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“Then, since no one has any objections, you can start with the softball throw.”
After sweeping one last look over the students trembling under his pressure, Aizawa nodded and withdrew his presence, apparently satisfied.
Bakugo stalked out of line with a face full of irritation and stepped into the white circle.
“As long as you do not leave that circle, you can do whatever you want,” Aizawa said when Bakugo looked back at him.
His patience was already running thin.
“Make it quick.”
“Die!”
Bakugo roared, and the explosion behind his throw launched the softball into the sky like a shell.
Ren watched it climb and gave a strange little smile.
“Yeah.
He definitely pictured my face on that poor ball.”
Then his expression shifted into disappointment.
“Too bad I already learned Explosion.
Bad review.
Next.”
“Heroes need to know their own limits first.”
The result appeared a moment later.
Aizawa lifted the counter in his hand.
705.2 meters.
“Y-You are kidding.
More than seven hundred meters?
Is that even human?”
“Bakugo is seriously strong.”
“This is amazing.
Being able to use our Quirks however we want?
U.A.
is incredible.”
“Incredible?” Aizawa’s mouth curved coldly as he heard the murmurs ripple through the class.
“Is that the attitude you plan to carry through your three years here?”
“Fine.”
He lowered his head, messy hair hiding most of his face, and smiled in a way that made the air turn heavy.
“Then I will treat the student with the lowest combined score across all eight events as having no potential and expel them.”
The class erupted.
Without drawing attention, Ren glanced at Midoriya.
The boy’s fists had tightened until his knuckles turned white.
He clearly understood that, in his current condition, he had a very real chance of being the one expelled.
Ren knew that, in the original timeline, Aizawa would take the threat back in the end.
But what obligation did Ren have to say that out loud?
He had never been especially fond of seeing Midoriya comfortable.
In the staff office, All Might watched the field and put a hand to his forehead when he realized who Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher was.
“Aizawa?
Damn it.
Young Midoriya is in trouble.”
“How I handle my students is my freedom as a teacher,” Aizawa said on the field, lifting the hair from his forehead and revealing the teasing look in his eyes. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Welcome to U.A.’s Hero Course.
This is what you signed up for.”
“Aizawa-sensei,” Ren cut in, unable to keep watching him savor the moment, “can we save the extra talk and start the test?
I have been waiting long enough.”
Aizawa turned and gave him a curious look.
Ren knew exactly what came next.
If Aizawa kept pushing, Uraraka would jump in to argue with him, and that would only waste more time.
Ren had already waited too long.
He wanted to learn.
Aizawa studied the anticipation on Ren’s face.
Then Principal Nezu’s warning rose in his mind, and something clicked.
So that was it.
“Since Mikage is so eager,” Aizawa said, “the demonstration ends here.
We are moving on to the real test.”
“First event: fifty-meter dash.”
“Tenya Iida.
3.04 seconds.”
“Tsuyu Asui.
5.58 seconds.”
“Katsuki Bakugo.
4.13 seconds.”
“Izuku Midoriya.
7.02 seconds.”
The results came one after another.
“Ren Mikage.
1.85 seconds.”
That was an overwhelming win.
He had beaten Iida, the fastest in the class, by more than a full second.
Everyone stared.
“Second event: grip strength.”
“Third event: standing long jump.”
The test continued.
Finally, they reached the last event.
“Softball throw.”
Ren looked almost blissful by then.
The morning had been profitable enough that he felt like he had eaten a freezer full of ice cream on the hottest day of summer.
Still, there was one question left.
Should he show off one more time?
He had already placed first in every event so far.
Maybe he should give the others a little face at the end.
Ren thought about it for half a second, then smiled.
No.
He still wanted to surprise Uraraka with Zero Gravity later, and crushing everyone too hard would be rude.
Probably.
By then, Midoriya had stepped into the white circle.
His body trembled.
“I cannot lose the ability to move,” he whispered to himself.
He had failed once already.
He would not repeat it.
“Adjust.
Adjust.”
Power surged into the finger gripping the ball.
The softball flew.
“Izuku Midoriya.
705.3 meters.”
Exactly 0.1 meters farther than Bakugo.
The universe really did have a wicked sense of humor.
“Hmm.” Ren glanced at Bakugo, whose face looked like he wanted to eat Midoriya alive.
“Now that gives me an idea.”
He stepped forward and lightly weighed the ball in his hand.
Then he leaned back, straightened his right arm, and let fine black lightning coil around it.
“One For All, twenty percent.”
As a martial artist, controlling his body was practically instinct.
Compared with Midoriya, who had only just touched the power, Ren’s control was on another level entirely.
“How far can Mikage throw it?”
“No idea.
Based on the test so far, his Quirk looks like physical enhancement.
It should go pretty far.”
“It definitely will not beat Uraraka’s throw, though.”
“Yeah.
Zero Gravity is ridiculous.
Her result was infinity.”
The class whispered among themselves.
Bang.
The spinning softball shot into the distance, and everyone’s eyes followed it.
Then it dropped.
“Ren Mikage.
705.4 meters.”
Aizawa read the result without changing expression, but the look he gave Ren shifted.
That level of control was not normal.
This kid was strong.
Only then did Ren turn around.
He scratched his head, looking almost embarrassed.
“Sorry about that.
My hand slipped.”
Bakugo’s forehead veins bulged.
“Aaaaaagh!”
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