"A Quirk assessment test?"
"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?"
The round-faced girl asked the teacher, but...
"We don’t do that kind of thing. U.A. has a free-spirited school culture. That goes for the teachers too."
With that, the teacher explained the test. Eight events in total: softball throw, 50-meter dash, standing broad jump, grip strength, repeated side steps, sit-ups, flexibility test, and so on. All of them would be measured using Quirks.
"Entrance exam top scorer Sorano... no, Bakugo, you go stand inside the circle and throw this using your Quirk. As long as you don’t step outside the circle, do whatever you want."
"Tch."
Bakugo clicked his tongue, took the ball from the teacher, and stepped into the circle. The teacher had intended to call on me, but instead he chose Bakugo. That made sense. Since I didn’t have a Quirk, it would be more useful to have Bakugo do it. Still, the people around us seemed curious why he had singled out someone else.
"Why not have the top scorer do it?"
The girl with pink skin and hair, black pupils, and yellow eyes couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked the teacher.
"Because this is more rational."
After saying that, everyone looked at Bakugo. Bakugo took a deep breath and threw the ball.
"DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The line sounded like a villain’s, but the record he produced using his Quirk far surpassed that of ordinary people.
"Knowing your own ‘maximum’—that’s the most rational way to build the foundation of a Hero."
As he said that, the teacher showed the results.
Bakugo Katsuki, softball throw: 705.2 meters
"What is this!? This is so fun!!!"
At someone’s words, the teacher’s expression twisted slightly.
"Fun...? So that’s the attitude you plan to spend three years with, trying to become a Hero? Fine. Anyone who finishes at the bottom of the class will be judged hopeless and expelled on the spot."
At those words, most of the students panicked, while some smiled as if they had confidence in themselves.
"Welcome. This is Hero Academia."
The teacher smiled as he welcomed the students.
______________________________________
First up was the 50-meter dash. I was warming up when someone suddenly spoke to me.
"Good to meet you!! You’re the top scorer in the entrance exam, right? I’m Iida Tenya. Nice to meet you!!"
Was he that model student from earlier?
"I’m Sorano Taka. Nice to meet you."
"Gero, I’m Asui Tsuyu. Call me Tsuyu-chan."
"Nice to meet you, Tsuyu-chan."
"Gero."
When I called her Tsuyu-chan, she looked oddly satisfied.
"Take your positions."
I, Iida, and Tsuyu-chan got ready to run.
"Go."
At the signal, Iida and I shot forward immediately, while Tsuyu-chan started a little later.
Iida Tenya: 3.04 seconds
Sorano Taka: 5.00 seconds
Asui Tsuyu: 5.58 seconds
"So there really is a huge difference between having a Quirk and not having one."
I muttered to myself. It was a pretty big disadvantage, but if I got stuck on something like this, I’d just run into another wall anyway. Thinking that, I prepared for the next event.
______________________________________
I went through the tests one by one. My results were higher than what people without Quirks could normally achieve, but lower than those of people using their Quirks.
And then there was the softball throw. Several records were set, but one student’s record came out as infinite. After that, it was Midoriya’s turn.
He hesitated, made up his mind, and was about to throw when an unexpected result appeared.
46 meters.
Midoriya’s expression darkened, and the teacher glared at him.
"I erased your Quirk. Honestly, that entrance exam wasn’t rational."
Erased his Quirk? Was that the teacher’s Quirk? The teacher’s hair stood up and his eyes glowed red. It looked like he was lecturing Midoriya about something. Then the teacher returned to normal and gave Midoriya another chance.
Midoriya threw the ball again. At that moment, I activated [Sense]. Then I saw a green light around Midoriya’s fingers. The light flared like an explosion, and with a tremendous sound, the ball flew far into the distance. Midoriya’s fingers, where the green light had vanished, had turned red.
'Is he injured? Is that the backlash from using his Quirk?'
I thought that to myself and turned [Sense] off. Then Midoriya clenched his fist, tears streaming down his face, and said to the teacher,
"Teacher, I can still do it!"
"You... brat!"
The teacher smiled, certain that Midoriya still had potential.
______________________________________
The test ended, and the teacher announced the results.
"By the way, the expulsion was a lie. A rational falsehood meant to bring out your maximum potential."
At that, several students, Midoriya included, shouted in protest. The girl beside him said it was obvious that it had been a lie, but I didn’t think the teacher had lied at all. Then I checked the rankings.
8th place: Sorano Taka
'Well, that’s about right.'
Honestly, I didn’t think it would be easy to place near the top without a Quirk.
______________________________________
After the test, I was heading to my part-time job. On the way, I spotted Midoriya ahead of me and called out to him.
"Midoriya, are your fingers all right?"
"Huh... Sorano-kun?!"
Midoriya shouted in surprise and turned around. Then he calmed down and answered.
"Hahaha, I already went to Recovery Girl and got treated, so I’m fine. More importantly, I was surprised. I can’t believe Sorano-kun got into the Hero Course too."
Then the bespectacled model student from behind us, Iida Tenya, came over.
"Midoriya-kun, Sorano-kun, would it be all right if we walked home together?"
Iida asked whether it was okay to head home together. I nodded, and Midoriya said it was fine. Then Iida started talking about his impression of the teacher, and in the middle of the conversation, a girl with a round face and a brown bob cut approached from behind. She asked whether she could go with us to the station and introduced herself. Uraraka Ochaco asked for our names to make sure she had them right.
"So that makes you Iida-kun, Sorano-kun, and Midoriya Deku-kun? Right?"
"Deku!?"
Midoriya was stunned. Deku is a slur meaning something like "good-for-nothing." If he heard it innocently, of course he’d be flustered. And then Uraraka apologized and said,
"But ‘Deku’ sounds like ‘do your best’ to me, so I kind of like it."
"It’s Deku."
Iida was shocked, and I thought to myself that it was easy, then headed home with them.
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