Immortālitās

Chapter Four

The Hero Course at U.A. is set-up to have two classes of eighteen students, but that will change this year with four students being admitted through recommendations. All of the other students made it through with the normal exams. This makes U.A.'s acceptance rate for the Hero Course less than one in three hundred a year.

That rating makes me feel privileged as I stand outside the door marked for class 1-A. Especially after earning the top score.

On a side note though, I noticed that all of the doors in this school are absolutely massive, but remain extremely lightweight.

I pondered this as I walked into the empty classroom, smiling over the ability to sit wherever I wanted to.

I have always preferred to be in the back of a room, but not for the same reasons that other people choose to do so. It's easier to gauge the atmosphere when you can actually see everyone, just as it were to be if you were looking at everyone from the front. It also gives you the chance to have quicker response times, only because it can be more difficult for people to respond to the things directly in front of them than if you are analyzing them from afar. Plus, some people assume that those that sit in the back like to be left alone and there can be some useful advantages to that.

All that was left was to wait for the other students to arrive.

Which didn't take too long.

I sat at my desk with my hands cupped in front of my mouth as the others began to trickle in.

A couple of them caught my interest.

There was a student pink from head to toe which makes me wonder if that's how she looked when she was born? How did her parents react if so? Probably not good questions to as a lady.

Then there was a young man that looked like a raven. Do I quote Edgar Allen Poe to him? No, he's probably heard one too many of those jokes.

Clothes walked in. Obviously, a girl by the shape. Obviously invisible. Again, I wonder, how was her birth?

Some other interesting characters walked in before I saw Mr. Tan Suit, who also happened to notice me in the back-corner and walked straight towards me.

I swear, if this guy makes me get into a fight on the first day of school.

Color me shocked when we bowed in front of me though.

"My name is Tenya Lida and I apologize for the way I conducted myself at the orientation!"

Well this is a nice turn of events.

"My name's Ivan Tantarimoto," I replied, but continued seriously, "A hero recognizes their mistakes, and I'm glad to see that you were able to move past it. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Ivan is a rare name to have in Japan," he straightened up to chat casually.

"Yeah," I responded. "I get that a lot."

"I'm assuming that one of your parents were born outside of Japan?"

"Bingo buddy."

"Could it be that one of them was—"

Thankfully at that time, another student happened to barge into the room and scoffed loudly before plopping himself onto a seat, throwing his feet up onto the desk.

It's not that I don't like Tenya, I could tell that he's a nice guy. I just don't like talking about my parent's too much. I was a little relieved when he marched to the front of the room to begin scolding the newest arrival.

It was at that point that I noticed that the student with curly hair was now standing in the doorway.

Looked a little nervous though.

Then both the new arrival and Tenya noticed him in the doorway, and Tenya proceeded to march towards him as well. At least it appeared that he was apologizing to the guy.

More brownie points for him.

Both of them looked towards the door as the now named Izuku was being addressed.

Hello Ochaco.

I smiled to myself as she continued to bubble on, but took a moment to look at the way Izuku was responding to her presence.

I don't like the look on your face, Izuku Midoriya.

I think that the boy in the front didn't like him more, as his glare seemed to be even greater than mine.

Perhaps they know one another?

"Go somewhere else if you guys want to have a playdate," a yellow sleeping bag said from the floor.

Oh. There's a person in the sleeping bag, but when did he get there?

"This is the hero course," he mumbled while emerging from his coziness. He seems very disappointed at that fact. "It took eight seconds before you were silent. Time is precious. You lot aren't being rational enough."

I assume that this is our homeroom teacher?

"I am to be your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa." Heh, bingo. "It's nice to meet you."

He reached into his bag. "This is actually kind of sudden, but everyone put this on and meet me out on the field."

Everyone was quick to change as we now stood in the field waiting for our new teacher to arrive.

"Ivan?!" Ochaco ran up to me.

"I feel forgotten, Ochaco~!" I sighed dramatically. "You didn't even notice we were in the same class when you arrived this morning!"

"Forgive me!" She bowed, hiding her reddening face.

"I'm jesting, Ochaco," I laughed. "I could have said hello when you arrived, but I did not want to interrupt the conversation you were having with Midoriya."

She looked at me oddly, and I felt a bead of sweat form on my brow as I was scrutinized. "I wouldn't have minded. I do enjoy your company."

What she said registered in her mind and she went beet red again.

Unfortunately, that's when our dear teacher arrived.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what we're doing so soon into your first day of class," he droned on. Very quiet. Very sleepy-like. "But you all will be partaking in a quirk assessment test."

"An assessment test?" Most of the class asked.

"What about the ceremony or orientation?" Ochaco questioned.

"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events," he responded quietly. "And I don't know if any of you noticed, but there are twenty-one of you instead of twenty."

I took a quick mental head count and there was indeed twenty-one of us.

But why?

"U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are," Aizawa glanced at us. "And that happens to be how most teachers run their classes. You have been doing these kinds of things since junior high, right? Physical fitness tests that didn't allow you to use your quirks?"

There were sounds of agreement.

"Ivan," he looked at me. "You finished above everyone else at the practical exam, right?"

"That is correct, sir."

"While attending junior high, what was the best result you had for the softball throw?"

"One hundred eighty meters, sir."

He stared at me blankly before it appeared that he remembered something. "Your quirk naturally enhances your strength, so there would have been no way for you to properly gauge what it would have been like without a quirk."

"You are again correct, sir."

"Bakugo," he looked towards the aggressive boy from earlier. "You scored second highest at the practical exam, what was your junior high throw?"

"Sixty-seven meters."

Our sensei tossed a softball at him. "Try now with your quirk."

Bakugo approached the circle and waited for instructions.

"You can do whatever it is that you want." Our teacher said. "As long as you stay within the circle."

It didn't take long for him to throw the softball, an explosion helping him to propel it from his arm.

"The most rational way to form the foundation of a hero is to know your maximum first." He showed us a little screen that flashed seven hundred five and two tenths meters.

"Oh, wow!" A boy exclaimed. "That looks fun!"

"It looks fun, huh?" Sensei asked darkly. "You have three years to become a top hero. Can you keep that attitude the entire time? As I stated before, there are nineteen of you instead of eighteen. It could not be decided which one of you was to be recommended for general courses, so that decision was left to be made by me."

There were gasps of horror.

"Whoever comes in last place will be removed from the hero course and transferred to general education."

A huge test on the first day of school? I like it.

"But isn't that unfair? We all arrived under the pretense of being enrolled in the Hero Course."

Aww, sweet Ochaco. Caring for all the little guys.

"Natural disasters, large accidents, and even selfish villains." Aizawa listed off. "All situations where the time and place cannot be predicted. Japan is full of unfairness. Heroes reverse those situations. If you wanted to hold hands, and skip with your friends to some fancy restaurant after school, then too bad. U.A. will work hard over the next three years to hand you one hardship after another. Go beyond. Plus Ultra. So, go beyond it. With all you've got."

All of these heroes have such a way with words. I wonder if that's a class we'll be taking?

Demonstrations ended and we started our first test. The fifty-meter dash.

I watched as Tenya lined up with a girl that resembled a frog.

He got 3.04 seconds due to a speed quirk. The young lady finishing after him with 5.58 seconds.

I definitely won't be getting first, but neither will I be finishing last.

I watched as Ochaco touched all of her clothing articles before lining up.

She got 7.15 seconds.

I smiled at her excitement afterwards. She seemed pleased.

Some weirdo used his bellybutton to go next?

Eh?

Oh, he fell to the floor.

Oops.

5.51 seconds.

Bakugo then lined up with Midoriya and used his explosions to get 4.13 seconds. Izuku getting 7.02 seconds.

It was my turn to line up, and I took off at the gunfire.

4.89 seconds.

I watched all the other students compete and thankfully, two more students fell below Ochaco's 7.15 seconds.

Next was the grip test.

This time we were all handed a device at the same time.

I heard one of the students got five hundred forty kilograms as I looked at my own device.

Two hundred twenty kilograms.

Our net test was the standing long jump.

Most of us leapt over the sand pit on this one.

Repeated side steps were next and wow, was this getting tiring.

The ball throw was our fifth test as I got to watch Ochaco use her quirk to make the ball disappear into the sky.

I laughed out loud as Aizawa's screen showed the infinity sign.

Curly hair went next as he threw the ball forty-six meters.

Oh.

Oh boy.

Our Sensei started using his quirk.

"Our entrance exam isn't practical enough," he said. "Even a kid like you was accepted."

Eraser Head is our sensei! I should have known!

"From what I can tell, you can't control your quirk, can you?" Midoriya seemed freaked out. "Do you intend on having someone save you again? Incapacitating yourself?"

Izuku went to respond but Eraser Head grabbed him with his cloth.

"No matter what you think you're intending, I'm telling you what those around you will be forced to do. You'll be decked and turned into a useless doll after saving one person. With your power, you can't become a hero."

That speech only seemed to spur Izuku on. He didn't look as nervous.

Was that what Sensei intended?

I took a moment to glare at bellybutton man as he placed his hand on Ochaco's shoulder.

He backed away quickly.

Izuku then threw the ball seven hundred five and three tenths meters.

Heh.

You're wrong Sensei. I think he has what it is to become a hero.

After that fiasco we continued into doing timed sit-ups, seated toe-touches, and a long-distance run.

When everything was said and done, Aizawa displayed to us a list that showed how everyone did. I didn't care for my placement as my eyes jumped to the very bottom.

In last place was Izuku Midoriya.

"I was also kidding about last place," Sensei said with a sly grin. "Some special exceptions were made this year."

"Today was a tiring day, don't you think Ivan?" Ochaco asked as we walked out of U.A.'s front entrance.

"Hmm," I tapped my chin. "I don't know, Ochaco. I feel like I have plenty of energy left."

"Ivan!" She whined. "You're cruel."

"I just think you need to work a little bit on your stamina!" I laughed, and then grinned. "I could help you with that."

She stopped and started muttering to herself, turning bright red.

"Ochaco?"

I waved my hand in front of her face.

Did I break her?

"Ochaaaacooo!"

She snapped out of it before laughing, and something grabbed her attention before she took my hand and ran forward. "Look who it is ahead of us!"

Ah, young Izuku and Tenya.

"Hey!" She hollered towards them and they stopped. "Wait for us!"

"Infinity girl and Ivan!"

"The other student from the orientation and Uraraka?!"

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka!" She answered for Tenya, she then gestured towards me for Izuku. "And this is Ivan Tantarimoto! And you're, um, Tenya Lida and Deku Midoriya, right?"

Deku?

"Isn't that what the boy named Bakugo called you during the fitness test?"

"W-well, my real name is actually Izuku. D-deku is what he says to mock me."

Ah, so they do know each other.

"Oh, I'm sorry then!" Ochaco apologized. "Deku kind of sounds like the Japanese words for you can do it, so I kind of like it!"

"I'm Deku then!" Izuku turned a deep shade of red and I slowly squinted at him.

Ochaco laughed before turning towards me. "Ivan, are you heading towards the station? We could all walk there together!"

"I'm not," I responded to her. Even though the orphanage is a short ways away from the station, I didn't want them asking any questions. "My ride should be here shortly."

"O-oh," she seemed sad. I forced my body not to flinch. "Well then I'll—We'll be seeing you tomorrow then?"

I heard that little slip my dear!

"Of course," I smiled at her and looked at the other two. "I'll be seeing you all tomorrow!"

Ochaco smiled at me and the two men nodded.

"It was nice meeting you," Izuku said politely and I nodded in return.

"We shall meet again tomorrow!" Tenya spoke earnestly.

"Bye, Ivan!" Ochaco hesitated before stepping forward, quickly hugging me.

"Until tomorrow, Ochaco."

Obviously, I hugged her back.

It was nice.

I then watched as they all turned away.

Ochaco looked back, but quickly turned away like I caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

I smiled.

Perhaps I'll tell her the truth one day.

Hello, friends! Thank you for reading chapter four. In the previous two chapters I switched around Ochaco's name, and went back to correct some things. I also added Ivan's acceptance letter to the end of chapter three if you have not read it. Thank you again for reading, and I looked forward to your thoughts!

TTFN.