Aizawa wasn't joking.
Twenty minutes later, I stood in U.A.'s training field, clad in a navy-blue gym uniform that fit a little too snug around the shoulders. The wind was crisp, the sky was clear, and the ground beneath my feet looked suspiciously like a track designed to break your spirit.
Around me, the rest of the class milled about, some stretching, others chatting or fidgeting nervously. I stuck to the side, arms folded, observing.
"Now that you're all ready. We're going to be doing a Quirk assessment test."
"A Quirk Assessment Test?"
Everyone echoed back.
"What about the entrance ceremony?" Uraraka asked with confusion. "The orientation?"
"This is Hero training. If you're going to be a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events."
Well that just sounded depressing.
"U.A's selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are."
Mr. Aizawa paused. Then turned his face to reveal his side profile.
"That also includes how the teachers run their classes."
The atmosphere shifted ominously.
"You've been doing standard physical tests since you were kids, right?" he began, eyes scanning the group. "The ones without using your Quirks."
He pointed the small tablet in his hand towards us. A few nods. Others glanced around, confused.
"The country still uses results of averages taken from students not using their quirks. It's irrational. Here, we're not interested in how strong you are without your Quirk."
He gestured to the wide open field behind him.
"We're here to see how well you can apply your abilities under pressure. Bakugo .."
"Huh?"
"You were the top scorer in the practical exam right? What was your record in school for a softball throw."
Bakugo frowned in thought.
"67 meters."
"Then, try doing it with your quirk."
'No Canon Changes on this end, I guess.'
At least that's what I thought.
Things unfolded the same way I remembered at first. "DIE!" With Bakugo kicking off the assessment with a rattling explosion.
"Know your limits first."
Aizawa said right after as he displayed the result. [825 Meters]
"That's the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero."
"Whoa!"
Everyone exclamations fell into my ears. My attention however, was elsewhere as I squinted at the number shown on the tablet.
'Hold on. Shouldn't it be 750 meters?'
"It looks fun, huh? Is that the attitude you are coming in with?"
Well, here it comes.
I watched in silence as the man's expressionless facade broke into a grin.
"In that case. Since we're not sugarcoating things—" Aizawa's voice dropped slightly, almost teasing, "—whoever comes last across all eight tests… will be judged to have no potential and punished with expulsion."
"Huh?!"
Panic spread like wildfire. I say Midoriya tense, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. Others shifted uncomfortably.
My brows furrowed as I fell into thought.
'If I remember correctly, according to the anime, All Might should be reading the school manual in the teachers lounge right about now.'
___
The tests ... Were easy. Not gonna lie. I guess it would be lying to say I expected anything more knowing what my powers were.
For the 50m dash, I crossed the finish line in the shortest overall time while being paired with Mineta.
Not that it actually got heads turning.
Of course, that changed when it came to grip strength.
I applied as much force as I could muster on the device and squeezed. The handle deformed noticeable the moment I did.
1284 kilograms.
Lower than I expected, not gonna lie. Ten months ago, my punch force was around 3.8 tons. Though grip strength and punch force were two different areas and could never be equal so I wasn't too surprised.
"One ... One ... One ..."
Looking at the results I turned in, Mineta, kept uttering the same word with wide eyes.
"Damn man. What are your arms made of?"
"Yeah, that's double of Shoji's."
Kirishima looked just short of poking me several times to see what I was made of.
The next event was the standing long jump. The result was obvious.
Next event, sidestepping.
First event I didn't get first place in. Truth be told, even I was surprised at Mineta's back and forth bouncing between two balls. Then we all came back to the ball throw.
Yeah .... I came third.
No one was beating Uraraka for first place. Momo came second by using her Quirk to create a Canon and blasting her ball using it. Me? 919 meters. I turned around just in time to see Bakugo clenching his fists at my result and scowling.
I chuckled a bit.
"Problem?"
"Hmph. This is just a random assessment. I'm not even going all out, it means nothing."
"Sure. Whatever comforts you I guess."
His result meant he would have to settle for fourth place.
That didn't change even after Midoriya went up, was stopped by Mr. Aizawa, and subsequently broke his finger using One For All to achieve the result of 750.3 meters.
"He got over 700 meters."
"Finally, a hero like record."
"It's not very stylish though."
Amidst the discussions, I fell into thought. 'So I didn't remember wrong then.' another butterfly effect.
From what I remembered, Midoriya's inspirational moment here was supposed to surpass Bakugo in the ball throw rankings who still thought the former was quirkless.
Of course, that probably wouldn't change how things would play out next. I turned my gaze to Bakugo. Sure enough, he stood slouched, wide eyed and jaw dropped, like he had seen the unthinkable happen.
Following which, his features crumpled into a menacing glare.
"What ... What is the meaning of this?" I raised an eyebrow at the sight of his hands sparking with explosions.
"I thought that was obvious by now sparky. It seems Midoriya finally awakened his quirk."
"That's Impossible!"
He snapped back. The fact that he ignored me calling him Sparky showed just how much Deku's power display actually affected him.
"Um ... Did you forgot that I exist?"
I uttered, just before he went charging at Midoriya for an explanation.
He froze. My words killing his momentum before he could even take off.
"That's .... It's not .." He tried, and failed to justify the difference. Because there was no difference.
From the looks of it, that only served to irritate him even more. Unfortunately ....
"Whoever's next, get in the circle." Aizawa said. Eyes drifting to Bakugo. "Also, violence isn't tolerated here." The rest of the assessment passed quickly at different areas
"Alright. I'll tell you your results." Once again gathered in the field, Aizawa
"It's just a total of the marks you got in each test. It's a waste of time to explain verbally so I'll let you see the results all at once."
His words were followed by a holographic ranking display.
1. Rei Takumi
2. Momo Yaoyorozu
3. Shoto Todoroki
4. Katsuki Bakugo .....
Compared to Canon, the only change was the fact that there were 21 instead of twenty placements, and I occupied the top spot.
I could see Midoriya's body tremble like a leaf the moment he saw his name in last place.
Luckily for him .
"By the way. I was lying about the expulsion thing."
Silence.
The greater portion of the class stood stunned at the reveal.
"It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirk."
"What?"
"Of course that was a lie. It should have been obvious if you thought it through." Momo added. I strongly resisted the urge to tell her just how wrong she was.
"With that, we're done here." Aizawa uttered before turning to walk away. "There are handouts that cover the curriculum, dorm regulations, and support request procedures in your classroom. So when you go back, look over them. Textbooks will be delivered to your lockers by tomorrow."
"And Midoriya .."
"Huh?"
Aizawa stopped and gave him a pack.
"Have the old lady fix that up in the nurses office. Tomorrow will be packed with more rigorous tests. Prepare yourselves."
Those were his last words before he left.
With Aizawa's departure, everyone let out a relieved sigh.
"Man, that whole thing was intense."
"Yeah. Truly is the best Hero School in the country."
"No matter. I always welcome a challenge."
My gaze moved across my lively classmates. Kirishima and Sero, Iida and Tokoyami, Midoriya and Uraraka, and of course Bakugo who was staring at Midoriya with an intense glare.
My new life now. Better get used to it.
"You did pretty well." A voice came from my side. I tilted my head to see Momo walking towards me with a slight smile and a raised hand.
"Thanks. You weren't half bad."
Seriously? Why couldn't I come up with smoother lines?
"Though U.A could have at least put up an orientation ceremony. Mr. Aizawa said things will get more rigorous than this, yet they can't even make the first day pleasantly memorable."
"Well, like Mr Aizawa said. Welcome to the Hero Course."
"Meh ... I still think they could have hung up a banner or something."
That was all for the first day.
There were no followup classes after. Just spend the remaining time before school dismissal to yourselves and familiarize with the school surroundings and your classmates.
More people did the latter.
Upon returning to the class, there were several handouts on the tables alongside a student handbook.
Most of the class wandered in and out, flipping pages or chatting in clusters. I pulled out my seat near the back, set the handbook aside, and scanned through the curriculum list stapled to the top of the pile.
Hero Ethics. Rescue Theory. Combat Training. General Studies. Literature...
Literature?
Huh.
I flipped to the appendix where the textbook list was printed in clean, bold fonts.
Required Reading: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" – Vol. 1.
I blinked.
No. No way.
I flipped back, checked again.
Same title.
Same name.
The author line burned into my retinas like a cosmic joke: K.T.R.T
My pen name had made its way into U.A.'s academic canon. Turns out, Midnight wasn't kidding.
I stared at the title for a long, stunned second.
"You've gotta be kidding me."