Chapter 5: A New Future
In the designated UA monitor room, footage from the entrance exam played, replaying notable events and moments that occurred during it. It mostly showed people using their Quirks in various ways to destroy robots. There were a select few being shown that showcased the most innovative and flashy ways to take down robots with Quirks.
And some of the most notable participants being shown were Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.
Some of UA's staff watched the clips closely, trying to gauge which of the participants looked to be prime candidates for UA High. But, they always ended up looking at the three 12 year old girls completely decimating robots left and right.
Finally, Nezu, one of the UA staff there, said, "We sure have promising future students for UA."
Another UA staff member agreed with Nezu's statement. "You got that right! Look at those skills and tricks! These people have some very impressive Quirks."
After he said that, someone spoke in the back, prompting everyone to turn around. It was All Might, and he was saying the thing that everyone was thinking about.
"I believe the most promising ones are in Test Site A. There really was a lot going on at that site."
Nezu smiled as he turned back to the monitor controls. "That's right! Let's go over the highlights, shall we?"
Soon, the monitors showed different people showcasing their Quirks. It prominently showed the three girls, as they destroyed robots and dodged attacks.
"Who are those little girls?" a UA staff member mused.
"I believe that they are Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru Utonium. They come all the way from Hosu City in Tokyo." Nezu replied.
"Hosu City… a bit far from here." another one remarked.
"Either way, they're really strong. I can't seem to place what kind of Quirk they have…" a third one added.
"Well, whatever Quirk they do have, it's clearly refined. Each of the three raked up three of the highest scores in the exam overall." the first one stated.
"But… they look young, don't they? The file states they're only 12 years old." the second one countered.
Nezu smiled. "Then perhaps we have talented child prodigies on our hands. They will definitely be considered for UA. Any other people worth mentioning?"
"Yeah, that green haired kid. He was able to nearly destroy that Arena Trap with a single punch! And yet, he has absolutely no combat points. I wonder how that's possible, given his clearly strong Quirk." the first one answered.
"Well, you've seen him after that punch," the second one protested, "The sheer force of it broke his legs AND right arm. Never thought I'd see a Quirk today that would have devastating drawbacks, but that boy clearly has one."
"Regardless, what he did was impressive. That sure earned him a lot of rescue points, so that more than makes up for the lack of combat points." Nezu concluded.
The UA staff members agreed. After that, more participants were discussed, like the girl who was trapped under the robot debris (she earned a lot of rescue points just by helping others get away from the 0 pointer) and Katsuki Bakugou (he earned the most combat points but earned zero rescue points). But, after a few more minutes, the meeting ended, and everyone left the room. Nezu and All Might were the last to leave. As they did, All Might had something on his mind.
"Hey, Nezu." he said.
"Hmm?" Nezu hummed in response.
"Those girls… weren't they at the Sludge Villain incident?"
Nezu nodded. "Yes. Those were the girls you saved with the punch."
All Might looked impressed. "Wow. Yes, I remember now. They are good, and you seem to like them. Why did they go to the entrance exam instead of being recommended?"
Nezu thought for a moment before saying, "I wanted to see their Quirks in action, and how they would react to fighting robots and especially how they would deal with the Arena Trap."
All Might nodded. "I see… but, I wonder what Quirks they have?"
For a moment, Nezu considered telling All Might about how the girls didn't really have "Quirks" persay, and didn't live in Tokyo but rather a whole different universe. But instead, he provided a different response.
"Perhaps more analysis and monitoring would deduce that," he replied.
All Might took the response as a good answer, and smiled a bit.
"Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru… I can't wait to teach those girls."
A week later…
"THE LETTER'S HERE, THE LETTER'S HERE!" Bubbles shouted excitedly.
It had only been a week since the girls completed the entrance exam. But, unlike the 10 months before the exam, the week afterwards felt much longer. That was because the letter with the girls' exam results was highly anticipated. It was the make-or-break of their future with UA. And they worried day in and day out if their skills were good enough.
And after a long week of timid waiting and stressing, the results finally arrived.
When Bubbles picked up the letter from the doorstep, closed the door, and turned around, she was nearly knocked over by Buttercup and Blossom.
"Bubbles, give it here!" Blossom exclaimed.
"Nuh-uh! If anything, I'M touching the letter!"
"Buttercup, get your grubby hands off the letter!"
Miraculously, Bubbles kept a firm hold on the letter and pushed her sisters away.
"Now, now. Be patient. The more you waste time scrambling and pushing, the more we have to wait to view the results." Bubbles said rather maturely.
But, the mature front didn't last long, as Bubbles ran to the couch with a grin, her sisters scrambling after her. As they sat down, Bubbles eagerly ripped the envelope open to find a circular disc machine that confused the three girls.
"This doesn't look like a letter…" Bubbles mumbled, confused.
"What is this supposed to be? A Frisbee?" Buttercup asked, clueless.
Blossom then noticed something on the disc. "Wait! There's a button!"
Taking the disc from Bubbles's hands, Blossom pressed the button and set it on the table. Suddenly, the middle of the disc started to glow, a whirring sound was heard, and a virtual video hovered over the disc.
"A hologram!" Blossom exclaimed.
"We really are living in the future, huh?" Buttercup mused.
After pressing play on the video, the video showed a black screen before cutting to a close-up of All Might's face, prompting the girls to jump.
"EEK!" Bubbles shrieked.
"Why is this dude so close to the camera?! Personal SPACE, please!" Buttercup protested.
Soon, All Might backed away from the camera, and posed.
"Hello, participants! I AM HERE! Recognize me? Number One Hero, and the Symbol of Peace!" All Might declared.
Bubbles brightened. "Hey! He was at that monster attack that happened when we first came here! He punched the Sludge guy away, didn't he?"
Blossom's eyes grew wide and sparkly. "AND HE'S THE NUMBER ONE HERO TOO! I HAVE TO GET HIS AUTOGRAPH, I HAVE TO!"
Buttercup sighed. "Oh no. Your 'crazed hero fanatic' side is showing, Bloss."
Before the girls could talk more, All Might spoke again.
"Why hello there, Momoko! And Miyako! And Kaoru too! The triplet child prodigies! I gotta say, you were impressive at the exam."
Buttercup's face went blank. "Who the hell is Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru?"
Blossom groaned. "Omg, Buttercup, how many times do I have to explain this? Those are our FAKE names!"
"Oh. The names are still stupid."
All Might smiled and got closer to the camera. "I'm going to let you in on a secret between you and me, girls. I saw you at the entrance exam. And you impressed me. A lot. Despite your young age, you have what it takes! Just take a peek at your scores!"
After he said that, the video cut to a screenshot of the girls' scores. Blossom (Momoko) had received 68 combat points. Bubbles (Miyako) received 57 combat points. And Buttercup (Kaoru) received 72 combat points. Their rescue points were all the same number: 50.
"Wait, there were rescue points too?!" Bubbles asked.
Just then, the video cut back to All Might.
"Now you might be wondering, 'Wait, there were rescue points too?!' And to that, I say, of course! Every hero in this society must put other people's safety before theirs. A true hero doesn't save for popularity and fame. No, a hero is motivated out of the selflessness of their hearts to rescue others. That was why UA kept the rescue points category a secret.
"You girls were perfect examples of courage and rescue. Not only did you save Izuku after he clashed with the bot, but you also finished off the Arena Trap when it came back for a second round! You showed genuine concern for the people you were saving. And for that, UA awards you with 50 rescue points each! And with that, you three collectively scored at least 400 points! Because of that, you are MORE than qualified to be in the roster for Class 1-A this year!"
At first, the girls sat on the couch, shocked. But after a few seconds, Blossom broke the silence as the video played.
"We're… in UA."
As soon as she said that, it was as if all hell broke loose. The girls were on their feet, cheering, yelling, and crying, as they jumped up and down while hugging each other.
"WE'RE A PART OF UA HIGH!"
"IN CLASS 1-A!"
"WE'RE OFFICIALLY ON THE WAY!"
Together, the girls celebrated, long after the video ended. They danced and laughed and cried happy tears. It was all worth it. The practice, the anguish, the work. All of it got them to where they needed to be. Accepted into UA High.
Obviously, getting into UA didn't solve all of their problems. But, it was an achievement, nonetheless. In UA High, in Class 1-A, the girls would learn to get stronger, learn more about this world, and possibly find a way back home. Maybe even make some friends along the way. It was unclear what the girls' future holds, but for once, for one day, they didn't worry about that.
For them, it was time to let loose for once, and live in the moment.
When they had long worn out their voices from squealing and cried their eyes dry, Blossom went to the fridge, and poured some soda into cups (into fancy wine glasses because this moment was too important to go without them). After handing a cup to Bubbles and Buttercup, Blossom stood in front of the couch, her glass raised.
"I'd like to make a toast. It's been a long time. But, it feels like yesterday when we got ready at home and took off to fight crime. The Professor was cooking breakfast, and we assumed that we would come back after an hour to eat it. How wrong we were…"
Blossom paused, to accentuate the weight of the words. In the back of her mind, she wondered if the breakfast was still there, waiting for her and her sisters to come back home and eat it. But, after a moment, she pushed those thoughts away and continued.
"We've had our ups and downs. Our great and… mainly not-so-great days. But now, things are going to change around here. We're going to UA, to maybe try and find some answers. Maybe we'll pick up a few things here and there along the way, and hopefully make some friends. But, for a moment, just imagine what will happen when we get back.
"After all of the reuniting and tears are over, we'll have a story to tell to the Professor. About how we managed to live in a world where 80% of the world had powers. About how it was a weird experience, yet changed us for the better. We have a lot to learn before that, so let's hope that we learn it. To us."
Bubbles and Buttercup jumped up, and raised their glasses into the air, big grins on their faces.
"TO US!"
Those two words stuck with Blossom, as the girls drank the soda and had some dinner (they decided to order pizza). It stuck with her as the girls got ready and slipped into bed. As she snuggled tight with her sisters in the middle, Blossom stared up at the ceiling, bright-eyed and for once, excited about her future.
"To us…" she whispered into the still air, as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
That entrance exam really changed a lot for the girls. One thing that it changed was the overall mood. What used to be gray and boring days were now bright and bustling. After all, it consisted of the girls preparing for the first day of school.
Uniforms were picked out, information about school schedules and teachers were explained, Hero Costumes were designed, and school supplies were crammed into color-coordinated backpacks. The girls weren't underprepared for this. If anything, they were OVERprepared.
The girls never really went to a real school. Sure, there was kindergarten. But, due to rising crime rates and Townsville's demand for the girls growing more and more, the girls dropped out of school in the first grade. But, homeschooling more than made up for things when it came to knowledge. After all, the girls' dad wasn't called the Professor for nothing.
But to be in a school with people again, a HIGH school at that, it was nerve-wracking. That was why the girls had to prepare themselves both physically and mentally. UA wouldn't just test their powers, but their social skills as well.
So, when the first day came, the girls were ready to take it on. They quickly exited their apartment and walked down the streets of Musutafu.
"Can't we just FLY?" Buttercup complained.
Blossom rolled her eyes. "For once, Buttercup. You can't rely on powers ALL the time. It wouldn't kill you to walk and take a train."
Bubbles looked excited. "I can't WAIT to go on the train! I'm gonna say hi to everybody I meet, and give them the lokai bracelets I bought from the store."
Buttercup looked at Bubbles with a deadpan expression. "You do that, and I'll deny that we're sisters."
Soon, the girls were able to get to the train station, and get on the train headed for UA High. As the train made its way along the route, Buttercup and Bubbles chatted about what their first day of school would be like.
"If I see ONE thing regarding actual studying, I'm leaving. It's a freaking Hero School, so I BETTER see some action!" Buttercup remarked.
"What I wanna see is the Quirks! Especially the cute ones! If Quirks can make Mr. Nezu look like that, then I wanna see and hug all of the cutie patooties I find!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"What about you, Bloss? What are you looking forward to?" Buttercup asked.
Blossom smiled. "I'm glad you asked."
After she said that, Blossom unzipped her backpack, and hauled out a big book. On the cover, in sparkly and glittery words, it said, "HERO AUTOGRAPHS". Buttercup and Bubbles looked at the book, then at Blossom, who shrugged.
"A girl's gotta be prepared. It's a Hero School. Which means that there'll be Heroes left and right. And I am making it a MISSION to receive every single signature of every single Hero. I do not care. This will be my prized possession, next to my manga collection."
Buttercup blinked. "Next thing I know, you'll be stealing their hair too."
"Don't be silly, Buttercup. I can always get that off the Internet." Blossom replied casually as she put the book away.
Just then, the train pulled into the station, stopping at its destination. Excitedly, the girls got off and made their way to UA. Soon, they walked into the glass building and walked around inside, looking for their class.
"I wonder where Class 1-A is…" Bubbles said.
At that moment, the girls came across a rather tall door labeled with big red letters that said "CLASS 1-A"
"Huh."
As the girls stood there, facing the door, they started to look nervous. Blossom started to rub her arms as if she was cold, Buttercup started to fidget with her fingers, and Bubbles held tight to her kawaii purple octopus plush toy (she got it on her birthday as a temporary replacement for Octi).
"Okay, girls. We have nothing to worry about! Think of this like… a villain attack with a very easy Villain." Blossom said, reassuring herself just as much as her sisters.
"Yeah. Only there's less punching and more socializing." Buttercup pointed out.
"Right. Well, my point is we can do this. We CAN do this." Blossom reaffirmed.
Bubbles and Buttercup nodded.
"We can do this." they repeated in unison.
With that in mind, Blossom opened the door, and the girls stepped inside. As soon as they did, the atmosphere changed immediately. Instead of a nervous and lonely vibe, there was now a lively and chatty vibe.
Most of their classmates were there, talking and laughing. None of them seemed to notice, until the door closed, which drew their attention to the three girls. Blossom froze, Bubbles grew wide-eyed, and Buttercup tensed.
"Uh… hey?" Blossom greeted timidly.
Instead of reacting icily, everyone else brightened up, and greeted the girls back.
"HI!" they all exclaimed in unison.
Once they did, the girls relaxed, grateful that their classmates weren't standoffish like they first presumed. Just then, some classmates came up to them, and pulled each of the girls away to different sides.
Bubbles was pulled away by a girl that was completely invisible. Once she was near the other Class 1-A girls, the invisible girl talked to her.
"Hey! You must be Miyako, right?" she asked cheerily.
At first, Bubbles was about to say, "Miyako? I'm Bubbles." But, she quickly caught herself and revised her response.
"Yeah… And you are?" Bubbles replied.
Even though the girl was completely invisible (which unnerved Bubbles just a tiny bit), she appeared to be very excited and happy.
"I'm Toru! Toru Hagakure! Nice to meet you! And I gotta say, I like your ponytails!"
Bubbles brightened at the compliment. "Really? Thank you! I like your…"
For a second, her compliment faltered as she realized that Hagakure was invisible. Quickly, she said the first thing that came to mind.
"... uniform!"
Hagakure squealed a little. "I know right! These uniforms are super cute!"
Bubbles felt relieved for a second that the compliment worked in its own way, before realizing that she DID find the uniforms super cute.
"I thought I was the only one! I really love how the blazer complements the skirt-"
"Exactly! And the color choices really work together too!"
As Hagakure and Bubbles were hitting it off, Buttercup was pulled away by a boy with really blonde hair with a black lightning bolt design.
"Hey, it's Kaoru, right? Anyways I'm Denki, and I need your input." he told Buttercup.
Buttercup blinked, bewildered. "Input on what, exactly?"
Soon, the two reached a desk, where some of the boys were gathered around. On the desk was an unopened soda can.
"So, we've been debating if it's possible to drink a can of soda in 5 seconds," Denki explained, "It obviously is, but these bozos don't wanna believe me."
"Because it's not TRUE!" a boy with a tail piped up, "The human body is incapable of ingesting THAT much soda in only 5 seconds!"
"You don't know what you're talking about, Ojiro!" Denki retorted, "I've seen it happen before!"
"Really?" a boy with a bird head asked, "Where?"
Denki hesitated, as he furrowed his brow in deep thought.
"I don't know, BUT I SAW IT! Okay, let HER decide who's right. So, Kaoru, what do you think, huh?"
As the boys looked at her, Buttercup looked nervous for a moment. But, that moment passed as she crossed her arms.
"'Course it can happen. I've done it."
Denki looked surprised. "You have?"
Buttercup nodded, a grin showing on her face, and pointed to the can. "Yeah! Mind if I demonstrate?"
As the boys shook their heads and she took the can, a short boy with purple hair scoffed.
"No way is a girl gonna drink that much soda in 5 seconds-"
Just then, Buttercup opened the can, bent her head back, and put the soda to her lips. As she drank it and Denki counted the seconds, the boys started to stare in awe.
"Five… Four… Three… TWO… ONE!"
At exactly one, Buttercup put down the soda and wiped her mouth. "Check it."
With suspicion, Denki picked up the can, only for his eyes to widen until they were the size of dinner plates.
"YO! IT'S EMPTY!" Denki hollered.
After he said that, the boys clambered to take a look.
"NO WAY!"
"You're lyin."
"That's not physically possible!"
As the boys checked the can, Denki started to slowly chant.
"Kaoru… Kaoru… Kaoru. KAORU!"
Soon, when they saw that the can was empty and their shock passed, the boys chanted too.
"KAORU! KAORU! KAORU!"
As they did, Buttercup grinned.
"That's nothing, I'm telling you! I can also do this too…"
As Buttercup chatted with the boys, Blossom was pulled away by a brown-haired girl with rosy cheeks. As she did, Blossom realized her as the girl that was at the entrance exam.
"You're Momoko, aren't you?" the girl said cheerily, before Blossom could say anything, "The girl that saved me!"
Blossom chuckled sheepishly. "I wouldn't say 'saved'. I left you under that pile of robot debris for a while…"
"But you did eventually. Also, you took down that Arena Trap! That really was brave. If it was me, I would've fainted." the girl giggled.
Blossom laughed too. "Yeah. I was close to it."
After laughing, the girl said, "But, for real. I'm really grateful you and your sisters did something. I want to thank you."
Blossom brightened at those words. "Thanks. That means a lot… um…"
The girl straightened, noticing that Blossom was trying to say her name.
"Oh, my name's Ochaco. Ochaco Uraraka!"
Blossom smiled. "Nice to meet you, Ochaco!"
As the two hung out at a desk, Ochaco looked around at the classroom.
"Can't believe that this will be our day to day life for basically the whole year! Are you excited?" Ochaco asked.
"Yeah! But… mostly nervous." Blossom replied, chuckling at the last sentence.
"Same. I'm kind of intimidated by some of the people here. Like that blonde guy."
Blossom followed Ochaco's line of sight to a guy sitting in a chair, his feet kicked up on the desk.
"Is that…?" Blossom started to ask.
"Katsuki Bakugou?" Ochaco finished, "Yeah. You've seen him before, right? At that Sludge Incident."
Blossom nodded. "Didn't know he was in this class."
Ochaco shrugged. "From what I heard, he was a prime candidate for this class. He got the most combat points out of everybody at the UA entrance exam."
Blossom's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Mm-hm. Most of the people here got high scores. We're the top class after all. Class 1-A usually gets the attention when it comes to the topic of UA. Makes me a little nervous."
Blossom nodded, getting nervous herself. "Yeah…"
Ochaco noticed and gave Blossom a smile.
"But hey. At least we got each other. Feels a little less scary when you have people supporting you."
Blossom found herself looking at her classmates and most specifically her sisters, who are already making friends with their classmates. As she did, she smiled too.
"It does."
As Class 1-A hung out together and more students came in, it was then that Blossom realized that their teacher wasn't there at all. And apparently Ochaco noticed that too.
"Huh. The teacher's not here. I wonder where he-"
Just then, the door flew open, startling and silencing everyone in the room. Mr. Aizawa walked in slowly, as if he wasn't aware that he was late. Once he reached his desk up front, every student scrambled to their seats, including Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, who all sat at the front.
"Mr. Aizawa's teaching this class?" Bubbles asked.
"I guess so. I knew he was a teacher, but I didn't know that he would teach our class." Blossom mused.
As he stood at his desk, Aizawa began to speak in a rather bored tone.
"Hello, class. Welcome to school orientation. To start off, I'd like you to go down to the locker room and change into your PE uniforms. When you're done, meet me down at the athletic field."
And with that, even though he only said a couple of sentences, Aizawa walked out of the room. Once he did, everyone looked at each other with confusion before slowly getting up and following. As the girls got up, they looked confused as well.
"Why are we going to the PE grounds? Was that on the schedule?" Bubbles asked.
"Nope," Blossom answered with a frown, "According to the daily schedule I received, we're supposed to go to a ceremony the school's hosting to welcome students."
"Well, unless we're doing the ceremony outside, I don't think we're going." Buttercup stated, raising an eyebrow.
Blossom sighed as she looked straight. It's only been 5 minutes but this is turning out to be a weird class…
As the class went to the locker rooms and changed, they all gathered outside on the athletic field, nervous and confused. Once everyone was there, Aizawa, who was standing in front of the group, spoke.
"For today, you all will be participating in a series of exercises I've designed. This will put your Quirks to the test, as well as quiz your athleticism and physical skills."
Ochaco raised her hand timidly, and asked the question that everyone was thinking.
"Um, aren't we supposed to head to the opening day ceremony?" she asked.
Aizawa shook his head. "Class 1-A doesn't go to the ceremonies. Instead, you go through a rigorous test called the Quirk Apprehension Test that will determine if you are fit for UA's curriculum."
"Wasn't that already determined by the entrance exam?" a student questioned.
Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "In the entrance exam, you auditioned for the judges and the principal, not for me. This is my class, and I'll run it how I see fit. I will rank your scores from best to worse, and if you are unable to keep up with the test or if your score's at the bottom, then you are expelled from UA."
At this, the students went into a shocked uproar.
"WHAT?!"
"ON THE FIRST DAY?"
"IT'S NOT EVEN THE FIRST DAY, IT'S ORIENTATION!"
Aizawa raised one hand, cutting off all protests.
"I suggest you quit it with the complaints, unless you don't want to be here. In that case, the exit's over there."
The students were silent, with wide and scared eyes. The girls stood there, scared to the bone.
They thought all of their troubles were over when they had gotten into UA. But, as it turns out, it was only beginning.
Chapter 6: Equal Rivalries
"First up is the 50 meter dash," Aizawa explained as the class came up to a track,
"This one's simple. You race against an opponent, and that machine over there calculates how quickly it takes you to get from one side to the other. The lower the seconds, the better the score is."
Blossom sighed as she looked at the field nervously.
"Okay… sounds easy enough."
She turned back to Bubbles and Buttercup, about to say their names. But just then, she realized that some people were glancing at them, prompting her to say their fake names instead.
"Miyako. Kaoru. You got that, right?"
Bubbles and Buttercup looked confused and blinked in unison.
"Huh?"
Blossom's face was blank before forcing a strained smile.
"Miyako, my BUBBLY sister. Kaoru, my darling BUTTERCUP. You heard what Mr. Aizawa said?" Blossom said through gritted teeth.
After a few moments, Bubbles and Buttercup caught on.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah, don't sweat it, Minako. We got this!" Buttercup said.
Blossom's eye twitched subtly before saying, "It's Momoko."
Soon, the first people were up to run. One of them was a girl with long green hair, who sort of resembled a frog (Bubbles immediately had to repress a squeal because she found the girl adorable). The other was a boy with glasses, who the girls realized was the same guy at the entrance exam, who had called out Deku for mumbling.
"So, Mr. Strict Guy got in. I feel like Blossom and him would hit it off." Buttercup snickered.
Blossom shot her a glare, but ignored her.
As the two stood at the starting line, Aizawa then gave them the word to go. After that, things happened so fast that it gave the girls mental whiplash. One second, they were standing there and the next, they were on the other side. As a breeze created from the two's speed tousled the girls' hair back and forth, they blinked with wide eyes.
"Wow. That was FAST." Bubbles whispered.
After a few moments consisting of Aizawa checking the scores, he then announced the scores.
"Iida, you passed the finish line in 3 seconds. As for Asui, you passed the finish line in 5 seconds."
Buttercup's jaw dropped. "No way. They HAVE to have the ability to fly because no human can go that fast."
"But, they're not exactly human, Buttercup," Blossom whispered so that no one overhears, "They have Quirks."
Blossom then looked straight at Iida and Asui, who came back to the group of congratulating classmates, and narrowed her eyes
"Which means we have competition…"
After that, more participants came up to compete. Everyone so far was getting scores that were all under 10 seconds. Because of this, Blossom started to worry.
It was a fact that the girls had an advantage over their classmates, due to their years of crime-fighting. Yet that comforting fact did nothing to comfort Blossom at all. If anything, it worried her. What if even with the experience, the girls failed? Despite their Hero experience, the girls were still more or less fishes out of water. Which meant that they could do the wrong thing without knowing it. A thing that could get them disqualified.
Just then, Aizawa announced the next pair of participants to go.
"Up next is Bakugou and Kaoru," he said.
Buttercup tensed as she looked at Bakugou with a glare. This further worsened Blossom's anxiety. When Buttercup's racing, Bubbles or Blossom won't be there to stop her from losing her temper. For all Blossom knew, Buttercup could punch Bakugou in the face halfway through the race, which would basically be a one-way ticket out of UA.
That was why, before Buttercup left, Blossom grabbed her wrist.
"Buttercup," Blossom hissed under her breath, "Whatever you do, don't lose your temper. I am BEGGING you. Be the bigger person."
Buttercup yanked her hand away as she rolled her eyes. "You say that as if I'm just waiting to punch Boom Boom Baby in the face. I am not that irritable, you know."
As she left, Bubbles came up next to Blossom, cheering.
"Good luck, Bu- I mean, Kaoru!" she exclaimed.
"Please don't get us kicked out. PLEASE don't get us kicked out." Blossom muttered to herself with wide eyes.
As Buttercup stood next to Bakugou on the starting line, she glanced over at him, who was getting ready.
"Hey, man. I just want to say that no matter who wins… good game." Buttercup said as she crouched.
Bakugou looked over at Buttercup with a deadpan expression, and after a moment of tense silence, he replied.
"There will be no 'no matter who wins'... I worked hard for this and I'm not going to be beaten by a freaking ten year old." Bakugou replied, his voice dull.
As she registered the sentence, Buttercup's eye twitched before looking straight with a indignated stare.
"Oh it's on, you sissy." she hissed.
Blossom, overhearing this conversation, whimpered softly as she put two fingers on the bridge of her nose.
"Oh god…" she whined.
Finally, after a few seconds, Aizawa shouted, "BEGIN!"
In a split second, Bakugou was off. Putting his hands by his sides, explosions blasted from them, propelling him forward. For a moment, it looked like he was in the lead. But just then, a bright green light appeared beside him. It was Buttercup, who was flying at the same speed as him. Together, the two locked eyes, with Bakugou being bewildered and Buttercup looking smug.
"Aw… cute." Buttercup simply said in a baby voice.
Without sparing another word, Buttercup doubled her speed and flew all the way to the finish line, a split second before Bakugou crossed it. As they landed, Aizawa checked and announced the score.
"Bakugou, that took you 4.13 seconds. Kaoru, that took you 4.02 seconds. A close shave." Aizawa noted.
Bakugou looked like he was about to lose it, which he was.
"WHAT?!"
Buttercup, meanwhile, looked at him with a smooth and self-satisfied smile.
"Ah, what do you know? You just got beaten by a freaking 10 year old." Buttercup teased as she walked back to her cheering classmates.
At first, Bakugou stood there, shocked and furious. But, the shock didn't last long, and turned into full on fury.
"I'll KILL that tiny tot…" he growled to himself before walking back to his spot in the crowd.
As Buttercup went over to her sisters, she crossed her arm, still smiling.
"Serves that son of a bitch right. Wanna call me a ten year old? Doesn't change the fact that I'm better than you." Buttercup laughed.
Blossom sighed, a little relieved but still on edge.
"I'm proud of you, Buttercup. But…"
She looked at Bakugou, who was staring at them with a murderous expression, not bothering to disguise it. She then looked back at Buttercup while sweatdropping.
"We basically have a target on our backs now." she finished with a gulp.
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Like I'm intimidated by anything he tries to do."
After she said that, Aizawa called up the next people.
"Next is Miyako and Mineta."
Bubbles brightened as she jumped with excitement, her stuffie bouncing in her arms.
"Ooh! I'm up next!" she squealed.
Before her sisters could say anything, Bubbles skipped over to the starting line, next to Mineta, who looked at her weirdly as he stretched.
"Are you carrying… a doll with you?" he asked her, blinking in confusion.
Bubbles grinned as she stuck out the octopus for Mineta to see.
"Like him? I named him Tako! Do you know that it means 'octopus' in Japanese? He's super cute!" she gushed.
Mineta stared at her for a moment, before smiling slyly.
"Oh, I've got this in the bag…" he said, mostly to himself, as he looked straight.
However, when Aizawa shouted, "BEGIN!", and the two set off, Bubbles disappeared in a blue flash, over at the finish line in seconds, just as Mineta reached the halfway point of the track. Due to his surprise, he slowed down, stumbling past the finish line seconds after.
"Miyako, your score is 3 seconds. Mineta, yours is 6."
Mineta's mouth dropped open. "B-b-but… SHE-"
Bubbles, meanwhile, turned to him with a friendly smile.
"Nice meeting you, Mineta! Cool hair, by the way!" she complimented as she skipped away.
As Bubbles took her place by her sisters, Mineta finally stumbled off, wide-eyed and partly in awe.
"Wow…" he whispered.
After that, only Blossom was left. As Aizawa called some of the last remaining pairs, she did her best to keep her cool. Her sisters were able to get good scores. She will too.
"For our last three participants, we have Momoko, Ojiro, and Midoriya."
As Blossom looked around to her opponents, she saw the two take their places. There was the guy with the tail, but the second person made Blossom's eyes widen. It was Deku. The boy at the Sludge Attack. And the boy at the entrance exam who almost took out a huge robot with one single punch.
... shit. I'm screwed. Blossom thought as she blinked.
As she stumbled blindly to the start line, her sisters cheered behind her.
"You got this, Momoko!" Bubbles cheered.
"Don't fuck this up!" Buttercup added.
Blossom shot Buttercup a look that seemed to convey in a sarcastic tone, "Thanks for the encouragement, Buttercup."
As Blossom stood on the line, she found herself glancing several times at Deku (Izuku Midoriya seems to be his real name, given that people called him either of those names). After a tense moment, Izuku looked at her, which prompted her to look straight.
"Good luck, Momoko."
Blossom looked at Izuku to find him smiling. Although she felt all kinds of nervous, she felt a little appreciative of the gesture of good sportsmanship.
"You too," she replied with a smile of her own before looking straight.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Aizawa shouted, "BEGIN!"
After that, the world around Blossom was a blur as she ran to the finish line using her super speed. It was over much quicker than she expected as she skidded to a stop. Ojiro came to a stop next to her not long after.
But, to her surprise, it took much too many seconds for Izuku to reach the finish line. Judging by the way he was running, it didn't look like he was using his Quirk at all. That was the last thing Blossom expected, as she expected him to be the first one finished. But, as Aizawa read out the scores, it proved the opposite.
"Momoko, you finished at a time of 3 seconds. Ojiro, you finished at 5, and Midoriya, you finished at 7."
As Blossom blinked with shock, her two sisters cheered.
"That's our sister!" Bubbles said happily.
"Yeah, you showed 'em!" Buttercup exclaimed.
As Blossom walked back, she didn't know what to feel. Obviously, she felt relieved that she and her sisters did well on the 50 meter dash. But, she also felt disappointed to a very tiny degree. Blossom didn't know why, but it seemed like she wanted competition that would come very close to beating her.
Blossom shook her head, clearing the nagging feeling away.
You are so weird, Blossom. Be glad that you won, she chided herself.
After that, the following tests were easy enough. Grip Tests, Seated Long Jumps, and Repeated Side Steps. The girls could keep up with, if not excel above their classmates for those tests. Once those tests were over though, it seemed like the real test was coming up right afterwards.
"For our 5th test, we have a Ball Throw. The rules are as the name suggests. You throw the ball as far as you can. The higher the distance, the higher the score. Bakugou, you come up first."
As Bakugou walked up to where Aizawa was standing, Aizawa gave him a ball.
"Now, according to your middle school records, your last ball throw came to be about 60 meters. Let's see if you can top that."
Bakugou was silent as he fixed his eyes forward, gauging the ball. It was only a second of waiting before he lunged forward and threw the ball. As he went through the motion of throwing it, the ball started to smoke with fire. So when it was thrown, the ball rocketed through the sky as explosions pushed it forward.
After a short moment, the device in Aizawa's hand lit up, showing Bakugou's new score.
"705.2 meters. Impressive." Aizawa noted.
At those words, everyone made a noise of shock and awe. The three girls especially looked incredulous.
"That's almost half of a mile…" Blossom whispered.
Buttercup frowned. "Okay. I might have to give the dickwad some credit."
"That was cool!" Bubbles squealed, "The way it just blasted off like a rocket!"
Apparently, Bubbles wasn't the only person to think that it was cool. Multiple students congratulated and cheered for Bakugou as he walked back to the group, looking smug at his newfound attention. But the cheers didn't last long, as Aizawa called up the next student.
Just like the 50 meter dash, students were called up to demonstrate their skills and Quirks. And once again, Blossom felt nervous, which coincidentally pissed her off too. That was because her anxiety was starting to get annoying. So far, Blossom has done nothing to prove that she was in any way behind her classmates. If anything, she was doing the opposite, and proving that she was more ahead than her class in terms of power. And yet, Blossom felt apprehensive. As for why, she has no clue.
"Next up is Miyako Utonium." Aizawa announced, once the most recent student to try out had gone back to the group.
Bubbles started to walk up, until she looked down at her stuffie, just realizing that she couldn't really throw anything with a stuffed octopus in one of her hands. She then turned to the nearest person she stopped next to, which happened to be a guy with spiky red hair.
"Sorry to bother you. But, could you hold Tako for me for just one teensy moment?" Bubbles asked.
While the guy looked a little surprised at the offer, he smiled.
"Uh… sure!"
Bubbles brightened, while putting Tako into his hands.
"Thank you!"
With the guy holding the plushie (receiving curious and off-put stares from the people around him), Bubbles skipped up to her spot and took the ball from Aizawa. After eyeing the ball for a little, she then grinned.
"Go time!"
After that, what happened next was a blur. Bubbles rapidly spun around while holding the ball, blue electricity swarming her hands. Then, she suddenly stops, throwing the ball in the process. Glowing in blue, the ball blasted away for a few seconds before Aizawa's monitor lit up.
"570.6 meters. Well done." Aizawa announced.
Behind Bubbles, cheers erupted from some students, to which she reacted to with a smile. She then walked up to the guy holding Tako, and he handed it to her.
"Thanks again!" she chirped as she went back to her sisters.
As Bubbles drew near, Buttercup smirked.
"Something tells me that you're gonna be the class favorite." she chuckled.
Bubbles tilted her head a tiny bit. "What makes you say that?"
Buttercup jabbed her thumb at something behind Bubbles, prompting her to turn around and see people waving with an adoring look, while some people whispered.
"Bro, how did a cute kid end up here?"
"Omg, she's so adorable, I wanna cry."
"Yes! I held her stuffie! So manly!"
Bubbles waved back with a smile, before shrugging to Buttercup.
"I guess I am."
Just then, Aizawa said, "Kaoru, your turn."
Buttercup flashed a grin before walking up to her spot and taking the ball. As she tossed the ball up and down into her hand, she frowned as she thought about her throw.
I have to admit… Bakugou was good with his throw. Am I ever gonna tell him that? Hell no! Which is why I gotta top this son of a bitch! Yeah! Like he'd stand a chance against me!
With that in mind, Buttercup used her motivation to throw the ball hard. As she threw it, green fire swirled the ball and it rocketed through the air. After a few seconds, Aizawa said the score.
"705.2 meters. Exactly the same as Bakugou's." Aizawa said, a little surprised by the sheer coincidence.
At those words, Buttercup couldn't help but gape , completely in shock.
You're fucking LYING! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
As claps came from shocked and amazed classmates, Buttercup rushed back to her sisters as fast as she could without making it obvious. But despite her efforts, she still caught the eye of an incredulous yet pissed Bakugou, and heard a simple yet infuriating word come out of his mouth.
"Copycat."
Buttercup didn't fully hear and register the word until she was back in her spot with her sisters. When she did though, she nearly marched off to let Bakugou have it. She would've been able to do it even. That is, if Blossom hadn't gotten a firm hold on her wrist, keeping her in place.
"Remember. Keep your temper in check." she growled just audibly enough for Buttercup to hear it.
Buttercup glared as she yanked away her hand. "You try dealing with the most stuck up motherfucker in the world, THEN we'll talk."
"Language! Jeez, you've been cursing so much, it's starting to get on my nerves." Blossom huffed.
Buttercup was still for a moment, then leaned forward so that she was a few inches away from Blossom's face.
"Fuck." Buttercup whispered.
Blossom stared at Buttercup before taking a deep breath and saying, "I hate you."
Before the girls could escalate from their bickering to a full blown argument, Aizawa called up a person that drew not just their but everyone's attention.
"Midoriya. Your turn." he had said.
At those words, virtually everyone turned to look at Izuku, who walked up to his spot. He looked nervous, the same way he had been looking for all of the tests. But, there was something else apparent on his face that caught everyone, specifically Blossom, off guard. A look of sharp focus and resolved determination.
Everyone would soon know why that is, as soon as Izuku was given the ball and was ready to throw.
For a second, he stood still. But that quickly ended as he planted his feet firmly on the ground, leaned back, and started to throw the ball. A look of sheer motivation on Izuku's face was visible, as his arm flashed by in a blur.
But what truly surprised everyone was that when his arm moved, green light and energy swarmed his arm and the ball. With that visible indication, it didn't take long for people to connect the dots. Izuku was using his Quirk. His highly destructive, bone-breaking, consequential Quirk.
But as quickly as the green energy came, it completely disappeared. Izuku stumbled forward, dropping the ball next to him, hardly an inch away from him. Judging from his wide eyes and bewildered expression, he hadn't intended for his power to suddenly evaporate. But, as Aizawa spoke, it was clear that he had.
"That's enough. Before you tear yourself apart."
Everyone looked at Aizawa, who was swiftly walking towards Izuku. He didn't look like his usual tired and bored persona. Instead, his once lifeless hair was now waving around by an unseen wind. His scarf looked like gray snakes as they spiraled around his neck and stretched out. And his eyes, which were once gray, were now bright red.
Everyone backed away a few inches, clearly startled, as they had never seen this side of their teacher before. And, clearly, neither did the girls.
"What the hell?" Buttercup mumbled as she gulped, "How can he DO that?"
As soon as people around them started to mutter and whisper to each other, Buttercup got her answer.
"Is that… Mr. Aizawa's Quirk?"
"No way. MR. AIZAWA IS ERASERHEAD?!"
"For real? No joke?!"
Bubbles frowned. "Who's Eraserhead?"
Blossom's eyes widened as she looked at her teacher, as she remembered all of the research about Eraserhead she had conducted. Her extensive knowledge of Pro Heroes came in handy.
"Eraserhead's a Pro Hero. He may not be a well-known one, but he is a notorious fighter. Especially when it comes to disarming. His Quirk is Erasure, which means that he has the ability to completely cancel out a Quirk, rendering the target useless. It only works on Emitter Quirks, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work on us, since we don't really have Quirks, but I don't want to find that out anytime soon."
Buttercup and Bubbles looked at her with shock, which prompted Blossom to smile sheepishly.
"I've done my fair share of research on him." she explained.
Before anybody could talk anymore, they were immediately drawn back to the scene before them, when Izuku broke his silence.
"Um, Mr. Aizawa? Why… did you block my Quirk? Did I do something wrong?" Izuku squeaked
Aizawa looked visibly irritated by Izuku's questions.
"That's what you're wondering? Why? I'll tell you why. You were clearly about to use your Quirk to increase your score, without even considering what would happen. I've seen you at the entrance exam, Midoriya. When you took on that Arena Trap with your Quirk, and your Quirk ended up hurting you more than the actual Arena Trap. You have to understand that no matter how desperate you are, you can't just use your Quirk and just think, 'Oh, it doesn't matter if I hurt myself or people around me if it means that I get what I want'. That's not the thinking of a Hero. Which, quite frankly, I don't believe you can be."
Just hearing Aizawa's words felt like a kick in the stomach. Even the three girls winced at how harsh the words are. Izuku meanwhile lowered his head in shame, as Aizawa continued.
"Your Quirk is strong, Midoriya. However, I suggest that you refrain from pushing yourself when you use it, as your body clearly isn't used to its drawbacks. Heroes can't rescue others if they need other people to rescue them. With that said, I will give you another chance at this throw. Take my advice into account."
After he said that, Aizawa finally stepped back, his scarf turning back to normal and his eyes reverting back to their normal color. As they watched this unfold, the three girls looked concerned.
"Poor guy… it's not his fault that his superpower breaks his bones!" Bubbles protested.
Buttercup sighed. "Seems like everyone piles on him."
"But, you have to admit. Mr. Aizawa has a point," Blossom pointed out, "It is risky to try and use a power that you know will hurt you, just so that your maneuver succeeds. It's also a rash decision to make, sacrificing yourself to get what you want."
Buttercup looked at Blossom. "Don't we do that sometimes?"
Blossom hesitated, recalling all of the fights that the girls have had so far. She couldn't exactly say no, as it would be a lie. She remembered many examples of the girls using a catastrophic aspect of their powers as a "last resort". But, they did that because it WAS their last resort, not because they were reckless.
… Right?
Before Blossom could answer the question though, that was when Izuku tried out his throw for a second time. As he threw it though, something was different. Instead of his whole arm glowing, one of the fingers on his throwing hand glowed. As he released the ball, the resulting blast of wind and the soaring ball showed that he had used his Quirk. But when he stood up straight, his throwing arm looked relatively unharmed.
As everyone looked with shock, Aizawa's monitor beeped, showing the score.
"Your score is 705.3 meters." Aizawa whispered, completely stunned.
At that, cheers erupted from the class, as their shock turned into complete awe. As Izuku raised his throwing arm, it was then revealed what had happened. When throwing the ball, instead of storing power in his arm, Izuku had stored power in his finger, which he used to help propel the ball. Because of that, the only bones that Izuku broke were in his finger. Compared to the damage that could've happened if Izuku used his whole arm, the injury was severely minor.
When Blossom realized this, she was more than shocked and amazed. She was wonderstruck. That kind of thinking, that kind of cleverness. She thought that it only existed in the greatest of Heroes. And yet, here this green-haired boy was, who not only took his teacher's advice into account, but took it in stride.
That was the kind of person that Blossom wanted to be.
Just then, the moment of celebration was immediately cut short by a certain blonde boy, who was pushing through the crowd of students. He didn't look awed or pleased or even shocked. In fact, he looked the opposite. He looked enraged.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
Immediately, Bakugou's words silenced everyone, as they stopped cheering and grew quiet. Meanwhile, Izuku jumped.
"UH… what do you mean, Kacchan?" he squeaked.
A look of startling malice crossed Bakugou's face.
"What you did was impossible. You've been Quirkless for YEARS! And now, all of a sudden, you strut your way into UA and decided to show me up WITH A QUIRK YOU GOT OUT OF NOWHERE?! WHAT IS THIS, SOME KIND OF SICK AND TWISTED JOKE?!"
Izuku yelped, and shook his head frantically.
"NO, NO, NO! You got it twisted, Kacchan! I never wanted to show you up! Never! As for the Quirk, I-"
Before Izuku could finish his explanation, Bakugou looked like he was done with listening and suddenly sprung at Izuku, his hands practically engulfed in explosions and fire.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
The next three seconds seemed to happen all too fast. One second, Bakugou was seconds away from blasting Izuku in the face. The next, a swarm of pink, blue, and green shot between them. Finally, in the third second, the class was met with a startling sight. Buttercup had grabbed hold of Bakugou's left hand, while Bubbles had grabbed hold of his right. Blossom, meanwhile, had positioned herself defensively in between Izuku and Bakugou, ready to attack if her sisters ever lost their hold on Bakugou.
Bakugou blinked, and for a second, stopped releasing explosions from his hands out of bewilderment.
"What the-?!"
"That's enough!" Blossom shouted, "You shouldn't be attacking people!"
"Yeah! Has anyone ever taught you that it is considered rude to attack someone without a very good reason?" Bubbles asked.
"You're going too far! Someone should teach you some manners!" Buttercup demanded.
After they said that, Bakugou snapped out of his shock and growled darkly.
"First… you tiny tots came out of fucking nowhere when I had that Sludge Villain under control. Then, you have the nerve to show up at UA even though you guys are 5. And now, you've seemed to make it an effort to make my life a living hell. I think it's pretty clear now…."
As the other four looked at him with unease, Bakugou finally snapped as fire swirled around his hands again.
"I'M SICK OF YOU BRATS!"
But before anyone could move though, gray flashed before their eyes. Before the girls knew it, they were wrapped up in a gray scarf, dangling a few inches above the ground. Meanwhile, Bakugou was covered in the gray scarf, his fire gone as he struggled to escape. The only one who wasn't wrapped up was Izuku, who looked like he was about to faint from shock.
"That's enough out of ALL of you." a dark voice said curtly.
The five turned around to see Aizawa step forward, clearly furious as well.
"I swear to you, if you don't stop this behavior, I will send you out of UA High RIGHT NOW. This is unacceptable and just plain immature. As you can see, I'm at my wit's end. So, I'm giving you one more chance to get your act together. Or else you're walking out of this school FOREVER. Do you understand me?"
For a minute, the girls were speechless. Not once have they thought that they would get into trouble on the first day. And yet here they were, face to face with a teacher who was very close to expelling them. They couldn't afford to leave. Not now. So, instead of protesting, the girls deflated and hung their heads.
"Yes, sir." they said quietly in unison.
Aizawa sighed, as the gray scarf receded, releasing the girls and Bakugou, who stalked away with a glare to Izuku. The girls walked back to the group, before Blossom was held back by Aizawa's hand blocking her way.
"Momoko. As far as I'm concerned, you haven't done the ball throw yet," Aizawa said, his voice softer this time, "You're the last one to go, so if you please…"
Blossom froze. She forgot all about the ball throw. She couldn't do it now. Not only was she not in the right state of mind, but she was already worrying about how her performance would look. It couldn't compare to Izuku's throw. Not at all. She could picture her classmates' disappointment already.
But, it looked as if Aizawa wasn't taking no for an answer. Plus, since everyone was looking at her now, the prospect of denying and walking away was out of the question. Because of this, Blossom simply trudged up to her spot and took the ball from Izuku as he walked back.
"Good luck," he murmured as he walked away.
Blossom turned around to look at Izuku walking back. There it was again. Good luck. Only, it didn't have an encouraging effect on her, and simply worried her more. Was he expecting a good performance out of her? Was everyone? With that thought in mind, Blossom felt like giving up right then and there.
But then, she set her eyes forward. She knew that she had to do well. She couldn't give up; if anything she had to stick with it until the end. So, with newfound determination, Blossom threw the ball as hard as she could. As pink energy made the ball stand out as it soared farther and farther away, Aizawa read out the score.
"547.3 meters. Good work."
Blossom did a double take at those words, as dread set heavily in her stomach. Bubbles had gotten 570.6 meters, while Buttercup got 705.2 meters. That meant that Blossom had gotten the least out of her and her sisters. A pitiful score compared to the ones she had gotten so far.
As everyone clapped politely, not at all like the cheers that Izuku received, Blossom walked back to her sisters, looking desperate. Bubbles and Buttercup noticed this and tried to cheer her up.
"That was a good score, Bloss!" Buttercup congratulated.
"Yeah! You did great!" Bubbles added.
Blossom didn't reply. While she found some appreciation in her sisters' compliments, she could tell by their slightly confused glances at each other that they wanted to say more. She knew that her sisters expected a higher score. She couldn't blame them. Blossom herself expected a higher score too. But instead, she didn't get a high or a low score. She got average.
And for a former superheroine who had been fighting crime for 7 years, an average score might as well be a low score.
Despite the ball throw fiasco, the tests continued on as normal. The last batch of tests weren't so hard: a distance run, seated toe-touch, and sit ups. The girls breezed past them with ease, once again earning high scores.
But by the last test, sit ups, Blossom's ball throw score still laid heavy on her mind. She felt sick to her stomach. Not because she was currently on her 87th sit up, but because she felt horrible about her score. That was why she was finally telling her sisters about her worries as she did the sit ups.
"Let's face it. I SUCKED at that ball throw." she whined.
Bubbles's eyes widened as she kept her hands on Blossom's feet (she, along with Buttercup, was Blossom's partner for sit ups).
"What? No, you didn't!" she exclaimed.
Buttercup, who was sitting to the side and watching, looked offended at Blossom's statement too.
"Are you kidding me? Your score is literally fine!"
Blossom groaned, as she did her sit ups a little faster.
"EXACTLY! My score was fine. It shouldn't have BEEN fine. It should've been jaw-dropping, awesome, and freaking fantastic! We used to be superheroes, and now look at me. I end up having the most average score out of everyone's."
"Aw, come on, Blossom. At least, you didn't end up with a low score. You could've done worse." Bubbles reassured her.
Blossom finally laid down on the floor, having done exactly 100 sit ups.
"I might as well have." she said as she stared up at the ceiling.
Just then, a whistle sound cut through the air, gathering everyone's attention. It came from Aizawa, as he dropped the whistle in his hands and spoke.
"That's time. If you are in the middle of a sit up, please finish it and stop. With that being said, we have completed our final test. Everyone can have a short break while I compile the scores and rank them. I'll call you outside when I'm done."
With that, Aizawa left the room, prompting everyone to stand up. As the girls stood up, Blossom narrowed her eyes.
"This is it. In a few minutes, we'll know our final score." she mumbled.
Bubbles held on tight to Tako, burying her face into the purple octopus.
"I hope we don't get expelled." she whispered.
Buttercup scoffed. "Will you two have a little more faith in yourself for once? We've literally been exceeding people's expectations. Trust me, we are the ones who are LEAST LIKELY to end up being at the bottom."
Blossom hesitated before exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding, realizing that Buttercup was right.
"I hope you're right." Blossom finally replied.
Unfortunately, the reprieve that the class was given didn't last long. Soon, Aizawa was at the door, telling everyone to come outside. As they all spread out on the field, the class gathered around a board that looked like a leaderboard.
"These are the rankings of everyone. Remember, #1 is the best score and #23 is the worst." Aizawa noted.
Quickly, Blossom pushed her way to the front, and scanned the rankings for her name. She almost immediately saw Buttercup's name, which was at the top. Then, she scanned down the names.
"Momo Yaoyorozu, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugou, Miyako Utonium…" Blossom read aloud, stopping for a moment to silently congratulate Bubbles for getting 5th place.
Finally, Blossom found her name, Momoko Utonium, next to the ranking 6th. Once she saw it, Blossom had a mixed reaction. She felt immensely relieved that she was in the top 10 scores and wasn't going home. And yet, she felt disappointed. If only she had tried harder at that ball throw…
Despite already finding her name, Blossom found herself looking through the rest of the scores. She saw Tenya Iida (Mr. Strict Guy, as Buttercup calls him) right below her, and Ochaco in 10th place. But soon, as she looked at the last ranking, she saw someone's name, the name that she least expected.
"#23: Izuku Midoriya…" Blossom muttered.
As soon as the name registered, Blossom felt immediately guilty. She couldn't understand why he was at the bottom, considering that he got one of the best scores at the ball throw. But then, it hit her. The ball throw was Izuku's only exceptional score. As for everything else, he either did pretty average at or got a low score entirely. It seemed that even if Izuku got a bad score at the ball throw, he would still be in last place. Meaning that the ball throw did very little to pull him up the rankings.
And, as Blossom looked at him, it seemed like Izuku knew that too, as a look of despair and sadness crossed his face and he hung his head. Before Blossom could make the decision to comfort him, Aizawa spoke to the class.
"As you see, the rankings are rated from best to worst. If you got a good spot on the rankings, then good for you. As for those with the lowest of scores, this means that you will get expelled…"
As Aizawa paused, seemingly to accentuate the despair of the students with the lowest scores, he then continued to say something that took everyone by shock.
"Correction. This means that you would HYPOTHETICALLY get expelled. But, you're not. I lied to you. No one was going home in the first place." Aizawa said, with a sly smile.
For a minute, the class was in shock. But that moment lasted, as they went into an uproar.
"WHAT?!"
"None of us are going home?!"
"I can't believe this!"
Suddenly, Blossom found herself shouting too. "Then, why did you tell us we were going to get expelled if we didn't get a good score?"
"I only did that to bring out the best in all of you. You're welcome." Aizawa explained, a hint of smugness in his voice.
A chorus of whines rose after he said that. But soon, everyone stopped complaining, and started to be happy that none of them were going home.
"Now, I figure the school day's over now. Go and change, so that you can go home. And Midoriya, I suggest you go and get your finger checked by Recovery Girl." Aizawa concluded as he walked away.
Once he left, everyone started to talk and celebrate. Blossom quickly met up with her sisters, both of which looked extremely relieved and happy.
"I'm so glad that Mr. Aizawa was lying about the expulsion!" Bubbles squealed.
Buttercup shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't matter if it was real or not. We weren't going home either way."
"I know," Bubbles admitted before looking around, "but I didn't want anyone to go home. I like this class and everyone in it!"
Blossom smiled as she looked around too. "Yeah, me too. I gotta say, this experience of going to school is way better than I expected."
Just then, a chorus of voices shouted, catching the girls' attention.
"Hey, Miyako! Come over here!"
"Kaoru, come and hang out with us!"
The girls turned around, seeing a group of girls and another group of guys, with the former calling Bubbles and the latter calling Buttercup. The two looked at Blossom for permission, to which she chuckled at.
"Go ahead." Blossom said.
With that, Bubbles and Buttercup smiled before rushing off to hang out with their new friends. As Blossom stood alone, watching them run with a smile, she then heard Ochaco's voice behind her.
"Momoko!"
Blossom turned around to see Ochaco and Tenya walk over to her, smiling. Quickly, she ran towards them, and waved.
"Hi! You guys did really great on the tests!" she exclaimed.
Ochaco laughed. "Aw, you stole my line! I was about to say the same thing to you!"
"I was going to congratulate you as well," Tenya added, "I must admit, you and your sisters really are prodigies when it comes to tests like these."
Blossom rubbed the back of her head while smiling sheepishly. "Thanks. I guess my sisters and I had a lot of practice."
As the three laughed, Blossom then noticed Izuku out of the corner of her eye, heading towards the door. Suddenly, something struck her, causing Blossom to start walking away from Ochaco and Tenya.
"Sorry, but I gotta do something. I'll be right back!" she told them.
Ochaco smiled. "Okay! We'll be waiting!"
After giving the two a friendly smile, Blossom walked over to Izuku. As she got closer, she called out his name.
"Uh… Izuku?" she asked.
Izuku turned around to look at her, a bit startled.
"Oh, um… hey, Momoko! What's up?" he greeted her.
Blossom came to a stop, and smiled softly.
"I just wanted to thank you." she replied.
At this, Izuku's eyes widened. "Thank me? For what?"
"I… guess for a number of things. How you tried to help us when that Sludge Villain attacked. And how you wished me good luck when I did the tests today. That helped me more than you know, and I'm grateful for it." Blossom answered.
Izuku didn't say anything for a second, prompting Blossom to wonder with a fading smile if she had said something wrong. But then, the sudden grin and the bright eyes proved the worries wrong.
"OH! No problem! I guess I need to thank you in return. You and your sisters did stop Kacchan from blasting me in the face. Thanks for that." he said happily.
After he said that, Blossom thought back to that moment where Bakugou was yelling at Izuku, and how he looked unfathomably offended by Izuku's score. At first glance, one could simply conclude that Bakugou was just jealous. But, the more that Blossom thought about it, the more meaningful and important the moment seemed and the more she felt the need to ask Izuku about it.
But instead, Blossom decided against it. It's not my place to ask.
Instead, she replied with, "Yeah, no problem. Well, I hope your finger gets better. See you later."
With that, Blossom walked away, hearing Izuku shout happily behind her, "You too!"
As Blossom walked back to Ochaco and Tenya, Blossom glanced at Bubbles and Buttercup in the near distance. They looked like they were having a lot of fun, as they talked with their classmates. Then, Blossom looked back at her new friends, Ochaco and Tenya, who were waving at her with a smile.
As she thought about this, along with Izuku, the newest friend she made, Blossom couldn't help but smile. It was clear that this reality, the one that she and her sisters landed in all of those months ago, wasn't the best. But with new friends and a whole new world of exciting opportunities, one thing was for sure.
Despite its flaws, this reality wasn't so bad.