"DIE!!!"
"...Die?"
As Bakugo threw the ball towards the sky with a loud boom, signifying the use of his explosive quirk, all the while shouting 'Die', the surroundings turned quiet, awaiting his results in bated breaths.
Now, it was not only a private competition between me and Bakugo anymore. Quite a lot of our classmates soon became interested. Some of them even began to form their own teams to root for their chosen competitor.
Of course, I was on the lead but... this time...
"750.3 meters."
Loud cheers suddenly erupted. Most likely from the ones who rooted for Bakugo. Despite his hateful personality, surprisingly, he's still well liked by quite a few people. It's probably his personal charm. Or the fact that a strong person naturally seems reliable.
In any case...
I lost.
That is only a matter of course. His quirk gives him explosive power. Mine is more of a balanced type.
But... If we were to speak about which one has more potential... Then, we'll need to sit down and have a long chat about that.
I personally think mine has more potential. I'm not being biased. Just honest.
"I WON THIS ONE!!! HEAR THAT, SHITTY EYES??!! THIS TEST IS MINE!!!"
And, just as expected, I'm being called out again.
Hah...
I just sighed helplessly and calmly smiled at him. "Congratulations. You've won one out of eight tests."
Then, Bakugo's expression darkened once again, realizing that he had only won this one test out of eight. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING! GOT THAT?! I'LL KEEP WINNING MORE AND MORE!!! I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!!! I'LL TAKE NUMBER ONE SOON ENOUGH AND SHOW YOU THE VIEW FROM UNDERNEATH MY FEET!!!"
"Ho~" Just when I was getting bored, his sudden declaration somehow got me fired up.
My eyes lit up as I grinned, accepting his challenge. "Then show me what you got, bomberman."
Somehow, he seemed to have misplaced his spirit of rivalry onto me. I don't know if that will have any effects on the general outline of the plot but, if this could help lessen his unjustified hatred for Izuku, then, I have no problems in entertaining him.
"Bring it on!"
...
Most of the students have already finished their turns. At this point, the only other person aside from Bakugo who stood out was Uraraka Ochaco who used her Zero Gravity quirk to achieve a result of infinity.
Goodbye, ball. Please enjoy your trip to outer space.
Then, it soon came to Izuku's turn.
As Izuku stood on the field, obviously nervous, the students began to quiet down, waiting for his result.
He's thinking too much.
With a desperate expression, he clutched the ball tightly, his fingers trembling, knowing that he had the lowest score currently.
"Midoriya-kun isn't doing very well." Iida was the first to verbally point it out, his arms crossed, appearing to be concerned.
"Well duh. He's a quirkless runt!" Bakugo sneered, still in a bad mood from earlier.
"Quirkless?!" Iida exclaimed in shock. "So you haven't heard of his feats from the exam?!"
"HUH???!!" Bakugo sneered, extremely dissatisfied that someone was actually backing a person who he viewed as just a mere pebble at the side of the road right at his face.
In the meantime, I was standing a few paces away from them, making sure I was in Izuku's line of sight at all times.
"Izuku!!! You can do it!!!" I shouted, temporarily throwing my own urge of fleeing to the shadows behind to support him.
As a qualified fan, we must be ready to support our idol in any way we can. As a qualified viewer, we must be there to silently watch and observe the show, able to accept the characters wholeheartedly. As a qualified otaku, we must be the closest entity to our idol, the one who knows them the most.
And, most importantly, as a qualified friend, we must be their strongest pillar of support, calmly helping them and guiding them should they need it.
This is my code of honor. The otaku's code of honor.
...
"Huh..?"
As Izuku was having a nervous breakdown, a sudden shout snapped him out of it.
That's right! I can do it!
He inwardly comforted himself and took a deep breath, summoning all the courage in his body and activating One for All...
...and threw.
Suddenly, at the last moment, the quirk was cancelled and all the power he gathered disappeared.
"...46 meters."
"Huh... What...? But I was trying to use it..."
Izuku panicked.
"I erased your quirk." A gravelly voice said as if to answer his questions. "That ridiculous entrance exam... Completely irrational when you consider someone like you got in."
Erased..? Those goggles... Of course...!
"His quirk nullifies others' quirks just by looking at them! He's the erasure hero, Eraser Head!"
With Izuku realizing their new homeroom teacher's real identity, the entire class once again burst into discussions.
"I saw it... how you can't control your quirk. You'd just be incapacitated again." Aizawa pointed out indifferently. "Were you hoping that someone would step in to help afterwards?"
"N-no! It's not like that..." Izuku tried to reason out but it sounded unsure even to him.
"Whatever you were planning... It would've inconvenienced those around you." Aizawa looked at Izuku coldly.
"Izuku Midoriya, you cannot become a hero with that power of yours."
Pa.
Suddenly, a soft sound was heard and, the next moment, a tiny cat paw print appeared on Aizawa's cheek.
Hiss!
A tiny white cat hissed angrily from where it perched, by Aizawa's shoulder, as if admonishing the man for being mean.
"M-mashiro...?"
Izuku and Aizawa both had shocked expressions.
Then, as if being reminded, Izuku snapped out of his self depricating trance and turned to look towards a certain direction. There, he saw his friend who just looked at him calmly and smiled.
That's right! I'm not alone anymore!
"It seems like he recieved some special instruction." Iida thought to himself.
"Yeah. The instruction to leave this school." Bakugo scowled.
"Mashiro-chan, thank you." Izuku muttered softly. "Sensei... Although I'm unable to regulate my power yet, nor could I control even a tiny amount of it, I still want to try..."
"Because someone told me I could be a hero! Someone believes that I can do it!" Izuku declared, his eyes burning with determination.
Aizawa was surprised. And as he watched the boy who he deemed as hopeless begin to throw the ball, his eyes widened even more.
Because I have to work way harder than anyone else... If I want to make it.
I'll give it my all... in the smallest way... with full power!!!
Now!!!
At the last second, just as the ball was about to fly, he pushed all his power to the very edge of his finger tip... and let it loose.
This is all I can do for now!
The ball flew towards the sky... Flew past the sky... And broke through the clouds!
Everyone in the field were taken by surprise, Bakugo even more so.
"This pain... It's nothing like before!!" Izuku raised his head and clenched his fist.
"705.3 meters!" Aizawa was shocked by the ways Izuku implemented.
"Sensei!" Aizawa's attention was attracted and, he turned to look, only to see Izuku grinning at him even through the pain.
"I... can still move!"
Aizawa was taken aback, then, he too began to smile strangely, finding the situation turned completely against his expectations. "This kid...!"
...
"Good kitty~"
Mashiro purred loudly, laying comfortably in her owner's arms as he stroked her fur.
"I'll reward you with smoked salmon for dinner." Hearing that, Mashiro purred even louder, appearing to be very satisfied.
As of now, it was already afternoon and everyone was getting ready to go home.
The tests during the morning ended with not much fanfare. The only hiccup along the way was Bakugo nearly attacking Izuku after finding out he wasn't actually quirkless as he thought or, anymore for that matter.
Fortunately, Aizawa-sensei was there to stop it before it got out of hand.
Afterwards, when the results were shown, as expected, despite Izuku's result during the softball throw, he still ended up last because... well, plot.
Surprisingly, but not really, the person I was paired with, Yaoyorozu Momo took first place overall. Well, her quirk was creation. She could create a nuclear bomb for all I know.
Somehow, this really did surprise me, I had taken second place... You mean, I actually managed to push Todoroki Shoto to third place?... Huh..?
Following that were Todoroki Shoto, as said before, claiming third, and Bakugo being fourth.
... Atleast I have someone else to share Bakugo's line of fire now.
I look forward to tanking with you, Todoroki-kun.
Anyways, in the end, Aizawa-sensei really did cancel his plans of expelling the student who got last place... because Izuku took it.
But, I'm pretty sure that if it weren't Izuku but another student who got last, they would most likely be expelled as planned.
It was only because Izuku changed Aizawa-sensei's mind that it became like this.
In any case, all is good.
Now, we were on our way home, walking out of the building. Beside me, Izuku was chatting with Iida about who knows what. I wasn't really paying attention.
It's good that he gets more friends like in the anime but... I feel kind of lonely.
"You three! Headed for the station?" Ah, and here comes possible female lead #1. "Wait up!"
"Oh, Infinity girl!" Iida said, not knowing the girl's name so he just said what stuck to his mind.
"I'm Uraraka Ochaco! Um, you're Iida Tenya... and Midoriya... Deku! Right!" She said then, turned my way, apparently very confused, then apologetic.
Please don't be apologetic. I'm already satisfied that you can see me.
"Deku?!" Izuku exclaimed.
"During the test... that Bakugo guy called you Deku, right?" Uraraka pointed out.
"Um... Izuku is my real name. Deku is just Kacchan's insult for me." Izuku explained in embarrassment.
"So a derogatory name, is it." Iida muttered.
"Oh, I got it! Sorry!" Uraraka said apologetically. "But, for me, Deku actually sounds like the Do Your Best kind of Deku."
"Deku is fine!" Izuku immediately said.
"Midoriya-kun!" Iida shouted.
"Pff." It really is exactly the same with the anime.
"Oh. Right! You haven't met yet!" Izuku suddenly exclaimed, finally remembering his friend's presence. "This is Yamori Kaito. We've been friends since before the exam."
Oi, Izuku... don't just casually drag the viewer into your conversation. That's breaking the fourth wall, you know!
"Ah, you're the guy who took first place in the exam!" Uraraka shouted, shocking all three others with her.
"Right! If I remember correctly... That is indeed correct!" Iida suddenly realized as well, looking at me strangely.
Ah... Izuku... What have you done?
As if he could feel his friend's pointed gaze on him, Izuku looked at everything except his friend.
Hah...
"I'm Yamori Kaito." I just said carelessly. "I'll be in your care."
And that was how my first day of school went.