Well. That was that.
The Quirk Apprehension Test was over.
I stretched my shoulders a little, letting the last bit of tension shake off. Based on how everything went, I was almost certain I landed in the top three. That was practically guaranteed before the test even began, unless someone had a sudden Quirk awakening mid-event.
Bakugo and Todoroki both had solid showings, but I'm confident I edged them out. And Momo might've actually beaten me. Her Quirk gave her a perfect edge in this type of environment. She could fabricate the best tool for every test. A cannon for the ball throw. A trampoline for the long jump. There wasn't a single event she didn't get a top 3 placement in.
I even considered redoing my ball throw after Midoriya's performance. His one-finger shot landed at 705.3 meters, just enough to top Bakugo. And that was with a single finger.
If I'd absorbed One for All from him, I could've doubled that. Actually, double is probably an understatement. I'd be able to use a full arm if I reinforced my body first. I would've buried that ball in orbit.
But that would've been a waste.
There's no glory in kicking someone who's already down. If I showed Midoriya up using his own Quirk, it'd just look petty. Desperate, even. People would remember that. And not in the way I want to be remembered.
So I held back.
Aizawa stepped forward, tablet in one hand, his tone as dry as always.
"That's enough for today. I've tallied your results and ranked you from highest to lowest. By now, most of you probably have a sense of how you did. There's no point going over everyone individually, so I'll just show the full list."
He tapped his tablet.
A blue holographic display flickered to life above him, projecting the rankings into the air above us.
U.A. HERO COURSE – QUIRK APPREHENSION RESULTS
1. Kyūta Henshin
2. Momo Yaoyorozu
3. Shoto Todoroki
4. Katsuki Bakugo
5. Tenya Iida
6. Fumikage Tokoyami
7. Mezo Shoji
8. Mashirao Ojiro
9. Eijiro Kirishima
10. Mina Ashido
11. Ochaco Uraraka
12. Rikido Sato
13. Tsuyu Asui
14. Yuga Aoyama
15. Hanta Sero
16. Denki Kaminari
17. Kyoka Jiro
18. Toru Hagakure
19. Minoru Mineta
20. Izuku Midoriya
I stared at the rankings for a second.
Huh.
That was... interesting.
I expected to land high, but I didn't expect to edge out Momo. Her performance was more consistent. Her cannon shot crushed my ball throw. She was top tier in nearly every category. So why was I ranked above her?
And Midoriya? He'd done better than at least four people. Jiro, Hagakure, Mineta, and Kaminari didn't exactly dominate anything. Midoriya had one huge score, and even if the rest were average, he shouldn't have been dead last.
Then again, I already knew this wasn't about raw performance.
Aizawa was evaluating application.
Momo did what was expected—used her Creation Quirk to make the best tools for each test. It was impressive, sure, but linear. Nothing wrong with that, considering she had one of the best performances.
I, on the other hand, reshaped my body. Combined abilities. Manipulated material dynamically. I took something that looked like a basic transformation-type and pushed it in a direction even she hadn't anticipated.
Me? I used a transformation Quirk in ways they hadn't expected to see. Elastic legs, spring-launches, titanium bracing. In a way, I was showing off my Quirk beyond the blatantly obvious ways.
And I'm betting that's what Aizawa was watching for.
There was a soft chorus of exhaled breaths across the field. Jiro lowered her head in relief. Kaminari nearly collapsed backward. Hagakure's voice piped up with a shaky "phew," even though no one could see her. Mineta looked like he'd just dodged a death sentence. They'd been bracing for the worst—and they knew exactly how close they'd come.
As for Midoriya...
He stood quietly at the back of the group, cradling his busted hand. His face was tight, trying to stay neutral, but his eyes were distant. Haunted, almost.
Aizawa shut off the display with a flick of his wrist.
"Oh, and by the way—I lied."
Half the class froze.
"No one's getting expelled. That was a rational deception to make sure you gave it everything."
There was a beat of stunned silence.
Then his face twisted into something wild—eyes wide and bloodshot, teeth bared in a grin that was way too satisfied for someone who just admitted to lying to a bunch of stressed-out teenagers. He looked unhinged.
I think half the class wanted to punch him. The other half just looked exhausted.
"That's it," he said, expression going blank again. "Pick up a syllabus from the classroom and go home. You'll need to study it. Tomorrow's going to be worse."