Chapter 13: Hello, Why don't you Introduce Yourself?
Opening the door, he finds that despite its size, it slid open with little effort from him, but his attention was taken by the other occupant in the room, already at their desk as they quietly read a book, their face as passive and serene as it had been the day of the exam.
Walking up to her desk, he thought it would be nice to greet her. "Morning, Kodai. It's nice to see that you made it."
"You as well." Her blue eyes remained as calm as a pond's surface but still bright. "Good job on placing second." He felt a little giddy about that, but as much as Shizune would say he should let her praise him more, that just made him uncomfortable.
"Have you been here long?" So, he moved the conversation along.
Kodai shook her head before returning her attention to her book, which he only now realized was a title in the Make-Out Paradise series. How she got her hands on it, or why she saw fit to read it during class on the first day was also a mystery. "Just a few minutes."
Deciding to head to his seat, from her at the back of the first row, he took out his guide and saw that he had been assigned a seat on the other end, slapped right in the middle of the 4th row. Setting his bag down and taking his seat, he rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes, to focus on the tenet around them while he did some light breathing exercises. Wondering what the first day will bring.
And that was where he sat as the rest of the class slowly filled in, either by themselves or in twos or threes, more people entered the class and went to their desks, or continued to talk. One boy seemed louder than most, but not so loud that it hurt his ears. Soon enough he felt someone approaching his table and raised his head to meet them, seeing that they were a fairly tall bow with black hair tied into a low braid and sharp dark eyes, though at present those eyes were welcoming.
"Apologies, I didn't mean to wake you, I just noticed that we're in the same row." The boy opened, as Midoriya returned his politeness with his own. This was his new school and new people and he made a promise to himself to take full advantage of that.
"No problem, but I wasn't sleeping, just gathering my thoughts. This is our first say after all." He replied as the bow nodded before reaching his hand towards him.
"Rin Hiryu and I know the feeling. It took me a while to absorb it when I got my acceptance letter." He introduced himself, laughing at the end as he recalled what must have been a stressful, but ultimately happy moment when he opened that letter.
"Midoriya Izuku," Midoriya did the same, shaking his hand and noting that he had a strong grip, better than just about all his old classmates. "Still feeling a little hyper, but hopefully they'll pass." Though he wasn't much in awe at being at U.A. when you spent months with a spiritual creature that made it their business to nearly kill on the daily, your bar for what can leave you in awe raises substantially.
"They'll have if we wish to train to become the best heroes we can," Rin replied, leaning against the adjacent table as Midoriya laid his head on his crossed arms, a cat-like smile on his face.
"I have a feeling that I've trained harder than you," He told the boy, who rather than get confused or upset, met his smile with a smirk of his own.
"Is that a fact?" As they talked, Midoriya spared the rest of the class a glance now and then, to see who was who and match their tenet to a face. A girl with hair similarly dark green like his own had an amused smirk on her face while she spoke with the loud boy from before, a tall fellow with white hair and shark-like teeth who seemed to be enthusiastic. There was an even taller furry student, who seemed to be engaged in conversation with a girl with vine-like green hair. Then there was the short blonde with large horns sticking out of her head who must have been a foreigner as her eyes were a bit wider and she spoke terrible Japanese.
All in all, it was quite a group of people, much livelier and more distinct than his old classmates which gave him hope that things would be better here after they must have been incredibly hard workers to have made it into the U.A and with the reveal of the rescue point system, he imagined that they were good people as well. The door opened once more, with him and the rest of the class moving their gaze towards it to see it was 3 classmates, most likely the last to arrive. At the front was a pale-skinned ash-blond boy with no lips, in the middle was a small girl with brown hair that covered her eyes, giving her a mushroom-like appearance while the last happened to be Kuroiro.
The two in front of him were in conversation about something when they stopped once they realized they had all their attention. Rubbing the back of his head, the boy spoke up, directing his words to the class as a whole. "Wow, we're the last ones here?"
"You are," Everyone sans Midoriya looked behind to see a tall muscular man with an overbite and cropped white hair. The man in question gazed at the three students at the doorway, making them sweat a bit at how authoritative he was being just with that gesture alone. "Lucky for you three, you just barely avoided being late, now head on in and take your seats." They didn't waste time as the three quickly moved to their desks, some as those standing till the class was fully assembled, ready for whatever he had for them.
Regardless, as the man walked to the front, there were still excited whispers as people recognised him as a hero. "Oh man, an actual pro?"
"All the staff at U.A. are pros, even if retired. It's part of the reason it's different to everyone else.'" The lipless teen added an eager energy to him.
"You mean superior to other schools?" A blonde with the air of a used car salesman asked back, getting a raised eyebrow from Midoriya but his attention shifted back to the man up front.
"Quiet down," He told them, which they followed as the man gripped the podium and leaned forward. "Welcome to your first day at U.A., I'll be your homeroom teacher, Kan Sekijirō otherwise known as Vlad King. You may address me as Kan-sensei, Vlad King or Vlad-sensei, whichever works for you." There was silence as the group looked at each other, wondering what to say but the man didn't give them time for it.
"Is that understood?" He repeated with more force.
"Yes, Vlad-sensei!" The class replied as one, which satisfied him as he nodded.
"Good, remember that while we're pros, we're also your teachers and this is a school, so try your jaws off the floor." He reminded them as he spared the clock behind him a glance.
"With that said, we have orientation to get to. We're leaving in a single file, starting with the first seat in row 1, that means you Awase." The boy in question, one with black hair and blue and white headband quickly got up, followed by the one behind him. As each row got up and left, Vlad remained in the class to keep an eye on them, which led to it being a rather quiet affair even when Rin, the last person in the class, left with Vlad behind. Outside, before Vlad could take point and lead them towards the auditorium, they noticed a door down the way, most likely for class A was open but there was no one there, Midoriya couldn't feel anyone in the room either, strange.
As they walked, they could pick up students from other courses thanks to their jacket designs, but what was strange was while they could make out at least 3 other designs, for support, general and business respectively, there was a distinct lack of another group with jackets like their own. It would seem that class A was missing as his classmates looked around, trying to spot them in the crowd or asking questions about it; had they merely left before them and were already there? Were they behind them? "Did they get lost?" A white-haired girl with hair covering one of her eyes asked.
"I doubt that their teacher would be so incompetent to get lost with his class on the first day, still they should try and be punctual." The blonde used car salesman replied, his eyes narrowing as he kept on trying to spot them in the crowd of first years.
One of his classmates, the girl with vine hair, asked Vlad about this. "Excuse me, Vlad-sensei, but will we find class A already there?"
"Doubt it, they like to skip this." Was his response, but what was normal about an entire class not attending? Why? Another classmate, a dark-haired boy right behind Awase, asked for a follow-up.
"Hold on, they're skipping orientation? The entire class? Is that even allowed?" He asked him if U.A. was the best of the best, rivaled only by Shiketsu. One would assume that meant that they would at least force students to attend such things but it seems that they were wrong about that.
"Teachers are given a lot of leeway in how they manage their classes, so while it's incredibly rude, it's within the rules," Vlad grunted back as they arrived at their destination, where they found that first years sat first, the closest to the stage which made the absence of class A all the more apparent as there were 20 seats very much empty but while they and the rest of the first years were nervous and confused, a look to the entering 2nd years showed that few of them cared, even when Midoriya focused on one of their teachers, she spared the empty seats a look and moved on, adding credit to Vlad's statement about how normal it was for class A to seemingly always miss this.
However, when he looked to the side towards class C presumably, he saw a familiar head of purple hair and tired-looking eyes but Shinso didn't see him and he didn't want to call out to him lest he get them both in trouble. Still, while not in the hero course, it was good to see that he had made it into U.A. anyway, so he made a note to look for him after school but there was the lingering question of whether he got rescue points too, he did try and help him save Uraraka, did he perhaps not earn enough or something?
That sounded sad as while incredibly out of shape, he had that fire in his eye, he wanted it and he wanted badly to be a hero but fate wasn't on his side, Midoriya wasn't one to believe in letting fate control you, and he could think of ways to help his sleep deprived and very skinny schoolmate make into the hero course.
When the last of the 3rd years sat down, the principal, a strange chimera in a fine suit and large yellow shoes walked towards the podium, tapping it to ensure that the sound was good, he didn't get the chance to say a word before an explosion was heard in the distance, which made the first years jump to their feet, their fight or flight instincts telling them there was an issue. But they were the only ones as not only were the staff calm as ever, but the second years were merely looking towards the source of the noise while the third years didn't so much as blink much like the staff.
Midoriya knew U.A. was crazy but this was getting to be a bit much, was that what class A was doing right now? Blowing off orientation to blow stuff up-Bakugo. He wasn't in his class, which meant that he must have been the source of that. Part of him hoped he had done something to get in trouble and was venting, but that wouldn't explain why the other 19-plus homeroom teacher was absent. Calming, he and the rest of the first returned to their seats, visibly shaken and uncomfortable about the lack of answers they had.
Nezu, in contrast to their confusion, only chuckled over the mic. "Well, we at least know where class 1-A is, same place as usual but let's start with orientation, shall we?" With that, the chimera started and it became clear after the first few minutes why Class A skipped as Nezu didn't so much act like a normal principal as he did an eccentric mentor figure, sprinkling his words with metaphors relating to proper grooming and animal training, most of which flew right over their heads as he wondered if all sentient animals did this, as Shizune also had the habit of talking in riddles to mess with him.
He shivered at that, praying that his new principal wasn't as sadistic and ruthless when it came to teaching, or else he might not survive their 3 years here. Thankfully, it wasn't complete confusion as Nezu's words did speak to the history of the school, how proud they were to have achieved what they have the students that have produced and what goals they had for the future. Eventually states how it's tradition for the teachers of each homeroom to come up and introduce themselves so that the entire school knows who was with what pro. Again, it was 1st years first but with class A absent, not a single person batted an eye when Vlad went on stage first, even if he could hear his blonde classmate muttering that class A was full of it for ignoring this, followed by Present Mic who home roomed class C and so forth.
After him, Midnight came next and aside from making some of the students look away, red in the face from her presence and rather provocative way of carrying herself with how she sashayed towards the podium. With a smile that led to a few nosebleeds, she explained that she was the one in charge of clubs and while hero and support students weren't encouraged to join then, the school had no rules against it if their youthful spirits wished to further express themselves. That being said, if their grades slipped past a certain point, she'd deal with them as he looked to pull on his collar there as the way she said fed into the dominatrix theme she had going.
Thankfully for their teenage minds, Hound Dog was far more appropriate in his words as he explained that he was the school guidance counselor and what that entailed making it clear that regardless of year or course, if they ever needed someone to talk to about any issues, that he was their guy and how anything they did speak about will be kept between them.
The aging veteran hero, Recovery Girl was next and much like the guidance counselor, she kept things short in how she was the school nurse but how she nor U.A. would tolerate reckless behavior so while she'll see anyone, she won't just let them get off Scot-free for stupid acts such as testing if you're bulletproof by having your friend shoot you with their gun quirk which was spoken with too much annoyance to by just a theoretical example.
Then came the time for words from the representatives of the student body, as 3rd years of every course gathered on stage to pass on some words of inspiration started with the hero course as a bright-faced blonde went up, with whispers from the 3rd years talking about how it made sense for the leader of the Big 3 to handle it for the hero students. The guy had spirit, almost as much as Present Mic as he welcomed them to U.A.'s hero course, stressed how challenging it would be, ways to handle the stress and keep up to date with studies and training and encouraged them to seek out their seniors if they ever have issues as heroes exist to help people and helping their juniors should come naturally to them.
As he walked off the stage, the students gave him a round of applause as he might have only been a student, but he gave speeches like he was a pro who had mastered their media craft. Even students in the other courses seemed to agree with this as he returned to his seat, and was replaced by someone from the general studies class who talked about how they might not be majoring in one field like the others, but how they gave them something the rest didn't-options. The girl highlighted not just careers they could study for in U.A. and its many facilities and resources for that, but clubs that could help them with that.
Support went next. The rather…flashy blonde talked about how they were the creators of U.A. the masters of the workshop and those that everyone else turned to when something needed to be built, maintained or upgraded. With her noting that if not for the support course, U.A. wouldn't have nearly as many bots as they do for things like the hero course, or the many smaller robots used around campus for other duties. With her saying that from 2nd year onwards, they can even form partnerships with those in hero and business and create their proto-hero agencies which serves as great experience and insight into the workings of one.
Lastly, it was Business which ended things before the event ended with Nezu reminding them to always do their best.
Once they returned to class, Vlad let them sit before he informed them that they'd be heading out shortly for a quirk assessment. One of his classmates, a tall slender boy with pale yellow-green skin and two hooked blades jutting out from either of his cheeks raised their hands.
"Yes, Kamakiri?"
"Did class A already do this, one seemed to care about that explosion earlier." The boy asked him, with the rest of the class realizing that it made the most sense as Vlad nodded.
"That is correct, their homeroom teacher likes to hit the ground running but more for the slow and steady approach, which is why before we head out, you'll introduce yourselves since if all goes well, the faces you see now will be the same for the next 3 years." He explained to them, getting them to look around again, as some must have known one another from before U.A. or met during the exam but as a whole, they were mysteries to the other.
A chubby boy with ice-blue hair and large, wide black eyes raised his hand next., "Vlad-sensei, how will that work?"
"You'll just come up to the front of the class, state your name, quirk and one other unique thing about yourselves." Hearing that quirks would be involved made Midoriya flinch, as he now found himself in an issue as while the staff knew he was quirkless, his classmates didn't. He had gone through the exam and pretended he had one, but that was less a straight deception and more him allowing others to assume that he had one, but he couldn't do that here as he needed to say he had a quirk.
He didn't think Vlad would let him lie about his quirk status, but at the same time, if revealed he was quirkless, would U.A. turn into a repeat of middle school? He had spoken with just one other classmate and while he seemed nice, so did others he met before they learned his quirk status. This was a new start, he didn't want to waste it with the baggage of a past he would rather leave buried back dammit, this wasn't going to be easy.
While he tried to figure out a game plan, Awase was the first to step up and take the stand. "What up, the name's Awase Yosetsu. My quirk is called Weld, which is pretty self-explanatory as I can fuse objects at the atomic level so long as I'm touching both objects." Awase explained. "For something unique, I'm a mobile games fan, so if you want to know something about one, I've probably played it." As he walked back to his desk, he stopped as he recalled something else.
"Oh, and I scored 9th on the general exam." Hearing that, some people gave him impressed looks as he returned to his seat, but Midoriya was confused by that, as with the name said, he had already figured that out because he got the letter.
But that would only apply if they got the same letter as him. Were the results of the exams not made known to the rest? Or was it just the top 10?' Seeing how being 9th meant he could make that statement, and most found it impressive, perhaps that was the case.
Next up was another boy, thin but not out of shape and pretty lazy-looking with dark shaggy hair and a slight tan. "My name is Kaibara Sen, my quirk is called Gyrate, which means I can rotate any part of my body like a drill. I have a hobby about photography and own a few high-end cameras for it." He kept it short and sweet before he returned to his seat.
Third in line was Kamakiri, the boy walking with innate confidence in his steps. Facing the group, he began. "Kamakiri Togaru, quirk is Razor Sharp. I can produce blades from any part of the body, the two coming out of the face are always there so no, it's not for intimidation. My blades are wicked sharp and strong as I can slice clean through stuff like wood and metals with ease. And intend to be the best of all of you, so don't think coming in 9th will mean you're better than me."
"Bring it!" Awase yelled back as the boy returned to his seat, but Midoriya ignored that as he focused on how Vlad didn't say anything when Kamakiri didn't say a thing about his hobbies, did that mean they were free to omit information? The students continued as Kuroirio went next with a pretty flexible quirk, especially for nighttime operations while Kodai Yui was just as non-descriptive with her quirk, not even explaining it and instead mentioning that she liked matryoshka dolls of all things.
After all, Komori Kinoko went next with a quirk which had him give her special attention, as she would be incredibly useful in the sanctuary, as there were plenty of herbs and other drugs that could produced via mushrooms, with the class smiling and encouraging her when they heard that she wished to be a idol hero, as she has the attitude for it, being incredibly bubbly, he envisioned that a few of the kids in Raxus would love her.
Shiozaki Ibara came next, and the girl seemed to be incredibly humble as while she gave her name, rank and the fact that she liked charity work, she didn't say what her rank was even though he knew it to have been 5th, which would have been the highest yet. The next two after her didn't have anything mind-boggling to say, but they didn't leave without an impression as Shishida Jurota was extremely eloquent while Shoda Nirengeki was more soft-spoken but passionate about boxing.
The next was the blonde girl from before, Tsunotori Pony. A foreigner who revealed that she was Florida through her broken Japanese with her hobby being anime which led to Awase joking that she was the dreaded weeb which she took in stride as she replied with a classic 'Don't mess with me, I have the power of God and Anime on my side.' After that, she returned to her seat and Tsuburaba Kosei, the boy was pretty upbeat with a subtle but exceptional quirk and a passion for baseball and tennis, an odd combination.
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, was a confusing name but he made sure that they knew his first and last names merely sounded the same, but weren't spelt the same as he even brought up a little board where he spelt them out. Despite the odd name situation, 7th Place meant that he wasn't a joke as his quirk might have been simple but only an idiot thought simply meant weak, not when he could become a human wrecking ball with hammer fists.
Tokage Setsuna was the first of the recommended students to speak, which meant one of the remaining students was the other one. She didn't so much say what her quirk was as displayed it by splitting herself into 9 different pieces, which freaked some of them up when they felt her hand or foot touching them before they returned to form one laughing body. Despite that, she had the eyes of a perceptive and intelligent person as she left with a mention that she liked dinosaurs.
Fukidashi Manga and Honenuki Juzo went next and both seemed to be alright people, Fukidashi had a versatile quirk and a passion for making kids laugh while Honenuki came out as the second recommendation's student and both open but also competitive as he returned Kamakiri's challenge with one of his own, though his reveal of what he liked led to fun little exchange.
"My, I didn't know that you liked such a thing, you must like to go to massage parlors all the time, don't you?" She wiggled her eyebrows as she said that, with others getting red in the face at the implication.
"Not even, I don't need to pay for something like that," Honenuki got back into his seat, chill as a cucumber even as Tsunotori asked how he would be so sure of that. "But I tell you that my hands can work magic for relieving tension and stress." Okay, now they weren't sure if he meant one thing or the other!
Vlad clapped their hands to get their attention back on track. "Keep the innuendos for later. I know you're teenagers but remember the time and place you find yourself in."
"Yes sir." Both students replied as Bondo Kojiro went next. When it came time for his turn, Midoriya had figured out a game plan, took a deep breath, and got up to the front. Collecting himself once he got to the front, he started.
"My name is Midoriya Izuku, I enjoy gardening and overall spending time in nature away from the hustle, grime and noise of the city. As for the exam, sorry to say but I outplayed all of you and scored 2nd place." He took pride in how those that mentioned their rank froze once they heard his name and knew he was being honest, while the others looked at him in awe. Even if he didn't have anything against them or reason to suspect they were bad people, he couldn't lie as he felt good to see so many quirked individuals that made it into U.A. look like him like he was the bigger fish.
With that said, he bowed to them and went to return to his seat, but Fukidashi pointed out something he forgot. "Hold on, what's your quirk? You didn't even say its name." He didn't see it, but Vlad also had his attention on him, wondering what move the boy would make.
Midoriya turned to Fukidashi, with a confused look which turned into a Cheshire cat-like grin, the boy shifting his hair just a little via the use of his tenet to make it seem like those 'cat ears' he had going twitched. It wasn't him telling people he had a cat-like quirk, just him making it seem like it and letting them come to that conclusion.
"My quirk? I could say what my quirk status is, but where's the fun in that? I'll let you all figure that out. If you can before the end of the semester, you can give me a nickname that you can all use." With that little bet, Midoriya returned to his seat. As others wondered what his quirk was, asking if they had seen him during the exam and what they had heard, the boy behind him was smug for some reason as he got up, touching his hair as he went, close to where he thought he saw those cat ears of his but froze after doing so, his eyes wide as plates as he turned a confused look at Midoriya who met it with an expectant look of his own.
"Monoma, please keep going." Vlad brought him back to reality as he continued, a confused thoughtful look to him as he started his introduction.
With the class's eyes on him, he opened up his introduction. "Monoma Neito at your service. I rounded out the general exams with the 10th place spot." While not the best, he took pride in that and the rest seemed to acknowledge that he was worthy of that.
"My quirk is called Copy, which allows me as the name implies, to copy and use the quirks of others. Right now, my limit is just 3 quirks for 5 minutes, after that the quirks fade and I need to copy it again." He explained, though he kept something to himself, at least till got some answers. "One other thing is that I enjoy French food and Franco-Belgian comics, I got into the latter recently." Taking his seat once more, his eyes locked into the back of Midoriya's head as he tried to figure out what his deal was, and how he managed to score so high on the exam.
Monoma couldn't just copy but he could tell what a quirk was by touching its user, it was part of how he could plan how to use it, but the issue was what he touched Midoriya, he felt nothing so unless his hair was an extremely convincing wig, that would mean he was quirkless.
Midoriya felt his gaze on him but didn't act on it as he figured that he must have been upset or trying to gauge him after he revealed that he came in 2nd where Monoma only managed 10th. While this happened the next person went up to speak, a girl with chin-length pale gray hair that hung over her eye, obscuring most of the left side of her face. Her pale skin and dark bags under her eyes made her look ill but she still moved like normal so perhaps it was a stylistic choice?
"Greeting, my name is Yanagi Reiko, my quirk is called Poltergeist which grants me the ability to manipulate objects close to my body, however unlike many greater telekinetic powers, I can only use my powers on objects that have a total weight of the average person." She explained herself to them, shifting some pens off Vlad's desk into her hands before returning them without moving from her spot. "You could consider my hobbies to include surfing the internet and horror movies." She bowed and returned to her seat with the last of the group taking the proverbial mic.
"Morning everyone, my name is Rin Hiyru, if my name wasn't a giveaway, I just came clean and confirmed I am from China, and still have family there. Like Tsunotori, I have taken a liking to Japanese culture, more accurately, sushi." Rin started, lifting his arm and folding back his sleeve to show how his arm was nearly instantly covered in green scales, including changing his nails into claws.
"My quirk is called Scales, which allows me to form scales along my entire body. The scales produced are both durable and strong, so they can be used for both defense and offense quite well. I can also shoot them off my body like a bullet." With that displayed, his quirk faded away as he pulled his sleeve back to normal and retook his seat as Vlad got up again to address them.
"Now that we've handled introductions, we'll head out for our quirk assessment, you'll find your P.E. uniforms in your desks, sized to the measurements you sent but if you find there are issues with it, such as adjustments that need to be made, speak with me and we'll sort it out," Vlad explained as they opened their desks and found their uniforms, nearly folded and ready for them, having most likely been put there while they were busy with orientation.
"You have 10 minutes to get change and meet me on the P.E. field, get to it, people!" Chairs scraped against the floor as the students grabbed their gear and went for the door, needing to first find the closest locker room to the P.E. field.
Chapter 14: A Not so Quirk Assessment.
Inside the boy's locker room, which took them a while to find, Midoriya had just removed his shirt when one of his classmates saw his torso and lost it. "What the hell, dude?" Tsuburaba called out, his eyes on Midoriya's scarred and burnt body as the rest looked at him with varying levels of concern, horror and shock.
"Shit, those are some pretty bad scars." Fukidashi's head changed into a concerned emote.
"And so many of them," Shishida noted, worried that his classmates might have been the victim of a grievous and vile villain.
Midoriya didn't understand the issue for a moment before he recalled that most didn't go through training nearly as brutal as he did. "It all came from training. Nothing to write home about it." Still, he didn't quite understand how to express them, as his response only led to more confusion and concern.
"Nothing to dude; you look like you fought every slasher horror villain in a handicap match and lost." Awase pointed out that as they knew scars came via training, most had a couple here and there, but there was that and whatever happened to Midoriya.
Reaching for his green compression shirt to wear underneath his P.E. uniform, Midoriya tried to laugh it off. "Don't be silly; if I did that, I wouldn't have a head right now." Awase gave him a bland look at that poor attempt at a joke.
"What sort of training leads to that?" Monoma asked, curious as Midoriya pulled his top on, fully clothed and ready for whatever Vlad had prepped for them.
"The type that prepares you to achieve your dreams; come on, we don't want to be late." His cryptic reply and retreat from the locker room didn't solve the discussion.
"Just so we're clear, I'm not the only one worried, right?" Fukidashi asked, getting nods from most of them.
"We'll keep an eye on him; if something happens, we'll tell the teachers," Honenuki stated as he hoped that Midoriya had been severe and that he just trained at a whole other level, as the alternatives didn't paint a good picture. With that done, the boys finished getting ready and left for the P.E. field, where they found Vlad waiting for them; not long after, the last of the girls arrived, prepared for what their teacher wanted to put them through, which he explained.
Sometime after he had sent them off, and they searched for the changing room, the last of the class met up with Vlad on the field. The man standing with his arms crossed. "Only 15 minutes to change and get here. We'll need to shave that down to just 10, but that can wait." He told them as he gave them an intense look, his jaw straight.
"You all managed to get into U.A., one of the hardest to get into schools in the country, but don't let that go to your heads for a second. You're barely first years, with much to learn as future heroes and people." He told them that he was as tolerant of overinflated egos as lions were to hyenas, and Midoriya was all for that.
"To that end, I'll go through some tests to see where you all stand. This isn't going to reflect on your grade for the semester, but I want you to give it your all; as an extra incentive, we'll be ranking your performance for each of them, and whoever has the lowest overall score will be on classroom clean-up duty for the next week, is that understood?" With that threat hanging over them, those who looked a little disinterested in the test had a shot of lightning pass through them.
"Yes, Vlad-sensei!" The class replied, with the man finally smiling as he directed them to the first part, the 50m dash.
"Good, now it's get to it." While the track was large enough for 8 people to run, Vlad limited it to pairs so the camera recording their time wouldn't have issues. First up was Midoriya and Kodai.
"It seems we're running mates. Let's do our best!" He gave the quiet girl a big thumbs-up as she turned to him.
"Yes." She didn't say more as she went into position, her feet planted on the runner's gear. At the same time, Midoriya kicked his runner's gear away and instead got into a position akin to a cat before he dashed.
"On your marks, get set…" The machine counted down before it played the sound of a gun going off. With that, Midoriya was gone as he funnelled his tenant through his veins and muscles, momentarily increasing his speed and reflexes to superhuman levels; this was Tenghyōjutsu, and he used it to dash to the other side of the track, his limbs propelling him forward like a cheetah on the pursuit. At the same time, his hands helped to keep him balanced as he crossed the finish line far ahead of Kodai, the machine stating his time to be a shocking 3.86 seconds.
Skidding to a stop, he got up and turned back to it. "Not bad, but I should have probably stretched a little more. I could have shaved a little extra off that time." He moved to return to the rest, who looked on in surprise at his time as Kodai finished only 4 and a half seconds later.
"A little extra-dude, you damn well might as well be a cheetah with that speed; wait, that's it! Your quirk makes you as fast as a cheetah, right?" Awase slammed his fist into his palm, thinking he had figured it out.
"Nope! Try again." Midoriya chuckled as Tokage and Tsuburaba took their positions, like in the first pair. At the same time, Tsuburaba got into a traditional runner's stance; Tokage stood straight, her eye on the other end.
"Speed is fine and all, but" She stated as the machine counted down; once the 'gun' went off, she broke into 15 separate pieces that flew across the track, leaving Tsuburaba behind. "There's more than one way to skin a cat." She managed to cross the line first, with her head getting over with a time of 5.01 seconds.
These two set the trend as Midoriya watched how many of his classmates approached the dash with unique spins. Tsunotori rode across it on two of her horns. However, she nearly fell near the end. Shishida, when the gun went off, bulked up and somehow got even hairier, finishing it with the second-best time behind Midoriya's; he even ran like him through that probably because of how his quirk worked.
Kuroiro, perhaps, had the craziest use of his quirk as when his turn came up, there was a passing cloud overhead which cast a shadow over the track, which he took full advantage of once the 'gun' went off, he fell into the shadow it cast and raced to the other hand, popping out like a jack in the box with the third best time.
Next was the grip test, which Honenuki dominated with an 'unreadable' score, which he achieved by turning his machine into mush and letting it fall to the floor as a muddle.
"What the hell? How does that even count?" Awase yelled as Honenuki walked off to the side.
"Vlad-sensei, the machine didn't register anything," Kaibara added as the man looked towards the two, then Honenuki and then to the machine still puddy on the gym floor.
"It counts as he technically squeezed it." Vlad made his judgment as the two nay-sayers grumbled as they went back to trying to set their own scores; meanwhile, it was like seeing that galvanised Tetsutetsu to go even harder than before as it looked like he was going to try and do it with just his hand turned to see. Still, his entire arm got coated in the silver metal skin.
"Let's go!" The boy squeezed as hard as he could, the machine handling it pretty well as U.A. made sure to have them made so that they could be used by some compelling people, far better than what most exercise stores would have in stock as Tetsutetsu's beeped, presenting a score 280kg.
"Impressive score," Monoma walked up to him, slapping his arm in congratulations at such a high score before his other hand that held his grip test machine flashed steel, the quirk copied. "You wouldn't mind if he took a page from your playbook, right?" Tetsutetsu didn't mind as Monoma used the borrowed quirk to score 224kg, much lower than the other but still well above anything he would have achieved naturally.
"350kg?! Damn, man, that's high!" Kamakiri smiled as he and others crowded around Shishida, the guy having bulked up once more and gotten the highest score. Watching from afar, Midoriya wondered if these tests would be as easy for his furred classmate as the first two. If that was the case, he was in for a real competition.
"Aren't you going to try?" Kuroiro, who had already done him, asked him.
"Hmm, oh yeah, give me a second." Unlike with the race, Midoriya couldn't use Tenghyōjutsu, which was exclusively for speed and agility augmentation. It could increase his base strength, but not by much, so instead, he used ashi, which clad the desired area in the user's tenet, increasing offensive and defensive power, which should work for this if he only focused on his hand to increase his grip strength.
Funnelling his tenet into and over his right hand, he breathed and squeezed as hard as he could, with the machine beeping after a few seconds. Holding it up, he and his dark-skinned friend saw it was 268kg. They are not the highest but well within the top scorers. "A new record." If he remembered correctly, his last score with something like this had been 241kg. He's improved.
"Remind me never to let you get a hold of me." Kuroiro's dry comment had him smiling as Shiozaki set another impressive score with a solid 225kg, thanks to her vine hair, which did it for her.
"Noted."
Standing long jump wasn't much to write home about as 5 of them cleared the 12m sand pit. The first was Yanagi, who floated herself across the pit, by midpoint, her face was red and sweaty, so that clearly took a lot out of her. The second was Tsuburaba, who created air platforms and walked across, which was weird, but he didn't touch the ground, so Vlad counted it. Monoma nearly joined that group, but he fell a little over halfway through, as he didn't have the lungs for it like Tsuburaba. Tokage pulled the same trick as in the dash, but she floated across slowly this time.
Shiozaki was the third person who cleared it as she used her hair to slingshot herself right over the clip. The girl landed gracefully with a roll as she patted herself down from the dirt and bowed towards Vlad. Midoriya was the last one, though he just barely made it over the line on landing, something that Shishida couldn't say as he landed a solid meter away from it.
With the repeated side steps, Yanagi did the worst here out of the group, most likely because she was still tired from pushing herself in the last one. At the same time, Monoma, for the first time, didn't copy anyone's quirk but still set a respectable score. And when Awase commented on that, he seemed offended.
"I have. You know I keep it in great shape." Was his response, though if he was irate, was anyone's guess with how he flicked a strand of hair; perhaps he was just being dramatic. As the rest went through, Midoriya noted that Kuroiro kept looking up, only to see the sky was clear, with no clouds for him to pull the same trick again, but this gave him an idea as he removed his top, leaving him with just his green undershirt. Much to their confusion, he followed after his friend when he was called up.
Once he was in place, he did his thing. "Some shade should help, right?" He asked as he helped his jacket overhead, aiming it for the sun and casting a shadow that covered his dark-skinned friend and the spot he stood on. Seeing this, the white-haired boy looked at him with surprise, but Midoriya only smiled back; he would have given a thumbs up, but his hands were busy. Kuroiro didn't stay surprised forever as he gave him a grateful nod before blending into the shadow and zooming, rapidly building up his score.
"Excuse me, sir, but is that legal?" Yanagi asked Vlad as the two kept it up, the shadow dancer seemingly gaining speed as if he was aiming to set a score so high that no one could challenge it.
"The rules don't forbid interference, only sabotage and right now, the boy's doing the opposite." Vlad smiled as this was what he liked to see in his students: a healthy sense of sportsmanship while being a hero was competitive. At the end of the day, it was a job about helping others. But that had to move along, and once he saw that the boy had beaten the second-highest score by nearly doubling it, he called it off. As the two high-fived over the move, with Midoriya putting the jacket back on, Shiozaki put her hands together.
"He's merely being a good classmate and aiding someone in need." She stated, and for some reason, a beam of light shined down on her from…somewhere; Midoriya already had to consider the implications of the tenet of Shizune; he wasn't about to get anywhere near this new rabbit hole.
When it came time for the ball throw, he saw some pretty impressive distances achieved by Shishida, who used his beastly strength to throw, or Tsuburaba, who created a bat made from air and hit the ball away, or even Tokage, who floated her hand as far as she could before throwing the ball, he wanted to leave a mark, and that meant he couldn't just use increased physical power to throw it. As his turn approached, he tapped his foot on the ground with his chin in hand as he tried to figure out how to do this.
He could flick it, perhaps, as he could put more power into his finger right when he let go, but that didn't seem…flashy enough. Maybe that damned cat had rubbed off on him; perhaps it was because his master loved to steal the show, and he wished to follow in her footsteps; it didn't matter the why, only the end, which was he needed a better way to do this. If he could show off how he walks on water, maybe…Wait, he could use that!
With Shiozaki's finishing her turn, the girl having used her hair to make a sling to throw the ball, it was his time to step up as Vlad handed him a ball from the box he had by his feet. Rolling his arm a few times, he eyes the other end of the field and spots a few of the balls already thrown scattered all over it, but he is aiming for much higher than that. Pulling his arm back, he first sent his tenent through his entire arm, from the tips of his fingernails to the base at his shoulder, all to ensure that his limb could withstand the force at play, this was Ashi.
Then he shifted things up a little, altering its flow to take some of it into increasing his speed, which saw his arm move forward 3 times faster. This was Tenghyōjutsu. He now had the speed and power; all he needed was something that he had seen Bakugo do hundreds of times, which was to create an explosion. At the last possible, right as his grip on the ball weakened as he began to let it go, he funnelled as much of his tenet to the tip of his pinkie, and then, unlike with water or even wall walking, which required steady steam to keep you glued to the surface, he overfilled it, shooting it out of his pinkie.
The result spoke for itself as the ball blasted away from him, almost like a cannonball, to the stunned awe of the class as they watched the ball keep going higher and higher before reaching its peak and falling down to earth. Unlike every other ball, it didn't land in the field, but in the one next to it, with a crazy 685.8m being his distance. Midoriya hissed a little as he nearly broke his finger with that, but he smiled through the pain. "Yes!" He yelled, fists to the air as he looked back towards Vlad, who looked almost as stunned as the rest before he managed to get his face under control.
"Come on, people, let's keep moving!" He said aloud, the group breaking up to get to the next area while Kodai and Kuroiro approached him.
"How did you do that?" Kodai quietly asked; it seemed she remained relatively passive even when curious. This made him want to see her smile even more, as it must be a rare and pretty sight.
"Hard work." Was his response as she hummed while Kuroiro rolled his eyes, not thinking he was being serious, which he was…even if he was leaving stuff out, but it wasn't necessary. Tenet might be a power they didn't know about, but cultivating it took years of hard work and dedication.
When it came time for other exercises, Midoriya went through them quickly. Much to their shock, he completed the 800m in 64.8 seconds, as Tokage, who was in second place, was 40 seconds behind him. While the rest looked at least winded from this and the rest of the tests, Midoriya looked fresh as a daisy, which left people even more dumbfounded as they wondered what kind of quirk he had to make him this athletic. The only one who was silent about that was Monoma, who kept his eye on him the entire time once he crossed the finish line.
With Sit-ups, he partnered with Kodai, the silent girl going through her own first because "I have a feeling you won't stop". So once she had finished her set, a respectable 42, he would prove her right in her assessment as he got to 148 before he decided that was high enough, a score only beaten by Tokage who detached her upper torso from the rest of her body. Others like Shiozaki used her vines to pull and push her, decreasing the strain on her core muscles and letting her nearly reach the triple digits. When it came to seated toe touches, once more, Kodai went first, got around to 34 before Midoriya took over and went to 160 just to ensure Tokage couldn't upstage him again, which she nearly did.
But with all said and done, it was time for Vlad to present the results.
"Alright, I saw some good performance out there, not just in power but also in how you approached the situation. That's good, as hero work needs such outside-the-box thinking when the going gets tough." Vlad started as he looked over the group before he pulled a remote out.
"With that said, here are the results." Tapping the button, a hologram screen appeared with their placements.
1. Izuku Midoriya
2. Jurota Shishida
3. Setsuna Tokage
4. Neito Monoma
5. Juzo Honenuki
6. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
7. Ibara Shiozaki
8. Togaru Kamakiri
9. Kosei Tsuburaba
10. Sen Kaibara
11. Hiryu Rin
12. Shihai Kuroiro
13. Nirengeki Shoda
14. Yosetsu Awase
15. Reiko Yanagi
16. Kojiro Bondo
17. Manga Fukidashi
18. Pony Tsunotori
19. Yui Kodai
20. Kinoko Komori
"First place!" Midoriya cheered, as it felt damn good to score so high, not just because of his hard work, but for the fact he outmatched 19 quirked students good enough to get into U.A.
"Someone that isn't as shocking as it should be," Kaibara noted, as they could recall some of the crazy stuff he did during the exam and how, even now, the guy barely looked winded.
"Why me?" On the other hand, Komori was down in the dumps about the fact she scored dead last.
"Midoriya, remember that this is merely the starting point. You might be in the lead now, but that could change anytime. Keep on your toes and take every session of training seriously." Vlad put a stop to that little celebration. Midoriya looked at him, surprised for a second before he recalled where he was and how maybe acting like that over one victory was foolish.
"Yes, sir!" The man grunted as he turned towards Komori.
"Komori, same to you. You indeed came in last, but training can easily see that change. Don't let this dishearten you when you still have 3 years with us to better yourself." Where he had been firm with Midoriya, he had been softer with Komori, a good trait for a teacher as she took his words to heart, nodding with a determined smile.
"Yes, Vlad-sensei!" With these two settled, his gaze went over the group.
"As for classroom clean up, she's not the only one that will be doing it as for the next weeks, we'll work our way up the list till the last day of school, with it being someone knew each week." He informed them, with the group looking back at the scores and being able to see that if that was how things would be done, that only those who placed in the top 4 would be exempt from clean-up, at least for the first semester.
"Now, head back and get yourselves cleaned up. You'll find your schedules and other files on your desk back in class." He dismissed them as the group broke off and returned to the changing area to shower and get back into their uniforms. As they walked off the field, Midoriya found that he was yet again approached by Kodai and Kuroiro.
"Thanks for what you did back there; if this had occurred at night or in the shade, perhaps I could have performed better," Kuroiro stated as Midoriya smiled and told him it wasn't an issue. He was merely helping a classmate in a pinch.
"You scored 12th." Kodai pointed out that he performed much better than her as she came in 19th.
"I'd like to be within the top 10 next time. Can't you say the same," Kuroiro replied while he was one of the dark. That didn't mean he didn't wish to stand among the greats; why else would he have applied to U.A. of all schools?
Kodai chewed on this for a moment before she replied. "I suppose. But I wouldn't mind a smaller jump of 3, maybe 4 spots."
"Feels a little piecemeal to me." Kuroiro countered as Midoriya shook his head.
"That's not a bad thing, you know. We all have to pace ourselves. If I didn't, I would have broken so many bones by now and probably be wheelchair-bound from it." He smiled as he remembered those days, seeing how far others were and trying to do extra training behind the master's back, thinking he could go faster.
Safe to say, she wasn't pleased when she found out he was overdoing it.
However, the training issue brought up another point that Kuroiro and the other boys had about him. "You must have been through some pretty intensive training; after all, one doesn't earn such scars from simply working." They had been concerned, to put it lightly, when they saw him shirtless as they changed, as the boy was covered with scars. It was like the guy fought against villains daily.
"Extremely, but I think most came with a hard-learned lesson." He, on the other hand, saw these marks on his flesh as marks of pride, instances when, through blood, sweat and tears, he took another step if it was small, towards his goal.
"Most?" Kodai, now curious, asked him as his smile faded, and his eyes fogged over with grief and rage as he recalled that damned fire, how despite their best efforts, they lost a lot of good people.
"Some came from…tragedies." He didn't wish to bring up more, not wishing to ruin this good mood between them as they made. "But that's only a reminder that I need to keep pushing it. As Vlad said, I can't get complacent." He raised an arm and flexed, his scarred muscles rising in a show of force.
"I shudder to think what you'll be like in just a year, never mind 3." Kuroiro shook his head as he guessed that if this guy was as intense in training as he thought, the next time they did this, Izuku would set scores triple what he did today.
"Tiger." Kodai guessed, with Midoriya shaking his head with a laugh.
"Nope." He replied, though it was a good guess as he styled his 'ears' off those of Ruby and Sapphire, even if it was hard to tell who had ever seen a green tiger?
"Rats." As the trio vanished into the building, where they'd need to separate to head off to their different locker rooms, back on the field, Vlad met with his fellow teacher, Eraser. The man had taken his class out first like usual, yes. Still, he had also done so he could take a step out of the class and observe class B as they went through the tests, more accurately to watch the unknown that was Midoriya.
"Well?" Vlad asked.
"He wasn't lying, I had my eye on him with my quirk active randomly through every one of those tests, especially the dash and ball throw. And he didn't even seem to notice." He had thought that there was an effect earlier, but that was merely him seeing something when there was nothing.
Vlad thought about that, worried as it blew their most likely theory that he was simply hiding his quirk from them right out of the water. "Is there a possibility that his quirk is a mutant type?"
Aizawa knew the limits of his quirk and how he couldn't erase the effects of quirks on bodies mutated by them. He could stop someone with extra limbs from using them, but they were still there, and even then, it wasn't always the same, as some mutations were too extreme for his quirk to consider them quirks. "Maybe, but we have no proof to suspect that." He replied though he didn't put much stock in that idea. "Still, we should keep an eye on him as this is unusual, to say the least."
"And that's all we're do; he hasn't done anything to warrant such suspicion from us," Vlad said, as he wasn't much for this increased attention on the boy. He could admit he was an abnormality, but Midoriya had only acted in the best ways since the exam, even if he purposely dodged the question about quirks earlier and played it off as a game.
"Besides, he can do all he does without a quirk on record?" Aizawa looked towards him, meeting his irritated gaze as he sighed. "Relax, I'm merely stating the facts. I agree that we should give him the benefit of the doubt. But in the end, he's your student, so I won't interfere further unless he breaks school rules." With that, the underground hero turned to get back to his class.
After a day of learning about the school, meeting their upperclassmen and teachers, and exploring the school, the final bell rang early. They didn't have a full day but were told it would be business as usual the following day. Waiting by the main building entrance, Midoriya and Kodai had already swapped out their indoor shoes for their regular ones. "That was a good first day," Midoriya noted, as there were few others present, most taking the short day to head home early or do something fun with friends.
"Hmm," Kodai replied as she scrolled through her phone; at that moment, the third member of their group appeared.
"Sorry about that, I wished to use the restroom before we left, in case the one by the station was occupied," Kuroiro said as he went for his shoe locker to swap out his own.
"No sweat." Midoriya waved it off as Kodai nodded. Once the boy had done that, he walked over but found Midoriya wasn't moving.
"Aren't you going to move now?" He asked the guy, who shook his head, his eyes facing the stairs that led up to the classrooms.
"In a minute, I'm waiting for someone." He replied.
"Who could that be? Most of the class has already left." Other than Monoma, he hadn't seen anyone else as they wanted to take full advantage of the short school day. To answer that question, Midoriya saw a head of purple hair walking down the stairs.
"Him," He nodded at him before he walked over, wrapping an arm around the taller boy's shoulders, who let out a surprised yelp as he was dragged to Midoriya's level. "Shinso!" He smiled as the boy turned his eyes to see him.
"What-Midoriya, is that you?" Shinso asked as Midoriya let go with a laugh, hands on his hips.
"In the flesh, my friend!" He confirmed. "I saw you earlier at orientation, but that wasn't the best time to speak."
"Yeah, class C." Shinso seemed upset about that, which Midoriya could understand. While General was a good deal, it was as if you were aiming for another more specialised one and didn't make the cut.
"That's general, right?" Kodai asked, finally taking her attention off her phone now that they had a new face in the group.
"It is, I didn't make it into the hero course, unlike some people." He looked towards Midoriya, who didn't look ashamed in the slightest. After all, it wasn't like his success came at the failure of Shinso's.
"That is unlucky since you must have earned some rescue points during the exam." Still, he felt for the guy.
"That was…Uraraka, right?" Shinso tried to think back to that day, which he had been trying not to since he got his letter and learned that he missed the cut-off point.
"I believe I didn't see her in my class, so she's either in class A or general," Midoriya replied.
"She could have applied to another school, you know. I knew a few kids from mine that also applied for U.A., didn't make it, and went somewhere." Shinso suggested as the group finally left the building, the sleep-deprived-looking boy having swapped his shoes as they talked.
"Same," Kodai replied, as she had heard some classmates say something when the teacher announced she got it.
"Well, cross our fingers she's here, I wouldn't mind catching up with her. But you didn't say if you got rescue points." Midoriya replied as she seemed nice, and if his class was this welcoming, class A, barring a certain Pomeranian, was pretty welcoming as well.
Kuroiro, seeing an opening for the issue of Midoriya's quirk, made his move. "You were in the same exam area as each other?" Shinso looked at him funny for a moment before nodding as the dark-skinned boy smiled, figuring that he made a breakthrough. "Interesting, did you perhaps see what his quirk is? He's been cheeky about it all day." Midoriya raised an eyebrow while Kodai looked a lot more invested in this.
She was the only one who noticed that Midoriya didn't seem surprised or concerned about what could easily be a massive clue about his secret quirk. Shinso, on the other hand, shrugged and told him what he knew. "Sure, he can control wood. Turn seeds into wooden weapons in seconds, even create and control massive trees."
"So, your quirk is nature-related? You are one with the beast and plants?" Kuroiro asked as that would fit all they had seen from him, from the cheetah-like speed, tiger-like strength and lion-level endurance.
Midoriya didn't so much sweat as he smiled like a cat that knew something you didn't. "In a way, yes, but in another, no. Try again, my friend." Kuroiro looked shocked that he had been wrong before grabbing his face, his equally black hand covering it in a way that left his face void and lacking features.
"Dammit." The boy groaned as Shinso picked things up from there. As Midoriya laughed at that disappointment, they didn't notice that Monoma was nearby, having eavesdropped their conversation. Filing away what he heard, he also moved to leave, as he had his theories about the boy to think about.
Back with the 4, they continued their conversation. "I did gain some, but it wasn't enough to make the cut." He had earned more points than he otherwise wouldn't have without Midoriya's help, which made the blow a little less heavy. "So, my next option is the sports festival; if I can impress them, I'll have a shot."
"Not with those noodle arms," Izuku pocked the boy's arm, getting an annoyed grunt. "Come on, have you ever even gone on a jog or something?" Shinso chose not to answer that which itself was an answer which made Midoriya narrow his gaze, a flower of irritation blooming in his chest at the idea that someone wouldn't work towards their dream. What, did he think he would just get it by chance?
Kodai looked him over, the taller boy feeling naked under her passive gave. "Out of shape."
"I'm not that bad." He muttered as Midoriya rolled his eyes. This dude was in denial.
"Oh really?" He stated as he spotted someone familiar down the way, off on the side of the path, enjoying the flowers. "Shiozaki! Could you please come over?" He yelled out, with the vine-haired girl looking up to see her classmates and a boy she didn't recognise. Still, she had no reason to refuse, so she walked over to them.
"Is there something you need?" She asked as Midoriya nodded his head.
"Can you please lift your arm? It's important, I swear." She raised an eyebrow at that unusual request, but it didn't sound perverted. That changed slightly when he insisted she remove her jacket to show off her arm. If not for Kodai nodding that he wasn't being weird, she might have refused him. "Now, please flex." This was only getting weirder, but she did so, her bicep and other muscles showing themselves as Kuroiro whistled in appreciation, which she silenced with a glare.
"Shinso, do the same." Midoriya didn't either notice or choose to ignore that as he asked Shinso to do the same, with the boy gulping but following it, removing his jacket as well, standing to her side, raising his arm, and flexing it. To his embarrassment, it wasn't even a contest. "See, look at that, you're as in shape as Far Gum is slim." Midoriya didn't hold it back as the guy lowered his arm and put his jacket back on. Shiozaki did the same, even as she wondered what that purpose was.
"Dude, how the hell is she in better shape than you?" Kuroiro asked the guy. It should have been the other way around.
"Why didn't you just ask Kodai for this?" Shiozaki asked him.
"Because you're in the best shape of all the girls." Midoriya's reply was spoken like it was complete, and the girl blushed a little at the reveal.
"You were watching her earlier," Kuroiro smirked at his friend, who turned confused.
"Of course, I was, I observed all our classmates. Didn't you?" They were training to be heroes together, and if things went well, they'd be together for 3 whole years. Why wouldn't they want to know the physical fitness of their classmates?
Kodai agreed with him on that front, pocking Shiozaki's side, which had a notable bit of firm muscle underneath her smooth skin. "He's right, you're fit as a horse."
The vine-haired girl blushed at the compliment, even if she could now see that Midoriya's earlier statement had been entirely innocent and devoid of inappropriate intent. "I do my best to stay in shape as not only is the body the temple of the lord, but one needs to be in exceptional shape to help more people as a heroine."
"Are you going to keep insulting me?" Shinso asked, his eyes narrowing as Midoriya wrapped an arm around him again.
"Don't worry, my sleep-deprived friend, I shall make a man outta you!" He told him.
"What are you? His personal trainer?" Kuroiro asked him. Midoriya continued to smile.
"Even better, I'm his friend who wants him to be in the best shape possible, even if I have to drag him to the gym kicking and screaming." Shinso didn't look all that happy about that statement, as even now, he could tell that the boy had been jacked.
"…Can I say no?"
"That depends; if I gave you a 10-second head start, would I still catch you in under a minute?" Midoriya's question went unanswered by the boy, who sighed as he accepted his fate.
"As forward as he's being," Shiozaki started. "A healthy body is an important part of a healthy life. I wouldn't mind joining you occasionally, provided it doesn't conflict with my schedule." With that, Midoriya and Shiozaki discussed exercise, trading tips and tricks they use to stay in shape and improve themselves. This bled into a discussion on lifestyles and which was best for the most effective sustainable gains, which led to the two finding out that they were similar in wishing for little in the means of material wealth and enjoying hard work and gardening. Regarding favourite food, while Shiozaki's was humble bread, Midoriya's was Katsudon. However, he states he eats it as a treat and usually sticks to a diet of fish, fruits and vegetables.
All this while the other 3 watched, effectively locked out of the conversation. Still, Shinso could hear how they were designing his new diet and workout schedule. It sounded like he was into hell with stuff like 'early morning 2km jogs' to cut down on sweets, fats, and strength and endurance training.
"And that was it." Midoriya finished repeating the highlights of his day to his master and Kyūfune, the older woman seated at her desk as usual with Ruby by her side. At the same time, he sat on the couch next to his girlfriend. Just thinking he could call her made his heart flutter as he leaned into her warmth. The taller girl wrapped her arm around him.
Kenmikoto gave him a pleased smile. "Sounds like you had a productive day and managed to leave your mark on them by scoring first." That part he puffed his chest up at, his confidence having taken a boast from training with her master and the results he got. "You even managed to make friends in your age range for one. Looks like we can't make jokes about having you drink milk when you go out." He deflated as skilled or not; he was still a brat in her eyes.
"I've never drank milk when I hang out with anyone!" He yelled back, as not even when he would hang with Obi and Hanen, worse was they ordered him water.
"Did you manage to get their numbers?" Kyūfune steered the conversation away from that, which Midoriya went with as he nodded, pulling out his phone to show her the new contacts.
"We formed a group chat!" It was only one of 2, but she was happy for him as she hugged him a little tighter; the more petite boy is nice to cuddle with in times like this.
Which meant it was a perfect time for Kenmikoto to ruin it. "That is good; as fun as it is watching the two of you, you need friends you don't want to cuddle with and watch cheesy movies with." Both blushed at that as they had done that, but how the hell did she know?! They had watched a movie in his dorm room, as Kyūfune lived in the same house as the master.
"Mother!" The fox woman yelled at her mother, who laughed it off. Ruby also seemed to take amusement from this with a growl that sounded far too much like a laugh.
"What? It's true, isn't it? You're 20, my dear; he's a strapping boy, a bit on the small side, though." She noted that even now, the sight the two created was odd, as she had seen short men with tall girls before. She even knew that some people were turned on by that. Still, she had never seen one with such a height difference, as even if she were seated, she would still be close to Midoriya's total height.
Midoriya didn't seem to appreciate the slander about his height and bit back. "I might be small, but I'm stronger than I look." But he was confused when, instead of being on his side, Kyūfune covered her face, her cheeks red while the master smiled like a cat that had just caught a fat canary.
"So you would say you…rise to the occasion?" She asked him, and he was about to confirm that, but his girlfriend shushed him by covering his mouth with her hand, a hand large enough to nearpalm his entire face.
"Please stop talking." She pleaded, seeing the confusion in his eyes and reluctantly, whispering the double meaning behind her mother's words to him, which got him as flustered as she was as he turned to the older woman.
"Master!" She only laughed harder at this.
"For a teenage boy, I'm surprised you fell for that." Sapphire, who lay by the fireplace on the other side of the room, growled in agreement. Midoriya felt insulted and embarrassed that even the tiger had figured out that dirty joke before he did.
But as fun as that was, there were other things the master wished to talk about as her face lost all sense of amusement. "Still, don't you think you're playing a dangerous game by keeping your quirkless secret?" She raised an eyebrow when he didn't answer immediately, taking his time to think about it as he could feel Kyūfune's concerned eyes on the back of his head.
"Probably not, but…" Away from them and having time to think over his choices, he could only imagine the uproar once they learned the truth about him. "I want to make friends first before that issue comes up." It was…nice to talk with them like that, to be so open with classmates without fear.
"If they're as good as you say, they won't care that you have an extra toe joint." Kenmikoto sighed. "Especially since Shinso boy, you're determined to help get in shape."
"I hope you're right."
"So do I, but life isn't worth living if you don't take risks with people," She replied. "Now, tell me about your plans for this Shinso boy; I hope you don't plan to work the toothpick to the bone. He's not you, after all." Midoriya seemed to like that change as he went relay what he had thought the boy should do for the Sports Festival and afterwards, with the two women giving their opinions here and there.