As the exam's signal ended, poor Izuku Midoriya finally passed out, overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion.
Amidst the murmurs of the gathered students, an elderly woman's voice floated over from nearby: "Alright, everyone, well done… well done, well done!"
Slowly, she pulled a handful of brightly colored candies from her robes and handed them to a student. "Here, here, some gummies for you. Go on, have one."
"Thank you…" the boy muttered, taking them shyly.
"Here you go, you too." The old woman smiled as she walked over to the next student.
Yu Aoyama, golden-haired and ever so elegant, gestured confidently toward the woman. "That lady is one of U.A.'s pillars of strength."
Curious eyes followed as the elderly woman approached Midoriya. "Oh my, you've been hurt by your own quirk, haven't you?"
After saying that, her lips suddenly stretched unnaturally long, slowly extending until—biu!—they touched the top of Midoriya's head.
"Huh?" The entire scene froze.
"What just happened?"
"She's U.A. High School's caretaker and recovery hero," an explanation came. "Her quirk is an overactive self-healing ability. The reason U.A. dares to hold such chaotic entrance exams is largely because she's here to back them up."
As she spoke, Midoriya's twisted legs and arms slowly healed, the residual damage from ONE FOR ALL's backlash vanishing rapidly.
"A fine young lady, indeed," Mysterious Heroine X muttered, a twitch at the corner of her mouth, glancing at the silver-haired elder.
"Quickly, are there any other injured students?"
Having healed Midoriya, the woman's gaze wandered until she spotted Yukino leaning against a distant wall.
"Oh my, there's another beautiful little girl over there."
The old woman's mouth puckered expectantly as she made her way over.
"Uh, it's fine, I'm not hurt," Yukino said, waving frantically.
"No worries, no worries, just take a little bite… biu!"
…
The entrance exam concluded as scheduled. A week later, Rin Hayami received her acceptance letter, earning a total of 80 points—65 for combat and 15 for special rescues—ranking first overall in U.A. High School.
Midoriya also earned 60 points for his heroic rescue of Ochaco Uraraka.
Both were placed into Class 1-A.
Opening day arrived in the blink of an eye. Rin entered the classroom as usual, casually counting the desks.
"Huh… looks like everyone's here. Still twenty, huh."
But she quickly froze in place.
"Is someone missing?"
Originally, the class had twenty students. Now that Rin had taken one of the seats, it meant that particular student had lost not only a chance at Class 1-A but possibly the opportunity to attend U.A. altogether.
That was essentially destroying someone's future.
"This is…"
Seeing Rin appear in his male form, Midoriya froze in his seat. He had run to All Might to ask about the girl who trained daily at the seaside park, learning that she had also entered U.A. and even ended up in his class.
But now… the last student to arrive was a boy.
"Hey, done talking?"
Amid the chatter in the classroom, a disheveled voice came from outside the door.
"?"
Rin turned to see a student curled up in a sleeping bag, resembling a yellow caterpillar, lying on the floor.
"Finally quiet. Time's limited, and you all lack discipline," he drawled, slowly rising, still half-asleep. He stepped from the sleeping bag and fixed his gaze on the class. "I am your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa. Please take care of yourselves."
"Homeroom teacher?" the students murmured in surprise.
"No time to waste. Put this on and meet me on the training field." Aizawa pulled a school uniform from his sleeping bag and led the way out of the classroom.
The students exchanged confused glances but had no choice but to follow him to the field.
"Rin-chan, we should follow too," Tōru Hagakure whispered, shaking Rin's shoulder with a friendly familiarity.
"Huh, the way you say that…" Rin realized Tōru truly considered her a close friend.
…Though she did wonder—considering how quirky everyone's appearances are in this world—how couples could even manage. Shota Aizawa, for instance, looks like a crow; his long, pointed beak couldn't exactly kiss his partner without disaster. Tōru, hugging her, might as well have been holding air. And then there were the slime, tentacle, and other bizarre animal-like quirks—marrying anyone like that? Rin shivered at the thought.
Wasn't that a little too extreme? She pondered as she followed Tōru to the field.
Once on the field, all students lined up neatly before Aizawa.
"First up is a quirk mastery test."
"Quirk mastery test?"
"You've all done something like this in middle school, right? A practical test without quirk usage… Now, let's see who comes out on top. Bakugo, your throwing record in middle school?"
"67 meters," Bakugo said coldly, giving Rin a sidelong glare.
"Now try it with your quirk," Aizawa said flatly.
Rin twitched at the mouth corner—how did she manage to provoke someone so explosive?
Bakugo stepped into the circle, shouted "Die!" and launched the ball with an explosive quirk-enhanced force.
"706 meters."
Aizawa aimed his instrument at the students. Rin raised an eyebrow, sensing this was slightly higher than the original timeline. Her presence had subtly altered events—but only minimally, and that was acceptable.
"706 meters? Are you kidding me?" The students below gaped in shock.
"This is… so exciting!" Mina Ashido clapped enthusiastically. "Go ahead, use your quirks! That's what being in the Hero Course is all about."
…
"Seems like fun… doesn't it?" Aizawa's voice suddenly took on a darker edge. "Do you all really approach your three years here with that mindset?"
Then he smiled faintly. "I'll mark the last-place student in each of the eight tests as having no potential. Expelled."
"Ah???" The students cried in shock.
"Of course."
Rin watched it all without surprise. On the very first day, Aizawa had already made his presence felt, giving everyone a proper scare.