"A QUIRK ASSESSMENT TEST?!" The class said in unison.
"But orientation... We're going to miss it!" The brown-haired girl from before said.
"If you really want to make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies." He said, turning around. "Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means that I get to run my class however I see fit."
Geez! He's a little scary! Whether he's able to destroy a planet or not! Bulla thought to herself as she found herself taking a step back.
"Up until now, you've been taking standardized tests. Although, you've never gotten to use your Quirks in physical exams before. The country's still trying to pretend that we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. This ideology isn't rational, and soon the Ministry of Education will learn that fact." He continued to explain. "Bakugo, you got the highest score in the entrance exam." He said, turning to the angry boy from earlier. "What was your farthest distance in the softball throw during junior high?"
"67 meters, I think." Bakugo answered.
"Right, try doing it with your Quirk." Aizawa told him, tossing him a softball as he stepped into the circle. "Anything goes, just stay within the circle." The boy gave a few stretches before taking position. As his arm hurled around, releasing the ball, a massive explosion fired off behind it, sending it flying. "All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a Pro Hero."
"Woah, are you kidding me?" The boy with electric yellow hair said.
"705 meters..." Bulla said quietly, putting her hand over her mouth. I wonder if I can pull off something like that...
"That looks like fun! I wanna try!" The pink girl with raccoon-like eyes followed.
"This is what I'm talking about! Using our Quirks as much as we want!" The plain-looking boy continued.
"So, this looks fun, huh?" Aizawa suddenly asked. "You have three years here to become heroes. Do you think it's all going to be games and play time?" The teacher's face suddenly contorted into a twisted smile. "Idiots... Today you'll participate in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in dead-last has none, and will be expelled immediately."
The entirety of the class took a moment to fathom the possibility. Bulla's heart sunk to her gut. What if... What if he sends me... Before she could finish the thought, she shook her head.
"Like I said," Aizawa reiterated, "I can run my class how I see fit. If that's a problem for you, then you can pack your things and leave right now!"
"You can't send one of us home!" The bubbly girl from before called out. How can she be so bold!? "I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, that just wouldn't be fair!"
"Oh? And do you think natural disasters are? Or power hungry villains? Hm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No." Aizawa explained coldly. "The world is full of unfairness. And it's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. If you want to be a pro, you're going to have to lush yourself to the brink. For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond. Plus Ultra. That is our motto. Show me it's no mistake that you're here."
With those words, the class was getting fired up.
The first of the physical exams was a 50 meter dash. Bulla could see so many strange and unique abilities. The tall boy from before had engines extending from his legs, and he made the dash in a little more than three seconds. The froggy girl after made it in six seconds though, but that didn't change how adorable she was. Bulla took out her notebook and began to quietly doodle the froggy girl, with the appropriate notes. 'Adorable! Quirk: Frog!' She also annotated Iida's Quirk next to his doodle.
She was next, with the girl from before. Bulla could see her touching her clothes, and her shoes, with a soft pink light emitting from her fingers. Bulla leaned forward and held her hands out behind her. Just like during the entrance exams! As the starting pistol fired, a white light with a soft blue glow blasted from the palms of Bulla's hand, sending her flying forward at an incredible speed. Everything blurred around her, and as she crossed the finish line, she heard the camerabot echo her time. "3.76 seconds!"
After her, a ridiculous looking boy followed with the girl with raccoon eyes. Having now caught her breath, she began to doodle the two in her book. "Nice attempts, mon amis!" He said as she wrote next to him. 'Arrogant? Overconfident? Moronic? Definitely the last one... Quirk: Navel Laser!' She wrote next to his picture as she continued onto the other student's doodle. 'Pink skin. Alien perhaps? This world's version of a Majin, maybe? Quirk: Unknown - May be related to pink skin.'
Following them, the angry boy and Izuku Midoriya stepped up. While Midoriya just ran, the angry boy began emitting several explosions from his hands, blasting off towards the finish line. "Oh, that's right!" Bulla said quietly to herself. "I forgot to add his Quirk!" Next to the angry boy's doodle, she wrote his name and Quirk. '? Bakugo. Quirk: Explosion!'
Having copied her form less efficiently, he managed to cross the line in four seconds, smoke rising from his hands. The remainder of the class took their turns, and the test went on indoors to do the Grip Strength test. As Bulla squeezed as hard as she could, the pink-skinned girl from before came over to her, along with the froggy girl. As the beep indicated the final grip strength recorded '92kg,' one of them spoke. "Woah! You hit almost a hundred kilos! You've got a lot of muscle hidden under that uniform, don't you?" The pink girl asked.
The froggy girl put a finger to her chin. "That's really impressive. I thought your Quirk was shooting laser beams. Ribbit."
"O-Oh...right..." In the last six months that she had been here, Bulla had found it so hard to open up to people. It was only a month ago that she started really talking to Taka and Hana, and she even continued having trouble with Togata and Nejire, despite all they've done for her and Pan.
"Hey, there's no need to be shy! My name's Mina Ashido!" She introduced with a vibrant smile.
"...Bulla Brief..." She couldn't find the strength to speak louder than a mumble.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, hehe..." Ashido laughed nervously as Bulla brushed past her to step outside, suddenly having felt suffocated. She made her way through the door and took deep breaths, waiting for the next exam to begin.
Next was the standing long jump, where Bulla was able to use her Quirk to fly right over the sand pit, leaving her in one of the top spots of the exercise. Following that was repeated side steps, where Bulla was able to take another top spot, thanks to all her time sparring with Pan. Once they finished, the class, once again, made their way to the designated space for the softball throw.
Bulla went right after the boy with the electric-styled hair, whose ability seemed to have no way of benefiting him during the throw. As Bulla stepped up, she held the ball to her chest and took deep breaths. Why do I feel like this? I've been doing great, and I know I have! So what is this feeling of inferiority?! Why do I feel like I'm just not doing good enough...? With her attempts of clearing her mind rendered useless, she took her position and prepared to throw. As her hand swung over her head, a blue glow engulfed the ball, and as she released, both the ball and her Ki blast flew out of her hand. As Aizawa raised his recorder, the number on the screen displayed '1,246.54M.'
"Man, she chucked it over a kilometer!" A boy with spiked-red hair shouted, taking a step back. Bulla stepped out of the circle and allowed for the bubbly girl to go next. As if to purposefully show her up, the girl managed to throw her ball out into space, yielding the result of infinity. Bulla pulled out her notebook and wrote down her deduction. 'Bubbly Girl. Quirk: Zero-Gravity of some kind. All evidence now makes sense.'
A couple of students followed her before Izuku Midoriya went up. He looked down solemnly before gaining a determined look on his face. As he took his form and swung his arm, Bulla was caught off-guard by the anticlimactic distance. "Huh...?" Looking over, she could see that Mr. Aizawa was holding down a piece of his scarf, while the remainder of it was floating about.
"You did wha... Wait, those goggles!" Midoriya suddenly said. "I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their power... The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!" He explained as the class gathered around.
"Eraser?" The plain boy from before said. "Who's that?"
Bulla stayed separate from the crowd and held her chin in her fingers. "I think I've heard of him. Either in a rumor or in a passing comment, I've heard about the man that can erase someone's powers. It's funny to imagine Pan and I being matched against him." She said to herself as Aizawa continued his conversation with Midoriya, entrapping him in his scarf and yanking him closer to have a more personal discussion with him.
After a brief chat, he released Midoriya and turned away, allowing him to return to the circle. Once again, after several moments of looking down in silence, Midoriya looked up, now full of determination. As he swung his arm overhead, his ball flew from his hand and ripped through the air. "Woah! That was an incredible amount of power just now!" Bulla said, jotting down additional notes in her notebooks.
"Alright! He's finally showing us his true power!" The bubbly girl shouted with excitement as Iida chimed in.
"It looks like he broke his finger. Do you think his Quirk did that to him?" The thought shot through Bulla's mind like a bullet. Wait, wait, wait!
She erased what she had just written about his Quirk and rewrote her new theory. 'Izuku Midoriya. Quirk: Super Strength (with a cost) - Somewhat similar to Kaio-Ken?' She wrote, looking up to see Aizawa detaining Bakugo with his scarf. After the two exchanged words, Aizawa released his student, and Midoriya joined the remainder of the class.
The following exams passed by uneventfully. The sit-ups and long-distance run were no issue for Bulla, but she couldn't necessarily excel at the seated toe touch, given her set-in-stone stature. "Alright, time to give you your results." Aizawa said as he pulled out a remote. "I ranked you all from best to worse. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already." As he tapped a button, a blue holograph appeared in front of the class, revealing a ranked list of names.
Bulla's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth as she made an attempt to keep tears from showing. Despite her insecurities, she was at the top. Just above Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki. "Good job. After seeing you in the entrance exam, I knew you'd probably take first again." A voice said to her as she turned her head to see a much taller girl with long black hair.
She looked down, having once again felt as if she lost her strength. "I'm sorry..."
"What could you possibly be sorry for? You did great, and I knew you would. Don't you recognize me?" The girl asked her as she took Bulla's cheek in her palm and met her eyes.
"You're... You're-!" That's right! I've seen you before!
"Mhm. Momo Yaoyorozu. We raced at the entrance exams. You were just as amazing now as you were then. I was really trying hard to beat you this time." Yaoyorozu told her with a smile.
"I'm sorry. You probably deserved it more than I did." Why do I feel like that, though? I don't know what it is... Something about that statement just feels...true...
"Nonsense. You've earned your spot on the top. Just remember to keep getting stronger, otherwise I'll take that spot from you." Once again, she smiled, and there was a strange sense of familiarity in her smile. Something that almost reminded her of her mother. Unable to hold back any further, tears began to flow down her cheeks. "Hey, hey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Brief!"
Bulla shook her head, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she was able to smile, and a warm feeling captured her chest. "Thank you, Momo. Thank you so much."