END OF THE TESTS

Author's note: Sorry for the delayed post. I forgot to schedule this to be published. Found out after I woke up.

It's a short read, i didn't want to make it unnecessarily long if there wasn't much I wanted to show. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for sticking with it thus far. This will conclude this sort of introductory arc of the story.

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The protagonist halo on the two caused sparks to fly as the common enemy shifted from the opposite class to the bishounen before them. To be a hero, there was no doubt that every one of them to some extent craved attention. With those two at the top, wouldn't it be an uphill battle to get any sort of atention. Even the girls couldn't help but furrow their brow. It was like being forced to acknowledge that a guy from a different group was better looking, more talented, had a better voice and was more entertaining than the one they stan in their favorite kpop group.

Ah, as the saying goes, the nail that sticks out will be hammered. The tallest tree will be chopped off, turned to saw dust and be blown away by the wind.

Perhaps in a different setting, they would be admired. Maybe even have a fan club. But this was the hero course. No one came here planning to play second fiddle to anyone. As a result, for the first time that day, every single student(except Maru and Youta) had a shared goal. Their target was much greater than a petty grudge between classes. No, their hero careers were at stake.

Abe's eyebrow wouldn't stop twitching at the ridiculousness of the situation. Scarlett had been forced to face away from the student to stop herself from bursting out laughing again. A teacher's dignity was really difficult to maintain with these hero course kids. Who knew what went on their brains, but their reactions were absolutely delightful to watch. It was one of the joys of teaching. Honestly, they motivated themselves better than any teacher could. Abe sighed to himself again. At least they were focused.

And so the test continued. Sustained sideways jump, long distance endurance ran and last but not least soft ball pitch. The results…. didn't change one bit.

Final Ranking:

1. Maru – 1A

2. Youta – 1A

3. Niho – 1B

4. ...........

'...'

'....'

'.....'

Then there was silence. Even their thoughts had gone silent. It was difficult to comprehend how their very best efforts were still unable to defeat these professional athletes.

Try as they might, not a single student could completely convince themselves that they didn't deserve it. Maru and Youta had proved themselves to be superior physically. Quirks weren't fair. How well you did on a test may depend on your creativity but there was no doubt your quirk played a role. There were no quirks on this test. Even mutant types couldn't say a thing. It was diligence and hard work with possibly a tiny sprinkling of talent. Those two had simply put in more work than every single one of them to improve their physical abilities. And to be fair, anybody standing next to Youta would look like a ballerina. For such a slim build to rival that titan in power was incredible.

It was bitter pill to swallow. Luckily, medicine wasn't some foreign substance to any of them. For some, injections were worse. In a moment, both classes were back to chattering and evaluating their own scores. Since these national enemies couldn't be beaten now, they'd just get strong enough to beat them by the next test. Nothing was final yet, they were just getting started. After all, the worse their performance was, the greater the chance for improvement. Nice going last place.

Once again, their teachers marveled at these students' thought process. A young mind was incredibly adaptive. They could often find ways to cope with difficult situation where an adult would easily draw back or shut down. The results, in their view, were above average for hero course students in general. It showed just how seriously they took the test. In the end, 3 students from 1A and two from 1B had the largest difference in their performance. A result that only the teacher's knew how it was determined. This led to an oddly coordinated celebratory dance in 1B.

With this, the physical test came to an end. The students made a queue to Abe-sensei who quickly removed their cuffs. They tied them back together as a pair before carefully returning them to the hazard box. They didn't want any sudden explosions.

On the way back to class after changing back into their uniform, there was a lot less chatter than before. The tests had consumed the majority of their stamina. They made their way back to their classes preparing to call it a day. Maru, Youta and Jid left the school grounds together in companiable silence. The laser beams Jid had been shooting their way long forgotten as exhaustion settled in. It had been a tense 'battle' but once the tension had been eased, all that was left was exhaustion. They lazily made their way out of the school premise only to notice they were all headed in the same direction.

"You guys take the subway too?" Jid asked

"Nn...," Sasuk…cough, Youta responded.

"Nope. Home is nearby for me, I skate home," Maru replied, lifting his skate board slightly, "there's somewhere I want to check out before heading back."

"Oooh, is it a private matter?"

"Nope, there's a noodle restaurant that has pretty good reviews. I'd like to see if it's worth the hype."

"What's it called? Is it far from the subway?"

"No, not really. Furusato," Maru answered, confirming the name on his mobile phone.

"I've heard about that too. A few friends of mind recommended it but I've never been."

"It's good," Youta spoke.

"Really?! Dude, let's go. You don't mind the company, do you? I mean, if we all have the time that is," Jid said looking at Youta.

Maru similarly turned to Youta for his answer. Youta happily agreed. The sparkles in their eyes may have influenced his decision a bit but he wasn't particularly busy. And so, the three musketeers happily sat at a small noodle shop, slurping away at their meals.

"Nothing tastes better than a bowl of ramen after a hard day's work," Maru commented. Jid and Youta nodded in agreement, none of them noticing the working class around them giving them an odd look. As though they couldn't decide if they wanted to laugh or cry.