"How are you so smart, Gwen? Almost full marks across the board!" Higuchi groaned.
"You topped the class in every subject, and placed 1st overall. I understand you beating us in English, but Japanese as well? You beat us and we're native speakers!" Anzai added.
"These were just quizzes, guys. There will be plenty of time to improve your scores." Gwen said, trying to comfort her new friends.
"Easy for you to say. You got like, what, one red mark on all of your papers?" Higuchi snatched the nearly stacked papers from Gwen's desk and started flipping through them.
The second week had academic assessments in the form of short quizzes. These were small tests aimed at showing the students where they stood in each class. Naturally, Gwen had aced all her classes but one.
"Here it is. Huh, it's from Cementoss sensei's class." Higuchi found the paper with the single offending mark.
"I suppose I interpreted the subject material in a different way than what was desired." Gwen shrugged. "Studying literature is not as simple as it is for math or science. Won't happen next time now that I know what to do."
"If I didn't know any better I'd think you are disappointed in your performance Gwen." Anzai raised an eyebrow.
"That one wrong answer was something I could have prevented. Naturally I am upset I missed it. Wouldn't you?" Gwen answered.
"If I got this many full marks I couldn't care about just one mistake." Anzai spoke shamelessly.
"Well then, how'd two do? I showed you mine, so show me yours." Gwen asked, and got mixed responses.
Higuchi proudly showed her papers, with most of them hovering in the 84% range. Her math broke 90% but her history dipped below 75%. Mostly balanced, with some outliers. Average, all things considered, and reflected in her 11th place in the class.
Anzai blushed a bit as she showed her scores. She was in a much worse situation, with most of her scores in the high 60% range. She did have one 75% in Literature, but she also had a 59% in math. She was 19th, nearly last.
Gwen flinched at the sorry sight.
"Yeah, I know. Guess I didn't get my head in the game fast enough." Anzai bowed her head.
"There is still time to improve Anzai. What do you say we review during lunch period?" Gwen offered.
It was clear failing to qualify for the hero course was still eating at Anzai. The way she struggled to give her all in class. The jealous looks she gave hero students when they passed in the halls. She was doing much better now than the first week, but the wound was still fresh.
"Yeah. I'd appreciate that. Thanks Gwen."
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch.
"Bring your study material Higuchi. We can start studying today by going over what was said in the lecture today." Gwen ordered.
"But we just got our quizzes back!" Higuchi whined.
"I sit behind you, don't think I didn't notice you dozing off." Gwen deadpanned.
Higuchi blushed and gathered her things. Anzai laughed, but did the same. She knew she was the one who was in need of academic help the most.
UA's cafeteria was as it always was: loud but cheerful. One of the few times all students from all years and courses mingled in a single room. Fantastic food provided by Lunch Rush made it nearly impossible to eat in a bad mood. The hero provided top quality meals that were nutritionally balanced while being cheap as well.
Gwen ordered and picked up her food with her friends and set off to find a table. During the search, the divide in the student body was clear to see. Naturally people generally stuck to their friend grounds which usually was made in their class. But this went far above that.
Gwen could see her classmates grouping together, and other gen ed classes were nearby. The hero students that were the subject of so many rumors were also in their own areas. If the hero students noticed the glares the gen ed students were giving them, they didn't show it.
Support students ate while tinkering with small personal projects. Their tables had spots of grease and oil, with tools laying beside their food. Business students had large books and spreadsheets stretched over their tables, their food going mostly ignored.
"Uh, Tennyson?"
As Gwen and her friends took a seat at an empty table, a new voice caught their attention. It was a boy from their class, his mutation quirk being his long elf-like ears. He also had his textbooks, with papers sticking out.
"That's me." Gwen smiled.
"I'm Katashi, and I was wondering if... you could... help me?" His voice grew weaker as he spoke, nervously rubbing his fingers.
"Of course! Here, what subject do you need help in?" Gwen scooted over to make some room.
Katashi took a seat, and the girls peered in close as he revealed his scores. The table sucked in a collective breath.
He was even worse than Anzai.
"W-well, there is certainly room for improvement." Gwen stuttered, trying to not offend him.
There was not a single score above 80%. Some of his scores even dipped below 50%.
"Sorry." Katashi muttered, looking anywhere but at Gwen.
"I was wondering who was worse than me. I know I was ranked 19th, but I expected to be 20th. Now I know." Anzai tried to joke, but only succeeded in making Katashi look more miserable.
"You're taking steps to improve. Our first set of midterms is still a while off, so let's get started shall we?" Gwen opened her math book, prompting all the others to do the same.
Gwen knew Higuchi needed only a refresher on math, as it was her best subject. Anzai and Katashi on the other hand really needed a boost. So, she went over the lecture that was given before lunch to see where they were struggling. As it turned out, pretty much everything.
"Order of operations Anzai." Gwen gently pointed out a rookie mistake on Anzai's paper.
"Uhhh." The girl groaned as she erased her work. It was only 15 minutes into their mini-study session, but it was clear that her three classmates were already burning out.
"Think of math like a pyramid." Gwen instructed. "What we learned in elementary and junior high school forms the base of our math knowledge. Without the basic foundations, higher level math is difficult. You can't build any more of the pyramid if you forget to include the base."
"But Ectoplasm didn't mention any of this!" Katashi exclaimed, also frustrated.
"I think that's because it's a given. He expects us to use the basics without him telling us to." Higuchi spoke up from her homework.
"Let's stop for now." Gwen placed down her pen, seeing the state of her table. It was only study session one, she needed to ease them into this little by little.
"Gah, I'm so screwed." Anzai threw down her pencil and rolled her head back.
"Baby steps guys. A little bit everyday." Gwen said with a smile.
"Easy for you to say. Everything we've done in class so far hasn't even phased you." Katashi grumbled.
"Everyone has different strengths. One of mine happens to be studying." Gwen shrugged.
"How humble." He sighed.
"Just studying Gwen? Don't make me laugh. Don't think that we forgot the physical evaluation last week." Anzai jabbed a chopstick in her direction.
"Huh?" Gwen was caught off guard.
"When we went to the field with Vlad King, remember Gwen? I can't believe you're so strong and fast! You even impressed a hero course teacher!" Higuchi said with stars in her eyes.
"Can't forget what we saw in the locker rooms either. You may not be a swole, but you are toned as hell." Anzai added.
Katashi blushed at the mention of the going-ons in the girl's locker room.
"The looks on the boys' faces were hilarious as well. Guess you hit them right in the mascuiline pride." Anzai chuckled.
"And then there was your quirk! It was so cool to see you extending those pink tendrils and shooting exploding energy blasts!" Higuchi was very animated, both in her voice and arm waving.
"Like Higuchi said, you even impressed Vlad King. Not something that happens everyday in the gen ed course I reckon." Anzai nodded.
"Smart, athletic and a powerful quirk. Guess some people have it all." Katashi's mood was souring as he poked at his food.
Gwen frowned. Katashi was also one who tried out for the hero course and failed, so he was hurting just like Anzai. Normally she'd let it slide, seeing as how it was a touchy subject, but he was being a downer for no good reason.
"That's not true Katashi. Yes, my quirk is strong, I will admit, but it's not like I'm some prodigy." Gwen spoke in a firm tone.
"Really?" Katashi glared at her with narrowed eyes.
"I wake up at 6 in the morning, everyday, even on weekends. I stretch for ten minutes, run for forty minutes, and spend another ten minutes cooling down. Back in the United States I was on multiple martial arts teams and regularly went to the gym." Gwen held nothing back.
Everyone at the table widened their eyes.
"I go to the library after school for at least an hour, studying for our classes and for my own interests. I devote three hours a day at home to getting homework done and studying. I earned my spot here at UA through my own hard work. I will not stand by and let you trample over all my hard work."
Gwen finished, but soon felt guilt creeping through her. Higuchi and Anzai seemed impressed, but Katashi was flushed in shame. Gwen sighed. Maybe she went too far.
"I'm sorry Katashi, I overstepped my boundaries. I just wish for people to stop assuming that I don't have to try to do well. It makes all the work I've done seem meaningless."
"No, it's my fault." Katashi waved off her response, wiping his mouth. "You're right. I'm just frustrated. I failed to get into the hero course, and now I'm at the bottom of the class."
Anzai agreed. "Yeah, not making it into the hero course sucks. I'm still not fully over it myself. All those dreams you had as a kid, gone with the results of one exam."
"There are rumors of ways gen ed students can get a second chance into the hero course. But with the state I'm in now, I'd never make it, second chance or not. Gotta better myself."
"That's the spirit!" Higuchi cheered.
"More ways to get into the hero course?" Gwen was confused. There was nothing of that sort in the syllabus.
"Just rumors." Katashi leaned in, his sour expression clearing to his normal self.
"You know how all our teachers are also active pro heroes? Well, most of them graduated from UA, and they have records that anyone can look up. All of them, except for Aizawa."
"The head of disciplinary action?" Gwen asked.
"The other homeroom teacher for the hero course?" Higuchi chimed in.
"Yeah, that guy. Yellow sleeping bag, black clothes, weird scarf-thing, that's the one. He's a graduate of UA too, but there's no outstanding record of him. Rumor has it that's because he never made it into the hero course on his first try."
"Get out!" Anzai exclaimed.
"Well, the rumor says he didn't give up there. He made sure he was academically sound, top three in his class, and then trained for the UA Sports Festival. Placed top four there, and got a spot in the hero course."
"Did Aizawa himself confirm this story?" Gwen wasn't completely convinced.
"No, the guy is terrifying. I don't think anyone is stupid enough to bother him with a rumor." Katashi admitted.
"I wouldn't put too much faith in rumors." Gwen huffed.
"Really? I dunno Gwen." Anzai rubbed her chin. "The story doesn't sound made up. In fact, I think-"
BEEEEEEP!
A piercing alarm suddenly activated in the cafeteria, causing panic. Students cried out, dropping their food and drink, and covering their ears.
"God, that hurts!" Katashi curled in on himself, covering his sensitive ears.
"What's going on? A fire drill?" Gwen yelled, to no one in particular.
An upperclassman was the one to answer. "It's a level 3 security breach! Some unauthorized people have broken past the wall! We have to evacuate!"
There wasn't a chance of that. The mass panic of the cafeteria caused congestion in the exit hallways. Gwen knew there was no chance of getting out that way.
"Find another exit!" She ordered, and the other three nodded.
"Calm yourselves!" A voice bellowed above the din of the cafeteria, bringing temporary peace.
Gwen saw a tall blue haired boy with glasses in an awkward pose on top of the exit doorway. How he got up there, she didn't know. But what he was doing was working.
"The break-in is just the newsgroups! There is no need to panic! We must act as proper high school students, even in cases such as these!"
That seemed to do the trick. Students stopped pushing and shoving, and everyone quieted down. It was not a dangerous break-in, so there was no need to rush. Students soon filed out, and made their way back to their respective classrooms.
A bother, Gwen thought, but not much more than that. Although UA did pride itself on it's security. It seemed unlikely that the press would have the ability to force their way past the defensive wall surrounding UA.
This made Gwen feel uneasy. Just a freak accident? Or a bad omen of things to come?