March 5th 2418 – UA Academy - Musutafu, Japan
Making his way out onto the fields, Sage was the first to line up next to his teacher. It turns out that constantly needing to switch outfits many times a day had its perks.
Looking around the field, Sage didn't notice anything of particular interest, so naturally his eyes drifted back to his teacher standing nearby, methodically eating yogurt with the same tired expression he'd worn in class.
'Hmm, it's been a while since I used 'that.' Might as well give it a go. Appraisal.'
Activating the first ever skill he got, Sage's mind was flooded with a wealth of knowledge regarding the man in front of him. A microsecond later, a translucent panel materialized in his mind's eye.
[Name: Shota Aizawa (Eraser Head)
Aizawa is a longtime professional hero who operates outside of the public eye during night patrols. He has dedicated himself to teaching the next generation of students and ensuring only the truly qualified will move on to become pros.
Aizawa's quirk 'Erasure' allows him to negate the quirks of anyone he can see while maintaining eye contact.
Current Status: Mildly irritated, Analytical, Tired.]
'The skill doesn't give me much about his past beyond what I already know, but it provided detailed information about his current condition. Maybe I should use it on Toru to better understand her quirk?'
Getting pulled out of his thoughts as the rest of the students finally arrived, he closed his mental menu and turned his attention back to his teacher.
Taking a look around, Sage noticed that almost everyone from the original cast were present, save for Koji Koda—which was disappointing since it would have been better if he were here in place of Mineta.
Speaking of the purple-haired pervert, Sage caught him staring directly at Momo's arse with an expression that made his skin crawl. Frowning deeply, Sage stepped between Momo and the diminutive creep while fixing him with a scalding glare.
"Keep your eyes to yourself, grape boy."
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Mineta squeezed his way to the back of the group while everyone looked at him with varying degrees of disgust. Several of the girls shot grateful looks toward Sage.
Turning back, Sage was about to speak with Momo when their teacher's voice cut through the ambient chatter. Sighing in mild exasperation, Momo handed his glasses back while focusing on Aizawa.
"Too slow again. Now quiet down. As of now, all of you will be performing a quirk assessment test."
"""Huh? A quirk assessment test?"""
Confused, nearly all his classmates voiced their shock as smaller conversations broke out between groups. Stepping forward, Ochaco was the first to voice what they were all thinking.
"But orientation... we're going to miss it."
Scoffing Aizawa quickly shot down her complaint.
"If you want to make it into the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless drivel. Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions—that means I can run my class however I see fit.
You've been taking standardized tests all your lives and never got to use your quirks in physical exams. Our country tries to pretend that everyone's equal, and it smothers those with potential and power. It's not rational.
Sage, you scored the highest on the entrance exam. What was your farthest throw with a softball in middle school?"
Turning to Sage at the end of his mini-rant, Aizawa managed to catch him slightly off guard. While Aizawa had been speaking, Sage had been watching a butterfly flapping around the field, its erratic flight pattern strangely mesmerizing.
"Huh? Oh. My farthest throw in middle school was 150 meters, sir."
Recovering quickly, Sage replayed the last few seconds in his mind and answered his teacher's question. Twitching slightly, Aizawa sighed and tossed him a small ball roughly 200 grams in weight and 10 centimetres in diameter.
"Just... throw the ball as far as possible. Anything goes as long as you stay in the circle and use your quirk. Yet another potential problem student."
Hearing the last part of Aizawa's sentence that was mumbled under his breath, a frown made its way onto Sage's face before he remembered—he'd gotten distracted by a butterfly just moments ago.
'Fair enough, I suppose I deserved that one.'
Straightening his expression, Sage walked forward to the white circle painted on the ground while casually tossing the ball up and down in his hand, feeling its weight and texture.
'How do I want to approach this? This form is far weaker than my female one, but it's still not that weak, what else can I use?'
Thinking over his options, Sage stepped into the circle and paused, studying the ball for several seconds before an idea crystallized.
'Alright, first I'll apply Glide across the surface of the ball to negate air resistance. Next, bend back as far as possible while using Flexibility to augment my range of motion. Finally, lower the air resistance in a tube shape in front of me while condensing the air behind the ball for extra force. Okay let's go.'
Finished with his mental preparation, Sage snapped forward like an arrow released from a bow, his skill Fast Twitch causing his muscles to contract at incredible speeds, while simultaneously releasing the compressed air behind his hand to push it forward even faster. At the apex of his throw, he released the ball with perfect timing.
Rocketing away with all the force of Sage's enhanced physique and otherworldly skills behind it, the ball continued to accelerate a small bit as Sage used Air Manipulation to turn the surrounding atmosphere into a makeshift air cannon.
The projectile tore away from him with a violent gust of wind that rustled everyone's clothes, sailing up into the sky for several seconds before gravity finally claimed it and began its inevitable descent to earth.
Frowning slightly, Sage turned around to get the verdict from his teacher. Smiling with what might have been approval, Aizawa first showed him the number on his phone—802.7m—before turning the device to display the result to the entire class.
"This is the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero."
However, rather than paying attention to whatever Aizawa was saying next, Sage found himself more concerned about analysing his performance.
'802.7 meters... that means I threw the ball at approximately 89 meters per second. That's significantly less than I should be capable of in my female form. Have I perhaps neglected training my male form too much?
No. I learnt a long time ago that I can't get both my forms to the same level without wasting my entire life, if I tried to replicate the training of my female form in my male one then it would take drastically more time without my healing. No, this is fine… I should make some contingencies just in case though.'
Once more solidifying his thoughts Sage tunes back into the conversation around him.
"So this looks fun huh? You've got three years here to become a hero, and you thinks it's all going to be fun and games? Idiots. Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gage your potential, whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately."
It seemed that while Sage wasn't paying attention, the carefree attitude of his classmates had attracted Aizawa's ire, and now he was threatening expulsion in the most serious tone possible.
Instantly, panic spread among the gathered students as the realization that their dreams could be torn away at any moment set in. Nervous glances were exchanged, and Sage could practically feel the anxiety radiating from his classmates.
Unperturbed, Aizawa continued with his speech despite the cloud of dread hanging over everyone, though there were a few students who instead had grins on their faces—Bakugo being the most obvious example.
"Like I said earlier, I get to choose how I run my class and who stays in it. If you've got a problem with that, then go home. Now."
"You can't send us home! That's not fair!"
Speaking out again, Ochaco's words were met with murmurs of agreement from most of the students. However, Aizawa quickly refuted before their grievances could take root.
"Fair? Ha! Do you think villains are going to care about what's fair? What about natural disasters—are they fair? What about cataclysmic events capable of wiping entire cities off the map? No. The world is full of unfairness.
It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. For the next three years, you'll have to push yourselves beyond your limits. UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So if you want to succeed, you'll need to go beyond—Plus Ultra style.
Show me it's no mistake that you're here."
Looking at the gathered crowd of aspiring heroes, Aizawa smirked while making a taunting gesture. However, his speech seemed to have the intended effect as resolve visibly hardened in everyone's eyes.
Watching it all unfold, Sage could only shake his head with wry amusement.
'I knew the hero agenda would be pushed hard at this school, but wow… the very first day and he's already setting them up mentally for the job. Oh well, it is what it is. I am, after all, at the number one hero school in the country.'
"Now then, we're wasting time by talking. Let the games begin."
With that declaration, Aizawa turned and started walking across the field, while everyone fell into line behind him like dutiful little ducklings.
Reaching the far side of the field, they stopped by a short straight 50m running track beside one of the school buildings. At the same time, a panel in the ground slid open and a small camera-like robot emerged, hobbling over to position itself at the finish line.
"First up: Sage Durand and Tsuyu Asui."
Hearing his teacher's announcement, Sage walked toward the starting line, secretly annoyed that he'd have to compete in his male form. He'd trained his female form specifically for speed, so it stung his pride that he wouldn't be able to demonstrate his true capabilities.
Reaching the starting line, he crouched down into a proper runner's stance just as a familiar cloud of steam engulfed him.
'Speak of the devil. Perfect timing. These physical tests should be no problem now.'
Waving away the excess steam, Sage revealed herself now in her female form, much to the obvious confusion of her classmates who had no idea what was happening.
Turning around, she stuck her tongue out at a particularly vocal Mineta before offering Toru a confident smirk. At the same time, her enhanced hearing caught the nearly imperceptible mumble from her teacher.
"Yep... definitely going to be a problem student... sigh"
Ignoring his remark, Sage turned back to focus on the race as the robot began its countdown sequence. Tensing her muscles like a compressed spring storing energy, she dug her feet firmly into the ground and pushed her speed quirk to maximum capacity.
Instantly, the world visibly slowed around her as her perception sped up, making the robot's countdown seem to stretch on endlessly. While waiting patiently for the start signal, a random thought surfaced as she remembered her earlier ball throw.
'I wonder...'
Acting on her impulse, Sage activated Glide across every part of her body except her feet. As she did, a strange sensation washed over her, originating from deep within her quirk.
The feeling was eerily similar to slotting a puzzle piece into its proper place, and Sage felt her quirk metaphorically 'wrap' around the Glide skill for a small moment before pulling away.
'Huh... that was certainly unusual. Hopefully, that doesn't have any negative repercussions later. For now, I should focus on the race.'
Pushing the strange phenomenon out of her mind—at least temporarily—Sage's focus laser-locked onto the robot as it finally finished saying "Go!"
Releasing all the pent-up energy in her legs at once, Sage accelerated with explosive force as the ground cracked and cratered beneath her feet. The air screamed in protest as her body cut through it with violent efficiency.
Rather than easing up, Sage pushed her legs even harder as the finish line drew rapidly closer. Sure, she might not be able to reach her absolute top speed on such a short track, but years of dedicated practice had honed her agility to an extreme degree, allowing her to manoeuvre with precision at up to 80% of her maximum velocity.
Reaching the finish line in what felt like a heartbeat, Sage immediately slid to a stop. However, something felt... different. Frowning, she glanced down at her feet in mild confusion.
'That's strange. I'm never able to slow down this quickly normally, and why do my shoes feel like they have extra grip today?'
Before she could analyse the sensation further, the robot's mechanical voice cut into her thoughts.
"0.45 seconds."
'Nice! That's a new personal record.'
Pleased with her performance, Sage looked over toward her classmates, only to find them all staring at her in various states of shock and disbelief. Glancing over her shoulder Sage made sure it wasn't the classical 'Big bad monster behind someone' trope before looking forward again.
Scuffing her feet awkwardly against the dirt, Sage began feeling increasingly self-conscious under their collective stare. A quick glance confirmed she hadn't accidentally destroyed her gym uniform, which left only one logical explanation.
'They're in awe of my speed. Can't say I blame them.'
Smiling with justifiable pride, Sage began making her way back to the group.
Coughing awkwardly, Aizawa seemed to regain his composure and turned his attention to a stunned Tsuyu, who was staring at the crater-like indentations next to her starting position.
"Wait, what?! That speed was absolutely insane! And why did you transform into a girl? I've got so many questions!"
Being the first student to recover from the shock, Mina practically bounced over to Sage with stars in her eyes. Placing both hands on Sage's shoulders, Mina stared directly into her eyes with an intensity that suggested she wouldn't be letting this go anytime soon.
Smiling gently, Sage carefully removed the energetic pink girl's hands while continuing toward the rest of her classmates.
Reaching her friends, Sage stopped and decided to address everyone at once—she definitely didn't want to repeat explanations multiple times.
However, despite expecting numerous questions, she was completely unprepared for the verbal avalanche that followed. Being bombarded by what felt like dozens of simultaneous inquiries, Sage could only cover her ears while looking helplessly between each person who spoke.
'Oh no... what have I gotten myself into?'
{A/N: Something I've noticed is whenever I use Ai to fix up my grammar it ends up making the story seem... dull?
It could just be me but I don't know, it reads smoother but seems worse.}