Chapter Text
I was nervous...of course I was. Who wouldn't be? But I couldn't stand in front of the huge door forever. Eventually, I'd have to take the plunge and go inside. Deep breath, Kana, you can do this. You passed the entrance exam, you deserve to be here just as much as anyone else. I pulled the large door open to the sound of raised voices, one of which I surprisingly recognized.
"Remove your foot from that desk! Such an action is insulting to those who came to UA before us as well as the craftsmen who made the desk!"
"Like I care. What middle school are you from, you extra?"
A boy with green hair was coming into the room behind me, so I quickly headed toward the back of the classroom.
"Hi, Iida," I murmured as I moved past him.
"Satori," he nodded to me before continuing his argument with the angry blonde boy.
"Somei?!" I hear the blonde yell. "A stuck-up elitist, then? I should blow you to bits."
I felt myself sink lower into my seat. I, too, was from Somei. I hoped no one would see me that way, even though it was an apt description for my family. Iida came from an elite family too, but he was never arrogant about it. At least I never perceived him as being arrogant. Despite attending the same school for years, we were never friends. Friendly, since Iida was friendly toward everyone, but never friends. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a relief to see a familiar face.
Part of me...who am I kidding...most of me was still shocked I was here in the first place. I thought being a hero was something unattainable...but here I am. I took the opportunity to scan the room, quietly assessing my classmates. There seemed to be quite a few loud personalities and, much to my delight, even louder hair colors.
I knew it was silly, but I was kinda relieved that my hair wouldn't stand out much in this classroom. For someone as introverted as me, it wasn't my favorite thing to be recognized for something and, in middle school, it was my dark blue-green hair. I already noticed that the boy who came in behind me had a very similar hair color to mine, but I noticed a girl whose shade was nearly identical sitting a few seats in front of me. My hair definitely had more of a bluish tint than theirs but as I continued to look around the room, more specifically at some of the gorgeous girls, I realized I had nothing to worry about. The only way I would be getting noticed in this room...scratch that, no one would be noticing me. I laid my head down on my desk and let out a soft sigh. It was all for the best that way.
I was here to become the best I could be. I was here to develop my quirk so I could help people. I was not here to be noticed by my peers or to make friends. If that was to happen, it would be a lucky bonus. But that's not why I was here.
After giving myself that internal pep talk, I returned my attention to the room where a lot of students had grown silent. Our new teacher had arrived. The scruffy-looking man introduced himself as Aizawa before throwing gym uniforms at us and telling us to get changed.
I picked up a jacket and pants from the pile and followed the other girls to the locker room. No one said much, just a few muttering about what was happening. As we approached the training grounds outside, I saw that the boys were already gathered. I quickly took a spot at the end and listened as Mr. Aizawa gave us the run down for our quirk assessment test.
I'd be lying, if I said I wasn't nervous. I knew my quirk had the potential to be really strong and I had recently been discovering new ways to use it, especially in regards to being a hero. But I wasn't sure how much use it would be in these circumstances. I'd have to get creative.
My quirk is plant manipulation. Basically, if it's a plant and close enough for me to use, I can. My biggest strength lies in manipulating trees and vines. I can bring a tree's roots up from the ground and use them like rope or I can wrap them around my own body and use them to propel myself. I can maneuver the trees to different spots, bring them to myself to climb up or use, or move them out of the way if needed. I also use roots or vines to immobilize my opponents.
Another aspect of my quirk is to grow a full plant or even parts of it from a seed. It's my biggest success so far and the applications are endless, as I can mature a seed to a full plant in an instant. For example, I could grow fruit or vegetables during disaster relief to feed people. This would also apply to plants with medicinal properties. I can also use it to grow plants to use as weapons...or maybe poisonous plants to potentially subdue villains, but I've been hesitant to try that out. It's one of the things I'm hoping to learn to do here at UA.
But none of that matters at the moment. Right now, I needed to determine which of these tests would benefit from quirk use and which would not. I saw some trees within range that I could utilize but, other than that, there wasn't a lot of nature for me to work with.
I was thinking the softball throw, long distance run, and maybe grip strength would be the only tests where my quirk could be helpful.
Sure enough, there were some people's quirks that helped on practically every test and others that weren't as useful, like mine. I got a little jealous of the girl with the creation quirk, thinking about all the things I could do if I could create my own plant life instead of relying on already existing plants.
But, no sense worrying about what I couldn't do. Time to focus on what I can. I wasn't able to use roots to tighten my hand for the grip strength test since it was held inside without a plant in sight. But I was able to wrap my legs in roots to propel myself forward for the standing long jump. It's a good thing I had been working on my balance or else I could have totally face-planted right into the sand.
It was time for the softball throw. I had an idea in mind. Mr. Aizawa said anything goes as long as we didn't leave the circle. But my plan would leave a mess of the field, so I figured the proper thing to do would be to ask permission.
"Mr. Aizawa?"
"What is it, Satori?"
"Would it be possible for me to go last for this one?"
I received a raised eyebrow in return.
I nervously began to twirl a strand of my long hair between my fingers. "Well, I have an idea of how to improve my score, but it might tear up the field a bit, but if I went last, then I wouldn't be ruining anyone else's chance."
"That's very considerate of you. Alright, I'll allow you to go last."
"Thank you, sir!" I said with a quick bow before I hurried to stand with the rest of my classmates.
There was some kind of drama going on between the angry blonde, Bakugo, and the green-haired boy, Midoriya. I got the impression that they've known each other for a long time. At least Iida's never treated me with that much contempt.
It was finally my turn. I stepped into the circle holding the ball. I shot a glance back to Mr. Aizawa, who gave me a small nod. I focused on a medium-sized tree behind me and began to move it closer, uprooting it a bit along the way.
"If you guys could make a path please, I don't want to hit anyone by accident," I said to my classmates. I once again glanced at Mr. Aizawa, "I'll return it to its original spot once I'm done, sir."
I brought the tree up to the circle and carefully placed the ball in a secure spot near the end of one of the branches. I then continued to move the tree as far from me as my limits allowed. Once it reached the maximum distance before I would lose control, I focused my attention on the branch where the ball was resting. Mentally forcing the branch back, I catapulted the ball even further. It took more time and energy than a traditional throw, but the results spoke for themselves.
"853 meters."
I smiled to myself before it quickly changed to a grimace as I looked at the path I'd dug up in the field. "Sorry about the field sir, I'll put the tree back now."
I quickly pulled the tree back toward me along the same path I had used previously, trying to minimize the damage I had already caused to the field. I shuffled back to stand on the end next to the creation girl.
"That was a very creative use of your quirk. It's Satori, right?"
"Yes. Thanks. I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."
"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu."
"Nice to meet you, Yaoyorozu."
There wasn't anymore time to talk before we were on to the next task.
I totally cheated when it came time for the long distance run, but I was creatively using my quirk, so it was allowed. I hitched a ride on a tree branch as I moved it along the track for the distance run. It was more physically draining than if I had just jogged on my own, but seriously faster to move this way.
When all was said and done, I was perfectly average, 11th out of 20. I mean, I wasn't really surprised. That's like, the most accurate description of me ever...average. I tried to look on the bright side. I had lots of room for improvement, but I also wasn't completely useless. I wouldn't be considered a threat by my more ambitious classmates, but I also couldn't be considered weak.
Mr. Aizawa dismissed us to the classroom where we could grab paperwork about all our upcoming courses. The day had flown by. I followed the others back to the classroom to grab all my belongings, then headed to the locker rooms to change. I was a few steps behind that infinity girl, Uraraka. I was trying to figure out something to say to her when I heard her yell out as she ran down the steps toward someone. I stopped and watched her run up to Iida and Midoriya and strike up a friendly conversation.
It seemed silly that I was thinking about trying to talk to her. I was never going to be outgoing or bubbly like that. I was watching them walk away when someone brushed past me. My eyes followed the pretty boy with the two-toned hair as he also made his way toward the exit. He seemed like he was more my kind of person. I couldn't even remember him speaking once over the course of the day.
I followed several feet behind him until I reached the road and the car that was stopped at the curb. Upon seeing me, my driver, Ken, opened the back door for me with a slight bow.
"I hope Miss Kana had a pleasant day at school."
I rolled my eyes at him as I threw my bag in the back seat and, as unladylike as possible, climbed into the car and slouched in the seat.
I heard Ken chuckle as he closed the door and got into the driver's seat.
"Should I take that to mean you did not have a pleasant day, Miss Kana?"
"Cut the crap, Ken. It was fine. We did physical fitness testing while using our quirks so our teacher could see our strengths and weaknesses. Lots of new and loud personalities to deal with. I'm a bit drained both physically and mentally."
He chuckled again as he merged into traffic to begin the short drive home. "I'm sorry that I find your pain amusing, kiddo. It's just funny how introverted you are when compared to the rest of your family. You'd think you'd be a pro at dealing with larger-than-life personalities."
"Please, for the love of whatever you hold sacred, do not compare me to the rest of my family. Crazy people, the lot of them. Just get me home so I can escape to my room in peace."
"No can do on that account. You are to report to the garden terrace immediately after arriving. Your mother wants you and your sister to have tea with her and discuss your respective first days."
Tea with my mother and sister? My response was to groan and slouch further down into my seat.