Hey everyone, welcome to the newest chapter. This is something of an experiment for me, as I'm now really trying to balance events around my original characters, while also trying to maintain the canon mangas' portrayal of events as much as possible. Just know that this aspect of the story is very much a work in progress, and I'm learning better how to pace myself and experiment with what I can tweak and change around some, without completely derailing the overall narrative.
If you like what you read here, please be so kind as to leave a review to let me know how you think I'm doing. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. The only thing I own are my original characters, and the events and alterations that occur as a result of their presence in the universe.
A/N: [[]] denotes that characters are contextually speaking Russian.
Chapter 5
First Day
(Первый День)
The days since his acceptance felt like they were just flying by, even with the daily linguistics studies and continued physical training, and the attempts at furthering Quirk training. Now, at long last, the day Nikolay had been anticipating (for better or for worse) had finally come shortly after the advent of April. The new Japanese school year was finally beginning, and so was to be his very first day as an official first-year student of Yuuei Academy.
He had forced himself to wake up earlier than normal, because he knew he needed the time to both get himself physically prepared, but especially mentally. Every day was the same balancing act between enthusiasm and apprehension in his head. Today, this was especially the case, as he had spent most of the previous night struggling to get himself to sleep, knowing just what was to come once the sun came up. No matter how much he wanted it, his mind simply would not settle down with its back-and-forth battling of conflicted emotions.
Yet now, here he was, just finishing snipping the last bit of overgrown hair from the sides of his head, keeping the top just long and short enough to avoid forming curls. Honestly, at this moment, it was the only part of Nikolay that he still recognized; for he now stood before his bathroom mirror, dressed in a finely pressed gray suit jacket with dark greenish blue cuffs and shoulder straps and golden buttons, a proper white dress shirt with a red necktie, and similarly pressed green-blue slacks.
Nikolay's official Yuuei uniform had arrived shortly after his acceptance had been announced, but it was only today he had finally worked up the will to actually put it on; and as he looked at his reflection, he could only wish that having done so sooner would have helped him get accustomed to such a sight. It was such a far cry from the old hand-me-downs he had taken to wearing for so long, he didn't even feel like himself dressed like this. At least the familiar gloves on his hands served as something of a mental anchor to help keep him from feeling too disconnected from his familiar self.
He shook his head furiously, trying to dispel his persistent anxiety. 'It's too late for second thoughts; you know that. The day is here, you've been preparing for it, now it's time to face it. Remember, this is what everything has been for. This is what all those close calls Dad got us through have been leading you towards; don't let all of that go to waste just because you're scared.'
He hurriedly switched off the lights and began to head for the door to Oleg's bedroom, all the while still trying to silently psyche himself up. 'This is the day Dad has been preparing you for, Nikolay Olegovich. He asked you to try, you have been doing that, and you have come so far. If you've made it this far, then you know you can keep going, no matter how much your fear tries to tell you otherwise. This is the next step to take in order to help you both make everything else here work. Now go in there, hold your head up, and don't be afraid.'
As he began to reach for the doorknob, Nikolay noticed that Oleg's door was actually a crack open, and an especially bright glow was shining through it; impossible, since his bedroom window did not face east. His curiosity beckoned irresistibly, so Nikolay slowly pushed the door open, and found himself stricken with a silent awe at what he was seeing.
Standing tall, proud and almost blinding in his illumination, was Oleg Bezpalov, hands upon his hips, and adorned in a tight bodysuit of white, gold and red. The older man's physique was no longer the sculpt of a Grecian warrior like in the photos of his early days, but the suit showed that his bulkier frame was still nothing but pure muscle, far better than any of his casual wear did. The suit itself almost looked as though it were made of satin and was snow white for the majority of the body itself, contrasted by the blazing red of his gloves and tall boots.
Nikolay saw in the reflection of the standing mirror in the corner, the chest of the suit was emblazoned with a likewise red sun designed in an old Slavic motif, and from it were expanding several beams of glistening gold, stretching outwards across the body, around the sides and shoulders, and reconvening in the center of the back. The collar, which almost looked suffocating in its tightness around Oleg's thick neck, was likewise the same burning red.
Finally, he looked up to see Oleg's bearded face was now adorned with a red eye mask, and for the first time in years, his usually icy blue eyes were now glowing a warm golden hue, and it was all capped off with an actual disk of pure glowing golden light emanating from behind Oleg's head, just floating in place behind him even as he moved. This in particular gave Oleg the look of a true classic Hero combined with a traditional Russian Orthodox icon. To think back on his father's stories of the old times, at one point, he had been so beloved by their countrymen, he might as well actually have been one.
Nikolay couldn't summon words as he saw the unmistakable smile on Oleg's face as he observed himself in his new and improved Hero suit. He had received it a month ago, and this was only the first time the boy had seen his father wearing it. Had he been looking himself over in it every morning and night, and Nikolay had simply never noticed?
None of those details mattered, for all he could focus on and feel was the unmistakable air of long-lost and newly-recovered pride emanating from Oleg as he stood tall and more powerful than Nikolay had seen him in memory. This wasn't like looking at the old photographs and posters; displaying his father back in his heyday, for this was not the same man as in those pictures. No, this was still his father; this was still Oleg Borisovich Bezpalov, but at the same time, this was also something more. This was a wholly new and resurrected Tunguska. This was a newly risen and freshly shining Sun of Justice.
Although Nikolay couldn't immediately tell, Oleg soon noticed his son in the reflection, and the glowing disk and his luminescent eyes instantly dissipated as he turned to formally address him. The former paragon of justice for the Soviet people, just as quickly as he had appeared, was no more, and was once again Oleg Bezpalov in a fancy redesign of his old Hero suit, hurriedly removing his eye mask.
The large man's blue eyes took on a whole new shine as he finally took the time to really observe the young man standing before him, looking so much more official and proper in his fancy new school uniform. A bit of emotion hitched in his throat as it finally settled in his mind that this was the day all their hard work had been preparing them for. As many times as he had said it before, this time it was the honest truth: today was going to be the first day of the rest of their lives.
[[Look at you, Kolya. Look at how far you've come already. I am so proud of you.]] Oleg didn't care how much Nikolay blushed in embarrassment to hear his father praise him so; he had earned it. Oleg knew just how difficult all of this adjusting was for the boy, and yet no matter how much it threatened to overwhelm him, he kept persevering, just as the old Hero had always encouraged him to do. And now, it had finally paid off.
As father and son stepped out into the living room, Oleg hastily grabbed Nikolay's book bag, slinging it over his shoulder for him, despite his sons' weak attempts at protest. [[Now, did you make sure you have all the textbooks and notebooks you need? Pens and pencils? Did you make sure to prepare your lunch last night? Did you eat this morning?]] Even as he was going over everything he could think of, Oleg wanted to laugh at just how much of a mother hen he was acting like, sending his boy off into the bigger, brighter world of Heroes that once seemed forever closed to him.
[[Yes, yes, yes; Dad, I've got everything, I promise.]] Nikolay answered in embarrassment as he grabbed the sling of his back like a lifeline, unable to pry his green eyes from their front door, silently looking beyond it to their destination. The boys' silence was not lost on Oleg, as he could see that all-too familiar inkling of nervousness in his gaze. The large man knelt to meet his sons' eyes, his aged face reflecting nothing but fatherly support.
[[I know you're still nervous about all this, Kolya; but I promise you, you will not be alone there for an instant. Even if you can't see me, I'm going to be there to give you all the guidance I can give, every step of the way. We're still in this together. You know that, right?]] Nikolay didn't answer at first, and for a moment Oleg couldn't help but wonder if the boy had even been listening. But then, the young Russian gulped nervously before giving a self-affirming nod in response. [[I do.]]
Oleg's heart lightened as he got back to his feet, ushering his son to the door. [[Just wait for me outside for just a second, Kolya, I'll be right out and we can get going. There's just something important I need to grab first.]] Thankfully, the boy didn't ask any further questions as he stepped out into the now pleasant springtime air. With that, Oleg hurried back to his room, reaching into one of the overhead shelves of his closet. Once he could feel the familiar dried leather binding against his hand, he pulled out the old photo album.
However, this time, he wasn't looking to peruse through old snapshots of better times. No, this time, he was driven by a much greater sense of purpose. Flipping to one of the middle pages, he grabbed a small pair of metal tweezers and slipped it into a slit inside the thick page itself, until he felt an obstruction inside. Pulling it out, he stared seriously down upon the old, but thankfully intact, piece of folded paper that had been safely tucked away inside, with a single inscription written upon its face in Georgian.
Oleg had never bothered to extensively learn the language, but in those early years of his sons' life, he had made damn sure to at least learn enough to know just what this paper had been labeled as: Kolya's Hero Suit Designs ~ Lyudmila Bezpalova. Taking a deep steadying breath of unflappable determination, Oleg slipped the piece of paper, as well as one of his own, into his own book bag, before slinging it over his broad shoulder and heading out the door to depart with his son.
Nikolay was thanking the heavens that he had actually gotten used to Oleg's daily jogging regimen by the time they had reached the entrance to Yuuei. The last thing he needed was to be out of breath, on the verge of collapsing, and sweating bullets in front of all his future classmates on his very first day. Still, physical improvements aside, that did nothing for the feeling of overall intimidation he felt creep up his spine when looking upon the prestigious schools' four colossal interconnected towers.
Oleg, all the while, stood tall and proud, no physically worse for wear, as he looked upon the school alongside his son. It was almost as though he were literally beaming with hopeful light again as he just envisioned the challenges his son would be facing, and most importantly, overcoming on the way to becoming a true Hero. After all the Hero academies back in Russia had been shut down and demolished, this day felt like nothing more than a dying dream; yet now, here they were, and it almost made the giant of a man want to cry tears of joy.
[[Well, this is it, Kolya. This is where we need to part ways, at least for now.]] Nikolay momentarily looked back to his father in frightened confusion, but Oleg was on it before the boy could even open his mouth. [[It's all right; I just need to make sure I'm properly prepared. It's my first day, too; don't forget. You'll be seeing me again soon enough. Now, do you know which class you've been selected for?]] To his relief, Nikolay visibly seemed to calm down as he needed to think.
[[Y-yeah, Class 1-A, the letter that came with the uniform said so. I-I think I just need to follow the signs.]] While Nikolay sounded confident enough in his navigation skills, Oleg silently felt a wave of apprehension wash over him. '1-A; that's Aizawa-san's class. Wonderful, the one Hero in this school who openly hates my guts, and he's going to be homeroom teacher to my son. I just know he isn't going to make this easy.'
Oleg had to actively think not to show any physical sign of his worries to his son, lest it be enough to set his own concerns into overdrive and make him try to turn back; but he mentally was shaking his head in a furious attempt to quell his doubts. 'Don't focus on these things, damn you. Just because you and Aizawa-san don't get along, doesn't mean you should let it spoil either of your moods. This day is more about Kolya than it is about you. He's pulled himself up by his bootstraps more these last six months than he has in the last eleven years. You should be proud of him for that, and just be confident that he can pull himself through once again.'
[[All right, it's a good thing we got an early start; we don't want you rushing trying to find your class and getting yourself more lost, do we?]] This seemed to spur Nikolay, as he gave his father another understanding nod, hoisted his book bag, and began to turn for the school entrance again. Just then, another nearly forgotten thought occurred to Oleg. [[Kolya, wait!]]
The young boy stopped in his tracks, looking back in confusion, only to find Oleg digging busily through his own bag before pulling out a digital camera that looked almost comically tiny in his large hands. [[Before you go…I just want to take one, for posterity. This is a really big day for you, after all.]] Oleg didn't even bother listening to Nikolay's stuttered protest, as he got down onto one knee, trying to get the boy centered.
Thankfully, his son knew when it was utterly pointless to argue, so he dropped his bag from his shoulder and tried to stand straight, keeping one hand behind his back and barely raising the other, as if to wave to the camera. After several seconds of wishing it would just be over with, he dreaded the fact that Oleg still had not just taken the picture already. [[Kolya, take off the gloves.]]
The dead seriousness in his tone made Nikolay's blood momentarily grow cold, as he looked to Oleg nervously, his face almost breaking into another frigid sweat, his hands once again trembling, like they had been off-and-on throughout the past month since the entrance exam. [[D-Dad, I don't think that's a good idea. I think maybe-[[Kolya, think about this. Today, just like every day since we came here, is the first day of the rest of your life, your new life. If anyone wants to be able to go forward, they need to be willing to let go of the pieces of the past that keep weighing them down. The one thing you've learned from Quirk training is how better to control when your blasts come. I know you can do this. You have to, as well.]]
Despite the calm sincerity in Oleg's words, Nikolay's deep-rooted skepticism prevented him from being able to buy all of what he was trying to say. Nevertheless, there was some undeniable truth to it, and that was what finally convinced Nikolay that there was no getting around this moment. It was going to come eventually, he might as well just do whatever was necessary and try to rip as much of the band-aid off as possible.
Biting his lip in an attempt to psyche himself up, Nikolay was practically fighting his apprehension every step of the way as he pulled the rims of his gloves up inch by inch, until his hands were finally freed to feel the warmth of the early springtime sun. He was too focused on trying to calm his racing heartbeat to notice the deeply satisfied smile on Oleg's face as he handed the gloves to his father, who calmly tucked them away in his own bag. There was some relief that at least they would be waiting for him once this day was over. Removing the pieces of the past was important, but for Nikolay, it was definitely going to have to be a gradual process.
Nikolay took several deep breaths to calm his nerves as Oleg raised the camera up once more. He assumed the original pose of raising one now exposed hand to the camera, the holes dotting his palm and the joints and tips of his fingers, exposed for all the world to see. Without a moment wasted, Oleg snapped the picture, the sound spurring Nikolay to let out a sigh, relieved that this excuse of an ordeal was over. He may not have had the will to look in the camera, but Oleg was willing to take whatever he could get today.
[[Thank you, Kolya. You're going to do great, I know it.]] Sensing that his father had said all he needed to, Nikolay began to make his way for the entrance, visibly more in a hurry than even he knew he needed to be. [[Kolya!]] The boy stopped the instant he heard Oleg's voice, but the former Hero simply stood tall and proud where he was, a single arm raised to the sky with a single thumb pointed to the heavens. [[I believe in you!]]
Despite all the obstacles they had come across in their time in this country, and all the setbacks Nikolay's own limitations had caused them, to hear his father express such faith, even when the boy himself lacked it, left him with a feeling of having shed multiple heavy chains from his shoulders. The man knew the things that ailed his son far too well, so if he still managed to have faith that Nikolay could pull through all of this, then what right did he have to call his own father a liar or a fool?
With that, he continued the rest of the way through the entrance until he finally left Oleg's line of sight; and with that, the old Sun of Justice let out a sigh of deep satisfaction and faith as he looked up to the beautiful sun in the deep azure sky. This was finally it. This was an official new beginning, starting now.
Despite his (very) slowly growing sense of anticipation as he tried navigating his way to Class 1-A, the sheer size and the number of twists and turns just one tower of this school provided, left Nikolay feeling hopelessly lost. His ability to read kanji had only barely improved since the entrance exam, but that still did nothing for him being able to read the signs posted all over the walls telling him where anything was. The constant ascending of the seemingly endless stairs certainly didn't help, either.
As he was aimlessly wandering one of the countless empty halls, Nikolay for once found himself begging for a stranger to show up, just so he could get something akin to actual directions, all the while hoping and praying he wasn't somehow already late, even if he hadn't heard a chime. Just as he began to consider just knocking on the first door he saw and asking whoever was there for help, he caught the rapidly approaching sound of hurried footsteps coming from behind.
He looked back behind his shoulder to find, out of all people, that familiar freckled boy with the curly green hair from the beach and the entrance exam, rushing past as though his life depended on it, barely managing to get out an apologetic "excuse me" along the way. "Hey, wait up," Nikolay called out, willing to take this opportunity for exactly what it was. The boy ahead barely managed to bring himself to a stop, almost jogging in place as he acknowledged the young Russian, visibly in just as much of a hurry, if not more so.
"Oh…oh, boy, um…can I help you with something?" he asked awkwardly, and not just in the pronunciation of his English. Nikolay took a moment to mentally talk himself down from the frustration of yet another person simply assuming he spoke it, as he hurried to catch up to the green-haired boy. "I don't speak English. Are you looking for Class 1-A? I am, too." The boy's expression was visibly surprised, but quickly showed what Nikolay thought might have been relief, although there was no denying he was also nervous as all hell.
"Oh, y-yeah, I believe it's somewhere in this building. At least, I hope so. Maybe w-we can look for it together." Nikolay was not about to shoot that idea down, and the boy seemed to realize that as he began rushing down the hallway again, this time with the equally directionless Russian in tow. Along the way, Nikolay couldn't help but find it so bewildering just how many of these once completely random faces he had seen throughout his time on the town, were now becoming more and more familiar and integrated with him, in whichever small or insignificant way that may have been.
"Did you hear me?" the green-haired boy's voice suddenly called back to him, making Nikolay realize just how easily he had let himself sink into his own thoughts, again. "Oh, izvinite—uh, I mean, I'm sorry. I was thinking too hard. What did you say?" he asked, trying hard not to sound too embarrassed. "Oh, it's okay, I-I was just kind of thinking out loud, cause you said you were looking for Class 1-A, too. I had heard that 37 kids passed the entrance exam this year, and there are usually only 18 kids to a class, so 1-A was actually making an exception by allowing one extra student this year. I was just kind of wondering which one of us was the exception."
The boy was clearly trying to pass it off as a joke, but he was pretty much an open book as far as his own nervousness was concerned. Nikolay wasn't faring too much better, as the question now left him in thought, as well. After all the efforts he had kept making not to stick his head out and draw attention, now he was one of two students who was essentially the odd man out, if he was using the term correctly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I've been in such a rush, I-I didn't even think about this. I-I'm Midoriya Izuku," the boy suddenly remembered to introduce himself, his face the very picture of embarrassment. All he needed to do now was accidentally trip over his own feet in order to complete the picture. Honestly, considering he was running forward and looking back at once without doing so this whole time, Nikolay was honestly impressed. "N-nice to meet you, Midoriya-san. I'm N-Nikolay Bezpalov. Now let's just hope we aren't too late."
Izuku's curiosity at seeing an actual foreign Quirk user in a Yuuei uniform was clear as day, but Nikolay's reminder quickly brought his mind back to where it needed to be, as they both began hurrying faster down the hall, both silently hoping their class weren't too much farther.
The prestigious halls of Yuuei only ever seemed to grow in their luster as they basked in the morning sun. For Oleg, he might as well have been walking through the halls of the Winter Palace, he felt like he was riding so much higher than he had in ages. His anticipation and excitement for this day had honestly built to a fever pitch, and now that the time had come for him to officially begin his own first step into his new life, he honestly felt, he assumed, like many of the bright-eyed first-year students who had dreamed of coming to this school their whole lives, and had subsequently worked, sweat and bled in order to finally make it in.
He was thankfully able to understand the simpler characters above the kanji on the directional signs leading him to the faculty area, and just as he rounded the last corner that would take him where he needed to go, Oleg stopped himself at the surprising, yet still familiar, shorter and scrawnier image of All Might in his Toshinori Yagi form, dressed in a fancy dark yellow pinstripe suit. He stood vigilantly at the door to the faculty area, watching the direction Oleg had come from with intent, as if he foresaw the large man's arrival down to the second.
"I'm glad to see you didn't up and get yourself lost, Tunguska. I had a feeling you would want to greet this day bright and early, above all others, at least. How do you like the new suit? You don't need to hide it here, you know. Pro Heroes working as teachers at Yuuei wear their suits all the time." Oleg was momentarily caught by surprise, only to realize the collar for his suit had to still be showing from underneath the large overcoat he had thrown on to avoid drawing too much attention. "Right. Sorry, old habits die really hard."
Toshinori began to chuckle wryly, before hurriedly bringing his closed fist over his mouth to try and stifle another oncoming cough, his gaunt face showing no visible reaction despite the small spittle of blood on his hand he hurriedly wiped away. "I trust the suit fits you well? I didn't have a chance to ask you your current measurements, so I just kind of winged it with the designer based on my recollection of your old one, with some visual updates, of course."
Figuring there really was no use hiding it, Oleg removed his coat and stood tall and bright in the middle of the hall with his suit, feeling that same sensation of empowerment to stand before another person in it again, fully aware this time. "Honestly, whoever you had design this suit is a genius. I'm a lot bigger in a few ways than I was in those days, and yet this suit fits me like a glove. I'm not going to lie, when I first put it on, and honestly even right now still, I feel like I'm twenty years younger wearing this thing."
Toshinori gave the slightest nod of appreciation for the secondhand compliment; silently feeling satisfied that this little extension of effort on his part had paid off. However, Oleg's expression of jubilation quickly changed to that of confusion as his bright blue eyes met his scrawny compatriot. "Wait a minute, Toshinori-san, what are you doing here looking like this right now? You don't think people are going to ask questions if they see a strange man they don't recognize on the school grounds?"
However, Toshinori's demeanor did not change. In fact, he barely managed to form the closest thing to a smile his emaciated face could muster as he placed a reassuring hand on Oleg's arm. "You don't need to worry about that anymore, old friend. I didn't think to let you know the day it was made official, but I'm telling you now. You see; you are looking upon the official new placeholder of Yuuei Academy's Foundational Heroics Studies teacher."
Oleg was both excited and apprehensive to the lanky blonde Heroes' declaration. "But, if you're going to be a teacher to the students, that means you would be here for far more than two hours out of the day, I assume. You said you can't maintain your form as All Might any longer than that, and it's only going to get shorter. How are you going to avoid having the students see you in this shape?" Toshinori gave another exceedingly dry chuckle, patting his hand against Oleg's muscle as if he were reassuring an old drinking buddy.
"The truth is, I've already gone and informed the staff here about my condition…and everything that implies, including my choosing Midoriya-shonen. They're helping me arrange things so as to avoid such a situation as you're describing." As confident as Toshinori sounded, years of settling distrust for strangers in general left Oleg feeling understandably concerned still. "You told all the people working here about it? How do you know one of them isn't going to go running to the papers, or get drunk and spill your secret to another loud-mouthed friend of theirs? You're making way too big of an assumption having just done that, Toshinori-san."
Despite his Russian compatriots' apprehension, somehow, someway, the calm in Toshinori's presence did not dissipate. "Yes, if I had told literally anyone else, I would be just as worried as you, Tunguska. But the people here are not like anyone else. They understand too well just how important it is that the people believe All Might, their Symbol of Peace, is still out there to watch over and protect them. You may not know them nearly as well as I do, but you can trust me, and by extension, them. They will not breathe a word of this to anyone outside these halls."
Oleg honestly could not help but envy the almost biblical level of confidence Toshinori had in other people. That alone must have been able to help the man before him sleep so much more soundly at night than he ever could these days. Before he could ruminate further, Toshinori regained his attention with the closest thing to a hearty slap on the arm as his toothpick of an arm could allow.
"For now, though, let's focus on the present. Working together, we could be the ultimate duo in preparing those students for the lives ahead of them. With you helping them better understand and appreciate all the work and sacrifices that went into the development and understanding of Quirks, Heroes and Villains throughout the years past; and my teaching them about the very foundations of what constitutes modern-day Heroics as we know them, we could be helping to cultivate the single greatest year of new Heroes that Yuuei Academy has ever seen; your very own son included!"
Even in as frankly a pitiful shape as he was in now, Toshinori still managed to exude the same kind of awe-inspiring confidence and hope in his speeches as he ever could as All Might, and Oleg could feel his own heart expanding to hear it. Like a greatly oversized child, he could not physically contain his mutual excitement as he began to head for the faculty office. "You're right, Toshinori-san. This is the beginning of a grand new year for all of us. Let me just get my things in order and we can finally begin."
As he began to reach for the doorknob, however, Toshinori suddenly rushed to block Oleg's way, much to the massive mans' confusion. "The enthusiasm is greatly appreciated, Tunguska, but I regret to say that neither one of us will be getting a chance to start teaching those kids today." Stepping back, Oleg could not, nor did he even try, to hide his confusion, as well as a hint of frustration, knowing his excitement had ultimately been for nothing. "Why not? I thought this was the first day of the school year, the students are supposed to be properly introduced to all their teachers from the beginning, aren't they?"
"In any other school, perhaps, but not here," the dreaded familiar voice of Shota Aizawa suddenly announced from around the corner Oleg had come down from; the black-haired cynic of a teacher looking at both fellow Heroes with that same infuriatingly unreadable blank expression in his exhausted-looking eyes, while laying on his side on the floor, bundled in a yellow sleeping bag. "Before literally anything else can start for those students this year, I need to observe them in action for myself. Doing anything else for them before knowing exactly what they can do for certain, and how well they can do it, is completely pointless."
Considering this was still a school for educating and training future Pro Heroes, Oleg could not deny the logic in what Aizawa was saying. He simply hated having to admit so to his face. The teacher in question remained laid out in his spot as his judgmental stare shifted solely to Oleg. "You might think your kid is now on the fast track to becoming a Pro Hero just because he hasn't rolled over and given up yet. But make no mistake: even if he did somehow manage to squeeze his way through the entrance exam, it's only ever going to be uphill for him from here on out."
With that, Aizawa rolled himself around to take his leave, but not before giving Oleg and Toshinori one final glance over his shoulder through the dangling locks of his black hair. "If those boys of yours give me any reason, no matter how big or small it is; if they give me any reason whatsoever to think that they can't make it as Heroes…then that's it. And there won't be a thing either of you can do about it." With that, he finally took his leave, rolling his way down the hall, and leaving Oleg and Toshinori to stew in the bitter cold his declaration had just left them in.
This was it, at last. Nikolay and Izuku now both stood frozen before the massive door with 1-A stenciled upon it, tall enough to be compared to a single-story house. Granted, there were of course Quirks that left people far bigger than the average human, so inclusive design like this was a necessity. It didn't make the entrance any less intimidating for the two young boys, though.
Nikolay felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating as he kept switching his focus from the doorknob to the window looking into the class. Beyond this door were all the classmates he would come to know, work alongside and trust for the next few years, and if he didn't get a handle on himself, he was going to leave a first impression he would never be able to live down. 'Eleven years of having nobody but Dad around, and now suddenly up to twenty people at once? I think I'm about to black out.'
"Are you okay? Your hands are trembling." Izuku's modest voice barely registered, but thankfully it was just enough, as Nikolay looked to see the curly-haired boy was indeed telling the truth. He had noticed this happening off and on for the past month, but he could never pin down a common trigger for it. It just came and went as it pleased. He clenched his hands into tight fists for a moment, and that thankfully seemed to be enough to make the trembling stop. He turned to thank Izuku for pointing it out, only to then notice.
"So are yours. In fact, all of you is trembling." Izuku's whole body was almost vibrating where he stood as he was slowly trying to reach for the door handle, squeezing his eyes shut tight with anxiety. "Y-yeah…I just can't stop thinking about it. Once we step through this door, we'll be alongside the chosen few who passed the exam." It was clear his words were coming from a place of deep excitement, but the way his freckled face was tensing up also communicated very obvious fear, something considerably different from that of the young Russian at his side.
"I just…I'm just really hoping two people in particular got selected for 1-B…for my sake," he muttered mainly to himself as he finally willed himself to grab the handle. Nikolay could instantly feel his relation to that sentiment. If he could go through the rest of the school year without running into the boy who shoulder-checked him to the ground at the exam, that would be enough of a win for him.
The two boys simultaneously took the last deep breath they hoped to take as Izuku finally pushed the door open and he and Nikolay nervously stepped in together, instantly met with:
"Don't put your legs on the desk! Don't you think that's disrespectful towards your classmates?!" That booming, authoritative voice from the entrance exam instantly slapped both boys right in the face, as situated just behind the front row was the tall, imposing boy in glasses with the prim and proper-cut dark blue hair; currently shouting at, of all people, that same foul-tempered red-eyed boy with the spiky platinum blonde hair, who had his feet arrogantly planted on the empty desk in front of his, a cocky grin on his face offsetting the almost murderous look in his eyes. Just seeing him in particular made Nikolay feel the aching in his ribs all over again, while beside him, Izuku had the face of one who had just bore witness to the end of his life as he knew it.
"No, as a matter of fact, I don't think so. Which middle school are you from anyway, you two-bit extra?!" The blonde boy was clearly trying to provoke the one with glasses. Even though he was trying not to stare at their little episode, all Nikolay could silently hope was that if he snuck around the scene, he would be able to get to his desk without drawing either of their attention. Yet no matter how much he was trying to will his legs to move, he was too nervous to do so, and Izuku was no better, both of them with an almost identical nervous look about them.
Remaining unprovoked, the boy with glasses stood tall and proud, extending a polite hand in response, while still maintaining a tone of absolute authority. "A private sch-*ahem*. I'm from Soumei Junior High School. The name is Iida Tenya." Despite his attempt at being as polite and courteous as he could, the blonde boy's expression didn't soften. In fact, it only seemed to grow even darker with spite, almost as though he were about to spit right in his hand. "Soumei~~!? Well, aren't you an elite. Seems I've got a reason to put your ass in the ground after all!"
This little declaration of ill intent finally seemed to break through the boy named Tenya's demeanor, as he visibly reeled back with indignation at such hostility from a fellow classmate. "Put my-? What nerve! YOU, want to be a Hero?!" Even not being part of the conversation, Nikolay could sympathize. What kind of kid was this blonde boy, and who in their right mind would call someone with this kind of attitude Hero material?
As soon as the thought had crossed his mind, Nikolay looked up and felt himself turn to stone where he stood, as Tenya's bespectacled gaze had now fallen on him and Izuku, who was at that moment trying to hide behind the doorway as much as he could, before Tenya swiftly approached them. Despite his angular, almost angry-looking eyebrows, he didn't seem to be exuding an aura of discipline or anger anymore, but rather he had returned to that polite, professional air.
"Hello, I'm Tenya Iida from Soumei—"Oh, yeah, I-I overheard. Uhh…I'm Midoriya. Nice to meet you, Iida…" Izuku's awkward attempt at introducing himself was swiftly cut silent as Tenya's intense gaze suddenly shifted to focus on Nikolay, leaving the young Slav feeling like a defenseless worm before an almighty eagle. Yet again, his gracious tone betrayed the intensity of his overall physical demeanor as he once again extended his hand to Nikolay in welcome. "Hello, I am Iida Tenya. Let me officially welcome you to Yuuei Academy."
'Oh, goddammit…' Nikolay thought in exasperation to himself. Unlike everyone else who had attempted, even his inexperienced ears could tell Tenya's English was virtually flawless just by the sheer confidence with which he spoke. "I don't speak English. I am Nikolay Bezpalov, from Russia," he swiftly tried to clear the air, and even despite the momentary loss in translation between them, Tenya's generally polite demeanor remained steadfast.
"Oh, I apologize. Your Japanese is quite good, Bezpalov-san. I am confident we will both be able to learn quite a bit from each other in regards to our nations' views on Heroes. Welcome." The hospitality behind Tenya's statement was lost on Nikolay, as he was momentarily blindsided by just what he had said. Was he seriously not aware of what Russia's stance on Quirks had been for over the last decade? And with that, was he to assume that nobody else in this classroom knew, either?
His silent confusion was lost on Tenya, as he just as quickly returned his attention to Izuku, who still found himself instinctively flinching in nervousness under his intense gaze. "Midoriya…I must hand it to you. You divined the actual nature of the practical skills exam, didn't you?"
This detail managed to snap Nikolay out of his confusion as he couldn't help but look at Izuku in curiosity. He had been so focused on what he had been doing during the practical exam, he had not even thought to ask details of what his curly-haired classmate had done to make the cut. Nevertheless, Izuku looked just as awkward as Tenya actually began to put on an air of…remorse?
"I…was blind to it! And I completely misread you! I hate to admit it, but you were the better man!" Izuku and Nikolay exchanged very uncomfortable glances, as the out-of-place young Slav clearly could tell this was not his place to listen in. He nervously stepped back and decided to get as good a look at the rest of his would-be-classmates as possible, and hopefully find his extra spot among the desks, before class would officially start.
He could hardly recall the last time he had stood before so many new faces at once, let alone actually felt anywhere close to comfortable doing so. Many of them, from what he could see, seemed perfectly normal unless he looked closely, while others one could easily have spotted in a crowd in an instant.
Among them, as some were more focused on talking amongst each other, or only paying Nikolay a momentary passing glance, the ones that stood out to him were as follows, as best as he could describe them off the top of his head:
A boy with flattened long blonde hair, with a single fringe curling upward, with notably feminine-looking eyes of indigo that almost seemed to give off a permanent twinkle. He almost fit the descriptions Nikolay had heard of fairytale princes.
Another boy with slightly darker, spiky blonde hair with a black streak on the left fringe that almost looked lightning bolt shaped, with triangular yellow eyes. He honestly looked like he could have fit the mold for what he understood Westerners called a 'punk rocker'.
A tall, and clearly muscular boy with spiky brown hair, black eyes, thick eyebrows, and notably big lips. He looked as though he could probably bench press half the students in this class without breaking a sweat. This was definitely someone Nikolay was going to make a point of not getting in a fight with.
Another boy with semi-long black hair, black almond-shaped eyes, and a very toothy grin on his thinly-shaped face. He was probably one of the more plain-looking people here, but Nikolay couldn't help but think there was something particularly odd about the shape of his elbows under the sleeves of his uniform.
Someone who Nikolay could only assume was another clearly muscular boy, with peach-colored skin, a literal square jaw, and with the rest of his head shaped like a rock, with a pointed end at the top. Despite this appearance that should have given him a natural advantage of intimidating others, there was something in his beady eyes, as well as him being situated far to the back of the classroom, that gave off a demeanor of overwhelming shyness.
Another tall, muscular boy with pale gray hair swept forward, a blue mask covering the majority of his face from below his eyes to the base of his neck, and he had what looked like four fleshy appendages attached to his arms with a web in between. Even when trying to mentally prepare himself for some of the more outlandish-looking students this class would have, he had not been expecting anything to this extent.
A boy who, even from just sitting at his desk, Nikolay could tell barely even reached his hip in terms of height, with a very baby-like face, black eyes, and several balls of purple hair that almost resembled grapes sitting on top of his head.
Someone whom Nikolay was only able to figure out was a female classmate, because with the exception of the dress jacket, the matching skirt, stockings and loafers, this students' body was completely invisible. The fact he had no idea if she was actually making eye contact with him or not, left him uncomfortable on a whole other level than anyone else had so far.
And finally, another young boy with a head of short hair that was actually red on the left side of his head, and white on the right. He had what almost looked like a third degree burn scar over his left eye, or at least that was what it looked like from the distance Nikolay stood from him; but that did nothing to hide the utter coldness in his eyes, as though he was simply looking through every single person in this classroom like they weren't even there.
This was already plenty of new faces for Nikolay to have to try and make himself memorize for the rest of the upcoming school year, but the further he observed, the more surprised he felt to find that, among all the new faces, there was a surprising number of ones he actually recognized as well, not from the entrance exam, but from the first day he had actually been out on the streets of Musutafu. Whether he had spoken to all of them or not, there were some aspects he noticed that made him recognize them immediately:
Slouched behind her own desk was that girl with the long green hair, large hands and clear-as-day frog-like appearance, who either didn't even notice his presence, or was simply indifferent from that blank expression on her face.
Seated dutifully behind his own desk, Nikolay recognized the muscular-looking boy with the short blonde hair and the large fleshy tail from the martial arts dojo ads he had seen posted all over town over the last few months. It almost felt a little bit like meeting a local celebrity in the flesh; a sensation he had been numbed to in times before, due to being the son of the Soviet Unions' once greatest Hero.
Nestled in a darker corner of the classroom, Nikolay felt his skin grow goose pimples to see the familiar frightening glare of the crow-headed boy from the practical exam, sitting solemn and silent like a gargoyle.
Nestled in a farther corner, looking blankly out the window with a pair of headphones on her head, Nikolay recognized the purple-haired girl from the music store, mainly by spotting those same long audio jack earlobes hanging far below her ears while she slightly bopped her head in rhythm to whatever she was listening to now. She almost looked as though she were off in her own little world.
"Oh, what a surprise! I wasn't expecting to see you again, especially here." A gentle-sounding female voice suddenly spoke up right next to Nikolay, making him momentarily jump in surprise as he found himself reunited with a familiar girl with a large spiky black ponytail, cat-like black eyes, and a very distinguished, mature air about her. 'That girl from the bookstore? Today is just full of fateful reunions, isn't it?'
"I guess I should ask how you still recognized me after several months, but I think I might already know the answer." His attempt at a joke was not left unappreciated, as the girl did manage a semblance of a smile, whether out of actual amusement or courtesy was anyone's guess. "Yes, I suppose you might. Even in this day and age, one doesn't see very many foreigners in this city. I'm glad to see those textbooks have helped your communication skills exponentially, and clearly the same goes for your reading, if you were able to score well enough on the written exam to make it in."
Despite her clearly sophisticated presence, her way of speaking was both so polite and yet just casual enough, that Nikolay actually felt a sense of security being able to actually talk to her. As he began to ask about her presence during the entrance exam (figuring he would have been able to spot her sizeable ponytail among that crowd easy), a momentary glance over her shoulder rendered him silent as he saw two now unmistakable faces quickly approaching from behind her, both visibly lit up with excitement once they had seen him from among their fellow classmates:
The always-smiling, horned, black-and-gold eyed, pink bundle of energy and unconditional support that was Mina Ashido, and a young boy right beside her with notably sharp teeth that offset his enthusiastic expression, but now with a head of deliberately spiked, fiery red hair to match his eyes, Eijirou Kirishima. After what he had seen them do on his acceptance letter, there was no earthly way Nikolay could have forgotten their names.
"Russkie-kun, you made it! Good to see you again! It's been way too long!" Mina exclaimed cheerfully as she rushed in, bouncing excitedly on her feet as she gave Nikolay practically no personal space, while Eijirou deliberately made his way in, trying not to get in-between while she was being her normal boundless self. The ponytail girl, all the while, shyly backed away from the sudden scene. "Oh, I apologize, I wouldn't want to get in the way of a reunion between old friends. I hope this school will prove to be worthwhile for you," she expressed as she hurried back to her desk, leaving Nikolay with the two now-fellow classmates who had single handedly secured the fruit of all his labors.
"Man, you don't know what a relief it is, seeing you here. None of the judges bothered to tell me if they were actually going to consider sharing some of my points to help boost your score from the exam." Eijirou expressed, while still trying to maintain an air of complete confidence. The contrast between the attitude and the words was downright palpable. "Yeah, me neither! When I got my acceptance letter and they announced my score and it hadn't changed from the day, I was actually convinced that they'd just ignored my request!" Mina exclaimed in agreement, while Nikolay stood awkwardly between them, momentarily looking back to see Izuku was still standing at the doorway with Tenya, only now he was joined by a shorter young girl with short, reddish-brown hair, matching eyes, and what looked like permanent blush spots on her cheeks. She looked especially cheerful, while Izuku's face was a deep red, flush with embarrassment.
"I have to admit, at first I wasn't even sure that was you I saw when you came in with that curly-haired kid. You both looked so nervous, for a minute I thought you were the same person." Eijirou commented with an amused chuckle, clearly only meaning it with good humor, while Mina stepped in to more closely observe the embarrassed young Russian as he stood, virtually helpless while caught between the two. "Well, among other things, at least getting accepted helped you get a much better change in wardrobe, Russkie-kun. All those other jackets were so bulky and made you look so much thicker. This compliments that cute face of yours much better."
Nikolay's whole face flared red with embarrassment, but they either didn't notice, or simply thought it was funny. Both their ways of speaking were so casual and laden with humor; the poor flustered Russian boy had no idea how to respond. While it did make him a little happy that these two had also managed to pass, nothing ever made being the center of attention any less uncomfortable for him, and he could only hope that his lack of response would be enough to make them take the hint and maybe take a step or two back. Alas, no such luck.
"I-I…look, I…I a-appreciate you—you both doing what you did, but I just don't understand why," he finally managed to form the first sentence that could be put together in his whirlwind of a head, but all this earned were some visibly confused looks from his two overly attentive classmates as they exchanged curious glances with each other. "You don't understand why you appreciate it? I mean, isn't it kind of obvious? That's just what you feel when people do nice things for you." Mina tried to explain as though she was speaking to a little kid, but Nikolay was quick to refute this misunderstanding.
"What I mean is, I don't understand why you two would do that for me, or anybody else for that matter. You both worked even harder than me to get the scores you got, and yet you risked making all that work be for nothing, for me? For someone the two of you barely even know? I can't understand that. Why? Why would either of you do that? Was that your way of trying to make us officially even? Did you just tell me we were even before the written exam, because you knew if you'd told me what you were going to do after, I would've tried to stop you? Why?"
This being the most Nikolay had continuously spoken to someone other than his father, Nikolay's attempt at conveying earnest confusion ended up almost escalating into a frustrated exclamation by the time he had reached his point. He wasn't sure if any of the other members of the class had ended up overhearing his minor outburst, but for the moment, that didn't matter. For him, he needed to have his confusion at such over-the-top selflessness be made clear; he needed to understand.
At the same time, Mina and Eijirou were both visibly blindsided by this out-of-nowhere reaction of his. If anybody else had done the same thing for them, they knew they would have been thanking them from dawn until dusk. In all honesty, they could not even bring themselves to feel insulted by any of the suggestions coming out of Nikolay's mouth. If anything, they could only feel curiosity; curiosity as to what could have possibly happened to this boy, to make him so oblivious to the fact that they were simply trying to do something nice for him after he had gone out of his way to help them in the numerous ways he had.
"If you're gonna be hunting for buddies, do it elsewhere." An older, clearly tired voice suddenly pronounced from just outside the classroom entrance, rendering all the surrounding chatter dead silent, and drawing everyone's attention like a magnet. As the rest of the class flocked to the doorway, they were all met with the bizarre sight of a middle-aged man with long, scraggly black hair and an unkempt beard and mustache, lying in the middle of the hallway in a yellow sleeping bag.
Nobody could find the words to voice their mutual confusion at who this strange man was, and his visibly bloodshot eyes with their pronounced dark bags that indicated a severe lack of sleep, silently looked them all over from where he lay, before he pulled out a small juice pouch from within his bag, inhaling its contents in a single gulp to try and give himself a little energy. "This is the department…of Heroics."
He began to lift himself up from within his bag, almost humorously resembling larvae, before he finally unzipped himself free, rising to his full height before them. From within the crowd of onlookers, Nikolay could hear a few scattered confused mumblings of just who this man was supposed to be, but nobody dared ask the man himself. Despite his lanky physique behind his baggy black clothes and the numerous gray wrappings around his neck, there was an undeniable intensity hanging in the air over this mans' head, as his tired eyes seemed to expertly move between all of them, silently sizing them all up in moments, before he finally made his way into the classroom. Everyone instantly made space, inexplicably intimidated by this strangers' presence.
After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence, the man finally let out what everyone figured had to be an unintelligible grumble. "Hmm, it took you lot eight seconds to quiet down. Life is short, kids. You're all lacking in common sense." All at once did it suddenly simultaneously click in the heads of every student in the room just who this man had to be. The way he commanded obedience just by being in the same room as them, it was too clear: this had to be their teacher. Nikolay couldn't help but momentarily wonder just what kind of Pro Hero a man like this could be; he looked so contradictory to the old images of the ideal Pro Hero he had initially lived with.
"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Pleasure meeting you." His exhausted muttering way of speaking, on top of his overly casual language, couldn't help but leave Nikolay wondering if this was perhaps some sort of trick, if not a joke. Yes, the schoolteachers back in Russia weren't exactly the strict authoritarians that took their jobs seriously down to the letter over the latter years, but this was something else. This Aizawa almost seemed like the kind of laid-back slacker who would take a job and use his hours just to sleep the days away.
None of the other students could think of anything to say, all still rendered silent, as Aizawa was looking them over once more. When his beady black eyes landed on Nikolay a ways back, it was only for a split second, but the young Russian boy felt a knife of pure ice dig deep into his spine, leaving him frigid and stiff where he stood. Never before had he felt such an intense silent disdain from anyone in his life. He couldn't even bring himself to wonder why he of all people got that sensation from Aizawa's gaze; all he could think of was how much he never wanted to feel something that cold and foreboding ever again.
Finally, Aizawa grabbed his sleeping bag and reached into it, before pulling out what looked like a one-piece track suit, dark blue for the majority of the body, with white lines forming the letters 'U' and 'A' around the top and bottom halves of it, with white patches with red outlines on the short sleeves. "Wear these. Immediately. And then shove off to the P.E. grounds."
Nobody dared to ask questions as they all began to file out of the classroom for where the directions had stated their locker rooms would be. Even as he followed the rest of his classmates obediently, Nikolay could only feel a creeping dread in his stomach as for just what this homeroom teacher of theirs specifically had in mind.
Nobody thought to engage in idle chit-chat with one another as they filed into their respective locker rooms, finding the very same jumpsuits as Aizawa had presented, waiting loyally in each of their personal lockers. Nikolay was awkward yet hasty in getting into his own. Having never exactly engaged in physical education in any of his past schools, he was not used to wearing things like this, even if he couldn't lie that it was surprisingly comfortable, if not a bit overly roomy for his thin physique.
Once everyone had gotten changed, all of them clearly fitting much more snugly into their own than he did in his, they all returned to the hall that would lead them out into the P.E. grounds. As everyone commingled with one another in the hustle, Nikolay couldn't help but bring his eyes back down to his still exposed hands. Standing here among this throng of other Quirk-users, all he could think to himself, was how badly he wanted his gloves back, just something familiar to make him feel not so naked and exposed.
In the few moments he had his palms up, he didn't notice Mina and Eijirou had caught up to him, and had been lucky enough to notice the small holes dotting the insides of his hands, neither of them able to resist voicing their curiosity as they moved in closer. "Whoa, they're so small. No wonder I couldn't see them during the exam." Mina pointed out while trying to keep her voice down, so as not to draw the ire of some of the more determined and serious among their classmates.
Nikolay was visibly embarrassed by their insistent attention, but they were all shoulder-to-shoulder as they began to exit out, and he couldn't maneuver himself to get his hands out of the open. "Yeah, if I hadn't seen it back there, no way would I have thought you could blow away huge robots with those tiny little pinpricks."
Eijirou and Mina's clear impression fell on deaf ears, as Nikolay just kept silently repeating to himself how he wished they would simply give him some space and let him breathe. He hated this, hated being in the thick of so many other people with no way of getting out. It was like the last eleven years of fight-or-flight instinct all being challenged at once, and he had no idea how to cope with it.
All of this, the fear, the stress, the anxiety and personal distrust, coupled with his ever growing fear of just what could have possibly been waiting ahead, led Nikolay's hands to start trembling again. However, this time, as his heart raced and he felt his body keep growing tense, he began to feel that dreaded, familiar deep rumbling building within the palms of his hands. 'Oh God! No, no, please, please not now! Not here!' His brain was screaming this denial for his Quirk to come out as he desperately tucked his hands underneath his armpits and tried to hasten his walking, either not noticing or trying desperately to ignore Mina and Eijirou, who both looked visibly surprised at this sudden intense reaction from the young foreigner, while others among the crowd couldn't help but look on in similar confusion.
Since their less than pleasant visit from Aizawa, Oleg and Toshinori had been anxiously perusing over their respective textbooks and manuals over the rules and regulations of Yuuei, primarily at Toshinori's insistence. However, neither of them could let go of the feeling of anxiety their fellow teachers' last words had instilled in them. Finally, they had decided they could not simply stay in the faculty office and just hope for the best. Now, here both Heroes now stood, keeping themselves out of the open as they covertly watched the Yuuei P.E. grounds, silently waiting anxiously for Aizawa and the rest of Class 1-A to arrive. By this point, Toshinori had decided to switch into his All Might form, so as to avoid drawing suspicion in case any of the students to come were to somehow notice his spying.
As much as Oleg disliked the idea of simply waiting for word on how Nikolay would do on his first day, he still had been given a rather vague understanding of just what it was they were about to be witnessing here. After all, so much of this school differed exponentially from what he remembered of the Soviet Hero academies; who was to say their lesson executions wouldn't also be worlds apart?
"So, forgive me, and feel free to blame this on inattentiveness or short-term memory loss or whatever you feel best justifies this, but I have to ask again: why exactly are we spying on Aizawa-san's class today?" All Might remained as vigilant as a hawk as he had to think how best to describe what was about to happen in a way that would not make Oleg instantly overreact and try to intervene, and risk colossally screwing things up for a lot of different people.
"The truth is, Tunguska, that Yuuei's overall teaching system is aberrant, far less rigidly structured, at least in comparison to your country's Hero schools. Every homeroom teacher has their own specific personal approach towards inducting their students on their first day. Nezu-san even clarified some of the details for me to convey to you, since this is something of a tradition for Aizawa-san specifically. You see; much like he explained, on the first day of every school year, Aizawa-san takes his class to the P.E. grounds to conduct a series of tests.
"They are essentially a number of physical trials that allow him to personally observe each individual students' Quirk in action, and most importantly, how well they can control them, and adapt the ways in which they can apply them, based on the circumstances of certain situations." While for All Might, he was simply relaying shared information, for Oleg, he was being told that they were about to witness a do-or-die scenario. Even after his miracle success with the entrance exam, Nikolay still had yet to make any marked improvement in Quirk training, and now he was about to be put in front of all his classmates and display his Quirk, and try and adapt in how to use it? If he hadn't been so desperately trying to maintain his typical serious composure for his peer in Heroics, Oleg felt like he might have been about to faint from exasperation at the potential disaster that was likely to unfold.
Before he could fret over it any further, the first signs of movement caught the attention of both himself and All Might, and sure enough, Aizawa and his students all came filing out onto the grounds, seemingly none of them at all aware of the two unexpected observers watching the scene from a distance.
Once everyone had finally taken their place on the vast yet empty P.E. grounds, Nikolay tried to ignore the tense silence. Nobody had any idea what to expect from here, and he could feel it among them. The heat of the sun beating down on his head certainly did not help with his nervousness, either; but his focus upon that was broken when Aizawa finally turned around to address his class: "All right, you lot. Today, we're going to be conducting a Quirk Apprehension Test."
Every one of the students around Nikolay, himself included, all voiced the words right back to Aizawa in disbelief, but the black-haired teacher remained unperturbed as he simply turned his back on them, just as Nikolay barely managed to see the short brown-haired girl with the blushing cheeks try to step forward. "But, what about the induction ceremony?! And the guidance counselor meeting?!"
Hearing her say so made Nikolay suddenly realize how right she was. He had heard before how Japanese schools had induction and graduation ceremonies on their respective days at the ends of the school year, and yet they had gotten no such thing, it had simply been straight into class, and now this. 'Seriously, what kind of upside down educational system is this school running?'
"If you want to be Heroes, we don't have time for frilly niceties." Aizawa's response was painfully blunt, as he turned to address them all from over his shoulder. "You all understand the schools' reputation for freedom on campus. Well, that 'freedom' goes for us senseis, too." Everyone remained silent, exchanging confused or nervous glances with each other, which seemed good enough an opportunity for Aizawa to continue.
"Softball pitch. Standing long jump. 50-meter dash. Endurance running. Grip strength test. Sustained sideways jumps. Upper body exercises. Seated toe-touch. These are all activities you know from middle school, naturally." 'No, not exactly.' Nikolay thought in dread to himself, not daring to speak such words, lest the teacher actually heard him and looked at him with those cold eyes again. "Physical tests where you were barred from using your Quirks. The country still hasn't gotten around to standardizing those sorts of records, or keeping track of average performance levels. Well, that's negligence on the part of MEXT."
Nikolay didn't even have time to wonder what Aizawa was even referring to, before the teacher suddenly turned and pointed to address the foul-tempered blonde boy from earlier. "Bakugo. How far could you pitch a softball in middle school?" "67 meters," the boy, Bakugo, answered as he stepped forward with a confident, if not arrogant, stride, stepping into a nearby chalk circle on the field. Once he was in place, Aizawa grabbed a softball from his pocket and tossed it to him, while everyone else watched in silent anticipation.
"Try using your Quirk this time around. As long as you don't exit the circle, anything you do is fine. Don't hold back." Bakugo simply rolled his throwing arm to loosen up his shoulder, that sneer never once leaving his face as he just focused straight ahead. "You got it." After a few tense moments, Bakugo finally reeled back, and as his arm crossed overhead for the pitch, a sudden huge fireball erupted from his hand, producing a deafening explosion that sent a shockwave back in the face of everyone observing, as he screamed "DIIIIEE!" at the top of his lungs, sending the ball skyrocketing into the sky like it had been shot from a cannon.
Everyone was left speechless at what they had just witnessed, Nikolay being so for a number of reasons. One: despondency. He had never gone through the kind of physical trials Aizawa was describing even back in middle school, he had made such an important point of always keeping his head down. How was he supposed to conduct himself with this, in front of all these other students? Two: intimidation on the part of Bakugo. What kind of Hero, aspiring or otherwise, screams for anyone or anything to die with the complete and sheer contempt and anger that he did? 'Am I seriously going to be sharing a number of school years with this guy? Oh, God help me.'
Finally, he was supposed to somehow perform these challenges using his Quirk? How? He had barely managed to gain what little control he had on it already; he had not even attempted to try adapting its uses or anything of the sort. It had been hard enough managing to control when it would come out even half the time. Just thinking about it was beginning to bring the rumbling in his palms back, forcing him to clench his fists in a white-knuckled grip of resistance. 'This is just great. I'm either going to end up humiliating myself in front of these people, or I'm going to lose control, and someone here could end up getting hurt. Why, God? Why do you keep letting me get so low, then bring me up, just to drop me even lower? What is your goal here?!'
After a number of seconds the class had spent waiting for Bakugo's softball to come back down, it finally did, still smoking like the unwitting explosive projectile he had turned it into. Afterwards, Aizawa began quickly dialing in some numbers into a small calculator. "Before anything else, one must know what they're capable of." Finally, with a single electric ping, Aizawa held the calculator to reveal the ball had traveled, in fact, 705.2 meters. "This is a rational metric that will form the basis of your Hero Foundation." Nikolay felt his whole body go cold at this realization. 'That's it, then. I'm done for. How can I compete against that with a Quirk I can barely control?'
All of a sudden, all the students around him exclaimed with unmistakable excitement; proclamations of "That looks so fun," or eagerness that they were now finally able to use their Quirks, were all that could be heard all around, while Nikolay was barely able to stay on his feet, his head still spinning from the nonstop emotional whiplash. He barely even registered when Mina and Eijirou, once again having managed to rejoin his sides, were voicing the same kind of excitement with each other, before she started shaking his shoulders in an attempt to help psyche him up as well.
"It looks fun…you say?" Aizawa's voice barely managed to register over the excited din of his students, but that didn't stop him as he bowed his head, his face obscured by his long black hair. "So you were all planning to spend your three years here…having a good ol' time? What happened to becoming Heroes?"
His voice remained low, but there was a whole new intensity to it that finally managed to reach the rest of the students, as their cheering quickly died down, while Aizawa lifted his head up to look upon them all, his eyes just barely visible through his hair, giving him the appearance of an ill-intentioned specter. "All right, then. In that case, new rule: the student who ranks last in total points will be judged 'hopeless' and instantly expelled."
Never before had Nikolay ever felt a collective mood drop that fast, as Aizawa had quite literally put the very fear of God in every single one of them with that announcement, the overwhelmed-feeling Russian boy far from an exception. If his despair hadn't been suffocating enough, now he felt like he was practically drowning in it. Aizawa stood tall and menacing as he brushed his hair from his face, revealing an almost manic, sadistic enjoyment on his now wide awake face, staring them all down like the helpless rabbits they now were before this starving wolf of a man. "Our 'freedom' means we dispense with students as we please! Welcome, to this…THE DEPARTMENT OF HEROICS!"
"The kid who ranks last…gets expelled!? This is our first day here! But even if it weren't, that's just too unreasonable," the brown-haired girl from before spoke out in protest, and while nobody dared to say so, Nikolay wondered if they all thought she was crazy for protesting their teacher, like he did. There was no possible way Aizawa was just messing with them, and who knew what other insane criteria he had brewing in that sadistic head of his that would warrant expulsion in his eyes.
"Natural disasters, massive accidents, ego-mad Villains, all kinds of calamities can happen when we least expect them. Japan's now positively drenched in 'unreasonable.' And it's our job as Heroes to reverse it all, and restore reason. If you were counting on a friendly chat at the local restaurants after school, that's too bad. From now on, for the next three years, all you can expect from your life at Yuuei, is one hardship after the next."
As Aizawa spoke his piece, Nikolay felt another lump of apprehension begin forming in his throat, yet at the same time, he also felt the strangest sensation of determination as well. Nobody had told him otherwise over the last few months of just what life at this school was going to entail. His father never made a secret that the life of a Hero was one of constant struggle. To hear his teacher say so, and knowing that such a responsibility was now upon not just his shoulders, but those of everyone around him, it instilled in him an inexplicable sense of comradery; the simple reassurance that even if he was about to be going through Hell for the next three years, he wouldn't have to go through it by himself.
Even if his fear surrounding his own Quirk still scratched at the walls of his mind, and even if his damned awkwardness being the object of anyone's attention kept reducing him to a stuttering, emotionally unbalanced mess, the fact that these people would all be standing beside him through it all, actually managed to quell his once suffocating despair, even if it was only by a little bit.
In fact, the more he looked around, the more Nikolay realized that everyone else had visibly reached the same epiphany as well, as the once overhanging cloud of disbelief and anxiety over their heads had been replaced by an overarching shared feeling of self-determination to pull through. Aizawa clearly seemed to sense this as well, as his gaunt face formed what probably passed for a smile from him, as he raised one pointing finger to the skies above. "This is 'Plus Ultra'. I expect you to overcome these trials, and climb to the top. Time to step up to the plate."
The 50-meter dash was the first test, and his classmates had taken the challenge in pairs. Aizawa hadn't clearly stated if this was intended to be a race, but Nikolay wasn't about to put anything past him in terms of need-to-know details their homeroom teacher would deliberately keep to himself, just to get a view of his students' mentality. Observing the others as they went, Nikolay was at least a little thankful that, through Aizawa's announcements of who was to go next, he was at least learning everyone's names without having to embarrass himself attempting conversation this time.
The first to go were Tenya and the frog girl, Tsuyu Asui, and by the time it was over, Nikolay could not imagine how such a pairing off could have ever been considered fair. It was true that Tsuyu's frog hopping made her cover distance quite quickly (in fact, she had managed to cover the 50 meters within five-and-a-half seconds), but Tenya was in a whole other league. Once he had stepped up to the plate, a strange mechanical humming had begun to fill the air, and by the time Nikolay had noticed it was emanating from what looked like miniature jet turbines sticking out the back of Tenya's legs, he had already taken off like a bullet and covered the dash in barely over three seconds!
The next two to go had been the blonde boy with the huge tail, Mashirao Ojiro, and the brown-haired blushing girl, Ochako Uraraka, neither of whose Quirks visibly seemed to affect their own performances, as Ojiro had settled for trying to propel himself forward off his tail in a manner akin to a pogo stick, and Ochako had for some reason made a point of touching her shoes and jumpsuit before being given the order to go. Both of them had managed to cross just over the seven-second mark. Observing his classmates whose Quirks didn't directly involve their speed, Nikolay could not help but wonder if this meant he could somehow be able to go through this test without having to use his own. The others were clearly somehow managing to make do.
The next two to go were Mina and the princely-looking blonde boy with the twinkle in his eye, Yuga Aoyama. As they both stepped up to the starting line, Nikolay observed the latter was wearing a bizarre-looking belt, and was keeping his back turned to the finish line while Mina was getting herself situated on the starting blocks. The instant Aizawa gave them the order to go, however, Aoyama simply hopped up, and a bright blue laser suddenly emanated from the centerpiece of his belt, propelling his body backwards at a greater speed than Mina could run, even as she was using that trick Nikolay had observed back at the practical exam, of secreting acid through her feet to help herself slide faster, giving each of her steps a natural speed boost.
It looked like Aoyama might as well have been playing leap frog, as he kept repeating the same pattern of hopping and launching himself backwards with his laser and landing on his back just to get up and do it again. It was an impressive means of crossing a great distance, there was no doubting that, but the getting back to his feet with each landing seemed to stall Aoyama just enough that Mina was able to cross the finish line at just over 5.25 seconds, with him closely following at 5.51 seconds.
Observing all of this, Nikolay couldn't help but be impressed with how everyone was utilizing such a variety of Quirks towards something they normally wouldn't be considered for. When would anyone associate a laser beam Quirk and an acid Quirk with a test of speed? He did not have long to ponder everyone else's versatility, though, as he and Eijirou had now been called up to go next.
Once Aizawa gave them the order to start running, Nikolay pushed himself forward with his feet as hard as he could, barely managing to keep his balance and not fall forward on his face. His legs were simply running on autopilot as all he could think to himself was to just keep one foot in front of the other and don't stop until he heard the drone at the finish line announce their times.
"STOP!" Aizawa's voice was loud and harsh, and forced both students to a sudden halt. The teacher didn't move from his spot, but instead sent that icy stare from behind his locks directly into Nikolay again, leaving the boy trembling where he stood again. He had no doubt it was simply his panic causing his eyes to play tricks on him, but he could have sworn Aizawa's pupils were now red as he stared Nikolay down.
"Go back to the starting line and start again, Bezpalov. And this time, follow the instructions you're given. This isn't the normal physical education drill you get at every ordinary middle school, this is meant to help us understand the current limitations and applications of your Quirk. We can't figure that out if you don't make a point of using it."
"Um, Sensei, my Quirk pretty much has no applications in a speed test, so how does—"This particular issue doesn't concern you, Kirishima. You simply carry out the test like everyone else." Eijirou was swiftly silenced before Aizawa focused on the still trembling Russian beside him. "Don't try to tell me that your Quirk has no applications in a test like this, either, Bezpalov. Everything every participant in the entrance exam did was caught on camera for us to observe, so I've seen what you can do. If you try to lie to me and say that you can't do it, then I'll simply have to label you as 'hopeless', and send you on your way out. Now get back to the starting line and start again."
While Nikolay did as the teacher told him and retreated back, Oleg and All Might were still observing the whole proceeding. While neither said anything, All Might could tell how tense Oleg was becoming; his large fingers almost threatening to claw into the stone foundation they were hiding behind. "Toshinori-san, exactly how many students has Aizawa-san expelled? I don't care if it was through these tests or anything else, I need to know just what kind of man my boy is dealing with."
All Might was hesitant to say, but eventually conceded, knowing Oleg would find out the bitter truth eventually. "By my count, from looking at his current record…so far, over 150 students in his tenure." Oleg felt his heart jump up into his throat as his mind began repeating fervently: 'Come on, Kolya, don't try to fight this. Don't let him see your fear. Just go out there and do what you know needs to be done. Please.'
Nikolay set himself back up at the starting line with Kirishima back alongside him. The seconds seemed to just pass by slower and slower as he tried to think of how to use his Quirk in a setting like this. The only reason he had used it the way he did during the practical exam was because it would at least buy him some time to work out a landing. Here, the instant he let it loose, he knew he was going to lose his footing, eat dirt, and that would be it, no more chances.
He anxiously began to look upon the rest of his classmates, all watching with mixed degrees of curiosity and anticipation for just how this was going to play out. He then looked down the tracks to where the finished students were all still waiting; with Tenya, Tsuyu, Ochako, Ojiro and Aoyama watching with visible interest, and Mina watching with what could only be described as silent support reflected in her eyes for both of them. However, once Nikolay's nervous gaze crossed over Aoyama again, something suddenly occurred to him: Aoyama had thought to jump before propelling himself, probably because he knew the force of his Quirk would do exactly what Nikolay was afraid his own would. He took a legitimate limitation and adjusted around it. 'Maybe…'
"GO!" Aizawa ordered, and Eijirou was already taking off as fast as he could, while Nikolay was still left at the starting line. Nobody else was even cheering or anything, as the distance just kept growing larger and larger between them. Getting back up to his feet, Nikolay looked down to his hands and knew it was do-or-die from here. Thinking back on how he felt back at the exam when he first tried this, he set his hands facing behind himself, and shutting his eyes tight, gritting his teeth in preparation for total failure, he pushed himself up from the ground with a little hop and focused everything he could on his hands in that moment.
BWOOOM!
The air pushed hard against his whole body as his hands launched him forward with unbelievable power. Nikolay was barely able to open his eyes in time to see he was about to meet the ground, hurriedly trying to move his feet in matching speed with the surface, meeting it in a mad run as he finally made the landing. His form was far from graceful, but he didn't care. He had managed to close the distance just enough that he and Eijirou crossed the finish line pretty much nose-to-nose.
His mind was still reeling from the fact that he actually managed to pull it off, not even noticing the congratulatory pats on the back from Eijirou and Mina. His disbelief quickly receded as the timing drone apathetically announced their tied time of 6.89 seconds. It didn't matter to Nikolay, though; what mattered was that he'd gone back, proved himself to Aizawa, his classmates and himself, and was still in it with everyone else. As he began to join the rest of the finished students, he was suddenly approached by Aoyama; whose permanent smiling face made it impossible to tell exactly what emotion he was trying to convey.
"Your form is sloppy, but I cannot say I do not appreciate what you were trying to do. How can I hold it against one who takes inspiration from true art? After all, Oscar Wilde said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, n'es pas?" There was something almost sickeningly saccharine in the overly classy way Aoyama spoke, but he gave Nikolay the impression he was not someone who said things he did not mean, which he supposed meant that his compliments were actually genuine.
In time, everyone else had gone through the 50-meter dash test with an average of five-to-seven second goals, until it was finally down to Izuku and Bakugo. As they took off, Nikolay could only feel sympathy for his green-haired classmate as he was visibly trying his damnedest to keep up with the blonde hothead. By the time they were halfway down the track, though, Bakugo suddenly crossed his arms, and without any warning, suddenly cried out "BLAST RUSH", and swung his arms back, producing a series of rapid miniature explosions from his hands, launching himself forward across the finish line like a human rocket, and causing Izuku to stumble behind just enough to leave a notable time difference in their reaching the goal. "Bakugo Katsuki, 4.13 seconds. Midoriya Izuku, 7.02 seconds."
It was just barely less than the time Ochako and Ojiro had managed to get, but still, Nikolay could just feel Izuku's disappointment in comparison to how much better so many of the other students had done so far. Surely, his time would have been better if Bakugo hadn't deliberately tried to blow him up at the last second. Surely.
Next was the Grip Strength Test. Despite how initially awkward it was, having to do heavy lifting with the strangest little electronic handheld weights, as opposed to the old fashioned kind his father had insisted upon, this had thankfully managed to not be as much of an issue, and Nikolay knew he had Oleg's daily weight training to thank for that. It and the constant jogging may not have been able to do anything for his skinny figure, but there was no denying that he felt considerably stronger than he had in the past.
However, that still wasn't enough for him to lift more than around 60 kilograms; a realization that only made him feel even more inadequate when he saw other students like Eijirou and Bakugo nearly manage 70, or the much bigger students like the rock-headed boy, Kouji Koda, or the boy with the big lips, Rikido Sato, manage to do nearly 200, or the masked boy with the webbed fleshy appendages, Mezo Shouji, who managed to lift over 500, with one hand! Even Mina was able to actually out-lift Nikolay by one extra kilogram! Izuku was just barely managing to trail behind at 56.
Next came the Standing Long Jump Test. This one thankfully came the easiest, thanks to the practical exam, and Nikolay felt his spirits lift much higher as he managed to control his forward launch and subsequent landing much better than he had then, although his distance still was shorter compared to the likes of Tsuyu, Aoyama and Bakugo.
After his round had come and gone, Nikolay was ready to rejoin the rest of the other students who had already gone, before he suddenly found himself getting shoulder checked (again) by the blonde terror himself, looking him in the eyes like he was just daring the young foreigner to talk back. "You really think you can measure up worth a shit by copying my moves like that?" Nikolay couldn't even stutter in response, too visibly frightened of saying or doing anything that would earn him an exploding fist to the face.
The worst part of this was that Bakugo could tell he scared the boy, to which an awful arrogant smirk barely crossed his scowling face. "You listen and listen good, you scrawny little pantywaist. I'm the one who's going to be top dog in this school, the next Top Pro Hero, and nobody else! And if you think I'm just gonna let my place at the top of this class get threatened by a piece of shit copycat like you, then you'd better pack your shit in and run like your life depends on it, because it does."
Feeling confident he had made his point, Bakugo took his leave with one more hard shoulder check for good measure, leaving Nikolay visibly shaken and threatened where he stood. He had not even thought of copying his moves for the long jump, he was simply using what he knew worked, and that still got him a place in Bakugo's (no doubt endless) shit list. He shuddered to even think what would have happened if he had actually gotten a better distance than that blonde psychopath.
By the end of this particular test, Izuku came out with one of the lowest distances of the class. Nikolay honestly felt legitimate sympathy for the poor boy. He was so earnest and honestly trying his hardest, he could see that clear as day, but the results simply weren't coming out in his favor, and he had no idea what to say to help ease that pain.
What followed next was the Sustained Sideways Jump Test. This was clearly more a test of physical endurance than actual Quirk skill, as everyone had to demonstrate how many times they could perform a weighted lateral jump before tiring out. The more physically imposing students like Rikido, Mezo, Eijirou, the crow-headed boy, Tokoyami Fumikage; and Bakugo managed to excel; while others like Mina, the blonde boy with the black lightning streak, Denki Kaminari; the grape-haired dwarf, Minoru Mineta; the black haired boy with the oddly shaped elbows, Hanta Sero; the girl with the audio jack earlobes, Kyouka Jirou; the boy with the red and white hair, Shoto Todoroki; the distinguished black-haired girl with the large ponytail, Momo Yaoyorozu; and the invisible girl, Tooru Hagakure, likewise managed to perform exceptionally well.
Nikolay and Izuku, however, both left quite a lot to be desired; the former especially lacking in terms of balance when weighed down, even when he tried lifting himself with his one-handed launches. In the end, he inevitably kept tripping up and face-planting. By the time it was over and they had been given their pitiful scores in comparison to practically everyone else, Nikolay could only be thankful nobody, not even Bakugo, had the nerve to laugh at them and pound the final nail into the proverbial coffin.
Now was the time for the Pitch test. After seeing what Bakugo had been able to do, and observing one classmate after the next give their all to receive lower, yet still very impressive, scores of their own; Nikolay felt the intimidation sink in again. Everything else up to this point had simply been a matter of controlling the exiting direction of his Quirk through the entirety of his hands. How on earth was he supposed to utilize that for pitching a softball?
"Are you nervous?" Mina's voice suddenly asked from over his shoulder, as everyone lined up to observe Ochako be the next to step up to the chalk circle for the pitch. "Yes, but for different reasons this time. I've never used my Quirk for throwing things, only for keeping things away and steering myself. I don't think I can do this." Nikolay wasn't hesitant to admit, nor was he afraid to let his own lack of confidence be heard.
Mina, however, wasn't about to let his spirit completely deflate, as she gave him a playful little bump on the arm. "Oh, come on, don't start calling it quits now; you've been doing good so far…er, for the most part. I'll bet you're probably already cooking something up in there and don't even know it yet." Her smile was full of confidence and encouragement, and just like before, it only left Nikolay feeling confused at just how she could always be so supportive like this toward a stranger like him, and especially after his little episode in the classroom.
Before he could ask, his attention was drawn by everyone else letting out exclamations of surprise as Ochako had pitched her softball, which just kept ascending higher and higher and higher into the sky as she kept urging it to keep going, until it finally disappeared completely from sight.
To simply punctuate the weight of what they had all just witnessed, Aizawa silently brought up his calculator to reveal a literal infinity sign in place of an actual number. The whole crowd pretty much exploded in exclamations of disbelief that anyone had somehow managed to get 'infinity' on a pitch test.
The ecstatic smile on Ochako's face was quick to replace everyone's shock with pride in her accomplishment as she happily rejoined everyone, while Aizawa himself remained rooted to his spot, visibly apathetic to his students' excitement and good will for their peer. Once everyone had quieted down enough, Nikolay was anxiously wondering who was going to be called up next to test their skill. After seeing someone get 'infinity', he was personally questioning what the point of even proceeding would be. Nobody that was left was going to beat that, by definition.
"Bezpalov, time for you to step up to the plate." Aizawa suddenly announced, and all eyes were now on the speechless young Slav in their midst. Intimidation from their teacher was the only thing that spurred him to hurry up and take his spot, rather than just stand there like a deer in the headlights, and once Aizawa tossed the softball into his hands, he looked upon it nervously, feeling the weight of the entire school on his shoulders.
In the distant corner, All Might and Oleg were still watching, both with silent but no less intense anticipation. Oleg had been fighting to reserve his fatherly instincts to keep cheering Nikolay on with each new test, and hated the fact he would have to continue doing so after the fact. If Nikolay was to keep going forward through his own sheer force of will, he could not afford to know his father was literally watching his every move, and basically keeping him under a magnifying glass.
All Might, all the while, was silent in his judgment, as he observed Izuku's struggle through the tests. He had given the boy all the advice he felt was needed in the wake of the entrance exam, particularly in learning how to measure out and withhold the full extent of One For All, especially after the disastrous damage that had been done to his body upon using it for the first time. Now, it was clear that his disciple was clearly struggling with that concept of willing the specific extent of that power he needed, instead of going all out right off the bat. However, despite his dismal performance up to this point, All Might still felt a deep confidence inside that Izuku would pull through where it mattered most. He had to.
"Do you really think he'll be able to do it? After everything else, you'd think he would've just tried by now." Nikolay could hear Eijirou whispering in uncertainty to Mina as he still remained in the circle, silently trying to figure out how to do this. He instinctively began to raise his arm straight forward, clutching the softball tight and aiming it straight from where he stood, while trying to focus on drawing up some of the power he had felt building up inside. 'With any luck, maybe everyone will be able to get out of the way in time once this blows me back. If I can just get the ball to go forward at the same time, maybe that will be enough.'
"Hold it, Bezpalov." Aizawa suddenly announced out of the blue, and Nikolay felt the first stirrings of that rumbling power disappear in an instant. Despite his better judgment, he actually looked to his teacher in confusion, who silently approached him with that same cold stare, weighing down on him like an increasingly heavy weight. Again, his intimidation was making him see Aizawa's eyes as emanating red from behind his dangling locks.
"The name of the Quirk Apprehension Test is to not only observe your abilities, but most importantly, to see how quick you are on your feet in terms of how you can adapt their uses when the situation calls for it. A Quirk that is only useful in a very limited set of circumstances is no good to anyone, let alone the Hero using it. A Hero with an ice Quirk is virtually useless when caught in a cataclysmic inferno, just as much as a Hero with a fire Quirk is useless when dealing with an underwater threat. Unless they can figure out ways to use their Quirks in all manner of situations, especially in ways that work around their normal limitations; then they are essentially deadweight.
"If you can only competently use your Quirk within a very few strictly defined physical circumstances, then as far as the fields of adaptability and improvement are concerned, your efficacy as a potential Hero is moot. If the ways you can effectively use your Quirk don't go beyond what I've seen from you so far, then I'll have to simply classify you as 'hopeless'." Aizawa didn't even need to reach his ultimate point, as he could clearly see his words sinking deep into the frightened Russian students' brain.
The intensity between them had been made clear to the rest of the watchful students, as nobody dared say anything, whether it be further encouragement like Mina and Eijirou visibly wanted; or mutterings of curiosity as to just what Nikolay was going to do, like Izuku, Ochako and Tenya were all equally thinking to themselves.
All was deathly silent, as Nikolay couldn't take his eyes off the accursed ball in his hand. If he dropped it here, that would be it. But no matter how hard he tried to think of some kind of plan, nothing came to mind. This was completely beyond his pathetic excuse of a wheelhouse for his Quirk, and the cold desperation building in the pit of his stomach almost made him want to break down into tears, no matter who was watching.
'I don't know what to do. There's nothing I can do. I've barely been able to make it with my Quirk as it is. Is this really it? Is this where it all ends for me? Everybody else has done so well, I have no right to stand among them. Why did I ever think I did? God, I must look so pathetic to all of them right now.'
His shoulders had begun to tremble as he reluctantly looked back to the crowd of his fellow students, silently bracing himself for the onslaught of looks of disgust, apathy and utter disappointment in his pathetic display he had put them through all day today. With the voice in his head just screaming for him to open his eyes and get it over with, Nikolay did just that.
But what he saw instead was as far from the chilling disapproval and distaste he had fully convinced himself he had earned as could be. Instead, what he saw reflected in (almost) everyone's eyes was…support. Nobody was saying anything, but by their eyes, they didn't need to. While he had convinced himself he was nothing more than a slab of dead weight holding their class back from its ultimate potential; as far as they were concerned, he was just as much of an equal to them as anyone else. He was simply another aspiring soul who wanted to reach that lofty goal of being a Pro Hero, just like the rest of them, no more and no less.
He had never felt himself be in the place of receiving other peoples' encouragement and support before; he was still in the middle of trying to process how it was possible that people, especially those as young as he was, could actually be so selfless as to do something for each other without any personal gain in mind. And yet a number of them had already gone and done so.
When he thought about it, he had convinced himself he had given Mina's cellphone to the police, simply because his conscience wouldn't be quiet if he didn't. And yet, she and Eijirou, someone he didn't even have that much interaction with, both went out of their way, even at the risk of their own detriment, to help him see through his then-goal of getting here.
When he had gotten himself stuck in a bookstore like a total tourist, Momo had actually stepped up to help him for nothing, even when he was practically flailing his hands around like an illiterate buffoon. It would have been so easy for her to simply leave him be, laugh at his ridiculous display, or even mislead him for her own amusement. And yet, she did none of those things, and never asked anything in return for it.
Even the likes of Izuku, Tenya, Tsuyu and Aoyama. Nikolay was a complete nobody to all of them, they had no reason to treat him with anything at all, let alone hostility or suspicion, like so many other people would have back in Russia. Hell, he was as obvious a fish-out-of-water in their country as anyone could be. And yet, despite all of that, none of them treated him with anything but courtesy, politeness, and in one case, even appreciation. It was downright saddening that Nikolay hadn't been able to recognize such intended sentiments from other people from the start; he had to figure it out in retrospect after letting himself wallow in self-pity and paranoia.
Thinking back on all examples, big and small, the words of his father, All Might, and even Headmaster Nezu came back to mind, for they had all said pretty much the same thing: helping people, friends and strangers alike, in all ways, is just what true Heroes naturally do. They don't ask for rewards or recognition or praise. Doing the right thing and helping people is in a Heroes' nature, simply because they know in their hearts that it just the right thing to do.
All of the confusion that had been plaguing Nikolay for the last few hours had finally been cleared as it dawned on him: these kids all did what they did, said what they said to him, because they were all really Heroes at heart, doing what they knew was right, regardless if they knew the person they were helping or not, because for them it was simply the right thing to do. They had all made the effort, just like him, to get into this school because they wanted to follow what they knew was right in their hearts, and become the kind of true Heroes that would be able to protect and help people. Finally, he understood so much more clearly, that the first step towards their all achieving that place in their lives, was by going through these same exact hardships to better master their Quirks, no matter how powerful or scary they were, in order to use them to help people and make the world a better place for all.
For the first time he could recall, Nikolay felt an ember of that long lost childhood admiration for everything Heroes stood for re-ignite in the depths of his heart. 'I'm sorry I let myself forget it so completely,' he thought remorsefully to himself as he felt his nerves begin to calm, and his breathing begin to steady once more. The white-knuckled grip he had on the softball lessened, and instead became much steadier and focused.
'To become a real Hero, you need to know, with no doubts, what's right and wrong. To become a real Hero, you need to have your thoughts and your feelings focused on what's most important, something greater than yourself. To become a real Hero, you put your all into everything, not for what you can gain, but for whom you can protect, and whom you can help. Only after you understand all these things, does a Quirk even begin to make a difference in what makes a real Hero.'
His father had spoken such words so long ago, back in the early days of their hardships, back when he still felt confident their motherland would still want Heroes to help rebuild. As it all came back to Nikolay, as he stood in that chalk circle, focusing on his breathing, he felt like he was being reinvigorated with the fervor, the admiration, the hope and determination that once filled his very being in those golden days before everything had changed. Opening his eyes to focus on the path ahead, the boy that stood in that circle before his fellow classmates of 1-A was not the demure, reclusive boy they had been growing accustomed to. This was the fifteen-year-old version of a Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov that had once been feared dead and gone after years of hardship and isolation.
Nikolay never knew it as he stood there, but Oleg could practically feel this complete change in his son, and it brought the single happiest tear to his eye, to see the boy he had lost so long ago, come back in that moment.
With one last steadying breath, listening only to the beating of his heart, Nikolay began to reel his arm back for a legitimate pitch, not the half-assed hands cannon he had begun to attempt. His fathers' words kept echoing in his head, even as he began silently trying to focus on centralizing the vibrations' power to his pitching hand.
Every moment crawled by as the strangest new sensation began to manifest inside his body. Before, he could always feel an excessively large amount of energy expand from within, ripple through every fiber of his arms into his hands, and concentrate into one gigantic blast emanating from every hole in his hands at once.
But this time, it was something else, something different, but no less intense. The rippling sensation of that same energy was there, but instead of just brute forcing its way through the entirety of his arm, Nikolay could swear he was feeling it discern its course, split itself apart along very specific muscles as his pitching motion continued. He would have sworn this strange sensation would have caused his whole arm to break out into an uncontrollable tremble, but it never came.
The surge of energy continued like a bolt across those same individual muscles in a much more concentrated path, and when it reached his hand, instead of feeling it all coalesce into the entirety of it and release itself like a shotgun blast from every hole, he actually felt each individual course of energy instead focus itself into the holes on the very tips of his fingers, just as his pitching motion had reached the end of its swing, and the muscles in his hand began to let go of the ball.
BWOOOOM!
The ensuing subsonic wave of sound that followed his concussive blasts still echoed out, but nowhere as bombastically loud as before. It came out much crisper, more subdued; and as Nikolay observed in shock, much like the resultant blast itself.
The ball shot like a blur from his hand, rather than practically exploding into a thousand pieces from the point-blank range of any of his previous blasts. He had felt every individual miniature burst come out clean and controlled from each fingertip, all adding to one much more focused concussive shot; one that to his immense relief, didn't send him flying back out of control.
The sound of the ball bouncing off the ground periodically broke the heavy silence as Nikolay straightened himself up and nervously looked back, only to be washed over with relief at the sight of his classmates (almost) all looking at his display with silent approval. As, by now even he had reluctantly come to expect; Mina and Eijirou were silently shooting him individual thumbs up from their hips, not wanting to draw too much attention after seeing how awkward he always got when put in any kind of spotlight.
While watching Nikolay silently return to his classmates, Aizawa remained as silent as the grave, and just as unexpressive. He had been thoroughly convinced that, after his honestly lackluster performance throughout the rest of the tests, this would have been the straw to break the proverbial camels' back. And yet, to his completely unnoticeable surprise, Nikolay had actually managed to reach inside, swallow that clear-as-day fear that had constantly been plastered on his face, and forced himself to adapt as the situation demanded.
He was a master at not showing his reactions to anything, but Shota Aizawa did have to admit to himself that today, that milquetoast Russian boy had just barely managed to surprise him, only just enough to make a bit of a difference. However, as far as he was concerned, the story of his eventually folding under the pressure of Yuuei was far from over.
"671.8 meters. All right, Midoriya, you're up." Nobody in the crowd said anything as Izuku stepped for the circle. The look on his face was rife with desperation and anxiety, silently trying to figure out what to do to gain anything but last place among everyone else. As he watched his forlorn classmate take his place, Nikolay momentarily overheard Tenya and Bakugo muttering between themselves: "Midoriya's not doing too well, is he?" "Of course not! He's a pathetic, Quirkless guppy!" "'Quirkless'? Didn't you see or hear what he did at the entrance exam?"
Nikolay's curiosity was admittedly piqued; why would someone, even a jerk like Bakugo, call Izuku 'Quirkless'? He had to have one if he had made it into Yuuei, that's what everyone kept saying, that was just the way things worked: if you want to get into a Hero school, you need to have a Quirk. So then why would he say something like that?
The Russian hastily shook his head to better focus on Izuku's performance, as the curly-haired boy was wasting no time reeling his arm back for the pitch. He inadvertently held his breath as Izuku flung his pitching arm forward with all the strength he could muster, sending the ball high…only for it to come plopping right back down at a measly 46 meters. 'Please tell me my ears are just playing tricks on me, and I'm not actually hearing funeral bells right now.'
Izuku didn't remain still for long, as he just looked to his hands, babbling in total confusion. "What? Why? I tried using it for sure just now—"I erased your Quirk." Aizawa's announcement brought a cold and foreboding silence to the whole field as everyone looked to their teacher in disbelief. The scraggly man brushed the hair from his face, and as if the winds were just waiting for their cue, the gray wrappings around his neck began to unfold, revealing a pair of golden slatted goggles, and his hair began to stand on end as he lifted his gaze to stare Izuku down.
"It defies all reason. How did somebody like you manage to enter this academy?" Even without having to shout, Aizawa's voice carried nothing but ice and venom as he put the wide-eyed and trembling Izuku on the spot. However, his fearful expression soon changed to one of gob smacked realization. "You erased it? And those goggles…oh my God! The Erasing Hero, 'Eraserhead'!"
Everyone in the crowd began muttering in confusion, many not even recognizing the Hero name Izuku had just called their teacher by, but from where he stood, all Nikolay could think was just how game changing it was to realize there was someone with the ability to just completely shut off another persons' Quirk like that, perhaps even on a permanent basis. Pondering over this discovery, Nikolay's eyes fell back down to his hands, and that ever-present voice of self-doubt came hissing back to the forefront.
'Think about it. You've already come this far; nobody can take that away from you. Why keep pushing yourself further if you know you're just going to fail in the end? Why not do yourself a favor? Just ask Aizawa-sensei to erase your Quirk, and all your problems will be over. You can officially start living like a normal human being, and never have to spend another day fearing your own power ever again. It's a total win-win, and you know it.'
Nikolay clenched his fists in swift defiance, his brain screaming for that voice to go away once more. All this effort had been for the sake of his being able to start over, just like Oleg had kept saying from the beginning. If he took such a cowardly way out, and especially for such selfish reasons, he would never be able to forgive himself for the heartbreak it would cause his father; the complete betrayal of the faith and support that Mina, Eijirou and the rest of his classmates had already been showing him up to today, or for the complete destruction of self-confidence it would ultimately cause the boy himself.
By now, Aizawa had finally begun to move, closing in on Izuku like a predator to its helpless prey, his now upright hair flowing without a breeze almost giving him an inhuman look. "From what I observed, you can't rein in your Quirk's full power. Meaning you can't use it efficiently at all. Did you believe someone would come save you after you crippled yourself again?" Hearing this, Nikolay could no longer resist voicing his curiosity, as he carefully tried to approach Tenya. Given what the bespectacled boy had said to Izuku back in the classroom, he surely must have witnessed exactly what Aizawa was talking about.
"What does he mean by 'again', Iida-san? The entrance exam was barely more than a month ago, nobody gets back up and moving fine like Midoriya-san in that kind of time." Tenya could understand Nikolay's confusion, having since figured the Russian had to have participated in a different training ground. He didn't dare take his eyes off the confrontation between Aizawa and Izuku as he straightened his glasses.
"Back during the entrance exam, Midoriya was the only one among the rest of our participants who had yet to earn even a single point. When an arena trap ambushed us, Uraraka-san ended up getting pinned down, while the rest of us tried to make some distance. Out of all of us, Midoriya was the one who went back to save her, and after he had yet to have shown any semblance of a Quirk, he actually managed to launch himself to an inhuman degree and annihilated it with a single punch. It was…incredible to behold, but the sheer power he had released proved too much for his body, because when all was said and done, he had broken both of his legs and one of his arms from the force of his own Quirk. If it hadn't been for Yuuei's nurse, Recovery Girl, I have no doubts Midoriya would still be laid up in a hospital even now."
Tenya's story seemed almost impossible for Nikolay to believe, even after what he had seen from everyone else today. Izuku had, unfortunately, been proving to perform the worst out of all of them throughout these tests. It didn't seem possible that he could possess a Quirk as powerful as what Tenya was describing. Then again, thinking back on it, he could still easily recall that deafening boom near the end of the practical exam he and Mina had heard and felt all the way from their own training ground. Was it really Izuku, of all people, who had produced something that terrifyingly powerful?
Izuku was barely able to try and keep standing tall before their teacher, before the wrappings floating around Aizawa suddenly lashed out and wrapped around the poor boy, clutching him tight. "Whatever hopes you may have nursed of your imminent rescue…as you can see, nobody is in a position to come to your aid. There's a certain insufferable Hero who made a name for himself by rescuing over a thousand innocents from a disaster all by himself. You have his brute courage, but all you'll manage to do is run around like a blockhead who needs saving, himself. Face it, your 'power' won't help you to become a Hero, Midoriya Izuku."
Aizawa's words cut sharp, even within everyone else watching, as Izuku was visibly affected by this chastising. Nikolay's sympathy for the boy only grew as he quietly returned to his place amid the crowd, silently wondering if this was really going to play out the way he feared it would, and Izuku would be the one to get expelled in the end. By his own count, he himself had barely managed to claw his way out of last place, but that didn't make the idea of that earnest boys' own efforts being shot down in his place seem any more fair.
Finally, Aizawa's hair suddenly came back down as he closed his eyes, and his wrappings released their hold on Izuku. "I gave you back your Quirk…try the ball pitch a second time. Let's get this over with." At first, Izuku looked utterly despondent, lost in his own train of thought as he picked his ball back up. But then, as he readied himself to pitch again, the strangest kind of transformation took place. It sounded as though he was mumbling something to himself, but neither Nikolay nor anyone else could make out what it was. The further Izuku's incomprehensible muttering went, the more that despondency in his eyes began to fade, and instead become replaced with an awe-inspiring determination coursing through every fiber of his being as he began to reel his arm back.
As his arm swung forward for the throw, it was as if Izuku's entire being was exuding nothing but concentration, desperation, and determination to prove himself; raw emotion and energy radiating through his arm as his swing reached its crescendo.
Back a ways from the field, All Might and Oleg were still watching with the utmost concentration. While Oleg found himself deeply invested in seeing what the boy All Might had chosen as his inheritor was going to do in order to pull himself out of last place, All Might himself was focusing on something else entirely. He had been giving Izuku the best kind of guidance he felt he could for what was to come on this day, but he recognized what the boy was about to do as he swung that ball with all the strength he could muster on his own without the aid of his Quirk. To think the kid was going to try something this specific, and this demanding of all his restraint and control so soon into his training; the only thing All Might could even think to say in disbelief was: "Whoa, kid, are you for real!?"
Finally, it was the last fraction of a moment, just as the ball was about to part from the very last bit of Izuku's extended finger, that something indescribable, something amazing, happened before everyone's eyes; the last moment of silence only punctuated by Izuku stating "Now" to himself.
In the blink of an eye, the field was filled with the deafening boom of that same softball breaking through every layer that constituted the sound barrier, and propelling straight into the stratosphere as Izuku completed the rest of his swing.
As the dust settled and everyone was this time rendered speechless out of shock than out of courtesy, Izuku slowly picked himself back up, his pitching arm trembling. As everyone looked upon their once underdog of a classmate with disbelief, Nikolay included; he soon noticed that Izuku's right pointing finger, the very last part of his hand to touch that ball before he had sent it straight into the heavens, was now visibly discolored and unnaturally bent at the joints.
He had just released so much power through that one pitch, that it had been enough to completely and utterly break his finger. Even seeing this, Nikolay could not bring himself to feel disgust at such a bad injury. Right now, all he could feel was amazement that Tenya's story had indeed been true. After he had been performing so miserably up to this point, Izuku had just displayed a Quirk that practically dwarfed those of everyone else.
Aizawa silently looked upon his calculator, while Izuku finally lifted his head up to look confidently at their teacher, even despite the immensely pained tears in his eyes. "It's not as excruciating…as that other time!" There was a sudden electronic chime from the calculator, and while he didn't bother to show the results in that moment, anyone who would have looked at that moment would have seen crystal clear impression reflected in Aizawa's eyes as his head rose to meet Izuku's agonized look of confidence. "Sensei…I…I can still move!"
Aizawa let out an almost uncharacteristic exclamation of impression at Izuku's gusto, while Nikolay and all the rest of Class 1-A were all silently thinking the same thing after the spectacle they had just witnessed: 'Just who on earth IS this kid?' Of course, the silence didn't last long, as Ochako began to cheer once Izuku's score had finally been revealed (literally 0.1 meters more than what Bakugo had obtained at the start), Tenya ruminating to himself on how unusual it was to have a Quirk that mutilated its own user, and Aoyama simply commenting on its lack of style. Everyone else had then begun to voice similar congratulations to the curly-haired boy, even with some scattered applause here and there. Even Nikolay felt an overwhelming urge to step forward and at least try to shake his classmate's hand in support for his last-second breakthrough. He actually began to take the first step when—
"WHAT IS THIS, DEKU!? EXPLAIN NOW, YOU LYING SHIT!" Bakugo's rage sounded so much worse than it had ever been before in the short time everyone in this class had known him. There was no cockiness, no spite, none of that over-the-top anger that was so expected from boys his age. No, this was something else, this was hatred and murderous intent on a Biblical level, and it showed as he launched himself right at Izuku with another explosion. His eyes and face reflected only the primal need to completely and utterly destroy that which set him off, and Izuku clearly knew it, as he was now shaking like a twig in sheer terror at the force of violence coming right for him.
Thwip!
The wrappings from Aizawa's neck shot out across the field with incredible precision, ensnaring Bakugo in mid-sprint and bringing him to a complete halt, allowing everyone to let out a collective sigh of relief they weren't about to witness a full on murder anymore. Bakugo kept futilely struggling against it, his face only twisting more and more with absolute fury, while Aizawa just kept calmly approaching, like the kid didn't even pose a threat to a housefly. "Shit! Is this cloth? I can't—"It's my special 'capturing weapon', a steel wire alloy woven with carbon nanofibers. Jeez, don't make me use my Quirk so much…I've got dry eye, dammit!"
Once Bakugo's struggling had ceased, and he seemed convinced the boy wasn't going to try murdering Izuku, or anyone else the instant he was free, Aizawa finally let him go. "We're wasting time. Prepare for the next trial." Izuku hurriedly retreated to the others, with Ochako dutifully meeting him along the way with concern over the fact he still broke an entire finger from a ball pitch.
If it hadn't been for Aizawa forcing the whole class along to the next test, Nikolay had no doubt in his mind everyone wanted to get their chance to personally congratulate that curly-haired wunderkind for what he had just done. He himself certainly did, but he also could not deny that having now heard Bakugo accuse Izuku of being Quirkless twice, he could not stop wondering if there was any truth to it. All his life he had been told that nobody manifests a Quirk any later than the age of four; he was certainly no exception to that. So then why did Izuku doing what he had, so fundamentally shock their explosive classmate?
Was his accusation true? Had Izuku been lying for however long they might have known each other about not having a Quirk? Unfortunately, that idea made perfect sense to Nikolay personally. Eleven years he had essentially been forced into pretending he didn't have one, but that was for the sake of survival. There should have been no reason for that green-haired boy to lie in a society that so openly accepted Quirk-users like Japan did.
Or was it somehow possible that Izuku was another miracle of evolution, and was the first child to manifest a god-like Quirk at a much later age? The fact that the power of his pitch managed to break his finger, on top of Tenya's recollection of him breaking his legs and arm from a jump and a punch respectively, provided some pretty concrete evidence to that idea. All Nikolay knew was that at some point, when the time was right and they weren't fighting tooth and nail to keep their place in this school, he needed to know for sure just what Izuku's secret was.
After what had happened at the pitch test, the rest of the tests seemed to just pass by like nothing. Nikolay was still trying to mentally catch up not only with what he had seen Izuku accomplish, but from what he himself had done as well. He had never felt his Quirk manifest in such a powerful yet controlled way before. All he could think of was how he had come to such a place of personal rediscovery and overall understanding of the world and people around him, that it brought him a sense of peace and concentration he had never experienced before.
With that kind of insane personal evolution on his mind, everything in the proceeding three tests felt like a passing dream, not helped by the fact that all three of them he had already unknowingly practiced extensively through his fathers' training regimen. No, now that all of the physical tests had finally been run through by the entire class, everyone now stood, gathered and anxious beyond words, and Nikolay once more felt the weight come bearing down on his shoulders. Even if he had managed to get through it all without quitting, none of that changed the fact that he never truly excelled at any of the tests, and Aizawa clearly wasn't the kind of teacher who would overlook a miserable score just because a student did as he was expected to when he thought he couldn't.
Compared to everyone else, he might as well have just barely made it by the skin of his teeth, he and Izuku both. Keeping the green-haired wonder in mind, Nikolay couldn't help but feel worry for him as well, for many of the same reasons. Still, he could not help but feel deeply impressed by Izuku's resolve. He had pushed himself through the rest of the physical tests, even with his broken finger. That kind of dedication, while foolish on the outside, was deeply commendable inside. While not sure just how to say so at that moment, Nikolay did feel comfortable admitting to himself that there was a part of him that already deeply respected what Izuku was trying to do in spite of his own limitations and the…bizarre aspects of his Quirk.
"Time to present the results." Aizawa suddenly announced, drawing everyone's attention on command. Nikolay's heart was hammering away at his ribs as he tried to fight the sensation of nervous trembling, just aching to come out and leave him shaking like a leaf. He had kept using the term 'do-or-die' all throughout the Quirk Apprehension Test today, but this time it was for real. He had done everything he possibly could to get through, and now the results were officially out of his hands. If he didn't make it to anywhere but dead last, then it would all be over.
His eyes were focused on their teacher like he was the Angel of Death, but a sudden soft tugging on his sleeve managed to make Nikolay come back to reality for a moment, to find Mina just barely glancing in his direction. "Hey, you did the best you could out there. Nobody can say otherwise, even if you end up last." Even despite her bringing up the grim possibility, there was also no denying that she could tell how nervous he was, and was simply saying what she thought would best help ease his nerves.
From where he stood, Nikolay could see that she, too, was also very nervous, and yet she was actually putting her own anxiety aside to try and help bring another person down to earth. Whether it was more of that selflessness of hers on display, or if she was simply hoping to try and calm herself by association through encouraging another, that didn't matter. For the first time today, his apprehension didn't come. For once, all he could feel was a silent appreciation for her saying so. She was right, even if the worst case scenario did come to pass, there was no denying that he still tried his best, and there was a special pride to be taken from that all on its own.
"The total is simply the aggregate sum of each of your scores. If I recited all your scores, it'd take a million years, so I'll disclose them all at once." With that, Aizawa hit the button, and the screen behind him began to flicker and adjust, but no scores came up yet. 'Oh, please, stop torturing us and just get this over with! Just hurry up and tell me that I failed!'
"Oh yeah, one more thing: that whole 'expulsion' thing was a lie."
The entire class had already been dead silent, but now it was to the point where one literally could have heard a pin drop. Sweat turned frigid, hearts stopped, blood went cold, and eyes went wide. For one shared moment, every single student of Class 1-A could have sworn they had misheard their teachers' sudden blunt confession. Sensing this, another sadistic grin spread across Aizawa's face. "It was a logical ruse to pull out your best performances."
That was it, that was the spark that ignited the fuse, as the entire class all simultaneously screamed their disbelief at how effectively they had been tricked, how absolutely terrified they had been made by the threat of their own expulsion. The reactions were so intense all across the board, Nikolay felt like he could physically feel several years being shaved off his life expectancy, and Tenya's glasses even cracked from the sheer anger he felt. At least, this was the reaction from most, as Momo of all people simply looked at them like she could not believe how easily they had fallen for it. "Come on, guys, use your brains! Of course it was just a ruse!"
Once everyone's hysterical shouts of indignation and disbelief had run their course, Aizawa simply turned on his heels and walked off like this was just another day for him, while everyone else had been left feeling like they had just shared a near-death experience. "And…right. Yep. With that, it's over. Your curriculum sheets are back in the classroom, so give them a once-over. And Midoriya, go to Recovery Girl and get yourself patched up. Since your eyeballs will doubtless pop out of their sockets at tomorrow's absurd ordeal."
Finally, the official scores projected onto the screen, and everyone looked upon it, seeing their official rankings like they were looking upon Holy Scripture. As far as their futures in this school were concerned, they might as well have been. Nikolay was anxiously looking for his name as he scrolled from first to last. Of course Momo was in first place above everyone else, Todoroki was right behind in second, with Bakugo following in third, and Tenya close behind in fourth. Eijirou had barely managed to scratch his way into eighth, with Mina right behind in ninth place. While it did nothing for himself, Nikolay at least felt a stirring of gratitude that they had managed to make it even that high among everyone else.
The further he went without seeing his name, the more he felt his spirits sink, before remembering what his pink compatriot had said. No matter how bad he did, he still did his best, and that was what really mattered. Besides, now that Aizawa had admitted they were all scared senseless for nothing, Nikolay wasn't sure why he still felt like his neck was on the line if he was last.
That's when he suddenly saw it, crammed into its own little box on the screen due to the extreme amount of katakana characters needed to spell it out, he finally found his name: Nikolay Bezpalov, nestled comfortably in…eighteenth place, with Tooru Hagakure at nineteenth, Minoru Mineta in twentieth, and finally Izuku Midoriya in twenty-first place.
Now that he finally knew for certain where he ranked with everyone else, Nikolay finally felt his knees give out as he knelt to the ground. His whole body started shaking as the last several hours of anxiety finally let themselves out in sporadic bouts of almost hysterical, broken laughter. It was all he could possibly express while everyone else chattered excitedly among themselves with pride in their own rankings, no matter how high or low they placed.
Once everyone had gotten their collective emotions out in the open, all feeling so much lighter as a result, they began to make their return to the locker rooms and 1-A. Among them, Mina and Eijirou were dragging a still sporadically laughing Nikolay behind them, his eyes now running with tears as sadness, jubilation, fear and relief all coalesced into one ceaseless emotional outpouring. Even as his tears and laughter remained the only way he could physically express himself in this moment, in his mind, all he could think about was getting home, and as far away from that twisted sadist of a teacher named Shota Aizawa as humanly possible, even if just for a single night.
Aizawa felt neither satisfaction nor disappointment in what he had seen from his new class today, and as he decided to take his time strolling the grounds, all he could think of was how much longer it was going to take before they would all start dropping from the roster like flies, all discovering the absolute limits of their abilities and their willingness. No matter how much someone with an impressive Quirk could boast about how they wanted to be the next Top Pro Hero, they all had their limits, and they all folded over and quit eventually. It was inevitable.
"Aizawa-san!" The voice of Tunguska could never be mistaken, and while he didn't show it, the cynical teacher could only feel irritation at the unwanted ex-Heroes' presence as he rounded the corner to address him. He only afforded the bearded giant an indifferent glance, as he had an annoyingly proud glint in his eye. "Well, well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you would be here spying on everyone after what I'd said. And if you're here, I imagine the other big oaf shouldn't be too far behind."
"Indeed." All Might answered in a failed attempt to humor the smaller man. Despite them both towering over him in statue, Aizawa wasn't the least bit intimidated, instead simply giving them a look that demanded they say whatever they came to say and get it over with. Taking the hint, Oleg crossed his arms, standing tall and quite proud of himself. "So then, I take it Kolya has surpassed your expectations now? You seemed so sure that he would fail, and yet he managed to avoid last place, and most importantly, not give up. Even someone like you must admit that that's something in its own right."
Aizawa said nothing, simply opting to keep giving that insistent stare for Oleg to get to the point. While the larger man found it momentarily off-putting, he figured he'd voiced enough of his fatherly pride to at least ease the tension with a laugh. "I have to admit, though, you lying to them all about the one getting last place being expelled; while I may not particularly approve of dishonesty, especially from a teacher to his students, your intentions certainly yielded some promising results. Using the fear of failure to force them to push themselves to their limits, such a classic yet clever method."
"Is that it? This meaningless conversation is over, I assume?" Aizawa's indifference to Oleg's approval, left the Russian Hero momentarily perplexed as how to respond, but the smaller man then turned his glare to All Might, who simply stood with that infuriatingly static expression on his face. "And what about you? I take it you have something to add, or are the two of you simply joined at the hip by mutual ego at this point?"
"You're getting to be a very bold liar these days, Aizawa-san; telling those kids the expulsion rule was a lie, or a 'logical ruse'. I've gone over your teaching record. You expelled an entire class of first-year students last year." There was practically no intensity in All Might's tone, but while he remained as permanently tall and optimistic in his stature as always, Oleg slowly turned to look his compatriot in the eye, hoping to see some hint that the Symbol of Peace was trying to mess with him. No such luck.
A feeling like a sack of rocks dropped in the pit of Oleg's stomach once he realized All Might was actually telling the truth. "Wait…he did? You did? Then…then that means if Kolya…if he had actually ranked last—"That's right, Tunguska. His telling them that the expulsion rule was a lie was another lie in and of itself. He simply chose to tell those kids what they needed to hear, so they would not let their fear and anxiety overwhelm them and keep them from coming back. Deceitful, yet effective."
Oleg looked like his massive frame was about to keel over from a sucker punch of stress at this discovery, and all the while, Aizawa just looked between the two of them like the pair of overconfident buffoons they were in his eyes. "If this little excuse for a comedy routine between you two is finished, I'll be heading on my way. I have actual important work to be getting to," he muttered as he began to walk between them, only for the two large men to hurriedly catch up with him.
"Not so fast, Aizawa-san! The cold, hard truth of the matter is that you kick kids out without a moments' hesitation if you judge them as having 'zero chances'. This is the complete opposite of what you used to always say! My guess is that the reason you didn't kick either of them out was because…" If All Might was pausing deliberately to try and build up the dramatic tension, it was working in the worst way possible. Oleg just stared at his colleague like he was trying to project to him to get to the point, the thing he needed to hear most at this moment.
"…you felt it too, didn't you? From both of them, right? You saw and felt Midoriya-shonen and Bezpalov-shonen's mutual potential. The two you deemed to be the most hopeless; you cannot deny you saw their powers and what they could achieve with time, effort and training, can you?" With every word All Might spoke, Oleg could feel his heart brighten, and his spirit soar. Aizawa may not have been saying so, but if All Might was on the money, then Oleg's earlier proclamation was in fact correct: his son did manage to legitimately exceed the teachers' expectations through his own ability and will against legitimate odds. The thought re-stoked the proud fire of fatherhood in his chest as he regained his natural illuminating glow.
Aizawa, however, remained as stoic as a rock, only letting out a tired grumble before beginning to take his leave once more. "Don't get too ahead of yourselves, you two. I didn't expel those kids, but that doesn't mean that they're the future Top Heroes you're deluding yourselves into thinking they will be. They were just lucky enough to make it barely above the zero mark. But make no mistake, I can, and will, expel them or anyone else in that class if they fall below that mark, even for a moment. It's better to end the half-assed chasing of a dream if it keeps other people from getting hurt in the process."
There was a biting sincerity to his statement, once again leaving a foreboding chill in the air as All Might and Oleg looked on at their colleague. Suddenly, Aizawa stopped in his tracks and barely turned to acknowledge the Russian in their midst. "I want you to understand and think on this, Tunguska: just because Bezpalov somehow managed to pull a miracle out of himself due to school pressure, that doesn't mean he won't eventually break under real pressure. Every wannabe Hero does eventually…you should know.
"Just remember that when the day eventually comes, and make no mistake that it will, that that boy comes to discover the furthest extent of his own limitations and folds under that weight like you did, I will be there to send him packing. I may not be able to do anything right now about you, but I can at least be ready to do something before he makes the same mistake you did."
Oleg's mouth was bone dry at the seriousness of Aizawa's threat, but he still begrudgingly understood. All the kids in that class were his responsibility, and part of that was getting rid of whatever elements he deemed detrimental to their success, and their survival. He hated having to admit it, but he did ultimately understand, giving a grim nod of acknowledgment as an answer.
Aizawa seemed to be silently satisfied with this, as he turned to continue going on his way, before barely lifting his head in realization. "Oh, and one last thing: as a mentor and as a father, you should really learn to pay more attention to just what your own kids' Quirk actually is." The initial implication of his being a lousy father flared Oleg's temper something fierce, but it was as swiftly extinguished by the blindsiding confusion of the rest of Aizawa's statement. "What? What are you talking about?"
Aizawa didn't turn to acknowledge him, instead heaving his shoulders with a tired sigh, clearly getting ready to explain a lot. "When you initially filed the details of your sons' Quirk with us, you described it as: 'the absorption of sound, and the eventual release of the resultant energy of those sounds through his hands; hence the little added detail of his wearing gloves to try and partially mitigate that power.
"However, I had a suspicion after watching his footage from the practical exam that I wanted to test out. The way you had described it, you made it sound like he releases the collected sounds that he absorbed, like a combination of both a physical and an audible attack. But what I saw was much more akin to a subsonic wave, a release of pure vibration, kinetic energy. So, during the tests today, both times I stepped in to talk to him before he took his turns, I actually turned off his Quirk without him even realizing it.
"There are plenty of Quirk-users I've known with a similar energy-absorbing property, and in my experience, I've come to find that when I turn their Quirks off and then back on, all that collected energy they previously had would be dissipated, and they would have to start their processes all over again. So with that being said, with nobody else making a sound after I turned Bezpalov's Quirk back on, there was no means of him absorbing any kind of sound that would give him enough energy to do the things he did. That leaves only the possibility that your son doesn't in fact absorb sound to power up his Quirk, or at least, not sound alone.
"From what I've seen, it looks like he actually absorbs the energy from vibrations instead, and those can come from absolutely anything, from sound waves, to the friction of the wind against his skin, no matter how light; to the beating of his own heart, to the vibrations that result from every single footstep, whether it be his own, or those of the people around him. Hell, the entire earth beneath our feet is vibrating all the time from the constant rotation and the tectonic plates grinding against each other in ways both gargantuan and minute. From the power of his blasts I saw during the tests, I'm willing to bet that, even if he isn't consciously aware of it, your son is absorbing all of those vibrations into his body every waking moment. The truth, Tunguska, is that the scope of Bezpalov's Quirk is actually far greater than either of you thought it was. If I were you, I'd strongly consider letting him know, before he ends up in a situation where he thinks he can't use his Quirk, and ends up getting someone else killed."
Finally, with that wellspring of information having finally been let out into the open, Aizawa officially took his leave; with Oleg and All Might left to simply look at each other in visible surprise at a truth neither of them had considered from one of their two primary hopefuls. Looking back upon their departing colleague, both Heroes were thinking virtually the same thing: no matter how noble his intentions were behind his duplicitous methods; as a man, there was simply no way they would ever be able to truly get along with Shota Aizawa.
As Oleg lifted his head to bask in the late noon sun, time suddenly occurred to him, and with it, a chill of remembrance. "Akh, chyort (Oh, shit)! I needed to get Kolya's Hero suit design submitted! He can't go into more training without it!" The once greatest Soviet Hero made no effort to hide his own panic, before All Might clasped a strong, supportive hand to his shoulder, with an inspiring thumb up for good measure to go with the twinkle in his bright smile. "There's no need to panic, Tunguska. Allow me to help you, compatriot to comrade. I can have you give your designs to the single best Hero suit designer in Musutafu. Take my word for it, once he has what you're looking for in mind, he'll have it ready before you even realize it."
The Quirk Apprehension Test had clearly gone on for much longer than Nikolay had thought, for it wasn't long after they had collected their curriculum sheets from their desks, that the closing bell for the day rang out, and everyone began to make their ways home.
The young Russian was still feeling markedly shaken from his close call and the backhanded dose of truth Aizawa had given them, and right now all he wanted was to get home, sleep, and possibly cry away what tremors and anxiety were still lingering around in his head. He knew it was a long shot, but he just kept silently praying that they would somehow not keep getting put through such emotional and psychological torture through the next three years.
"Hey, Russkie-kun! Wait up!" Mina's voice suddenly called out from behind as Nikolay began descending the entrance steps for the gate. He didn't even have it in him to show any exasperation or surprise to see she and Eijirou having once again decided to join his sides. 'As reliable as a well kept pocket watch, these two,' he thought in what he could only hope was a mild kind of sentimentality.
"You don't need to be in such a rush, man, we're headed for the train station, too. We could just shoot the breeze on the way, or—"Hey there!" Mina suddenly interrupted Eijirou's attempt at casual invitation, as she began waving excitedly to Izuku, Ochako and Tenya as they stepped out talking amongst themselves, momentarily caught by surprise at her enthusiastic greeting. Of course, all was soon replaced by pleasant smiles and friendly introductions once they recognized each other and joined up as one big group (Nikolay still visibly reluctant to do so, thus having to be dragged in.)
"Wow, that whole test was something else, right? I was so scared when it was over, I thought I was going to fail for sure!" Mina admitted with surprising sincerity, earning similar sentiments out of Ochako; whom Nikolay now inadvertently learned had a tendency to get woozy when overdoing it with her Quirk, which turned out to be the ability to remove gravity from anything she touched with all five of her fingers on one hand. 'Well, that explains why she touched her shoes and jumpsuit at the dash test, and why she now has the worlds' most unbeatable softball pitching record,' he thought in an honest attempt at a joke, to which he almost felt the beginnings of a genuinely humorous chuckle.
"Yeah, seriously, I thought I was done for during the running tests and the pitch. I thought sensei was going to be scoring us based on how we used our Quirks. Mine doesn't do anything for pitching or speed, unlike yours, Iida-san. You were unbelievable out on the track!" Eijirou's attempt at conversation somehow managed to sound so forcibly casual, like he was trying to put on an air of masculine confidence, in spite of the words coming out of his mouth. Tenya, all the same, didn't look put off by the red-haired boys' praise, as he straightened his glasses once more.
"It wasn't really anything that extraordinary. It was simply a case of judging what sensei was expecting of me, and using my knowledge of my Quirks' mechanics in order to yield the best possible result. Anyone can do the same with enough training and understanding of their abilities, as we have all seen today." Nikolay found it so bizarre how Tenya could speak like such a robot, and yet carry so much diligence and real passion in his tone at the same time. There was honestly something admirable about the attitude he gave off, despite his stiff and professional demeanor.
"Oh, and what about you, Deku-kun? I was really getting worried when you kept getting the lowest scores." "Oh, yeah, and then you just came right out of nowhere with that crazy strong pitch! Where were you hiding all that power before? I never saw that coming!" Ochako's frankly adorable air of friendly concern was sharply offset by Mina's excitement, while Izuku looked clearly just as awkward as Nikolay was sure he himself did, being the center of so much attention. However, now that he had been brought up, Nikolay felt it was a chance to at least voice some of his curiosity, since he noticed the green-haired star of the hour no longer looked to be in pain; his index finger wrapped in its own little cast.
"How are you feeling, by the way? I would have thought you would still be in pain, breaking your finger like that." Izuku just gave a nervous, or perhaps embarrassed, chuckle as he held up his bandaged finger for emphasis. "I-I'm feeling better, really. I'm just a little tired. I think it might have something to do with Recovery Girl treating it…maybe."
"I'm honestly impressed you forced yourself through the last three tests after that. I don't think I would have been capable." Nikolay admitted, before Mina suddenly stepped in with a big, amused smile on her pink face, jerking her thumb in his direction for her own emphasis. "Can you believe this guy? He gets chewed out by sensei twice in one day and still forces his way through every test, even with that scared look on his face; he manages to make it to eighteenth place in class, and still says he couldn't do something! Today was about proving we can do anything if we keep trying hard enough!"
Mina's enthusiastic support was contagious, as Eijirou and Ochako gave a similar fist pump into the air with their own subdued cheers of encouragement for each other, while Nikolay, Tenya and Izuku both exchanged reserved glances with each other. "Still, I was really feeling like I was going to fail for sure. Even if sensei said the expulsion rule was a lie, I can still feel my legs trembling." Izuku admitted quietly, to which everyone shared mutual looks of their own relief, and lingering worry alike.
"Yes, I have to say, Aizawa-sensei really got me. In the beginning, I actually thought 'so this is what the highest academia is like'. Now I see how a teacher can encourage through deception." Tenya admitted, before his expression began to go into a place of self-reflection. Everyone observing this change was all silently hoping their colleague wasn't about to start following Aizawa's example, with them as the recipients.
"Well, I'm just glad to know we weren't really in danger of expulsion after all. I mean, we all worked so hard to get here; and after that Bakugo kid was so mean to you all throughout, it just didn't seem fair that you would be at risk of expulsion on top of that, Deku-kun." Ochako's sentiment left Izuku visibly deep red in the face, while now Nikolay could not let yet another curious question go unasked. "You and…Bakugo, you both keep calling Midoriya-san 'Deku'. What is that?"
"Oh, it's n-nothing, it's just a…s-something Kacchan always calls me to demean me. My real name is I-Izuku. H-he's just been calling me that since we were little kids, I'm used to it." Izuku hastily explained, clearly wanting to move on to anything else, while everyone, besides Nikolay, had looks of understanding what this all was about, while he himself was still in the dark. 'Is it something similar to how Dad calls me 'Kolya'? I didn't think kids did that with each other, just parents to their children.'
"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I didn't know! But, you know, I actually kind of like the name 'Deku' for you! It gives me a sort of 'never give up' vibe, you know?" Ochako went from apologetic to supportive on a dime, and her smile was so precious, it was hard not to feel her kindness, especially as Izuku went wide-eyed, deep red in the face, and immediately re-introduced himself with a humorously awkward: "Hi, I'm Deku. Midoriya!"
Everyone began to laugh at the undeniable humor of this little awkward moment, with Tenya briefly reminding Izuku it was originally meant as an insult; while Nikolay began trying to inch his way out of the impromptu gathering, before Eijirou quickly noticed his attempt to take off, and Mina gently grabbed the sleeve of his uniform. "Hey, what's the rush, Russkie-kun? Actually, nevermind that. Nobody's at risk of getting expelled anymore, and you didn't even end up in last place…so why is it you still look so afraid?"
Her wording came out as more than a little prying, but her tone had noticeably gone from her loud, cheerful norm, to one of much more noticeable concern. Nikolay couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with anyone, scratching the back of his head on nervous impulse. "I know you're all right, and I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be thinking about it anymore, but I just can't stop thinking about how worried I was about doing well. It's just that my father…he and I; we went through a lot to get here, and we both worked really, really hard to get me ready for getting into this school. Every single step of the way, I've felt so scared of everyone and everything, even my own Quirk. But I-I didn't want to let him down after everything; and all throughout the tests, all I could think about was failing and getting expelled because I didn't have nearly enough practice with my Quirk, and…and doing just that: letting him down."
Nobody said anything at first; simply exchanging contemplative looks, before Tenya suddenly cleared his throat to get Nikolay's attention. "Yes, I…*ahem* I felt I observed as much from your expression and hesitant conduct on the P.E. grounds today. It was clear that you were more afraid than anything else, and while I may not be able to relate to that feeling 100% in this case, I can at least understand why you would feel such a way, especially in circumstances with the kind of misinformation we worked with. However, Bezpalov-san, I believe the most important thing for you to take away from all of this, is the fact that despite your clear and visible fear, and your less than masterful use of your Quirk and its current limitations in how it can be used, you still made the decision to keep going, to try and plan around your limitations and not simply accept defeat."
"That's right, we all came here because we all want to be real Heroes one day, and yeah, it's not going to be easy, and we'll keep falling along the way, but we just have to keep reminding ourselves to keep getting back up and keep trying so that we can get better." Ochako's added encouragement seemed to light a similar spark in everyone as Mina and Eijirou's eyes similarly lit up with inspiration.
"Yeah, and the most important thing to remember through all of that is that we don't have to go through any of that alone. Like Urara-chan said, we all came here with the same goal, and there's no reason we shouldn't be able to help pick each other up and help each other along the way. I mean; Heroes are there to help people in all kinds of ways, and what could be a better way to live up to that idea than helping each other cross that finish line to Pro Hero status?"
Ochako and Mina's words both rang true as Nikolay felt his spirits brighten listening to them, just like Eijirou, Tenya and Izuku clearly did as well. The whole point of being in this school now was for one universal goal, and nobody could reach the status of Pro Hero by themselves, even his father had acknowledged that from his own experiences. And of course, that same driving word had once again come to mind: try. There was no real victory if one did not try their hardest to achieve it, and once again, Nikolay had allowed his own anxiety and lack of confidence to make him forget that fact.
And then there was Mina's sentiment echoing what he had finally realized back on the pitch. No matter how powerful or scary their Quirks were, Heroes were those that helped the innocent before anything else, the kinds of people who put their own selves in harms' way to protect those that could not protect themselves, not for reward, but because in their hearts, they knew it was the right thing to do. That was the true difference between Quirk-users and real Heroes.
Nikolay could feel that very same kind of stirring within his heart as he took his classmates' words in. Even if he didn't know how to express it, the truth was that he was so tired of being afraid, of being sad, of feeling so torn between what he had been brought up to think was smart, and what his nature told him was right. He wanted to be the kind of Hero he once admired in his father, back in those much more innocent times.
His spirit wanted to bring back the sensation of those days when the world didn't feel so overwhelmingly lost, when there were people that still inspired hope. He wanted to be able to feel the sense of self-acceptance and inner peace that came with the knowledge that he could be the kind of person to provide that feeling of hope for others. No matter how much the voice of doubt in his head tried to claw away at this reviving foundation of self-purpose he could feel building within himself, he felt more and more at ease with this newly-rediscovered sense of finally knowing, at least in his heart if not in his mind, what it was he wanted to be; just like he could tell all his classmates felt within themselves, too.
As the tension within him visibly eased, and everyone else felt comfortable enough to congratulate each other once again on their rankings, Nikolay watched their interactions with a mix of confusion and admiration. It felt so strange to see these other kids speaking so openly about supporting each other and congratulating each other when it was most likely not one of them had ever met each other before today. That kind of quickly established yet deeply rooted comradery was still so unusual to his eyes, but the notion of it all made him feel very nice inside as well. That kind of selfless, kindhearted nature was such a nice change of pace from what he had come to consider as normal.
Once they had all given their final congratulations and pledged their mutual support for one another, Izuku, Ochako, Tenya, Mina and Eijirou realized the time and began to make way for the train station, while Nikolay remained motionless, still going over all these new feelings inside. Turning to his two most regular peers thus far, he felt an impulse come up his throat before calling out: "Ashido-san, Kirishima-san, please wait a minute!"
They both thankfully heard him and looked back curiously, while Nikolay took one heavy step after another, trying hard to think of how to say what was now weighing heaviest on his mind. With a deep breath, he knew this could not wait any longer. "I…I want to apologize to you both for how I…for how I acted back in the classroom this morning. I had no right to talk to either of you like that, especially after what you did for me.
"I just…I-I need you both to understand that I-I'm not used to being around so many people, in general, and I'm especially not used to people doing…you know, nice things for me, or anyone else, with no personal gain for themselves in mind. I haven't seen people do things like that for a very long time. I hope you both understand that I wasn't angry, I promise I wasn't. It's just that after what I've been raised seeing from other people for so long, I'm still trying to figure out how to process the idea of people like…like you, being so selfless towards people you really don't know, like me."
Neither Mina nor Eijirou said anything, not even exchanging glances with each other like everyone had done so much throughout today. They instead seemed to be taking in what Nikolay had just forced himself to pour out to them, and they were seriously taking it in with everything they had observed from him in the relatively short time they had really known him. Finally, there was a look of acceptance that crossed their faces as they gave the awkward Russian mutual soft smiles of understanding.
"I understand, and I'm sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable with what we did, Russkie-kun. I can't imagine what it would have felt like if I was in your shoes then." "Yeah, man, I get it. You grow up with the idea that you need to be able to provide for yourself like a man, and it feels weird when other people do something for you, like you owe them something as a result, or like you suddenly feel like you can't do anything. Believe me, I can…kind of relate."
Nikolay felt a smile of appreciation begin to spread across his lips as Mina and Eijirou didn't give him the same eccentric encouraging and support, but were instead giving him genuine, honest sympathy and understanding of where he stood. There was something reassuring in this, that their past showings of support throughout the day simply could not measure up to.
"But hey, even if you did have to go through all that stuff before by yourself, you don't have to do that anymore. I said that we're all in this together now, and I meant it. Not one of us has to go through the rough stuff alone anymore, and that includes you." Mina's sentimental smile, along with the soft hand she placed on his shoulder to prove her words of solidarity, left Nikolay feeling increasingly warm inside with a feeling of actual acceptance, only intensified when Eijirou did the same. "That's right. Even if it makes you feel uncomfortable at first, the fact is that we're all one big team now, and we're going to keep supporting each other, and you're just as much a part of that as anyone else. I mean; that's what friends are for, isn't it?"
Eijirou and Mina couldn't help but chuckle to themselves in satisfaction as they saw how much their words were clearly touching Nikolay inside, all reflected in his easily readable green eyes. Inside, Nikolay honestly felt like he was about to start crying the first tears in his life that weren't born out of sadness. When was the last time he had ever even considered the possibility of being called someone else's friend? How long had it been since he had given up hope of being able to experience such a sensation? And how did it manage to feel so much better than he had ever imagined it would feel?
After a minute of staying together like this, a momentary check on his phone made Eijirou realize how close they were to missing the train, so he and Mina began to motion for Nikolay to hustle with them, while he instinctively began to head the opposite direction. "I'm sorry. My dad wants me to try and stay in shape, so I have to jog home. It's thankfully pretty close." Eijirou especially couldn't hide the glint of admiration in his eye upon hearing such a thing. "You see? That's the manly way of doing it! Ugh, if only I didn't live so far away, I'd totally be doing that, too!"
Mina didn't even try not giggling in response to his forced expression of machismo, and the two of them began to take off, while Nikolay, satisfied that all had been said between them that needed to be; began to continue jogging home, admiring the numerous cherry blossom trees along the road, and their slowly gliding petals along the way. However, just as he began to gain his momentum back, a sudden pair of approaching footsteps from behind caught his ear, right before he suddenly felt something hook into the back of his uniforms' collar and bring him skidding to a stop.
Even though his common sense was basically screaming who it possibly could have been, he was still visibly surprised to see Mina had decided to catch up with him, this time by herself, as she suddenly reached into her back pack, pulled out a tiny notebook and pink pen, and began scribbling on it in a rush. "Today's been so jam-packed, I almost forgot again. We never got to exchange phone numbers after the entrance exam. If I didn't do this now, I'd be kicking myself all night."
She didn't even give the flustered Russian boy a chance to speak before she suddenly ripped the small page from her notebook and placed it firmly in his grip; that familiar, friendly smile on her face as she did so. "I get a lot of this must still be really new for you, so you don't have to give me yours right away if you're not comfortable. If anything, I can just save your number onto my phone, when you eventually decide you're ready to give me a call, of course. Until then, see you tomorrow, Russkie-kun!"
With that, Mina turned on her heels and took off in a mad dash for the train station, waving goodbye the whole way. The boy couldn't even muster up words, only flustered stutters as he slowly looked down to the piece of crumpled paper in his hand, upon which was written Mina's cellphone number in pink ink, complete with a cute little doodle of her own head, winking, with an even tinier ball of a hand flashing the peace sign.
There wasn't a single inkling in his mind as to when, and more importantly if, he would ever truly feel comfortable enough to follow up on Mina's offer, but in the end, as he took a steadying breath to re-center himself, he carefully tucked the paper into one of the pockets of his book bag, turned the other way, and continued jogging all the way home, his spirit feeling lighter than he ever thought it would be today.
And there it is. I hope you all enjoyed it. If so, feel free to leave a review. It feels good to know I'm providing something that people from all over can enjoy.
See you all for the next chapter on 02/06!