A few days had passed, and once again, Nora stood before U.A.'s entrance gate.
And this wouldn't be the last time, either.
This was only the beginning.
Our adventure had just begun.
The end.
Roll the credits—complete with an emotional ending song.
Chuckling at his own imagination, Nora stepped into the school grounds. The hologram briefing had already explained everything he needed to know for the first day. Losing his way wasn't a concern either; with floating signs guiding students directly to their destinations, even a school as massive as U.A. High couldn't confuse him. There was simply no way Nora could get lost.
And…
I lost my way.
That's what usually happens, but I'm not stupid.
Of course it didn't happen to me.
He finally stood in front of Classroom 1-A.
He opened the door and saw his future classmates, each one looking full of potential and bright futures.
"Geh!"
He shut the door instantly when he spotted a certain spiky-haired boy.
Sigh…
Same class. What terrible luck.
The reason behind Nora's reaction was simple—because of what happened during the exam.
"YOU DAMN THIEVING CAT!!"
The door burst open again with a shout from the spiky boy.
"Ah, hi. Nice to see you again?" Nora greeted with a half-sincere smile before slipping past him and quickly looking for his seat, pretending he didn't hear a thing.
"Hello, new students. I'm Iida Tenya, from Shomei Middle."
A young man with a sturdy build and thick glasses introduced himself.
Bulky nerd, Nora thought silently.
Like everyone else, he knew saying it out loud would be a disaster.
"Nice to meet you. Nekoyama Nora, from Karasumori Middle," Nora replied with a friendly smile.
"OI!"
The damn spiky brat suddenly appeared between them, looking as if he was moments away from detonating.
Iida, noticing the tension, felt obligated to intervene as a responsible classmate.
"What are you planning to do to a fellow student?"
"Ahahaha…"
Nora let out a guilty laugh. "I'm sorry about what happened back then. I also got the short end of the stick, you know? I'll buy you lunch, okay?"
He knew it was his fault—but he had been desperate to pass. There had been no other choice.
"DON'T JOKE WITH ME!"
I guess that didn't work. Hahaha.
Well, I'd probably react the same way if I were in that position.
Nora thought for a moment, observing his opponent with calm precision. Getting punched in the face on the first day wouldn't be funny. He had to be careful.
Greeeekkkk
The door opened again, and another student stepped into the classroom—a young man with striking green hair.
The spiky-haired brat glanced at the newcomer, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and slumped back into his seat.
Oh? Do they know each other? This could get interesting.
Nora turned to the green-haired student and gave him an exaggerated thumbs-up.
"Thanks," the boy mouthed silently.
The green-haired student looked confused, but Nora didn't mind. Iida moved forward to introduce himself.
Before long, the door opened once more, and another student entered—this time followed by what looked unmistakably like a zombie.
"Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher. For now, change into this and come out to the field," the zombie instructed.
***
After everyone had changed and stepped onto the field, Aizawa-sensei explained what they were going to do.
It was a quirk apprehension test—a simple physical exercise, but with quirks allowed. Nora had done similar tests countless times back in elementary and middle school. Back then, the use of quirks was strictly forbidden. But as a mutant-type himself, he already benefited from passive enhancements, so there wasn't much difference this time.
Aizawa-sensei really was an experienced teacher. The first thing he did was make sure everyone knew their positions.
Nora wasn't sure if this was intentional, but the threat of expulsion had immediately made everyone take things seriously.
To be honest… he was also curious to see how his own quirk would fare in a physical test.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't a little excited. Waku waku.
"Let's call this our first example. Kirishima Eijirou," Aizawa-sensei announced, checking his roster and calling on the student who had claimed first place in the practical exam.
At that moment, Nora felt a heavy glare burning into him. Without even turning, he could guess who it was. When he finally looked, the spiky-haired brat—Katsuki Bakugou—was glaring at him as if trying to dig a hole straight through his chest.
"Ahaha," Nora laughed awkwardly. Sorry, he mouthed with a small wave of his hand.
"Hardening, huh? Not the best matchup, but let's see what you can do," Aizawa-sensei said, asking Kirishima to throw a ball using his quirk.
Kirishima stepped to the center of the ring and paused, thinking hard. Even with his quirk, he couldn't immediately figure out a special way to throw the ball. In the end, he resorted to a normal throw.
The result was underwhelming—but it gave everyone a clue. This test was going to be trickier than they had expected.
…
There were eight tests: the 50m dash, grip strength, long jump, sidestep, ball throw, sit-ups, seated toe touch, and distance run.
After scanning through all of them, Nora realized there were two where his quirk wouldn't help much: the sidestep and sit-ups. Well, I'll just have to do my best.
The first test: the 50m dash.
As he watched students go one by one, someone approached him.
It was the frog girl.
"Asui-san, right?" Nora asked, double-checking that he remembered her name correctly.
"Please, just call me Tsuyu," she said plainly.
"Got it. Then Tsuyu, just call me Nora," he replied.
Tsuyu nodded. "I'm sorry if I'm very straightforward and say whatever comes to mind."
"No need to apologize. If you asked me something sensitive, I'd just tell you bluntly that I can't explain," Nora said, waving his hand casually.
Tsuyu nodded again. "Nora, I noticed someone glaring at you the entire time. Do you two know each other?"
"Ah! Let me in! Let me in!" a pink-haired girl chimed, hopping over. "Hi~ Mind if I join? I'm curious too!"
"I don't mind, Ashido-san," Nora replied with a smile.
It wasn't any important secret anyway.
"Haha, so formal. Nora, you're a funny guy," she laughed, giving him a playful tap on the back. "Just call me Mina."
What an energetic girl… is this what an extrovert's power feels like? Slowly, Nora began to warm up and make friends with his classmates.
"Actually, we're in the same test site," Nora began to explain what had happened. "Because of some… 'important thing,' I started later than the rest, so—"
"Next, Nekoyama, Hagakure," Aizawa-sensei called.
"Ah, sorry! I'll continue later," Nora said, leaving the two behind as he moved on.