HERO MAP
It was the second day since the test and things were painfully awkward for him at this point. From his classmates' reaction after the final test, he sort of expected things to be a bit cumbersome. The whispers and finger pointing didn't bother him much. He knew there was no hostility behind it but it still made for an uncomfortable school life. Maru had long lost interest in being the centre of attention. He was perfectly happy to play the background character. He had never been able to. After all, he was aware that he was considered fairly attractive by his peers and sometimes, in very few occasions, his standoff-ish cold personality seemed to attract people more than it did put them off. However, his very obvious lack of interest in being at the eye of the storm had kept things mostly quiet for him. In middle school, he had barely a handful of people he could say he frequently talked to and that worked out well for him considering he never felt shunned or left out by the class. In fact, he was more than happy to join in on some random activities no matter how odd just to be part of it. It was always nice to be involved. He expected it to be that much easier to fade into the background in a hero school.
Opposite to what he thought, he stood out like a sore thumb. The reason itself honestly irked him. People really had no consideration for anything but their quirk. At least in most cases, that required some level of physical activity otherwise …. well, it'd be pretty bad for the hero course. Once again, he walked into class and a hush settled on the room. He could feel eyes on him but paid it no mind and made his way to the back of the class. The silver lining in all this was that he wasn't alone. Youta had been experiencing the very same thing he had and was taking it in stride. Jid on the other hand, was completely unaffected by the situation and treated them the very same way. It was something he was grateful for. He knew Youta was too. They'd never say it out loud though, too cringey.
Anyway, the whispers would eventually stop, and the finger pointing would cease. As far as he could tell, every student in the hero course was far too vibrant and expressive to dwell on his test scores for too long. Something was bound to happen to take their attention away soon. In the meantime, he'd keep releasing his hard earned background chara-aura. Jid walked over to the back and joked, " With how much attention you guys are getting, you just might end-up as the class president and vice president."
Maru and Youta in a show of unexpected coordination simultaneously smacked their hands over their faces in exasperation. Jid had said it as a joke, it was just the wrong one. And he realized it right after he said it. You could hear a pin drop in the silence that covered the class as they turned their way. It had been a bit quieter after he had walked in but nothing like it was now. Once again, they were being viewed as the common enemy. Maru for one had absolutely no interest in organizing a class of teenagers but his thoughts simply would not make it through to his classmates with a new fire lit in their eyes. More intense than the torches from the tests.
Before Jid could figure out how to douse it, Abe-sensei came in for homeroom. And so another day of classes began with revitalized whispers and finger pointing. By lunch, Jid who had repeatedly tried to emphasise it was a joke was flustered with how things had turned out. With his arms waving about, he tried to explain the situation to his stone-faced friends. Maru and Youta were quite amused watching Jid trip over his own tongue.
Heroics resumed in the afternoon with them reviewing the results for the test. Maru was thoroughly impressed by the break down they got from their sensei. It didn't go into depth about their strengths or weaknesses but outlined a map they could take to improve their existing abilities. It had a mix of literature they needed to familiarize themselves with to understand their quirk better. It made sense. Every quirk was as different as every person. They weren't likely to have a full lesson dedicated to learning about ice when he was the only one who used it in his class. Other than a few commonalities like a few books on physics and communication, everything else was person specific. Leaning over to take a look at Youta's list proved it.
There were also a few basic exercises Abe prompted them to fill out for their sake to understand just what their limits were in different situations and how to improve them. If the apprehension tests served to help the teachers understand where they stood, these exercises used that information to help them clearly see exactly where they stood and what they were currently capable of. It did a lot more than a ranking system. It got him excited just thinking about it. Most of the class was spent with Abe-sensei answering questions related to the tests and clarifying what was expected of them.
Maru was trading ideas with Youta on what these exercises would improve and how it could help them improve their skills when another sheet of paper was passed back to him.
"Heroics has never been easy. A lot is required from you if you are to be prepared to face whatever is thrown your way. You should have noticed by now to some extent, how grossly unprepared you are. Especially with your physical skills." Abe sensei said while glancing over the class. A few students would look at Youta and Maru. Although he hadn't expected it, he was glad that the two boys had been as impressive as they were. Normally, the score difference was never that great between students and it took a lot more time for them to fully internalize just how far they had to go. This in turn, to some degree, would briefly slow down their rate of improvement. If the hurdle wasn't big enough, the hunger wouldn't grow. The boys had played the perfect role for their classmates as a hurdle.
"You won't always be in a situation where your quirk is ideal for the situation. This is for that," he said pointing at the second sheet that had been passed around.
"To put it as simply as I can, thin glass will break easier than thick glass. The same way a big tin can hold a larger volume of water than a small one. Your brain affects what you can do with and without your quirk but it doesn't matter much if you can't physically respond. You're here to prepare to be heroes, that involves a lot more than just training your quirk."
"The difference between a regular person and one with both a larger and thicker container is the scope of their focus. There is too much you need to do, the fitter you are, the narrower that scope becomes except for a few specific cases. You need to bring up your physical stats as fast as possible. Everyone has a specialized regimen to improve just that but unlike your previous map, there will be no follow up with this one."
"Both are meant for your improvement. We will address more on your quirk during classes with reference to your individual maps so it won't be difficult to keep track. The physicals though, are entirely up to you. Whether you do it or not, no ones going to hound you about it. But I can assure you of one thing, there will be a difference between those who do and those who don't."
The bell rang and Abe-sensei dismissed the class, leaving behind the students busy absorbing what he had just said. In the process of leaving the class, a few of them glanced their way before heading out with renewed determination.
As he looked at his physical regime, Maru noticed his barely had any regular workouts. They were all a mix of drills that seemed to primarily target his vision. He'd have to go through with it with his old man to clearly figure out what it targeted. So far, every drill seemed like it'd be fun. And the intensity increased every week with free days on Wednesdays and Sundays. Even with the break, he would probably still be busy with his quirk apprehension map. It was like suddenly having a bunch of extracurricular activities.
Jid jealously looked at his friends' physical regimens as they went through his on their way out of UA. At a glance, it was a lot less intense with a bunch of unique drills thrown in here and there. Way more interesting than his. Just thinking about it made his legs shake. Everyday was leg day. Then there were weights and the absurd levels of cardio. Sigh, it almost made school seem more fun than being home. Maybe it would be after he tried it. Just getting through it would probably take all his time. He didn't think it exempted him from doing his homework
Listening to his grumble, Maru suggested he get his cardio done by running from school to the train station and then home at least once a day. Both ways if he wanted to completely clear the cardio with time to spare for other activities. It made a lot more sense to fit what they could to their existing schedules where possible rather than adding to it. He was an early riser so he could cover some of it after his usual morning routine and a bit of it in the evening. At most, it would take an hour of his day, probably less if he slotted in a few drills here and there during the day. But first, he wanted to go through the list with his dad. Being in the medical field, he was more likely to figure out just what every training regime aimed to improve. His mom could too but it was a lot more intense with her than it was with the old man. No less grueling but a lot more fun. Plus they could experiment a bit with what he'd been trying out with his ice.
Mom was a better choice for that but dad was super detail oriented, he wasn't likely to miss a thing.