Chapter 10

Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.

Proverbs 22:29

After the class with Mr. Aizawa, we made our way through the halls and to the next class. As we walked, we integrated ourselves into Class 1-A, of which they allowed us. I saw Zilo walking with Ashido, as both of them chatted and asked questions about each other, their quirks, and about the places they came from. It was kind of funny to watch, sort of like how a guy meets a girl for the first time and they end up together.

I, on the other hand, was having a hard time trying to talk with Jiro. It wasn't that she wasn't paying attention to me or anything like that, but I couldn't find something to talk about with her. And when I finally had enough courage to ask her something, she was called over by Yaoyorozu, who wanted to introduce her and the other girls to Sunshine and Margaret. So much for a chance at that…

Larry walked in the back with Todoroki, and talked about what the school is like. It was also rather humorous to watch, as Todoroki was an absolutely serious individual, and Larry was a complete goofball. Honestly, I liked the fact that we weren't being treated like a freak show, considering the fact that we were from another country. And I was kind of amazed that this group didn't act the like the enemies that All for One had made them out to be, as they were kind and courteous to us (except for Bakugou, of course).

Speaking of Bakugou, I looked and saw Maddox walking beside him and Kirishima, who was probably friends with Bakugou. Apparently, from the look on Bakugou's face, he was getting annoyed with Maddox. As for Kirishima, he talked with Maddox and listened when Maddox stuttered out words to say. I don't why, but something was drawing Maddox to hang out with these guys. Maybe it was the surge of confidence they gave off, or maybe Maddox was trying to find friends who weren't going to protect him at every whim.

Our next class after Mr. Aizawa's was language arts. As we had translators, we had to take them out when we came to this class. We then learned Japanese while the others learned English. However, most of Class 1-A found this particular class to be very boring.

After that class, we then to a class on Modern Literature. The book we learned about was called Heart of Darkness, which was a novel I heard about, but never really got the chance to read it.

After that was mathematics (I really hate math!), and then we went to lunch. Lunch was in a large cafeteria called "THE LUNCH RUSH CAFETERIA", and it looked more like a food court at a mall then a cafeteria. The cook was actually a hero too, and his cooking was off the chain delicious!

After lunch, we then made our way back to our classroom. Upon entering, we found Aizawa sitting at his desks, with a pile of what looked like blue and white uniforms neatly folded on top of each other.

When we entered and sat down, Aizawa said, "Alright, All Might will be here in a minute or so. As for you six Americans, I want to run some evaluations. Get up, put on these tracksuits, and then meet me outside in the training yard."

"Put them on? Right here? In front of everybody?" I asked, when we got up from our desks to get them.

"Yes," Aizawa replied. "Strip down in front of everybody and put that on in front of them."

The look of shock on the faces of Class 1-A was terrific (except for Mineta and Kaminari, who looked at Sunshine and Margaret like a pair of hungry sharks)!

I looked at my friends with uncertainty, and began undoing the red tie around my neck. Before I could take it off, Mr. Aizawa said, "I was kidding; don't strip down, as he we have rules about decency."

Mineta and Kaminari groaned while the rest of Class 1-A had a relieved look on their face. Mr. Aizawa then said, "There are locker rooms where you can change into your tracksuits, which are near the training yard. Go there and get dressed, and then come out onto the yard."

Each of us grabbed a tracksuit, and then made our way out of the class. After going through the halls of the building, we finally found ourselves near the training yard. There were two lockers room, one for boys and one for girls. Zilo, Larry, Maddox, and I went into the boys, while Sunshine and Margaret went into the girls.

Inside, we found lockers that were open, so we could put our school clothes in there. The four of us then stripped down, put our school clothes into the lockers, and then put on our tracksuits.

The tracksuits were a dark blue shirt with white stripes, and dark blue pants with white stripes. When put on, they spelt out U.A on the front of them, which I found pretty cool.

After we got dressed, we then headed out of the locker room and onto the exercise yard, which looked like a large field with a running track, a sandpit, and a pitching circle. Mr. Aizawa was already waiting for us out there, and he was waiting by the pitching circle.

"Alright, so this is how it's going to work." said Mr. Aizawa as we stood in front of him. "In our class is a ranking, with number one being the highest and number twenty being the lowest. Considering the fact that the six of you are Americans and are here on special terms, I'll be numbering you one through six. Now, I have no room for those who can't do. In fact, I expelled an entire class one year cause they didn't live up to my expectations!"

I looked over at my friends, who all had nervous looks on their faces. I couldn't blame them, as I had a nervous look on too! I don't know if we all were thinking the same thing, but I was thinking that this guy, who was supposed to be our teacher, was somewhat gone around the bend! It's a good thing he wasn't a mind reader… or was he?!

"So, we're going to do this in a way that will weed out the weak links." Mr. Aizawa continued. "Numbers one through five will stay, while number six will be promptly expelled and sent back to America. Since there's six of you, this should be a very short evaluation. Now, get to the running track!"

If we weren't nervous enough, we grew even more nervous! The person who came in last place would be expelled?! That is definitely not good!

The first two on the running course were Sunshine and Larry, who took starting positions at the starting line. When the robot at the starting line gave off a loud air horn sound, Sunshine and Larry were off and running! Actually, Sunshine was off and running; Larry just used his quirk to stretch from one side to the next!

"Seriously?" asked Sunshine, as she panted from running.

"Why not? I didn't even break a sweat!" Larry replied, perfectly fine even if he didn't run.

The second two were Zilo and myself. We took our starting positions, and then the robot gave off the air horn! Zilo zoomed forward with his wings while I gave a loud shout and, channeling the sound through my hands, propelled myself after him! Although it came close, I ended up in second place.

"Nice job." He said with a smile, putting his fist up.

I returned the fist bump and said, "You're not so bad yourself."

After us was Margaret and Maddox. Considering the fact that it seemed like neither had a power that allowed them to move faster, the two of them ran at normal paces. However, Maddox ended up in second place while Margaret made first.

I looked over at Mr. Aizawa after Maddox had finished, and he had a cold and calculating look on his face. It looked like he was trying to figure out what was up with Maddox. Honestly, I would've also like to find out what was up with him too, as he was a rather introverted and mysterious individual. Plus, I didn't even know his quirk,

After the running track, we went to the sand pit to do the long jump. First up was Zilo, who used his wings to propel himself into a long jump. After him was Sunshine, who did the same with her quirk. After her was Larry, who turned himself into a human spring in order to jump far! After him was me, to which I channeled my voice into my hands in order to jump far. After I went, Margaret went next, to which she didn't use her quirk. Maddox did pretty much the same after Margaret, which didn't surprise me.

Finally, we came to the last evaluation: the pitching circle.

"Now then, each of you will use your quirks to propel the softball as far as you can; Simple as that. Mr. Rourke, you're up first." Said Mr. Aizawa.

"Yes sir." I replied, walking up to the center of the pitching circle.

Near the center of the pitching circle was a bag carrying the softballs. I picked on the softballs out and then adjusted my body into a pitching position. I then adjusted myself, wound back my arm, and let out a yell as loud as I could! I then channeled the sound into my pitching arm, and threw the ball! The concussive blast from my voice came out of my hand and into the ball, sending it flying into the sky like a bullet!

The ball then landed about 2,500 to 3,000 feet from where I was, which I was able to know thanks to the same robot from the running track. Not only did it time us when we ran, but it could also keep track of how far we could throw the softball!

I then looked back at Mr. Aizawa, who didn't look impressed.

"Not bad." Mr Aizawa said. "Next…"

Not bad? Not bad?! What did he mean by that?! Teacher or not, this guy was starting to get on my nerves! How in the world did they let this guy, who looks like a slob and acts like a jerk, become teacher of the best class in the school?! It was then that I decided to give this guy a lashing of the mouth, and-

Hang on a minute, why am I acting like this? Why am I feeling angry? Is this me, Joshua Rourke, or my father talking? I quickly caught myself before I could say anything, and went back to the others.

"You-you o-o-okay?" Maddox stuttered quietly.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I replied quietly. "Just a little winded."

Zilo went next, and I guess that the wings on his back gave him strength, cause he was able to throw the softball pretty far. It came to about 2,900 feet!

After him was Sunshine, who used her light quirk to propel the ball! When she threw it, it left a white light trail behind it as it went flying! This time, it came to 2,800 feet!

After her was Larry, who turned his arms into a slingshot! When he threw the ball, it came to 2,700 feet!

After him was Margaret, who used her quirk to copy the properties of a stone on the ground. She then threw the ball up to 2,400 feet!

After she went off the pitching circle, Mr. Aizawa said, "Maddox Walters, you are next…"

Maddox looked a little intimidated, but he went up there all the same. He then walked forward and, with very shaky movements, picked up the softball. He then wound back and threw it, like a normal person would, and only came up to about a measly 10 feet.

As soon as Maddox was about to walk back, three white tendrils suddenly shot out and wrapped themselves around him! We all were shocked at this, and so was Maddox! I then looked and saw that the white tendrils were coming from the scarf around Mr. Aizawa's neck!

"Okay, this act is getting old really quickly." Mr. Aizawa said sternly, as he pulled Maddox towards him. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but whatever it is, it is preventing you from using your quirk, as you have not used it once during the evaluations. Or maybe, you don't have a quirk and are a quirk-less."

"Hey, leave him-" Zilo was about to speak.

"Quiet!" Mr. Aizawa ordered him, quieting Zilo and causing him to draw back. He then turned back to Maddox and said, "Either way, you're going to serve as a liability if you won't use your quirk, and I cannot have that, not in my class and not in this school. So, I'm giving you two choices: You can either use your quirk and pass this test, or not and fail. Your choice…"

The tendrils unwrapped from Maddox, who didn't look scared. He then closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened them, he had a look of determination.

"Okay…" he said without stuttering.

Maddox then turned and walked towards us. When he got to me, he extended his hand. I looked at Zilo, who did a motion for me to grab his hand. When I grabbed Maddox's hand, I felt power go out of me. It was kind of like when you go running, and you feel your energy fall away when you're done. He then let go, and went to Sunshine, and did the same to her.

"Is this his quirk?" I asked Larry, who was standing beside me.

"Just watch." Larry replied.

Maddox then went to the circle, went to the bag carrying the softballs, and pulled one out. He then took a pitching stance, and wound his arm back. As soon as he did this, his arm began to glow bright, kind of like Sunshine's when she uses her powers! He then let out a loud yell, and threw the ball as hard as he could! A concussive blast erupted from his hand, and the ball sailed through the air, leaving a light trail behind it!

We then looked at the robot, and it read 10,000 feet! 10,000 feet!

I then looked over at Aizawa, who had a weird grin on his face. I then looked at Maddox, who stood there panting like he fought a long and hard battle. It was then I realized what his quirk was…

He could copy other people's quirks…