A few minutes later, Class 1A gathered outside around Aizawa, near a ring in the grass. Sitting next to it was a box of softballs.
"We're going to do a Quirk assessment test," he announced.
"Huh?" The brown-haired girl tilted her head. "What about orientation?"
"We don't have time for such things when there is hero training to be done. Here at UA, they give us teachers freedom to do whatever we want."
So this is hero school, thought Len. Wild.
"Bakugo," Aizawa called. "You got the highest score on the entrance exam. What was your record for the softball throw in middle school?"
"How the hell would I remember that?"
The teacher rolled his eyes. "Just come try it again. But this time, use your Quirk, and don't hold back. The government prevents Quirk usage in middle school fitness, something I find to be extremely irrational. Why prevent students from using every advantage available to them? Anyway, go ahead. I'll be scanning." He held up a distance-reading device.
"Alright." Bakugo stepped into the ring and picked up a softball. He swung his arm in a circle a couple of times, and then… let it rip. "DIE!" he shouted, sending off an explosion as he threw the ball.
A few seconds later, Aizawa held up the device. "Over 600 meters."
The entire class gasped and started chatting.
"Wow!"
"We can use our Quirks? This school is on another level!"
"This is going to be fun!"
For the first time, Aizawa smiled. "Fun, is it? Hmm. Perhaps I should motivate you all to take things a bit more seriously, then. We will do a number of events, and the overall last place individual will be judged to have no potential and will be expelled on the spot."
Len's mouth fell open. "What?" Mina snapped, incredulous. "You can't do that!"
"It's our first day!" cried the brunette girl.
Aizawa's sadistic smirk widened. "Welcome to UA. Freedom to run things how I want, like I said before."
"But that's unfair!"
"Unfair? Are villain attacks fair? Are natural disasters fair? This is only a hint of what's to come, if you walk the path of heroism. We'll see who can thread the gauntlet. That's plus ultra for you."
Len exhaled slowly, calming himself. I should have been prepared for something like this. Unbeknownst to him at that moment, he was actually at an advantage here. The other students had all done more research and had spent more time in their lives anticipating hero school, so this threw them off hardcore. But Len had no frame of reference at all, and that kept his mind more open.
The first event was a 50-meter dash. "Five warps," Len mumbled. "Easy."
"Hehe, getting psyched out, Lenny?" Mina cracked her knuckles. "All you gotta do is perform well in at least one event, and you should be fine."
"That makes sense, actually. Although surely each person here will have at least one event suited to their abilities. Ideally, you'd want to do well across the board, Ashido."
"No worries. I'm as sporty as they come! Also…" she took pause. "You can call me Mina, if you like. It's only fair."
"Alright then, Mina." Hey, I guess I made another friend. Two, counting Tsuyu. Things were looking up.
Tsuyu was one of the first two to compete, speaking of which. The other was the guy in glasses, Iida. Now that he was wearing shorts, Len could see little engines in his legs. He got into a runner's position at the starting line, clearly well-suited for this sort of event. Tsuyu crouched down on all fours, as if she meant to leap.
"3, 2, 1, go!" Aizawa sent them off.
Iida blasted exhaust out of his engines and made it to the finish in an instant. Tsuyu was no slouch, either, still finishing after him but doing extremely well with a few powerful frog-hops.
"Iida, 3.1 seconds. Asui, 5.3."
The class gasped again. "Those times are insane!" said the guy with sharp teeth and spiky red hair, clashing his fists together. "We can't slouch, either! This is what it means to be a man!"
"Don't you mean a hero?" The girl with the headphone ears clarified in a dry tone.
"Er, yes."
Next up was Len and Mina, surprisingly. Oh, I guess we're actually going against the people next to us in class. That made sense.
"Well, I'm going to lose," Mina said with a bitter smile, stretching her legs, "but at least I'll still get a better time than most of these others."
"Don't discount yourself," Len said, getting his left foot ready to spring the first warp. "I could accidentally rip myself in half or something. You never know."
Aizawa readied the timer. "3, 2, 1, go!"
It was easier for Len when he had a planned number of warps, and knew his exact destination. It took him only 1.4 seconds to make it across, although he stumbled and wavered as he stopped on the other side of the finish line, briefly nauseous. Mina came a few seconds later, sliding on acid that she'd emitted from her feet.
Len's eyes widened. "Good thinking," he complimented.
She grinned. "What are you paying attention to me for? Look what YOU did."
"1.4 seconds, Kagamine," Aizawa was saying, nodding in approval. "Very rational Quirk usage."
The class was cheering and whistling. Len raised his eyebrows. "You can teleport ?" the guy with spiky red hair said. "That's awesome, dude!"
"Flashy AND powerful," the guy with lighting-like yellow hair commented, giving a thumbs up. "Groovy."
"Did you seriously just say groovy?" the earphone girl asked incredulously, rolling her eyes.
"Well, y-yeah! It felt like a good descriptive word, okay!"
Len got swarmed by a few more people, and then Aizawa quieted the class down. "We must continue," he pointed out.
The 50 meter dash went on with eight other heats. Bakugo achieved a very good time by using his explosions. The girl with brown hair, whose name was Uraraka Ochaco, appeared to make herself lighter, almost floating across the finish line. A boy named Ojiro Mashirao propelled himself forward with his tail. A boy named Todoroki Shoto iced the entire track and slid across on it. The European-looking guy named Aoyama Yuga shot a laser from his stomach to propel himself (although he had to pause, citing that using his laser for too long made him sick). And the girl with the crazy ponytail, named Yaoyorozu Momo, literally created roller skates to zoom across with.
The second event was grip strength, which Len actually did pretty well in, one of the best among those who didn't use their powers for the event. Turned out that teleporting objects requiring him to physically flex his arms meant they had actually muscled up a bit over the years. Those that DID use their powers, however, were far and away more impressive. A boy named Sato Rikido downed a sugar packet and put on a superhuman showing. The red-haired boy, named Eijiro Kirishima, also did very well by hardening his hand. And the massive guy with the face mask, Shoji Mezo, used multiple arms to grip and got the best score.
Event number three was standing long jump. Len teleported himself forward in mid-air and gained ten extra meters, purring him near the top, but both Bakugo and Tsuyu shined here. Uraraka floated herself as long as possible before falling and appearing to get sick for a moment. I can relate. It was at this point that Len realised the green-haired kid, Midoriya, had not used his Quirk once in any event. He said as much to Tsuyu, who was standing next to him.
"I noticed that as well, ribbit. Perhaps Midoriya-chan hasn't gotten to an event where his Quirk is compatible yet."
In any case, the events continued with repeated side steps. Len once again performed well, considering that the golden energy inside him that allowed him to warp also made him generally more hyperactive.
The next event was the softball throw from the beginning. Bakugo already had his result, so he didn't go this time. Yaoyorozu fired hers from a cannon. A boy named Sero Hanta attached the ball to the end of a length of a tape that he emitted from his elbows, and then spun, swinging it in a circle and releasing. Uraraka sent the ball floating up into the sky.
"Oh," said Aizawa, raising his eyebrows and then displaying the scanner to the whole class. It showed an infinity symbol.
"INFINITY?"
"That's manly as hell!"
"Way to go, Uraraka-san!"
Len liked how supportive most of the class was. The exceptions were Todoroki and Tokoyami, the guy with the bird head. Oh, and Bakugo. They mostly remained quiet. So did a large boy named Koda Koji, but that seemed to be more out of shyness than anything. He didn't seem to be a brooder like the other three.
When it was his turn, he just threw the ball normally. Aizawa raised his eyebrows. "Unexpected. Couldn't you have warped it?"
Len shrugged. "Maybe once, but my power gets very weak and unfocused outside the ten meter range. I might have ended up just making things worse by trying that, by accidentally pulling it closer to me or something."
"Hmm. I see. The notes on your Quirk were a bit vague, so…" Aizawa shrugged. "Your explanation is sound for now, but remember that it's always good to experiment. You'll want to find any advantage you can, and utilise it."
"Yes, sir. I'll keep that in mind."
Midoriya's turn came. He seemed to be mumbling to himself as he walked toward the ring.
"Midoriya hasn't used his Quirk once during the test. Surely he needs to go all out here if he doesn't want to place last," said Iida.
"Of course Deku hasn't used his Quirk, because he's a Quirkless loser!" Bakugo snapped.
"Quirkless? Did you not see what he did at the entrance exam?"
"What are they talking about?" Len whispered to Hagakure. She shrugged in response.
Midoriya started to wind up, exhaling, and then he released the ball with a powerful grimace.
"Huh?"
"46 meters," Aizawa announced lazily.
Midoriya blinked, pale. "But… I swear I was going all in just then…"
"I erased your Quirk," Aizawa explained, and suddenly his eyes were glowing red, his hair and scarf floating up. "The entrance exam was definitely not rational enough. Even a student like you was accepted!"
Midoriya's eyes widened. "I know you! You're the pro hero Eraser Head!"
The class began to chatter.
"Eraser Head? Who?"
"I think I've heard of him. He's like, an underground hero. Stays out of the public eye."
Oh, cool, thought Len. Not like I would have recognised him even if he WAS a big public celebrity hero.
Aizawa was reprimanding Midoriya. "How do you plan on being a hero if you can only use your power once, before it breaks your body? Congrats, you can save one person, and then you're utterly out of commission."
"But… I…"
"I will allow you to try again with the softball. I won't erase your Quirk this time; you can either put your full power into it or just throw it normally. I don't care anymore." Aizawa shook his head in disgust.
A few people in the class seemed angry about this turn of events, namely Uraraka. "This isn't fair at all…" she whispered. Most of the others just looked uncomfortable, confused. Len didn't know how to feel, himself. The guy did SOMETHING in the entrance exam, all right. But what is his Quirk if it destroys his body?
Midoriya had a new steel in his eyes, and Len took notice. The green-haired boy went into a windup, and then… released the ball with a flash of power and a gust of wind. It went flying.
When the smoke cleared, Midoriya was crouched in the ring, his fist closed. Len saw that he had single broken finger. "Sensei," he said in a pained voice, although he was smiling. "Now I can save TEN people."
Aizawa smiled back, and the whole class seemed to relax. "400 meters," the teacher said. "Well done."
"WHAT!" An angry roar cut through their relief like a dagger, as Bakugo bounded forward in fury, his hands alight with fire. "DEKU, HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING THIS THE WHOLE TIME, YOU PIECE OF SH…"
Eraser Head's scarf suddenly shot out and wrapped itself around the boy, and his explosions disappeared. "That's enough of that, thank you," said Aizawa, red-eyed. "Return to the sideline."
The next three events sort of floated by for Len. He didn't really do well in the toe touch; he wasn't the most flexible person ever. For the long distance run, he made it into the top three by maintaining five meter warps the whole time, and conserving energy.
"That's all. Here are the end results." Aizawa showed them the scanner, which produced a holographic scoreboard. Everyone's eyes immediately went to the bottom to see who was in last. It was Midoriya.
"Oh, I was just kidding about the expulsion, by the way."
"WHAAAAAT?" The class shrieked in unison.
"Yeah, it was a rational deception to get you all to do your best. And I would say it worked, overall."
Midoriya sighed in relief, as the other students chatted about their placements. "It was obvious he was lying," scoffed Yaoyorozu. "Even though the teachers do have 'freedom', they don't have so much that they can expel someone on the first day."
"Easy to say when you're in first," whined Kaminari. "The rest of us had to stress a little, you know?"
Momo was indeed in first, followed by Todoroki, Bakugo, and Iida. Rounding out the top five was—Len's eyes widened—him. "Great work, Kagamine-kun," said Hagakure, slapping him on the back. "I came in nineteenth. If it wasn't for Midoriya, I would have… goodness. I've got my work cut out for me."
"The long jump was my only real standout event, ribbit," said Tsuyu. "I came in thirteenth."
"Tenth place," Mina said with a grin. "Middle of the pack. I've got people to leave in the dust, still. But good work, Lenny. Really."
"Ha… yeah…" he didn't really know how to respond.
"Great job to the top five!" declared Kirishima. "I almost made it there, but not quite. Guess I need to work even harder, huh?"
Am I really in fifth? Len had never really had any concept of how strong his Quirk would be compared to others; he just knew it would be really useful for rescue. But, fifth! Truly! He was only behind the super-powerful people… in fact, he was one of them! Top five!
On the way back up to the classroom, Mina and Toru and Tsuyu got to chatting, having hit it off in the way that only girls could. Len lagged behind a bit, his head spinning. Mina took notice. "Hey, Lenny, you better not be letting that placement go to your head! Hey!" She snapped. "Return to Earth immediately!"
"Ah! Yes, I'm here. Sorry."
She grinned. "Keep up, hey? It's not like we want to exclude you from the convo here."
"Yeah, Kagamine-kun. I might just steal your friends from you if you're not careful."
"Ribbit."
"Yes, of course." He went back to his old self after that, or at least the facade of it. He responded to the girl's' comments here and there as they made their way back. Behind him, Midoriya was walking slowly, a pensive expression on his face. Len briefly turned around.
"Hey. Midoriya, right? I'm Kagamine Len." He offered a handshake.
"H-hey." The boy returned the gesture. "You got fifth, didn't you? That's really impressive. Your Quirk is pretty powerful, and versatile, too. Wide array of application. It's no wonder you placed so high. I mean, you nearly beat Kacchan, even."
"Kacchan? Who is that?"
"Oh, ummm… Bakugo."
"Ah, right. I actually knew him from a… thing we both attended during middle school. Do you guys have a history or something? I heard him call you Deku."
"Yeah, you c-could say that. It's nothing worth troubling yourself over."
"I wasn't going to do any troubling. No worries. Your business is your business." Some of the day's events had put strange thoughts into Len's mind, especially regarding Midoriya and Bakugo, but what would be the purpose of prying further, when there was hero stuff to learn?Until I have a better grip on what the hell I'm doing here, it's best to just go with the flow and not make too many outlandish decisions…
But it was nice to have some friends, at least. He rejoined Mina and Toru and Tsuyu, smiling contentedly