4 Physical Test

With light steps, I navigated towards the large billboard at the front of the school. It only took me one look towards the gigantic school map, before I decidedly would rather use my HG than remember all these places within school grounds. A bout of momentary laziness you could say.

HG: I went to my classroom by randomly picking the right path to take.

On my way to the class, I saw a boy with messy hair of silver in front of the hero classes. A closer look and I recognized him as Hitoshi Shinso, the boy from a different department of UA who has a very unique and overpowered quirk. The school test sure is illogical to not have gotten him under UA's hero department. They have a girl whose quirks is merely invisibility, and another boy whose quirk is a freaking tail. Why can't they have him enter the Hero department considering how many lives he could save with his ability?

Seeing him moving away from the hero department's classes hurts my heart more than I would have liked to admit.

A minute into the future and I was officially the first student of the year to arrive at class 1-A. Nobody else was around yet. Guess there is a perk in living alone in the dorm before anybody else is around yet.

Seating is important to define how important of a character you are. The leftmost seat at the back beside the window is the protagonist seat, fronts are elite clique seats, center back is transfer student seat, heroine seat is usually left front or dead middle.

I sat in the last seat, or to be more specific the only seat of the backmost row. A special extra seat put here because I was unplanned. An extra 21st student within Class 1-A as somehow the school decided not to remove a student from this class because of my existence, causing this class to have one extra student rather than the usual twenty.

'I was unplanned' sounds rather gruesome out of context though. Humorous in a dark way but not exactly my cup of tea. Vulgar and controversial things I have no problem dealing with, but cruelty and gruesome stuff are not where my enjoyment truly lies.

Thinking about it again I might have arrived here too early. No one came until another two short minutes, where another person entered the class with a simple robotic movement that lacked elegance yet was painfully efficient. It was Tenya Iida the speedster with engine legs quirk, which allows him to move at a speed beyond the human limits. He expressed his puzzlement on why I took the backmost seat when other seats more frontwards are still available.

Let's mix things up here since while 'I was unplanned' would be a hilarious answer it would cause more problems than it is worth in my opinion.

"Because I dislike showing my back to anyone."

Tenda seems to be lost for words at my response before his head shook in disagreement, a stern expression held on his face. He rebutted me by saying that no Hero with any amount of self-respect would attack their classmate unless in a mock-battle. A funny statement considering the most aggressive Hero candidate within class A-1 is the boy with the highest self-respect i.e. arrogance Mr. Explody Mcsploody himself.

Tenda seems to be stumped after those words of mine. It seems like he already had the pleasure of meeting with Bakugo during the entrance exam. Explosion boy does look like a reckless berserker. The straightforward and diligent Tenda opened his mouth, before clamping them down without saying a word, instead just moving to one of the front-most seats as if denying my words with the act. Then he turned his head and set his gaze at me with an expression easily perceived as taunting in nature.

…Was that spite? From Tenya Ilda of all people as well. I did not expect that out of him. More so considering it was our first meeting too. How bold of him. Hur Hur. Earning the spite of a classmate barely a minute after meeting one another, well done me.

A smile set on my face I stretched my arms up to the sky before yawning a tiny bit still on my seat. Other students came into the classroom and started getting familiar with one another. Small chats erupted from all parts of the classroom, and ruckus in the case of Bakugo. They mostly have a relaxed expression on their faces, as the threat of expulsion has not been drilled into their mental state.

Midoriya was still there, so it seems I did not replace him in this scenario even though I defeated the large type-4 robot instead of him. Or maybe there were multiple test zones and therefore multiple type-4 robots. That sounds likely considering the amount of participant the test probably has. But multiple tests must have meant they burned that much more money in the process. Jesus Christ does principal Nezu thinks money rain from the sky or something?

Nevertheless, everything was going well without any trouble. I just answered with a nod whenever anyone asked anything about me. Just nods, laughs and few smiles. Time to play mysterious. In all honesty, I have no interest in forming any meaningful bonds with these people from 1-A, and my background is not something that could be divulged even if I wanted to so acting distant is most likely the optimal choice to take here.

When Aizawa, our homeroom teacher arrived at the classroom he gave a glance towards my smiling expression before sighing. Sounds par for the course for someone who has eye bags below his eyes on a constant basis. I have to wonder why he would consider my existence here as some form of trouble when all I did was defeat a robot weighing a metric fuckton though.

Huh, I just answered my own question, didn't I?

Anyway, Aizawa faked a cough-

And declared a death sentence towards Midoriya.

--Dimensional Journey--

Midoriya Izuku

That was who I am. A quirkless fifteen-years-old boy who has always, always dreamt to be a hero. That has been my life-long dream, short as said life has been. So when I heard the news of me successfully entering UA it felt like lightning struck my entire body deep down to the core.

I froze for a dozen seconds before the allusion that this might be a dream came to my mind. My body shook rigidly in fear and indigence. With a shaky hand, I put my thumb and pointing finger together and pinched my cheeks. It hurts. Does it hurt? Could this not be a dream?

Next, I slapped my cheeks. It hurts as well, even though that shouldn't be possible. In dreams one lack the accurate sensory feelings needed to replicate pains. Or rather I should have woken up the moment my receptors have felt anything resembling physical pain even in the nonphysical world.

Left with no other options I determinedly looked at the wall beside me. Maybe if I slammed my head into that strong wall right there…

"What are you doing, Midoriya Izuku!"

"Mom?! Why are you in my dream?!"

The figure of my mother dope-slapped me on the head. It hurts. How could it hurt when this is a dream?!

"What are you talking about you're almost late for school!"

My mind went blank at those words. Could this not be a dream? Impossible, as this is Midoriya Izuku. The boy who is quirkless and helpless except for some of his educational grades. How could such a boy be accepted into a prestigious academy like UA? My stomach churned in nervousness. I was never good at dealing with pressure.

No, I suppose thinking like that is not allowed anymore. As the successor of All-Might, I must aim to become number one. Or rather I must become number one, or it would be shameful towards All-Might himself. Even if it takes me forever I will prove myself to be worthy of the ultimate title.

The number one hero. With new-found determination in my eyes, I prepared for school. First was rechecking my appearance and everything in my bag, making sure everything was perfect. I have since prepared everything thoroughly since times back but it does not hurt to be careful.

"Izuku, how many more times do you intend to check your bag? You have done that a dozen times already since last night!"

R-right. It never hurts to be prepared though. Maybe one last check. I inspected the contents of my bag just one last time to make sure everything was in place. Soon enough I let out a small breath after reconfirming my entire article. Walking towards the front door I let out a respectful goodbye.

"I'll be going!"

"Take care."

Nothing of interest happened during my trip to UA, though I might have been a bit jumpy for the whole journey. Nobody can blame me though. I was going to UA, the most prestigious Hero school as a student. There was no way to hold my composure.

Soon enough I arrived at the front gate of the school. There was a pamphlet of the school map right next to the large poster version stamped to a billboard which I took with delight. Reaching the classroom didn't take too much trouble even though the school was extremely large, considering its intuitive design. Greeting as I went into the class everyone seems nice enough for the most part. After proper introductions with my classmates we all chatted together. Kacchan made things awkward as he was seemingly ready to blow up but we were all saved by the bell before any crisis happened, literally. The school bell interrupted Kacchan from continuing his rant.

There was a large smile on my face as everything seems to be going well for now.

Or at least that was my thought before our homeroom teacher gave out a death sentence.

"First thing first change to your P.E. uniform and go to the gym. We will be doing a physical test to crop out the bad weeds. For certain reasons, there is one more student than there should be, so the person in the last place overall will be expelled."

I still cannot use All-for-One without fully straining my whole body. That means I have to do my best only relying on my physical capability. Having to compete against twenty other people who managed to succeed in the entrance exam and entered class 1-A, all while stuck in a condition akin to returning to my quirkless state.

Confidence was not my strong point, and I was unable to put up a confident smile while being assured of my capability. Honestly, my chances of beating any of their records were as close to zero as it could be. I am competing against the likes of Kacchan and others in his league. While my training helped build my body there was no chance of me defeating any of them who has the advantage of an ability trained and forged through their one and half a decade of life.

How am I supposed surpass those kinds of people at literally anything if I still cannot control my quirk?!

The first test was 50m running. Most of my classmates whom I just spoke to outright ignored the 'sub ten' barrier that should be hard to reach for the average populace or even first-year student of any other hero department. As expected these people are different from the rest. They were all the cream of the crop in term of tenth-grade hero-in-training who had managed to get into the top within the UA entrance exams. They all managed to use their quirk creatively and passed the test with results worthy of UA's best.

I ran when the whistle rang. Merely a few seconds yet it felt so much longer. I became aware of the sweat all over my body, with each step made moving me closer to the goal.

[7.02 seconds] the machine announced. That was my personal best, yet it pales in comparison to other results. The only way I would not be ranked 20th within this test is having someone fails even worse than me.

The whistle blew once more, and the ground shook as another student ran. 6.66 seconds, that was his result. Half a second faster than mine. Very close, yet the inseparable barrier that exists between us two cannot be so easily crossed. Considering how the classmate seemingly used no quirks his physical strength must have been leagues above mine.

The trends continued. Most of everyone has their ranks jumping up and down depending on whether the test matched their Quirks or body type. There were only five exceptions to that rule. The top three spots were constantly filled with Kacchan and two other students by the name of Todoroki-san and Yaoyorozu-san with no exception until the last test, where Uraraka-san has outdone herself and gained infinity as her result.

The last two were filled by the mysterious classmate whose name was unknown to me along with me. Said student was constantly second-last with his score never being lower than mine. I originally suspected he was holding back and ranking 19th on all tests on purpose considering his turn is after mine and his result always only the tiniest bit better than mine. However, I dispelled such thoughts sooner rather than later. There was no way someone would be holding back and risk placing last when threatened by expulsion.

As mentioned before we are at the last test, the ball throwing test. The number 1 spot was already decided considering Uraraka-san got infinity at her scoreboard. Kacchan is gritting his teeth while looking at Uraraka-san with resentment in his eyes. Todoroki-san seems a bit veered as well from simple observation. Maybe he was the competitive type just like Kacchan.

However, there is no time for me to be concerned with the score of others. It is finally the time to use All for One. Before this, I had to hold back since using it risk getting an injury. But this is the last test I have to participate. I gathered One-for-All in my right hand. The strain from using it started to creep around my entire hand, pain overloading my brain. I focused my entire willpower on throwing the ball. My arm was swung—

Then all the strain disappeared like it was nothing.

"46 meters."

'What happened to my quirk?!'

"I erased your Quirk." Someone said. "Tch, the entrance exam surely needs to be changed considering they let someone like you pass. What good is a having a self-harming quirk?"

Looking at the source of the voice there was Aizawa-sensei, with his eyes staring right towards me. Considering the goggles he just threw off his face, his hero identity must have been EraserHead, who has a quirk which has the effect of nullifying other quirks with the perquisite he must stare at the quirk-user he wishes to nullify. The public, I included never knew his true name till now considering how he hates media appearance.

"I saw it… You cannot control your quirk. You'd just be incapacitated again. Were you hoping somebody would step in to help afterward?"

Those words of his made me grit my teeth, multiple emotions clashing against one another within my mind. On one side I felt shame and frustration being unable to use One for All. His words struck something within me. What good is finishing the task when doing so debilitates me? How am I supposed to save others when I cannot even save myself?

"If you can't control that quirk of yours, then the ability will only be a danger to yourself and everyone around you."

However, on the other hand, rage boiled within me as well. The man did not even allow me to use my ability so who was he to judge? Why am I not even allowed the chance to perform as everyone else did?

"Aizawa-sensei," I gritted my teeth as I spoke. "Give me another chance… Please."

I said those words and bowed after a bit of hesitation. I am pleading. By his words, before we even began the test, there was no such thing as a second chance. It would be unfair to everyone else. Yet I still wanted to have my chance. I do not care even if it is called cheating. This, the current me, is what I wished to be for a decade and more.

Moments passed. My mind wavered. Of course, he would not allow you another chance Midoriya Izuku. There is no reason for him to change his judgment merely because you bowed to him in desperation. What an idiotic—

I felt something bouncing off my right foot. Opening my eyes with haste I saw a baseball near my feet. A quick look towards Aizawa-sensei told me he didn't give it to me. There is one person he and everyone else are staring at.

The student in question seems to be listless as he spoke the words, "Hurry it up, I'm next."

I looked at the teacher. The man said nothing, merely looking at me with an impassive gaze the same way he did before the ball was given to me. My mouth gulped on instinct. My hand shook all over as they picked up the ball within their grasp. I cannot even use All for One without temporarily breaking my body. Sadly there is no means for the current me to handle the strength of All Might.

However, that merely means I have to find a way of utilizing All for One without being able to handle its strength. Thinking about it properly I managed to find a path to escape from this problem.

I threw the ball normally without the use of One for All, only activating it specifically at my fingertips, just a split second before I lost contact with the ball. The strain was still there, overloading my receptors and my brain with extreme pain akin to a hundred thorns pricking my right index finger.

The ball went soaring at incredible speed. My right index finger is broken, but otherwise, I can still fight if needed. Much better than the last result which left me incapacitated and becoming a burden for everyone else. Others approached me with excited faces. I suppose they must be feeling delighted right now and most likely sympathy for me before this.

…But I am still a candidate for expulsion, and will probably be expelled unless the 19th ranked person fails to even throw it at all. And with the same listless face, he threw the ball.

666 meters. That was his records. One of the best results of the class. Despair clouded my eyes. Will this be how my adventure at UA ends?

After seeing that result, for whatever reason Aizawa-sensei walked towards the student. I can't hear what they said, but Aizawa-sensei seems rather mad for whatever reason. A few words were exchanged between the two, where the older was left annoyed while the younger was disgruntled according to their expressions.

Afterward, the teacher returned to his previous position, while the student on the other hand still stood in the circle from which we've all done our throwing test, another ball in hand. This time his face was… more serious is the way I would describe it.

Could it be his previous throw was not his full strength? After breathing heavily for a second or two, the classmate of ours threw the ball. Then… It simply disappears. I was unable to see the ball. Did it soar, or did the listless student fail to throw it properly? The second was impossible considering he just threw an exactly similar copy six hundred meters. But then where could the ball be?

"…Where is it?" I heard a classmate asking the question we all probably had in mind.

And as if answering the question a hole appeared on a cloud in the sky. A sense of weight overwhelmed me. Did my classmate just exert the equivalent force of a cannonball shot by throwing a baseball alone?

Looking back at said classmate I found him lying on the ground, body twitching. He was still awake, yet his body was all red, most likely from exertion considering how powerful his last throw was.

…I wonder if I will be able to do the same one day. Sensei approached him and tried to pick him up, but my classmate's right hand lashed at his attempts. Bit by bit he raised his own body from lying, to on all four limbs, to kneeling, to standing up. He did so very slowly, and I can imagine him falling at any moment. Yet that moment never came.

"I can… still, stand!"

The student screamed out, before falling quiet. His body stood still, eyes closed and posture lackluster.

…Did he faint?

…While standing?

Somehow a surge of respect blossomed towards him.

With that kind of performance, I have to admit my loss.

Don't cry. Don't cry, Midoriya Izuku!

There are other options from which I can become a certified hero.

…I'm sorry, All-Might.

"By the way, the whole expulsion thing was a tactical lie so that everyone performs seriously."

"…"