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|A few minutes later, Suzaku's POV:|
…
'This place is huge' I couldn't help but comment inside my mind as I glanced at my surroundings with an interested gaze.
Currently, the entire class was following our homeroom teacher—whose name I still didn't know—in the direction of the UA's field to run some Quirk assessment thingy.
And, as we walked through the whole school, I couldn't help but feel awed at the sheer size of the building.
If I was honest, I didn't think I would be able to memorize its layout properly for at least the next few months of classes. That was just how large it was.
In fact, I had only managed to find my classroom earlier because I had asked a teacher who had been on standby to guide students like me who hadn't read properly the maps they had sent us via Mail.
But I mean, come on, who checks those things anyway?
And more importantly, who understands those things anyway?
Seriously, no matter how often I saw them, they never made any sense to me. Be it now, or at university.
I guess I wasn't made for reading maps.
Though, there was at least one place whose location I was able to learn before I gave up on trying to understand the location of everything else.
The lunch rush cafeteria.
That was the only place I managed to imprint into my mind.
As for why?
Well, there were several forums online that mentioned that UA's cafeteria served gourmet food for free to the students.
When I learned that, I immediately made an effort to read those incomprehensible maps to understand where it was, and while it took me a little bit, I eventually managed.
Free food is free food baby!
My enthusiasm for trying their food was such, that after this class ended I planned to go straight to the cafeteria to check out their delicacies.
While my stomach wasn't feeling hungry right now due to having eaten my very professionally cooked breakfast not too long ago, I expected to go hungry pretty soon anyway.
Especially because this body of mine went hungry pretty fast compared to my previous life.
Maybe it hadn't been so noticeable when I was a kid. However, after becoming a teenager the difference became obvious.
This damn strong body of mine had one hell of a metabolism.
But well, it wasn't to the point where me and my family couldn't handle it. So it's fine.
Either way, that whole matter of the cafeteria was going to have to wait for the time being.
For now, it was better to focus on doing this Quirk assessment thing that our teacher had mentioned.
'Seriously, should I ask his name or wait until someone mentions it?' I thought, squinting my eyes as I looked at my teacher's back whose name remained shrouded in mystery.
Maybe I should have arrived earlier to avoid being entangled in this enigma. But what can I do? I just don't like hurrying up.
Still, not knowing the name of my homeroom teacher is a bit…
'Well, it's not like asking is that big of a deal, at most, he will feel a bit offen—'
"It seems like you made it into the school" Suddenly, while I was considering my options regarding the teacher's name, I heard a familiar voice come from my side. Making me turn my head to look at the perpetrator who had dared to disturb my train of thought.
"...?"
However, when I turned to look at this certain individual, I couldn't help but become surprised when I noticed that it was the orange-haired girl from the exam—Shizuka, I think?—looking at me with a smile from the side.
So, in response, I simply nodded my head before smiling back at her.
"You too. It seems like helping others was worth it" I said, referencing the fact that Rescue points had been a thing during the exam.
As I said that, however, Shizuka laughed wryly as she shook her head.
"At that time I didn't think the exam would have a feature like that. When it ended I even thought I had failed the exam for a moment" She said, sighing as if her relief from that moment had resurfaced.
Then, as I was praising her in my mind for actually being such a nice girl when compared to me who simply wanted to beat up the big robot, she shot me a curious look.
"What about you? You were helping others as well. Did you know the exam had rescue points?" She asked, making me scratch the back of my head not knowing what to answer.
In the end, though, I just decided that being honest was the best course of action.
"Uh, yeah, I totally did" I said confidently, laughing lightly as I puffed up my chest.
"..." She raised an eyebrow at my completely honest response. Still,in the end, she didn't say anything and simply nodded her head.
Then, just as I thought the conversation had ended, she raised her eyebrows as if she had remembered something.
"Oh yeah, we didn't introduce ourselves properly before, right? I'm Kendo Itsuka" She said, offering a handshake which I gladly took.
'Right, it was Itsuka' I thought, maintaining a poker face as I made a mental note to properly remember the names of the people who were gonna be my classmates for the three years to come from now on.
But I mean, a month had already passed since I saw her. It was normal for me to forget what her name was, right?
And I mean, I hadn't gotten it completely wrong. The uka part of her name had been correct.
Just not the Shiz part…
"Itsuka, got it… I'm Suzaku" Nodding my head, I told her my name while hoping I wouldn't forget her name again or that would be embarrassing.
As I introduced myself, I noticed her eyebrows rise for a moment, as if something had surprised her.
However, she didn't stay like that for much, as soon she nodded and said "Alright" as if nothing had happened. Leaving me faintly confused.
But thinking that if she hadn't said anything then it hadn't been important, I simply shrugged it off and continued walking without minding the strange gaze that she was shooting me discretely.
Now, onto more important matters…
"... Hey, by the way… Do you happen to know what the teacher's na—"
"Hey there, I'm Tetsutetsu!!!!"
'What in the damned son of a gun—?! That almost blew my ear off!' I thought as I almost jumped back in fright from the loud shout that had suddenly come from my left.
When I turned to look at the loud motherfucker, I saw a burly guy with messy shoulder-length gray hair, and some weird-looking eyelashes, looking at me with an innocent smile on his face as if he hadn't just earraped me with his voice a second ago.
Did he have some kind of voice-amplifying Quirk? I couldn't help but ask myself that.
Otherwise, it didn't make sense how loud the guy had been.
Still, not wanting to let the offense that had just transpired go unpunished, I prepared to give the guy a taste of his own medicine.
'Activate, Super Impostor Ultimate Mega technique, vocal cords modification!'
"TETSUTETSU, EH? I'M SUZAKU!!!!!!!" I yelled, offering him my hand for a handshake.
"What the heck?!"
"Kya!"
"Uwah, that scared me…!"
Upon opening my mouth, my voice reverberated through the whole area. Causing many of my still unnamed classmates to let out yelps of surprise just like I had almost done when this guy yelled in my ear.
Nevertheless, I didn't pay attention to them, and instead, glared at the guy, waiting to see how my melodious voice had suited him.
Unfortunately for my retaliation attempt, the guy was hardly affected, as he simply shook my hand while standing there with a pleased smile on his face.
"I see, nice to meet you!!!" He yelled, causing me to wince a little.
'This guy…'
However, upon seeing his hand shaking mine all amiably, I couldn't help but think that maybe I had judged him wrong and that he was just a tad weird and loud.
Thus, after considering it for a few seconds, I mentally let out a sigh and decided to leave my pettiness aside.
Who knows? Maybe this guy might turn out to become a good friend in the future.
"NICE TO MEET YOU TOO!!!"
"Oh!!!"
"I WAS TALKING WITH ITSUKA HERE ABOUT THE PRACTICAL EXAM, TELL ME, HOW DID YOU DO ON IT?!!!"
"..." (Itsuka)
"I ended up 9th, what about you?!!!!!"
"HAH, WELL I—!!!"
"You two, shut up!!" Our teacher suddenly yelled at us. Causing me to click my tongue and revert my vocal cords to normal.
"Sorry"
"Sorry!!!!"
Godamnit.
…
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|A few minutes later…|
…
After a while, we finally arrived at the field. Once there, we went to the nearby locker room to change into our gym uniforms.
When we were all done and returned to the field, our teacher began explaining what this Quirk assessment thing was all about.
"Very well, I imagine some of you might be confused as to why we are doing another test even though you already passed the practical exam" He said as he glanced at our group, to which many of my classmates nodded their heads in agreement.
Thus, upon seeing their confusion, he continued explaining.
"The truth is that the practical exam is not completely exact when judging the Quirks of its examinees. While it does determine to some extent your Quirk's firepower or incapacitation capability, we can't determine other aspects of it where it would maybe excel more or be more helpful, like in rescue and other heroic activities that don't involve combat"
Saying so, he turned to look at me and pointed at an area a few meters away from our group that was filled with tape all over the ground.
A throwing range.
"Suzuki, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?" He asked, causing many of my classmates to turn to look at me.
"Yeah" I nodded.
"What was your record for baseball throw in Junior High?" He inquired again, making me put a finger on my head as I recalled one of the many fitness tests that they conducted a few years ago at my school.
After a bit of thought, I answered him.
"... Around 210 meters…"
However, once I did, some gasps came from the group around me, along with some "He must be lying…" or phrases along those lines from time to time.
Even the teacher seemed to be surprised at my answer. However, he didn't let it bother him much, as soon he gestured to me with his head to go over the throwing area.
"Then, I want you to try doing it with your Qui—" He was about to say something. However, he quickly stopped all of a sudden, seemingly getting lost in his thoughts for a moment, before eventually letting out a sigh and saying "Well, I want you to try doing it with all you can. If your Quirk can help you in any way, then I want you to use it as well"
When he said those last words, I heard many excited voices from my classmates rise from within the group.
"Eh?! We are using our Quirk this time?"
"That sounds fun!"
"As expected of UA!"
"He said he did 210 meters... But he must have meant while using his Quirk, right?"
As I ignored their cheerful cries, I simply nodded at my teacher, before walking over to the area for baseball throwing.
Once there, and after being handed out the ball that I was supposed to throw, I touched my glasses with one finger and turned them black.
'Gotta look cool while doing this stuff'
After I was done, I cracked my neck, before I put myself into a good posture.
When I did this test years ago, I only used my brute strength to throw it as far as I could. However, after going through some specialized training with the old man, I learned a few things about throwing stuff at high speeds at my opponents.
And while I wasn't versed on what the most efficient motion and posture for doing something like this might be, I think if I apply some things of what I learned from the old man on the matter I can get a much higher record than the last time.
Plus, I have become stronger since then.
"Hup—!"
So, after twisting my body as much as it could, I tightened the muscles on my back, arms, legs, and feet, before returning to my original stance as my arm whipped the air while letting go of the baseball. Making it fly through the air at a blurring speed.
-Swoosh!-
While my classmates exclaimed excitedly after seeing the ball fly far away, the numbers on the device that was supposed to measure how far the ball went began changing repeatedly.
-Beep, beep, beep-
And in the end, after a few seconds, it settled at 312 meters. Making me raise my eyebrows as I let out a satisfied whistle.
However, my attention was quickly snatched away when our teacher resumed his explanation after I finished throwing the ball.
"Although that wasn't exactly an accurate example of what I meant, in any case, what I want you all to do in this test is to do all the same exercises that you did semi-annually at your school, but using your Quirks to perform as good as you can"
Once he finished saying that, many excited shouts came from my classmates. However, they died down when suddenly one hand rose from amidst the crowd.
It was from a girl with vines for hair.
"Excuse me, teacher, but what will happen with the opening ceremony? Aren't we supposed to attend it?" She asked with a worried tone. Causing the teacher to simply shake his head.
"UA doesn't care much about such school traditions or anything on the matter, so we are pretty unrestricted in regards to that. Besides, this is also what most teachers do during the first day so that they can get a proper grasp of our student's Quirks before they begin with classes" He said as he crossed his arms.
When she heard that, the girl nodded her head in understanding before she did a deep bow in the teacher's direction. "I see, I'm thankful for the answer"
"O-oh…" Our teacher nodded, not knowing how to answer that.
Nevertheless, he didn't let that bother him so much, since soon he regained his spirit, and shouted at the group of students enthusiastically.
"In any case, let's get to work everyone!" He said as he raised his fist in the air and pumped up the more lively students who shouted in enthusiasm.
""Oh!!""
After that, the group began moving to the area where the first test out of the five that were left would take place.
The 50-meter dash test.
As the group walked away to get done with it, I watched from the sidelines with a wide grin on my face.
"Heh, I guess being in the first place has its perks" I muttered as I brushed my hair cooly. Basking in the fact that as the one in first place, a spot only the most amazing guys managed to reach, I wouldn't need to perform the tests this time.
"You too, Suzuki"
Nevermind.
…
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|A few hours later…|
…
"Well, that was good for morning exercise" Suzaku muttered as he left the classroom, not even considering chatting a bit more with his new classmates and getting to know them now that the class had ended.
And why would he? His focus wasn't on them at the moment.
No, his objective was another much more important matter.
The cafeteria.
Or in other words, free food!
And besides, those classmates of his would be there tomorrow as well. So, there was no need to hurry in trying to get to know them.
There was plenty of time for that. Three years, to be more specific.
His stomach, on the other hand, wouldn't wait for him.
"Gourmet food, I wonder how it tastes" Suzaku muttered as he wondered what kind of food he would pick once he was there.
Something with meat, maybe. He had been lacking some of it on his diet lately.
But who could blame him? That stuff was expensive as hell!
So, it was only normal for him to crave some now that he was gonna eat like a pig at the cafeteria.
'I deserve a reward for my efforts today…' He thought, letting out a long sigh as he recalled today's class.
More specifically, how the Quirk assessment thing had gone.
He had performed fine, very good even.
However, as someone without a Quirk fit for such exercises, and only being able to depend on his reliable muscles, he didn't manage to ace every test.
Only 3 out of 5. Utterly pathetic.
On the 50-meter dash, he managed to beat all of his classmates pretty easily. Scoring a time of 3.52 seconds. Being only rivaled by a guy with a speech bubble for a face who could surprisingly create special effects out of the onomatopeias he voiced.
The guy said something like "Swoooosh!", and was propelled forward like a bullet (metaphorically speaking). Getting a time of around 4~5 seconds in the end.
There was also a guy with ink-like black skin and white hair who dived into a nearby shadow and crossed a great distance in the blink of an eye. However, the shadow was cut short by around halfway, and for the rest of the distance, he was forced to cross it on foot. Making him end up with a time of 5 and something seconds.
On the standing long jump test, he also did pretty well.
There was not much to say about this test. He reached the end of the obstacle pretty easily with his jump.
Still, a guy with fur all over his body kicked his ass in that regard. The guy jumped like a real version of Hulk and flew through the obstacle with little difficulty.
In the grip strength test, he was also surpassed by the same guy… Suzaku scored a grip strength of 320 kg, while the furry guy managed to get around 800 kg.
The Tetsutetsu guy also managed to get close to him. However, Suzaku still prevailed in the end.
Fortunately, on the side steps test, he outmatched everyone. Managing to complete 125 cycles before the minute ended.
And on the baseball throw, he managed to also keep the first place. However, the comic guy, the furry guy, Itsuka, and the girl with vines got pretty close to his mark of 312 meters.
Had it not been for his glorious strength and unmatched technique, he would have undoubtedly been left behind.
But well, that was the downside of having a meh Quirk.
It did make him look cool, though.
"Hey, where did you go all of a sudden?"
Suddenly, while Suzaku was still lost in his thoughts, someone called out to him and grabbed his shoulder.
After turning around, Suzaku saw both Itsuka and Tetsutetsu standing behind him. Both looking at him with a curious gaze.
"I'm just gonna go check the cafeteria. I've heard they serve gourmet food for free there—" He told them, pointing behind him with his thumb.
However, he was cut short by Itsuka's next words.
"The cafeteria is on the opposite side, though" She said. Causing the three to fall silent for a moment.
"..."
"..."
"..."
In the end, though, Suzaku simply laughed as he turned around and began walking in the other direction.
"Haha, yeah, I already knew that…" He said as he passed by them.
"..."
"..."
Then, as he tried to divert their attention from his error of earlier, Suzaku looked at them and asked "Well, are you guys coming?"
At that, both turned to look at each other for a moment, before they nodded.
"The tests from earlier left me hungry. I guess a snack wouldn't hurt anyone" Itsuka said, turning around as well and following after Suzaku.
Tetsutetsu on the other hand simply let out a loud laugh, before he followed after the two as he said "I didn't get breakfast before class because I woke up late, so this works wonders for me!"
"So you can speak in normal volume too, huh?" Suzaku suddenly asked. Causing Tetsutetsu to look at him with a confused expression.
"What?!!!"
"Nevermind"
…
-To be continued…-
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(A/N: First exam of UA done. Now, onto the next one which luckily for you guys, has combat in it.
So, it will be finally time for some good action.
Also, imagine my surprise when I saw recently that there were more exercises in this Quirk assessment thing than what I described in the chapter. However, it was already written, and I'm too lazy to change it.
So, I apologize, but I'm going to use the secret technique of most Authors in cases like this.
It's an AU.
And that applies to any other continuity error I may commit later on :)))
Smell ya later)
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