Takao Arashi stood at the towering gates of U.A. High School, staring up at the modern glass buildings that shimmered in the morning sun.
A light breeze went through his black and white tipped hair, and he adjusted the strap of his training bag slung over one shoulder. His blue eyes narrowed slightly. 'So this is it. U.A. High.'
He didn't feel nervous. He'd worked too hard to feel anything but focused. After months of brutal self-imposed training, his mind and body were sharper than ever.
As he made his way through the gates, he spotted a familiar figure ahead, the green-haired boy who tripped over his own feet, saved by a quick-acting brown-haired girl.
'No way… Broccoli Hair actually made it in, I'll be damned.' Takao raised an eyebrow..
He passed through the school doors and found himself in front of a sliding door labeled 1-A. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
The room was lively with chatter. Students were already talking and laughing, voices bouncing off the sleek walls. Takao scanned the room but didn't recognize anyone else. No familiar faces from middle school, no one from his neighborhood. Good. He preferred it that way.
He silently took a seat near the middle row, setting his bag down and leaning back, arms crossed. He observed in silence.
There were some strong-looking types, a guy with red spiky hair, a quiet kid with dual-colored hair, a loud blonde with a permanent scowl, and a group of girls chatting casually in the corner.
The door slammed open with a metallic snap.
A tired-looking man with unkempt hair and a bright yellow sleeping bag slouched in. Without introducing himself, he spoke in a dry, monotone voice. "If you're just here to make friends… pack your stuff and leave now."
The room fell silent almost immediately.
"It took eight seconds for all of you to quiet down." The man straightened and rubbed his eyes. "Name's Shota Aizawa. I'm your homeroom teacher. We'll be doing none of that 'welcome ceremony' nonsense. This is the Hero Course, and we don't waste time."
One of the girls raised her hand hesitantly. "Uh… what about orientation?"
Aizawa didn't blink. "Go to general studies if you want that. Now get changed into your training uniforms and meet me outside. You've got ten minutes."
Takao stepped out onto the field in U.A.'s Blue, white and red training uniform. It fit well, snug but flexible. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles.
Aizawa stood in front of the class, holding a softball in one hand. "We're doing the Quirk Apprehension Test. You've done these tests before in middle school but not like this."
He turned to the class. "Takao Arashi, step forward, you got the best score in the entrance exam."
Takao did so without hesitation.
"What was your best throw in middle school? Without your quirk."
Takao answered without blinking. "Forty-nine meters."
"Use your quirk this time," Aizawa instructed, tossing him the ball.
Takao caught it and turned slightly, facing the field.
He breathed in once, slowly.
"Aspect of Zeus: Thunder and Lightning."
Golden lightning exploded across his shoulders and down his arms. The smell of ozone filled the air as a high-pitched whine rose from the sudden buildup of static. He cocked his arm back and threw the ball like a spear of divine power. The ball became a golden blur, vanishing into the sky with a thunderous crack.
Aizawa checked his device with a grin on his face, "2,099 meters." Gasps rippled through the class.
The green haired kid looked stunned at this mouth open wide. The glasses guy adjusted his frames and stared.
"Woah, that's crazy." The kid with blonde hair and a black lightning bolt said as one of the girls shouted "That looks like fun I wanna go."
"So this looks like fun huh? You have three years here to become a hero, you think it's all gonna be games and play time…idiots. Today you'll compete in 8 physical tests to gauge your potential, whoever comes in last will be expelled immediately." Aizawa said, the grin on his face getting wider, almost sinister.
Takao, hearing this, just smiled. 'Now this is what I'm talking about, weed out the weak.'
"Now then we're just wasting time talking, let the games begin."
50 meter dash
Takao lined up next to the glasses guy Iida, if memory serves correct.
"Ready… bang!"
In a burst of golden lightning, Takao disappeared in a streak of light. His body blurred, the thunder trailing behind him like a whip. He stopped just short of the finish line, barely skidding to a halt. 2.04 seconds.
Iida came in just behind him at 3.04 seconds. Takao offered him a nod.
Next up, grip strength
He took hold of the dynamometer and squeezed. Golden sparks flickered over his skin, 860 kilograms. Takao looked at the number with a small frown. 'Not bad but I need to be much better.'
After that was standing long jump.
Takao used just a whisper of thunder under his feet, launching himself forward and clearing the markers by a large margin.
After the long jump came repeated side steps. Takao activated his thunder and lightning aspect stepping side to side so fast afterimages started to appear.
He got to skip test number 5 since he'd already thrown his ball, only being outclassed by infinity girl.
When it came to this test Takao couldn't help but keep an eye on the green-haired kid he'd been subpar throughout the other tests, The only noticeable things being that the guy kept pushing himself hard.
But when it came time for his ball throw, the kid tried to use his quirk but Aizawa stopped him, but the second time he some how summoned a devastating force that launched the ball flying, though he hurt himself doing it.
Takao tilted his head slightly. 'Interesting…Okay, Broccoli Hair. Maybe you've got something after all.'
Number 6 being toe touches, while not being his specialty, he made the minimum requirement.Once again Takao frowned at this. 'Guess I'll have to start stretching more huh.'
The rest of the tests weren't noteworthy to Takao. Once the tests wrapped up, Aizawa readdressed the group "Alright time to give you your results, I've ranked you all from best to worse you should probably have a good idea of your standing already, I'll just pull up the whole list it's not worth going over every score."
1 Takao Arashi
2 Momo Yaoyorozu
3 Shoto Todoroki
4 Katsuki Bakugo
Etc
And all the way at the bottom 20 Izuku Midoriya
Seeing the list Takao just smiled and nodded. 'Only natural, guess broccoli is called Izuku huh, shame he's gotta go, he'd at least be a little competent if he got his quirk under control.'
Aizawa looked at the class and smiled blankly. "And I was lying, nobody's going home. That was just a rational deception to make sure you all gave it your all."
'Smart. Though it'd be more believable if you didn't expel the entire class of 1A last year.' Takao glanced towards Aizawa and rolled his eyes.