"Oh, co on! That was the manliest thing I've ever seen! You can't say it wasn't a big deal!"
Kirishima practically leaned forward again on his desk as he spoke, unable to calm his excitent even after repeating the story for the third ti since arriving in the classroom.
Reiji couldn't even rember exactly how he'd ended up surrounded by people.
Soti after several students started arriving in the classroom, Kirishima simply ca over to greet him again after the entrance exam. Then Kaminari overheard part of the conversation, Mina appeared practically out of nowhere as soon as she heard the mud villain incident ntioned, and Tsuyu ended up sitting nearby only because "there was space."
And sohow… that was enough to form a group.
Reiji sat quietly while the others talked around him. He wasn't participating much, but he wasn't isolating himself like he'd hoped to do on the first day either. Honestly, the atmosphere was much less awkward than he'd imagined.
'Fifteen students so far…'
His eyes briefly scanned the classroom as he listened to the group conversing.
So far, everything was still relatively in line with his mories.
Todoroki remained isolated by the window.
Yaoyorozu discreetly observed the surroundings while pretending to read.
Iida introduced himself to each person who entered, trying to appear polite in his seat.
Even Bakugo remained seated alone, looking like he wanted to punch all of humanity, though his gaze was slightly irritated as he stared at Reiji.
Nothing seed particularly out of place.
"That sounds excessive. Are you a secret agent or sothing? Kero"
Tsuyu blurted it out completely out of the blue, calmly resting her chin on her hand.
Reiji barely turned his head toward her.
The tone had been rather flat, leaving his unsure whether it was a genuine question or a joke, but it had been relaxed enough that he hadn't really expected an answer.
Which made it all the more ironic that he'd been dangerously close to being right.
Reiji glanced at her for barely a second before tilting his head slightly, a small smile playing on his lips.
"What if I am?"
Tsuyu blinked once.
Kaminari imdiately burst out laughing.
"Hey, that sounded way too convincing!" he said, pointing at him as if he'd just discovered sothing important. "You literally look like a mysterious spy!"
"Yeah, yeah, totally," Mina added, leaning back in her chair backward. "The quiet kid, serious-looking, suddenly appears fighting giant robots and then acts like nothing happened. Pretty suspicious."
"Plus, he fights incredibly well," Kirishima added with complete honesty.
Reiji let out a small exhaled breath through his nose as he listened to them.
Kirishima was quite direct and honest, though in a good way.
Mina, on the other hand, seed to operate entirely on social impulse. She jumped between conversations with absurd ease, as if she'd known the group for months instead of just minutes.
Kaminari used a rather ironic sense of humor, and like Mina, he seed to connect quite well, even without having known him for very long.
Unlike Tsuyu, who, although she had joined the conversation, did so more due to Mina's and Kaminari's natural ability to include her than through any effort on Tsuyu's part.
"Isn't a secret agent supposed to draw less attention?" Mina asked again, observing him curiously. "Because honestly... what you did was quite dramatic."
"Perhaps that's precisely the strategy," Kirishima replied imdiately. "To show so much that no one suspects anything! That would be incredibly clever!"
'Surprisingly, they're right, but for all the wrong reasons.'
Reiji looked up again as the door opened once more.
A girl enters.
Light blonde hair.
Relaxed expression.
A distracted, almost dreamy smile.
Camie Utsushimi.
Reiji didn't even recognize her, though she seed strangely familiar. And precisely because of that, seeing her enter Class 1-A made sothing inside his head automatically begin to tense up.
'Not everything is the sa after all...'
His eyes remained fixed on her for just a mont longer.
Camie seed to notice imdiately.
And instead of being uncomfortable, she simply winked at him with complete naturalness before calmly walking into the classroom.
Mina quickly followed the direction of Reiji's gaze.
"Huh?" she asked imdiately. "Do you know her?"
"No."
The answer ca instantly.
"I don't know him."
It was true, he didn't know who she was... Perhaps a glance at his book would do him good.
That didn't stop seeing her there from imdiately altering several things inside his head.
"Hello, hello~!"
Camie approached the group with that carefree attitude that made her seem half-asleep even though she was fully conscious.
"May I?"
"Sure!" Kaminari replied too quickly, practically adjusting his hair as if by reflex. "The more the rrier!"
"My na is Camie Utsushimi. It's a pleasure to et you all!"
Her tone was soft, relaxed, and strangely drawn out. As if she never felt a real urgency to finish a sentence.
"Kaminari Denki," he replied imdiately.
"Mina Ashido"
"Kirishima Eijiro"
"Asui Tsuyu. You can call Tsu."
Finally, Camie's eyes returned to Reiji.
"Reiji Toga"
She smiled slightly.
'Well…'
Reiji rested his arm lightly on the desk as he watched the conversation slowly shift to Camie and her strangely relaxed way of speaking.
'All things considered, this is still a relatively minor change.'
***
The general murmur gradually subsided as the students began to take their seats. So continued to converse in hushed tones, while others curiously observed those who would beco their classmates for the next few years. The atmosphere still retained so of the excitent of the first day; no one really knew anyone, and everyone was trying to form a good first impression.
Although the threat of the teacher arriving at any mont had dampened the mood.
Reiji remained silent, leaning back in his chair as he calmly observed the classroom.
'So far, there are three obvious changes. , Camie, and Pony.'
His gaze briefly scanned the room.
Pony Tsunotori was talking a few rows ahead. Her light blonde hair and the small horns protruding from her head made her easy to spot even without knowing her personally. He vaguely rembered that she was a foreign student, an Arican girl who had originally been in class 1-B. Beyond that, he knew practically nothing about her.
The sa was true for Camie.
He had recognized her so ti after their conversation, but beyond that, he barely rembered any concrete details. He knew that she hadn't even originally belonged to U.A.; she'd gone to Shiketsu and little else. After so many years, most of the secondary characters had beco rather hazy mories.
There were still two seats free.
Reiji's mind raced through the various scenarios of who might walk through that door.
Footsteps echoed outside the classroom.
The murmur died away completely. Everyone thought the teacher had finally arrived.
The door opened with a soft click… and the figure that appeared wasn't exactly who everyone expected, causing so to sigh with relief.
'She's…'
She was a girl with light blonde hair tied in a simple ponytail, a serene face, and glasses that suited her perfectly. Her uniform was perfectly arranged, without a single wrinkle.
'Are you telling that All Might...?'
lissa Shield entered the classroom with a calm stride, showing no trace of nervousness. She carried a small tablet in her left hand, which she seed to be checking even as she walked. She only looked up once inside, assessing the room with a diplomatic smile.
Two empty seats. One surprisingly to Reiji's left, and the other directly in front of the teacher's seat. She definitely wouldn't be taking the seat in front of the teacher, that much was clear.
The bustle slowly returned as they realized it wasn't the teacher. Reiji watched Camie chatting animatedly with Mina in the seats in front of him, and Kirishima talking with Denki in the seats behind.
lissa took the seat to Reiji's left, just as he had predicted. She placed her tablet on the desk with utmost care and took a pristine notebook from her backpack, followed by a tallic pen that looked more expensive than the average school supply.
The girl didn't even seem interested in introducing herself, as she started looking at things on her tablet. Reiji discreetly spotted so blueprints for so kind of project; he'd seen too many from i not to know what it was.
The murmur filled the classroom again as quickly as it had vanished. Mina was laughing at sothing Camie had said, probably an odd comnt, while Tsuyu calmly observed from further back. Denki seed enthralled by whatever he was showing on his phone, and Kirishima resud the conversation as if nothing had happened.
'If she's here, there's only one spot left. Not counting Izuku, there are only three other people from the original class who could fill the empty place.'
The sliding door opened with a precise click, just as the clock struck the official start of class.
"Excuse ! Is this Class 1-A? I thought I was late!"
'Uraraka'
He recognized her imdiately.
Ochako Uraraka hurried to the only available seat, smiling sheepishly.
"Yeah, it's here," Camie replied casually, waving a hand. "You can still escape~!"
Uraraka let out a small, nervous laugh, not quite understanding the comnt, and took a seat.
Clack
This ti, the sound of the door was different.
From the floor, a figure slowly erged, wrapped in an oversized sleeping bag that dragged along as if it were part of his body. Dark, ssy hair fell over his tired face, and his expression couldn't have been more listless.
"It took longer than I expected to get here…"
So students tensed. Others blinked in confusion. Reiji simply straightened up a little in his seat.
'Aizawa Shota… here we go'
The man stood before them, his shoulders slumped and his gaze lifeless.
"Welco to U.A. I'm Aizawa Shota, your horoom teacher... and this will be the worst year of your lives if you're not prepared."
Absolute silence.
"You have twenty minutes to change. Physical aptitude test. Whoever gets the lowest score... is out."
The impact was imdiate.
"Huh?! What?! A test on the first day?!" Denki shouted from his seat.
"Expulsion?" Tsuyu murmured with a mixture of astonishnt and logic.
"That's unfair!" Mineta said, jumping to his feet. His hands were trembling and sweating profusely. He was clearly at a disadvantage.
Aizawa remained unfazed.
"Unfair? This is a hero course. If you think you're going to save people with breaks and smiles... you can leave now."
As the murmurs grew like a wave, Reiji watched silently. He could feel Aizawa's gaze on him, but he didn't pay it much attention. His gaze shifted for a mont to lissa, who was typing sothing on her tablet without flinching.
A new chapter had begun.
***
Twenty students in total.
That was the number of students in Class 1-A.
Now the twenty of them were walking behind Aizawa through one of U.A.'s outdoor training fields. The atmosphere was very different from the classroom. The conversations that had been scattered earlier began to mingle as they walked, forming impromptu groups among people who barely knew each other.
"I didn't expect my first day to be so... boring!" Mina exclaid as she walked beside Reiji, swinging her arms dramatically.
Reiji was several centiters taller than her, so he barely had to look down to reply.
"It's pretty much what I expected."
Mina imdiately turned her head toward him.
"Oh, really?"
"First day. Strict teacher. A few tests to gauge our abilities. Nothing particularly unusual."
Mina laughed.
"Okay~ Mysterious kid, so what's next? You facing off against a horde of robots again just to show off?"
"That sounded pretty specific."
"Because you already did it once."
"I don't think repeating it will impress anyone twice."
"Speak for yourself!" Kirishima chid in from behind. "I'm still impressed."
"That's because you're easily impressed," Mina retorted without missing a beat.
Kirishima feigned indignation as Kaminari burst into laughter.
Upon arriving at the field, Aizawa turned to face the entire group. His sleepy gaze swept over each of them with unprofessional disinterest.
"Alright. We're going to evaluate your physical abilities using your Quirks. There's no magic formula for being a hero... but if you're not performing at least minimally with your Quirk, you're wasting your ti here."
He pulled a small tablet from his pocket and swiped sothing on it with his thumb. The first student's na appeared on the screen, along with statistics.
"First test: ball throw. Toga, since you placed first in the tests, you'll go first."
Reiji walked without protest to the circle marked on the ground and took the black rubber ball Aizawa offered him. The entire field was silent, the natural anticipation of seeing the student who had finished in first place.
"You can use your Quirk however you like, as long as you don't step outside that circle. I'll asure the distance with this device."
Aizawa held up the digital ter without changing his usual tone. Reiji nodded as he twirled the ball between his fingers.
"When you were in middle school," Aizawa said without even raising his voice, "your best throw was about 67 ters."
So students seed to relax at that.
Sixty-seven ters was still impressive for a middle school student, but it was within a reasonable range.
Reiji simply watched the ball.
That number didn't an much.
For years, he'd held back during every physical evaluation. There was nothing appealing about using his full strength in a simple high school physical exam.
"Make your throw."
Reiji took a slow breath.
"Okay... just physical strength."
He flexed his arm.
Aizawa watched him intently as he activated his Quirk out of pure professional reflex. It was just a mont, but he felt the exact sa sensation as years ago: Reiji's Quirk didn't disappear.
It didn't weaken.
It didn't shut down.
It was simply still there.
The fleeting mory of that encounter in the alley flashed through his mind before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.
Then the ball was launched.
No explosions.
No special effects.
No Quirk.
Just strength.
Its trajectory cut through the air in a straight line before the scoreboard updated.
234 ters.
The murmur was imdiate.
Not explosive.
More like a rising wave of surprise that swept through the group.
"That was..." Kaminari comnted, glancing back and forth between the screen and Reiji.
"Pure brute force..." Kirishima finished, completely bewildered.
Even Iida slightly adjusted his glasses.
Yaoyorozu watched the result intently.
Tsuyu blinked once.
And Todoroki glanced up for barely a second before returning to his usual neutral expression.
The most striking thing was that Reiji didn't seem to have made any special effort.
He wasn't breathing any faster.
He wasn't showing any muscle tension.
He had simply thrown the ball.
Aizawa remained motionless.
"Is that all you've got?"
Reiji barely turned his head.
"It was enough, wasn't it?"
"You're not here to just do the bare minimum. You're at U.A." He gave a slight tug to his eye bandage. "Use your Quirk. I want to see your full potential."
The atmosphere shifted imdiately. Aizawa's tone hadn't exactly been friendly, and a chill ran down Reiji's spine.
Reiji held his gaze for a few seconds and finally nodded. After what they'd done to him during the entrance exam, Reiji didn't mind teasing Aizawa a little.
This ti, he returned to the circle without any hurry.
His posture shifted slightly.
The fine reddish lines began to spread beneath the skin of his arm as if tiny crimson currents coursed through his body.
The field fell completely silent.
Mina stopped talking.
lissa lowered her tablet slightly to get a better look.
Camie tilted her head curiously.
Bakugo frowned.
And Kirishima simply smiled, for he was the only one who had seen his Quirk in action.
He was finally going to discover just how strong that boy really was, and whether his story was an exaggeration.
Reiji drew his arm back.
A thin line of blood appeared next to the ball.
His arm shot forward at full speed, the applicants' eyes barely registering the movent, when the ball vanished from his hand with a final, thin burst of blood.
The ball disappeared.
To so, it seed like a simple blur.
To others, not even that.
They only saw the initial movent and then the empty sky.
Three seconds later, the sound arrived.
The digital device took a few monts to process the result.
2,124 ters.
No one spoke. For a few seconds, everyone's brain tried to decide if they had read the number correctly.
lissa was the first to react.
Yaoyorozu looked at the scoreboard a second ti.
Iida pushed his glasses up slightly.
Even Todoroki stared at the number for longer than usual.
Camie was the first to break the silence.
"That was pretty crazy..."
Mina let out a small, incredulous laugh.
"Pretty?"
Kirishima ended up laughing too.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that."
"Bro..." Kaminari murmured. "I didn't even see when you released the ball. Is that even possible...?"
"Impressive," Tsuyu said matter-of-factly.
The comnt finally allowed several of them to breathe again.
Because up until that mont, they were still staring at the screen.
Bakugo was one of the few who didn't take his eyes off Reiji.
He clenched his jaw.
This was the sa boy who had saved him months ago.
The sa one he had tried to catch up with.
And yet, the gap he had managed to close seed to widen again before his eyes.
Reiji calmly rejoined the group as the reddish marks slowly faded from his arm.
He didn't seem satisfied.
He didn't seem proud.
Nor did he seem particularly interested in the outco.
Aizawa finished writing sothing on his tablet before finally looking up at the rest of the class.
"Alright, that's the level you have to aim for. There are still tests to co, and I expect you to give it your all."
The atmosphere changed imdiately.
The threat of expulsion was still there.
The pressure was still there.
But now there was sothing else too.
Competition.
Because regardless of their personalities, their goals, or their circumstances, they had all seen the sa thing.
And none of them had co to U.A. to settle for being left behind.
***
New week, double chapter. Last week we reached 175 Power Stones, and I'm grateful for the overall support the story has received.
We've finally entered U.A. and are starting to get to the good stuff. I just want to say that I find it a bit difficult to write scenes with dozens of characters, so at first I might use a small group and gradually expand, or at least that's how it felt to .
In any case, the goal for this week is the sa, and I think I'll keep it until the story is finished (unless sothing amazing happens).
And if you like it, leave your Power Stones to unlock the additional chapters, or if you don't want to wait, you can support by buying breakfast so I'll publish more chapters.
Support the project for just $2 USD. → [patreon/MisterCreator]
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