30.01.2023
It's I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back with another chapter of this religious-esque story! But first, the comment!:
KamadokuTayna - Me and you both brother, me and you both!
And with that short introduction out of the way, let's get to the chapter!:
Izuku and the blue-haired guy - who he forgot to introduce himself to! - were the last two to enter the classroom that was currently bustling with activity as their classmates chatted, joked and socialized to their heart's content, no teacher in sight.
Izuku thought it very strange, but didn't question it too long as he was already aware that the faculty of U.A. had a certain degree of leniency in regards to the way they teach their students. So Izuku opted to simply take one of the last two empty spots, right behind that constantly angry blonde guy and that purple midget with some serious issues. He would've prepared to sit anywhere else, but spending extended periods of time around such sinful individuals would surely help him fortify his mind and steel his resolve in the face of adversity. Both of these things will not only help him in his goal of becoming a splendid hero, but also to perform the duty that has been bestowed upon him in his self-imposed exile.
Izuku watched as his classmates talked about nothing in particular, their voices merging into incoherent noise as he shifted his focus away from the conversations that he wasn't a part of. His eyes lazily traced the room when he suddenly spotted someone standing behind the teacher's desk.
He flinched when their eyes met and Izuku sat just that tiny bit straighter than he already was. The mysterious person seemed to nod in his direction - or more probably to himself in some sort of satisfaction - and then his eyes began scanning each and every student in the class.
Izuku knew that the angry blonde in front of him had also noticed the stranger's sudden appearance, along with Yaoyorozu who was sitting behind the purple pervert, and that guy with a scar on his face and white/red-colored hair.
The stranger squinted his eyes in what Izuku guessed to be disappointment before clearing his throat to catch the attention of those that failed to pass his little test.
"You lot are not very logical, are you?" He spoke and the only word that could describe the tone of his voice was 'tired'. Still, it got the job done as the chattering ceased immediately after and everyone's heads snapped to look in his direction. "If I were a villain then most of you'd already be dead, safe for a handful that seem to be taking their choice of career more seriously." His cold, matter-of-fact tone sent chills down a couple of spines and brought everyone's mood down significantly. "We'll have to work on improving your situational awareness. But first, you'll have to pass a test."
"Um, but, who are you exactly?" Asked Kirishima, who was one of the more thoroughly confused.
"Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher. Any more unnecessary questions?" He asked and upon receiving none nodded to himself. "That's better. Inside your desks you'll find standard issue PE uniforms. Put them on and meet me on the P.E. Grounds in ten minutes. If you're late, you're out."
"But sir, what about the orientation?" Asked the girl that Izuku had saved during the entrance exam. Izuku somehow felt that she shouldn't have spoken up.
"I was under the impression that there were no more unnecessary questions?" Aizawa retorted and the brown-haired girl wisely stayed silent, prompting their homeroom teacher to leave and head towards the P.E. Grounds.
"I really hope that not all of our teachers are as lovely as him." Izuku mused to himself, unknowingly thinking the same thing as most of his classmates.
The blonde in front of him simply took the uniform out of his desk and left, completely unphased by their teacher's behavior, just like the scarred boy that sat in the back right next to Yaoyorozu.
Izuku decided that there was no time to waste and also took the provided uniform, the rest of the class waking up from their slight shock and following his example, before leaving the classroom and heading towards the P.E. Grounds' changing room.
"Hey guys, what do you think Aizawa meant when he said 'If you're late, you're out'?" Kirishima asked when they were changing into the PE uniforms.
"What do you think he meant shitty hair?" The angry blonde barked in response.
"That was uncalled for!" Ever the stickler for rules, the blue-haired guy tried to chastise the personification of anger, but to no avail.
"I don't give a flying fuck!" The blonde yelled back as he hastily threw on his blouse before almost blowing the door off of its hinges as he angrily stomped away.
"Well, he is kind of an asshole." A second, much friendlier, blonde with a black streak in the shape of a lightning bolt in his hair.
"You shouldn't badmouth your fellow classmates!" The blue-haired guy exclaimed as he moved his right hand up and down rapidly in a chopping motion.
If anything, Izuku had to admire his patience and persistence as he was pretty sure that his every remark so far had been ignored completely without even a sign of acknowledgement. Yet he didn't seem deterred at all. If anything he seemed even more driven each time his comments flew over everyone's head! Izuku could definitely respect that sort of dedication, no matter how little he had to show for it.
"I mean, he started it." Sero chimed in.
Izuku noticed that the blue-haired guy was preparing a response, a lengthy one if he had to guess, but he was pretty sure that they didn't have enough time for that so he decided to step in and hopefully cut the argument short before it had a chance to start.
"While it is true that he started it, this doesn't mean that you have to be the one to end it." He began, vaguely recalling some of the old texts that he used to read when he was younger. "Just because he chose to act like a douche doesn't mean that we have to do the same. We should acknowledge the way he acts," Izuku made a short pause as he turned to look directly at the blue-haired guy, hoping that he could get his point across and then continued as he turned his eyes to the blonde, "but it shouldn't affect the way we act. We are going to be heroes one day afterall and such pettiness doesn't really fit the image of a hero, wouldn't you agree?" Izuku finished his speech and then looked over the changing room, noting how quiet it had become.
He was about to start worrying that he might have overdone it or said something out of line, but Kirishima was quick to calm down his nerves.
"That was so manly…" The literal redhead mumbled out, his eyes opened wide in amazement and his expression frozen in awe.
"I couldn't have said it better myself!" The blue-haired guy exclaimed which calmed Izuku down even more. If he was placated then they were pretty much in the clean already.
"You're right, my bad." The blonde apologized for his remark and that was all that Izuku was asking for.
"I'm glad to hear that, but we should probably hurry up. He may have been rude but I suspect that he was right about the meaning behind Aizawa's words."
And with that being said, the guys finished changing on the double and ran towards the P.E. Grounds, not fancing the idea of finding out the meaning of their teacher's threat one bit.
They arrived with a minute or two to spare, noticing the blonde standing off to the side all by himself. Izuku also noticed that the purple pervert had snuck out during his speech and was currently observing the girls with sick curiosity, obsession even!, in his gaze. Izuku was about to head over to him to explain a couple of things to the midget, but stopped in his tracks when their teacher suddenly appeared in front of the gathered students.
"Congratulations, you made it on time." Aizawa said with a passive expression on his face. "Is what I'd have said if I were impressed, but I'm not. I expect you to be quicker next time." He stated, his disappointment once again seeping into his voice.
"Yes sir!" The students responded, with only a couple staying quiet, likely thinking that Aizawa's words weren't directed at them.
The tired-looking man nodded to himself before addressing the students once again.
"We are going to start the year off with a quick evaluation so that I can see for myself where each and every one of you is as well as determine whether or not you have the potential to stay in the Hero Course. You've all likely done those tests in junior high already, but back then you were limited by not being able to use your quirks, which is highly illogical. Today I expect all of you to give it your all and show off your abilities to the fullest. We'll start with a quick demonstration. Bakugo." Aizawa called to the angry blonde who seemed wholly uninterested in what the teacher was saying. "You've accumulated the most villain points during the entrance exam, what was your best score in ball throw in middle school?"
"About 64 meters." He answered with just a hint of cockiness in his voice.
Aizawa acknowledged the information and then reached into his pocket to pull out what looked like an ordinary softball. He then threw it to Bakugo who caught it with one hand and then looked questioningly at the teacher.
"Do the softball throw now, but this time use your quirk." As soon as these words left Aizawa's mouth a manic grin appeared on Bakugo's face.
The angery blonde stepped into the circle that Aizawa had pointed him towards and then proceeded to toss the ball up a few times as if to judge it. Once he was satisfied - or mentally prepared - he reeled his right arm backwards before throwing the softball. The catch was that just as the ball was leaving his hand he unleashed a massive explosion that had propelled the ball high into the air and the following shockwave knocked over the purple pervert.
Izuku caught sight of one purple-haired girl wincing in pain as she held her hands over her ears.
"Poor thing, she must have good hearing." Izuku deduced, mentally adding another reason to dislike the egotistical blonde.
No matter how much dislike he had for the angry blonde however, he couldn't ignore the fact that he was strong. Not only his quirk but also his body seemed to be well-trained and honed over the years. He must've worked hard to get to the point that he was currently at, but that certainly didn't give him the right to try and belittle everyone around him.
"705.2 meters." Aizawa announced Bakugo's score after the device that he pulled out of his other pocket beeped, likely informing him of a touchdown.
The class exploded with various cheers about how exciting and fun these tests might end up being. Izuku, who had his eyes trained on Aizawa, however, realized all too quickly that they had royally screwed up by using the word 'fun'. From what little he knew about the man, it was easy to deduce that he was always down to Earth, very strict, demanding and serious all the time.
"'Fun' you say?" As he said that, Izuku - and a couple of others - already knew that they were not going to like what he was going to say next. "If you want to have fun then you might as well go home. Being a hero isn't fun, it's a serious profession that requires you to put your lives on the line every single day, protecting those that can't protect themselves." His scrutinizing gaze quickly cooled down any and all excitement that might've bubbled up within his students, but that didn't seem to satisfy him one bit. "If you want fun, then I'll give you fun. How about this - I'll keep track of all of your scores throughout the evaluation and the person with the lowest average score will be expelled?"
Gasps of shock and disbelief sounded from the crowd as they began murmuring amongst themselves. Someone went as far as to say that this wasn't fair seeing as this was only their first day of school. Aizawa heard that too and wasn't exactly pleased by that comment.
"This isn't fair you say?" He questioned and the students got quiet once again. "Life isn't fair. Villains aren't fair. Natural disasters, catastrophes and accidents aren't fair. If you want to make it as a hero you have to learn how to overcome all the unfairness this world has to offer and come out on top or are you going to tell the victims that you couldn't protect that you failed because 'the villain wasn't fighting fair'?"
His words visibly shook quite a few students, but everyone kept quiet and accepted the criticism in silence. This finally managed to calm their teacher's wrath and so he explained how this apprehension test of his will be conducted.
They'd be graded in eight different fitness tests, those being - the ball throw, grip strength, repeated side steps, standing long jump, 50-meter dash, sit ups, seated toe-touch and long distance running. Izuku felt quite confident in his physical abilities so he wasn't that worried about not being able to pass, although he did notice a couple of his fellow classmates deflate as the tests were being revealed. There were of course those that just like him felt confident in their ability to pass, with some just a bit cockier than the rest.
After the first three tests - 50-meter dash, grip strength and standing long jump - Izuku was sitting comfortably in the middle of the pack. His impressive frame wasn't exactly perfect for running or jumping, but the strength of his muscles helped him gain some points during the grip strength test. The 50-meter dash winner was Iida Tenya - the blue haired guy - who had something akin to engine exhausts protruding out of his calves, allowing him to run super fast. The grip strength test - as well as the grip strength machine - was crushed by the tallest student - Mezo Shoji - whose quirk gave him additional arms. The standing long jump had a handful of people clear the sandbox, mostly by utilizing their quirks in very creative ways.
Repeated side steps still had Izuku place around the middle, as his body - whilst very strong - wasn't exactly agile.
He thankfully had a lot of stamina to go along with his natural strength so the long distance run and the sit ups were the two tests that finally allowed him to shine a bit as his placement had improved by a couple of places. He was however quickly declassified after the seated toe-touch as he lacked the flexibility that most of classmates displayed.
The ball throw was for some reason left for last, despite the entire evaluation starting with a ball throw demonstration. Bakugo was excluded from this test as he'd already made his throw before, but the others still had to take their turns. No one got even remotely close to beating Bakugo's 700 meters score, safe for the brown-haired girl that Izuku had rescued during the entrance exam who used her quirk to send her ball straight up into the air, causing the measurement device to malfunction and display an infinity symbol which in the end earned her the top spot for this test.
Izuku knew that he would be the next one to go, so he decided to head towards the circle early, but was stopped in his tracks when his foot ended up getting caught on something. He looked to check what he'd just kicked and his eyes brow furrowed immediately when he recognized the black case that housed his sword and imprisoned the daemon.
"Couldn't you at least fucking pretend to be happy to see me, eh? For the sake of the old-times at least." The daemon sent his words directly into Izuku's mind, ensuring that their conversation remained fully private.
"Not in a million years." Izuku responded in kind, hatred dripping off of his words.
"Never say never kiddo, or you might end up jinxing yourself." And with those words their link was cut short.
"Midoriya, what is that?" Aizawa asked, pointing at the case at Izuku's feet.
"That's… my case." Izuku answered simply, which didn't seem to satisfy Aizawa's curiosity completely.
"I didn't see you bring it with you." He questioned further.
"I didn't." Izuku once again chose the simple answer and Aizawa seemed to quickly lose interest in the case and prompt the greenhead to take his turn.
Izuku was about to step over the case and approach the circle but stopped as he mulled over his options. He did quite alright in his opinion so his place at U.A. shouldn't be in any danger, but since this was the last test for the day, then he could afford to show off just a tiny bit, right?
With that in mind he opened the case and pulled out his sheathed sword, swinging the weapon over his back before approaching the circle. Aizawa threw him the ball and Izuku took a moment to think what would be the most efficient way to utilize all of his abilities.
Meanwhile he also heard some curiosity-filled murmurs explode behind him as his classmates conversed about him and his blade.
It took Izuku a minute or two, but he eventually figured out what he wanted to do. He unsheathed his sword then, activating his quirk and making the blade glow with a golden hue that was his power, earning even more chatter from his classmates as they watched him with great interest. Even Aizawa seemed vaguely absorbed in the show, but his reason for being interested was probably way different from theirs.
Izuku shouldered the blade as he tossed the softball up a couple of times, getting a feel of how and when to strike before tossing the ball high into the air and quickly grasping the handle of his sword with both hands before swinging it with all of his might, hitting the ball at a near perfect angle and sending it flying off into the distance. He knew that beating Bakugo's score wasn't really possible even with all of his strength but he at least wanted to score in the top 5.
The students waited for the ball to finally touch down, anxious to know the score. The device eventually beeped, displaying a solid distance of 495.1 meters, which put Izuku in fourth place for the test, right behind Yaoyorozu's score of 650.7 meters. He still couldn't truly believe that she'd created a cannon to shoot the ball out of. It had him wondering just how far she could've thrown it if she didn't tire herself out in the previous tests?
"Alright, that concludes the apprehension test. You'll find your curricula in your desks back in the classroom. Make sure to read through them once you get back to the dorms. Class dismissed." And with those few sentences Aizawa began making his way back towards the school's main building.
"W-Wait, so we don't get to see the final scores?!" The students roared as one.
"I wasn't grading you based on how well you did during the evaluation. All I wanted to see was whether or not you have potential to grow and become heroes and all of you showed potential. Some more than others, but none of you are completely hopeless and I can work with that. Also, that whole talk about expelling anyone was a trick. A logical ruse if you will." A cruel/smug smirk appeared on his face for the grand reveal at the end of his explanation, shocking all of the students and giving him enough time to make a hasty retreat.
"WHAT?!" The crowd roared again, although a few students were rationalizing that Aizawa surely wouldn't expel anyone on day one and that they knew this right from the start.
Izuku wasn't so convinced by their words as Aizawa seemed to be the honest type and he felt that if one of them was to be deemed by him as having no potential whatsoever then they'd start their second day of school already down a man.
Well, at least he wasn't completely heartless or anything of the sort, so that brought Izuku's hopes up just a bit.
"What a crazy day… I wonder if Shiozaki's first day was just as eventful?" He thought to himself as he packed the sword back in its case, making sure to throw a venomous glare towards the cackling daemon that was being very smug about its sudden appearance at just the right moment.
Izuku wanted nothing more than to lock the daemon back in his room and maybe hang out with Shiozaki for a bit if she was up for it, but the crowd that gathered around him after Aizawa left indicated that he'd be quite busy for a while. It wasn't that bad since he wanted to introduce himself to everyone else sooner rather than later, so he took it in stride.
"I totally saved your ass back there! That hobo was ready to throw you out any minute now!" The daemon cackled to himself, not even bothering to send the thoughts to his jailer. "I'll be sure to cash in that favor in due time…"
Aizawa judging people based on how creative they are with their powers as well as his point about conquering the unfairness of the world seem very fitting. At least to me and that's what matters!
What also matters is that this fic already got up 74 favs and over a 100 follows in just four chapters! You guys are honestly constantly surprising me with how popular this story is becoming! Hope you'll stick around to the end!
And now that I got nothing left to say I'll wish you a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!