Minette fell backwards dramatically.
Ochaco yelped and quickly caught her by the shoulders before she could hit the ground.
"Minette?! Are you alright?!"
"No…"
The grape-haired girl stared blankly up at the sky.
"I'm not built for this…"
She weakly raised a trembling hand.
"My Quirk doesn't enhance my body at all, and all my P.E. scores are below average…"
The light slowly faded from her eyes.
"It's over for me…"
Thud.
She went limp in Ochaco's arms.
"M-Minette?!"
Ochaco panicked and lightly shook her.
"Don't give up already! You just have to avoid coming in last!"
Nearby, several students sweatdropped at the overdramatic scene.
Meanwhile, standing near the middle of the crowd, Aoyama scratched the back of his neck awkwardly while watching Minette spiral into despair.
...Should I help her out?
He rolled his shoulder once, casually stretching as he stepped forward.
Aizawa's tired gaze shifted toward him immediately.
"Hikaru Aoyama."
The field quieted slightly.
"Do you want to go next?"
Aoyama didn't answer right away.
Instead—
his eyes locked directly onto Katsumi Bakugo.
The air between them suddenly felt competitive.
"...Yeah."
A faint smile spread across his face.
"I'm a little offended you'd make third place go first."
Katsumi's eyebrow twitched.
"...Hah?"
Silver light suddenly began flashing across Aoyama's right arm.
Flash.
Flash.
Flash.
Several students immediately straightened.
"Oh, he's using his Quirk again—"
"Clone time?"
But as the light faded—
half the class realized something was wrong.
They knew what that light usually meant.
Yet no clone appeared.
Instead, a black-and-white substance crawled across Aoyama's arm like living tar.
It stretched over his skin in twitching strands before weaving together into a glossy organic coating around his entire forearm.
The material pulsed faintly.
Alive.
"...What the hell? That isn't his clone Quirk," Kaminari muttered.
Momo narrowed her eyes slightly.
"It isn't his barrier ability either..."
The students who had arrived late looked around in confusion, having no idea what the others were talking about.
Aoyama slowly flexed his fingers as the strange substance tightened around his arm.
"When number one is standing right here."
Silence.
"What did he say?!"
"NUMBER ONE?!"
"Bakugo picked a fight with the top scorer?!"
Katsumi's grin only widened.
"...Tch."
Tiny explosions crackled across her palm.
"Now this is getting interesting."
But unlike the students—
Aizawa wasn't focused on the rankings.
His eyes remained locked on Aoyama's arm.
His capture scarf shifted slightly in the wind, his body ready to move at a moment's notice.
Because that—
that wasn't one of the many Quirks listed in Aoyama Hikaru's file.
Clone generation.
Energy constructs.
Healing light.
Rope manipulation.
Those abilities had already been documented after the entrance exam.
But this?
This living black-and-white substance coating his arm?
That was new.
And unknown abilities were dangerous.
Aizawa's gaze briefly shifted upward toward the administration floor overlooking Training Field Gamma.
Far above them, behind tinted glass—
a small figure quietly observed the field with sharp intelligence hidden behind a pleasant smile.
Nezu stood with his paws folded behind his back.
The staff had already begun preparing for Aoyama's arrival after his performance during the entrance exam.
Security personnel.
Teachers.
Analysts.
Some openly.
Some secretly.
When Aoyama had mysteriously left school grounds earlier, U.A. had immediately sent someone to follow him.
Only for the staff member to discover something bizarre.
He hadn't met another person.
He'd met another version of himself.
A clone waiting several streets away.
That observation alone had created multiple new notes in his file.
Possible reabsorption range limitations.
Requirement for close-proximity reintegration.
Visible long-range reconnection effects involving silver light particles.
Useful information.
But none of that concerned Nezu right now.
His eyes narrowed slightly behind the glass.
Because the substance coating Aoyama's arm had never appeared in any previous report.
Back on the field, Aizawa finally tossed Aoyama the softball.
"Throw it."
Aoyama caught it one-handed.
The black-and-white coating tightened slightly around the ball with faint twitching movements.
Several students unconsciously took a step back.
Even Shoko Todoroki narrowed her eyes.
Aoyama calmly walked toward the throwing circle.
No dramatic pose.
No speech.
Just a relaxed roll of his shoulder.
He planted one foot forward.
His arm pulled back as light-force gathered.
Anti-Venom's tendrils spread across his arm and chest, allowing healing energy to reinforce his muscles and prevent damage to his human body.
Then he threw the ball.
CRACK!!!
The softball visibly deformed from the force of the launch, the throw producing a sharp shockwave as it tore through the air.
Aoyama had condensed roughly 0.3 tons of force into the throw.
BOOM!!
The ball burst apart mid-flight from the pressure and speed alone.
The digital measuring screen flickered violently.
Complete silence fell over the field.
Even Katsumi's grin disappeared.
Bakugo's explosive throw had already launched the ball over seven hundred meters.
An absurd result for a first-year student.
But Aoyama's throw—
"1,120 meters."
Aizawa read the number from his handheld monitor.
Nearby, Aoyama casually rolled his shoulder.
"Ah… what a bad throw."
He muttered it under his breath, sounding genuinely dissatisfied that he'd needed to hold back so much just to avoid completely obliterating the softball.
"..."
"..."
"...What?"
Denka Kaminari's jaw slowly dropped open.
"No way that was a bad throw."
She flat-out refused to believe he hadn't been serious.
Minette suddenly sat upright so fast Ochaco nearly lost her grip on her.
"I TAKE IT BACK!" she shouted while dramatically pointing at Aoyama. "HE CAN SAVE ME!"
Several students turned toward her in confusion.
Minette ignored them completely.
Instead, she sprinted across the field with tears practically streaming down her face.
"Aoyama!" she cried. "I know we've had our differences, but whatever that thing is on your arm—can you lend it to me?!"
The black-and-white substance around Aoyama's forearm twitched slightly as he looked down at her.
"...Sure."
Minette blinked.
"...Pretty please?"
"I already said yes."
"...Wait."
She stared at him.
"Seriously?"
Aoyama shrugged casually.
"It only has enough energy left for one more use before it falls apart, though."
The entire field went silent again.
Even Aizawa's eyes narrowed.
Because that sentence carried terrifying implications.
Enough energy left?
Like it was equipment.
Or a transferable tool.
Aizawa watched carefully as the black-and-white substance slowly peeled away from Aoyama's arm in twitching strands.
The mass stretched unnaturally before slithering through the air toward Minette's hand.
Several students physically recoiled.
"EW—"
"What IS that?!"
Even Minette looked horrified for half a second as the living substance wrapped around her arm like liquid webbing.
Then the sensation hit.
Her eyes widened.
"...Whoa."
The symbiote coating tightened across her forearm and shoulder.
Not painfully.
But firmly.
Like extra muscles locking into place.
Aizawa's scarf slowly lowered another inch.
Because the questions forming in his mind were becoming significantly worse.
Is he lending away his Quirk?
Creating temporary biological constructs?
Enhancing other people?
None of those possibilities were normal.
High above the field, Nezu's smile widened slightly.
Now this was interesting.
Meanwhile, Minette flexed her fingers experimentally.
"...I feel weirdly athletic."
Aizawa finally spoke.
"Throw the ball."
Minette immediately straightened.
"R-Right!"
She hurried nervously toward the throwing circle while the rest of Class 1-A watched with complete focus.
Even Katsumi crossed her arms while staring hard at the black-and-white coating around Minette's arm.
Minette swallowed.
Then dramatically wound her arm back.
"Please don't let me get expelled..."
FWIP—!!
She hurled the softball with everything she had.
The symbiote tightened violently around her arm at the moment of release.
BOOM!!
The ball shot across the field far faster than anyone expected from her tiny frame.
The digital screen spun rapidly before flashing the result.
102.4 meters.
"I BROKE A HUNDRED?!" Minette screamed.
She stared at the scoreboard like it had personally descended from heaven.
Ochaco looked shocked.
Kaminari looked offended.
Mina looked one second away from asking for a turn herself.
Meanwhile, Aizawa stared directly at Aoyama.
Not with suspicion anymore.
With active concern.
Because boosting someone from below-average athletic ability to over a hundred meters with a single enhancement wasn't a minor detail.
That was a support ability powerful enough to completely alter combat evaluations.
And the fact Aoyama had handed it over so casually made it even worse.
Aizawa's tired eyes narrowed slightly.
"...What exactly is your Quirk?"
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Aoyama's lips.
"Complicated."
That answer did not help.