NOVEL NEXT 43 – Corinthians 10:13
Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Shota ended up handing out uniforms for everyone to change in to that seemed designed to fit them all before leading the boys out so the girls could change in peace.
"I bet you'd like to stay," Himiko whispered playfully into James' ear while pressing her breasts against his back to tempt him when the boys started being led out.
He turned back to her and pinched her ass causing her to let out a strange mixture of a yelp and a moan.
"More like you'd want me to stay," he teased her right back.
Momo not wanting to be outdone gave him a peck on the cheek. As much as she wanted to do more she didn't quite have Himiko's shamelessness or honesty with her feelings.
After everyone got changed the girls joined them again. Momo and Himiko zeroed in on James again right away which lead to most of the other girls in class to follow them. James wasn't going to complain.
Shota lead them outside to one U.A.'s outdoor facilities.
"Now that everyone is here, we're going to get started with a quirk assessment," Shota said languidly.
“A quirk assessment test?!” Everyone questioned.
“What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?” Ochaco chimed in.
“If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events. U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes. You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right?” Shota Aizawa retorted. He seemed unamused, but that could also just be how his face was.
“Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks. The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks. It's not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is procrastinating,” he continued.
Shota turned to face James. “Busujima, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right? In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?” he asked.
“My quirk passively enhances my physique. Every throw I make is with my quirk so this test won’t differ from my usual results teacher,” James deadpanned.
Shota sighed. “Ok then what about you Ms. Toga?” He asked.
“My quirk requires me to consume blood so I can’t use it during a test like this,” Himiko answered lazily. If it weren't for spending more time with James she wouldn't even be at this school.
Shota sighed again now in exasperation.
“Ok, third place is the charm. What about you Bakugo?” He asked.
Bakugo glared even harder than his regular glare that his face seemed to default to, likely due to being called out for only being third place during the entrance exam. Not only had Izuku interfered with his goal of being the only one from his junior high school to make it into U.A. He had also expected to come in first during the exam, but was now relegated to third place.
“67 meters,” he said in annoyance.
“Then, try doing it with your Quirk," Shota told him.
Bakugo grabbed the baseball and got into a circle on the edge of the field while swinging his arm around to loosen it.
“You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up. Give it all you have got,” Shota explained.
Katsuki wound back his arm like a baseball pitcher.
“Then, well… Die…!” Katsuki yelled out while creating an explosion behind the ball in his hand mid-throw launching the baseball into the distance at a ridiculous speed.
“Die?” Izuku muttered.
Most of the class seemed impressed. The only exceptions seemed to be Shoto, Himiko, Momo and James. Oh and Shota, but as a pro hero he had seen a lot more impressive stuff so nothing they were able to do was going to impress him.
“Know your own maximum first. That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero,” Shota said showing the measurement device revealing Katsuki's throw to have reached 705.2 meters(0.43 miles).
“750 meters, for real?” Denki Kaminari said in amazement.
“What's this? It looks fun!” Mina Ashido excitedly jumped up and down holding Tsuyu's hand who sported her usual deadpan.
Momo looked excitedly at James. "What do you think you can get?" she asked him curiously. They had done similar exercises in junior high, but she knew from seeing James' workouts at home that he had never taken his classes at school seriously.
James shrugged. "We'll just have to see won't we?" he responded nonchalantly.
"It looks fun," huh?” Shota murmurs.
“You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?” Shota continued louder.
“All right. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential... ...and will be punished with expulsion.” Shota threatened with a sinister smile.
James could see Izuku freaking out from the revelation. The only one other than him that seemed to be paying attention to the boy was Ochaco though. Everyone else was too absorbed in their own flights of fancy.
"Just do you best," he told the girls surrounding him with a sunny smile.
He knew Himiko and Momo would do just fine. They did just fine in canon even without his training and Izuku was still guaranteed to come in last. He could only use his quirk once during the entire test after all if he didn't want to completely wreck his body once again which Shota wouldn't accept as a valid attempt anyway.
“We're free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students. Welcome to U.A.'s hero course!” Shota said arrogantly letting them know they were no more secure in U.A. than during the entrance exam.
“Last place will be expelled?! But it's the first day of school! No, even if it wasn't the first day of school, this is too unfair!” Ochaco complained.
Quite a few of their fellow classmates nodded in silent agreement. James didn't agree though. If you weren't going to excel then how did you deserve your spot here? This wasn't some kind of charity, it was an elite institution with one goal. Train the next generation of top heroes. Although Shota might have been excessive dropping the entirety of last years class 1A keeping to option to drop them on the table was something he agreed with.
“Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains. Calamities whose time or place can't be predicted. Japan is covered with unfairness. Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations,” Shota continued admonishing their naivety.
"If you wanted to go talk with your friends at Mickey D's after school, too bad. For the next three years, U.A. will do all it can to give you one hardship after another. Go beyond. Plus Ultra. Overcome it with all you have got,” Shota challenged them. For someone as low energy as he was he actually had a knack for getting people fired up.
Momo was quite caught up in the energy of the moment with stars in her eyes. James looked similarly engaged smiling positively as if what Shota had said had managed to inspire him. All of it was just to maintain his image though. He was practically always "on". The only people that saw him being entirely honest were the members of his organisation all of who were under his contract that prevented them from leaking any information. Them and possibly the women in his bed, but all they were getting to see was his lustful side.
Himiko couldn't even be bothered to fake it though and looked rather bored about the whole ordeal. There was no relaxing, no blood nor good food involved. He couldn't help but pat her on the head.
"Just give it a good try ok?" he told her. He didn't want her to get expelled either because of her attitude or because she slacked during the tests.
She still seemed rather unmotivated though.
He sighed. "I could be convinced a reward is in order if you performed well," he told her.
This finally caused a spark to light in her eyes. It wasn't just her that heard him though as Momo pulled on his arm.
"Thats not fair. You better give me a reward too if I do well," she demanded.
"You're quite bold aren't you," Tsuyu deadpanned.
"Just honest with my feelings," James shot back with a smile. He could see Tsuyu looking at his hand patting Himiko who's eyes practically turned into little crescents.
"Do you want one too?" he teased. To his surprise she actually turned away with a slight blush. It caught him off guard since she had deadpanned at most of his comments up to this point.
Toru and Mina both seemed to have fires in their eyes, but it seemed their embarrassment won out as neither dared to say anything. It seemed like their determination had reached new heights though.
“All right, demonstration's over. The real thing starts now,” Shota said finally moving on from his rant.
