A week had passed since the U.A. High entrance exam as I patiently waited for my results.
But I hadn't just been sitting around.
No, other than going to my junior high classes, I had also continued my training, but I had changed my schedule to focus strictly on increasing the stamina of my 'Quirk energy'.
After all… if Hagakure hadn't helped me run away, I would have been quite screwed against that zero pointer, all because I didn't have enough energy.
And in real life… that wasn't acceptable.
I guess managing my energy would also need some work… but that was something for later.
But aside from that… one other thing was different from normal.
Nejire… she was acting weird.
A different weird from the jealousy she showed after the exam, where now, it seemed more like… embarrassment?
I wasn't sure, but embarrassment was something quite rare for Nejire.
Unfortunately, with her final exams going on, we were only able to see each other briefly in the morning, but still… it was enough to know that she was acting different from usual.
Was it due to the exam results she had watched over?
No… but she didn't seem like this right after the exam, so probably not.
Was it… no, I'm not even sure what it was.
But either way, right now there was something more important at hand.
That being the sealed letter placed on my desk, with 'U.A. High Hero School' written plainly on the front of the envelope.
Well… I guess there was no use in waiting around.
Ripping off the side of it, I was about to take out the letter, but before I could, a metal thing slid out and landed on the desk.
The hell?
Was it a pin of some sort?
Before I could pick it up to inspect, the top suddenly began glowing, before a hologram extended outward.
Huh… so this was how U.A. did their results… wasn't this a bit overkill?
"Young Tsugai! I am here! To announce your exam results!"
…All Might?
What was the number one hero doing here?
"You passed the written exam with flying colours, scoring in the top 93%! And in the practical exam, you scored 38 villain points! Quite the impressive achievement!"
38… it was a bit lower than I had thought.
Would it be enough?
I hope so…
"But that isn't all!" the large man continued as a video began to play.
The video being my encounter with that giant robot as well as with that girl, Hagakure…
"What kind of hero school would simply not account for such fine heroics? Not this one, that's for sure! The entrance exam was not graded on only villain points, but also… rescue points!"
The screen then began to show a few other clips of me pulling an examinee out of the way… but what was this getting at?
'Rescue points'?
"And so, for your selfless, brave, and practical rescue in such a dire situation, alongside the other smaller acts of heroics you performed along the way, you have earned yourself a total of 60 hero points! Meaning your total score is 98 points!"
…Oh.
That sounded much better.
"With such a score, you have not only passed, but have taken first place by over 20 points! Congratulations, Young Tsugai! And welcome to your hero academia!"
Corny.
Seeing that final display as the video cut out, I couldn't help but think of that word.
But still… I had passed. And first place, no less…
Maybe Nejire and I would need to go out for a celebratory dinner again.
Ah, right. There were two people I needed to tell.
First, my mother, where I simply sent a text relaying my results and how I would be going to U.A., to which she simply responded with 'Congratulations' a moment later.
She really did keep things curt and simple.
But while appreciated the speed… was that it?
Honestly, with how much time she spends away from home, and not seeming to care about how I'm doing, I really do wonder why she even had me at all?
Or maybe, did my shitty old man leaving cause her to change?
Well… whatever.
I then texted the only other person in my contacts, sending her a simple 'I got my results'.
I saw that it was read right away, but didn't get a response.
Ah… so that could only mean one thing.
And lo and behold, only ten minutes later…
"Lukas! How did you do?" Nejire asked, not even knocking as she entered my front door.
There she appeared.
"I passed," I said, smiling from the couch.
"Yippie! Or, well, I kind of already expected that… but still! What were your results?" she asked, coming over to sit down next to me.
"I got 98 points… first place in the exam, apparently," I answered.
"98… and first place!? That's amazing!" she exclaimed, quickly wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "That's, like, crazy! I remember getting first place in my exam, but I only got like 73 points or something! And you didn't even get to use your Quirk's full potential! Wow!"
The praise felt a bit embarrassing… but also wonderful, especially since it was from her.
"Thank you, Nejire," I said, pointedly averting my eyes as she began rubbing her cheek against mine.
"Ooh~! So cool, Lukas! But still… I expected you would do something like this, since you're so awesome," she said, moving away as I turned to face her, only to be met with a pair of upturned eyes. "You're… an amazing guy… Lukas…"
She continued to stare at me with her cheeks flushing a bit red.
Huh? Why… did she suddenly turn meek?
Why… why did she look so cute right now?
My heartbeat… was it supposed to go this fast?
And what was with this sudden intimate moment?
"S-So yeah… good job!" she said, suddenly standing up as she grabbed my hand. "Anyway, let's go celebrate! There's a ramen shop a few minutes away that I want to try!"
And with that, she dragged me to my feet, pulling me out the door as she continued to face away from me.
But that didn't hide the red tint flushing her ears, nor how her hand had gripped mine a bit tighter than usual…
—
Another month had passed since my acceptance into U.A. High, and since then, I had graduated from junior high, where I had been congratulated quite a bit at my school for getting into such a prestigious hero school, but… I didn't really care about the praise.
It wasn't like I had any friends in school, so graduating meant little to me.
The reason for my lack of friends was mostly due to my classmates being a bit too immature compared to me, who was already focused on being a hero, while they just wrote it in their career choice without putting in any work.
And then there was the fact that I moved here from a different prefecture three years ago, so everyone already had their own friend groups by the time I started there.
But regardless… hopefully, that would change soon.
I mean, a top hero school should be full of dedicated people, right?
"And here we are! Although, I guess you already walked here for the entrance exam… but still! Isn't it exciting?" Nejire said, the two of us having walked to the front gate together.
"Yeah… I guess it is," I replied, smiling as we walked through the gate, my student card letting me past the security sensors. "My letter said I would be in 1-A, do you know where that is?"
"Oh, all the hero course homerooms are in the same wing, so I can take you there!" she said happily, happily humming to herself as we went into the main hall arm in arm. "Ooh, I can't wait to walk to school with you all the time! Won't that be exciting? Aren't you excited?"
"Yeah… though this uniform is a bit uncomfortable," I said, looking down at my current outfit.
The U.A. uniform consisted of a long-sleeve white button-up shirt with a red tie, dark blue-green pants, and a grey blazer with dark blue-green accents and gold buttons.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it! Besides, I think you look quite nice in it!" Nejire said, pressing closer to me. "I mean, do you think it looks good on me?"
Nejire's female uniform was the same from the waist up, but instead of dark blue-green pants, she had a pleated skirt of the same colour, and high socks that nearly reached her knees.
With the other students walking through the gate, I didn't think anything of the girls' uniform.
But when it was worn by a girl like Nejire… well, I couldn't help my eyes from drifting towards her thighs, as well as how the blazer perfectly accentuated her figure.
"It… looks good," I said, turning my gaze forward again.
Yeah… although 'good' might be an understatement.
"Hehe, thanks!" she replied.
I decided to ignore the stares being sent our way, as it seemed that Nejire was easily doing the same, and before I knew it, I was in front of a giant pair of doors with '1-A' plastered on the front.
"Alright, here you are! Now I have to go before Snipe-sensei gets mad at me for being late! But have a great first day!" Nejire said, squeezing my hand before letting go.
"I will… do you want to leave together?" I asked.
"Hm~? Of course!" she replied, her lips curled up in a satisfied smile as she began skipping away.
Opening the large door, I was met with a normal classroom with high ceilings, where a few of what I assumed would be my classmates having already found their seats.
I guess I was quite early, huh?
And seeing as there weren't any assigned seats… I guess I would go for the far back corner, though since that spot was taken, I guess I'd do the next best thing.
Walking over to the seat, I sat down next to the tall black-haired girl, her back straight in a perfect seated posture.
We simply exchanged a nod as we waited for the seats to fill up.
A girl with short purple hair and what seemed like earphone jacks connected to her ears sat in front of the black-haired girl, while a shorter girl with long, dark green hair sat in front of me.
"Nice to meet you all, ribbit. I'm Tsuyu Asui, but you can call me Tsu. Hope we get along, ribbit," she said in a monotone voice to the three of us.
"Ah, and I'm Momo Yaoyorozu… I hope we can become good friends," the black-haired girl replied.
"Kyoka Jiro… and same. Still can't believe U.A. is so… big," the purple-haired girl said, her finger twirling around her earphone jacks.
And I guess now it was my turn.
"And I'm Lukas Tsugai… so it's nice to meet you, Jiro, Yaoyorozu, Tsu," I said, nodding to the three.
"Hmm… people usually don't use Tsu right away, even though I tell them. I appreciate that," Tsu said.
"Well, I'm the same way. I'd rather be called Lukas, if you don't mind," I said with a shrug. "My family name is… something I don't really care for that much."
The three nodded in understanding, and like that, we settled into a comfortable silence, with me watching the angry blonde-haired guy bicker with the tall one in faint amusement before a familiar voice broke out.
"Lukas! We're in the same class!" Hagakure said, her blazer floating in the air as she bounded over, immediately taking the seat to my right. "I totally forgot to ask for your number before I left, but I guess there's no need to worry now!"
"Right… and I'm glad to see you got in, Hagakure," I said, smiling at her, though I wasn't sure exactly where to meet her eyes.
"Umm… do you guys know each other?" Jiro asked.
"Kind of… we met during the practical exam," I answered.
"Not just 'met'! Lukas saved me from the zero pointer! It was awesome!" Hagakure said.
"Damn… that giant thing? I thought everyone ran away from it," Jiro said.
"Well, it isn't like I was able to damage it at all-"
"If you're just here to mingle, then I suggest you leave," a low voice droned across the classroom, bringing the pockets of chatter to complete silence. "This is the hero course, so act appropriately. It took you an entire seven seconds to quiet down. Not rational enough if you want to be heroes. Time is limited."
I watched as the man walked into the classroom, his long, dark hair draping over his tired eyes as he dragged along a… sleeping bag?
Was this… meant to be our teacher?
"This might be sudden, but put these on and head to the field outside the nearest changing rooms… and don't be late," he said, pulling out what seemed to be workout clothes. "Oh, and by the way, I'm Shota Aizawa… your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you."
—
Thankfully, getting to the changing rooms was quite intuitive, with everyone too focused on changing to exchange idle talk, before we found ourselves in the open field where Aizawa-sensei was standing with a clipboard and a stopwatch.
And as the last of us arrived, that being a curly green-haired boy, he finally looked up to the crowd of us students.
"It took you guys five whole minutes to gather here… just think of what can happen during that time. It's not empty words when I say that time is limited in heroics," he said, wiping his eyes. "Well, whatever. I guess that can be a lesson for another day. Today, we're doing a Quirk apprehension test."
"A Quirk apprehension test?" many members of the class asked in unison.
"What about orientation?" a brown-haired girl said.
"Yeah! And the entrance ceremony!" a pink-skinned girl added.
"That stuff is useless if you want to efficiently use your time to become heroes," he said.
"So… we'll be doing this instead?" a yellow-haired boy asked.
"Exactly… 50-meter dash, grip strength, standing long jump, side steps, ball throw, distance run, seated toe touch, and sit-ups… you've done all these measured activities for junior high, right?" he said, watching as everyone nodded. "Though for those, they don't allow the use of Quirks. I don't really care about what they do in those schools, but for here, we won't be doing such an illogical thing. This is a time to show your full potential, understand?"
So… using our Quirks to complete these tests?
That definitely made sense, but for me… well, at least with Empowerment, I could be a bit stronger than usual, but a lot of my virtues wouldn't be useable here…
"Katsuki Bakugo. What did you get for the ball throw in junior high?" Aizawa-sensei asked.
"67 meters…" the blonde-haired kid replied.
"You got the highest amount of villain points, so come stand in this circle, and throw this ball as far as you can while using your Quirk. Anything goes," Aizawa-sensei said, passing the blonde-haired boy a ball.
"Anything goes?" Bakugo asked, walking into the white circle.
"That's what I said," our teacher replied.
"Alright… then… DIE!" he shouted, a giant explosion releasing from his hand as the ball instantly flew out of sight.
Huh… damn.
I guess I shouldn't expect less of the hero course.
Although… was shouting 'die' really necessary?
The class all shared a similar reaction as his score was shown.
"Over 700 meters? That's insane!"
"So we can really use our Quirks?"
"Oh my gosh, this sounds fun!"
"Hell yeah! This is going to be awesome!"
But while most of the class was cheering, Aizawa-sensei quickly narrowed his eyes at us.
"Oh? 'Fun'? 'Awesome'?" he said, his tone causing everyone to quickly quiet down once more. "I am not sure where you got the idea, but training to be heroes is a serious matter. It is not 'fun' or 'awesome'. But if you want to take it so lightly… then I guess we'll need a little incentive."
His lips spread into a smirk as he lowered his face into his scarf.
"New rule. The person who gets the lowest combined scores for all the tests will be determined to have no potential, and consequently expelled," he stated.
"What!? B-But, you can't do that!"
"Yeah, how is that fair?"
"I can do that, and I will. U.A. gives its teachers complete freedom in how we run our classes, and this is how I run mine," he said, closing his eyes. "And as for being 'fair'… think about heroics for a second, past the flashy press pieces and merchandise. Natural disasters. Villain attacks. Hostage situations… do any of those sound 'fair' to you?"
That got everyone else to quiet down in thought.
"No… it isn't. Because heroes exist to deal with those unfair situations, and make them fair. If you aren't up for doing it when the stakes are this low, then how can you be trusted to handle unfairness when it affects peoples lives?" he asked.
It was a good argument.
Actually, I quite liked how this guy thought.
But thinking of my set of abilities, or more importantly, someone like Hagakure's…
"Aizawa-sensei," I said, raising my hand, causing him to nod at me to speak up. "What about those of us with Quirks that don't fit this situation? Heroics are more than just a set of athletic tests."
Aizawa narrowed his eyes at me.
"Hmm… there is some truth to that… but athletic tests like these are basic abilities that every hero needs, so even if it's not your strong suit, you still need to produce an impressive score," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Besides… I think you should just focus on doing your best, top scorer."
A few people's heads turned towards me at that, and I noticed that Bakugo, who had walked back towards the group, was staring at me with a lot more intensity.
"Anyway, consider this as your first test. And welcome to U.A. High."
—
The Quirk apprehension test passed quite quickly, as a lot of these tests were already things I used for my own training, only this time using my Quirk while doing them as best as I could.
For the 50-meter dash, I did my best while using Empowerment on myself, getting a time of 5.24 seconds.
For grip strength, I also used Empowerment, just like I did for the standing long jump and side steps.
The ball throw was a bit different, as I used Critical Hit to strike the ball, and thankfully, instead of causing it to break, it launched it over 400 meters.
The last three exercises of distance run, seated toe touch, and sit-ups I performed without my Quirk, simply using my base physical abilities to do my best, and thankfully, it seemed that I performed better than average for all of them.
And thus, when the final rankings were revealed, I didn't feel that worried… but I still didn't expect to get 6th place.
Aside from everyone finding their own names, the next spot people focused on was that of 20th, or rather, last place.
One Izuku Midoriya. The guy that had blown up his finger during the ball throw, showing an impressive score, but hadn't used his Quirk for the rest of the tests, and was on the lower end of the class as a result.
He was last place, and thus, would be expelled.
At least… that's what a lot of us thought.
"Oh. And about expelling last place… that was a lie," Aizawa-sensei said, turning off the hologram screen with a smile. "That was but a rational deception to bring out your full strength."
While most of us were surprised at the 'rational deception', Yaoyorozu didn't seem surprised.
"Of course that was a lie… It should have been obvious if you thought it through," she said
Well… while I never considered reading people as one of my strengths, Aizawa's words really didn't seem like a lie to me… more like he didn't think Midoriya had 'no potential'.
Plus, there was that talk between the two before the ball throw…
"Everyone can go home early today, but make sure to grab your schedule on the table before you do," Aizawa-sensei said. "Anyway, see you tomorrow. Ah, and Midoriya, take this to the nurse's office."
After handing the green-haired kid a slip of paper, our teacher then began walking away, leaving all of us staring in silence.
Thankfully, no one would be heading home today.
"Hagakure… you did amazing, considering your Quirk didn't help at all," I said, as I was already standing next to her.
"Right? I was so nervous!" she said. "But still, you're calling me amazing? I didn't get 6th place like a certain someone!"
"Yeah, well… thankfully my Quirk was able to help me a bit," I said, scratching my ear.
Even though I wasn't the best out of any of the tests, I guess being good across the board was just as useful.
"I know… you mostly said that to Aizawa-sensei for my sake, right?" she said, to which I averted my eyes to the ground. "Hm~? Well still, even if it didn't end up doing anything, thanks for trying to look out for me."
"No worries… and speaking of looking out for you…" I muttered as I walked up to the boy that was about to leave. "Midoriya."
"H-Huh? Uhh… yes?" he said, stunned.
"Give me your hand," I said, ignoring how he tilted his head in confusion before eventually following my request.
With his injured hand in mine, I narrowed my eyes as I focused on activating Empathy Healing, flinching as I felt my finger start to burn in pain.
Damn, what the hell did his Quirk do to him? It was like all the bones had been pulverized.
"W-Whoa! My finger… it's-!"
"Healing, yes. That's part of my Quirk," I said as I watched the purple colour fade from his skin. "I would have done it right after you injured yourself, but from what I saw, Aizawa-sensei wanted you to complete the last three activities with the consequences of your Quirk… but I can at least do this."
He stared at his hand in amazement as I let go.
"Of course, the nurse could probably do the same, but I heard that Recovery Girls' Quirk has some side effects. Plus, she's really busy," I said, narrowing my eyes. "But you really need to get a handle on your Quirk, whatever it is. Don't expect me to do this all the time."
"Y-Yes! Understood! And thank you, Tsugai!" he said, standing up straight.
"Just call me Lukas…" I muttered.
"But wow! It's amazing that you're so strong with a healing Quirk!" he said, and I swear I saw stars appear in his eyes.
"It's nothing so amazing, just the results of training… besides, my Quirk isn't only healing," I said as I started walking towards the changing rooms. "Anyway, I don't want to see what happens if Aizawa-sensei catches us loitering here, so I'm going to get changed."
"R-Right!"
The rest of the class quickly followed my lead.
As I began taking off my clothes, I internally went through everything I had learned from the apprehension test, as with Aizawa saying everyone's name for the ball test, it had also served as an introduction to my classmates.
First, there was Katsuki Bakugo, the blonde-haired guy with a slight anger issue, whose Quirk allowed him to cause explosions from his palms. He came second in the test, and seemed to have quite amazing control of his Quirk.
A good rival.
Next was Momo Yaoyorozu, the girl who sat beside me, and her Quirk, from what I could tell, allowed her to create any inanimate object she wanted, securing first place in the test.
Quite amazing, and from her demeanour, she was extremely smart. Though I guess that's what you would expect from a recommendation student.
The other recommendation student was one Shoto Todoroki, the half white, half red-haired guy whose Quirk allowed him to generate ice, and also melt it. He got second in the test, and he seemed extremely serious and focused during the entire thing.
Next was one Tenya Ida, a tall, glasses-wearing guy who ran extremely fast thanks to his Quirk that seemed to be engines built into his legs. He was also extremely serious and proper, even before the exam, and had secured himself fourth place in the test.
Honestly, he felt more like a hall monitor than a classmate, but I digress.
Then there was that Izuku Midoriya, the curly green-haired boy whose Quirk destroyed his finger, though the power he unleashed in exchange was quite amazing.
If he could get his Quirk under control, he definitely had the potential to be strong, but until then… well, his placement in the test spoke for itself.
Next was Ochako Uraraka, the brown-haired girl with rosy cheeks, and a Quirk that allowed her to cancel gravity on whatever she touched, including herself. And while she had only gotten 10th place, she was the only one to score an infinity with the ball throw.
Eijiro Kirishima, the red-haired guy with shark-like teeth who had secured 8th place. His Quirk let him harden his body into something tougher than rock, which didn't help much in the test, so his pure physical strength was quite amazing.
Denki Kaminari, the yellow-haired guy with the goofy grin and laid back attitude. His Quirk let him shoot electricity, which didn't help him much, but allowed him to short circuit the grip strength meter, which secured him 16th place.
Mina Ashido, the pink-skinned, horned girl who came in 9th. She could spray acid, and from her smile and playful energy, she seemed like the type who kept things lively.
Then Kyoka Jiro, the purple-haired girl with headphone jacks for earlobes that I had already talked to. Her earphone jacks could be controlled like another limb, though it didn't help too much for the test, landing her in 17th place.
Rikado Sato was a large, muscular guy with choppy brown hair, and it seemed that his Quirk allowed him to increase his strength with sugar. Though… from how his eyes glazed over after each time he downed a sugar packet, it seemed that there was a cost for it.
Then, there was Hanta Sero. The plain-faced guy with black hair and a wide smile, whose Quirk allowed him to generate tape from his circular elbows.
Fumikage Tokoyami was… different. Bird-headed, calm, and broody. His Quirk was one of the most interesting, as it was a living shadow monster that had quite a lot of strength, allowing him to place just ahead of me in 5th.
Tsuyu Asui, or just Tsu. She seemed to have a frog Quirk, which explained the 'ribbits', and it also gave her an enhanced physique that placed in 13th. And while she didn't talk much during the test, I already knew she was quite straightforward and honest.
Minoru Mineta, the short, purple ball-haired guy. His Quirk let him pluck sticky spheres from his head and use them to trap people, but the main thing I knew about him was that he was quite annoying, at least from what I had learned in passing.
I would love to see him say something about Nejire, but then again, I didn't want to risk being expelled.
Yuga Aoyama, the sparkly blonde guy with the belt. His Quirk let him shoot lasers from his stomach, though it seemed to give him stomachaches if he overdid it.
Next was Mezo Shoji, the tall, mask-wearing guy with multiple arms. His Quirk let him grow extra limbs for pretty much anything, whether it be eyes, ears, hands. He was also quiet, and I hadn't heard him say anything for the entire test.
Koji Koda, the big, soft-spoken guy with a rock-like face. He could talk to and command animals, at least from how that bird seemed to be helping him during the test, though he barely talked to people.
And finally, there was Toru Hagakure, the cheerful invisible girl I had met during the exam. I couldn't see her, obviously, but her positive and friendly attitude and voice more than made up for it.
To be honest, she was probably the only person I could reliably call my 'friend' so far, which was a good start.
But still… her Quirk.
I hadn't thought of it before, but it seemed like it wasn't something she could control, meaning she was always invisible.
I didn't want to assume anything, but… I couldn't help but wonder if she was fine with that.
Then again, it would be rude to assume.
Nobody in the class knew about the Humility aspect of my Quirk, but once it was revealed, if she came to me to ask for a favour… well, I would be more than happy with helping her out.
But yes… like that, my first day at U.A. came to an end.