Grimoire Ultra 6 (Patreon)

First day of UA, and I couldn’t help but smirk as I sat in my assigned seat. The game the night before had done wonders for Izumi’s nerves, as outside of having a notebook in front of her and jotting notes while looking at our other classmates, she was visibly calmer than I’d have expected her to be. The class roster was also different from what I’d been expecting.

Sure, Toga and I were here to knock two canon members out, but it was more than that. I couldn’t remember everyone who’d been in 1A originally, but I do remember my fellow American had been in 1B. More than that, I think the girl with vines for hair had also been in 1B. Still, it won’t really matter in the long run, I don’t think.

It was amusing to watch the living robot argue with the angry pomeranian, even if the slight hunching in of Izumi’s shoulders made me want to see if he was as puntable as an actual rat dog. Fortunately for the loudmouth asshat, it was at that point that the infamous caterpillar made his appearance.

I was rather proud of myself, for not bursting out in laughter as he unzipped his sleeping bag and stepped out of it. Maybe in some universe it would have the intended effect, but honestly it just looked silly.

“It took you eight seconds to quiet down,” the buggy hobo who was somehow employed as a teacher said as he held up a juice packet and drained it. “Illogical, time is precious in the field.”

Gee, it was almost like we were students and not professional heroes, what a shock. I very firmly did not say that aloud, but I had the impression that he knew I was thinking something smart assy, because he leveled a glare in my direction.

Several gym uniforms were placed on the desk in front of the class, and the hobo said, “Call me Aizawa-sensei. Put these on and meet me on Training Ground Beta in ten minutes.”

There was pure silence for a moment, followed by an explosion of movement as twenty teens all raced up to the front of the classroom. Followed by racing for the locker rooms, and ten minutes later, said twenty students were on a big open field.

“You all made it here, good. We’ll be conducting a Quirk Apprehension Test,” Aizawa stated bluntly.

“What about Orientation?” Uraraka asked, tilting her head like a puppy. Are all of the girls in this world cute or hot? Because something about her face at the moment made me want to scratch behind her ears.

“A waste of time if you want to become heroes,” he shot back with a scoff. “UA is known for the freedom it gives its teachers.”

I glanced to the side, and smiled slightly at seeing how Izumi was bouncing on the balls of her feet. To my surprise, I wasn’t the one called up to demonstrate the ball throw, Bakugo still was. As came the usual order for the ball to become living challenged, the excitement, and the expulsion threat.

Honestly, it was kinda cute. Not in the same way Izumi was, but like when a tiny, poofy purse dog is trying to be intimidating. But maybe that was just me. Still, first up was a fifty meter dash. I was paired with the robot, and even with the additional practice, transforming to murder croc form hurt like hell. I wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Iida, but I was still decently placed.

That proved to be the recurring trend for me for the rest of the tests. I didn’t particularly excel at any of them (except for the grip strength one, croc jaws are no joke), but I was able to remain in the upper half of the class. The real exciting part was with the ball throw. I went second, after Momo who’d made a cannon to fire the ball out of.

I turned into a giant murder croc, and hadn’t practiced with my control over my tail in this form sufficient to be comfortable with trying to use it as a bat. Instead, I grabbed the discarded cannon that Momo had used, carried it into the circle with me, turned to the crowd of my fellow students, and utilized what was proving to be my most potent weapon.

“After I shift, could someone load the ball into the cannon for me?” I asked, making most of the class look at me in confusion while those who’d been in the same Testing Area as me had their eyes widen in realization.

A quick shift to pug croc, and the ensuing screams of ‘KAWAII!’ ensured that someone would do so. Sure enough, after shifting to kaprosuchus and managing to scarf down the cannon, Izumi jogged up and loaded the testing ball into the cannon that grew out of my back. The result wasn’t quite as good as Momo’s had been, but still pretty good.

Izumi, for her part, was doing a lot better than she had in canon. She’d gotten a form of Full Cowling down, but was limited to a single percent. She wasn’t excelling, but she was still doing rather well all together. At least, up until it was her turn for the ball throw and Aizawa decided to be his hypocritical self.

“Your quirk possesses enough power to destroy a Zero Pointer, yet you’ve barely been using it at all. If you think you can skate by while doing the bare minimum, then you don’t belong here,” he said, glaring down at Izumi. Seeing the terrified look on Izumi’s face, I took my earlier plan not to make too many waves and chucked it out the window.

“You are one disappointment after another,” I said, stepping to the front, and getting his glare aimed at me. Izumi sent a look my way, trying to tell me to stop without speaking, but I kept my focus on Aizawa, “I was chased by a cannibalistic monster that wanted to kill and eat me, not necessarily in that order. A hobo with pink eye, no idea of what a shower or personal grooming are, and just recently touched an electrical socket isn’t intimidating.”

“And you think that makes you qualified to judge me as a teacher?” he drawled, turning his attention fully on me.

“No, I think the fact that you clearly haven’t bothered to so much as give a cursory examination of our student files does,” I shot back. “My file states that I’ve had my kaprosuchus form for less than two months. Bakugo’s over there says he has tinnitus. Hers quite clearly states that the Entrance Exam was the first time she used it.”

Ignoring Izumi’s red face and the muttering behind me, I met Aizawa’s glare with my own. Something I’d been thinking about and I’d decided on: anyone or anything that wanted to fuck with my class would have to go through me first. That included UA’s staff. From what I’d read, it especially included Aizawa.

“And how did you get your hands on student files?” Aizawa asked after seeing that I wasn’t going to back down.

“When I learned the name of my homeroom instructor, I did some research. I looked up your history as an instructor, including how last year you expelled your entire class, and expanded from there to see what my classmates would be like. As for how I got the files, it’s quite simple: I asked.”

[hr][/hr]

All Might watched with a baited breath as the student met Aizawa's gaze. It was surprising, and interesting, to watch him moving to subtly place himself between Aizawa and the rest of his class. It wasn't obvious, but he’d become skilled enough at reading body language, something crucial in a fight, to tell that the young man was all but telling Aizawa that the rest of the students were under his protection.

The fact that he felt the need to do so would be something puzzled over by Principal Nezu, but for the moment All Might would continue to watch.

[hr][/hr]

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at me, clearly unimpressed. “So, what's your point?” he asked.

“My point is that you're not living up to the reputation that UA has. You're not giving us a fair chance to prove ourselves. You're not teaching us how to be heroes, you're just trying to weed out those you decide are ‘weak’ by some metric you aren’t sharing. And I'm not okay with that,” I said firmly.

There was a moment of silence as Aizawa stared at me, and I could feel the eyes of my classmates on me. Some of them looked impressed, while others looked uncomfortable. But I didn't back down. I had made a decision to stand up for what was right, and I wasn't going to let anyone intimidate me. Finally, Aizawa let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes, his hair dropping down as he stopped using his quirk.

“You have a point,” he admitted begrudgingly. “But things aren't as simple as you make them out to be. Being a hero isn't just about power or control, it's about making tough decisions and sacrifices."

“I understand that,” I replied. “But I also believe that everyone deserves a fair chance. If you're going to be a teacher, you need to teach and guide your students, not just expel them at the first sign of weakness.”

Aizawa didn't say anything for a moment, and I thought for a second that I may have gone too far. But then he let out a small chuckle. “You remind me of someone,” he said. “Someone who was always trying to fight for what they believed in, no matter what. It's a rare trait in this world, and one that I can respect.”

I was caught off guard by his words. I had been prepared for anger and backlash, but not for acceptance and understanding. “Thank you,” I said, surprised at his change in attitude. “I just want to be the best hero I can be, and I believe that starts with being given a fair chance to prove myself.”

Aizawa nodded, his expression serious again. “I'll take what you said into consideration,” he said, turning to the rest of the class. “But that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you. You all have a lot of work to do if you want to become heroes. And if you're not willing to put in the effort, then you don't belong here.”

I nodded, feeling a sense of determination wash over me. I was ready to put in the work to become the hero I knew I could be. And as I looked around at my classmates, I could see that they felt the same way. We were all in this together, united in our goal to become heroes. And with Aizawa's reluctant approval, I knew that we had a chance to succeed. All we needed to do was work hard and never give up. And I was determined to do just that.

That didn’t change the fact that I was now seen as the biggest badass in the class, a fact that pissed off a certain blonde with the personality of a chihuahua getting pegged with a pineapple, but fuck him. Kiri especially clapped me hard on the shoulder in the locker rooms.

“Dude, that was super manly how you got in his face like that!” he declared as I put the uniform back on.

“I don’t know how you weren’t scared! I wasn’t even the one he was glaring at and I nearly panicked,” Denki said as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

“Like I told him, he’s not as intimidating as some of the shit I’ve had to deal with,” I said with a shrug, tying the red necktie.

“You mentioned the wendigo villain two weeks ago, was that whom you were referring to?” Peppermint asked.

“Yeah, fucker messed up my apartment building and I was living on my girlfriend’s couch for a few days until the dorms opened,” I said, closing the locker and heading back to the classroom. Idly, I wondered how Izumi was doing with the other girls.

[hr][/hr]

“C’mon girl! You clearly know him, so spill! We need deets!”

[hr][/hr]

She was probably fine.