Ch. 17: Quirk Assessment Test

Before we begin, here's a quick update for the voice cast with new characters:

* Dani Fenton: Kari Wahlgren (EN); Sumire Uesaka (JP)

* Hilda Shirakabe: Erica Mendez (EN); Mariko Nagai (JP)

* Ethel Ginzan: Lucy Doyle (EN); Atsumi Tanezaki (JP)

* Orihime Yamasaki: Christina Kelly (EN); Satomi Akesaka (JP)

* Asuka Koukawa: Kate Bristol (EN); Juri Nagatsuma (JP)

* Rebecca Riku: Christine Marie Cabanos (EN); Megumi Hayashibara (JP)

And one more thing, for those who have read The Devil Fruit Hero, Hilda here is not All Might's successor.

Inside the assembly hall, the 24 students from Class 1-B were in the stands along with the other first-year students, chatting amongst themselves. Asia looked toward the empty seats, where Class 1-A was supposed to be.

'It shouldn't take them this long. So where are they?' Asia asked herself, looking around for Class 1-A. "Do you see 1-A, Itsuka?" She asked the orange-haired girl sitting next to her.

Itsuka shook her head. "No."

"Is something wrong? You look like you're looking for someone." Setsuna spoke from behind them.

"I'm just wondering where's Class 1-A? I can't find Izuku and our other friends from that class," Asia answered, looking around for the other class.

"Maybe they're running late," Yui suggested. "First-day delays and that stuff."

"Back up! 'Izuku?'" Setsuna asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're that close with the guy, huh?" She said with a sly smile, causing Asia to blush.

Meanwhile, over at the area for Class 1-D, there were the other first-year members of Sona's Peerage: Saji, Ruruko, Reya, and Tsubasa.

"Hey, you see Momo and Tomoe's class anywhere?" Ruruko asked.

"Nope. Just empty seats," Tsubasa replied, eyeing the vacant seats meant for 1-A.

Meanwhile, Rias and Sona were having a similar conversation over at 2-C.

"Sona, you don't think…" Rias said.

"It's already this late, there's no point in questioning it. It's just the first day and our servants have their work cut out for them," Sona replied, adjusting her glasses.

"You can't send one of us home!" Ochaco protested. "I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, that isn't fair!"

"Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry Villains, hmm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities?" Aizawa questioned back. "No! The world is full of unfairness. It's a Hero's job to try to combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a Pro, you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink!"

"He can't be serious. He's probably bluffing," Momo said under her breath.

"I hope you're right about that," Tomoe whispered back.

"For the next three years, U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond. Plus Ultra style," Aizawa continued as he made a "come on" gesture with his fingers, daring those brave enough to step up to the plate. "Show me it's no mistake that you're here!"

'I don't approve of this kind of hazing, but U.A.'s the top Hero program. I have no choice.' Tenya took a sip of orange juice to properly fuel up his Quirk.

'Time to blow these nerds away!' Katsuki stretched his arms.

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

Test 1: 50-meter Dash

The students were led to a pair of 50-meter-long tracks with a camera bot at the finish to track their time.

The first ones to step up for the test were Tenya and Tsuyu, taking their positions at the starting line.

Using the engines in his calves to increase his speed, Tenya sprinted his way to the finish line in 3.04 seconds. Tsuyu hopped like a frog the whole way, managing to reach the finish line in 5.58 seconds.

'At 50 meters, I can only get up to third gear…' Tenya noted as he came to a stop.

[Tenya Iida. His Quirk: Engine. As you can see, his legs are pretty dang fast!]

"Well, he's definitely in his element. But speed won't help him in every test," Aizawa observed.

The next pair were Ochaco and Ojiro.

"I'll lighten up my clothes. Oh, and my shoes too!" Ochaco tagged her clothes and shoes, her fingertips glowing pink as she did so.

[Ochaco Uraraka. Her Quirk: Zero Gravity. She can nullify the gravitational pull of anything she touches. But if she uses her power too much, she totally hurls!]

Ojiro, using his tail to spring himself forward, managed to reach the end by 5.49 seconds, while Ochaco came after him at 7.15 seconds.

'Well, at least that's faster than junior high!' Ochaco thought in relief as she brought both sets of her fingertips together.

The third pair consisted of Mina and Yuga, the latter having a confident grin on his face.

"Nice attempts, mon ami. But you're just not showing enough panache," Yuga boasted while having his back facing the track with his arms wrapped around his head while Mina got into position. The moment the camera bot announced to start, Yuga jumped into the air and fired a laser from his navel to shoot himself forward ahead of Mina. "Look at how I shine!"

[Yuga Aoyama. His Quirk: Navel Laser. That's right! A belly button laser! But he can't shoot it forever.]

After a second of firing his laser, Yuga stopped, and he fell to the ground, giving Mina, who was barefoot to use her acid to skate her way to the finish, a chance to get ahead of him. Yuga quickly got up and fired another beam to fly backward to the finish, making it at 5.51 seconds, though Mina already finished before him.

"Shooting my beautiful beam for more than a second hurts my tummy," Yuga said as if it was something to brag about, with stars flashing around him.

'What a tool…' A few of the other students thought.

The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh pairs to go consisted of Koji and Ethel, Rikido and Mezo, Eijiro and Denki, and Hanta and Fumikage, whose times were all within ranges of 5.19-7.22 seconds.

The eighth pair of Hilda and Kyoka then got in position. Despite what one might expect of someone of Hilda's frame, she was quick on her thick legs as she reached the goal within 4.21 seconds, while Kyoka made it at 6.28 seconds.

"Damn, how are you so quick on your feet?" Kyoka asked.

"Never underestimate Fat Power!" Hilda said while putting her arms to her sides, proudly emphasizing her ginormous gut.

[Hilda Shirakabe. Her Quirk: Fat Power. She gains more power the more body fat she has. The bigger she is, the stronger, faster, and more resilient she gets!]

'Testing the upper limits of their powers helps me assess their room for growth. It becomes clear what they can and can't do. Their true potential…' Aizawa noted as he observed more students take part in the test before turning to the eleventh and second-to-last pair: Katsuki and Izuku. The former sent a quick glare at the latter, who refused to be intimidated by it. 'Sometimes, Pros have to be creative in order to succeed…'

"Burst Speed!" Katsuki set off his explosions behind him to give himself speed boosts. He smirked, confident he would beat Deku… until he saw that Deku was already in front of him.

["3.25 seconds!"] The camera bot announced Izuku's time. ["3.95 seconds!"] It then declared Katsuki's time.

Katsuki's jaw dropped in disbelief, though it was less about Deku beating him, rather, it was Deku himself. Izuku had a pair of green, leathery wings with scales, which were also visible on his arms and sides of his face. 'What the hell was THAT?! If he had a Quirk, he would've gotten it when we were kids! This is impossible! He's up to something! I'm getting to the bottom of this!'

Aizawa also took notice of Izuku's appearance, though he was merely wondering about the color change of Izuku's scales compared to the Entrance Exam where they were red. Then he noticed that Bakugo seemed ready to blow a gasket.

"HEY! DEKU, YOU BASTARD! TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD!" Katsuki shouted, startling everyone as he stomped his way toward the demidrake. But before he could get his hands on Izuku, Aizawa's scarf flew out to grab Katsuki and hold him back. He tried to move, but the scarf was too strong, and when he tried to use his Quirk, nothing happened. "What?! Why the hell is your scarf… So damn strong?!" Katsuki turned to Aizawa and asked.

"Because it's a Capture Weapon made out of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy," Aizawa explained; his hair was standing up and his eyes glowed piercing red.

"Stand down. What exactly were you hoping to achieve trying to attack him like that? Attacking a fellow student outside of training calls for serious consequences. Understand?" Aizawa's voice was low, yet deliberate. As Katsuki reluctantly eased up, Aizawa retracted his scarf and blinked.

As the cloth returned to Aizawa, Izuku noticed a pair of yellow goggles around Aizawa's neck, and the way Kacchan seemed to be unable to use his Quirk started connecting dots in his head.

"Those goggles… I know you!" Izuku said in realization. "You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

[Class 1-A's homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. His Quirk: Erasure. He can erase the Quirk of anyone he looks at. But the effects end when he blinks.]

"Eraser? Who's that?" Hanta asked.

Oh, I've heard of him. I think he works on the down-low," Tsuyu said.

"I've heard he's the type who dislikes the media," Ethel added.

"It would be wise to avoid making me use my Quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eyes," Aizawa said. "Enough wasting time. Mineta, Meguri, you're up."

The twelfth and last pair of Mineta and Tomoe took their positions. The grape-headed midget had a perverted grin on his face as he focused on Tomoe's butt before a sharp glare from the Devil girl caused him to get scared and stop.

As soon as the robot called start, Tomoe curled up into a ball before turning into an actual, blue ball about 1.2 meters big with small spikes, rolling with great speed to reach the finish line in 3.19 seconds, changing back right after crossing.

[Tomoe Meguri. Her Quirk: Rollout. She can transform into an armored, spiked ball that can roll around with great momentum and maneuverability. Not only that, she's super tough as well.]

As for Mineta, he plucked several spheres from his head and threw them on the path in front before bouncing off them like mini-trampolines to get to the other side. Unfortunately for him, it took up to 7.55 seconds to reach the end, the longest out of everyone, his short stature certainly did him no favors either.

Test 2: Grip Strength

In a gym, the students were given handheld devices to grasp and squeeze as hard as they could to measure their grip strength.

Izuku, with his Boosted Gear equipped, squeezed his grip tester and got 475.6 kilograms. Pretty good, if he said so himself.

"Wow!" Hanta's voice shouted in awe. "You hit 540 kilograms?! You're such a beast!"

"Yeah, like a muscly octopus!" Mineta added.

Izuku smiled, his score wasn't the top, but at least he wasn't doing badly.

Test 3: Standing Long Jump

Yuga fired his beam to shoot himself over the sandbox. Katsuki used his explosions to blast himself over as well. Ochaco managed to float herself over the sandbox, though she ended up having to fight the urge to vomit. Momo created a set of spring shoes for a jump boost, then a makeshift glider to glide over the sandbox. Dani, with her appearance like back in the Entrance Exam, flew over the sand pit. It was a cinch for Izuku to do the same by using his wings.

The lowest scorer was once again Mineta, his height once again working against him, combined with only being allowed to bounce off his ball on the initial platform, without much forward momentum.

Test 4: Repeated Side Steps

In this test, Mineta did much better, forming a clump of his balls on both his sides and using them to repeatedly bounce off them at a rapid pace, his short height actually made this easier as well.

Tomoe did quite well also, her Knight attribute making her quick on her feet. Tenya showed his skills by firing off his leg engines at the right times to get the optimal score as well. Hilda also showed her skills with her nimble leg movements, once again defying what one might expect from someone of her stature. Izuku managed to find a way to use his wings to help control his movements.

Test 5: Ball Throw

Because he had already done the ball throw, Katsuki was exempt from having to do it again.

Some students managed to get creative with their Quirks such as Momo creating a rocket launcher to fire the ball out of, Ojiro using his muscular tail to throw the ball, Dani enhancing the ball with green energy to make it fly farther, and Ethel equipping a big silver vambrace over her arm to enhance her throw.

Izuku once again equipped his Boosted Gear to give himself a few Boosts before throwing the ball, which was sent flying 704.1 meters.

"HA! You lose, Deku!" Katsuki bragged, considering his own score of 705.2 meters.

"Wha?!"

He sure did… by 1.1 meters. It's small, but it was enough for Katsuki to feel like he had reasserted his dominance. He still wanted to let Deku have it, but Eraserhead wasn't going to have any of that, so he would take whatever he could get, no matter how small.

Then, Ochaco took her turn, using her Quirk to make the ball weightless before throwing it high and allowing it to fly off in the air, where it kept going, and going, and going… until it just became a twinkle in the sky.

Aizawa simply held up his phone to show Ochaco's score, which displayed the infinity symbol.

"INFINITY?!" The class asked in disbelief.

"That's insane! How is that possible?!" Denki questioned.

Katsuki was irritated that right as he managed to assert his dominance over Deku, he quickly got upstaged by someone else.

Test 6: Distance Run

For this test, everyone ran laps all at once to see how long and far they could run. And of course, some used their powers to make things easier for themselves.

Izuku, thanks to his physical training and the Boosted Gear, was keeping up rather well. Katsuki used his explosions to boost himself forward. Tomoe was in her ball form as she rolled across the track. Tenya fired his engines to boost himself and decrease the strain of using his legs. Shoto made himself some ice to keep himself cool as he ran. Momo created a portable electric fan for the same purpose.

The first to give up was Mineta, followed by Toru. Eventually, the last ones to quit were Shoto, Momo, Tomoe, Hilda, Katsuki, Tenya, and lastly, Izuku.

Test 7: Seated Toe-Touch

Tsuyu easily performed best out of everyone, thanks to her frog-like biology making her more flexible.

"Almost got it," Momo huffed as she leaned forward, her large breasts pressing down on her legs.

"Ugh. Just my luck…" Hilda lamented. This time, being fat actually worked against her as one might assume, with her big tummy getting in her way as she tried reaching for her toes.

Meanwhile, Mineta's eyes were fixed on the two, specifically the way the former's boobs were squished against her legs, and how the latter's ass was standing out, hoping he could see a butt crack slip. "The Hero Course is the best…" Mineta said, drool starting to spill out of his mouth. However, his perverted fantasies came to an end when Aizawa slapped him over the head to make him pay attention.

Test 8: Sit-ups

There wasn't really much anyone could do with their Quirks in this exercise, so they mostly just relied on their physical abilities, except Shoto, who once again used his ice for cooling himself, and Mineta, who stuck a ball where his head would go down so that he could bounce off it.

During this, Katsuki sent a heated glare at Izuku while matching him going up and down.

[Have you noticed Bakugo giving you a death glare this whole time?]

'I noticed. Unfortunately…' Izuku replied mentally to Ddraig's question.

With all eight tests done, the students were finally able to catch a break, some were completely exhausted, while others were doing fairly well.

"Alright, time to give you your results," Aizawa said as he stepped in front of his class. "I've ranked all of you from best to worst, you should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list. It's not worth going over each individual score."

Aizawa then tapped his phone and a holographic screen with the results came up.

1. Momo Hanakai

2. Shoto Todoroki

3. Izuku Midoriya

4. Katsuki Bakugo

5. Hilda Shirakabe

6. Dani Fenton

7. Tenya Iida

8. Fumikage Tokoyami

9. Mezo Shoji

10. Tomoe Meguri

11. Eijiro Kirishima

12. Mina Ashido

13. Ethel Ginzan

14. Mashirao Ojiro

15. Ochaco Uraraka

16. Koji Koda

17. Rikido Sato

18. Tsuyu Asui

19. Yuga Aoyama

20. Hanta Sero

21. Denki Kaminari

22. Kyoka Jiro

23. Toru Hagakure

24. Minoru Mineta

'Third place, that's not bad…' Izuku thought in relief.

[You once again scored higher than Bakugo, though I'm not sure that's entirely a good thing…]

Indeed, Katsuki looked ready to explode seeing how he scored lower than Deku, causing some students to back away in fear. Izuku made a mental note to keep his distance from Kacchan for a while.

"WAAH!" Everyone turned back to Mineta, who was now openly sobbing. "I'M SO SCREWED! I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SEE ANY OF THE GIRLS IN THEIR COSTUMES!"

Most of the class, especially the girls, looked at him with a deadpan expression. Good to know he had his priorities straight.

"Quit your whining…" Everyone suddenly turned to Aizawa. "You're not getting expelled."

Mineta sniffled, daring himself to hope for salvation. "R-Really?"

"I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure it out. Honestly, what kind of teacher would expel someone on their first day?" Momo sighed.

"Yeesh, couldn't you have mentioned that earlier?" Kyoka asked.

"Whew. I thought he was serious about expelling the one who came last place," Toru said in relief, considering she was so close to being last place herself.

"Seems you all need to work on your listening skills," Aizawa suddenly cut into the conversation.

The entire class went silent as they turned toward their teacher, who once again had his dreaded Totoro grin. "My exact words were, 'Whoever fails to show their potential will be expelled.' I never said anything about last place, did I?"

"Okay, but if you're not expelling anyone, then that means we all did well, right?" Ochaco asked, daring to sound hopeful.

"It's because you all worked hard to show me you're serious about being here that I'm not kicking anyone out. Otherwise, I would've expelled those who didn't take this seriously. Hell, even the entire class if I felt like it."

"Seriously!?" The class shouted together.

[HAHAHAHA! He may look like a hobo, but I'm gonna like your teacher!]

'Well, good for you then,' Izuku nervously replied.

Tomoe turned to Momo to whisper into her ear. "What was that about a bluff?"

"I've… been wrong before…" Momo sheepishly admitted while blushing and tapping her index fingers together.

"Many think all they need to get into U.A. is a powerful Quirk and good grades. But Quirks can only get you so far. They're useless on their own without the mindset to use them creatively… or the potential to grow. It's our job as teachers to teach you all to be Heroes. But what's not talked about often is the dangers of being Heroes. Heroes can get crippled, or worse, lose their lives on the job, that's a fact. If you think being a Hero with a strong Quirk is all you need for an easy life, I'm afraid you'll be only heading to an early grave." Aizawa lectured. "Remember this. Just because I don't kick you out today, that doesn't mean I can't do it later if I feel like you're not taking this seriously and taking it all for granted." He stared all of them down as they all trembled before him. "Am I understood?"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"Good, that's it. We're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning," Aizawa then turned around and started heading back to campus. "Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared."

A lot of the students' legs gave out and they collapsed on the ground, still reeling from the experience of figurative near-death. In the end, the group didn't have much to say as they all marched back to the classroom.

Once the 1-A students got back to class, they picked up their syllabuses, and soon, the first day came to an end and everyone started heading home. Izuku, Mina, and Eijiro were walking together out of the school building.

"Man, that was something for a first day, right?" Mina said.

"Yeah, if it was this intense the first day, I can't imagine how tomorrow will be," Izuku said.

"I'm down for a challenge. I say bring it," Eijiro said.

Then, Izuku suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder from behind and when he turned around, he saw Tenya. "Ah! Hey there, Iida!"

"Apologies if I scared you, I just wanted to congratulate you on scoring third place in the test," Tenya greeted.

"Eh, it's not that big of a deal," Izuku shrugged.

"You three seem close to each other. I take it you were already friends before U.A.?" Tenya asked.

"Well, Kirishima and I went to the same middle school. Then we met Midoriya a few months before the Entrance Exam and after this and that, we became fast friends," Mina replied.

"That's one way to put it."

The group looked behind them to see Rias, with Akeno and Yumi behind her, coming up to them. "Oh, Buchou!" Izuku, Mina, and Eijiro all greeted.

"Buchou?" Iida asked.

"Glad to see you made it through your first day in one piece," Akeno greeted.

"You all got lucky," Rias stated. "I heard that Mr. Aizawa expelled an entire class last year."

"That's… comforting," Mina muttered.

"Hello, you must be our friends' classmate," Yumi said to Tenya, greeting him with her warm smile.

"Oh, yes. Where are my manners? I am Tenya Iida. A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is ours. I'm Yumi Kiba, 1st-year General Studies, Class 1-C."

"Rias Gremory, 2nd-year General Studies. 2-D."

"From the same class, Akeno Himejima."

"Upperclassmen? An honor to meet you, Gremory and Himejima!" Tenya greeted, doing a perfect bow.

"Well, aren't you formal?" Rias said.

"My, what a gentleman," Akeno added.

"Izuku! Everyone!" They turned back to the building to see Asia heading their way while waving, and behind her were Itsuka and Chacha.

"Hey, Asia, Kendo, Chacha," Izuku greeted. He already figured Chacha was in 1-B when he didn't see her in 1-A.

"Oh, are these friends of yours as well?" Tenya asked.

"We are," Itsuka replied. "We're in Class 1-B."

"I see, so you're some of our fellow Hero Course students," Tenya said. "I'm amazed at such a big gathering of pre-U.A. acquaintances, especially the fact that two of them are our upperclassmen."

"Uh, well, you know, stuff happened," Izuku simplified.

"Oh, Izuku, there's no need to be shy. Tell him how close we are," Rias said as she gave him a hug, burying his head into her bosom.

Asia and Chacha stared slack-jawed at what they saw, jealousy swelling inside the Devil girls. Yumi, Akeno, and Mina chuckled in amusement. Tenya, Eijiro, and Itsuka blushed at the sight. Other nearby students also saw the greenette's face being pressed into the redhead's bountiful assets, with many of the males and even a few females sporting envious glares.

"B-Buchou, stop! People are staring!" Asia begged.

Chuckling, Rias released Izuku from her embrace, who looked lost from reality with his face all red and his eyes swirling.

"Izuku, are you okay?" Chacha asked.

"Imma… okay…" Izuku replied while in a daze.

"Heeeeey!" Ochaco's voice called out as she raced toward the group. "Wait up! Are you going to the station? I'll join you guys!"

'It's her again!' Izuku noted.

"Someone else from Class A?" Itsuka guessed.

"You're the infinity girl, Ochaco Uraraka?" Tenya asked as Ochaco caught up to them.

"Yep. That's me!" Ochaco replied. "Let's see, you are Tenya Iida, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido…" Ochaco started identifying her classmates by name as she finally turned to Izuku. "And your name is… Deku, right? Midoriya?"

"Deku?!" Izuku shouted in disbelief. Asia, Rias, and Chacha also couldn't help but be annoyed at Izuku being called that name which Bakugo used.

"Uh, yeah. Isn't that what Bakugo called you?" Ochaco asked innocently. "During the fitness test, he said…"

She then imagined a cartoonish image of an angry Katsuki shouting, "DEKU, YOU BASTARD!"

"Right?"

"Uh, well, my name's actually Izuku. Deku is what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me," Izuku explained.

"That's unsportsmanlike," Tenya commented.

"No kidding," Rias said.

"Oh, I didn't realize that. I'm sorry," Ochaco apologized. "But you know what? I like Deku. It could make a great Hero name! Plus, I think it sounds kinda cute," she said with a smile.

"DEKU, IT IS!" Izuku suddenly declared, his face all red.

This caught everyone by surprise that Izuku just suddenly accepted the nickname that was supposed to be degrading.

"Just like that? Weren't you saying that it was an insult?!" Tenya asked.

"Izuku? Is something wrong?" Rias asked.

"His face is all red," Akeno commented.

"Paradigm shift! My whole world is upside-down!" Izuku tried his best to explain as he covered his red blushing face with his hands.

"Wait, wha?" Ochaco asked, wondering what Izuku was going through.

Upon seeing the way Uraraka made Izuku blush, Rias, Asia, and Chacha were all thinking the same thing. 'Love rival…'

"Anyway, if you are heading to the station, I would like to join you as well," Tenya said.

"Sure thing, though we still have someone else we need to pick up," Rias said. "There are no clubs since it's the first day, so we're completely free for the evening."

"I actually know a good hangout place nearby," Chacha spoke up. "We can all go together."

"Great. Lead the way," Akeno said.

After meeting up with Koneko, the group departed from the campus, chatting about their eventful first day.

'I survived my first day at U.A. and made some new friends too. All in all, today was a good day,' Izuku thought as he walked.

And with that, the Quirk Assessment Test is over, and everyone manages to stay (even Mineta). Considering Izuku had a power he could control better here, there was no way he was getting last place.

And speaking of Izuku, he's already made some new friends, one of whom helps to see his Deku nickname in a new light, and who knows, might end up being more than just a friend, if Rias, Asia, and Chacha's thoughts are of any indication.

Tomorrow will be quite a day for our Heroes-in-training as they officially begin their tenure in the Hero Course.

See you next time. Go beyond! Plus Ultra!