"Next, Nekoyama, Hagakure," Aizawa-sensei called.
"Ah, sorry, I'll continue later," Nora said before leaving the two behind.
He stepped up to the starting line beside the invisible girl, Hagakure.
"Hi," Nora greeted casually.
"Hello! I won't lose," she declared while doing something like shadow boxing. Nora could only see her sleeves swaying and the shoo shoo sound she made, so he assumed that was what she was doing.
"?? Do you… know me?" Nora didn't expect such a confident reply.
"How cruel! We were at the same testing site!" she puffed her cheeks in a sulk, offended that he didn't remember her.
She's pouting… right? Probably? Maybe?
Nora realized he had somehow found a new problem just by talking to his new classmates.
"Sorry," he apologized, then joked, "I guess I couldn't see you at the site?"
Hagakure looked down at herself. "Is that supposed to be a joke?" she asked, half understanding, half confused.
"Well, it's supposed to be. I'm not very used to making puns."
"Ahaha, so awkward!" she burst out laughing even more.
"Be serious," Aizawa-sensei's cold glare cut right through them.
"W-we're sorry!" both of them stammered.
"Are you two ready?" Iida called from the side as he prepared the timer.
"God's strength," Nora whispered. In an instant, his body shifted, returning to that radiant white form.
"WOOOAAAH!!"
The crowd erupted.
It wasn't surprising—quirks that transformed someone this much were practically unheard of.
Nora accepted their astonishment with ease. According to what he knew, this beastfolk-like mutant form was supposed to be his quirk… then what was that other power he had?
A second quirk?
That shouldn't be possible. He had never once heard of someone possessing more than one. And in his case… it wasn't even just one extra ability.
"Yes, I'm ready," Nora said firmly.
"That form… I won't lose!" Hagakure declared, psyching herself up. She had seen firsthand what Nora could do in this form. When he was in his usual black color, she had doubted herself, wondering if she'd mistaken him for someone else. But now—seeing him in this unmistakable form—she was certain. He was the person she remembered.
"Ready… set… GO!!"
Fwoosh!
Nora didn't run in a normal stride. It looked more like a powerful skipping motion—each step exploding with force as his leg muscles propelled him forward. His movement relied less on agility and more on sheer strength, perfectly amplified by God's Strength.
He also had another ability—Warcry—a skill that increased movement speed and defense for everyone he considered an ally within a medium radius.
Revealing all his abilities would be foolish, but hiding everything and fighting at a disadvantage was equally stupid. The ideal strategy was to show some cards, keep others hidden, and let opponents assume he had nothing left to reveal.
And at the same time, he had to remain wary of their hidden cards too.
In a swordmaster's duel, even a blade that secretly extended by a single inch could decide victory or defeat. The buff from Warcry wasn't overwhelming, but as a concealed trump card, it was more than enough.
His time: 3.47 seconds.
Among the entire class, only Iida—whose quirk specialized purely in speed—managed to surpass him.
A certain someone was glaring at Nora again, but he ignored it—he already knew it was pointless to try solving that mystery right now.
"You're so fast!!" Ashido cheered, sounding even more thrilled than the person who actually ran.
"…While I'm happy to be praised, being called fast gives me some complicated feelings," Nora replied with a wry smile.
"Complicated?" Asui tilted her head, clearly not following.
"Anyway… where was I?" Nora tried to return to the explanation about the glare he had received earlier.
"Nekoyama! How did you pull off that transformation?! That was crazy!" a voice called out from behind. A boy with blond hair but an innocent, almost naïve face approached them.
Kaminari Denki—another new classmate.
"It's just an ability from my quirk," Nora answered simply. It wasn't as though he could explain it in any other way.
"It's not changing back," Ashido said, giving Nora a cheerful thumbs-up. "It actually gives you a different vibe!"
"Yeah, I'm thinking of leaving it as is until we finish the test. Turning it on and off is kind of a hassle," Nora bluffed. In truth, he couldn't control it at all—God's Strength was not the kind of ability you could toggle at will.
He glanced at the translucent box only he could see. One of the icons had dimmed, a countdown floating before it.
23 hours, 43 minutes.
"On and off?? Hahaha! What is it, an A/C?" Kaminari burst out laughing at Nora's excuse.
"It's so manly!" someone else chimed in. It was Kirishima Eijiro, the student who had gotten the highest score on the entrance exam.
"Is this manly?" Nora blinked in confusion. He lightly touched his white cat ear. "Isn't this color more… feminine?" He also glanced at Ashido, since she was the one who'd mentioned his 'vibe' earlier.
"You do look softer with that color," Ashido admitted, nodding thoughtfully.
"But a transformation? That's a man's ultimate romance!" Kirishima declared with fiery enthusiasm.
"Well… that's true," Nora and Kaminari agreed at the same time. After all, transformations were every man's dream—especially if a robot was involved.
"...?!"
Sensing something, Nora instinctively flicked his tail away and spun around—only to catch an invisible culprit in the act.
"Fu~ fuu~" Hagakure looked away, whistling into the empty air.
"You know that counts as harassment, right?" Nora sighed. In all the days he'd lived as a cat beastfolk, this definitely wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
"Sorry, it just looked so soft," Hagakure apologized—genuinely, at first. "Hehe, besides… you have no proof."
Or maybe not so genuine.
"I see."
Nora swiftly grabbed her hand and tapped it with two fingers—smack-smack.
"Ah! H-Hey! What was that for?!" Hagakure yelped, more startled than hurt.
"What do you mean? I'm just moving my hand in the air. There's no proof," he replied with a smug grin.
After all, Hagakure was completely invisible except for her clothes. If she wasn't wearing gloves, no one could even tell where her hands were.
"Petty!" she muttered, her tone sulky—but she accepted her punishment wholeheartedly, fully aware that she was 100% at fault.
"Can we touch your ears too?" Ashido suddenly leaned in, eyes sparkling with curiosity. If Nora hadn't been on guard, she probably would've pounced on him already.
"Ah, if possible, I wanna touch them too," Kaminari added, his gaze glued to Nora's fluffy features.
"Me as well," Asui croaked calmly.
"See?!" Hagakure protested, feeling wronged. "Why am I the only one getting punished?!"
"...."
'…'
Nora was speechless—internally and externally. His new classmates were far more… energetic than he expected. A warm, almost cherry blossom–like atmosphere lingered around the six of them until—
"Are you done playing around?"
Their teacher's cold voice sliced through the air.