Chapter 6: First Day
The first day of school is always a dreaded event. Even for the rare children that loved school, giving up the freedom found in summer vacation was never done without some resistance, and Ben knew that feeling well. Ben was average in school, just another face in the crowd, and thus never had a reason to want to stay, but neither did he have a reason to hate school. It was just something he had to do, and he got in trouble if he did poorly.
Yet, as Ben stood before the magnificent gate of UA, in awe of the sparkling facilities in front of him that towered over the city's tallest buildings, he felt only barely contained excitement. The difference between his old school, Bellwood Elementary, and UA high school was like night and day. One was small, kinda run-down, and not made for heroes. The other was huge, state-of-the-art, and run by heroes, for heroes. It was a dream for some of those with more powerful quirks back in Bellwood to even attempt the entrance exam, and here Ben was, 3 years too young but accepted nonetheless! He could do without the additional baggage that came with being a UA student though.
Ben's joy was interrupted as he fiddled with his tie for the millionth time since Grandpa Max had tied it for him. The UA uniform was nice, Ben didn't really mind the attire. The full length gray blazer, white colored shirt under it, and the gray-greenish long pants looked stiff, but in reality were quite comfortable and flexible. His uniform was a bit too big, but Ben just chalked that up to a lack of stock: UA probably didn't make uniforms for kids. The red tie was the bane of his existence however, as the necktie just felt constricting and unnecessary. Ben did have formal clothes back at home, but only wore them on special occasions. The realization that he would have to wear the stupid red cloth almost everyday for three years made Ben throw his head back and groan in annoyance. Deep in his own thoughts, Ben was caught unaware at the hand that slammed into his back, knocking the breath out of him and causing him to stagger forward attempting to regain his own balance.
"Come on Tennyson, bored already? We haven't even had the entrance ceremony yet!" Ben recovered his breath and turned his head to see Tetsutetsu, with his ragged silver hair and feral grin on his face. Ben smiled, and turned to meet him, and nodded his head.
"Hey Tetsutetsu! And no I wasn't bored, just don't like thinking about this tie. I already hate it, but we're gonna have to wear it for years. Wonder if it's necessary..." Ben muttered out the last part.
"Ah, it's not that bad, I think it completes the UA look ya know? But who knows, maybe they will make an exception for mister number 1 with 172 points!" Ben groaned again, causing Tetsutetsu to laugh. Ben faintly remembered his acceptance letter/hologram telling him that his score was a record, but so much happened that day. His score, and the rumors that Azuth and Nezu stated would emerge, had slipped his mind. "Gotta say, I was not surprised when I saw your first place finish Ben! It's a bit sad you still couldn't beat All Might. Regretting that battle with the zero-pointer?"
"Not for a second, not ever!" Ben puffed out his chest as he gave his answer, and looked at Tetsutetsu straight in his eyes. "A hero would never leave someone in need of help, would he? Besides, I got rescue points, I didn't lose too much anyway. You did good too, I saw you got 9th!" Tetsutetsu gave a scoff and gently shoved Ben's shoulder at that.
"Yeah, I did fine by UA standards, but you blew everyone out of the water! Everyone's talking about you! I guess they're actually talking about your red dude transformation. Only me and those other two know it was you. Want to keep it that way?" Ben nodded vigorously at that.
"Oh, yes please! I don't think I can handle that sort of attention, I need to get used to how school works in Japan!" Ben had never even been to an American high school, much less the most famous heroic school in the world. Apparently high school classes had different teachers per subject! That befuddled Ben, who only had a single teacher teaching every subject.
"Oh yeah, keep forgetting you aint from Japan. With a name like Tennyson, you'd think I'd know by now. Anyways, I'm in class 1-B. What about you?" As the two began to walk into UA, Ben pulled out the small post-it that Grandpa Max handed to him. Peering closely, Ben replied "1-A. Ah nuts, we aren't together! That's lame man."
As the pair opened the massive UA central building's door, Tetsutetsu gave a sigh of his own. "1-A huh? That's expected, especially due to your score." Tetsutetsu's tone made Ben frown. So what if they were in different classes? Ben made sure to vocalize his thoughts.
"Don't be like that! Only 36 of us got in, and you were in the top 10! They didn't sort us by score, or you'd be with me! If anything, I wish I was in 1-B. I've been having bad luck recently, so I bet Kendo and Shoda are in 1-B as well." In reality, Ben's bad luck started when the United States found out about him and the Omnitrix, but he didn't need to tell anyone that. Tetsutetsu seemed to cheer up at Ben's words, and his posture and grin returned to their full power.
"You're right, little guy! I shouldn't get down on class placements, that doesn't determine my worth!" The pair climbed up some stairs. "Don't let anyone push you around kid! If anyone gives you guff, don't transform, they aint worth it! Just tell me and I'll whomp em for you!" Ben laughed at the boast, doubling over as Tetsutetsu rolled up his sleeve to flex. For a teenager, the silver-haired guy certainly was muscular. Ben's laugh died down and he got a closer look. Wow, he was jacked! Was it because of his metal quirk? Ben shook his head. No matter if he was muscular or not, if he needed muscle, Four Arms had more strength than any quirk-user on the planet! Well, maybe aside from All Might. Actually, that was something Ben needed to test: he had never really pushed Four Arms to the absolute limit, and now he needed to know.
"Welp, here we are. Well, here I am. 1-A is further down the hall. It should be at least, I'm pretty sure both first year heroic classes are on the same floor." Tetsutetsu pointed his finger at a massive door with 1-B plastered in bold font. He then turned to Ben. "Well, we only got a few minutes left before the day officially starts. Usually we have assigned seating, but I'm sure they won't do that until tomorrow. Don't sweat it Ben, you'll do fine! Err, it is fine if I call you Ben right? I think you told us we could call you that."
"Of course! I don't like going by Tennyson, it's a mouthful. Even if it is improper, you're my friend, so that doesn't matter either. See you later!" Ben waved as he made his way down the hall, which Tetsutetsu returned, before disappearing behind the large intimidating door. Ben meandered his way down the hall, and reached an identical door, the only difference was the 1-B has been switched with 1-A. Ben stood before the doors, and sucked in a deep breath. This was it, his first day of his three year quest to prove his heroism. He had one shot, and his every move was being watched, evaluated, and judged. Ben Tennyson knew this was important, first impressions always were. Ben moved forward, ready to make a statement!
And he did so by opening the door as quietly as possible while entering as inconspicuously as he could. If Tetsutetsu was right, then there was a chance that the people inside might already know about him. He didn't want to seem like an attention hog, so Ben decided to wait until he had to use the Omnitrix for a grade to reveal it. As he slid inside the room, and shut the door behind him, he was immediately forced against the wall as a large bodied student with blue-hair and glasses immediately cornered him, chopping his hands in the air wildly.
"What is a child doing on UA premises? How did a troublemaker like yourself get past the UA security grid? This is unbecoming of the top hero academia in Japan! How can we expect to learn if they can not stop a single child from entering unattended?" As the guy's arms failed about wildly, Ben shrunk down, forced into the classroom's corner. This wasn't how he imagined his day starting, not at all! This was the student, Ben realized, that called out UA and 'Deku' during the entrance exam! Oh, curse his luck, of course they would be in the same class!
The blue-haired student did not let up his assault, with his noise and movement drawing the attention of everyone else in the room. Many frowned at his actions, and some began moving in. A tall girl with long raven-black hair marched up to the two boys, and put her hand on the bigger one's shoulder. This sudden contact halted the boy's wild movements and long speech, and his head whirled around to meet her gaze.
"Ida, it is very rude of you to assume the worst of our classmate without giving him the chance to explain himself! Look at his clothes!" The girl waved her hand at Ben. "He's wearing the UA uniform, demonstrating he is here legally!" At this, Ida sputtered, growing red in the face as he struggled to explain himself. The girl sighed and shook her head. Making her way to Ben, who had gotten up and was dusting himself off and straightening his clothes, she held out her hand.
"I am Yaoyorozu, and I apologize for Ida here, he has done this to several others who came before you." Yaoyorozu gestured her hand to several others that had taken seats, none of whom were paying Ben any attention.
"Oh, it's fine! I guess I am a bit young for high school, but life happens ya know? Oh, right, I'm-"
"I am Ida Tenya! I apologize for my assumptions that led me to acting too hastily! It is unbecoming of me to accuse my classmates, and fellow heroes, so quickly, and while there is such blatant evidence right in front of my eyes!" Ben took a step back to avoid getting karate chopped by Ida's hands that had resumed their wild rotations.
"Hey, it's no problem dude, I get that I'm younger than everyone here. Kinda expected something like this if I'm honest. You just took me by surprise, never met anyone as... err... 'passionate' as you back at home in the States." Ben scratched the back of his neck and turned his gaze to the side. "Anywho, my name is-"
"Woah, you're from America? That's so cool!" Ben groaned in his mind as he was interrupted once more, this time by a girl who was all pink. Like, literally, her skin and hair were pink. She had strange yellow horns, and bright yellow irises. "Isn't that where All Might worked before coming back to Japan? Wait, why are you in high school if you're underaged? Is it your quirk?"
Ben opened his mouth, but closed it immediately as the door behind him opened. Quickly scooting aside, Ben watched as two new students walked in. One was tall and the other was short, but still taller than Ben. The most defining feature these two had were their mutant quirks. The tall one was not just big, but had many limbs. Ben counted six arms, with three on each side connected by a fleshy membrane. He had long silver hair like Tetsutestu, but instead of it being wild, it was tame, with some bending over to cross over his right eye. He also wore a mask and had an elongated head. The short one had a bird's head, complete with black feathers and a yellow beak. It was very out there, but aside from the head he looked normal. He turned his head around to evaluate the people before him before opening his beak to speak.
"I assume this is class 1-A, as the door indicated? I am Tokoyami."
"I am Shoji." The tall one added.
As Ida, Yaoyorozu and the pink girl moved in to meet the new students, Ben took the opportunity to slip away. Making his way to the other side of the class, Ben chose a middle seat by a window. Ben learned from experience that sitting all the way in the back actually attracted more attention than it discouraged. Sitting in the middle was the secret strategy to avoid unwanted attention: overeager students would take the seats in the front, and antisocial people would go to the back. Ben took a deep breath in, and pulled out his sticky note one more time to reread the message right below his reminder of his assigned class.
'Put yourself out there Ben, and be friendly. If they want to be your friend, they'll be kind back. If they don't, just avoid them.'
Solid advice from Grandpa Max, but something that Ben struggled to do. Ben wasn't shy, but he was no social butterfly. He didn't mind public speaking, but with all he had been through in his summer adventure, Ben didn't know if he could, or wanted to, open up to anyone other than Grandpa and Gwen. As Ben mulled over how to open up to strangers a good 3 or 4 years older than him, the small crowd began to dissipate and people began filling in seats, allowing Ben to get a good look at the people in 1-A that were present.
Ben noticed Ida, Yaoyorozu, Shoji, Tokoyami and the pink girl, who all took their seats and pulled out their phones or papers to entertain themselves before class began. There was a boy with rocky skin, inching away from an outgoing french student who seemed to sparkle with every movement. A group of boys were talking in a corner in front of Ben, one with bright and spiky red hair, and when he laughed he exposed sharp shark-like teeth. He was talking to a boy with long yellow hair with a black lightning bolt on his left side, and a black-haried boy with strange elbows. Another blonde boy with a massive tail was talking behind him, but Ben couldn't see who he was talking to. That was, until Ben saw a floating girl's uniform next to the boy. Invisibility? And so powerful you could see right through her? Ben was impressed.
A powerfully built guy with thick lips was fiddling with something in his backpack; Ben saw vials full of some powdery white substance. A girl behind him was starting off in the distance, her large eyes unblinking. Suddenly, a long tongue shot out, collided with what Ben assumed was a poor fly, and shot back into her mouth. That, alongside her green hair, was a giveaway that she had some frog-related quirk. A petite girl behind Yaoyorozu with dark purple hair was shuffling through some papers, spinning her elongated earlobe in the shape of a headphone jack in her left pinky. A gloomy boy behind her sat with an expressionless face, with a strange hairstyle that had his right side white and his left red. Maybe his quirk dealt with two different things?
Ben was enamored by the wide array of students, but couldn't help but notice the shocking diversity of hair colors. Red, white, black, brown, green, blonde, pink, silver and blue! Before Ben could make any more observations, a loud bang from the door caused everyone to stop what they were doing and turn to face the new disturbance. As the doors swung open from the unnecessary force, a scowling spiky-blonde boy entered, with an unkempt uniform and hands stuffed in his pockets. Saying nothing he marched from the door to the furthest desk in the front row with everyone's eyes on him. He swung his backpack off his shoulders and dumped it beside him and raised his feet to rest upon the desk. This activated something primal inside Ida and he rushed over to the new student's side.
"Remove your filthy shoes from that desk immediately! An action like that is shameful for one that hopes to study in the prestigious halls of UA! It is insulting to all the students who became heroes before us, and the craftsmen who created these desks for our use in study, not leisure!" Ben couldn't help giggling at Ida's speech. The guy was such a stickler for the rules that he just couldn't keep it to himself. The blonde seemed to think similarly, as he snarled right back.
"Like I care what you think! Who do you think you are, ordering me around you bastard!" Ben's giggle died as he flinched from the sour language. What possibly went through that dude's mind, just shouting out bad words like that, and at school no less! If Ben had done that at his school or at home, he'd be grounded for years. Of course, back at Bellwood the teacher was actually in the classroom. Where was their teacher? As Ben swept his gaze around the class, searching for an authoritative figure to break up the squabbling duo in front of him, he noticed the door opening up yet again.
Ben's eyes widened in recognition. It was Deku! At least that was what Ben thought his name was. The same forest-green hair was impossible to mistake, but 'Deku' was probably not his name. Grandpa Max frowned when Ben mentioned him, and said it was not a nice thing to call someone. It was derogatory, but not a common curse word. Ben made a mental note to make sure he got his real name. The student in question was trembling at the door, his eyes locked onto the arguing blonde and his blue-haired opponent. From the interactions Ben remembered that Deku had with the other two, Ben surmised that Deku was not happy about being in the same class as them. Oh well, that made two of them.
"What does me attending Somei Private Academy have anything to do with the present? I am just asking you to treat the property of UA with the respect it deserves!" It seemed that Ida was on the defensive.
"Somei? It means that you're a stuck-up elitist, that's why! I'll blow you the fuck up if there isn't 5 feet between us real soon you extra!" Ouch. Ben, despite his previous feelings towards Ida, felt kinda bad for the guy. This blonde person was a real piece of work.
"B-b-blow me up? You are truly awful! Do you really wish to become a hero, with that attitude? How unbecoming of the next generation of society's peacekeepers." Ida shook his head, which caused him to lock eyes with Deku. Ida then began to make his way to Deku, who bolted upright. Ben narrowed his eyes, ready to intervene if another problem emerged. To his pleasant surprise, Ida stuck out his hand, and began a polite greeting, which Deku laughed off.
"Ahahahah, I heard from before! Your Ida, from Somei! I'm Midoriya Izuku, pleased to meet you." Ah, so his name is Midoriya. Good to know. Suddenly, Ida performed a near 90 degree bow, completely shocking Midoriya and the secret onlooker, Ben.
"Midoriya, I must apologize for my attitude towards you during the entrance exam! While I was too busy with what was given to us on paper, you perceived the true nature of the test! I misjudged you, and antagonized you unfairly! I have to admit that, despite my superior score, you were the better candidate." Ida wasn't the only one who had judged someone unfairly. Ida wasn't a bad guy, Ben admitted, if was able to give such an honest apology.
With Midoriya, that made 19 students in the class, including Ben. There still was no teacher, and the bell was 30 seconds from ringing, so there still was some time. Speaking of the devil, another voice emerged from behind Midoriya, signaling the last student had arrived.
"Oh, it's the plain-looking boy! You got in, just like Present Mic said you would! Thank you again for helping me with the exam, that punch was awesome!" As Midoriya covered his blushing face behind his hands, sputtering some excuse that Ben couldn't make out, Ben strained his neck trying to get a good look at the mysterious girl. It was hard to see past the tall form of Ida, but Ben saw a girl with brown hair, and what appeared to be permanent blushes in specific elongated ovals on her cheeks. She was in the middle of making punching movements in the air, along with 'smash!' which seemed to embarrass Midoriya even more. Ben thought it was a touching scene, but a certain muttered nickname garnered his attention.
"Deku..." Muttered the blonde, with a murderous gaze towards the green-haired boy who was holding his hands up as he talked to Ida. Ben knew that glare before, it was one he had been on the receiving end of in his most difficult battles. Vilgax and Kevin 11, both his arch-enemies, had given him that same glare. It was one of pure hatred, contempt, and did not belong on a hero. Ben was no longer unsure of his feelings towards the blonde, now it was clear that he was one to avoid. Why would someone aspiring to be a hero have such hatred, unless maybe there was more to Midoriya than he let on? Perhaps a bad past, or an accident? Ben had nothing to go off of, but he was pretty sure that based on the blonde's personality, it wasn't Midoriya's fault.
"If you're here to socialize, then get out." A bored voice came from behind the blushing girl, who jolted forward and whirled around at the sudden adult voice. Only, there was no one behind her. The entire class quieted at the sound of an adult, most probably their teacher, but nobody saw anything. Until Midoriya turned his gaze downward, which prompted everyone to do the same. A yellow sleeping bag, with a disheveled face poking out from the top was just sitting, or resting, there. The face had long shaggy black hair, bloodshot eyes, and a pale complexion. A hand poked out from the bag, holding some box with a straw sticking out, and stuck it into his mouth.
"This is" With a single suck, the entire box crumpled as its contents were drunk. "The Hero Course." With that, the entire class watched in both fascination and apprehension as the bag wriggled and squirmed upright, using the door frame as support. Eventually, the man shedded his yellow sleeping bag and stood, hunched slightly, holding the bag in his left hand.
"It took you brats about 10 seconds to quiet down. Time is a precious resource for heroes. You lot are not rational, are you?" Now in full view, somehow the man seemed even less impressive than he did in his sleeping bag. A thin physique, a loose-fitting black suit, and a weird scarf coiled around his neck along with his unkempt appearance did not generate a positive reception.
"I'm your new homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Pleased to meet you." That last part was said so enthusiastically Ben felt kinda hurt. Was this man so dead inside that he couldn't bring himself to teach? UA only hired heroes, so this man must be a professional, but he certainly did not act like it. Ben thought the teacher/heroes would be loud, bombastic, full of personality and had high hopes for him and his classmates. Not this... shell of a man. A quick scan of the rooms confirmed that Ben was not the only one who was thinking this, as the expressions he saw were not positive.
As Ben turned his attention to the front once more, he was alarmed to find Aizawa's gaze on him, unblinking. The piercing gaze was incredibly uncomfortable, and Ben couldn't hold it for more than a couple seconds before dropping it. Did he know who he was? Ben could feel the stare piercing his skull for what seemed like an eternity, before it finally dropped. Ben looked up to see his teacher shuffling through his sleeping bag, and pulled out two large piles of clothes.
"Quickly now." Aizawa dumped the first pile into Midoriya's open arms and the second into the brown-haired girl's. "Change into your gym clothes and head to the grounds." With that, the man spun around, tossed his bag near the front desk, and walked away.
An order from an authority figure seemed to spark life back into the class, and everyone began to move at once. Thankfully Ida did his hand chopping thing and yelled at everyone which got an organized line to form as gym uniforms were passed out. From there, Ida led the class downstairs to an entranceway divided in half, with one side having a male sign and the other a female one. The UA locker rooms.
As the class entered their respective rooms, Ben groaned aloud once more as he yanked his tie off. He was glad to get the blasted thing off, but this just meant he had to somehow tie it again later. Grandpa Max did it for him in the morning, so he wasn't confident that he could replicate it. As he changed out, he noticed something, something similar to what he had seen with Tetsutetsu before class. And that was how the boys looked. They were jacked!
Ben was never that self-conscious about his body. He liked junk food as much as the next guy, he played video games and was prone to being lazy. But he also liked running around, playing sports, especially soccer, and made sure to eat well. He was slim, maybe a bit too slim, but a very healthy weight. These guys however, were freaking bodybuilders compared to him. They were supposed to be 14! Only 3 years older than him! Did Japan's middle school curriculum include a secret gym regiment? Ben let out a sigh as he slipped his shirt on. They were all hero students, they had passed the entrance exam. That means they all must have some level of physical fitness, but this was insane. Ben mulled this over as he exited, now clad in blue gym clothes, with wide white lines patterning across the front, back and sides.
Soon, the entire class had gathered in what Ben assumed to be the 'grounds.' Ben wasn't on a track team, but he recognized the track, the shot put throw, hurdles, and a long jump pit just to name a few.
'Must be some sort of basic fitness test. Not needed, seeing as we already passed a literal combat exam just to get in.' Ben grouchily thought, as Aizawa appeared, making his way to the crowd of students. His appearance brought the small talk to a halt, as the students quieted once more to await their teacher's orders.
"Welcome to UA. That concludes my entrance ceremony. Now, we are going to conduct a basic quirk apprehension test." This immediately caused several students to start complaining, and several to have noticeably unique responses. Ben saw the blonde guy's fists clench, shaking from the force, with his mouth curved into a feral smile. Midoriya on the other hand was paralyzed with what Ben saw as fear.
"But what about the real entrance ceremony?" The brown-haired girl cried out.
"No point in wasting time on useless fluff like that if you want to become heroes." This caused the whole class to balk at such a bold claim. Wasn't the entrance ceremony supposed to congratulate them for making it in, and prepared them for the year to come? Aizawa turned his head so that the class could see only half his face, with his single eye showing no mercy.
"UA is known for a 'freestyle' educational system. This means that us teachers are not bound by traditional methods of evaluation, which is why we will be doing the quirk apprehension test." Aizawa now fully turned to his students. "While most physical evaluations are done without quirks due to the Department of Education, I will not be following that ruling. The department is just procrastinating, using an out-of-date formula from a time before quirks. Reality has changed, and they have not changed with it." Aizawa made his way to the shot put throw, and procured a softball.
"Softball throw, standing long jump, 50-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, seated toe-touch, and upper body strength. You all know this from middle school, and I have most of your scores. Today, we will be doing those again, but you may use your quirks to assist yourself in any way you deem necessary." This caused a wave of muttering to erupt from the students, seemingly happy, with the exception of Midoriya.
"Wow, first day and we get to use our quirks already? This is awesome!" The spiky red-head cried out, smashing his fists together.
"As expected of UA, we must be ready to demonstrate the same potential we showed in the entrance exam." Ida noted as he straightened out his glasses, but was unable to stop a grin from growing on his face.
"This is going to be fun!" A voice came from a floating girl's uniform, with the sleeves angles upward. She must have jumped in celebration.
The moment the word 'fun' reached Aizawa's ears, he dropped his gaze to the floor, clenching his teeth and gripping his hands into fists at his side. This sudden change alerted the students, as they grew apprehensive at their teacher's sudden shift.
"Fun, you say? You think this will be all fun and games?" Aizawa's low voice rolled over the students, the icy tone chilling them to their very souls. "You're all hoping to become full-fledged heroes after 3 years time, and you think it's going to be FUN!?" Aizawa shouted that last word, the intensity forcing the student to take a step back.
"Heroes are not just stopping rampaging villains and crooks, they deal with everything that stops our society from operating. From natural disasters to accidents caused by human error, Japan's heroes are always working, day and night. These events cause society to stop, and heroes are the ones that must make things right again. In these three years UA will run you through a gauntlet of trials. Being a hero means you will be constantly working to save lives, and anyone who is deemed unable to perform that duty will not be allowed to graduate. And my evaluation starts now. The student with the lowest overall score will be expelled."
A silence hung over both teacher and student alike. Aizawa's eyes, though narrowed, did not blink. He was serious. And this was quickly realized by the students. Backs straightened, eyes widened, and fears awoken, the once lively students now were quiet and focused. And none more so than Ben. 'Expelled' echoed in his mind, the trigger word for all his insecurities. Didn't Agent Coleson say that word a lot? And if he were to be expelled, didn't he face a lifetime sentence? No. No no no! Ben set his jaw and squared his shoulders. No holding back, he was fighting for more than his spot in UA; he was fighting for his freedom!
'Alright Ben, no pulling any punches, you gotta win every event!' Ben slapped his cheeks to fire himself up. 'I need to pick the right alien for the right event. How long do I have between each event? Do I have enough time to switch forms? I need Four Arms to do the strength tests, but I need another for the agility and speed ones. Or should I go for an all-rounder, like Wildmutt? No, I need specialization. There are 20 of us, so if I end my transformation early, I should have enough time to pick another guy for the next event. Four Arms for strength, and XLR8 for agility. Those two are my best for muscle and speed. Ok, planning is done. Let's do this!'
Aizawa closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and exhaled. He seemed to be preparing himself for something. Then his eyes locked once more with Ben's.
"Tennyson." At that single word, the silence of the students broke as mutters broke out.
"Did he just say Tennyson? The Tennyson? The legendary 172 point scorer? He's in this class?" The pink girl's eyes were wide, and her voice trembled in awe.
"You guys heard the rumors right? I thought he was a giant, with red skin, and four arms and eyes? Where is he?" The boy with odd elbows craned his neck to look around the crowd.
"I heard his score was only beat by All Might himself. To think he's the same age as us." The frog girl held a finger up to her lip.
"To think I am in the same class as the most impressive hero student for many generations!" Ida was trembling with excitement. "He doubled all our scores, even the score of the one in second place!"
"Step forward." Aizawa's voice cut through the noise, silencing them. Ben knew this was going to happen, that he was going to be singled out due to his score. Better get it over with! As Ben strolled forward, he heard many gasps and shocked phrases, and a sputtering that probably came from Ida. Ben refused to look behind him, his ears growing red from embarrassment as 19 sets of eyes glued to his back.
"No way, that kid is Tennyson? But he's so small!" The boy with thick lips shouted out.
"It's always the ones you least expect. His quirk must be so strong that he skipped middle school altogether." Yaoyorozu pondered.
"Wait, I thought the top scorer was a red giant? What gives?" The boy with the lightning bolt in his hair asked.
"The fuck is this?" Oh boy, it was the blonde. Ben heard the thundering stomps of the blonde, and stopped walking to brace himself. Still, he was not prepared enough as a hand slammed onto his shoulder and forcefully spun him around. Ben immediately threw his head back, as the blonde's other hand shot right below his chin, shooting sparks. Looking up into the snarling face of primal rage, the blonde roared in his face, showering him in spit. "There is no fucking way I got number two to some runt! You must have cheated, or paid for your win! Yeah, that's it! You knew you couldn't cut it, so you had mommy and daddy pay to get first! You little-"
"Bakugo, back off now." Aizawa interrupted who Ben now knew as Bakugo, walking up to the two. "Let go, and go back to the others. I will not repeat myself." Bakugo glared at Ben, then at Aizawa, then at Ben again. With another swear, Bakugo pushed Ben, causing him to stumble, and stalked back to the others. Ben wiped his face with his shirt, getting the spit off him. That was nasty.
"Bakugo, that is unacceptable behavior. The next time you harass another student I will use force. Is that understood?" A grumble came from the retreating blonde, the best response that he would give. Turning back to Ben, Aizawa continued.
"Tennyson, you got the highest score on the placement's practical portion, only 6 points behind the record set by All Might." More shocked gasps were heard and the general muttering increased. "As such, you will go first. I know you didn't go to school in Japan, but there isn't much to this. Just use your quirk in whatever way you can to throw the ball as far as you can. There is a device inside the ball that I will use to track the distance it travels." Ben nodded in understanding and Aizawa tossed the softball to him. Ben caught it, feeling the weight of the additional machinery.
Ben made his way forward, taking his position. He flexed his right hand, squeezing the ball. He could feel the pressure; it was suffocating. His classmates were all looking at him, with a mixture of awe, denial, curiosity, and from Bakguo, pure anger. Aizawa was much harder to decipher, but his gaze was just as piercing as the others. Ben shut his eyes, and lifted his head, trying to swallow down the bile that was gathering in his throat.
'If you get expelled for any good reason? DONE' Coleson's threat echoed in his mind.
Ben's pause made the chatter from the students get even louder, which was all Ben needed to get moving. No more pausing, if they wanted Benjamin Tennyson, by golly they would get him! Ben gently placed the softball down and turned around to walk a couple paces back.
"Is his quirk movement related? Why is he moving away?" The brown-haired girl wondered aloud. This mirrored what the majority of the students were thinking, as they observed Ben stopping and turning around. While all the students were watching closely, two in particular stood out.
Bakugo boiled in silent rage as he watched Tennyson. No words could describe the joy he felt when All Might presented his 77 villain point score when he got his acceptance letter a week ago. There were also no curse words to describe how angry and cheated he felt when the leaderboard was shown. Not only had the useless Deku got into the top 10, but he had gotten second? To someone who had a total that was over twice his score without even factoring in rescue points? There was no way some kid could have gotten such a score, and this test would root him out as the fake he was, Bakugo was sure of it.
The second was the silent multi-colored hair boy, who despite not showing a single emotion on his impressive facade, was just as shocked as everyone else when Ben had walked forward. He knew about the legendary Tennyson; his father had thrown quite the fit when he found out. He had thrown around a lot of furniture as he made call after call, demanding to know who this 'Tennyson' was. Some random schmuck, not even a Japanese native, had shown up even the recommendation students, and therefore his perfect creation. This Tennyson, the boy thought, was one to look into further.
Everyone's thoughts were broken when Ben suddenly raised his left arm to his face, and pressed a button on that weird watch-thing on his wrist. It lit up, with black and green colors flashing to life and the faceplate popped out. Aizawa's eyes narrowed and his body tensed as he recognized what the kid was doing.
'Well, that got their attention.' Ben joked to himself as the moment he activated the Omnitrix, the entire class fell silent once more. Their stares shifted from him to his device. Ben turned his attention back to the Omnitrix, and began cycling through his aliens. 'Now, if I heard correctly, they wanted Four Arms. Well, now they got him!'
Ben slammed his right hand down on the Omnitrix's faceplate, injecting Tetramand DNA into his body once again! A brilliant flash of green caused the student body to shout in surprise and cover their eyes. Aizawa fared better, but still had to raise his right arm to shield his eyes from the light. Ben's body morphed, growing bigger, stronger, and redder! As the light faded a mere second later, and the class regained their sight, the small figure of Tennyson was no more! Instead, their jaws dropped as the sight of Four Arms, in all his glory, stood before them, flexing his arms.
"Four Arms is gonna pitch this ball into the stratosphere!" Ben ignored his classmates' surprise behind him and marched right up to the ball he had placed down moments before. Slamming his upper right arm into the ground, shattering it on impact, he gripped the tiny ball in his now enormous fist, and held it up. Extending that arm behind him, Ben pivoted on his right leg, raised his left, and channeled all his strength into his arm. Then, in a single smooth motion, Ben threw the softball as hard as he could!
PHOOOOOOOM!
The sheer force of the throw caused a powerful backdraft to hit both teacher and student, once again forcing many to cover their eyes from the dust that was kicked up. Some cried out, others fell down, and the ones that still stood were paralyzed as they stood in the presence of pure, unfiltered, strength. Even if they didn't have to cover their eyes, the class wouldn't have been able to track the ball, it traveled so fast that it disappeared seconds after being thrown.
"How's that?" Ben roared out, still fired up. He opened his left palms up to smash his right fists into them. He didn't know if what he scored was good or bad, but judging from the dumbstruck expression on Aizawa's face, Ben had a good feeling that he did very well.
'Just as I thought, his quirk affects him on the genetic level. Not only can I not stop him from transforming, but I can't erase his different form's powers. It's like he isn't human anymore.' Aizawa thought he was prepared. When Nezu took him and Vlad King aside to discuss Tennyson's class, neither were very eager to take the responsibility. From just one 10 minute test, Tennyson proved that he was a force to be reckoned with, and neither of the homeroom teacher's had power to match. Aizawa and Vlad had talked it over, and he had gotten the kid in the hopes that his quirk, Erasure, would stop his transformations. Now he knew it did not. 'There's just no way this is possible!'
"Err, Aizawa sir? Is everything alright?" In any other scenario, Aizawa would have laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the situation. The smallest kid in his class transformed into a 10+ foot tall goliath with muscles that made All Might look wimpy was fidgeting like a schoolboy in trouble. Aizawa had to remind himself that despite the drastic body changes, it was still Tennyson, so it actually was a schoolboy. 'God damn, this is going to be one problem that I can't fix just by expelling. Looking at his distance- oh what the hell. I guess I should have expected another record to be broken.'
"No Tennyson, you did fine." Turning to the rest of the class that was just beginning to recover, all gazing at Four Arms like he was some sort of alien, Aizawa attempted to move things along. "It is important to test your limits, to know exactly how much you can push yourself and how to go beyond that." Aizawa then strolled forward while holding out his phone. On the screen, the distance the ball had traveled was labeled. And boy oh boy did it go far.
"Holy crap! 160 kilometers? That throw must have landed the ball outside the city!" The red-haired boy was the first to speak up, causing many others to do the same.
"He was the first place scorer for a reason. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised." Shoji rumbled.
As the students crowded around Aizawa to get a better look at the screen, another voice spoke up.
"Aizawa sir, what is this symbol below the score?" The purple-haired girl with strange earlobes pointed as a flashing symbol at the bottom of the screen.
"It means the score is a rough estimate. The device inside the softball records distance by sending signals to my phone, which then translates said distance into the number you see." Aizawa explained. "However, Tennyson's throw was too strong. The ball flew out of the range of my phone, so it had to make an estimation based on the ball's velocity and trajectory in order to give a score. That's why it's a round number, it may be a little more or less. But enough about Tennyson, let's move on." That was the phrase Ben was waiting for. He raised his right arm to hit the gray Omnitrix symbol on his left arm the moment those words left Aizawa's mouth.
The class shielded themselves from another flash of green, but they were prepared this time. As they looked towards Tennyson, they were shocked to see that he had returned to his normal, human self. Sheepishly rubbing his arm, Ben made his way back to the crowd, choosing to stay on the edge, to give himself space. No one approached him, and he didn't miss the look Bakugo gave him.
"Alright, the softball throw will be last, I just wanted Tennyson to give an example on how much effort you all should put into these tests. Now, let us begin."
The UA Quirk-Apprehension Exam, featuring Ben Tennyson
First up was a classic: the 50-meter dash. Just line up, wait for the machine to make a pistol sound, then run as fast as you can. Ben enjoyed watching his classmates use their quirks, as it gave him a basic idea of what everyone could do. Ida and the frog girl set the bar high, as they both got great times. Ida had literal engines built into his legs, and as he ran they expelled smoke and everything! Ben wondered if he had to drink oil, or if he had to go to a mechanic when he was sick. The frog-girl was slower, but made several impressive leaps to cross the finish line only about a second later. Ben swore he heard her say 'ribbit.' Maybe her frog quirk extended to her mannerisms?
Others showed great versatility as well. The guy with thick lips downed one of his vials before storming down the lane. The pink girl expelled some sort of liquid that she slid across. Tail guy used his tail to fling himself, similar to the frog-girl. Elbow guy sent out tape to pull himself, blushing girl touched her shoes and clothes before running, and a French dude fired a flippin lazer out his belly to propel himself. There were just as many people who seemed to not use their quirks at all. Shark-tooth guy, lightning bolt dude, rocky, earlobes, invisible girl, bird head and 6 arms all ran without demonstrating quirks. Ben had to start learning names, it felt rude to name people based on physical attributes.
"Todoroki and Tennyson, to the starting line." This stirred up some hubbub. Apparently, from the conversations Ben eavesdropped on, Todoroki was the son of a famous big-shot hero. And of course, Tennyson was Tennyson. This pair seemed to attract everyone's full attention, as Ben once more felt the eyes of the entire class bore into him. As he stood next to Todoroki, their eyes briefly met, and Ben tried to give a smile. That smile turned into a frown as Todoroki made no indication of greeting Ben, and crouched his body to prepare for the sprint.
As Ben activated the Omnitrix again, he could hear lots of chatter start up again. Todoroki, even with the cold-shoulder he gave earlier, stared openly as Ben began turning the faceplate. Set on Four Arms, Ben changed the dial with 2 clockwise turns to find the silhouette of a velociraptor-like creature. With that, Ben took his right index and middle fingers and gently pressed down on the Omnitrix. The flash of green emitted once more, but Ben was changing in vastly different ways!
Ben's limbs stretched and narrowed down, with his arms extending to become two narrow spear-like appendages. His torso shrunk and his tailbone extended to form a hefty tail. His neck thickened and his head bent back, his chin growing out and the top of his head even more so! His legs underwent the most drastic changes of all, with his calves and thighs increasing in density while slimming down simultaneously! His feet mutated, with the front half curling into a different type of foot altogether! Ben's entire muscular structure changed similarly: his body changed to be thin, narrow but still retaining his muscle mass.
As the light faded and the class was taken aback by this entirely new form! Where Ben was once massive and red, this form was slim, with a blue and black color scheme. His main body, mean and lean, was black with a single white stripe running down from his neck to his waist. In his chest, a gray Omnitrix nodule was placed. From the body, two thin blue sticks served as arms, and the tip was black. Ben flexed that body part, revealing the black arm tip to actually be fingers, as 3 straight, sharp talons moved. A thick tail jutted out from his waist, black with vertical blue stripes. Black legs merged into blue calfs, with strange black orbs serving as feet. The head, if one could call it that, was moon-shaped with a glossy black exterior. On the bottom half where the face should be was a strange X, with the top parts widening to form circular shapes.
Amidst the gasps, Todoroki fell over, landing on his butt as his jaw dropped at the sight of a new alien. Even Aizawa had a hilarious reaction, with his eyes bulging out with arms frozen at his side. Ben crouched low, threw his arms out and put his left leg forward, ready to race.
"XLR8!"
Omnitrix Form #4 - Species: Kineceleran, Hero Name: XLR8
Strengths: XLR8 is a Kineceleran, a semi-humanoid alien with incredible powers of speed and agility. The most obvious thing about a Kineceleran is their speed: Ben has been able to reach speeds of 500 miles per hour! A Kineceleran's unique foot structure is the key to their success as they don't actually run like normal species, rather, they manipulate the force of friction. Sliding their ball-feet like roller skates allows them to seamlessly accelerate and decelerate at will. That is this species' ultimate trump card, the complete control over speed. This ability lets Kinecelerans ignore the classic weaknesses of speedster class heroes as they can reach their top speed in 2 seconds, stop at will, change directions instantaneously, and their organic helmet shell allows them to protect their eyes, nose, and mouth. What's more is that Kinecelerans have incredible reflexes and dexterity to complement their speed, and their claws can rip through nearly anything when backed by velocity. With speed and power, XLR8 is Ben's arguably most practiced form and for good reason.
Weaknesses: A Kineceleran relies entirely on speed, so Ben must make sure he is always able to move. While he does have near instantaneous acceleration, XLR8 can not generate friction on smooth surfaces such as ice. This weakness extends to other slippery surfaces like oil or wax. Adhesive substances like glue, or gooey ones like mud can also stop XLR8 from moving. A Kineceleran's tail, while a necessary biological evolution, is also an easy target to grab and hold down. Most of a Kineceleran's attacks feel a lot stronger than they actually are due to the speed of the blow and the amount of them. When pinned, their strength is actually quite mediocre. And of course, XLR8 is useless against foes that can withstand his blows at full speed, a liability even. As shown against Vilgax, if a foe can withstand a full speed attack, the feedback from the blow can be devastating for XLR8. XLR8 is also unable to use basic human technology like phones due to not having opposable thumbs and having sharp talons instead of fingers. Despite these drawbacks, in the worst cases XLR8 can just retreat to give Ben time and space to plan another attack.
"Three." The machine began at the end of the marked track, as the countdown began. Todoroki scrambled up and threw his hands out to maintain balance.
"Two." Ben took a deep breath in, narrowing his eyes from behind his visor. He was confident that despite his year hiatus, he knew XLR8 well enough to perform when it counted. After all, Four Arms did his job well, so why not XLR8?
"One." Ben noticed from the corner of his eye frost generating beneath Todoroki's feet. He must have some sort of ice manipulation, explaining why half his hair was white. Ice usually scares XLR8, but Todoroki wasn't using it to attack him, so there was nothing to worry about.
"Go!" BANG! In a blink and a gust of wind that created a small dust cloud, Ben seemed to almost teleport from one side to the other, with no one being able to claim they saw him actually move. Todoroki, to his credit, was unfazed as he slid forward on his ice, similar to the pink girl.
"Tennyson, point-oh-two seconds. Todoroki, four-point-one seconds." The machine droned as soon as Todoroki crossed the finish line.
'50 meters in 0.02 seconds? Not bad, but it could be better.' Ben noted as he stood up. Well, as much as he could with a Kinecelerans permanently hunched back. His visor slipped up, revealing geometric black lines crossing his face, and two bright green eyes with no pupils. Ben took a moment to just revel in being an alien again. His classmates and teacher watched in fascination as Ben flexed his tail, tapped his talons, and swiveled on his feet. Yeah, it was good to be back!
"This Tennyson kid is a beast! Kinda literally, he can turn into a muscle form, now a speed form? No wonder he scored so high, that quirk is amazing!" The thick-lipped student exclaimed.
"It appears the child can morph between a multitude of different creatures. Who knows what he will become next?" Mused Tokoyami.
"More than that, it appears his forms have power that transcends even the most powerful of quirk users. His red form had power that dwarfs even that of Death Arms and Fourth Kind, while this blue form has speed mirroring that of Hawks." Yaoyorozu said thoughtfully, hand on her chin.
"Excuse me Tennyson!" That was the voice of Midoriya, and it was much closer than the others! Ben pivoted to see him running up to him, with what looked like a notebook in his left hand and a pen in his right. Upon reaching Ben, Midoriya quickly turned pages until he reached an empty one and began furiously writing down notes and firing off questions. "What is your quirk exactly, I've never seen or even heard about yours! A full body transformation is incredibly rare, in fact you're the first one I've seen! How does it work, does it involve that watch thing you use? Does this form and your red one have any other abilities? Ialsonoticedyoualwasysay-"
"Woah, slow down there dude!" XLR8's raspy voice came out, with his hands raised up to placate Midoriya. "Take a breather, I'm not going anywhere! Besides, you don't have time to question me, Teach called you up!" Ben pivoted again and jabbed his arm at a scowling Aizawa, with his arms crossed and tapping his foot. Bakugo was at the starting line, giving Midoriya an equally scathing look. With an 'eep!' Midoriya ducked his head down and scrambled to the starting line. Ben's gaze followed him, with a single question on his mind.
'Man, what's his deal?'
That question sooned proved to be the main thought Ben would associate with Midoriya for months to come. Ben knew from the leaderboard and the chatter from his classmates that Midoriya was supposedly super strong, as he took out the zero-pointer in a single punch, something Ben doubted he could do as Four Arms. Ben also heard that it caused catastrophic damage to Midoriya, as the punch broke his entire arm. Yet, despite these rumors of an awesome power, Ben saw none of that.
Ben used a mixture of XLR8 and Four Arms to breeze through the remaining tests. Since Aizawa had to record every student's scores, that left Ben plenty of time to have the Omnitrix recharge between each usage. Ben only brought out XLR8 again for the endurance run, which forced Aizawa to flag him down to tell him that he didn't have to run anymore. He was the last person left in the test and showed no signs of slowing down. Four Arms demolished the grip test literally as he crushed four of the devices into balls of scrap, one in each fist. The standing long jump was also easy, with Four Arms easily doubling the distance of the sand pit. Seated toe-touch and upper body strength were easy as well, with Four Arms proving his strength and surprising flexibility with practiced ease. Side-to-side stepping was more difficult, and Ben actually didn't even transform for that one, which drew some questioning glances from his peers. Even with that small hiccup, Ben was confident he did well. He could not say the same for Midoriya.
While many didn't use their quirks for the 50-meter dash, everyone brought out their quirks for at least one event. Shoji used his many arms to do great on the grip test, and was only beaten by Four Arms. Similarly, the shark-tooth guy turned his skin, and presumably his muscles, into some hard material to do good as well. The Lazer French man had a much better performance in the standing long jump, easily clearing the pit in a single blast. While Ben didn't like Bakugo, he had to admit his Explosion quirk was incredibly powerful and versatile, and Bakugo obviously had trained to get this strong. Yaoyorozu seemed to be able to create anything she wanted from her body, and did so to do well on every test combined with her own athleticism. She even created a cannon in the ball throw! Todoroki, despite his rough sprint, demonstrated great control as he used his ice to also do well in every event. As they approached the last event, Ben had good things to say about everyone's quirk. Except for Midoriya.
What was that guy's deal? Ben repeated that sentence time and time again as he watched him flounder and fail at every event. For someone whose quirk was so powerful it could beat the zero-pointer in one shot, he didn't really show it! Midoriya's expression was always crying or determination, often a mixture of both as he struggled. Everyone was using their quirks to do well, but as the ball throw began to conclude, Midoriya had yet to demonstrate any noticeable power. Ben sighed as he saw Midoriya trailing behind the group, head hung. He turned to watch Bakugo walk up, grab a ball, yell 'Die!' and threw the softball with an arc of flame and a deafening blast. Aizawa showed him a score of 705.2 meters, which was good by all means, but still put him behind Ben and Yaoyorozu. He seemed to be aware of this, and stalked back to the group muttering angrily.
Next up was the brown-haired girl, who Aizawa called Uraraka, and she gave the entire group a shock as she took first place in the ball throw. Her quirk, Zero Gravity, allowed her to remove the effects of gravity from the softball, and she just let go to allow it to soar into the sky. She received a score of 'infinite' which prompted cheers from the students, which Ben actually joined. Ben was happy that he was overtaken, as this showed that there were still obstacles for him to overcome and room for him to grow. Until he could get first in every event, he couldn't afford to rest. But now it was Midoriya's turn, the last to go in the last event.
He nervously took his position and gingerly held the softball in his hands. He seemed unaware that everyone was watching, and Ben observed as Midoriya's eyes narrowed and his expression hardened. He then arced his arm back, took a stance, and threw- 46 meters. That definitely was not what anyone was expecting to happen. How could he get that low? Even without his quirk, at his age and physical fitness, he should have gotten at least 50 meters! Midoriya seemed to be just as baffled as everyone else as he held his hands to his face and started mumbling to himself the same question: what happened?
"I erased your quirk." Came Aizawa's voice, answering the question. His eyes, once bored and black were now alive and red. His messy hair now floated with mysterious energy as his gaze bore into Midoriya. "It's the same thing you tried at that ridiculous entrance exam. I argued against the exam, and I also argued against your admission."
"The goggles, the scarf, and the ability to erase quirks by looking at them! You're Eraserhead!" Midoriya spoke in a trembling voice in awe of the hero approaching him. Suddenly, the scarf around Aizawa's neck shot out and wrapped around Midoriya, bringing him close. Ben strained his ears, but couldn't catch what his teacher was saying. He did overhear about what people knew about his hero alias, Eraserhead from his classmates, which wasn't much.
"Eraserhead? I've never heard of him."
"Must be an underground hero. You know, the ones that avoid the media and work at night."
"Don't all heroes work at night at some point? What's the difference?"
Aizawa released Midoriya and walked back to his original spot and instructed Midoriya to throw again. Everyone watched, with bated breath, as Midoriya once more took a stance, arced his arm back, and threw with all his might. And this time, he did not disappoint. With a cry of 'SMASH!' Midoriya hurled the ball with incredible power, and while it lacked the flashiness of others, he got a score of 705.3 meters. 0.1 more than Bakugo, putting him in fourth place.
"Sensei!" Came Midoriya's pained cry. Everyone saw as he raised his clenched right fist to his chest, cradled in his left arm. His right index finger was an ugly patchwork of purple and black, bruised to the max. But unlike the rumors Ben had heard, he wasn't put out of commission. "I can still move!"
That apparently was what Aizawa was looking for, as a creepy smile overtook his normally emotionless face. Uraraka let out a cheer and many others exchanged positive remarks about Midoriya's performance. All except one. And that one person was currently speeding towards Midoriya using his quirk with murderous intent.
"What the hell was that? Explain yourself Deku!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Explosions rattled the ground as Bakugo propelled himself towards Midoriya, who was paralyzed from pain and fear. No one was in a position to help, and even while Uraraka and Ida surged forward, they were too late, too far away to help. Just as Bakugo's hand was about to reach Midoriya, Aziawa's scarf sprung to life and quickly wrapped around Bakugo's face and arms. Bakugo jutted out his palms, but no sparks emitted from them.
"What the- my quirk! What happened to my quirk? And what is this cloth? It's so stiff!" Bakugo grunted out as he continued to struggle. It was only until Aizawa spoke up that he finally stopped.
"I erased your quirk, just like I did to Midoriya earlier. That cloth is my special weapon, made of carbon fibers and a special alloy wire. I warned you Bakguo, that if you were to act out of line again I would use force, didn't I? Now, stand down before I expel you on accounts of assault." That certainly got Bakugo's attention, and he let his arms go limp and the fire mostly left his eyes. Aizawa's eyes went back to normal, his hair was set down and his scarf retracted. Both boys went back to the crowd, with Uraraka rushing over to help Midoriya, and Bakugo giving him the evil eye.
"What a waste. You guys need to stop making me use my quirk. I got dry eye dammit!" Aizawa brought out a small container, put his head back and proceeded to add some moisturizer fluid to his eyes. After blinking a few times, he swapped out his eye drops for a rectangular device with a white stripe down the middle. "Alright, now the results." He fiddled with the device and it began emitting a screen, although it was illegible and staticy. While he adjusted the projector, he offhandedly mentioned one more thing.
"Oh, and I was lying about expelling someone."
Wut.
"WHAT!" Class 1-A shouted out.
"It was..." Aizawa adopted his maniac smile and widened his eyes as he glanced at his students. "A rational deception to bring out the best in all of you!" He then let out a very uncharacteristic cackle.
"Of course it was a lie, it was rather easy to see through in fact." Yaoyorozu said, putting her hands on her hip and looking at Ida, Uraraka and Midoriya with a pained expression. "There is no way UA would allow someone to be expelled, especially on the first day."
Approaching Midoriya, Aizawa handed him a slip of paper. "Midoriya, go see Recovery Girl and get yourself fixed up. Tomorrow's trials aren't going to be easier. And also." He now turned to the entire class. "We are done for today. Documents regarding curriculum and the school year are back in the classroom. If you want to, go back and take a look. Otherwise, you are all dismissed. Later." With that, Aizawa just put his hands in his pockets and left, leaving behind his befuddled class and the projector.
The class got over their surprise and made their way over to the projector to see where they placed. Ben was pumped to see that he had secured first yet again. Awesome sauce! Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Bakugo and Ida followed him to fill out the top five. Ben wasn't really surprised to see Midoriya in last place, but at least he wasn't going to be expelled. Shrugging, Ben slipped away to the locker room to change out while everyone talked around the screen. Ben wanted to change, get the papers Aizawa mentioned, and go home to Grandpa Max. It had been an exhausting day, and he wasn't really in the right state of mind to talk to everyone, who undoubtedly would shower him with questions.
With his backpack over his shoulder and changed into his standard uniform, without the tie, Ben made his way back to the 1-A classroom. Inside, on the front desk, were two stacks of papers, one a packet on the UA school year and curriculum, and the other was a single sheet with their daily schedules. Quickly grabbing one each, Ben bent down and brought out a binder to secure the papers. As he packed up again and made his way to leave, the door opened to reveal the pink girl.
"Oh, it's you Tennyson! Hey, hey, hey, don't leave yet! Everyone wants to meet you!" She then swung her head to stick herself out of the doorway while blocking Ben's exit. "Hey everyone! Tennyson is in here!" Oh no. She's got company.
"Holy shit, you killed it out there! I gotta spar with your big red form! I'm Kirishima, don't you forget it!" With spiky bright red hair and shark teeth, Ben didn't think he could ever forget him.
"I have to admit, your quirk beats mine in every way, your speed form even has a tail like me. Oh, I'm Ojiro by the way." The light blonde with the massive tail gave a small bow.
"Yeah, you went red and was like 'POWERRRRR' and then you went blue and it was like 'SPEEEEED!' Do you have more forms? Do you have a phone? Just add me as Ashido!" So that was the pink girl's name.
The class, minus Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki, crowded around Ben, each giving their own introductions and congradulations. Ben started to put the names he didn't know to the faces he did. Koda was the rocky guy (He didn't actually talk, he signed and Ida translated), Sato was the one with thick lips, Asui was the frog, Aoyama was french, Sero had the tape elbows, Kaminari had the lightning bolt in his hair, Jiro's ear lobes were elongated, and Hagakure was invisible. Ben could only hope that he could retain that info dump.
"Tennyson, I must apologize again for my behavior earlier today! While you may be underaged, you passed both the written and practical exams, and got first in the practical by a massive margin! You demonstrated today that you deserve to be here as much as anyone else! Please accept my humblest of apologies!" After his signature air-choppoing, Ida took a bow, giving Ben deja vu from earlier in the day.
"Indeed, I think many of us did not think highly of you based on your appearances alone. I apologize for making that assumption as well, and hope that we will be able to work together in the future." Now Yaoyorozu was saying she was sorry for something she didn't really do? As far as Ben was concerned, if it didn't hurt him, no harm done. As others started to join, Ben frantically waved his hands.
"No, no! It's all ok guys! Seriously, Grandpa told me to expect this on the first day, no harm no foul am I right?" Ben tried to laugh. A few did, but most just had more questions. Questions on his 'quirk' and his alien forms. Ben needed to cut them off before he was stuck answering questions all day. "Look, I know I'm cool and all, but can this wait until tomorrow? Transforming drains my energy, and I'm kinda pooped." That wasn't really true, the only transformation that really drained energy was Way Big, but he just really wanted to leave.
"Oh, but I told Midoriya that I would hold you until he got back from Recovery Girl!" Uraraka piped up, causing Ben to groan. From how he acted after the 50-meter dash, the guy would probably make it a press-conference that would last hours. He didn't have the energy for that! Thankfully Ida spoke up.
"I'm sure he would not mind considering Ben's current condition. I can wait for him, I wish to check on his injury as well." Ida told Uraraka. Turning to Ben, he gave a soft smile. "I'm sure no one here wishes to keep you here against your will Tennyson. There will be plenty of opportunities for discussion when the school year begins for real tomorrow." So Ida was a good guy. He was just really serious all the time. Ben told himself to thank Ida for bailing him out on a later date.
"Oh, yeah I'll be heading home now. I don't have a phone yet Ashido, Mom and Dad said no phones until I'm 14 and in high school. I'm only one of those things, but I'll ask Grandpa to see if he'll get me one anyway." With that, Ben made his way out the door, past his classmates who he said goodbye to, and exited the UA campus grounds. It was only there that he sagged his shoulders and rubbed his eyes in exhaust.
Ben really didn't know what to expect from UA, but this certainly was not like anything he had envisioned. Classmates ranging from overly serious to borderline psychotic and a teacher that seemed willing to expel at a moments notice, along with a principal watching his every move. Not exactly the high school life he had imagined living through. Ben slowly made his way home. Hopefully Grandpa Max was cooking something ordinary for once.
With Aizawa...
Aizawa Shota made his way towards the side of a building, taking great care to look as inconspicuous as possible. He had noticed the person behind the corner during the test, but did that person know he sucked at hiding? If the students were not working to not get expelled, they probably would have seen that massive frame darting in and out of cover. Aizawa had a good idea of the student this observer had taken a liking to as well.
"That was a rotten move, Aizawa." Turning his head, Aizawa found All Might himself in a ridiculous striped yellow suit. He had his hands on his hips and his normal smile was absent as he frowned. When Aizawa said nothing in return, All Might continued.
"A 'rational deception?' Don't make me laugh, you were dead serious up until the last moment when you changed your mind for some reason. Nezu gave me your file, and you expelled your entire class last year! You have zero issues expelling Young Midoriya, and you admitted as much in our previous meeting." The Symbol of Peace now took an elaborate pose and pointed his finger at Aizawa. "Unless, you have seen that same spark of heroic potential that I have in Young Midoriya!"
"I did exactly what I said I would in the entrance exam meeting. I did no more, no less. I evaluated Midoriya in a different way than the practical." Aizawa finally spoke up, but did not raise his voice. "He has non-zero potential, I'll give him that much. If he had broken his arm during the ball throw, I would have expelled him no matter what distance he got. He adapted, and did not incapacitate himself in a single action. Due to that, I've decided to let him stay. Besides, isn't it a little too early to start playing favorites? First at the exam and now during my test You seem awfully invested in Midoriya despite no previous connections." All Might laughed nervously and averted his gaze.
"Right, well let's just agree to disagree about Young Midoriya. But that is actually not why I'm here. I was watching your class, but I was there to observe a different student, and I'm sure you know who." Aizawa sighed and nodded. He should have known All Might had been instructed to watch that problem child.
"Yes, Tennyson. I'm very aware."
"Well, Nezu told me to be ready just in case you needed backup. Not that he doubts your teaching! It's just that, well, Tennyson is..." All Might's voice trailed off. Aizawa could understand.
"Yes, and tell Nezu that my quirk does not work like we hoped. His base quirk is already a mutant type, and he also uses a support device, both of which my quirk does not work on." Aizawa reported as All Might put a hand on his chin. "When did you start watching?"
"The middle of the standing long-jump. I caught the side-to-side stepping and the ball throw in their entirety. I must say, Tennyson's red form has shocking agility for its size. The distance he leapt from a standing start was incredible. I was caught off guard when he did not use a form for the stepping, and he did not even do the ball throw at all."
"He did, I just made go first to motivate the rest of the students. Expose him to the rest of the class so to speak." Aizawa replied. "And since you only saw the last half, I presume you did not see his newest form?"
"What? He showed a new transformation!" All Might's brow furrowed in worry.
"Yes, some sort of blue and black velociraptor. It had the power of speed, completing 50 meters in 0.02 seconds. I won't lie All Might, that form scares me even more than the red one. It moved at speeds so fast that the cameras could only catch blurs even on the slowest motions settings. Despite moving at such speeds, Tennyson did not seem to expend any energy in doing so." Aizawa involuntarily shuddered. "He was not holding back, but he was not going all out either. I dare say at his max speeds, he would make even you back in your prime look slow."
"Such terrifying power in his red form, and now a blue form with unparalleled speed. Young Tennyson certainly has the potential to become a fighter with no equal. Ignoring his quirk, how does he seem as a student?" All Might asked.
"Nothing wrong with Tennyson outside of being a bit shy. However, that is natural considering he is in a different country and is younger than his peers by a decent margin." Aizawa responded. "Given some time I'm sure he will grow out of his shell. It is a result of his environment, not his personality. When he transformed, he was much more boisterous and talked more. From what we know of Tennyson, it is obvious that he isn't one to struggle making friends. He seems particularly close to some students in 1-B, like Tetsutetsu. I caught them talking and walking through the building together."
All Might gave his signature booming laugh at that. "Well of course! It is often in the heat of battle where people make their strongest bonds! Working together to help save Young Shoda will have created a bond much stronger than anything that could have formed in one day of school. Well, it is good to know that even with his powers, Young Tennyson seems to have a good heart."
"Yes, it is. Tomorrow is your turn to deal with him. Are you sure you are up to the task?" If All Might had taken offense to the accusation, he did not show it.
"But of course! I have a lesson cooking for the students that I'm sure will get their blood flowing! You are not the only one with high expectations, Eraserhead. I will show them the true meaning of what it is to be a hero, to go beyond, to be PLUS ULTRA!"