Chapter 2: chapter 2
Nedzu sipped his tea as the teachers rewatched the footage. On the massive displays, they were watching the practical exam play out.
"It's like the boy's never used his quirk before?" One of the teachers commented on Midoriya. Everyone was busy aweing at the raw power of Midoriya and Bakugou, but Nedzu had other contenders in mind.
Putting down his tea, when Nedzu spoke everyone listened. "Can we get the footage of Examinee 2222 as well as their written exam? It appears we have more anomalies than just Mister Bakugou and Mister Midoriya."
The screen switched over to display Tanya her practical exams as well as their tests.
"Flip to page 3, the question with the collapsing building. Their answers have caught my eye, considering her civillain background."
When the screen swapped over, the room went quiet. On the board were concerning answers. They were cold, refined, practical, and highly professional. These weren't the answers of a normal high school graduate, these were the answers of a military professional. Gone were the answers of dreamers, there was only practicality here. Full routes drawn out, plans of action, establishing chains of command, rescue priority lists, everything. Little grasp on Quirk based operations, but there was a level of tactical talent that was undeniable.
"Sbe don't appear to have a complete understanding of Quirks, but these test answers were fully honest in light of their practicals. When Miss Tenikari dove for Mister Midoriya, once he reached 15 meters off the ground she abandoned her dive. She immediately went on to save Mister Mineta without looking back."
"But sir." One of the teachers spoke up. "Wasn't pulling out of that dive her only option? Any closer and she could have gotten them both killed?"
"It's not her understanding of her limits that scares me; it's her mentality. She never looked back for Mister Midoriya, implying a sense of either confidence in Miss Uraraka or a callousness towards lost lives. I fear that there is more happening in her head than what she's letting on. Pull up their combat please."
Silence was maintained as everyone watched the girl move through the bots with clean proficiency. The bots were meant to be beat up, they were set to their easiest difficulties, but Tanya was one of the few students that had a surgical methodology to their takedowns.
Tanya flipped and darted through the air, precisely kicking her targets. She was dodging attacks before the bots could even telegraph their strikes, always out of reach. Fear ran up the spines of the teachers as Tanya's manic grin was on full display.
"Gentlemen, it appears we have more unique cases than what meets the eye. I believe we should raise this year's hero classes to 21. It would allow her to interact with more heroic mindsets while not passing up their inherent talents. Does anyone disagree?"
Tanya methodically made sure she was ready for her first day at UA. She checked through her bag, everything was there. She checked her mirror. Her wings were preened, her hair tied back in her classic look. After smoothing her skirt over her leggings, she was off.
She snuck through the living room, careful not to disturb her father. It wasn't hard given his deep snoring. There had been an emergency shift called last night and he had fallen asleep on the couch. A villain attack had destroyed a bridge that needed immediate repairs. During the shift, he had taken a hit for his coworkers and was sleeping off the damage. He hadn't even changed out of his construction outfit.
'Class 1A, class 1A. Here we are.'
Tanya was the first to arrive, 15 minutes early in fact. She set down her bag and took a seat near the front but off to the side. Some students were gigantic and she wasn't willing to have to fight to see the board.
Not even a minute passed and the door slammed open. In walked a young man with messy yellow hair who hadn't bothered to straighten out his appearance. As he stomped past her, the familiar scent of explosives ghosted off of him. He slung his bag under his desk before sliding back his chair.
She heard the sound of his shoes thudding on the desk behind her. Against her better judgment, she decided to turn around and look.
"The fuck you looking at Angel Bitch! Got something you want to say!" He yelled at her.
Tanya deadpanned. 'I don't have the patience for this.' She breathed slowly. "I think we got off on the wrong note. My name is Tanya, and you are?" She attempted to give a warm smile to defuse the tension.
"Eh?! What's with that creepy grin!"
"Excuse me?" She was caught off guard. 'Perhaps he was one of those whose Quirk affected their mentalities? Of course smiling wouldn't work with someone like him. Yelling might well be his normal tone.'
She cleared her throat. "All I want is your name! Is that too much to ask?!" She barked back at him.
"Name's Bakugou! Now go back to minding your own business, Angel Bitch!"
She snappily waved him off. "Fine!"
'I think I got through to him. That wasn't that hard.'
Next in through the door was the loud one with the glasses, and a tall woman with a large spiky ponytail.
Without missing a beat, the loud one locked eyes with Tanya and sped marched across the room. His movements were stiff, uncomfortable, and resembled that of a toy soldier.
"Good morning! I am from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida. I must commend you on your quick acting during the entrance exam."
Tanya smirked to herself. 'It's been a while since I've heard an introduction that formal.'
"Good morning Iida. My name is Tanya Tenikari, but you may call me Tanya. I don't think I got to see you during the practical."
"Well, yes. You did race across the Battle Center. I wish I had shown initiative as quickly but I was busy scolding another student. I look forward to sharing this class with you."
"Likewise."
Iida turned to scold the scraggly blonde boy. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Does everyone want a piece today! I'm waiting for fucking class!" He yelled in retaliation.
With a karate chop motion, Iida gestured to the desktop. "You are getting dirt and scuff marks on school property. This is unfit behavior for a hero in training."
Tanya took a deep breath. She could feel her blood pressure rising listening to the boys bickering about tables and manners. People in this world were much more eccentric than her previous two, she was sure Bakugou would put his feet down once the teacher arrived. The scolding was an inefficient use of time and energy.
As she waited for class to start, more and more students trickled in. Tanya was slowly starting to regret feeling lucky to be in this class. It was, really, a circus of personalities. People were already trying to find their respective cliques; people that they would feel comfortable with.
'I'm getting an odd sense that trouble is going to end up finding me before I get out of UA.'
In walked the green bolt boy himself followed by the bubbly girl. She knew he was a cataclysm waiting to happen. The world never turns a blind eye to raw power and his Quirk had it in surplus.
'And there it is!'
To Tanya's bewilderment, behind them was none other than a massive yellow sleeping bag inching along. She stared at it around Uraraka's legs as it rolled over revealing the face of a very tired man.
'What the..?'
The caterpillar man spoke! "Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends." Everyone went silent as they turned to watch the spectacle unfold. "This is the hero course."
'There's no way that's our teacher?!' Tanya thought to herself as she watched him suck down a nutrition drink, pulled from the sleeping bag.
The caterpillar man stood up, unzipping his bag. "Okay, it took eight seconds before you were quiet. Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough. I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you… " He fished into his bag, pulling out a gym uniform. "This is a bit sudden, but put these on and go out to the field."
The warm spring air slipped between the crowd as they stood around waiting for Aizawa's explanation for why they're out here.
"Today, we are doing a Quirk assessment test."
"But what about the entrance ceremony? Orientation?!" Uraraka cried out.
"If you are going to become a hero, you don't have time for such luxuries. You kids have been doing this since Junior High, right? Physical fitness tests without your Quirks. This is a hero school where you will be expected to use your Quirks. Logically that means a physical fitness test including your Quirk."
He tossed a ball to Bakugou. "Bakugou, throw this ball as far as you can without leaving the circle."
The ball of nitroglycerin scented anger walked forth cockily. He stood ready in the ring.
He wound back like a pitcher. With every bit of weight he could muster, he went to throw as hard as he could.
Just before the ball could leave his hand, he screamed from the bottom of his lungs "DIE!" His hand ignited, smoke and ash obscured the ring.
The ball flew, soaring through the air, its fiery tail chasing it all the way out of sight.
Aizawa looked at the class holding up his phone. The ball went 750m.
'An amazing Quirk. He's already strong and we haven't even started training! Quirks are powerful and versatile things, each as unique as their owner. If I want to make it in the pro world, in a hero agency of my own, I am going to need allies. Useful, strong, resilient, the kind of manpower that can keep me safe while adapting as needed.' Tanya thought to herself, looking around and judging the room. 'Lets see what they are capable of.'
Around her, students started gushing about the idea of using their quirks as much as they'd like. Until Aizawa cut them all off.
"Looks like fun..? We have three years to turn you into heroes that are ready for the real world. Will you have that attitude the whole time? All right." A dark grin broke across his face. "Whoever comes in last on every test will be deemed without potential, thus I will have no choice but to expel them."
Tanya froze up. 'So this is what being on the other end of training feels like! There are 21 of us in this class, they were always planning on expelling one of us! If I can't make it through hero schooling, I'll be at Being X's mercy. All he'd need to do is send a giant rampaging through my office building to kill me. I can't allow this to pass!'
"You - you wouldn't really do that, right?" Uraraka asked with a shiver.
"Why wouldn't I? There'd be no point training somebody without potential just to send them off to die. It'd be a waste of resources for the both of us."
'He has a point. My job in my first life was to fire people who were eating at company resources. Now in this case firing, or expelling, would also be the morally correct choice. I remember once telling Visha to stay behind, to sit out on a fight she didn't seem ready for. I understand where Aizawa is coming from.'
The teacher lifted the hair out of his face, his smile unnerving all but Tanya. "Welcome to the UA hero course!"
Tanya returned a smile. 'Very well then Aizawa. I will prove myself worth training.'
'Tenikari and Yaoyorozu see through my bluff. Nedzu was right in accepting these two.' Aizawa thought to himself.
"This isn't fair! You wouldn't expel someone on their first day." Uraraka protested, worry squeaking into her voice.
"Natural disasters, big accidents, dangerous villains; these are all unfair circumstances that heroes face on a daily basis. None of these are ever fair. It's our job as heroes to make things right. Hold those memories of fairness close, it'll be a long time till you see it again… Okay, the demonstration's over. The real thing starts now."
Test 1; 50 meter dash.
Tanya slipped down close to the ground onto the starting block. Her posture was low to the ground, too low for any normal runner. She slipped into a deep squat against the block, her hands out in front.
The camera bot chirped. "On your mark."
Tanya flexed her wings, bringing them up above her.
"Get set."
She took a deep breath.
"Gooo!"
She leapt from the platform, her wings slashing through the air. The ground was not even a foot away.
Each beat of her wings sped her up. The air whistled past her.
The little white line marking the end slipped underneath her so fast if she blinked she would have missed it.
"3.2 seconds!" The camera bot sang.
With a twist of her back and a brace of her wings, she flipped away from the ground. Back on her feet, she had to jog to bring herself back to a stop.
Ahead of her, Tenya Iida had already slid to a stop with an impressive time of 3.05 seconds. The mufflers that extended out of his calves were smoking.
'He's fast. Definitely faster than me on the ground. We both seem to have speed and mobility covered but I have the aerial advantage. I don't think we'd do too well on a team together though.'
"Tanya." Iida announced his desire to start a conversation. "You're really fast! I must ask, what is your top speed?"
"Oh! The fastest I ever got was 210 miles per hour, but that was in free fall. My flight speed clocks in at around 180."
"That fast!" He gasped.
She shrugged. "Flying is faster than it looks. Airplanes are fast but they look slow from down here and feel even slower when you're in one."
"The fastest I've ever gotten was 260 miles per hour. And that was a straight road… What do you think about Mr. Aizawa's expulsion threat?" Iida asked, staring at Aizawa. Who was busy judging the other students.
Tanya shrugged. "He's within his right to expel as he sees fit. Best to cut early rather than later. Although, I wonder if he's making this decision too quickly. All they've seen of us is our written exams, practicals, and then this. Is that really enough information to expel with?"
"I expected nothing less from UA. They only turn out the finest heroes. It stands to reason that we are still within the judgment processes." He made his karate chop motions, pairing the motions with every declaration.
Test 2; Long jump.
Tanya daintily glided over the sand pit with a bored glare.
'Is this really necessary?'
Test 3; High jump.
Tanya leapt into the air, wings beating like drums. Higher and higher she went, until she became a speck from ground view. She raced up and along, past Bakugou and Uraraka as she floated away.
"While we measure their max altitude, Midoriya you're up." Aizawa said, shielding his eyes as he watched the little blue specks go ever higher.
On her way back down, making sure to aim for the other end of the bar, she saw a large yellow man attempting to hide.
'Is that All Might? He must be watching to decide who makes the cut. I hope to have made the mark thus far.'
Test 4; Grip strength.
Tanya had tried to wedge her wings into the measuring device, but found it too thin to fit. 450 Newtons of force without them, not bad.
Test 5; Deadlift
She braced her wings against the floor and attempted to lift. It didn't help terribly but she was setting a personal record.
Uraraka set the class record as NA, since there wasn't anything in the gym heavy enough. Tanya then got to watch Sato set the second highest class record. After chugging one of his smaller sugar packets, in a feat of herculean strength, he managed to lift 3 thousand pounds.
Tanya was stunned. She knew she needed extra muscle on her team and to see it delivered to her so readily, it made her giddy. 'Between the two of us, we could handle almost anything. Now all I'd need is someone with a lot of control and I'll have all my needs covered.'
The weights thudded to the floor, gently shaking the gym. He nearly collapsed onto the weights, his balance rhythmically swaying.
"Hello. I am Tanya Tenikari, but you may call me Tanya. I don't think I've caught your name?" Tanya extended a hand in greeting.
"I'm," He drunkenly said, then took her hand to stand up "sleepy." Sato muttered. While standing to his full height, his shadow blanketed Tanya. His eyes locked onto a point across the room.
Tanya put the dots together as the 6'10" giant leaned towards her. 'A burst style Quirk on day one after 5 back to back tests. Oh no.' She attempted to escape the handshake she initiated. It was no use.
He came crashing down on top of her, burying all but her wings.
"Gef Uff," Tanya yelled, crawling out from under him. "Of Me!"
He snored in response as Tanya finally scrambled out. She was a mess of ruffled feathers and scraggly hair. She gasped for breath as she scrambled to her feet.
Aizawa watched the display, too tired to interfere. 'I suspected as much. Many of these students haven't used their Quirks to this degree. Sato is giving it his all and applying his Quirk to the best of his ability… inefficiently. Tanya, she shows immense control over her Quirk but she doesn't appear to socialize as much as the other students. Although, that's slower to change.'
Test 6; Ball throw
Tanya stepped into the ring, ball in hand. She sided her shoulders.
She wound back for a fast pitch, aiming a little higher than normal.
As soon as the ball left her hand, she wrapped her wings close around her.
Envigored by the prospect of impressing All Might, the closest thing she had to an employer at the moment, she burst her wings open.
A powerful wall of wind sailed behind the ball, carrying it away and out of sight.
Aizawa turned his phone around. "Tanya, you got 350 meters. Uraraka, you're up."
'350 is still better than many of the other students, but it isn't impressive in light of some of the class powerhouses.' Tanya thought to herself, watching Uraraka step into the ring.
She didn't put her back into it. There was no real wind up.
With a cry of glee, she tossed the ball off into the air. Everyone sat stunned by the display as the ball never changed trajectory, weakly spinning off into the distance.
Aizawa stared at his phone. Tanya could swear a glimmer of surprise crossed his eyes. He turned it around and displayed Uraraka's score to the class.
"Infinity!" The class cried out in unison.
'Does her Quirk ignore air resistance as well?! That thing doesn't abide by conventional laws of physics at all!' Tanya thought to herself as she stared off into space, where the ball had gone.
"Hey," Sato came up behind her and asked for her attention. "I, uhh, want to apologize for earlier."
"It was annoying, but not entirely your fault." Tanya said. 'As much as I would like to yell at him, I can't afford to burn this bridge. A potential partnership is too good to pass up.'
'She must be really mad at me, but she's being polite anyways.' Sato thought to himself. "My Quirk isn't really cut out for these tests."
Sensing the opportunity to get more information, Tanya pressed a question. "In what way? How does your Quirk work with these tests?"
'Oh no, she's pissed. I promise, I'm not making excuses!' Sato got nervous, shrinking away from her gaze. "My Quirk is sugar based. If I consume enough sugar, I get roughly 5 times stronger for like 3 minutes. Then I come crashing down. Normally it's not really a problem, but having to start and stop like this, it really starts to add up."
"I see. While Quirks like Bakugo's ramp up the longer he uses it, your Quirk is a dedicated opener." Tanya bit her lip in consideration. 'Sato's Quirk is strong from the opening of a fight. One on one fights rarely last longer than a few minutes. There's solid potential here.'
'I know my Quirk is second rate. The drawbacks are obvious and easy to exploit. I can't continue my fights like Bakugo can.' Sato thought, rubbing the back of his head.
Tanya once again extended her hand. "I believe it's in both of our interests to become friends."
'Is this an offer for friendship or a business agreement?' Sato took her hand. 'She must not have had many friends growing up. Man, that's so sad. Maybe I could be the first?' "OK Tanya." He took her hand, "I agree to be your friend."
Midoriya stepped into the ring. Tanya, Iida, everyone who had seen him at the practical had their eyes firmly set on him. He hadn't used his Quirk yet, but they could tell by the look in his eyes that was about to change.
With a grunt, he wound back for a throw. Tanya pulled at her lower lip, wings tucked in close, she had to see this power firsthand. What exactly were they dealing with?
Plop. The ball landed pitifully, bouncing to a stop.
"46 meters!" The little bot chirped.
"I, I, I could have sworn I was using my Quirk just now." The green boy muttered, staring at his hands like they had been cut off.
Aizawa's scarf floated around him while his eyes glowed red. "I erased your Quirk. That entrance exam clearly was not rational enough if a kid like you was accepted." There was a cold venom in his voice. One that dripped with an anger that wasn't entirely pointed at Midoriya.
'Such raw power needs to be trained.' Tanya mentaly argued in bewilderment. 'Leaving that out in the world is asking for its misuse! Power is always used.'
"You erased my Quirk?" He asked in fear, swiftly turning to reverence. "Huh! Those goggles… you're the pro hero Eraser Head! You can disable Quirks just by looking at people."
The students immediately began chattering around Tanya. They didn't know much about Eraser Head, other than he was an underground hero who stayed away from the spotlight.
"You can't control your Quirk, can you Midoriya?" His judgment was beginning to be passed down. "Do you plan on having others save you after you make some flashy play?"
"N, no I -"
Aizawa gave no room to breathe. "How are you going to save others if you need to be saved after a single attack?"
"That's not my intent-" A wide eyed Midoriya pleaded to be heard.
His scarf shot out, ensnaring Midoriya and pulling him in close. "Your intentions don't matter in reality. If you incapacitate yourself, what then? There's another oppressively idealistic hero, one who can save hundreds by himself. He's set a ridiculous standard that people like you try to live up to. You can't even save yourself."
He turned to the other students. "And that goes for all of you. Never, ever think that you're invincible because you're 'hero material'. Idealism is a dangerous poison and one that's rooted deeply into our society."
"I can-" Midoriya tried to squeak.
"Can what?" He said, switching back to Midoriya, "Blow away a single target? Level a single building? What comes after that? Every other student here has shown that they can adapt with their Quirk, struggle against their weaknesses. You haven't used yours once, and we both know why. So go ahead, take the ball and try again." He dropped the boy.
Midoriya went back to the ring, ball in hand. A pitiful expression melted off his face before revealing a steel strong determination.
He took a deep breath to gather himself.
He wound back, feet firmly planted.
Right before the ball left his hand, it exploded into a gust of pressure. It rocketed out, zipping into the sky as if shot from a cannon.
"705.3 meters!" The bot chirped.
Midoriya grabbed his hand in a vain attempt to nurse his wounded finger. He curled his broken hand in defiance to Aizawa, tears forming in his eyes. "See, I can still fight. I'm still standing."
Tanya was shocked. 'So his Quirk wounds himself every time he uses it! Trading health for power may work in a game, but it won't fly against living opponents. That's going to be one tough weakness to work with.'
Aizawa smirked. 'This kid. He actually got it. He could have shattered his whole arm and sent that ball to space, but he didn't. He traded a finger instead and received a reasonable score.'
Bakugo began fuming, fists clenching and unclenching. "How? How did you do that?!"
'There's that eccentricness.' Tanya thought, already seeing how this would play out.
He dashed forward, hands alight like firecrackers. "Tell me what's going on DEKU! YOU NEVER HAD A QUIRK!"
Like serpents, Aizawa's scarf shot out, wrapping around Bakugo's head and torso.
"How is this cloth so hard?!" He grunted, straining against the wrapping.
"These are capture weapons. You'll learn about them when we cover the item section… Jeez, stop making me use my Quirk… It gives me dry eye!"
The class broke out into half humored shock. Such an amazing Quirk with such an annoying drawback.
While everyone was chattering about the explosive display, Tanya saw something smaller. Just after Aizawa shut off Bakugo's Quirk, she watched as his breathing slowed and his demeanor changed.
'Midoriya didn't have a Quirk? Well, with one that powerful at the cost of destroying his body. He probably kept it hidden.' Thought Tanya. 'Although, I could only imagine the betrayal Bakugo must be experiencing.'
Then Aizawa returned his Quirk, opting to blow off the spectacle and continue the tests. A moment later, Bakugo once again started boiling in anger.
'His Quirk really does affect his mind.' Tanya confirmed to herself.
Test 6; side stepping
Tanya used her wings to counterbalance her sideways motion. The clunkiest tail ever designed.
Test 7; Sit ups
She had Sato hold her feet down. Her wings did make lying on her back more difficult, and terribly uncomfortable.
Test 8; The long-distance run.
Everybody lined up at the start.
Aizawa spoke up. "The long-distance run will take you around the campus. There are a series of marked lampposts, you must pass the outside of each, then return back here." He gestured to the map of UA which had a series of pins placed on it.
The 9 marked pins' route would take them around the gate side of UA and all the way past the support workshops. Then, they would have to run out to zone Gamma where they would have to turn around before reaching the USJ, heading back into the campus. The runback would take them up along the backside of UA, between the faculty offices, around the indoor gym, and back to the field where they currently stood.
"Is this a marathon?!" Mineta cried, seeing the size of UA's obscenely large campus.
"Technically, this is a race." Aizawa half-heartedly answered, swiping at his phone. "Several of you are struggling for last place, this could decide whether you stay or get expelled."
The little bot's once cheerful cries now slashed the silence like a knife through glass. "GO!"
Everyone scrambled over each other, desperate for a head start.
Immediately leaving the pack behind were 3 students.
Tanya had taken off, soaring overhead.
Iida finally had room to get into high gear.
Bakugo was all warmed up, screaming in rage, and rocketing ahead.
"If you want to stay at UA, you have to give it your all, always." Aizawa called, watching the pack of rookie heroes start their perceived race.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone