A/N

Chapter 16 was originally going to be the first half of the events in this chapter, but I decided to leave it as it's own thing just so I could begin some plot points for the future. Until then, please enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: QUIRK ASSESSMENT TEST

I see… you are being watched by HIM. That's no fun, but I suppose it makes sense. Until next time… Katsuo.

Katsuo woke up back in his bed, sweating and panting like he had just ran a marathon without stopping. Looking down at his hand, he noticed that it wouldn't stop shaking.

"Was that… just a nightmare?"

Somehow, Katsuo felt that it wasn't, although he had no way to find out. Searching through the system's inventory, Katsuo found no trace of the "special scenario key" he had used to enter the special scenario. The message he read about receiving the key was also gone, instead replaced with another message rewarding him with 10 more levels instead of the key. Before Katsuo could make heads or tails of the bizarre situation, a knock at his bedroom door scared him half to death. "Katuso, dinner is ready!"

Katsuo felt his heart rate decrease and his hands steady at the sound of his mother's voice. "I'm coming!"

Katsuo got out of his bed, resolving himself to wash the now sticky bed sheets before bedtime. "Guess it really was just a nightmare." Katsuo slept soundly that night, his nightmare slowly fading from even the deepest recesses of his mind…

UA's standard entrance exam was held on February 26th, and school started the first week of June. That meant Katsuo and his friends had even more time to focus on strengthening themselves. Katsuo figured he was already way ahead of anyone in UA in terms of strength and combat experience, so he resolved himself to making sure Midoriya and Kirishima were in top notch strength. For Kirishima, Katsuo hit him with as much power as Kirishima could handle in order to build up his defense, ensuring his hardening could withstand stronger attacks. This also meant that Kirishima could put more power into his own punches when fighting in his hardened state. For Midoriya, it was all about making him physically stronger in order to handle more of One For All, as well as training his usage of the inherited power.

Katsuo would give Midoriya a task and Midoriya would have to find a way to effectively use One For All to get the task done. It sounds simple, but using a strengthening quirk at 8% to solve a wide variety of problems is more difficult than you would think. Katsuo had Midoriya scaling buildings without breaking them in the process to ensure Midoriya didn't cause property damage while on the job as a hero. However, those 3 months of training flew by in an instant, and Katsuo soon found himself on the morning of the first day of school. And of course, even with his strengthened memory capabilities thanks to the system, Katsuo still forgot that he had to go to school again. It was a peaceful morning. Katsuo was woken up by his alarm clock at 8:30 in the morning again, prompting him to throw it at the pillow taped to the wall.

As he fluffed up his pillow and tucked himself back in, Katsuo had a sudden thought…

"I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL!"

It was now a race against time. He threw on his UA school uniform, grabbed his new school bag, said goodbye to his mother and ran out the door as fast as possible. It was only when he got around the corner and out of sight from the house that he activated his abilities.

"Muscle enhancement, 5%!"

Katsuo channeled mana into his legs and began jumping from roof to roof with only 10 minutes left until the bell rang at 8:45. Running up the hill at lightning speed, Katsuo spotted the gate to the UA barrier being closed by Present Mic. "C'mon, speed up! I gotta make it!"

Katsuo slid under the closing gate just as it hit the ground, startling Present Mic. "Geez kid, why don't you get here on time instead of giving me a heart attack?!"

After being chewed out for being late and then being reckless enough to slide under the UA barrier, Katsuo was let go so he could find his way to his class: 1A. Apparently, 1A got more attention than 1B did, which would make Katsuo's journey to the peak even easier. '1A, 1A, 1A. Oh, there it is!' From down the hallway, Katsuo was able to spot the sign above the classroom door that read: 1A, as well as a peculiar sight. When Katsuo finally made it to the classroom, Midoriya and two other students were staring at a yellow sleeping bag on the ground behind them. Inside the bag was- 'What's up with the shabby looking homeless guy?' As Katsuo so bluntly put it, a shabby looking man was inside the bag, saying something before pulling out a packet of food and sucking on it. The man stood up and unzipped his sleeping bag.

As soon as Katsuo saw him, he recognized the man as Eraser Head from Vol. 4 of Midoriya's hero notebooks. "It took exactly 8.3 seconds for you all to shut up, and that's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that."

Katsuo unconsciously straightened his back at the sight of his teacher. While the others seemed to still be a bit confused, Katsuo could tell that this man commanded respect, and rightfully so. He was a true pro hero with years of experience, something Katuso didn't have. This was a man Katsuo could learn from. "Hello. I'm Shouta Aizawa, your teacher." The man cast his exhausted gaze across the classroom, a wave of shock rolling over the students as "this random homeless man" announced that he was their highschool teacher.

"Okay, let's get to it. Put these on and head outside." Mr. Aizawa pulled a hero course uniform out of his sleeping bag and held it in the air to show the class. 'I am NOT putting that on.' Fortunately, Katsuo already had a uniform of his own to wear…

"What? A quirk assessment test?"

Katsuo was dumbfounded by the class' unexpected ability to speak in perfect unison despite only knowing each other for half a day at most. After changing into their hero course uniforms, Aizawa led the class out to the field where a track and other things were located. "But we'll miss orientation!" The brown-haired girl that saved Midoriya from face planting before the entrance exam, now known to Katsuo as Uraraka, expressed her concerns to Aizawa. He didn't care.

"If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class in whatever way I think is right." The class gasped and murmured to each other at the sudden change. The reaction made sense to Katsuo. Everybody had just gone from an equality-strict middle school system to a world where the strong trample the weak. If you aren't strong, then you have no place being at UA. Katsuo was getting a bad feeling about the reason why they were out in the field.

"You've been taking standardized tests for most of your lives, but you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before." Aizawa held his phone up to the class. On the screen was a list of physical activities like a 50 meter dash, or throwing a ball as far as possible. "The country is trying to pretend we're all equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day, the ministry of education will learn." As Katsuo listened to Aizawa's speech, he thought about equality and what it actually meant to the world he lived in. All throughout history, people have never been equal. There have always been people who are faster or slower, stronger or weaker, etc. The non-existence of equality just became even more realized when quirks were added into the mix.

"Bakugou, you have a pretty strong quirk, but what was your farthest distance throw with a softball in junior high?" Everybody turned to Bakugou, the teen in question being surprised by Aizawa's sudden attention. "67 meters, I think." Katsuo could see what Aizawa was getting at now.

"Right, try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes, just stay in the circle." Aizawa handed him a special-looking softball. Based on what he could see, Katsuo figured it had some kind of device in it to measure distance, as well as some kind of reinforcement to ensure the ball could hold up against a quirk. Now inside the circle, Bakugou did a few stretches before throwing the ball. Just as the ball left his hand, Bakugou created a small explosion in his hand that sent the softball flying into the air. Katsuo couldn't even see it after a few seconds. Midoriya's face looked just as dumbfounded as Katsuo thought he looked.

"You need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the best way of finding out your maximum potential as a pro hero." Aizawa once again showed the screen to the class. Bakugou's 67 meter pitch was now a whopping 703 meters with his quirk added. The class was shocked, although a few had different reactions. "That looks fun, I wanna go!" Katsuo recognized the pink girl, Mina Ashido, from the day he met Kirishima. Other people shared this same sentiment of "fun", although Katsuo didn't. He wasn't a full fledged veteran hero or anything, but he had been around the block a couple times in the last 10 months. The streets weren't pretty, and the gutters were even worse.

"So this looks fun, huh? You have three years here to become a hero, you think it's gonna be all games and playing around with your friends? Idiots. Today, you'll be competing in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately." Katsuo saw Aizawa's smile for the first time as he told the highschoolers in front of him that their futures were about to go down the drain. Once again, Katsuo could feel his heart beat to the rhythm of excitement, although other people didn't feel the same way as him.

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand?" Katsuo could feel his own smile beginning to grow as Aizawa's did as well. He was being challenged. 'Seems I'll have to defend my throne as number one freshman.' Some of the other students tried to point out the "unfairness" of this test, but threats of expulsion shut them up real quickly.

"Fair? Is losing your entire family to a random villain attack fair? Is a catastrophic weather incident fair? The world is full of unfairness, and it's a hero's job to combat that unfairness." Aizawa continued his speech, but Katsuo's brain shorted out when he ended it by saying "plus ultra style". 'C'mon Aizawa, I thought you were better than that!'

"Now then, we're just wasting time by talking, so let the games begin."

What happened next was a series of physical tests meant to test the upper limits of the class' quirks. While everybody seemed to stand out in one or two tests, two people stood out in all of them. The first was Midoriya, who used One For All to get ahead of most of the other classmates, although only using it at 8% put him back a little. And then there was Katsuo. He obliterated the competition in everything, although he decided holding back might be better when he watched Bakugou get closer to erupting like a volcano after each test. And then, it came time for the final test: ball throw. Katsuo was the last to go up. He pulled his arm back, primed himself to throw, and then felt his arm stop unwillingly before he could throw. Looking back, Aizawa had wrapped his scarf around Katsuo's arm.

'What? By why?'

"Hiroki Katsuo. Your quirk strengthens your body in every way, including strength. I watched your actions during the entrance exam, and I wasn't impressed. Your strength may be immense, but you fail to hold back."

Aizawa's words pushed Katsuo to remember what he did during the entrance exam. When the giant robot appeared and everyone else ran away, Katsuo didn't even think before running to fight it. This led to Katuso remembering all of the other fights he had gotten in after becoming stronger. 'Aw crap, he has a point.'

"If you can't hold back your strength on the battlefield, then you're a liability to your fellow heroes and the civilians you're meant to protect. If you hurt one of them so badly they can't function properly, what will you do then?" Katsuo thought for a moment, before coming up with his answer. He looked at his teacher with a straight face, no smile, and said: "Just watch me." Hearing this, Aizawa retracted his scarf and allowed Katsuo to throw the ball. 'Muscle enhancement: 100%' Katsuo threw the ball as hard as possible. It went shooting through the air like a bullet, disappearing before anyone could even see it,

"That's what I'm talking about. Did you think about where that ball will land? If it was going that fast, it won't be landing on UA grounds, nor will it even land on the mountain. That ball could seriously injure a civilian in the city."

"You're right about one thing. It won't land on the mountain, but it won't be hurting anyone either." Aizawa's eyes widened in shock as Katsuo's ball came flying back. He easily caught it with his outstretched hand, a billow of dust shooting behind him from the air pressure of the ball stopping so suddenly.

"I knew how far the ball would go if I didn't hold back, so I threw the ball at just the right angle so that it would come back to me without hurting anyone. Also, if I really needed to, I could control the amount of strength I use to get a task done."

'This kid!' Aizawa's crazed smile came back as he looked at Katsuo, who shared the same crazy smile. Katsuo's purple eyes shined with strength and determination, and Aizawa knew he would have his hands full with this moron for the next few years, at least…

A/N

Just wanted to explain the difference in the chapter and how they work. First of all, Midoriya wasn't singled out by Aizawa this time because he has more control over One For All, thus has no problem with breaking his bones. Also, Aizawa thinks Katsuo is dangerous because he is extremely strong and seems to lack restraint, which is why he was singled out instead. Katsuo proved himself to Aizawa by showing the amount of control he had over the ball despite using 100% of his power, which is why Katsuo didn't hold back his strength.

By the way, I'm trying to use a few suggestions I got about making paragraphs and how to do dialogue and stuff, so that's why the paragraphs are a bit shorter.

Final note. In order to make this chapter, I watched the corresponding episode of MHA and copied the details/ dialogue while adding, subtracting, and editing them when needed, like when I replaced Midoriya with Katsuo. I plan to do that for the rest of the story, while adding in some chapters and story arcs to fit Katsuo's original story. Bottom line, while some if not most of the content will be similar to MHA, there will still be original events that will happen due to Katsuo's involvement in the story. And with that, have a nice day. Konosuba!