AN: I think this chapter's good, but you never really know until you people read it. You're looking at a similar wait for the next one. Now that we're entering UA there's so many new characters to consider when writing dialogue that I find myself struggling at times. Izuku sticking to a small group of friends certainly helps in that regard. Hopefully I do them justice in this chapter even if it isn't quite long enough to give everyone appropriate screen time. If your favorites don't show up in this one there's plenty of time in the following chapters!
Enjoy!
edit: holy shit it's 9k words? how the hell did that happen?
Chapter 9
The Elite
oooOo Izuku oOooo
"Pffft! You guys even matched scores! I can't be the only one that sees this!"
"Shut the fuck up, round face! No one asked you!"
Izuku was beginning to revise his opinion of Uraraka. The girl could be downright devious when it came to delivering beatdowns with an innocent smile. Or maybe this was a special case… She seemed to know how to push all of Kacchan's buttons, all while rolling off his friend's normally off-putting attitude.
He didn't know quite what to make of it.
The three strolled down the massive hallways of UA for the second time in their lives, but unlike the day of the exam, Izuku could actually take the time to admire the prestigious school this time around.
His prestigious school.
The thought made him giddy with anticipation. Analyzing the average person's quirk had a certain appeal, and Izuku loved trying to puzzle out uses for supposedly mediocre abilities that people had written off as useless.
But these were the elite. Students hand-picked by practicing pros that were judged to not only have the physical abilities of potential heroes, but also the drive and passion to follow that dream. He'd said it before, but the career of a pro hero was probably the most sought-after position in existence. There was no shortage of people who aspired to be one of those rare symbols of justice. These were the cream of the crop, those who had actually succeeded where so many others had failed.
What would his class be like? There were probably some amazing quirks. Hopefully he could hold his own…
"Oi, Deku."
Katsumi had stopped in the middle of the hall, turning to face him eye to eye. Despite having to look down, Izuku still felt overwhelmed by her presence. He imagined that she cut an intimidating figure to most, but Kacchan had always held a certain sway over him.
Izuku sighed, he was doomed.
He met her eyes, tilting his head in question.
"You were probably thinking some shit like, 'these guys are gonna be amazing' right? No, don't answer, I could see it on your face." Her crimson eyes flickered away briefly before locking back onto his own. "How many points did you score?" She said, poking him harshly in the chest.
"I thought you sai—"
"How many points?!"
"One fifty-three," he bit out. And if a bit of petulance seeped into his tone then no one mentioned it.
"Right, and how many did second place have?" She asked leadingly.
"One fifty-thr—"
"You know what the fuck I meant, Deku!"
Ok, that one may have been on purpose, but who could blame him?
"One-ten, and you've made your point." And she really had.
Without realizing it, he'd fallen back to old habits in this unfamiliar environment.
And that simply would not do.
"Damn straight I have!" she said, clapping him on the shoulder. "We're the shit, got it? We're record breaking prodigies that finally made it out of that shithole public school. And we're gonna go crush some weak-ass One-tens like bugs!"
He had to pick around the profanity and narcissism a little, but at the heart of it all, it really was a pretty good pep talk.
"Um… Iida-kun was actually pretty nice, so can we avoid crushing him please?" Uraraka said from where she had stood observing their heated conversation. "Also, that was super cute, Bakugo-chan."
Izuku could see what little dignity Kacchan felt she had left die inside, before she scoffed and stomped off towards their classroom.
"Was it something I said?" Uraraka questioned with an air of innocence. She somehow managed to make it look both practiced and completely natural.
Scary.
oooOoOoOooo
Izuku stepped through the abnormally large door into class 1-A. Uraraka trailed in behind him, but was bit sidetracked by her distorted reflection in Izuku's quicksteel where it floated over his left shoulder.
Well, it was better than being a nervous wreck like himself. He'd internalized his panic of course, a better poker face was one thing that had come to him with age.
Before him sat around twenty or so students of widely differing appearances, but each unique and distinguishable in their own way.
For some, like the guy with rounded tape dispensers for elbows sitting closest to the door, that was due to an obvious mutation from their quirk. But others, for example the muscular, crimson-haired guy he recognized from the exam seemed to stand out without needing any kind of ability. The guy with the head of a raven in the back of the class had a particularly striking appearance, and Izuku was already salivating at the thought of puzzling out the logistics behind the invisible girl in the front row. At least that's what he assumed was the explanation behind the floating skirt and blazer.
Holy shit, it was like a class full of main characters! Was this what it meant to attend UA? To be one of the very best in the country?
"Please remove your feet from this desk! It is indeed disrespectful to both the prestigious Alumni that came before us as well as the carpenter that so meticulously crafted said desk—"
Wait... that lecturing tone was familiar… Only one person he had met before could deliver such a robotic reprimand. But who had been lucky enough to earn his attention this time?
"—not to mention it is quite unlady-like! Are you trying to show everyone your undergarments!?" A muscular forearm chopped through the air to level an accusing finger at…
Aww c'mon, it was only the first day!
"Haaaah?! You trynna sneak a peek, engines?" Katsumi lounged back into her seat like a cat, shifting her legs slightly.
Izuku's eyes were immediately drawn to the movement, and he sent a silent thank you to whoever had turned the girl onto thigh-highs. At least if Kacchan got into a fight and got them both kicked out on the first day, he'd have this memory as a consolation prize.
A wicked grin split across her face as Iida sputtered incoherently.
Izuku had approached the scene before he'd even realized. Even though he knew she was just riling up the poor guy, something about the situation left a bad taste in his mouth. The simplest solution he could come up with was to plant himself directly next to the girl. Perhaps he stood a bit closer than necessary, but nobody made any mention of it.
His quicksteel vibrated with agitation, earning some curious looks from his nearby classmates, but there was something more important to deal with right now. He sighed; Kacchan was on a roll…
"Unladylike huh?" she spit out, and Izuku could hear a bit of true irritation there behind all the bravado. "You're from one of those fancy shit prep schools right?" Her blood red eyes narrowed dangerously at the taller student.
The scholarly boy managed to straighten up even further, and how that was even possible Izuku had no clue, but the boy stuck out his hand friendly enough before giving an appropriately stiff introduction. "I am Iida Tenya from Somei Private Academy. And you are?" Iida asked leadingly.
This guy was insane. Couldn't he read death glare number seventeen? He wasn't really expecting her to—
"Somei huh?" Katsumi seemed to chew on the name, finding it utterly unsatisfactory to her pallet. "So you were practically bred for this right?" She grinned viciously, "we'll see how much your pedigree means when they start trimming the fat. I look forward to cruhmph—"
Izuku had let Kacchan have her fun long enough, but there was a time and a place. Had anyone else physically covered the girl's mouth like he'd just done, they'd most likely have lost a finger. Hell, the twitching eyebrow made it pretty obvious that even he wouldn't escape entirely unscathed.
The look in her eye said to run, but he never got the chance.
"Oh? I come from watching a trusted colleague slaving away to build a dorm for our precious hero course applicants, and here they are lounging around like glorified sloth." A man of average stature and unintimidating presence strolled into the room, stopping beside the podium dominating the front of the room. "That's not rational at all."
He dressed as plainly as he looked, wearing only a black long-sleeve shirt and baggy trousers to match. Perhaps his most defining trait was a sturdy-looking, gunmetal grey scarf that coiled like a constrictor around his neck. He stood with a relaxed posture, not hunched over like Chi-sensei, more laid back, innocent.
But it was a ruse.
Izuku instantly recognized the Pro-Hero Eraserhead, an underground hero that even he'd struggled to find much info on. He'd only ever seen the man in person a single time, and it had been by pure chance, catching the tale end of the hero stopping a robbery in progress.
There wasn't much to say about the occasion as he'd disabled the villain faster than Izuku could track at the time and disappeared even faster.
As for the hero's combat skills, Izuku could only guess. He was infamous for his hit and run tactics meant to efficiently disable the threat as rapidly and with as little risk as possible. The pro's entire method apparently hinged on his incredibly niche quirk: Erasure.
But that couldn't be all right? Rumors on the internet were hardly something someone to base a hero page on. Would someone really develop a reputation as some demonic underground hero if they didn't have a couple tricks up their sleeve?
"The name's Aizawa Shota, and I'll be class 1-A's homeroom teacher," the man drawled, twisting a pinky in one ear. "But more importantly, I'll be overseeing your progress throughout your time in the UA hero course. For as long… or short as that may be…"
A wave of muttering swept throughout the classroom, until one brave soul raised her hand. It was a girl with a particularly unique rose skin tone and horns curling subtly away from her forehead. The black sclera sitting behind luminescent yellow irises were perhaps even more striking, but the permanent laugh lines took away any factor of intimidation she may have had otherwise. She was curious, to say the least, and Izuku had to physically restrain himself from asking if her appearance was her quirk, or simply a side effect of it. To get into UA it must have been something impressive.
"Yes, what is it…" Aizawa trailed off, clearly expecting a name.
"Ashido Mina, Aizawa-Sensei!" she called, high and clear. "You called us hero-course applicants just a second ago… What's up with that? We already passed the exams, that's why we're here, right?"
A ripple of hesitant agreement rumbled throughout the room.
Izuku had caught that phrasing as well but had initially written it off as a slip of the tongue. He was beginning to reconsider being so dismissive, from what little experience he'd had so far with the man, Aizawa didn't seem to be someone to use anything carelessly let alone something as powerful as words.
Izuku really didn't like that smile that slowly stretched over their sensei's face.
"Right… about that, put these on," he said, waving dismissively to a pile of matching navy-blue uniforms. Several students craned their necks to get a better look.
"Hero class already?" chimed the invisible girl.
"Woah! These are the real deal huh?!" said the red-headed boy Izuku recognized from the exam.
"Yeah, totally! It finally seems like it's real now huh?!" Another answered.
Izuku couldn't help but feel the same. Anyone who had watched the UA sports festival in the previous several decades could recognize the iconic blue and white design. Every single pro hero that had ever passed through these halls had worn a variation of it at some point. But a moment later their sensei cut through the mounting excitement once more.
"Yes, yes, you'll all have a wonderful story to tell your families," came the already-familiar drawl. "You wore the prestigious UA uniform for all of two hours…" A heavy silence filled the room, no one daring to move a muscle, before Aizawa started, as if remembering something that had eluded him. "Oh, that's right… Ashido-san, calling you hero students… Why bother when half of you will be gone by the end of the day anyway? Would that not be the height of absurdity?" His grin turned manic and a chill ran down Izuku's spine.
What?! He couldn't be serious right?! Half the class? Talk about absurd…
"Meet me at the entrance to Field C in ten minutes," the man said as if he hadn't just dropped the mother of all ultimatums. Aizawa paused at the door, "Oh… and welcome to the UA hero course.
oooOoOoOooo
The word 'field' gave off the impression of an ordinary school track field. The enormous clearing they had found following Iida's directions, (he'd studied the school map ahead of time) was probably as far from ordinary as you could get. Even from the nondescript gated entrance, the sheer size of the space was imposing enough, but after they'd trailed in through the gate one by one, the true scale of UA was here before their very eyes. The sprawling fields seemed to extend for miles, far beyond what the normal human eye could see.
What did Aizawa-sensei have in mind that they needed to come here of all places?
"Aizawa-sensei!" Iida called with his hand ramrod straight in the air.
"Yeah, what is it?" their advisor said lazily.
The arm came down swiftly to the side of Iida's face, where he delicately adjusted his glasses. "Were you being serious when you said half of us will be leaving today?! If that is true, then the entrance exam was most misleading! We were told that succeeding in said exam would guarantee a spot in UA's most prestigious hero program were we not?!" Chops with a flattened hand accompanied his proclamations. Izuku wondered if it was a good thing that he was almost used to it by this point.
"Shiit, I thought you were joking about this clown, Deku…" Katsumi hissed in his ear.
"Shh, he's a nice guy, y'know," he pouted slightly. "You didn't have to tease him like that…"
A vaguely surprised look came over her features before the expression turned devious. "Why… jealous?"
He was about to answer when a flash of dark grey flickered in his peripherals. In the blink of an eye Izuku's left arm shot up to seize the writhing length of cloth centimeters from his face. The material had a curious texture, hovering somewhere between pliable and sturdy, but with an organic quality that Izuku couldn't really place.
Several jaws dropped, but whether that was due to his reaction speed or their teacher trying to bitch slap him with a scarf Izuku did not know.
"Hooh? So you were paying attention." Aizawa hadn't moved from his slouched position at the head of the group, but as Izuku released his hold on the man's scarf, a slight tug and it almost immediately returned to coil around his neck, deceptively inert.
Where did he get that kind of technology? Or perhaps he was just that practiced with the weapon? Either way, Izuku had just gained more information for Eraserhead's hero page in the last half hour than he had in the previous several years.
"If you're here to socialize then get out," Eraser-sensei drawled, eyes driving in to several students around the room before coming to rest on Izuku. "But if you're here to be a hero, we've got to get a better idea of what you're capable of."
"But what about the entrance ceremony?! Or the mandatory guidance sessions?!" Uraraka said in disbelief.
Aizawa paused in consideration. "Negligible."
Izuku sighed. He couldn't tell whether this guy was a super dedicated teacher or just too lazy to do his job. The fact that both possibilities looked so similar with a cursory glance was terrifying.
"Luckily, UA has a bit of a 'freestyle' education system, "Aizawa continued. "As long as the decision can be logically explained as for the betterment of future heroes, we're given carte blanche over our lessons."
"Merveilleux!" chimed in a blonde boy that Izuku vaguely remembered from his own exam.
What was it with this guy and French? He was clearly a Japanese native judging from his accent. Guess hero work attracts all sorts…
"Right…" Aizawa said, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "You've all taken our country's standardized fitness tests, right?"
They nodded.
"Midoriya, Bakugo! Decide between yourselves who'll be giving a demonstration!"
Izuku met Kastumi's eyes and saw how they burned with excitement, though she did her best not to show it. He tilted his head towards their sensei, ignoring the flutter in his gut at the wide smile she gave in response.
She strode decisively towards Aizawa, snatching the ball he offered lazily.
"Seated toe touch, upper-body training, side to side stepping, grip strength, sprints, long distance and so on… and so forth," Aizawa drawled. "Hopefully this might offer a wider variety of simulations that the entrance exam in which you can demonstrate your abilities. Unfortunately, some of you…" he met the eyes of several students around the field. "You'll still be at a disadvantage…"
Izuku could imagine why. Rescue points aside, the fact that some of these aspiring heroes were able to score passing numbers in such a one-dimensional exam was incredible. He doubted any of them had undergone the same intense training that he had himself, which made the fact even more impressive. How the hell did the invisible girl take out so many robots? He didn't know her name to match to any of the top ten names for sure, but still.
"I knew the hero course was tough, but doesn't this seem a bit unfair?" a boy with electric blonde hair laughed uncertainly.
"Unfair?" Aizawa said suddenly, his dark, bloodshot eyes zeroing in on the boy. "Natural disasters, highway pileups, rampaging villains… I'd argue the world is full of unfairness. But overcoming those impossible odds is what makes us heroes. If you can't figure out a way to succeed here, then how will our citizens ever be able to put their lives in your hands?"
Ah… so this was why UA was the best…
"Bakugo then… How far could you throw in High school?"
"A hundred n' three meters."
A rumble of mutterings broke out from the class, and even Aizawa looked a bit surprised.
"Seriously?"
Dude! That's got to be national record or something right?" Shouted the redhead from just behind Izuku's right shoulder.
"It's the girls record, yeah," she spat sulkily, shooting a glare Izuku's way. A faint bit of heat came to his neck, but he just shrugged at her apologetically.
Which of course just pissed her off even more.
"Oi, Eraser-sensei, if I'm understanding you, you're saying we can use our quirks now, right?"
He eyed her suspiciously. "That's right, though your middle-school score seems to suggest that you might have already been doing so… or am I wrong?"
A sinister grin stretched across her features, eyes shadowed by her bangs, "how heat resistant is this thing?"
Aizawa's eyes narrowed at the girl, "We get all our tech from Endeavor's support agency, it's hellflame ensured…"
A glint entered her eyes, as she stepped into the dirt circle that had been cleared for the first event.
Izuku sighed, did Aizawa really have to taunt her like that?
"Hey, dude!" an elbow nudged him gently.
Izuku turned to find the redhead from before practically hopping in place with a sparkle in his eye. "What's the deal with you and Bakugo-chan? She's totally hardcore!"
An uncomfortable feeling wedged its way into his gut. Of course, people had always noticed how amazing Kacchan was, but Izuku could tell this situation was a bit different. The admiration in the friendly redhead's eyes was too familiar.
"We've known each other our whole lives," he bit out, shrugging. "She's my best friend."
Uraraka choked out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh from his left, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.
A high-pitched whine filled the air, and a girl two rows down clamped her hands over her ears, distress painted plainly over her features. Izuku made the connection a moment later when he noticed what looked like auxiliary cables dangling from her ears. Izuku turned to let Kacchan know they had an audio-based quirk among them. It was probably something they should have checked ahead of time, but even Aizawa, who should know all of their quirks already, had overlooked it.
But a moment later, the young woman next to the girl in pain pulled a pair of noise cancelling headphones… out of her bra?
Huh.
So that was a thing. How the hell was Izuku supposed to ask about that quirk?
A roaring yellow flame originating from Katsumi's fist sprung into existence while the whine intensified. She gracefully stretched her arm back, engaging the muscles in her core and back to compensate for the kickback Izuku knew was coming.
Quicksteel writhed in agitation as he prepared to erect a dome in front of his classmates. Kacchan wouldn't hurt anyone, he was sure of that, but dust in the mouth was always unpleasant.
"Die!"
A shield flicked into being for a moment, unseen by his classmates who had flinched away at the devastating flash of light and sound. He merely blocked the initial cloud of dust that was kicked up before folding the metal back into itself, curious to see how far she'd launched the thing. He had an idea of Katsumi's ability, but they'd never tested it in this particular way.
Several deafening cracks echoed across the grounds following Kacchan's throw, though it was really more of a cannon than a pitch by this point.
So, she'd managed to break the sound barrier huh? He peered into the sky trying to see any trace of the ball, but the only thing that marred clear blue was the light trail of smoke left in its wake.
Aizawa turned a digital display towards the class with a bored look, and Izuku felt a grin tug at his lips.
2.231 km
"Establish your limits first, so you can overcome them on the way to the top," he said.
Izuku whistled appreciatively, breaking the silence and leading the class to follow up. Praise for Katsumi intermingled with excitement at the prospect of giving it a try for themselves. But once again…
"So quick to forget the position you're in," Aizawa said with a hint of irritation coloring his tone. The students celebrating the most quieted instantly. "The bottom ten scores will be expelled. Immediately."
Aizawa paused waiting for any objections, but apparently had taken their stunned silence as acceptance.
Izuku disagreed. He may have been misinterpreting, but that shorter boy with oddly grape-like hair was trembling, and he was pretty sure it wasn't from excitement.
Oh well… if that's what it took to be the top hero school… then he'd just have to top the charts.
"We'll start with the fifty-meter dash. Aoyama, Ashido, you're up."
oooOoOoOooo
Izuku was not above pulling out a notebook in the middle of field C. How many other opportunities would he have to see such elite quirks used in such a structured manner? He'd taken notes on heroes and villains while they did battle live, so recording the quirks of his classmates certainly wasn't much of a stretch. It simply wasn't a chance he was willing to waste.
He scribbled madly in an attempt to finish up the barebones details of Mashirao Ojiro's quirk before the next pair took to the tracks. The first six students certainly hadn't disappointed when it came to using their quirks in a race.
Aoyama and Ashido had finished within half a second of each other, but it was the blonde boy that had a particular inventive way of using his quirk in an event that normally wouldn't suit it. If only he could offset the side effect of stomach pain from overuse, Navel Lazer had the potentially to be a formidable weapon. It was a shame that he seemed to only be able to project his beam in a single direction, considering its ability to generate thrust… he might benefit from looking into UA's support gear.
Ashido seemed to be able to secrete some kind of liquid from her body, using it to slide along the track rather than sprint normally. She'd helpfully proclaimed once she returned to the group that the substance was acid, but that was just so vague…
Judging from her appearance, it obviously wasn't the only aspect of her quirk which had to be a mutant type. Could she alter the pH of the material? The viscosity?
Her body obviously offered some resistance to the corrosive qualities but how far did that go? He simply didn't have the time to ask the important questions just yet, but hopefully he'd get a chance later.
Iida was like a fish in water with this event, coming in at a blazing 2.81 seconds, but his partner Asui Tsuyu, wasn't too far behind.
She seemed to have several froglike qualities, many of which aided her respectable time of an even five seconds. She even spoke with a distinct croak, but those wide, dark eyes and straightforward nature made the girl adorable in her own way.
Uraraka had lightened her clothes to shave as many milliseconds off her time as she could.
Why she hadn't used her quirk on herself, Izuku did not know, but Uraraka probably knew the logistics of being unaffected by gravity better than he. Saving her stamina for the long jump and the high jump may just have been the better choice in the long run. She still came in not too far behind her partner, Ojiro Mashirao, who used his muscular tail to propel him to the finish line.
They clocked in at 6.53 seconds and 5.91 seconds respectively.
Those scores began to seem more promising once the next several pairs had gone. Either they didn't have quirks that suited speed-based events like the duo of Kirishima Eijiro and Kaminari Denki, or in the case of the pair that followed, directly hindered them. Koda Koji and Sato Rikido were both built like brick walls, but while the former seemed to be quietly reserved, the latter had a personality to match his appearance. They'd probably do better in the strength events.
"Deku," Kacchan said, nudging him lightly.
He picked his eyes off the pages of his notebook and met her eyes curiously. She remained silent, but nodded towards the track.
The first thing he noticed was the floating PE uniform doing stretches at the starting line. It was indeed a curious sight, but probably not what Katsumi had been alluding to.
Izuku peered at the young man beside the floating uniform. Ah… so that's what she meant.
It was the young man standing next to Hagakure that had drawn the blonde's attention.
The boy had refined, aristocratic features, which juxtaposed strikingly with the angry red scar that stretched over his left eye. His hair was as heterochromatic as his eyes, splitting evenly down his forehead, and falling in straight white and red locks over his face.
Izuku had never pried into pro heroes' home lives out of respect for their privacy. And even if he did have any inclination to, a Pro's personal information was often hidden in ways that were far beyond his ability to overcome. But Izuku had still instantly recognized the young man before him.
Endeavor had never hidden Todoroki Shouto from the public eye after all.
Izuku frowned, feeling quicksteel respond to a sudden drop in temperature. Jagged shards of crystal-blue ice sprouted around the boy's legs as the three-count began.
Interesting, Izuku would have thought Todoroki's inherited hellflame would have boosted speed more efficiently than cryokinesis. But as Todoroki proceeded to glide over the finish line in 4.52 seconds, a time that put him second only to Iida, Izuku might have had to reconsider.
And then suddenly, it was his turn.
"Midoriya, Bakugo, you're up," Aizawa drawled.
The redhead from before, who he now knew was named Kirishima snapped his head over to Izuku. "Wait… Midoriya? You're the one who tied her for first?!" His eyes were comically wide, which when paired with his shark-like teeth, gave him a particularly comical look.
Kacchan scoffed by his side. "On a technicality!"
He grinned at the spiky-haired boy, "you might want to avoid mentioning the exam around her."
"Like hell, nerd, we can settle this shit right here, right now. There're no bonus points in a fuckin race." She stomped off towards the starting line in a huff.
"She's pissed about getting first?" Kirishima said in disbelief.
"Not really," Izuku said, smiling fondly after the girl. "It's just the principle of the matter."
He trailed after her, propping his hands behind his head. How he ended up paired with Kacchan he had no idea, their family names weren't even close to each to each other.
Izuku left his quicksteel back with the group of students, grinning lightly as he caught several of them circling the floating sphere curiously. He could use it of course, but at a shorter distance event like the fifty-meter dash, his skyboard's slow acceleration would probably hinder him more than help. Besides… flying the running event? Something about that just didn't sit right with him. Izuku was as proud of his body's power as he was of his quirk, if not more so. What was the point if he didn't use it? Katsumi having no complaint at his leaving quicksteel behind only reinforced his decision.
He stretched out his hamstrings eyeing Kacchan at his side as she slipped out of her black and orange trainers. She hopped from foot to foot, small pops and puffs of dust kicked up by the short bursts of her quirk. It seemed she was taking this as seriously as he was.
Good.
Izuku let out a hissed breath through barely parted lips, crouching down into a sprinter's stance. Kacchan did the same beside him, her fingertips sparking in the dust.
The mechanical beep signaling the start of their block cut through the air, followed a millisecond later by the first crack of Kacchan's quirk.
Izuku sprung forward, every muscle and ligament in his body coiling like a spring before unleashing in an unrestrained show of power.
He parted the air like a blade, covering ground with a lithe, refined grace.
But where his speed was formidable, it still wasn't quite enough to overcome Kacchan's explosion-aided acceleration. She led him by maybe a meter or so, blasting her way ahead with powerful, loping strides, taking one for every three of his own.
And just like that, it was over.
3.57 seconds, 3.79 seconds, the automated camera announced.
Izuku didn't even need to look know the grin she was giving him. "Laugh it up, Kacchan, there's plenty more events."
"Don't get your hopes up, Deku, you sure you can keep up?" She stalked back to the group with a vicious smile.
Izuku could have sworn she put a little extra sway in her hips there. At least it served to eliminate the slight irritation he felt when Kirishima began singing Katsumi's praises.
He knew she was amazing first dammit…
"Yooo! Midoriya, that was totally manly dude!"
Alright, maybe Kirishima wasn't that bad.
oooOoOoOooo
The next test was grip strength, and as he'd guessed, Sato had secured a much more impressive ranking than he had in the fifty-meter dash.
There was something to be said about a simple strength enhancer quirk. The dude was already massive, so depending on how the multiplier worked, he had the potential to rival death-arms given some time.
The hulking young man held the top score with an impressive 445 kg, at least until Izuku managed to edge him out with a 460 kg. He still hadn't used his quirk but was honestly content with how things were playing out. Going all out with his natural strength would provide a much better baseline than mindlessly cruising through the events on the back of his quicksteel-enhanced strength.
Even when Shoji Mezo toppled him from the top spot with his 620 kgs, Izuku couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. He was too busy quizzing the boy about his downright fascinating ability to clone any part of his body on any of his six limbs. His quirk, Dupli-arms was certainly aptly named.
Shoji didn't seem too surprised, nor too offended, when Izuku brought up the topic of stem cell research in relation to the regenerative aspect of his quirk. Apparently, he'd already given countless DNA samples over his lifetime, which only made Izuku's opinion of the boy shoot up.
He couldn't help but let out a laugh as Kacchan tossed her grip scale to the ground with a scowl. She'd scored a 240 kg, a score that was indeed close to record-breaking had this been a normal institution. Even competing with the strongest quirks of their age group it was still in the top five, not that she cared for anything other than beating him out.
Oh well… she'd just have to deal with it, even after adopting his absurd training regime, Izuku had always had an advantage when it came to straight up strength. In a contest where Kacchan couldn't really use her quirk, the win was his for the taking.
"Yeah, I bet you put that grip strength to real good use, nerd!"
D-did she just…
"K-Kacchan! You can't say that!" he called back, laughing as the girl realized what she'd yelled across the field, flushing hotly.
"Sh-shuddup!"
"You're so freaking cute Bakugo-chan!"
"Fuck off, Round face!"
They were all silenced handily a moment later when Yaoyorozu Momo, a black-haired beauty that stood nearly as tall as Izuku did himself, snatched the top score. She'd somehow pulled a miniature hydraulic press out of her stomach and nearly crushed the scale into scrap metal.
Izuku had pointedly ignored the flashes of pale flesh as the girl rebuttoned her top, a courtesy that unfortunately wasn't granted by all. The grape-haired boy from earlier was particularly enthusiastic with his lecherous commentary, some of which really didn't sit well with Izuku.
He was an admirer of the female form as much as the next guy, though the subject of his fantasies probably didn't vary as much as some. But this guy… Mineta, if he remembered correctly, was just downright disrespectful. Hopefully he was acting out with all the stress of the first day, but Izuku had a bad feeling this wasn't the case. Might be best to keep him away from Katsumi just to be safe…
Yaoyorozu's score remained unchallenged to the very end, a fact that Ashido was particularly happy about.
"Woohoo! Way to take one home for the girls, Yaomomo!" Mina called, flashing a peace sign towards the taller girl.
"Y-Yaomomo?"
"You don't mind, do you?" the rose-skinned girl said frowning lightly. "I just thought since we're hopefully gonna be here for a while…"
"N-no its fine! I don't mind," she said quietly, grinning lightly as the exuberant girl swung an arm over her shoulder.
It was so strange that such a seemingly put-together young woman would seem so out of place in a social setting. But Izuku knew quite well how hard it was to shake certain habits. Hell, he still had to consciously avoid thinking out loud at times.
"Settle down, this isn't a daycare," Aizawa said, cutting through the chatter. "Standing long jump is next. You'll go one by one this time, Midoriya…" the man's dark gaze settled on Izuku. "You're up first."
He strode up to the white line indicating where they should start their jump from, leaving his quicksteel floating at Kacchan's side.
Having been adequately warmed up, Izuku immediately crouched into an appropriate stance to jump from. Athletes in the past would probably spend years perfecting the form to maximize the distance they could cover, but nowadays, Olympic sports were relegated to simple school events or used to maintain national standards as was the case with his previous school. Quirked competitions like the UA sports festival now dominated the world of competitive sports, often much flashier than the events of the past.
Izuku loved the analytics involved with quirk matchups more than most, but even he could appreciate the romanticized tales of competitions where every competitor started on a completely even playing field, relying on nothing but their bodies to produce results.
Hopefully he'd do them proud.
Izuku's legs coiled like a spring, preparing to leap over the area cleared for the long jump, but he never got the chance…
The first sensation he noticed with the overwhelming absence of one of his basic senses. Something was so very wrong.
Something was missing. Why was everything so… dull?
What was happening to him?!
He distantly heard a thundering crash followed by shouts of alarm from his classmates. But it was all an afterthought, paling in comparison to this gaping hole of a sensation that flooded his being.
And now he was flying through the air…
A moment later Izuku registered the vaguely familiar feeling of cloth coiled around his body and neck. It wasn't enough to cut off his air supply, but he certainly struggled to move even an inch. It was as he gazed into the bloodshot onyx eyes of his sensei that the rapid progression of events finally made sense to the young man.
For fucks sake, if that's what having your quirk erased felt like then it was no wonder the pro had such a successful track record. Or perhaps it was all the tactile sensory input Izuku gained from his quirk that made its sudden absence so jarring? Hopefully it wouldn't be like that every time. Either way, Izuku was thoroughly cocooned.
"Funny, Midoriya, I didn't peg you as someone who would look down on your classmates, but here you are putting up these half-ass scores like you're too good to even try."
Izuku's eyebrow twitched slightly. What the hell kind of assumption was that? Kinda arrogant to assume that was the case without even asking wasn't it? He was about to say so when a more immediate thought came to his head.
"E-eraser-sensei," he choked out through the bindings. "D-dodge!"
The pro's eyes widened immediately, the scarf unraveling as he leaped out of the way of an explosion that erupted between the two of them. Izuku immediately felt the weight of his quirk return to him as Aizawa's vision was obscured by the blast.
He quickly latched quicksteel restraints of his own onto Katsumi who looked to ready to attempt a second attack. "Chill, Kacchan," he said trying to regain his own breath. He laid a calming hand on the top of her head, which seemed to bring her back under wraps.
"Attacking students out of nowhere, doesn't seem very heroic does it?" she spat, glaring across the short distance to where their sensei stood in a relaxed manner.
"A bit hypocritical there, but It's fine, I'm sure he had his reasons?" Izuku said, giving a questioning glance to the man.
"Midoriya, Bakugo! What is the meaning of this?" Iida questioned stiffly.
The class shifted uncertainly, and Izuku certainly didn't blame them. He was sure this hadn't been what they expected for their first day.
"If you think you can simply coast through my class without effort then—"
"You're wrong," Izuku said lightly, inwardly wincing as he interrupted his sensei. But this was important, he couldn't let a misunderstanding like this perpetuate. Izuku had the utmost respect for his classmates, at least most of them, and would never intentionally insult them.
"My quirk has many limitations," Izuku began, relaxing his hold on his friend. "But raw strength is probably one I have to worry about the least." Izuku paused, relishing the feeling of his quirk now that its absence was so fresh in his mind.
"'Establish your limits so you can overcome them on the way to the top', that's what you said, right?" Izuku called over to Aizawa, who was looking less upset and more thoughtful by the second. "So sure, I could bulldoze my way through the grip strength tests, and if it makes you feel any better, you can just give me the top score for the long and high jump right now," Izuku couldn't help but add with a cheeky smile. "But this way, my way, I have something I can work towards, something I can improve on." He met Aizawa's gaze resolutely, "I've worked my whole life to be here, the last thing I'd do is half-ass it."
No one said a word for a moment as they stared eye to eye, before Aizawa broke the tension scratching at his neck. "Hmm, understood. Your reasoning is sound." Izuku let out the gust of air he had been holding. "However… the young men and women behind you could be your comrades in arms one day, it would be prudent for them to be aware of your capabilities. Don't wait too long…"
That was… a good point. Maybe he could cut lose on the last few tests? His lips twitched in anticipation.
"Understood, Aizawa-sensei!" He nudged Kacchan implicatively.
"Quit it, Deku! I ain't fuckin apologizing," she scowled.
"Back in line, problem child. Midoriya, take your turn, I don't have all day."
"The fuck are you callin problem child, Eraser!?"
oooOo Katsumi oOooo
Ok, so perhaps she'd overreacted just a tiny bit. But how the hell was she supposed to know their sensei wasn't actually choking out her best friend? It had certainly looked like it from where she was standing. Hell no she wasn't gonna apologize to that shithead.
The long jump started again, and Katsumi returned to the crowd of extras who were actually putting up better numbers than she'd expected from extras. They were all peering curiously at the crater the nerd's quirk had left in the ground, not that she'd been much better. Katsumi had been as alarmed as any of them when the orb that normally floated so expressively through the air, had dropped like an anvil.
It had been the first indication that something was wrong. Katsumi knew Deku's quicksteel was dense, but even she hadn't expected the damage done to the field when it fell. No wonder the hits backed up by his quirk always packed such a punch.
But most of the extras were just enamored with the crater itself. Only some, like Icy-hot and that creation girl with the amazing rack, seemed to understand the implications of the damage it' dealt.
Good, maybe they'd show some fuckin respect, god knows Izuku deserved it.
"Midoriya-kun! I must admit I assumed you felt yourself above such a test, but alas, I have misjudged your character once again!"
Oh god, not this guy again…
She moved to respond with a scathing comment, but Deku cut her off like she was gonna insult the guy or something…
"Sorry for the misunderstanding," Izuku said instead with an open smile. He quickly fell into conversation she couldn't care less about, but she stuck around, feeling an inexplicable need to hover. What the hell was that about?
"Hey Midoriya! What was Aizawa sensei saying about you half-assing the events?!" The boy with that awful red hair said excitedly. "That can't be right, right? You've been crushing every event so far!"
Izuku looked to be about to give the same answer he gave their shitty teacher, but she had a better idea.
"Deku…" she said quietly, but it was enough to get his attention as she knew it would be. He turned to her immediately. "Just show them," she said, meeting his eyes.
He shrugged a moment later, turning to the students surround him, "I wasn't holding back at all," he said seriously. "But that's not all I'm capable of either."
"Yeah, no shit dude, you haven't even used your quirk yet have you?" That question came from the purple-haired girl with headphones in her ears, cutting into the conversation.
"Quiet, Lobes! When we do the softball throw, Deku'll give you a showstopper," Katsumi said grinning up at the nerd.
"Yeah, I guess I will," he said, sighing in exasperation.
She always wondered if he'd ever tire of catering to her whims… But after nearly a decade he'd yet to complain...
oooOoOoOooo
Katsumi actually topped the charts in most of the ordinary events like the sitting toe touch, and even in the continuous side step event only lost out to the idiot with the grapes for hair.
The latter didn't bother her too much, she'd trade losing a shitty event like that for not being two feet tall any day of the fucking week.
But at last they came to the only event anyone actually cared about: the softball throw.
She'd been waived from having to throw a second time, which gave her ample opportunity to observe the frontrunners of their class.
Katsumi would never admit it, but some of them had skills. None that came close to her level of course, but still, they weren't bad. Katsumi tried not to grind her teeth too hard when round face threw an infinity, but she was pretty sure she'd failed in that regard.
It was the Yaoyorozo girl's turn up next, so Katsumi kept up a hawk like stare. She'd been one of the few Katsumi'd been keeping an eye on. For good reason too, as the girl had scored top three in nearly every event with her ability to pull seemingly anything out of her body.
And what a body it was… Katsumi scowled. Boobs and a powerful quirk? And people said she hit the genetic lottery.
At this point Katsumi wasn't even surprised when the girl pulled a canon out of her jacket, firing the softball without issue, and coming alarmingly close to her own score. But fortunately, aside from Round face's infinity, Katsumi still held the top spot in the softball throw.
Until finally, it was Izuku's turn.
He strolled into the circle they'd all been throwing from while his quirk, following obediently behind his right shoulder for the first time that day, glinted in the midafternoon sunlight.
Katsumi sighed as Izuku shucked off his PE jacket, the sleeveless undershirt doing nothing to hide her friend's shredded musculature. But when quicksteel start oozing over the contours of his arms and upper torso, even the other girls in their class started to take notice.
"Holy shit… Midoriya really takes abs of steel to a whole new level huh?"
"Do you see those arms? I'd let him save me any day."
Sparks danced at Katsumi's fingertips with every new comment. She was torn between enjoying the show herself or pounding Pinky and Invisalign into dust. Her eyebrows twitched as the girls devolved into obnoxious giggles, some of the others chiming in as well.
"Midoriyaaa!" the grape-haired harassment case waiting to happen growled in sullen rage. "I'm so freaking jealous! Not even two hours into the first day and he's already hogging all the girls to himself!"
Katsumi worried for her sanity when she agreed with this perv of all people, but the nerd really was getting too much attention for her tastes. She let off a weak explosion, enough to draw the eye of the spectators but not strong enough to distract Izuku himself.
Izuku was distracting enough for her though. He really was beautiful when he used his quirk like this. His lithe build alone was attractive to the girl, add in reflective metallic sheen…
Fuck.
She'd almost missed his throw…
The tips of Izuku's fingers writhed with power, latching on to the innocuous ball with an unbreakable grip. There was something unsettling about watching a metal move in such an organic fashion. His arm cocked back, and a subtle hum filled the air.
Katsumi knew of the power contained in those metallic limbs first-hand. She had faith that they'd be the backbone of their society one day.
Oh, she'd still be number one. But Deku would be the pillar that kept them all from crumbling.
His arm seemed to twitch, moving faster than her eye could track, and the next thing Katsumi knew, she was hunched over in an attempt to not be flattened by the shockwave that followed.
"What the hell is that quirrrrk!? It's totally maaaanly!" Katsumi managed to hear over the rushing wind.
Well… he wasn't wrong. She blinked through the clouds of dust, picking out Deku standing like a Greek fucking god in a crater of his own making. He heaved deep, lungfuls of air, but still had that annoyingly charismatic grin plastered across his stupid adorable face.
"Was that enough of a showstopper, Kacchan?"
Oh god she was fucking blushing. "Shut up nerd, you still got second place!"
Aizawa held up the digital tracker, confirming her statement to be true.
6.431 km
"Finished at last…" Aizawa sighed, giving no indication of the spectacle that had just occurred. "Here are the rankings," he said dismissively. He tapped on his screen and a holographic display appeared with all their names and average ranking.
Katsumi immediately picked out her own towards the top of the list but frowned at the number two next to her name. She'd beaten Deku in third, but then who was—"
"Yaomomo! Takin it home for the girls!" Pinky's shriek cut through the air.
Fan-fucking-tastic, as if she didn't have enough to deal with.
She barely spared a glace for grapehead who sat wailing on the ground pitifully. Though looking around his wasn't the only negative reaction to the results. Right… Eraser did say he was expelling the bottom half, but such a punishment simply wasn't relevant to someone like her.
As if she'd ever score in the bottom half of the class. Pfft!
"Ah… right, that expulsion thing… I made it up! Pack up and go back to class, your syllabus for the semester will be on your desks."
And with that statement hanging in the air, their sensei strolled away without a care in the world leaving half of his class emotionally scarred, and the other half horribly confused.
"Well of course it was a lie, didn't take much to figure that out…" the creation girl said a bit too snobbishly for her taste.
"Well, you could be right," Deku said. "But considering the average size of UA's graduating class compared to the first years…" He trailed off, letting the girl make the connection herself.
"B-but that would mean… he lied twice… no wait, only once…"
"Something tells me Aizawa won't have to many hang-ups on deceiving his students to get the best out of us," he said.
Katsumi wished she'd been able to take a picture of the look of shock that overcame princess's perfect fucking face when she realized she didn't have all the answers.
It was glorious.
"Oi, Deku, move outta the way, let me get another shot at the ball throw, you know I got screwed having to go first!" Katsumi called, stomping over to her friend.
"Kacchan, you heard Aizawa, you're gonna make us late."
"I don't give a fuck about that shitty eraser lemme get another throw!"
"Kacchan…"
Unknown to the arguing duo, Iida sidled up to Uraraka in his typical robotic fashion. "I cannot tell if those two are taking this seriously or not!" Iida said, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"I think they are more than anyone, Iida-kun" Uraraka said, smiling after the pair.
Another explosion rocked the earth a moment later.
"At least I think they are…"