Chapter 4: What I Can Do For Now
I sat on my bed, staring at the space before me. All Might's projection was gone, but I still tried to process his words. I had made it into U.A.! Of all the people in that room, I had succeeded. Not only had I succeeded, but I had thrived. Kaachan would flip his lid when he discovered I had made it in! I wouldn't be going to regular high school with Izuku after all.
That thought caused me to stop. Did Izuku make it, too? Surely, his projection was over, but I hadn't heard the door to his room open. The only sound I heard was Mom pacing between our doors, waiting for someone to come out. I looked at my phone to check the time. It was just after 7 p.m.
I stood up and took a deep breath, getting myself ready to go and face my Mom. I walked to the door and placed my hand on the handle. Before I could turn it, I heard Izuku's door open. I heard my Mom quickly rush over to him.
"Oh, Izuku!" my mom exclaimed. That didn't give me much to go on! I turned the handle and walked out. My mom had her arms thrown around Izuku, and Izuku stood in his doorway with a dazed smile. It reminded me of his smile after we had come home, and he was told that he would never develop a quirk. Did that mean that he didn't get in? I looked back at him, hoping that he would give me a hint.
He lifted his head and smiled at me, nodding. I felt the smile on my face widen as I ran toward him, throwing my arms around him as well. I couldn't believe that we had done it! We had made it into the most prestigious high school in Japan! I ran over to Izuku and Mom, embracing them both. I felt Izuku wrap his arms around me as well and squeeze.
We had let go of each other, and it was obvious that we had all been crying. My mom wiped her tears from her eyes and looked over at me. "What about you, Natsuki? What did your letter say?" Izuku was also looking at me. Both of them were waiting for my response, hoping it was good. I felt a lump forming in my throat. I couldn't find my voice to answer, so I nodded. This started a new round of tears from my mom.
"Oh, my babies! Both of you did it! I'm so proud of you both!" She pulled us back into a hug, drenching our shirts in her tears.
"Mom, you need to take it easy! You're going to dehydrate yourself," I said, pulling myself away.
"I know, I am just so happy! Both my babies are getting to live their dreams!" She continued to cry while holding Izuku.
I heard the dinging of a text alert on both Izuku's and mine phones. I looked at the text and remembered that I needed to text Bakugo back. To my surprise, the text had arrived from All Might. We hadn't heard from him since the day of the practical exam. The text read: Meet me at the beach ASAP. I looked at Izuku and nodded to the side, letting him know we needed to go.
"Mom, I'm going to the beach and getting a workout in. I don't think I've done one all week, and I'm going to need to make it up," Izuku said.
"Yeah, and I need to go and brag to Bakugo that we both made it in." Izuku looked at me with confusion, and I shrugged my shoulders. My mom nodded and allowed us to go without asking a million questions. I think she was still shocked that Izuku and I had made it into U.A. We walked down the stairs, starting on our typical path to the beach.
"What did you mean that you needed to brag to Kaachan?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, he just texted me to let me know he had made it into U.A. and to have fun with you at a regular high school. I don't even know how he got my number; at least I have never given it to him," I explained. Izuku nodded, and we continued to walk toward the beach. Before long, I could see the outline of All Might standing near the pier.
"All Might!" Izuku exclaimed as he started to make his way toward him. All Might turned around, blood spewing out of his mouth.
"Who's that?" he answered. It was then that I noticed that we were not alone on the beach. Since it had been cleaned up, more couples had started to come here for date nights.
"All Might!" A bystander yelled, looking around for All Might.
"No way! Where?" Another person yelled.
"Way to blow my cover! Repeat after me, 'Just my eyes playing tricks on me'!" All Might said. He remained calm, but blood was still coming out of his mouth.
"It's just my eyes playing tricks on me!" Izuku yelled back, waving at the people on the pier.
"Aw, what? I wanted an autograph!" The bystanders turned and looked back out at the ocean.
"Congrats on passing, both of you!" All Might said.
"Thanks, All Might, I couldn't have done it without you!" Izuku said, beaming.
"Oh, speaking of which, I didn't tell anyone at U.A. that I've been training you or anything. Really. I wasn't one of the judges and didn't pull any strings for you. You guys earned those spots all on your own," All Might said. This helped to calm my fears. Ever since seeing All Might in the acceptance letter, I couldn't help but wonder if he had something to do with us getting in.
"Thank you, All Might. I'm glad to hear that," I said.
"So you're a teacher at U.A., All Might? That was a shocker!" Izuku rambled, "I wondered what brought you here all of a sudden. After all, your agency is located in Minato, Tokyo, and everyone knows -"
"Getting creepy…" All Might said to stop Izuku's rambling. I rolled my eyes; I guess that some things never change. " I couldn't tell anyone until the school made it public knowledge. I figured I could take the job at U.A. while searching for my successor. I've been searching for a successor for a while now…"
I looked toward Izuku. A look of doubt crossed his face, and he looked down at his hands. I could tell that he was thinking of all the students that All Might could have chosen, yet he didn't and had chosen him. Izuku didn't see what I saw, someone who never gave up and would always put his life on the line to help others. He had spent so much time studying heroes that his strategic skills were on par with Bakugo's.
"Your power completely wrecked my body, and all I did was jump and throw one punch. I can't control it." Izuku lamented.
"You'll learn to manage it in time. Hoping to master it right away is like asking a baby to run a marathon. You still have to go through the process of learning how to walk." All Might said. He then looked over at me. "Natsuki, when you first got your power, could you control it?"
I remembered the day I first stole Bakugo's flames in the park. I was so surprised at the time that I even had a quirk, so I don't think I could have sent the fire anywhere, even if I had wanted to. Learning to control my quirk and do more than just call the fire to me took years. Not to mention that I didn't like to use my quirk with Izuku around. Thinking about that day made the burn scar on my shoulder sting, and I subconsciously set my hand on my shoulder. "No, I couldn't. I had to learn to use my quirk through trial and error and many burns." Suddenly, it dawned on me. Did All Might know that this would happen to Izuku? " Wait, All Might, did you know this would happen? Did you know that your quirk would hurt him?"
"Well… we were in a time crunch!" All Might said, obviously flustered by my question. " But everything turned out all right… Or should I say All Might!" All Might chuckled at his joke but stopped when he noticed Izuku and myself were not laughing. He let out a sigh before continuing his explanation.
"Plus, now you know what you're dealing with! For now, it's still all or nothing. But once you figure out how to control the output, you can use just as much power as your body can handle." All Might bent down and picked up several cans on the ground, holding them in his hand.
"Control…" Izuke said, looking deep in thought about All Might's statement.
"You're overflowing with energy at the moment. With training, your body will hold it better." The skeletal version of All Might had disappeared, and the #1 hero stood in his place. "Then it's yours to command!"
"Look, it really is All Might!" One of the bystanders on the pier shouted.
"No way! Where'd he come from?!" The second one yelled.
"Right, now we run!" All Might said while he took off running down the beach. Izuku and I followed him. This was the first step for Izuku in gaining control of One For All. I didn't know it then, but this was also the first step in accepting my power.
Spring
"Izuku, you're all set?" Mom said as we stood in the entryway of our apartment, getting ready to leave for our first day of U.A.
"Yeah," Izuku answered.
"Are you sure? You didn't just pack action figures, right?" Mom asked. I couldn't help, but smile. I wouldn't put it past Izuku to only have action figures in his bag. I picked up my new purple bag, ready to go. I straightened out my skirt and walked toward the door.
"I have everything!" he snapped at our mom. "Now we gotta go. I don't want to be late!"
I looked over at my mom, who had tears in my eyes from Izuku's words. That was not like Izuku to be this cold. Typically, I was short with people, not Izuku. Izuku finished packing his backpack and stood up, heading toward the door.
"Izuku!" Mom shouted at him.
"Ugh… What?!" Izuku said, turning around and looking at Mom for the first time. I could see the instant regret in his eyes as he looked at her.
"I... I'm really proud of you, son!" my mom turned toward me, tears falling down her cheeks. "You too, Natsuki!"
I walked over to my mom and threw my arms around her. "Mom, I don't say this enough, but I love you!"
"I'll see you soon," Izuku responded. His smile had returned, and our Mom smiled back. She ran her hand down my cheek, and we walked out the door to our first day of high school.
That year's acceptance rate was just as small as it always had been, 1 in 300. Four people got in because of recommendations, and 38 through the regular exam. We were split into two classes of 21 each. Luckily, Izuku and I were put into the same class, 1-A.
"Class 1-A… Class 1-A. Come on, where is it?" Izuku said as he rushed through the halls, looking for our homeroom. I followed behind him, walking as quickly as I could without running.
"Found it!" He said as he stopped in front of a giant door labeled 1-A.
"What a giant door!" I exclaimed as I finally caught up to Izuku.
"It has to be accessible to everyone," Izuku stated. He put his hand on the door but stopped before he opened it. I looked over at him to see why he had stopped so suddenly. His eyes were closed. I watched him take a deep breath and then shake his head. I instantly knew what was bothering him.
"Izuku, I'm sure that Bakugo will be in another class. They wouldn't put you guys in the same class." I said, trying to sound confident. Izuku nodded his head and cracked open the door. It wasn't long before I heard a familiar voice.
"Take your feet off that desk now!" The first voice said.
"Huh?" The familiar voice responded.
"It's the first day, and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffling school property, you cretin!" I moved to open the door to head in.
"You're kidding me, right?!" The blonde leaned back in his chair with his feet on the desk, a cocky smile on his face. "Your old school put a stick up your ass, or were you born with it?"
I looked at the boy Bakugo was insulting and was surprised to see the know-it-all from the entrance exam. They were both here! He gasped and shook his head. "Let's start over. I'm Tenya Iida from the Soumei Private Academy." He extended his hand toward Bakugo.
"Soumei, huh?" Bakugo said. He leaned in closer to Iida, questioning him. "So you must think you're better than me! I'm going to have fun tearing you a new one!"
Iida put his hand on his chest and stepped back, obviously offended. "You would threaten me? Your classmate? Are you sure you're in the right place?"
"Ha." Bakugo rolled his eyes and relaxed in his chair. He looked over at the door, meeting my gaze. I looked around and noticed that it wasn't only Bakugo looking at us; everyone in the room had stopped talking to look at Izuku and me. I felt the heat flooding my cheeks as I quickly scanned the room, avoiding Bakugo's glares. Near the middle of the room, I noticed another pair of red eyes that instantly caught my attention.
"Nat, you made it!" Kirishima said, standing up. Iida also started to walk in our direction with an air of confidence.
"My name is Tenya Iida from the…"
"Yeah, we know," I said, interrupting him as I walked toward Kirishima, leaving Izuku to deal with the teacher's pet.
"Hi, Kirishima!" I greeted him. I'm so glad you're here!" I smiled and relaxed. Being around Kirishima felt natural. He sat back down, motioning for me to take the desk beside him. I went to sit down but hesitated when I saw who was in the seat in the row ahead. Bakugo looked at me with a warning in his eyes.
"Don't even think about it, Sparkler." He warned. I squared my shoulders and glared back at him.
"You can't tell me what to do, Boom Boy!" I spat back, sitting down at the desk next to Kirishima. I risked a glance at Bakugo from the corner of my eye and could swear that there was steam coming off his head. Before I could continue talking to Kirishima, a small boy with purple balls on his head interrupted.
"Hello, I'm Mineta," the kid with the purple balls said. His gaze, however, was just south of my eyes. I pulled my uniform jacket tighter around my body.
"Hi, I'm Natsuki, but everyone just calls me Nat," I said politely, turning away from the purple-balled creep.
"Nat," Kirishima said, pulling my attention back to him. "Did you see that Kendo and Ethan made it into U.A. as well?!"
"No! Where are they?" I said, looking around the classroom to see if I had missed seeing them.
"They are in class 1-B, dumbass," Bakugo muttered. I rolled my eyes at his remark, ready to snap back, when a commotion at the door caught my attention. I saw the gravity girl standing by the door next to Izuku. Beyond them was a yellow sleeping bag lying on the floor with a face sticking out of the hole.
"Welcome to U.A.'s hero course." The top part of the sleeping bag started to unzip, revealing a black-haired man inside. He took out a juice pouch and brought it to his lips, sucking it down in one gulp. Who was this person? He stood up, taking off his sleeping bag. Once he was out of the sleeping bag, it hit me where I had seen him before. He was at the entrance exams right before we split into the locker rooms. "It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that!"
"Who is this guy?" I whispered to Kirishima. Kirishima shrugged his shoulders, just as confused as I was.
"Shut it, Sparkler," Bakugo whispered. I responded with a swift kick to his chair, causing him to lurch forward. He quickly turned around, glaring daggers at me. I smiled, causing him to become more infuriated.
"Hello, I'm Shoto Aizawa… your teacher." The man said with a deadpan voice. He reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a tracksuit. "Right, let's get to it. Put these on and head outside."
We all stood up and headed towards the door. As we passed Mr. Aizawa, he handed us a tracksuit from his sleeping bag. I walked down the hall toward the locker rooms. I chatted with Kirishima and two other boys as we walked. One was a blonde with a black stripe in his hair, and the other had weirdly shaped elbows. Bakugo followed behind us, listening to us talk.
Once we reached the locker rooms, we changed quickly before meeting Mr. Aizawa outside. Our class grouped together as we waited for instructions. I met up with Izuku, who was standing by the teacher's pet, Gravity Girl, and a floating uniform.
"Hagakure?" I asked.
"Nat! I can't believe you're here! We both made it!" I watched the tracksuit jump up and down excitedly as she spoke. I wasn't sure where to look, so I kept my eye just above the neck of the tracksuit.
"Do you know what we are doing?" I looked around, trying to find any clues. The only thing I saw besides our class was Mr. Aizawa holding what appeared to be a softball.
"How do you know each other?" Izuku asked us. Hagakure stood in front of Izuku and me and told him the story of our meeting before the entrance exams.
"Enough chit-chat," Mr. Aizawa said, turning to face us. "Now, can anyone guess why we are here?" Our class shook their heads, looking around to see if anyone else had an answer. "We are going to do a quirk assessment test."
"A quirk assessment test?" We all exclaimed in unison.
"But orientation…We're gonna miss it!" Gravity girl whined.
"If you want to make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here in the U.A., we're not tethered to tradition. That means I get to run my class however I see fit." He threw the softball up in the air several times, catching it in his hand while talking. "You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives… but you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country's still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn."
Aizawa then looked toward Bakugo. "Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam." Bakugo smiled at the compliment and nodded. "What was your farthest distance throw with a softball in junior high?"
"67 meters, I think," Bakugo replied.
"On a good day," I whispered under my breath. Bakugo must have heard me because I saw his shoulders tense.
"Right," Aizawa said, tossing the softball to Bakugo. "Now, try doing it with your quirk."
Bakugo looked down at the softball before confidently walking to the painted circle on the ground. As he walked, he stretched out his arms to warm himself up for his throw. "Anything goes. Just stay in the circle." Bakugo bent down for several seconds, putting his hands on his knees and stretching his shoulders. "Go on. You're wasting our time."
"All right, man. You asked for it." Bakugo said, rolling his shoulders and readying himself to throw the softball. He brought his knee up to his chest, and I felt the familiar pull of flames as he released the ball while yelling, "Die!".
I watched the ball shoot into the air, propelled by Bakugo's explosion. The ball started to fall hundreds of yards from where we stood. It landed on the ground and rolled a few more feet before stopping. Mr. Aizawa pulled a small device out of his pocket. "All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero."
He turned the device so we could all see the screen. It read 705.2 meters. The class stared at the device in awe. Who would be able to beat that distance?
"Woah, 705 meters? Are you kidding me?" The boy with the black strip in his hair said.
"I want to go!" a girl with pink skin and alien features said. That looks like fun!"
The boy with the weird elbows came and stood beside me, obviously excited. "This is what I'm talking about: using our quirks as much as we want!"
"So this looks fun, huh?" Mr. Aizawa said. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and playtime?" Everyone was silent, listening to Mr. Aizawa's words.
"Idiots. Today, you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately." I felt my stomach churn at this. I looked over at Izuku. Sweat started forming on his brow, and worry was etched on his face. "Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Do you understand? If that's a problem, you can head home right now."
"You can't send one of us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, that isn't fair!" Gravity girl yelled, breaking the silence in our class. For once, I agreed with her. Sending someone home before realizing their potential was nothing short of mean.
"Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry villains, hmm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No, the world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try to combat that unfairness. To be a pro, you must push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond. Plus Ultra style.
Show me it's no mistake that you're here." He smiled sadistically as he spoke. I could feel my heart beating at the thought of possibly being expelled, not to mention the fear I had for Izuku. He couldn't control his power yet, and using One For All would break his body.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked around at my classmates. Their determination was evident as they considered the upcoming trials. Bakugo was walking back to the group with a smile on his face. He circled his shoulder to stretch it out as he walked. As he passed me, I heard him whisper, "Looks like you or the nerd is going home, Sparkler."
For the second time that day, Mr Aizawa started to talk, preventing me from replying to his remark. "Now, then… we are just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin."
Later That Same Day
We had made our way to the first test site. The area resembled a straightaway on track, but instead of 8 lanes, there were only 2, and a camera was set up on the other end. Mr. Aizawa had split us into groups of two for this test. Since there was an odd number of students in our class, it was determined that one of us would have to run alone. A kid with an odd-shaped head volunteered to run by himself. I had been paired with Kirishima for this test. Izuku, however, was less lucky. He was paired with Bakugo.
The first two runners were getting ready to run. A girl with long green hair tied in a bow at the end and a long tongue was against the teacher's pet. I hadn't noticed before, but he appeared to have engines in his calves. The two of them readied themselves, waiting for the signal to start. I heard the sound of the starting whistle and watched as the two took off. Of course, the teacher's pet won, coming in at 3.04 seconds. The frog-like girl did well herself, coming in at 5.58 seconds. I continued to watch the other students go and use their quirks in new and inventive ways.
I watched as the gravity girl used her quirk to lighten her clothes, a boy with a laser coming from his belly button used the propulsion from the beam to move down the track, and the pink girl used an acid-like substance to slide to the finish line. Before I knew it, it was Izuku's turn. He walked up to the starting blocks beside Bakugo. My heart hammered as he bent down, ready to run. The starting whistle blew, and they both took off. Bakugo moved his hands so his palms were facing away from his body behind his back. I felt the familiar pull of flames as he used his explosions to propel his body forward. I focused on Izuku, trying to keep the sparks away from him.
After what seemed like an eternity, the race was finished. Izuku was at the other end of the track, with his hands on his knees and taking deep breaths. Bakugo, however, was looking down at his smoking hands. Once they stopped smoking, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back toward us. Izuku had also recovered and was walking behind Bakugo.
"Good job!" I said to Izuku as he came to stand by me. Izuku didn't respond and looked lost in thought. I could still see the worry in his eyes. I grabbed his hand to get his attention. He snapped out of his daze and looked at me. "It's going to be fine, Izzy!"
Izuku didn't respond but smiled at me before returning his attention to the track to watch everyone else run. I let go of his hand and continued to watch as well. I watched a boy with red and white hair go against a girl with black hair pulled into a high ponytail. I thought that Bakugo had an angry-looking face, but the boy with the two-toned hair had him beaten. His eyes were cold and calculating as he approached the starting line. I looked over at his opponent, standing slightly to the side. I noticed her arm glowing as she held it out in front of her and watched as a pair of rollerblades came out of her arm. She grabbed them and quickly put them on her feet. She went to the starting line to wait for the whistle.
I heard the countdown followed by the whistle signaling the start of the race. The girl in the rollerblades took off down her lane. The boy beside her ran several steps before ice appeared under his feet. I watched as he produced ice out of his right hand, using it to propel him along the ice path. Despite the difference in their quirks, they were relatively evenly matched. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed the finish line, almost neck and neck. The two warmly shook hands before walking back towards the class.
Next up was Kirishima and my race. I took a deep breath and walked up to the starting blocks with Kirishima. I knew I shouldn't be nervous; I just needed to do my best, but I couldn't help feeling this way. Kirishima smiled as I reached him. We knew this race would be pretty even as neither of our quirks would help us. What Kirishima didn't realize was I had been training with All Might.
"Good luck, Nat. You're going to need it." Kirishima joked, winking at me.
"I think that you are the one who will be needing luck." I retorted. Kirishima laughed and got down in the starting blocks. I followed his lead and waited for the sound of the starting whistle. I felt the world around me move in slow motion as the whistle sounded. I could hear my breath as I pushed off the blocks and ran down the track.
I could see Kirishima out of the corner of my eye, keeping pace with me. I willed myself to run faster, pumping my arms and legs as hard as possible. My lungs burned as I pushed myself to go quicker. I watched as Kirishima started to disappear out of my vision. I focused on the finish line just a few steps ahead of me.
"6.98 seconds," the camera announced as I crossed the finish line. I slowed myself down, coming to a jog before stopping. I put my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath, before lying down in the grass. Kirishima came over to me and held out his hand. I took it, and he helped me to my feet while pulling me into a hug.
"Man, you were terrific! I had no idea that you could run that fast! I thought that I had you beat!" Kirishima exclaimed as we walked back toward our class. I put my hands on my head as we walked. I couldn't help but smile at Kirishima.
"You weren't that far behind! I've spent a lot of time running for my training." I responded. Kirishima laughed and patted my back.
"Well, it sure paid off!" We had made it back to our class. Izuku greeted me with a hug. He seemed somewhat back to normal. The gravity girl and teacher's pet had also come over to congratulate me. As I continued to talk to them, I couldn't help but notice Bakugo glaring in our general direction. I rolled my eyes and looked back at the rest of the class.
As the last two students finished running, we headed into the gym. The next test that we would be doing was grip testing. We were instructed to each take a hand-held dynamometer, and when we were ready to squeeze it three times, it would then provide the average strength of our grip. We all walked up, grabbed a machine from the box, and spread out around the gym. I followed Izuku to a remote corner. I looked around and saw the purple-balled kid, the weird elbow boy, and an extremely tall boy with six tentacle-like arms.
"You ready to do this?" I asked Izuku. He nodded his head and looked down at the device hesitantly. "Do you want me to go first?"
"I'm fine," he replied, "Just picturing the egg not exploding."
I couldn't help but giggle at his analogy. "You know," I started looking around to ensure no one was near, "All Might is right. That is a boring way to picture it."
"Nat, be quiet. I'm concentrating." Izuku smiled. I pantomimed zipping my lips and throwing away the imaginary key over my shoulder. Izuku's smile widened. He closed his eyes, and I watched his hand squeeze the machine. Once he had completed his third squeeze, he opened his eyes and looked at the machine. He groaned and dropped his arm. I looked at the machine, which now read 56 kg.
"That's a good score, Izzy," I reassured him.
"Sure, but is it good enough to not be expelled?" Izuku questioned. Before I could respond, excited voices across the gym drew my attention.
"Wow! 540 kg?! You're such a beast!" I looked over to where the voices were coming from. The weird elbow kid and the purple-balled kid were gathered around the giant boy. All three were staring at the giant's device.
"Yeah, like a muscley octopus! Sexy!" The tiny purple creep agreed. I looked back at Izuku. He groaned again under his breath in exasperation. I hurried and finished my test. I managed to get 41 kg on the device. We brought them back to Aizawa before heading back outside with our class.
We went to another track lane with a sand pit at the end. The next test was the long jump. A camera was set up near the middle of the sandpit. It was identical to the one at the 50-meter dash. We were instructed to line up at the end of the track, and we quickly fell into a single-file line. Izuku and I were near the front. The only ones before us were the kids with the navel laser and Bakugo.
I watched as Navel Laser used a similar technique to the 50-meter dash. He sashayed down the track, and once he made it to the end, he turned and faced us. He jumped in the air while activating his laser, which shot him backward and entirely over the sandpit.
"Here's how a real hero does it, Sparkler. You may want to take notes," Bakugo said as he took off down the track. He jumped in the air and used his explosion, propelling himself forward. Before I could stop myself, I reached out my hand to call a small portion of his flame to me. I watched as he wavered for a brief second before leveling back out. I looked down at the small sparking flame before me while Bakugo finished his jump. I was up next.
I stepped onto the track with my small flame. I wasn't sure if this would work, but I felt it was worth a shot. I started to walk down the lane with the fire in tow. Once I made it close to the sandpit, I stopped and pointed my hand down, moving the fire in front of my hand. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
I focused on making the flames bigger and hotter. I felt my temperature rising as I focused. Suddenly, my tiny flame grew with enough force to lift me off the ground. I opened my eyes as I shot upwards. I felt like screaming as I climbed, but I couldn't find enough air. My flames started to fizzle and eventually sputtered out. As this happened, I was finally able to catch my breath.
I looked down as gravity started to pull me toward the ground. I hadn't realized how high I had gotten in that short time. I began to fall, all the while picking up speed. I felt the panic in me start to rise as I fell, unsure how to break my fall. I didn't have any flames left to use as a cushion. I wished at this moment that I was able to produce fire.
I started to think back to my training with All Might, trying to remember if he had ever taught us how to fall safely. It seemed like something that we should have gone over at some point. I remembered a lesson from primary school suddenly. We had been learning about gravity, and our teacher talked about falling. "If you ever find yourself falling, remember, land feen first with bent knees and roll. It also doesn't hurt to keep your body loose by exhaling."
I was already falling feet first; that was one step complete. I exhaled, allowing my body to relax, and bent my knees slightly. I closed my eyes and waited for the ground to meet me. It wasn't more than a second or two when I felt my feet hit the sand. The impact instantly jolted my legs, causing me to stumble. I allowed my body to go with it and rolled onto the sand.
I sat up, taking stock of any injuries. I had some mild pain in my legs, but nothing appeared to be broken. I got to my feet and looked to see how far my jump had made it. I groaned when I noticed I had only made it around 1.5 meters. I stood up slowly and made my way over to where Bakugo was standing. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. I ignored him and turned to watch Izuku go. He walked down the track and jumped into the sandpit. As he landed, he lost his balance, falling back and landing on his butt.
"See Sparkler, Deku, the quirkless loser, was able to make it further than you. Even using that stupid lighter, you couldn't make it further than that nerd!" I clenched my teeth at Bakugo's words. I didn't dare look at his smug face for fear of punching him. Izuku had stood up and made his way over to us.
"Nat, that fire was amazing! I've never seen you make a flame that big! Are you ok, though?" Izuku asked all in one breath.
"I'm fine," I replied. "I don't know how I got the flames that big. I just wanted a good score."
"I know the feeling," Izuku said, looking slightly dejected.
I hadn't thought about Izuku's score. What if he didn't score high enough and was sent home? Could I continue going to U.A. if Izuku wasn't there? Would he continue going if I went home? I shook my head; that wasn't going to happen. Izuku and I were both going to make it and become pro-heroes. How could we fail with All Might on our side?
The rest of our class finished their long jumps, and it was time to move on to the next test: sidestepping. I watched the other students complete the test. Surprisingly, the best score went to the purple-balled kid, Mineta. He made two bigger balls out of the more petite balls on his head. He made sure that the balls were sticking to the ground. He then bounced his body off these, moving faster with every bounce. Once we had all gone, we returned to where we had started for our fifth test: the softball throw.
Bakugo had already completed this test and stood off, judging everyone else. The kid with weird elbows used the tape substance that came out of them to throw the ball like a slingshot. The teacher's pet, Iida, used his engine legs to kick the ball. Next was the gravity girl's turn. She gingerly turned the ball over in her hands before throwing it. We watched as the ball drifted lazily upward. It continued floating for several minutes before it was entirely out of sight.
Mr. Aaziawa turned his measuring device around to show us her score. The device did not contain numbers, and the only image on the screen was an infinity symbol. Everyone stared at the device. I heard several others comment on her throw. Many didn't think the device would register that high of a throw. Gravity girl bounced back to us and stood next to Izuku.
Izuku looked down at the ball in his hand, sweat beading down his face. He slowly started walking up to the circle with his head hung. He may have appeared deep in thought to anyone else, but I knew better. He was worried. As if to cement my fears, Iida started to talk out loud.
" Midoriya isn't doing very well…" He stated. I snapped my head to look at him with narrowed eyes. This guy was on seriously thin ice.
"Well duh," Bakugo responded. I shifted my eyes to glare at him. "He's a quirkless runt!"
"Quirkless?! Have you not heard about what he did during the entrance exam?" Iida asked, defending my brother. This was the first thing he said that made tolerating him easier.
"Huh?" Bakugo questioned. They continued to argue while I turned my back and focused on Izuku. He had to have realized that this was it. The rest of the tests wouldn't be improved by using his quirk. I watched his shoulder move as he took one last deep breath. I saw the glow coming from his arm while he threw his arm and then launched the ball.
"46 meters," The camera announced. That couldn't be right, though. I saw the glow that emanated from him. Why did the ball go such a short distance if he meant to use his quirk? I looked over to Mr. Aziawa and noticed that his appearance had changed. His hair was no longer hanging limply but was standing on end. His scarf was also floating around his head. I looked back at Izuku, who was staring down at his hands. I felt my heart breaking for him.
"I 'erased' your quirk," Aizawa explained. "That ridiculous exam… completely irrational when considering someone like you got in." What did he by that? Someone like Izuku?
"Erased?" Izuku questioned. "Those goggles… of course…! You're the erasure hero, Eraser Head!" Who was Eraser Head? I had never heard of him. I tried to think of a time when Izuku spoke about a pro-hero who could erase quirks. Aizawa pulled Izuku in using his scarf and appeared to be talking to him.
"Seems like he may be giving him some special instructions," Iida said, analyzing the situation much like Izuku.
"Yeah, the instruction to leave," Bakugo said. Before I could make a move toward him, I felt a hand. I looked down at it and then at its owner. It belonged to the boy with the belly button laser.
"I'm here… mon cherie," he said with a French accent.
"Wh.. Who are you?" I questioned before removing his hand. I looked back to Izuku, ignoring the other guy. Aizawa had stepped back and left Izuku alone in the circle. Izuku was looking down, but his demeanor had changed. Instead of his shoulders being slumped, they were pulled back. Even though I couldn't see his face, the determination was evident in his body.
Suddenly, the glow started in Izuku's arm again. I felt the panic growing as I remembered what he had told me happened the last time he had used his quirk. I turned away from him and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see Izuku get hurt. It was always my job to keep him safe. However, the only way to keep him safe in this situation would destroy him. This is all he had ever wanted. I needed to trust All Might would be a good teacher and help him learn to harness this power.
The wind and sound from Izuku's throw reached me at the same time. I glanced around, gauging everyone's reactions. Most were looks of amazement at his throw as he had not shown his quirk up to this point. One face stood out in the crowd. Bakugo had a look of utter disbelief. His brow was scrunched, and his teeth clenched as he stared at Izuku. I turned around to see how bad his injuries were for myself. Much to my surprise, his arm looked fine, but I could still see the tears welling in his eyes. I looked down at his clenched fist and noticed his index finger was already bruised.
"Mr Aizawa… You see…? I'm still standing." I heard Izuku say; the determination was evident in his voice. Aizawa smiled at his statement, whispering something under his breath. He turned his device to us, showing us the distance of Izuku's throw. 705.3 meters! I felt my mouth fall open. He had beat Bakugo's distance by 0.1 meters.
"He threw it over 700 meters!" The kid with the black stripe in his hair exclaimed.
"Nice, he's finally showing us his true power!" Gravity girl added.
"But his finger appears to be broken now," Iida analyzed. "Just like in the exam. This quirk is very odd."
"It wasn't a very pretty throw," Frenchie commented.
At that moment, I felt so proud of my brother. In such a short time since receiving his quirk, he was already showing inklings of control. He was working so hard to catch up to everyone else. This throw solidified in my mind the potential Izuku had. I smiled as I thought about the possibilities for our future. I felt the pull of the fire before I heard the explosions. I looked to where Bakugo was just in time to see him take off towards Izuku.
"Hey!" Bakugo yelled, explosions rolling off his hands. Out of pure instinct, I started to pull the fire toward me to protect Izuku. This, however, did not stop Bakugo's pursuit to make it to my brother. "Deku, you bastard! Tell me how you did that, or you're dead!"
Bakugo was almost to Izuku when he was stopped by a white piece of fabric ensnaring his face. I noticed that his explosions had also stopped. I looked over at Mr. Aizawa and saw his hair standing on end again, and his scarf was what kept Bakugo from reaching Izuku. With some effort, Bakugo turned his head to look back at where the scarf had come from. "Why the hell is your damn scarf so strong?"
"Because it's a capture weapon made of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy. Stand down." Mr. Aizawa said while continuing to hold Bakugo back. "It'd be wise to avoid making me use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye."
Our class all muttered our agreement for how amazing his quirk was. Mr. Aizawa pulled his scarf back and swept his hair out of his face as it fell. "You're wasting my time now. Whoever's next can next can step up."
Izuku sidestepped around Bakugo and headed back to the group. He smiled as he approached us. He held his hand but didn't seem too phased by his injury.
"Ouch…" Gravity girl said as he approached. "Is your finger ok?"
"Ah… yeah…" Izuku said, obviously flustered. He turned toward me, and I saw the frown pull at the corner of his lips. "Nat, where did you get all that fire?"
I looked down at my hands, only to see them covered in a sparking flame. I went to shake my hands, hoping to extinguish the fire, but I got an idea before I did. "Well, someone has to show you boys it's not all about power."
I bent down and picked up my dropped ball when I tried to stop Bakugo. I watched as the ball became engulfed in flames as I made my way up to the circle. Bakugo still stood frozen at the edge of the circle. I stopped beside him, tossing my flaming ball in the air. "You may want to take notes, Boom Boy."
Bakugo looked between me and my ball. After a second, he realized where the flames had come from. He glared at me in a way that let me know I was dead. It was worth it. I stepped into the circle and took a deep breath. I knew that I could do this. I brought my knee up to my chest as Bakugo had done and threw the ball as hard as possible. As soon as the ball left my hand, I focused on keeping the ball afloat with the flames.
After a while, I started losing track of the flaming ball and felt my control weakening. Once I could no longer see the flames, I felt the pull vanish. Mr. Aizawa's device dinged, letting me know the ball had fallen. Mr. Aizawa turned the device around to show my distance. 504.7 meters! I smiled, making my way back to Izuku and the others. As I walked back, I looked over at Bakugo. He had an angry scowl on his face. I also continued to glance in Izuku's direction.
I stayed near Izuku as the rest of our class finished their throws. We spent the rest of our day finishing our last three tests: seated toe touch, sit-ups, and distance running. We moved back into the gym for the following two events. We were split into pairs, and I partnered with Hagakure. I smiled as her gloves and uniform bounced over to me.
"Yay!" She exclaimed. "We get to be partners. I'm so excited!"
I nodded my head in agreement. We completed our sit-ups first. Mr. Aizawa set a one-minute timer, and we would see how many sit-ups we could do during that time while our partner counted. After one partner finished, we switched. Next was the seated toe touch. In junior high, this was one of my favorite tests. As a child, my mom had me do gymnastics to allow me to socialize without my brother. I always liked going to practice with my friends, but my mom stopped sending me once Dad had to leave. The flexibility, however, did not go away. Hagakagure and I finished rather quickly and watched as the others struggled for an extra cm. Once everyone was done, we provided our scores to Mr. Aizawa and headed outside for the last event.
We all made our way to the track and prepared for the distance run. We had twelve minutes to get as far as we could. Most started strong but ran out of steam around six minutes in. Before I knew it, the twelve minutes were over, and our quirk assessment was done. I lay down on the grass as I caught my breath. Izuku made his way over to me and lay down in the grass by my side. We lay in silence, reviewing the events in our minds as we waited for Mr. Aizawa to finish tallying our scores. Finally, Mr. Aizawa returned.
"All right, time to give you your results. I've ranked you all from the best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just put up the whole list. It's not worth going over each score." Mr. Aizawa said. He took the device he had been using all day, and a list appeared in front of him. I quickly scanned the list for my name. I found it in the number nine spot. I had passed! I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, but a pit was still in my stomach. I scanned the list for Izuku's name. I found it next to number 21. My stomach dropped. Izuku was in last place and was going to be expelled.
No, that couldn't happen, not with All Might here. The school wouldn't allow it. This was only the first day! But I had a sinking feeling that Mr. Aizawa could and would expel anyone. I looked over at Izuku. His eyes were closed, but I could tell he held back tears. I took his noninjured hand in an attempt to comfort him.
"And I was lying, no ones going home," Aizawa stated. Izuku's eyes snapped open, and he looked at Aizawa in disbelief. "That was just a rational deception to ensure you gave it your all in the test!"
Several others in our class were mumbling angrily. Others were too stunned to speak. All of us were staring at Aizawa, who had a creepy smile. A girl with jet-black hair pulled into a high ponytail spoke up. "I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out. I'm sorry. I guess I probably should have said something."
"Yeah, you should have!" I said in sync with another girl with earphones coming out of her earlobes.
"That was pretty nerve-wracking, huh?" The boy with the weird elbows asked as he came to stand next to me. I nodded in agreement at his statement.
"You have no idea," I replied.
"I'm always down for a challenge," Kirishima said, walking up to my other side. "I'm Kirishima, by the way." He introduced himself to the other boy.
"Hanta Sero," he replied.
"Hi Sero, I'm Natsuki Midoryia. But everyone just calls me Nat." I smiled as I introduced myself to Sero.
"That's it. We're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom and read it before tomorrow morning," Mr. Aizawa said. Groans and sighs were emitted throughout the students.
"Midoryia," Mr. Aizawa continued. Izuku and I looked at him, but he was walking toward Izuku. He handed him a pink piece of paper. "Take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are going to be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared."
Izuku nodded and made his way back toward the locker room. My mouth went dry at the thought of tomorrow being harder. I swallowed the panic. Izuku and I would be fine. He was intelligent and adept at dealing with villains. This thought did help to calm my nerves. Sero pulled me from my thoughts.
"Are you two related!" he questioned.
"Yes, he's my twin brother," I answered.
"Your twins?!" Sero exclaimed. "I heard he took down that zero pointer with one punch during the entrance exam!"
Did everyone already know about this? I nodded my head at Sero. "Yep, that's him."
"But he isn't the only one who took one down, right, Nat? We also took one down. I'd say we are all pretty manly." I blushed at Kirishima's comment; he, on the other hand, was beaming with pride.
"That's awesome! Your parents must be some amazing pros!" Sero paused for a second. "Wait, aren't twins supposed to be identical?"
"Only if you're identical twins. We are fraternal twins." I explained. This was not the first time we had been asked this. Bakugo was the first to ask how we were twins if we didn't look alike. It was at one of our birthday parties. He had asked why we didn't have separate parties on our own birthdays. We had tried to explain to him that we were twins and shared the same birthday. He had argued that twins look the same and our eyes were the only thing that was similar about us. That night, we asked our mom why we didn't look the same. This is when we learned what fraternal twins were.
"As for our parents, they aren't pros as far as I know. My dad can breathe fire, and my mom can attract small objects to her. My dad's over in America doing something, I think, with money. Mom mends and alters clothing." Sero looked at me with disbelief as I explained my parents to him.
"I can't believe that you both made it into U.A. The odds are nonexistent." Sero's demeanor suddenly changed. "Um... well, it was nice to meet you, but I have to head home. We will talk more tomorrow." Sero quickly turned and walked back toward the locker room.
"Was it just me, or was that weird?" I asked Kirishima about Sero's sudden departure.
"It's not just you," Kirishima responded.
"Get lost, shitty hair. I need to have a word with Sparkler." A voice growled from behind us. I rolled my eyes and turned to face Bakugo. That explained why Sero had taken off. Kirishima also turned around to face him.
"He doesn't have to listen to you. And not that you would know anything about it, but he is my friend, and if you have to say anything to me, you can say it in front of him." This was mostly true, but I was also worried that Bakugo would pick a fight, and I wasn't confident I could take him one-on-one.
"Whatever," he growled. "Don't ever pull something like that again. Next time, there won't be any talking about it. Got it?"
"Whatever you say, Boom Boy," I replied. I started to walk away, leaving him and Kirishima frozen. I turned and waved at the pair. "Bye, Kirishima! See you tomorrow."
I turned back around and walked to the locker room. I returned to my uniform and packed my gym clothes into my backpack. I headed out of the locker room and toward the entrance to the school to wait for Izuku. As I rounded the corner, I was surprised to see Izuku waiting and talking with Iida. I didn't think I had taken that long, but I started to make my way toward the duo. As I approached, their backs were to me, and I could hear Iida discussing today's events with Izuku.
"Our own instructor deceived us like that!" He was obviously upset with Mr. Aizawa's deception that he would send someone home when he didn't mean it.
"You beat me out here," I said, causing Izuku and Iida to jump and turn around. "How is your finger?"
"It feels much better now, thanks to recovery girl! What have you been doing?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, I was just having a friendly conversation with Kirishima and Bakugo," I replied. Izuku raised his eyebrow, knowing a conversation with Bakugo was anything but friendly. Before he could respond, a voice shouted to us from the school.
"Hey, wait up, you guys!" I turned and saw the gravity girl walking toward us. "Headed to the station?"
"Ah, infinity girl," Iida stated.
"I'm Ochako Uraraka! Um.. your Tenya Iida," she said, pointing at him, "and Midoryia… um… Nat and Deku, right!?" I was surprised she knew my name, even more so that she thought Izuku's name was Deku.
"Deku?!" Izuku and I said in unison. He was obviously 6thinking the same thing I was.
"Oh…um…During the test, that Bakugo guy said… 'Deku, you bastard!' right?" She seemed flustered, still thinking that this was his name.
"Um… My real name is Izuku…" Izuku stammered, trying to be polite but ensuring she knew his real name.
" 'Deku' is just what Bakugo calls him to be rude," I added. It was clear that the interaction was making Izuku very uncomfortable. I hoped that explaining this to her would help her understand that it is not something he enjoyed being called.
"That's unsportsmanlike!" Iida said, taken aback by Bakugo's childhood nickname for Izuku.
"Oh, I didn't realize that. I'm sorry," Ochako said putting her hand behind her head out of embarrassment. "But you know what, I like Deku. It would make a great hero name! Plus, I think it's kinda cute!"
"Deku it is then!" Izuku exclaimed. His face was red and sweaty. Obviously, he liked this girl, but I didn't want to bring that up with him, not yet, anyway.
"Just like that! Didn't Natsuki say that it was an insult?" Iida shouted.
"Paradigm shift! My whole world is upside down!" Izuku said, covering his face with his hands and turning away from Ochako. I couldn't help but laugh at the conversation and Izuku's reaction.
"Wait, what?" Ochako asked, confused at where the conversation had gone.
"Let's go before we miss the train," I said through laughter. We headed off U.A.'s campus and toward the train station. We had all survived the first day at U.A. with only minor injuries. Not only that, but we were making friends. What we didn't know was that this was only the start. There would be no time to rest. This was just the beginning, and the real work would begin tomorrow.
There you have it—the end of Chapter 4! It was just under 10,000 words! At the time of this writing, it has been exactly one month since the last chapter was posted. I figured this would be one of the difficult chapters, but it became easier once I got into it and started to think of all the ways that others would use their quirks for the exam. It also helps that recently, I got my first pair of glasses that have reduced my headaches for the first time in 22 years! This allows me to be on the computer longer and write more.
I am still determining whether the next few episodes will be one or two chapters. Once we get to the part where I plan the break, we shall see how long the story is, and I will keep going if needed. I wonder if any of you got the hints I threw out about Natsukis power and where I plan to take it.
As always, please follow and leave a comment. Your words help encourage me and keep me going on days when I don't feel I am good enough to put my work out there. Until next time, remember to go beyond PLUS ULTRA!