honestly, a part of him could understand their frustration.
"I don't see the problem then, sir." Izuku replied.
"This test was about pushing yourself to the limits and seeing what you can do, you never pushed yourself to the limits." Aizawa said, his voice verging on cold as he looked down at Izuku. "I want to know why?"
"Pragmatism and necessity." Izuku replied after a moment of thought. "For the toe touching and side to side jumping, an increase in height, size or strength would not have aided me in the slightest."
For the long jump I could clear the designated range without using the full extent of my Quirk, it was not necessary to assume a large form to complete the task, on top of which the collateral damage from leaping in that form would have been excessive and not worth me raising my position two places in order to get the top positon."
Taking on my Titan form in the grip test too would have been pointless unless you had a griper tester big enough to properly fit in my hand."
"As for the fifty metre dash and the long distance run, although I could have won if I used my Quirk to its fullest extent, I was confident enough about placing in the top two or three, so I did not think it necessary or practical, nor did I think it was safe for me to be running around in a thirty metre tall form whilst my fellow classmates were around me, and potentially underfoot."
All around the students started to nod. No doubt they were imagining what it would have been like if they were racing against a thirty metre tall Titan that could turn them into mincemeat if it accidentally stood on them.
"As for the ball throw, taking my Titan form would have forced me out of the circle and thus invalidated my throw." Izuku tagged on at the end, just so that he covered all bases.
"I see," Aizawa said after a moment, and for a second, as he did so, Izuku spotted a genuine smile on the man's face, even if it was tiny smile, barely more than a slight curving of his lips. "So you used common sense and prudence, and came to a conclusion on how you should use your abilities."
"Yes," Izuku nodded.
"Ok," Aizawa said, before he took out his tablet again. "Now the rest of the students have finished and the scores have been tabulated, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to do the soft ball throw again, just to see what you're capable of."
Izuku cocked an eyebrow as he heard this. Surely Aizawa knew about his backstory, and therefore knew of the tests and training he had undergone, Doctor Nakamura had included it all in the report he had sent to U.A. prior to his admission. It contained all the pertinent details about his Quirk; his capabilities, his education, his training and his mental state. Not everything of course, Izuku was allowed some privacy, but all the things that were necessary for U.A. to know ahead of time.
With that in mind, Izuku couldn't help but ponder what Aizawa was up to. Why did the man seem so set on him taking his Titan form?
"So does that mean that this won't count towards my final score?" Izuku asked, ignoring the excited muttering of his class mates behind him, and Mineta's terrified wittering.
"Correct, the scores have already been finalised. This is so both you, and to a lesser extent I, can see what you're capable of." Aizawa said mildly.
Izuku nodded at that. "Alright then, fine."
With that said Aizawa threw him the ball, even as he stepped out of the crowd of students.
"Good luck, Midoriya!" Toru shouted behind him.
"Yeah, go show that ball what you're made of!" Mina added.
"This is going to be so freaking manly!" Kirishima shouted.
"Show everyone what you've got," Ibara's soft voice called out too, adding to the support and encouragement most of the class, or at least two thirds of them, were sending his way.
Izuku nodded as he heard all of this, a slight grin coming to his face as he continued to walk away from the group and over to the circle, Aizawa noticeably keeping the rest of the students back as he instead kept his gaze fixed resolutely on him.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku threw the ball up in the air even as he drew on his Quirk, and assumed his Titan form.
Almost instantly steam erupted from his body, the blast of hot air knocking those around him backwards, even as he felt himself being hurled up into the air, burning hot muscle forming around him, along with a gigantic skeleton, all of it developing around him as he opened his eyes, and saw through his Titan form's eyes, and felt the cold wind blowing about his Titan form's naked skin, the steam still blowing off of his now thirty metre tall body as he reached out and caught the now, comparatively, minute ball in his now massive hands.
( - )
(With the rest of the class)
For his classmates below, they could only look up in awe, shock and in some cases nervousness as they witnessed, most of them for the first time, the Titan. The full power of the teen that had destroyed a city district at the age of five, and had only been stopped due to All Might intervening personally.
For some, the sight of the colossal Titan, its chiselled muscles gleaming in the mid-morning sun and its eyes glowing an intense, phosphoric green, even as steam continued to issue forth from its form, was humbling.
Some in the class, those like Momo and Todoroki, they had always excelled, they had gotten into the school on recommendations and had both thought themselves to be within the upper echelons of their current generation in terms of their Quirks, their intelligence and their skills.
For them, witnessing the raw, visceral power the Titan exuded it, it was enough to make them look at themselves, and how they compared to such a devastatingly powerful being.
For others, those that had only heard of the Titan, they could only look up in awe at the being in front of them. It was an infamous sight, a sight that had once, and probably still did in some case, struck terror into the hearts of all who had looked upon it.
There were even some amongst the class, whose reactions went beyond awe, with some of the class bordering on near reverence at the sight before them. Ibara Shiozaki, Fumikage Tokoyami and Yui Kodai; although acting very differently outwardly, shared a similar fascination as they saw the titanic being in front of them catch the now minuscule, in comparison, soft ball in one of its large hands. The action showing a startling level of control and coordination.
Of course not all those in the class reacted entirely positively, some; like Tsuyu Asui (the frog like girl), Hanta Sero (the dark haired kid with bulky arms) and Mezo Shoji, felt a little bit nervous about the sheer size of Izuku's Titan form and the intimidating presence it gave off. Though that was understandable, the Titan was gigantic.
There was also of course, Mineta, who as the sight of the Titan let out a slight shriek and went to hide behind the grinning Kaminari.
The blonde, lightning user in question responding to the sight in his own, distinct way. "Hey, he doesn't have a dick!"
Suffice to say, it was Kaminari's well-chosen words that broke the tension as several people in the class laughed, the sound sounding wrong in the tense atmosphere, even as a couple others looked for themselves and noticed the very same thing. Izuku's Titan form was like an action man, it had no genitals.
"Seriously, that's the first thing that comes to your mind, idiot!" Kyoko groaned, rubbing her forehead as several of the other students started laughing.
"Go ahead, Midoriya!" Aizawa, the only person present to have not reacted, called up. His eyes narrowing as he saw the Titan turn to look at him, its glowing green eyes boring into him, before with a curt nod it turned, pulled its massive arm back and then threw the ball. The force of his throw releasing another shockwave, only this time it was far above their heads and so had less of an impact on the watching spectators.
That said, as Izuku threw, Aizawa's lank dark hair rose up into the air, and his dark irises suddenly glowed red as he tried to using his Quirk erasure Quirk, on Midoriya.
As he did so however, he couldn't help but grit his teeth in annoyance as he found himself unable to cancel the Quirk. He wasn't sure why either, he was looking directly at Midoriya, but nothing was happening, it was almost like the body he was looking at wasn't Midoriya's.
It was perplexing to say the least.
"Alright, that's it." Aizawa called, breaking off eye contact from Midoriya now as he instead squinted and tried to see how far the ball had just gone.
What followed next was another bigger explosion of steam, this wave causing more than a few of the class to stagger backwards, as the hot, humid air washed over them. The steam blinding their vision for a moment.
( - )
(With Izuku)
Moments after Izuku had reverted to his base form however, the steam dispersed and revealed, Midoriya, still in his blue and white track uniform and looking none the worse for wear as he approached the class, a cheerfully smile on his face as he saw most of his classmates cheering for him.
"Hey Midoriya, that was awesome!" Mina shouted as Izuku approached, a large grin on her face as she saw how far he had just thrown the ball.
"Thanks Mina!" Izuku replied easily as he walked over to his pink skinned friend, the rest of his class crowding around him as he did so. Some of them asking about his Quirk, and one or two, mainly Kaminari and surprisingly, Toru, teasing him over his genitalless Titan form. Which was something that he deliberately didn't rise too.
"It was impressive man, but like super scary too!" Hanta Sero grinned, awkwardly patting him on the shoulder as he did so.
"It was spectacular, the Quirk you wield is truly something else," Momo nodded, a strained smile on her face. "I apologise for not taking you more seriously."
"Err," Izuku replied, sending the dark haired girl an odd look as he did so. How was he supposed to respond to that?
"Enough talking," Aizawa cut in, thankfully making Izuku's last thought redundant as he walked over to the class, his shoulders slouched and looking the same as ever, his dark eyes locking curiously on Izuku as he approached, only for him to then raise the tablet in his hand and show it to the waiting class. "One thousand three hundred and twenty seven metres."
It was higher than his previous score, but not quite double.
Several members of the class started muttering in surprise at this realisation.
"It's because of the weight and size of the ball. If the ball was bigger and heavier he would have thrown it even further, but since it was light; the wind resistance, friction and several other factors weighed against it." Momo spoke up swiftly, explaining to those that hadn't already realised, the reason for the low score.
"Correct," Aizawa said lightly. "Your control impressed me, Midoriya. I will admit I was sceptical after reading the reports but as the common saying goes; seeing is believing."
"Erm, thanks." Izuku replied cautiously. Was this the reason he had had him take his Titan form, an additional test just for him, so that he could see whether or not he was in control?
"It was also important for your classmates to witness your, other form. Better it be here, in a relatively control setting, then in the middle of battle training or something like that." Aizawa continued, his eyes slipping passed Izuku for a moment, something he noticed as he followed his gaze, only for him, and likely one or two of the others, to see, All Might, clad in a yellow suit, leaning against the side of a building a hundred or so metres away, watching.
The Number One Hero in question standing a little straighter as he noticed he was being watched, before with a smile he raised his arm, waved it once and then disappeared around the corner.
Seeing this, Izuku narrowed his eyes minutely.
So that was what he had meant when he said that this was a 'controlled' setting. He meant All Might was around, just in case Izuku did lose control and needed to be stopped.
"Now, with the last of the tests done, let's get down to the results." Aizawa pressed on, seemingly oblivious to Izuku's thoughts as he instead lead them all over to a large display board at the side of the field, his fingers dancing across the tablet in his hands as he board began to present the scores:
First – Izuku Midoriya
Second – Momo Yaoyorozu
Third – Ibara Shiozaki
Fourth – Shota Todoroki
Fifth – Fumikage Tokoyami
Sixth – Tenya Iida
Seventh – Mezo Shoji
Eighth – Mashirao Ojio
Ninth – Ejiro Kirishima
Tenth – Mina Ashido
Eleventh – Yui Kodai
Twelfth – Rikido Sato
Thirteenth – Ochako Uraraka
Fourteenth – Tsuyu Asui
Fifteenth – Hanta Sero
Sixteenth – Yuga Aoyama
Seventeenth – Denki Kaminari
Eighteenth – Kyoka Jiro
Nineteenth – Toru Hagakure
Twentieth – Minoru Mineta
"N-No…" Minoru muttered, his eyes watering as he looked up at the score board, and then at the straight-faced Aizawa, his lip quivering as all around him his classmates sent him looks of pity. "P-Please M-Mr Aizawa!"
"Sorry kid, but you're out." Aizawa replied, his tone bored and his expression uncaring, even as several students, those who doubted Aizawa's threat, gasped. Momo most noticeably amongst them as she raised her hand to her mouth and looked at Aizawa in shock.
"No!" Mineta cried, looking beseechingly around at all the other students. "It's the first day, you can't expel me!"
"Yes it is the first day of the Hero Course, and your last," Aizawa replied dryly, his words cutting Mineta to his core. "I will put in the paperwork for your transfer today, you'll be allowed to stay on in General Education, and will, if you prove yourself, be allowed the chance to return. For now though, you're out, and you're spot will be left open to the students form the other courses to fight over."
Mineta started crying at that.
"The rest of you head back to class, Mineta you come with me." Aizawa forged on relentlessly.
Hearing the boy's cries, Izuku looked away and followed the others as the now sombre class headed back to the school.
A part of him had hoped that Aizawa had been lying, that it had been a trick to get them to perform at their best.
Turns out, Aizawa didn't lie.
With the cries of Mineta ringing in their ears, Izuku, no doubt like the rest of the class, couldn't help but accept the grim reality of just how competitive, gruelling and ruthless the next few years at U.A. were going to be.
( - )
AN: Oh poor old Mineta eh, he's been relegated, what a pity. But seriously though, in my mind at least I don't think Aizawa is the type to mess about, if he says he will do something, he'll do it, and since there is no plot armour to save Mineta, like Izuku had in canon, or rather he didn't make a show of his determination that somehow convinced Aizawa, then he's gone. Or at least been moved down to General Education for the moment, leaving a space in the hero course.
A space that I am still debating who should fill up, as I have distinct idea in my mind, I am just pondering its worth going forward.
That said I do hope you enjoyed the chapter, it sets out where everyone is at the moment and gives a brief intro of characters and their abilities, a useful chapter for development purposes. That said it also reminds, when I was writing this chapter, about how much of an arsehole Aizawa is. Don't get me wrong he cares for his students and wants them to do well, it's just he's the kind of person that is quite happy to play the bad guy and be hated in order to get people to where they should be. He's an odd character, one that is both likable and detestable at the same time.
But yes anyway, what did you all think? I hope you enjoyed the chapter and leave a review.
Also I'm quite hyped at the moment as the new season of My Hero Academia is coming out this week, so that should be good!
Thanks for reading, please check out my other stories if you have the time, and feel free to PM me if you have questions/ suggestions etc. I'm usually good at responding to those.
See you next time.
Greed720.