9 Erudition

Izuku woke up on Monday feeling excited and fully charged. He was early to rise, as was usual, and downstairs cooking a quick breakfast for group. After breakfast was over, he got dressed into his UA uniform. He spent a minute admiring the look in his mirror.

'I'm actually here. I made it. Now, let's do it.'

With that, he turned to leave, grabbed his bag, and putting a large, confident smile on his face, he joined the rest of the class on their walk to main UA building.

The door to the 1-A room was huge, easily twice as tall as Izuku was, with "1-A" painted in huge

font it.

'This is it!'

"Come on, Deku! Let's get seated before our professor shows up." Ochako was pushing on him to go inside.

He chuckled and then opened the door, the lights flicked on automatically.

The class filed in and took their seats, quieting down a minute or so before the hour hand moved again.

The door slid open and a yellow caterpillar rolled into the room, making everyone stare in bewilderment. The caterpillar stood up and then a messy mop of black hair fell out of the opening.

"You were already seated and quiet before I walked in. Good. You could be a very rational class."

The yellow caterpillar then shed the sleeping bag, and out stepped a woman who looked like she hadn't slept in years.

"I am Aizawa-sensei. Good morning, class."

"Good Morning, Sensei," the class reported back to her in unison.

She looked at each of the students in turn, as if confirming they were present.

He noticed her eyes lingering on him for a split second longer than everyone else.

'Huh, already?'

He had expected some recognition from the entrance exam, but not that fast.

Aizawa pulled out several gym uniforms from her sleeping bag, and then stacked them on the desk in the front of the class.

"Change into these and meet me at the sports yard in ten minutes. We are doing a fitness test."

Ochako raised her hand, and Aizawa looked at her.

"Sensei, what about the opening ceremonies and our counselor meetings?"

Aizawa regarded her for a second, then turned to walk out of the classroom.

"As a professor of UA, I have total control of my class and teaching style. We will be skipping those needless interruptions. Now, go get changed."

There was no question in her authority at that mark. The students stood up and grabbed their gym uniforms and walked down to the changing and locker rooms.

They changed and were out at the field in record time, not wanting to test their teacher's patience.

She stood in front of them, and regarded them with tired eyes.

'She looks like she is about to drop dead!' Ochako thought as she watched Aizawa.

"Just so you are all aware, this fitness test isn't like your standard middle or high school tests. The government is just fine with testing everyone as if Quirks didn't exist, but not here. At UA, you will push every limit you meet. Plus Ultra. Go Beyond."

She turned to Izuku. "Midoriya, you got first place in the entrance exam. What was your best softball throw distance in high school?"

Izuku thought for a second.

"75 meters, ma'am."

"Without your quirk, correct? Let's see you use your quirk and throw it now."

Izuku hesitated for a split second, 'Not yet! It's too soon!' , and then walked up to Aizawa and grabbed the ball she was holding out.

He looked down at it. He could sense the small electronics in it, a tiny power source at its core.

He looked at Aizawa, "I don't want to destroy school property, Sensei."

Aizawa had a small smirk, 'Not good enough kid.'

"I have more balls. Throw this one and don't hold back."

Izuku had resigned himself to his fate. 'Everyone's gonna know. It's only the first day. I don't what them to think of me that way…'

He stood in the ring, and focused. He pulled some power into his arm, and cocked it back, and let it fly. A small burst of air, and the ball was gone, launched towards the edge of the property.

The class clapped and was surprised at the boys power, but Katsuki and Ochako had frowns of irritation and confusion on their faces.

"859 meters," came the score from Aizawa's meter.

Aizawa looked up at the boy, and frustration flooded her in an instant.

"Midoriya, I distinctly remember telling you to put everything you have into that throw. Why are you holding back?"

Izuku looked back, sheepishly.

"I don't want to use all of my energy in one go. This is a series of tests, right?"

"Midoriya, that excuse won't work here."

She walked up to him, and handed him another ball.

She said the next part so softly, no one else could hear it.

"Put EVERYTHING into this next one."

Izuku sighed, then nodded.

He turned back to pitch. Then stopped.

He looked back at the group, judging the distance.

"Momo, could you make some noise isolating ear plugs for everyone? This is...uh...this is gonna hurt."

Momo looked taken aback, and nodded.

After everyone had a pair of ear plugs, plus a pair of ear covers for Jiro, Izuku turned back to pitch.

He focused deep. He wasn't going to use 100%, at least not now. But he was going to use more than he used a month ago.

'Screen'

The green display popped up, and showed him at 89% capacity. As it was still morning, this didn't surprise him. His capacity was growing daily, so the meter was always lagging behind.

'Another thing for Mei to fix.'

He took a deep breath, and brought 1% up from his belly, and pushed it into his arm. One for All made everything so much more intense and powerful. He relished in the surge of energy he felt flowing through him.

He cocked his arm back, then steeled his face and body for what was coming next.

His arm launched, a bright green ring of light flicked down his arm in a split second, and at the apex of his throw, it exploded out of his hand, and behind the ball.

A massive shockwave and sonic boom erupted from his hand. The ground cracked behind him as the ball vanished, a vapor trail marking its ascent into the clouds and beyond. The smoke cleared, and the class stood stunned. Katsuki had a small smirk, but the look of irritation was still there.

Ochako looked pleased. Momo was staring, slack jawed, along with everyone else. Shoto had his eyes raised, but no other emotion was present.

Aizawa looked down at the meter. 'It should have landed by now.'

A couple of seconds later, and the score came in.

"22485 meters."

She stared at the device and then looked back up at the boy.

'I knew he had power, but to put the ball beyond the horizon…'

"That's what I mean by Plus Ultra."

Izuku had a small grin on his face, and walked back over to his classmates who just stared.

They pulled out the ear plugs, and then crowded around Midoriya asking him what he did, and telling him how powerful his quirk was. He stood there, and rubbed the back of his neck, looking around. Only Shoto and Shinso hadn't come over.

Aizawa looked back over at the students, and they got back into place and quieted down.

Momo, right next to him, leaned over. "Is that what you mean by power?"

Izuku glanced at her and nodded slightly.

"That was really impressive. But you didn't vaporize it, so I'm guessing that wasn't 100%."

Izuku looked at her. She had a small grin on her face, and winked. He grinned back.

Katsuki leaned forward from behind Izuku and tapped his shoulder.

Izuku looked back and met Katsuki's questioning gaze. He grinned broadly and held up a single finger.

Katsuki smiled back and shook his head.

'What did that mean?' , Mina thought to herself as she watched the interaction.

"Now, everyone is NOT going to hold back, is that understood? If Midoriya can use 100%, then so can you. Plus Ultra. Let's get to it."

And with that, the fitness test kicked into high gear.

First up was the 50 meter dash.

'Iida's favored to win, though Kacchan and Pony are fast too. It's really going to come down to who's got the faster acceleration and…" , he kicked into his old habit.

"Shut up, Deku," Katsuki said as he walked up to the line. Izuku snapped out of his musings to watch. Katsuki and Pony stood at the starting line and get ready. Katsuki put both hands behind him, while Pony leaned down and into her launch.

The starting bell sounded, and Katsuki launched across the 50 meters rapidly. "3.14 second", followed closely by, "3.44 seconds," for Pony.

The class filtered through the 50 meter dash. Iida got 3.04 seconds, edging into first, while Ochako got 5.06 seconds. Shoto slid on ice, next to Mina's acid. Ibara used her vines to pull herself, while Momo used rollerblades and what looked like a fan, right out of an old cartoon.

Izuku was taking notes about each person's quirk, until it was his turn, next to Shinso.

Shinso seemed disinterested, but got ready to run all the same.

Izuku leaned down and focused.

'If she wants me to give it everything, then I'll give her EVERYTHING.'

Izuku's eyes glowed a bright green as a circle of light 30 cm in diameter appeared parallel to his back, spinning faster and faster, and then, with a sudden roar like a jet, the circle ignited. A column of fire and heat burst from his back, forming several shock diamonds along the length of the exhaust. It took everything in his power to hold back against the rocket assist.

The sound of the bell, and the rocket on his back grew, and launched him across the 50 meters in a split second.

The machine barely had time to register his score. "0.53 seconds."

Shinso was barely a meter or two from the starting line, a scowl crossing his face as the dust settled.

More shocked looks from Izuku's classmates, and one from Aizawa too, much to Izuku's chagrin.

As he walked back to the group, he nodded to Aizawa, "Plus Ultra, Sensei," a large smile on his face.

Aizawa just watched him walk back.

"7.26 seconds" rang out as Shinso crossed the finish line.

The next couple of tests were a mixed bag of results for the group.

The grip strength was Shoji's top scoring event by far, getting over 540 kg. Izuku just used his standard strength for this test, the energy inside not helping much in grip strength. He maxed out the tester, but tried to hide it from everyone as best he could, letting Shoji show off some.

The seated toe touches were perfect for Mina, with the body and flexibility of a dancer. Izuku just went through the motions on this test.

The standing long jump was perfect for Tsuyu, with Katsuki and Izuku close behind.

The side stepping wasn't really anyone's best, but Izuku managed to squeak into the high score by using side firing pulses to correct and redirect his momentum.

The endurance run was easy for Izuku, Katsuki, and, taking everyone by surprise with a bike, Momo. Izuku was the only one not out of breath after Aizawa called it after Izuku and Momo had been going for ten minutes after everyone else had stopped.

The last event of the day was the softball toss. Aizawa offered for Izuku to try again for a better score, but Izuku declined. He was content with landing the ball in the bay just off the coast. This event was perfect for Ochako who got an infinity, launching the poor ball out of Earth's gravitational pull entirely.

After the tests were done, their rankings were posted. It was no surprise to anyone that Izuku got first place, followed by Momo and Katsuki.

"Good job on pushing yourselves today," Aizawa said, while throwing a look at Izuku who nodded back at the professor.

"Class is dismissed for the rest of the day. Make sure to grab a copy of the syllabus from the class and get plenty of rest. The real training starts tomorrow."

Aizawa finished and walked away from the group, ignoring All Might hiding behind the gym building, watching the students.

"Midoriya, my boy, you continue to improve and impress me at each turn," he said to no one in particular, a wide smile on his face.