CHAPTER THREE

      "A quirk assessment test?!"

      Once assembled in the sports field, the most surprising thing had suddenly been dropped onto class 1-A. A fricking quirk assessment test. Everyone stared at Aizawa-sensei in confusion. So this was what Megumi had a bad feeling about earlier. Even though her dad had warned her about the unconventional teaching methods at U.A., a quirk assessment was something she had not expected. At all.

      The pretty brunette from earlier, Ochaco Uraraka (she had introduced herself in the girl's locker room), raised her arms to her chest, asking with a concern filled voice. "We don't have an entrance ceremony or orientation?"

      "If you want to be a Hero," Aizawa-sensei spoke. "You don't have time for that. U.A. is known for its unrestricted style and that goes for the teachers as well." The man turned, facing the entire class.

      "You've been taking standardized tests for most of your lives," He said. He took out his phone from his pocket, holding it up high. A measuring counter of some kind was present on the screen. "But you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country continues to calculate averages based on uniform results which is not logical. The Ministry of Education is just lazy."

      "Bakugo," Aizawa-sensei turned to the blond-haired boy from earlier. "You came in first in the practical exam. In junior high, how many metres was your softball throw?"

      Bakugo looked slightly downwards, responding after a moment. "67 metres."

      "Right. Now try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes; just stay in the circle," Aizawa-sensei said. "Hurry, with all your strength."

      Megumi watched with curiosity, wondering what this Bakugo's quirk would be. After stretching his hands for a moment, the boy in question stepped forward. With a powerful yell ("DIE!"), he threw the ball. An explosion erupted only a few feet away from him, clearing away to reveal the ball soaring through the sky, creating rings of fire behind it.

      'Okay, that's a pretty cool looking quirk,' Megumi thought as she stared at the falling ball in the distance. It definitely felt like a strong quirk, probably stronger than her own.

      "First, you must know your limit," Aizawa-sensei stated as the ball fell back to the ground, many metres away. As soon as it came to a stop, he pointed his phone towards the class, showing the number that was displayed. 705.2. "It's the most rational way of figuring out your ability as a pro-hero."

      "Holy shit, that's too much," Natsume stated from next to her. But when Megumi looked at him, he had a grin on his face. "This is going to be fun."

      Mina, who was standing on Megumi's other side, clapped her hands together, also grinning. "I wanna go! That looks like fun!"

      Sero nodded in agreement. "That's what I'm talking about! Getting to use our quirks in the Hero course!"

      Megumi stepped back a little when she noticed the annoyed look on their teacher's face. He definitely did not agree with Natsume, Sero or Mina's statements.

      "So this looks fun, huh?" Aizawa-sensei said, sounding slightly irritated. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all going to be games and playtime?"

      He grinned wickedly. "Okay, today you'll compete in 8 physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last is hopeless and will be expelled immediately."

      "HUH?!" The class shouted in unison.

      'Expulsion? Already?! Dad, this is not just unconventional; it is crazy!' Megumi thought with worry. She was confident about her quirk, but she was never good with sudden surprise tests. She crossed fingers, silently hoping that things wouldn't turn out too bad in the test. At least, for now, she aimed to be out of that last place.

      "We can decide what we want to do with our students," Aizawa-sensei's grin was even more creepier. "Understand? If that is a problem, then you can head home right now. Welcome, this is the Hero Course of U.A."

      "How can you send one of us home?" Uraraka suddenly said, her face full of sentiment that Megumi also shared. "It's only our first day. Even if it is not our first day, it is still unfair!"

      "Oh, and you think natural disasters are?" Aizawa-sensei said bluntly. "Or power hungry villains? Hm? Or catastrophic events that wipe out whole cities? No. The world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. If you want to be a pro-hero, you're going to have to push yourself to the limit. U.A. will continue to give you these trials during these three years. Above and beyond, Plus Ultra style." He tilted his head, smiling as he gestured with his finger. "Show me it's no mistake that you're here."

      "That's the end of our demonstration," Aizawa-sensei said. "The real deal begins now."

      The first test was simple enough. It was a 50 meter dash. A robot of some sort stood at the end of the finish line, ready to measure the time taken by each student. The first race was between Iida and the frog-like girl, Tsuyu. Iida was the clear winner, his quirk offering him a massive advantage.

      "3.04 seconds!" The robot announced.

      Moments later, Tsuyu also crossed the finish line. "5.58 seconds!"

      "Holy shit, that's fast," Megumi commented as she stretched her arms. Next up was her and Natsume. Her cousin was rolling up his gym pants to his knees and he was doing the same for his sleeves. When she looked at him again, he had already transformed both his hands and his legs into the limbs of a white tiger. His claws were as sharp as always and she knew he had an advantage, but she was not going to back down even then.

      "White Flame, don't fail me," Megumi silently mumbled as she slowly activated her quirk, letting her aura surround her completely. She and Natsume took their positions at the start.

      "Runners, on your marks!" The robot said. "Ready..."

      As soon as a 'pop' sounded from the machine, the two of them bolted from their positions with Natsume on the lead. As always, he was fast. He was on all fours, using his tiger limbs to increase his speed. Surprisingly, Megumi was not too far behind since her aura also gave her a significant speed boost.

      But still, it was Natsume who crossed the finish line first. "4.52 seconds!"

      Right afterwards, Megumi crossed the line too. "4.75 seconds!"

      'Huh, that's not too bad, actually,' She thought to herself. 'It's definitely faster than when I was in middle school.'

      Natsume got up from the ground, returning his limbs to their normal state. As they started walking away to give space to their other classmates, he quietly mumbled to her. "Looks like we both got pretty damn fast."

      "Yup," Megumi replied. "We sure did."

      "But I still beat you."

      Megumi just punched his shoulder in response.

      Once everyone else was finished with the 50 meter dash, the next test began. It was a test regarding their grip strength. Megumi smiled gleefully. This was a test she would definitely ace. She held the machine in her hand, pulling all her aura's strength into it. Behind her, she could hear Sero's voice exclaiming at someone's score. '540 kilograms is nothing. Just watch me!'

      Megumi closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling her aura surround the hand that was holding the machine. With all her strength, she gripped it tightly. She heard a cracking noise and then a small click. She opened her eyes to see the glass display of the machine had half-cracked.

      Kirishima, who was right next to her, saw her score. "Holy shit, you hit 900 kilograms! That's awesome! Your quirk is amazing, Megumi!"

      "Woah!" Kaminari exclaimed. "Megumi, you're super strong!"

      The others around them nodded, having expressions of shock and awe. Megumi smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand. Her eyes met Natsume's and she grinned. He just stuck his tongue out at her.

      The third test was another test that Megumi was going to ace. The standing long jump was going to be a piece of cake for her. Her white flame wings were especially useful and she cleared the course in an instant. 'Maybe I won't be expelled now.'

      She failed miserably at the side-steps though. With a crushed smile, she walked away, patting Natsume's arm who just sent her a teasing smirk in return.

      Finally, came the fifth test and that was the ball throw. First up was Uraraka. Megumi watched as she gripped the ball in her hand, a smile covering her face.

      After pulling her arm backwards, Uraraka threw the ball from her hand, releasing it into the air. It flew higher and higher and higher till it disappeared into the sky with a twinkle. Aizawa-sensei lifted his phone, showing the infinity symbol displayed on the screen.

      Everyone's jaws dropped collectively. "INFINITY?!"

      "That's insane!" Kaminari said in awe, wide-eyed. "How's that even possible?"

     "Who knows?" Natsume added, equally wide-eyed. "I bet the ball just floated up into space."

      Next up was Megumi. She managed to throw the ball at a good distance of 2700 metres, but compared to Uraraka's infinity, it just looked pathetic. Natsume gave her a slightly comforting smile, patting her arm. Right after her was the green-haired boy, Midoriya. He looked rather worried as he stared down at the ball in his hands.

      "Midoriya-kun is not in a good situation," Iida commented as he crossed his arms, probably wondering why Midoriya was doing so poorly.

      Bakugo turned his head, a confused expression on his face. "Huh? Of course, he is! He's a quirkless loser."

      Megumi turned around to look at him, surprised at Bakugo's words. "Uhh, he's definitely not quirkless. He has a quirk."

      "Yes," Iida furrowed his eyebrows, dropping his arms to his side. "Did you not hear about what he did in the entrance exam?"

      Bakugo let out an annoyed grunt. "Huh?!"

      Midoriya's arm was lit up with power, red veins shining all over it. Megumi watched in anticipation, taking in a sharp breath. That breath was released just a second later as all the power seemingly disappeared, the ball only landing a few metres away.

      White tendrils of what appeared to be cloth flew in the air, all originating from their dark-haired, tired looking teacher. His red eyes glared from under his long, dark hair, narrowing at the sight of a confused looking Midoriya.

      "I erased your quirk," Aizawa-sensei said, the slightest hint of anger in his voice. "The judges during the exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should not be allowed to enroll at this school.

      "You did-!" Izuku gaped in shock, eyes widening as though he recognized who he was talking to. "Those goggles; a quirk that can erase other quirks...you're the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead!"

       Midoriya said that as though it was a well-known fact. But Megumi, like the class, didn't know who he was though she had heard of someone having a quirk like that. Guess that might have been Aizawa-sensei.

      'But that doesn't answer why he cancelled Midoriya's quirk? Why would he do that?'

       The white cloth flew forwards and wrapped around Midoriya's shoulders, bringing him close enough to Aizawa-sensei's scowling face. "No matter what your intentions are," He declared, his eyebrows furrowing. "You will be a liability in battle. A long time ago, a stiflingly passionate hero became a legend for saving a thousand people in a disaster. With the same courage, you save one person and become completely useless afterwards."

       No one in the class said a single word as they heard the speech.

      "Izuku Midoriya, you cannot become a hero with your power."

      Aizawa-sensei released Midoriya from the white cloth, the tendrils returning to his shoulder and wrapping around it like a scarf. His expression also returned back to normal. "I have returned your quirk to you. You can throw once more. Get it over with."

      Megumi couldn't see Midoriya's expression from her current position, but she silently prayed for him to win. Just like he had defeated that giant robot, he could ace this ball throw.

      He threw the ball from his fingertips and a shockwave of energy spread through the sky, the ball creating rings of dust as it flew upwards. The wind seemed to propel it even higher. Megumi let out an amazed noise as she watched the ball land, hundreds of meters away.

      Aizawa-sensei held up the phone screen which displayed the distance Midoriya had thrown the ball to. 705.3.

      The boy in question turned towards their teacher, sending him a pained smile as he clenched his fist. "Aizawa-sensei, I'm still standing!"

      "That was awesome!" Megumi muttered under her breath. Midoriya really proved himself after all. What a cool guy. Other people around her seemed to have the same reaction; Natsume and Uraraka both let out an excited cheer.

      Megumi was about to walk up to Midoriya, when she heard a loud growl behind her. Before she understood what was going on, Bakugo rushed past her, looking extremely furious.

      "Hey! Tell me what's going on, Deku!"

      Before Bakugo could even land a single hit on Midoriya, the same white cloth from before wrapped around him, restraining him. Bakugo struggled, trying to get out of the grip. "What the hell is this cloth? It's hard..."

      Aizawa-sensei looked annoyed. "It's a capture weapon made with special alloy wires and carbon fiber." He scoffed. "Don't make me use my quirk again and again. It gives me serious dry eyes."

      He released his scarf, letting go off Bakugo. "We're wasting time. Whoever's next can step up."

      Midoriya walked towards the class, holding his finger in pain. Uraraka and Megumi both sent him looks of concern.

      "Is your finger okay?" Uraraka asked.

      "Umm yeah," Midoriya replied.

      "Well, that's good," Megumi added. "Though you should get it checked out after class."

      "Y-yeah," The green-haired boy answered.

      After that, the tests seemed to go by a lot quicker. And it wasn't long before they were finally over. Everyone had looks of anticipation and worry; they were all eager to know if they had passed or if they had failed and were at the last position.

      "Let's quickly announce the results," Aizawa-sensei said. "I simply summed up each test's score. Since it's a waste of time explaining, I'll show it to you all."

      He clicked a button on his phone and a blue, holographic screen popped up with everyone's ranks. Megumi quickly scanned for her name, just hoping that she was at least in the top twelve. Next to her, Natsume was doing the same.

      Then, she spotted her name at number eleven and Natsume's at ten. Both of them let out simultaneous sighs of relief. She looked at her cousin, sending him a weak thumbs-up that he returned with one of his one.

      Aizawa-sensei turned off the screen. "And I was lying, no one's going home."

      "What?!" Megumi exclaimed out loud. The rest of the class had a pretty similar reaction, all of them having expressions of disbelief. Aizawa-sensei grinned.

      "It was a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests."

      "HUH?!" The class exclaimed in unison. Midoriya looked the most shocked out of everyone.

      "Of course, it was a lie," The tall, dark-haired girl (Yaoyorozu, if Megumi remembered correctly) said, hand resting on her hips. "It's not hard to figure out."

      "Not hard..." Natsume mumbled, looking at Yaoyorozu through the corner of his eyes.

      "Well," Megumi patted her cousin's arms. "At least, we are in the top twelve."

      "Yeah, that's good enough for now," He answered.

      "We're done," Aizawa-sensei announced. "The curriculum is in the class, so take a look at it."

      When her dad had mentioned U.A. did things differently, she had no idea he meant this different. She really needed him to give proper explanations. But as of the present moment, she was glad this was over. It was more intense than anything she had ever faced.

      Something told her this was just the beginning of it all.

Another update so soon? Who even am I? I literally started this chapter and finished it after two hours of writing because I was highly inspired for it. Guess this is just the result of me watching BNHA all over again hehe. But I had so much fun writing Megumi in this chapter and I can say with full confidence that she is going to be besties with Kirishima. Also, slight spoilers for the next chapter, but Todoroki and Megumi finally interact properly and you bet that's gonna be interesting. Till then, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

ALSO, more importantly, my bio has a link to various carrds full of info regarding all that is happening around the world right now. Make sure you keep on spreading awareness, signing petitions and do what you can