Chapter 5: Young Heroes

It was the month of April; Today was the first day of class in UA, and Gary wasted no time to prepare and leave, though his influence in the Ryojima household is starting to show as he's often the early riser (even though he doesn't precisely require sleep) and doing what he can do repay the family for their generosity and hospitality during his stay by cooking meals for them when he's up early or simply helping with keeping the house tidy and clean which improved the Guardian's diligence and improved his relationship with the family gaining their trust in return.

Gary now wears the UA School Uniform, which is pretty snappy and formal looking according to Gary's thoughts about its overall appearance. However, the tie is what troubled him a lot, so he had to get some help from one of the Ryojima family to tie it for him before leaving.

…

It was 6 AM when he arrived at UA along with other students arriving early. He recalls that his classroom is going to be in Class 1-A. Hence, he went through the familiar big red door with a number one on it and looked around the entire campus for the room he's supposed to be in, and after a while, He manages to find it as other crowds of students are still looking around for their classrooms. As he opens the door and steps in, there isn't any teacher yet, and the students inside are still few, but one guy stands out, and it was that same Glasses guy that scolded him at the Orientation. When he saw him, so did he and the two made eye contact for a solid second before the serious-looking glasses person stood up and approached him in such a mechanical-looking way and did some weird things with his arms.

"Good Morning! I am Iida Tenya. I attended Somei Private Academy." He says as he got close enough and extended his arm for a handshake.

Gary looked at him, and Oracle quickly informed him about the school he was referring to. Turns out it's also a prestigious academy that only the most influential and wealthy family of intellectuals attends that school.

"H-Hi, I'm Gary Fillion… It's nice to meet you, Iida." Gary replied and shook Tenya's hand.

Tenya looked at Gary a bit and noticed how he mentions his name.

"You started with your first name? Ah, You're a foreigner, judging on how your name sounds western. Here in Japan, we start with our surnames when we introduce ourselves and-." Tenya lectured Gary about Japanese etiquette as Gary forgot about that simple etiquette where one starts with their surname first when introducing themselves.

The Lecture went on for a minute before Tenya finished.

"I see that you're one of those technical types…" Gary says, sounding displeased by the sudden lecture from someone he had just met.

"I apologize for being brash. But that is not why I came to you." Tenya said and sounded serious all of the sudden. Gary waited for what Tenya wanted to discuss.

"Fillion, Did you realize as well that there is something else to that practical exam?" Tenya asked, and Gary didn't know what he was talking about at first until he remembered about the whole hidden points mechanic of the Practical Exams, which was the Rescue Point.

"Well… Kind of. I sort of knew that they were hiding something from us as the objective of that Practical Exam was simplified as a point gathering game." Gary replied, and Tenya agrees.

"Still… I have misjudged you when I saw your behavior at the Orientation and I-"

"It's fine! I get it. I don't blame you for thinking that way, looking back I was a bit too excited. So I too must apologize for my zealous behavior back then." Gary stops Tenya and somewhat copies his talking mannerisms.

"How modest of you... " Tenya sounded astonished by Gary's modesty but Gary doesn't realize the impact of what he just said.

Later the two have some small talk after Gary found his seat next to Tenya's and he realizes that Tenya is a nice person if you can look past his earnest nature and his intimidating appearance at first glance. It wasn't long until the rest of the class would arrive and then later, the classroom was nearly full, and it was just missing two more students. The students are well behaved, Not having loud or even small chats but quietly waiting for a teacher to arrive. Although it was until a student with spiky hair was putting his legs up on the table so casually which irked Tenya. Gary watches the two argue with each other as the two were the only ones that are loud inside the classroom, and the rest is just watching. While Gary was watching the two argue, he sees that the Spiky haired student has a rotten personality and a massive ego and even made a vulgar comment towards Tenya when he mentioned that he was from that Private Institution which bothered the Hunter as he fails to see why that was a good idea to say.

The argument continued until Tenya saw someone at the door which also made the rest of the classroom look and it was that frail curly-haired kid that destroyed the big bot single-handedly. Tenya approached him, and he apologized to him as well for misjudging him a lot in the Practical Exam, which also raises Gary's respect to Iida, seeing his humility and apologizing for his misgivings.

Then another student arrives, which seemingly flustered the young curly-haired boy who was named "Midoriya" as he overheard them. The student was a girl with a familiar bobbed haircut who was called "Ochaco Uraraka", and she complimented and thanked Midoriya for saving her during the practical exam and was amazed by his incredible punch. Then something stopped the three and was surprised when they looked down at something or someone as the three looked behind them. Gary couldn't see who it was exactly until someone new showed up and stood in the classroom door. The man looked very pale and tired and looked at the rest of the class.

"I'm Shoto Aizawa… Your homeroom teacher." The Teacher announced, and this surprised everyone as to be expected when someone who looks like they're going to pass out any second shows up and reveals that they're your instructor for the rest of your semester.

"This may be sudden… But put this on and go to the field." Homeroom Teacher, Aizawa says after pulling out a blue-white uniform with some red accents.

….

Afterward, Once everyone was in their PE uniform, everyone followed Aizawa to an open field behind what looks like a Gymnasium and near the Main Campus.

"A Quirk Assessment-Test?!" Everyone shouted, Surprised by the activity they're about to conduct in the field.

"But what about the Entrance Ceremony and the Orientation?" Uraraka asked Aizawa.

"If you're going to be a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely practices.," Aizawa explains.

It surprised everyone except Gary as he does not understand what Uraraka had just mentioned and didn't know the standard practices held in a school as a First-Year.

"The defining characteristic of UA is how unrestricted its school traditions are, which is how the teachers run their class," Aizawa says as he turns around to face the students and by saying that it worries the students.

"You kids have been doing this since Junior-High, too, right?" Then Aizawa pulls out a phone, and it's a little hard to see what was in it from a distance from the student's perspective but it had some information about the results of some physical exam.

"A Physical fitness test, where quirks are not allowed to be used. This nation also uses average outcomes from students who do not use their quirks. It's not rational ... Well, the education ministry is procrastinating." Aizawa then turns to one of the students, Specifically the Spiky Haired student.

"Bakugo, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?" Aizawa said, then continued.

"In Junior-High, What was your best result for the softball throw?" Aizawa asked.

Bakugo replied; "67 meters."

"Then, try doing it with your Quirk." Aizawa says then a demonstration was put in place and the Spiky-haired student who was called "Bakugo" is standing inside some circle.

"As long as you stay within that circle, you can do whatever you want. Hurry up and give it all you've got," Aizawa says, and all of the students watch Bakugo as he stretches a bit first while in that circle. He was clearly muttering something before throwing the ball but not before shouting "Die!" what followed next was an explosion that was like a cannon being fired and that blast launched the softball far up to the sky before the scorched ball dropped to the ground ahead. Bakugo reaches about 750.2 Meters in his softball throw.

"Know your limit first. That is the most logical way to develop the foundation of a hero." Aizawa says, and this gives out a mixed reaction from some students.

"750 Meters? … Woah, Seriously?" A student with blonde hair and has a small black zigzag pattern dyed to his hair says and he was shocked by seeing that feat.

"What is this? This looks really fun!" Another student with pink hair and skin with horns says and she sounds very pumped up.

"We can use our Quirks as much as we want? As expected for the hero course!" Another student commented as eager and excited as the next.

"'This looks fun', huh? To become a hero, you've got three years. Are you going to have an attitude like that the whole time?" Aizawa said, but then he had an unnerving grin to everyone.

"Okay, all right then. In all eight examinations, whoever comes in the last place will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion." By that comment, it got everyone all shocked and suddenly quiet.

"We are free to do what we want concerning our students' circumstances." Aizawa then lifts his hair, showing his wicked smile at the students.

"Welcome to UA's Hero Course!" He says, and some are mentally and physically preparing themselves for it while some are nervous about what comes next.

Although naturally, Uraraka protests and claims that the conditions are unfair being it the first day of school but even if it isn't, it is still unjust for those who will be expelled. But Aizawa explains that as a Hero there are scenarios like natural disasters, human-made disasters, and selfish-villains that are unpredictable and that you can never tell when or where it'll happen therefore the country, "Japan" was covered with unfairness. So it's up to Heroes to reverse those situations and overcome the challenges.

Aizawa then gives out a speech that UA is not your ordinary school where you can just socialize afterward and eat meals together after school. According to Aizawa, For the next three years, the students will have overcome the hardships that UA will give, one after another.

He referenced the famous quote "Go Beyond. Plus Ultra" and to overcome these challenges and come out on top. For Gary, that was the most inspiring speech he has heard after Zavala's address to New Lights like him. He felt motivated and excited to do what he can to break through these hardships and grow in a way that he didn't expect to feel in a place like this.

Then with the Demonstration now over; the real test starts.

…..

The first test was the 50 Meter dash.

Gary got 5.21 seconds in his run, which shows his agility as a Hunter wasn't affected too much, but he felt that he could be faster than that. But there were still seven tests to be conducted, and Gary was feeling confident in his abilities to be able to pass them. However, he could feel Aizawa's gaze on him from the back, which made the Guardian somewhat uneasy.

The second test was a Grip Test.

Gary got only 43 Kilograms which was a weak grip compared to some others until he overhears someone getting 540 Kilograms in the grip test which made the Guardian doubt his brute strength and realizes one of his weak points.

Then the rest of the physical tests continue, and Gary keeps getting ups and downs in each result from the Physical exams until he reaches the fifth test, which is a Ball throw. Gary watches the other students do their turn, and he even was amazed at how far Uraraka got her ball to space and earned an infinity in her ball throw test. He believed that there might not be any drawback to her ability to manipulate gravity.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Midoriya as it was his turn to throw. Some are concerned including Gary as those who witnessed Midoriya's power at the Practical exam they remembered how he hurts himself greatly when he uses his Quirk which was unnatural, considering that most people with a Quirk should be able to limit or understand their quirks to a degree, unlike Midoriya who looks like someone who doesn't know how to control his own power. Gary watches with the others, and he was on edge and eager to see what happens next. Then as Midoriya threw the ball, he got a whopping 46 meters, and this surprised everyone, and Midoriya looked crestfallen as he got that result and looked at his own hands.

"I… I was trying to use it just now..." Midoriya is confused about what just happened.

"I erased your quirk," Aizawa says then he had a completely new aura around him as he looked completely different from the pale, tired attitude before.

"That entrance exam was not rational enough that even a kid like you got accepted," Aizawa says, and Midoriya looked at him then he realized something.

"You erased my quirk? Wait... I see, those Goggles! By just looking at them, you erase other people's quirks with your quirk, The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!" Midoriya commented, and some of his classmates didn't know about someone of that title, but one of them has and explained that Erasure Head was an underground hero.

Then Aizawa says something to Midoriya, and everyone couldn't exactly hear what he was saying, but it lasted for a moment before letting Midoriya go and return to the students.

After hearing that information about Aizawa's quirk, Gary was wary of him and wondered if he could do the same to his abilities, Oracle believes that Aizawa can't close their connection with the light by staring at him with his quirk, but if he does use his quirk on Gary, Oracle recommended to feign being powerless until Aizawa turns his back or deactivates his quirk... No matter how undignifying it'll look.

But returning his attention to Midoriya, Gary could see that the boy was troubled. Whatever Aizawa said to him made Midoriya rethink about something. Then once he was ready. Midoriya throws the ball, and in an instant, he uses his quirk and redirects the power directly to his fingertip on the last point contact on the ball launching it after yelling the word "Smash!" as the softball reaches high up in the air and even breaks the sound barrier from what it looked like. Midoriya earned 705 meters in his test.

"Sensei," Midoriya called out for Aizawa.

"I can… still move." He says with a mix of grin and a pained look to his face as he holds his injured hand clenched to a fist as one of his fingers was swollen and Aizawa was impressed by Midoriya's determination.

His fellow students are praising Midoriya's feat and reaching over 700 meters. Gary was impressed by the boy's quick thinking and adaptability, not the most viable, However, it was the best that he could do given the circumstances.

Which made the Hunter think for a moment. If Midoriya keeps using his power at what he would assume at full strength, what is stopping him from using it from one percent and possibly avoiding further damages to himself from the recoil? The Hunter thinks that he could tell that to him afterward.

As his classmates cheered and praised Midoriya's incredible achievement, However one of them was having an opposite reaction...

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" Gary heard someone in a hostile tone and some small popping sound was followed, and it made him quickly realize who it was, but before he could act, Bakugo ran towards Midoriya angrily.

"Hey! Tell me what's going on, Deku, You bastard!" Bakugo shouted, But before Bakugo could reach Midoriya, Aizawa stopped Bakugo with his wrap-scarf capturing Bakugo in his tracks. As Bakugo wondered what the fabric is made of as he struggled to break free, Aizawa mentioned that the wrap-scarf is made of carbon fiber woven together with a metal wire made of a special alloy and used as a capture tool.

After Aizawa had subdued Bakugo and Midoriya was finished with his test, It was Gary's turn.

…..

Gary walked in the large circle and looked back to his classmates and Aizawa as they all looked back at him. He was unusually nervous by this as all their attention was to him, but his Ghost was trying his best to calm the anxious Hunter down, and then after getting his bearings and thinking that he had delayed enough already.

Gary takes a deep breath and then throws the ball like how he would throw those energy bills from a Black Armory Forge mission. Then quickly he activated his Gunslinger ability and shot the ball mid-air hitting it once, then the ball gets launched further up in the air, but he can still see the ball up in the air and can still hit it if he could predict his aim properly and concentrated, So he lined it up and fired once more.

It was another direct hit, but the ball was harder to see and more challenging to aim. However, Gary wanted to try if he could still hit it despite the odds, so he aimed where he believed the ball would be and fired his last Golden Gunshot but it never made contact, so he missed, then the ball dropped down the ground, and it was already burnt and scorched.

Gary got a range of 694.20 Meters which was not bad compared to how others have achieved...

"Nice." Gary says to himself, feeling satisfied with the results before returning to the others and performs a gun spin on his Golden Gun which dissipates after he "holstered" it to his hip.

But as he comes back to his classmates, Midoriya was amazed by Gary's "quirk" as he was the first to approach him and immediately ask some questions about it but in the middle of his sudden outburst, he looked like he realized something.

"Wait a minute… You're also the one who saved me back at the Practical Exam the other day." Midoriya says and smiles at Gary.

"I-I never got the chance to thank you before. Thank you for saving me!" Midoriya says and bowed a bit to Gary. However, the young Hunter couldn't process what was happening that fast but he replied with a simple nod to Midoriya and never had a chance to talk back.

"Hurry up. We still have some tests left to finish." Aizawa says and then everyone follows him.

Gary walked together with Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tenya as they went inside the Gymnasium to complete the rest of the tests they have left. On their way, Midoriya was asking a lot of questions to Gary regarding his quirk which proved to be very hard for him to try to use the same answers that he gave to Nanako as Midoriya had another question after that… Speaking his mind, Gary had managed to make Midoriya drop the bombardment of questions given to him which only made him feel bad as Midoriya looked like he just wanted to know more about his power but the young boy was kind then later moved on.

The rest of the remaining Physical Fitness Tests were just simple physical exercises that the Guardian had no problems in tackling. He believes that he was doing well but the Ghost had to remind the Hunter to not exert too much that can make him stand out which he ignored most of the time.

Then after the tests, the results are going to be pulled out to show how everyone did in the tests. So everyone gathered in front of the same area where they did their softball test to see their results but not before Aizawa quick and short discussion regarding it.

"Okay, I'll quickly tell you about the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test. It's a waste of time to explain verbally, so I'll show you the results all at once." Aizawa says as he pulls out his phone again but Oracle just noticed the feature on the phone that had some lense on the top of it, he assumed it was a flashlight of sorts but he later finds out that it was not.

Everyone was anxious and nervous to see the results of their physical tests as the risk was high to get a low rank but the results were later displayed like a projector on Aizawa's phone which surprised the Ghost to think that such technology exists and as close as the ones that exist in their world.

But the results were up and Gary had taken the 11th spot in the Physical Fitness exam which he expected to be higher up in the top 3 but the Ghost later commented that the Guardian is in the company of unordinary individuals possessing incredible powers unlike his own. So Oracle asked the Guardian to keep his expectations low and remove any thoughts and avoid any actions that would only raise his own ego. Then out of curiosity, Gary looked down on the list to see who was in the last place and he was surprised to see that Midoriya's name was in it.

Gary looked at Midoriya as he saw him looking at his own fist and having some semblance of guilt written on his face.

"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion rule." Out of nowhere, Aizawa says that and everyone had a dumbfounded look on their faces, including the Guardian.

Aizawa then had this cocky smile on his face

"It was a rational deception to draw out your quirk's maximum limit." Then what followed was an uproar by some, specifically the three people Gary had just met; Uraraka, Tenya, and the most shocked one out of the three, Midoriya. But at least one of the students knew that Aizawa was lying about the expulsion rule. But the rest didn't seem to notice that at all including Gary.

"That was a little nerve-wracking wasn't it?" A student with black hair and an odd-looking elbow says.

"I'll take up the challenge anytime!" A student with red spiky hair says.

Gary looked around at his classmates and every one of them had an interesting trait to them excluding the short one with purple ball hair as he noticed that boy trying to peek inside the girl's locker room earlier with the most hideous look on his face as he tried to take a peek in.

With that, the class was over and the rest of the day continued normally and everyone was allowed to go home early for the day…

…

Gary was separated from the three other students in his class that he met as he went out of his own way to explore around the campus to get familiar with the layout. Though as he was doing so he felt that someone was watching him which made him feel uneasy but every time he turned around though, nobody was there or at the least looked suspicious enough for him to believe that they're the ones watching him. But after he had enough he left the main campus and was on his way out the school grounds.

He manages to find his three classmates and they were talking to each other when he found them. Then as he approached the Bobbed-haired girl, Uraraka saw him.

"Oh, It's Flaming Gun guy!" She says pointing at Gary as he comes to them.

"...Flaming Gun Guy? Aha, Has a nice ring to it… Kind of." Gary claims.

"Ah, Fillion-kun. Where have you've been?" Iida says and the other two looked at Iida.

"Iida-kun, Do you know him?" Midoriya asked and Iida later explained and introduced Gary to the other two. Gary only knew their last names but he later got their full names afterward; Midoriya Izuku and Ochaco Uraraka. Then the two had their kind greetings to each other before having a nice chat

"Are you also heading to the station, Fillion-kun?" Uraraka asked and Gary just nodded and this made Iida comment about it.

"Strange… You weren't this less talkative before. Is there something wrong?" The perceptive Iida asked and Gary just has a lot in his mind at the moment, mostly to what just happened today and he is trying to process it in his mind is it all too new to him.

"There are just some things in my mind… To think that I'm actually studying in a school like this is still kind of hard to process." Gary says and Midoriya agrees.

"I know what you mean… It's almost kind of hard to believe, right?" He says

Then they continued their conversation as they walked to the station and afterward, the four separated again as each boarded different trains to go home and on their way back, Gary collected his thoughts and had some conversation with his Ghost that he hasn't talked to in a while and talk about the class that they've witnessed and get each other's views and thoughts about all of it until Gary reaches home and prepares for the next day.