บท 23: What Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong
"Bakugou. Midoriya. You're late," came a dark voice. Aizawa-sensei did not look very happy. He didn't reflect it in his Aura, however. In fact, the amount of sadistic pleasure seemed to have increased. It had a distinct flavour of schadenfreude mixed with a healthy dose of anticipation. "Well, whatever."
Katsuki and Izuku gathered together with their classmates obediently, waiting to see what they were going to be subjected to today.
"You're going to be testing your Quirks today."
Majority of the class broke out into whispers, some of them lobbing questions at their new teacher.
"What about the entrance ceremony? Or guidance sessions?"
"No time to waste on stuff like that if you want to become a Hero," Aizawa-sensei said, his Aura radiating glee. His expression was nonchalant, as if he didn't care about anything that they thought.
"UA is known for its 'freestyle' educational system. This goes for teachers as well. Soft ball throw, standing long jump, fifty-meter dash, endurance running, sprinting, side to side stepping, upper body training, seated toe touch. All of these you covered in middle school as your standard No-Quirks-Allowed gym tests. What part of it is rational that Quirks are not allowed to be used when calculating the average of those records? Quirks have already been around for some time and they're still dragging their feet. Honestly."
Aizawa-sensei cast a pointed look at Katsuki. "Bakugou. How far could you throw in middle school?"
"Sixty-seven meters."
Aizawa-sensei gestured for Katsuki to step into the circle.
"Use your Quirk. Just don't step out of the circle."
Izuku's eyes devoured Kacchan's lean form as he stretched to get ready for the throw. His Aura was lit up with competitiveness and anticipation. His eyes sparkled lightly in the morning sunlight showing how much he enjoyed competing with others, if his almost maniacal grin didn't say it already.
Katsuki wound up his arm with the ball gripped securely in his hand. He took a step forward and abruptly released the ball with maximum strength, activating his Quirk at the last possible moment to increase the ball's momentum.
"DIE!"
The ball shot forward in a straight line, a testament to how much power had gone into the pitch that it cut through all air resistance.
The students of 1-A squinted in the direction that the ball flew, trying to make out how far it went.
Izuku felt Aizawa-sensei's slight gratification at having chosen Kacchan as his example. The sadistic glee was at an all-time high, probably the class would be hard-pressed to follow Kacchan's example and had to subsequently push themselves for the best result. It would allow him to better test his students and know exactly how capable they were.
He showed his class the device that read how many meters the ball went.
"705.2 meters."
Aizawa-sensei fed them his real-life experience as the class made a fuss about how they could use their Quirks in the Hero course. The sadistic glee that he'd been feeling earlier was non-existent now. Instead, it was replaced with a grim feeling, with a sad tinge.
Izuku reserved further judgement on his new teacher. Had he lost some students before? Regardless, he seemed to have their best interests in mind. Or rather, he was invested in making sure no one died due to incomplete preparation or slacking off.
"The one with the lowest score will be expelled."
Aizawa-sensei was perfectly serious. He meant every word and would expel the person with the lowest score.
Izuku watched as Aizawa-sensei put on a look of false glee. He still felt slightly down. "Your fates are in your hands. Welcome. This is the Hero Course at UA."
The green-haired teen pumped himself up. He had to give his all. Then, he didn't have to do that anymore. Quite frankly, the intense amount of anticipation and glee that was radiating from his classmates were giving him what he could only describe as a high.
It felt like his body was being overloaded with positive emotions. Izuku sucked in a steadying breath, almost subconsciously focusing on the only presence on the field that wasn't radiating competitiveness.
He would have focused on Kacchan, but… Izuku gave a slight laugh. Kacchan's Aura was practically the strongest out of everyone else. He could get a high just on Kacchan's emotions alone.
Izuku locked his focus on Aizawa-sensei as a steadying factor in his mind. It felt like he was a beacon of light from the lighthouse to a boat in the middle of the choppy oceans.
The green-haired teen breathed, focusing on Aizawa-sensei. He let the gentle feeling of One for All wash over him, pushing it into his muscles and bones, reinforcing everything. He managed to push in around 11% of it, otherwise he would be overloaded and be liable to break something.
The future teen Hero blasted through the first event, achieving a great increase from his middle school scores. He ran it in 4.13 seconds, crossing the finishing line the same time as Kacchan. They exchanged grins, equally pleased for each other.
Izuku could practically hear the gears turning in Kacchan's mind about how he could use his Quirk for the other events. He grinned, feeling the blood pumping through his veins. His heartbeat sounded loud in his ears. The adrenaline was giving him a rush.
The green-haired teen unintentionally hyper focused on the following events. As he came out of his daze, he realized that he was the only student standing on the field. Kacchan had already performed earlier in front of the class for the softball throw.
He looked around, realizing that he was the last student. After his turn the scores would be tabulated to see who would be the last in rank, and subsequently expelled.
The moment he came back from his tunnel vison, he was already winding up for the throw. The anticipation, sheer ambition and aggressive emotions slammed into him akin to a rock smashing onto an egg.
He was immediately overwhelmed by the Aura of his classmates as they unintentionally influenced him. Izuku's eyes widened. In that brief moment, he accidentally pushed too much of One for All into his body. It was too late to release it as the softball flew from his fingers.
Then all of a sudden, all the built-up momentum stopped as One for All abruptly left his body. He couldn't feel the Quirk anymore. The softball flew a pathetic 46 meters. Izuku was startled. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what happened to One for All.
As he fumbled around, he suddenly realized how quiet was. The world was muted and silent. Startled, he turned around to look at his classmates. They were still there. So was Aizawa-sensei. Kacchan was staring at him with surprise, which seemed like it was slowly morphed into concern. Izuku categorized these changes detachedly. It felt like he was an observer. His body wasn't listening to his commands.
The world was just a piece of white noise. He couldn't feel them. He couldn't – he couldn't feel Kacchan. He took in a stuttering breath. Izuku started trembling lightly. It felt like a part of his Soul had been ripped away from him. He felt incomplete. Deficient. Fragmented. It felt like half of him was gone.
He couldn't feel Kacchan. He couldn't feel the warmth from his Soulmate. Couldn't feel his little fluttering emotions, couldn't feel his Aura, that was like basking in the warmth of the sun. God, he couldn't feel Kacchan.
He couldn't feel the all-consuming love that had haunted his every thought since the day he was four. Everything felt unfamiliar and alien. He was whole, but at the same time, he wasn't. The love and affection that had been a constant in his life, the only thing that kept him going nowadays was gone. It was gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.
His world had been ripped apart at the seams. The foundations of his very being were crumbling down. He felt like he had been dropped into a world filled with ice and coldness. He rubbed his arms, feeling the chill, shivering. He felt so, so cold.
He felt something soft grab him. Aizawa-sensei was saying something, but he couldn't hear him over the sound of the rushing blood in his ears. His heart was beating erratically. He couldn't put together his thoughts. They didn't make any sense. It was hard to breathe. It felt like he was breathing, but no oxygen was entering his lungs. The world was so cold. So white. So quiet.
His hands and fingers were numb with cold. He clenched them lightly but felt nothing. He tried pushing One for All into his fingers, but he felt nothing. He saw people, but they didn't look familiar to him. A sense of terror started threading its way into his heart, unlike any he'd ever felt before. It felt like someone had taken a hammer and smashed it into his chest. It felt like something had broken deep within him.
Izuku called out for help – Kacchan. Then, he knew nothing.
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