The night after the Entrance Exam…
Ultra Academia High School stands atop a formerly volcanic plateau in Shizuoka Prefecture, the picturesque visage of Mount Fuji towering over it in the background while the school itself looks out over the city of Musutafu. Covering over 500 hectares with state-of-the-art facilities for training generations of public servants, the campus is centered on the 40,000 square meter main building, which is visible from downtown Musutafu. Having produced heroes the caliber of All Might, Endeavor and Best Jeanist, it's little surprise that the school has a number of very wealthy private donors keeping it afloat and independent from the federal government and Hero Public Safety Commission.
What most people don't know is that a cryptid lives at the top of UA's main building.
"So these are the creme de la creme of high school applicants in Japan this year? Humans are such curious creatures indeed" Nezu said, slowly sipping a cup of tea. "I wonder what little secrets we can find about each of them?"
With his Quirk High-Spec, a mutation that massively increased the stoat's intellect from animalistic to genius levels, the fur-covered principal poured over every information source available ranging from camera footage and birth certificates to police records and hidden databases. By the time he was done, his brow was slightly sweaty and he had a list of students with potential illegal connections. "Let's see what we have here…" Nezu said, concentrating on the notes he had for each of his suspects.
Yuga Aoyama: His interactions with Izuku Midoriya (below) are somewhat suspicious, as is the lack of information about his past in France. More intelligence must be gathered.
Yosetsu Awase: Security camera footage I obtained and then deleted from the hosting server seems to show him welding together two ends of a lamp pole around an unconscious A-Rank villain that had been seen earlier fighting the known vigilante Porcupine, AKA Soga Kugisaki. He is most likely the Vigilantes Anonymous member Adhesion.
Tooru Hagakure: The fact that the Tokyo Metro P.D. has yet to match her to descriptions of Ghost, a well-known Peerless Legacy member active in that city, is an absolute embarrassment to their capabilities as detectives.
Kyoka Jiro: Fighting style and abilities bear a strong resemblance to another Vigilantes Anonymous member, Vibe. This vigilante has yet to kill a villain but has severely injured several of C- and B-Rank, with the head, chest and groins of these villains all being targeted.
Kinoko Komori: Was seen alongside Ibara Shiozaki (below) in shaky drone footage taken at a known base of the Ecological Restoration Alliance, greeting the latter alongside ERA leaders Gaia and Sitka. Seems to be just a footsoldier.
Shihai Kuroiro: Ability to travel via shadows matches descriptions of Equalizer member Void, as does his fighting style. Reimon Tadano thinks he's slick hiding his terrorist organization behind BASE Corporation's economic prowess, but he isn't - anyone with a brain knows about his past association with Hideyuki Kazu.
Izuku Midoriya: Some form of connection to Ochako Uraraka and Yuga Aoyama, though the specifics of these relationships are unknown. The lack of information on him is intriguing though, especially given his status as the holder of One For All.
Neito Monoma: A power copying Quirk and a flamboyant sense of style that extends even to his gym clothes? This teenager is definitely Kid Lupin, the Peerless Legacy member who has been burgling yakuza-owned entertainment businesses in Isezakicho, Yokohama. He's dramatic enough that he probably drinks grape juice out of wine glasses; how did they not catch him already?
Mashirao Ojiro: If the rumors behind the Meta Liberation Army still existing down in Deika City are true, then Ojiro's scholarship being bankrolled by Detnerat Corporation likely means he is a member of that organization.
Hiryu Rin: Heir to the Kirin Lake Triad, a Chinese mafia group with some business dealings in Japan. Unlikely to pose any sort of threat at UA High.
Rikido Sato: Like Shihai Kuroiro (above), footage taken in Korellia City makes it likely that Sato is also a member of the Equalizers. His description seems to specifically match a recently-promoted member under the codename "Addiction", which may reference his Quirk.
Ibara Shiozaki: Seen in footage taken at an Ecological Restoration Alliance base accompanying ERA co-leaders Sitka and Gaia as part of their official entourage. With any luck, she didn't pick up a case of nihilistic insanity and terminal stupidity from them.
Mezo Shoji: Like Mashirao Ojiro (above), Shoji's tuition at UA is to be paid in full by Detnerat, meaning he is also likely a Meta Liberation Army member. Given that his medical records show a history of anti-mutant discrimination against him, I am unsurprised that he joined that group.
Kosei Tsubaraba: His Quirk and physical description seem to line up with a recently-debuted vigilante from northern Shikoku dubbed "Glass". May or may not be a Vigilantes Anonymous member.
Ochako Uraraka: All but confirmable as Inversion, the Levitating Thief of Mie and a Peerless Legacy member seen in the company of Mr. Compress himself. Pulled a knife on Izuku Midoriya (above) shortly before the exam, deepening my curiosity about both.
"Fifteen out of forty" Nezu said, his computer screen displaying the various pieces of information he'd gathered on each one. "Over a quarter of this year's incoming hero class are either villains or vigilantes, are connected to villains or vigilantes, or are under suspicion of potentially fitting into one of the other two categories." The stoat slowly began to chuckle, the sound quickly turning into a belly laugh and then into a maniacal cackle as he reached a conclusion as to what to do.
"This is going to be so interesting! I'm not telling anyone!"
Another file sitting off to one side of the pile caught Nezu's eye. "Hm?" he wondered aloud, opening it to find the thirty-seventh placing applicant, Hitoshi Shinsou. Eyeing the thirty-sixth placing applicant, Minoru Mineta, whose score was around four points higher than Shinsou's, the principal's face took on an expression of dangerous manic curiosity. "Nobody will notice if I switch the numbers…" he chuckled.
"Good morning, Midoriya!" Uraraka greeted the greenette as he caught up with her on the stairwell up to UA. "Ready for our first day of classes as hero students?"
"Are you kidding?" Midoriya laughed. "I was born ready! What class are you in?"
"I'm in Class 1-A! You?" the brunette asked, skipping up the last few stairs towards the UA gate.
"I'm also in 1-A!" Midoriya said, following his classmate through the gate and into UA's main building. "I'll be curious to see what our fellow students are going to be like. Really hoping I don't have to deal with-!"
"Get your feet off that desk at once!"
"Make me, dickweed!"
"...I shouldn't have said anything," Midoriya sighed, seeing the strict teenager from the entrance exam and his childhood pain-in-the-ass arguing with each other. Uraraka shot him a sympathetic expression before taking the seat she'd been assigned - which, to Midoriya's dismay, was on the opposite side of the classroom from his. Even worse, his assigned seat was directly behind Bakugo, who glared as he passed by but said nothing.
"Oh, pardon me!" the bespectacled teenager said, turning to Midoriya. "My name is Tenya Iida, formerly of Somei Private Academy-!"
"An elite, huh? I'll crush you!" Bakugo shouted. Iida's eye twitched, but he otherwise ignored Bakugo, causing the blond to start fuming.
"As I was saying, I truly owe you an apology!" Iida shouted, bowing to Midoriya. "You were able to see the true meaning of the exam through the faculty's logical deceptions when I could not; you truly were the superior candidate!"
"Uhhh…thank you, Iida-san. Izuku Midoriya; nice to meet you" the greenette said. "Actually, I had no idea there was any grading based on rescuing others and blew up the Zero-Pointer to flex my true capabilities in front of the teachers, but you don't need to know that."
"If you all think you have time to chit-chat, you should leave" a voice echoed from the door. Looking in that direction, Midoriya noticed a yellow…thing resembling a caterpillar, which unfurled to reveal a disheveled man with long dark hair wearing a black jumpsuit. A white scarf wrapped around the man's neck, from which he produced a pouch of mango juice that was drained dry with a single gulp.
"Seven seconds to quiet down. Not the worst I've seen, but in need of improvement" the man said. "I am Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher. We're doing a physical assessment on the athletic grounds behind the school in fifteen minutes; anybody not changed into their athletic uniforms there by then will be expelled. Good luck." With that, he exited the room as quickly as he'd entered, leaving a confused student body behind him.
Midoriya's eyes narrowed as he recalled the name and appearance of the man teaching him. "Eraserhead. That's unfortunate; he's a dangerously observant and effective Pro" the greenette thought, writing down his mental notes as he walked to the lockers. "To make matters worse, he was Oboro-san's classmate before the Garvey Incident, which Dad engineered back when he was in his almost comically evil Machiavellian phase. Sometimes I think the brain damage he sustained when Yagi-sensei caved his skull in was a net positive to his life."
As the teenagers filed out of class, the greenette felt a tug on his shirt. Turning around, he came face to face with the same blond boy he remembered saving at the Entrance Exam. "Aoyama-san, right?" Midoriya asked. At the other's nod, he relaxed slightly. "You don't have to hide your employment status around me; I already heard it all from your cher oncle."
Aoyama seemed to slump with relief. "Merci, Midoriya-san" the Frenchman said. "If you know of my affiliation, that is un charge less I must worry about. How is my benefactor, by the way?"
"My father is fine," Midoriya said, blinking when Aoyama gulped. "He didn't tell you?"
"Non, non; I was simply told to watch you and keep you out of harm's way" the blond said. "I was unaware you were his heir."
"Heir? Huh…I suppose I am, then" the greenette said, chuckling slightly. "Hey…if he's your cher oncle, that makes you my cousin, Yuga-kun."
"C-Cousin?!" Aoyama sputtered, but by then Midoriya had walked ahead, turning and entering the locker room himself. Once again, however, he wasn't aware of the ears tuned in on him.
"Aoyama is affiliated as well?" Shoji wondered, his sensitive hearing having detected the conversation as he changed into a special UA track jacket designed around his six arms, one hand holding onto his mask to ensure it remained in place to cover his scars. "Most interesting."
"One minute to spare; you were all almost expelled," Aizawa said, checking his stopwatch as the class arrived on the field. "Today you'll be participating in a standard set of eight exercises - a 50-meter dash, a grip strength test, a standing long jump, side-to-side steps, a softball throw, a one-kilometer run, sit-ups and seated toe touches. Only one difference from what you're used to - you can use your Quirks for these."
"But sir, what about orientation?" asked a taller, dark-haired girl. "Is that not important to our academics at UA?"
"Going through orientation will be a waste of time for anyone who gets expelled today" Aizawa said, a terrifying expression crossing his face. "By the way, whoever scores lowest on this exam is getting expelled for having no potential."
The entire class went silent in an instant. "And here we go…" Midoriya thought, right as a new clamor began.
"You'd send us home on the first day?!"
"That's hardly fair!"
"Are you serious?"
"Fair?" Aizawa hissed. "Are natural disasters fair? Industrial accidents that set cities ablaze? Rampaging villains with no mind for collateral damage? If fairness is what you seek, heroism isn't for you. Now I suggest getting started before I expel you all for arguing - but first, a demonstration. Bakugo."
"Huh?" the blond teen asked, stepping forward.
"You garnered the most combat points in the Entrance Exam. What was your farthest softball throw in middle school?"
"67 meters. Why?" Bakugo said, bringing his hand up just in time to catch the softball chucked at him.
"Step inside the circle and throw it as hard as you can with your Quirk," Aizawa said. "Anything goes as long as you don't step outside of it."
"Awesome" the blond grinned, his right hand beginning to smoke as he took a pitching stance and drew his arm back. "I'll just add a little heat to this throw-!"
"It's about to get loud," Midoriya sighed, glancing at Aoyama and Uraraka. "I recommend covering your ears." As the three of them did so, he also noticed the violet-haired girl and the six-armed boy from their class cover their ears. "Interesting; enhanced hearing?"
"DIE!" Bakugo roared, letting loose with an explosive pitch that rattled the windows of UA's main school building. The ball soared far into the distance, coming down somewhere in a wooded area to the west.
The blond returned to the group of students, passing directly by Midoriya on his way. "Beat that, you Quirkless cheater," Bakugo hissed.
Midoriya smirked in response. "Just watch me, Bakugo-chan" he whispered back, eliciting a growl from his childhood foe.
"705.2 meters" Aizawa read off his tablet. "Those are the kind of results you need to produce to have a chance of staying here at UA. Now start lining up for the first test; you'll be paired off for the 50-meter dash."
Test One: 50-meter dash
"Yuga Aoyama, Mina Ashido, please take positions at the starting line" a service robot said from the end of the track, where it was lined up with a camera and a timer to mark down results.
"Ah, it seems that of our group of trois mousquetaires, I am the first to participate" Aoyama said, starting towards the line. "Do cheer for me, please!"
Meeting him there was a girl with bright pink skin and hair, bony horns protruding from the top of her head as a secondary mutation. "Ready Frenchie?" she asked, producing an indignant cough from Aoyama.
"Runners on your mark…START!"
While Ashido dashed forward in a fairly normal run, Aoyama turned his back and jumped in the air. A blast of sparkling energy from his ornate belt shot him backwards down the track, quickly propelling him past Ashido and nearly to the finish line…only for the beam to quit and drop him unceremoniously on the ground. By the time he got back up and fired again, Ashido had reached the end of the track.
"Mina Ashido - 4.35 seconds! Yuga Aoyama - 5.11 seconds!"
"Mon dieu" Aoyama muttered, returning to Midoriya's side. "I had forgotten how taxing extended use of my Navel Laser can be; stomachaches are truly an inelegant side effect, no?"
"Sounds like something is amiss with his Quirk Factor" Midoriya thought to himself. "Either Dad did it on purpose, or it's simply not possible to adapt the Quirk to Aoyama's physiology." Midoriya sighed as Bakugo easily blew past the girl with the frog mutation, getting a time of 4.13 seconds relative to her 5.58 seconds. "Of course he excels again…"
"Good luck, Hagakure!" Uraraka called, grabbing Midoriya's attention again.
"Thanks, Uraraka!" came the response from…a floating gym uniform, which started towards the track where Iida was waiting. Midoriya raised an eyebrow at the brunette, who giggled slightly.
"We're friends from our extracurricular activities," she said. "I'll introduce you to her and our club's other member in 1-B after we get done for the day."
"'Extracurriculars', huh?" Midoriya said, a wry smile on his face as he brought up Uraraka's other career. "Is that what you call it?"
"I mean…why not? It's technically true" the brunette said. Midoriya shrugged and acquiesced; Uraraka's codeword for the Peerless Legacy's activities still amusing him.
"Izuku Midoriya, Mashirao Ojiro, please take positions at the starting line."
"My turn" the greenette said, walking up to the starting line and taking a position next to the blond teen with a large, muscular tail. Reaching into his stash of Quirks, Midoriya smirked as he found just what he was looking for. "I'll be subtle and make it look like I competed Quirkless for this. Reaction Time, One For All - 1% Charge."
"Runners on your mark…START!"
The villain leader took off immediately, Reaction Time letting him start the moment the robot signaled to do so and allowing him to quickly outstrip Ojiro with a subtle burst of One For All - not enough to elicit any energy discharges, but still the equivalent strength of several adult men. "Izuku Midoriya - 4.66 seconds! Mashirao Ojiro - 5.49 seconds!"
As Midoriya walked back to rejoin his two unofficial companions, he noticed a bewildered expression on Bakugo's face. "Good, that's what I was hoping to see from you. Can't wait to finally smack you in the face with reality later in the test…"
Test Two: Grip Strength
"Excuse me; you're Midoriya, right?" the multi-armed teenager asked from under his mask.
"Um, yes, that's me" the greenette said, regarding the other young male. "Can I help you?"
"Mezo Shoji, a pleasure to meet you" the mutant said, holding up his grip strength device. "If possible, can you keep an eye on this device for me while I'm doing the test? I'd like to concentrate on getting the best score I can, but I have no desire to break it."
"I'd be happy to" Midoriya responded, taking a position where he could keep a watchful eye on the grip tester as Shoji began to carefully stack his right hands atop each other in the device. Once all three right hands were around the pressure sensor, the multi-armed teen squeezed down as hard as he could. His greenette compatriot watched the numbers climb higher, exceeding 500 kilograms before beginning to slow to a halt.
"Mezo Shoji - 540.0 kilograms."
"Incredible" Midoriya breathed out in reverent awe. "That kind of exerted force could crush some rocks or easily snap limbs. You must be extremely good at controlling your strength to not injure people."
"I…well, yes, I'm very well practiced in self-restraint of many forms" Shoji said, trying hard to ignore the itching sensation of the scars criss-crossing his mouth. "If we both survive this assessment test, I hope you wouldn't mind remaining my acquaintance."
"It would be my pleasure, Shoji-kun" Midoriya replied, a small smile crossing his face. As the taller teen proceeded to a nearby bench to take a water break, the greenette smirked and took hold of his own grip tester. "Alright, as for me…a little One For All plus reshaping the insides of this device with Overhaul should yield me…!"
"Izuku Midoriya - 999.9 kilograms."
"Jackpot" the villain leader said, setting his device down and walking away. Shoji, for his part, noticed the inhumanly high score from the bench, his eyes narrowing.
"I'll have to get closer to you indeed, Midoriya. If not for the sake of Liberation, then certainly at least to sate my own curiosity."
Test Three: Standing Long Jump
Watching Bakugo clear the sandbox by flying with his explosions, Midoriya reached down inside himself. "Guess I have to use the same combination as last time…" the greenette thought, once again preparing a small yet still superhuman percentage of One For All alongside Reaction Time to get the right moment to jump.
Crouching down at the sandbox's edge, Midoriya channeled One For All into his legs, an applied use of Overhaul allowing him to specifically target the energy flow to the most important ligaments and individual muscle fibers. For a moment, his grip slipped and he briefly glowed, the slight luminescence only visible if you were looking directly at him. Then, he jumped, clearing nearly three-quarters of the sand box and landing just short of the finish line.
"Not as good as I'd hoped, but not bad" the greenette said, walking back towards his clique.
"You are un amateur; watch and learn!" Aoyama chuckled, sparkling his way to the sandbox's edge. Turning around, he jumped and fired his laser again in much the same way as he had for the sprint, but because this sandbox was shorter, he was able to clear the whole thing before falling.
"Tch. Such a showoff" Midoriya teased his 'cousin' as the blond Frenchman returned, still sparkling.
Test Four: Side-to-Side Jumps
Watching Bakugo use his explosions to propel himself from side to side rapidly, Midoriya got an idea for how to excel at the event. "Reaction Time to make sure I shoot at the exact right moment, three percent of One For All to generate subtle air bursts…this will require finesse and exact timing" the greenette thought, stepping up and beginning his jumps.
After sixty seconds had concluded, he finally came to a stop, panting for breath. "That was…unpleasant" he muttered, returning to his group and squatting down to take a breather.
Little did he notice Bakugo glaring at him. "I did 96 jumps in 60 seconds according to that robot, yet somehow Deku managed 64? That shouldn't be possible for a Quirkless loser like him; even the ones here with weak Quirks only hit high 40s" the blond simmered, determined to get to the bottom of this.
Test Five: Ball Throw
"INFINITY?!" the entire class shouted in astonishment after Uraraka sent it hurtling into the stratosphere.
"Whoops?" the brunette laughed nervously, stepping back into the crowd. She wasn't alone, however; the same kind of surprise was seen when a dark-haired girl named Yaoyorozu formed a cannon from her torso and launched the ball over a kilometer, or when the shy stone-faced mutant named Koda called a mighty eagle in to carry his ball a similar distance.
As Midoriya was going up however, he felt Danger Sense ping right before something wrapped around his arm. Turning to his right, the teen realized a portion of Aizawa's scarf had grabbed him, revealing a pair of protective yellow goggles beneath. "Midoriya, you're not displaying the kind of power I've come to expect after watching your performance in the Entrance Exam" his teacher said, a hint of disappointment in his tone. "If you're holding back because this seems like a game to you, you should go home."
"Huh, holding back?!" Bakugo scoffed. "As if! How could someone Quirkless be holding back?"
Midoriya chuckled. "Sorry, Aizawa-sensei. Contrary to what that firecracker has to say, we both know I'm not Quirkless" the greenette said. "However, I did only recently develop it and was mostly running on adrenaline during the exam, so in the interest of self-control and avoiding outright self-harm, I try to limit it to lower percentages. With that said, I'll be happy to demonstrate my full capabilities in this test to satisfy your curiosity."
Aizawa smirked. "That's an acceptable answer this time, but if I don't see meaningful progress over the course of the semester, you'll find yourself on the chopping block quickly" the Pro said, handing Midoriya a softball. "Go ahead and make your throw."
Stepping up into the circle, Midoriya concentrated on his stockpile of Quirks. "So I get to show off this time, huh?" A smile grew on his face as he selected and synergized the Quirks he wanted for this test. "Aside from One For All itself at 80 percent, I'll need Shock Absorption to manage the blowback, Overhaul and Regeneration on standby to fix my arm, and I'll coat my arm under my jacket sleeve to act as a brace."
Opening his eyes and drawing his arm back, Midoriya leapt forward, landing on his left foot as he swung his right arm to throw the ball. "How's this for 'Quirkless', Bakugo? Seattle…SMASH!"
The moment the ball left his hand, a shockwave roared across the athletic grounds, rattling windows in their frames across the entire UA campus. As the dust cleared, the students raised their gazes to the sky just in time to see a small flash of white disappear from their view into one of the clouds in the atmosphere.
"3.14 kilometers" Aizawa said, a catlike grin spreading across his face. "This kid…"
The sounds of explosions caught both men's ears, causing them to turn in time to see an angry red-eyed blur launching itself at them. "DEKU, YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU LIE ABOUT BEING QUIRKLESS ALL THESE YEARS!" Bakugo roared. Before he could get any closer, however, the blasts suddenly cut off and Bakugo found himself ensnared in Aizawa's scarf. "What?! Where did my Quirk go?!"
"I erased it" Aizawa said simply. "Attempt to assault your classmate one more time, and you will be expelled." As he deactivated his Quirk and released the sulking blond, Aizawa turned to Midoriya. "Can you explain what he meant by 'Quirkless', Midoriya?"
The greenette internally smirked, having prepared for this eventuality. "I would be happy to, Sensei. My Quirk is an Accumulation-type energy stockpiling ability; similar to how the BMI Hero Fat Gum accumulates body weight, I accumulate raw energy through exercise, eating or rest" Midoriya said. "Because it had such stringent activation requirements, however, I wasn't even aware that I had it until last October, and it injured me on my first use because I wasn't yet used to its blowback."
Holding his arm out, Midoriya applied a little bit of Smokescreen to give the illusion that it was steaming. "I've learned a few nifty tricks with this stockpiling power though, including that I can redirect it to specific parts of my body for healing. My arm is pretty sore right now, but by the end of these tests it should be back to normal."
"Fascinating…" Iida muttered.
"So cool!" crossed the minds of Uraraka and Ashido.
"Just like at the exam…that power has the same pressure as All Might" Todoroki thought, grimacing slightly.
"He…he didn't lie to me? What the hell?!" Bakugo glowered.
"Good enough, Midoriya, but I'd better see improvement soon if you're to stay in the hero course" Aizawa said, hiding a small smile within his scarf. "You may return to the group."
Test Six: Distance Run
Now that he was no longer being slightly vindictive towards his childhood bully, Midoriya felt comfortable with opening the floodgates a little more. Channeling around three percent of One For All, the greenette seemed to glow a light viridian as he casually jogged around the track, the stockpiled strength of eight users before him keeping him from feeling even remotely tired. Realizing that there was a good opportunity to also build muscle tone here, Midoriya activated Great Gains again and continued running, the exercise Quirk optimizing the slow tear and repair process of his leg and core muscles.
Nearby, Uraraka huffed and puffed, as even removing the gravity from her clothing to reduce weight did little to help her keep moving - even her improved physique from several years of professional burglary wasn't enough to make it a cakewalk in the slightest, Aoyama was sitting on a nearby bench, having been unable to continue after a second lap around the track. Midoriya smirked as he realized that Bakugo was not far ahead of him and slowing down as his sweat glands demanded more water to keep making explosions.
"On your left" the greenette said as he passed the panting blond. A litany of very creative curses exploded into existence behind Midoriya, but Bakugo's failure to catch up and attempt to beat him into the dirt clearly meant that the eternal pain in his rear was getting tired.
Test Seven: Seated Toe-Touch
Extending his arms forward under Aoyama's watchful gaze, Midoriya's flexibility gained from repeated "training" (read: getting the living hell beaten out of him) with his mother allowed him to reach forward to fairly easily grasp the handgrips placed between his feet to measure whether or not he could feasibly touch his toes.
"Mission accomplished, Aoyama-kun" the greenette said, standing back up. "How did I do?"
"Well, you get points for style with that stretch, Midoriya - but not the way she does" Aoyama said, gesturing to Ashido. The pink-skinned teen had gracefully stretched her hands well past the tips of her toes in a frightening display of flexibility. In complete contrast next to her, a purple-haired teen with too-large bags under his eyes barely managed to reach the handgrips.
Midoriya whistled. "Consider me impressed" he said, shaking his head. "She has to do some kind of physical hobby to get that elastic - probably breakdancing, yoga or kickboxing, were I to be a betting man."
Test Eight: Sit-Ups
With Uraraka spotting for him, Midoriya successfully managed 121 sit-ups in a single sitting, One For All's endurance and strength enhancement at four percent allowing him to keep going for nearly as long as he wanted. However he wasn't the winner of this competition - that honor went to Momo Yaoyorozu, who created a recliner from her torso and proceeded to continually use its lever system to obtain a score of 145. Also impressive was Bakugo, whose sheer tenacity seemed to scream that he was just trying to outdo the "pebble in his path" - yet despite his best efforts, he only managed to do 108 sit-ups.
"That's everyone now" Aizawa said as the teens gathered in front of their teacher, waiting with bated breath to find out whether or not they were being sent home. Tapping a few buttons on his tablet, the man displayed their results as a hologram for all to see.
1: Momo Yaoyorozu
2: Izuku Midoriya
3: Shoto Todoroki
4: Katsuki Bakugo
5: Tenya Iida
6: Fumikage Tokoyami
7: Ochako Uraraka
8: Mezo Shoji
9: Mashirao Ojiro
10: Eijiro Kirishima
11: Mina Ashido
12: Rikido Sato
13: Koji Koda
14: Tsuyu Asui
15: Kyoka Jiro
16: Hanta Sero
17: Denki Kaminari
18: Yuga Aoyama
19: Tooru Hagakure
20: Hitoshi Shinsou
Aizawa stared at the sleepy-looking violette teen. "Hitoshi Shinsou, you…" the teacher began, only for a frown to cross his face. "Wait, how did you even get in here? I read your file and noticed you have an interesting Quirk and heroic aspirations, but I also recorded your rejection message myself."
Shinsou looked around the field in confusion. "I'm not sure myself, sir" he said, looking at his student ID. "Your message said I was placed in Class 1-C, but when I received my list of textbooks, academic preparation packet and identification card, they all said to report to Class 1-A for the hero course. I do want to be a hero, but I thought I would have to win the Sports Festival first."
Aizawa barely resisted the urge to facepalm. "The rat has his paws all over this for whatever reason" he muttered under his breath, before looking at the class as a whole. "Since Shinsou has an interesting academic status, you're all safe. Just…get out of here" he sighed, turning and walking back towards the main building.
The entire class was silent for a moment before suddenly the tall ravenette girl among them dropped to her knees, an expression of terror on her face. "I…I thought he was bluffing" she said, gasping for air as her breathing rate started to increase. "But he actually…?"
"I thought I was a goner" Shinsou said, sighing in relief. "As I said, I want to be a hero, but I'm not even sure how I got into the hero course - I know I only managed to break three robots with a pipe out of desperation, and I only got 15 rescue points."
Deciding to intervene before their classmate completely hyperventilated, Midoriya placed a hand on Yaoyorozu's shoulder. "It's okay; everyone makes mistakes. What's important is that he let us all stay, even though we were all at risk of failure if we didn't do well enough."
Helping her up, he introduced himself to her. "Izuku Midoriya, at your service."
The girl smiled softly. "Momo Yaoyorozu; pleased to meet you" she said, bowing slightly.
"Yaoyorozu, huh? The only person to have performed better than I did on this test…I could probably have beaten her if I wasn't so focused on embarrassing Bakugo" Midoriya thought to himself, trying not to scowl. "I can't let my vindictive side dictate things for me; otherwise I'll fail as both a hero and a villain." With that in mind, however, the greenette did allow himself a slight smirk when he saw Bakugo storming back to the lockers, surrounding himself in a cloud of profanity. "Serves him right."
"So this is him? He doesn't look very impressive."
A resounding smack rang out across the courtyard in front of UA as Uraraka slapped the blond teenager that had joined her, Aoyama, Hagakure and Midoriya on their way out of school for the day. "Behave, Neito" she warned.
Midoriya decided to break the awkward tension as best he could. "Nice to meet you; I'm Izuku Midoriya. Are you the other hero course student that Uraraka and Hagakure know from 'extracurriculars'?"
The blond coughed in surprise. "Of-of course! We're proud members of a baking and cooking group-!" he began, only to be cut off by Uraraka again.
"Meet Neito Monoma, egotist, narcissist and also Kid Lupin of the Peerless Legacy" she said, even as Monoma squawked indignantly.
"Why did you blow my cover like that, Inversion?" the blond demanded.
"This is the guy that hired Sako-san, Manami-san and Tobita-san a year ago," Uraraka said, jamming a thumb in Midoriya's direction. "Prometheus, meet Ghost and Kid Lupin, two of the Legacy's more notorious young members."
"Wait, he's Prometheus?!" Hagakure spoke up. "I knew he was in the loop on who we are somehow, but I didn't realize that Midoriya was the guy who hired us to help take down the Hassaikai."
"Wait, how does Frenchie factor into this then?" Monoma asked, looking at Aoyama.
"He's a member of the League" Midoriya said quickly. Aoyama himself blinked in surprise.
"I am?"
The greenette sighed. "You work for my father; you might as well be an honorary member" he said, slinging an arm around Aoyama's shoulders and yielding a yelp of surprise from the French blond.
The group reached the bottom of the stairs leading down from UA to Musutafu proper, and the three disguised thieves turned towards the left. "We've got to catch the train now; see you, Midoriya-kun!" Uraraka said, waving goodbye to the League's leader.
"Later, Midoriya!" Hagakure added.
"Uhhhhh, see you later?" Monoma's farewell came out as more of a question than an exclamation.
"I should depart too-!" Aoyama said, starting to follow them. A hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Now, now, cousin, why don't you stay for dinner? I think a nice family reunion is in order" Midoriya said, a menacing look on his face. "Maybe you and your cher oncle can explain why he wanted you to spy on me?"
Aoyama started to sweat under Midoriya's gaze for a moment, quickly yielding. "Mon dieu, fine!" I'll come along!" he shouted.
The greenette laughed. "That's what I thought."
Author's Notes:
…I'm sorry, everyone. November was a long and busy month for me and now, a month after the planned release date, I finally have chapter 12 to give to you - appropriately enough on 12/12. I had a lot going on - reporting work on many events, Thanksgiving, the week I took off from most of my projects to celebrate turning 21, and graduate school applications. But that's over; I'm free to write again - hopefully. In this chapter…
- Nezu noticed an interesting pattern among the incoming class of hero students and opted to let his curiosity take control over his rationality.
- Aizawa's assessment test was passed by 19 out of 20 students, and the 20th only remained in because of Nezu's aforementioned nonsense.
- Midoriya now knows every Peerless Legacy operative at UA. This is a surprise tool that will help us later.
- Aoyama and Hisashi have a lot of explaining to do.
Next chapter should hopefully be out by Christmas. Thanks again for reading, and as ever share/comment/leave kudos/favorite.
Happy Holidays,
~DVD181