Look Closely—I'm Thunder!

U.A. High School Class 1-A's homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa, had a Quirk that could erase the Quirks of anyone he saw. All it took was a blink to activate it.

"Don't waste time. Next, get ready," Shota Aizawa said blandly as he turned away.

Bakugo Katsuki clenched his fists angrily. "Not long ago, you were nothing more than some insignificant pebble by the roadside."

Remembering Izuku's admiring gaze and manner of speaking from when they were children, Bakugo felt that Izuku was even more different now. It seemed Izuku would never admire Bakugo Katsuki again.

Just then, Chiffon walked over. As he passed Bakugo Katsuki, he gave a faint smile.

"The hell are you laughing at, you lousy electric-discharge bastard?" Bakugo Katsuki had already been somewhat annoyed by Chiffon, and now this guy actually dared to laugh at him.

Chiffon froze for a moment. He hadn't expected Bakugo's temper to truly be as explosive as the rumors said. He couldn't even smile?

He wasn't Izuku, so there was no need for him to give Bakugo Katsuki any face. Chiffon immediately said, "Look closely. I'm not the one who discharges electricity. That guy over there is."

After saying that, Chiffon pointed at Denki Kaminari in the crowd. Denki Kaminari looked at Chiffon in confusion, not understanding why he was being pointed at.

"Tch. Is there even a difference? You're both trash." Bakugo Katsuki snorted and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait." Chiffon called out to Bakugo Katsuki. "Look closely—I'm thunder!"

Shota Aizawa's attention settled on Chiffon. This student had enormous potential. A Thunder Quirk was not unique, but it was certainly rare. He wanted to see just how capable Chiffon was.

"This year's Hero Course seems rather interesting." Shota Aizawa stared intently at Chiffon. He felt this Dark Horse was crucial. Chiffon seemed to have as much potential for growth as Izuku, but Chiffon's starting point was already high, while Izuku needed more time to be tempered.

"What are you looking at?" Bakugo Katsuki turned back disdainfully. At that moment, Chiffon gripped a softball in his right hand. Suddenly, a burst of lightning flared from his palm, and the softball tore through ten rings of white airwaves as it shot into the distance.

Bakugo Katsuki's eyes widened at once. That speed seemed even faster than his.

"So high!" Tenya Iida looked into the distance.

"So he uses electricity. That seems pretty similar to me." Denki Kaminari said with a grin, as if he had found one of his own kind.

"Don't be stupid. He uses thunder. How could that be the same as your electricity?" Momo Yaoyorozu said, spreading her hands.

"Wh-why are you defending him like that? I use electricity too, okay? It's a branch of thunder, all right?" Denki Kaminari protested indignantly, as though his Quirk was supposedly worthless. Sure, using it too much temporarily turned him into an idiot, but it was still strong, okay?!

Indeed, if Denki Kaminari used his electricity properly, or overcame the hurdle of overusing it, he would improve greatly.

Momo Yaoyorozu's face reddened slightly. She turned and walked elsewhere, unwilling to answer that question. She was merely curious and interested in Chiffon, though she did have some favorable feelings toward him as well.

She had only defended Chiffon because thunder itself was somewhat stronger than electricity. That was all.

950.05 meters.

Everyone sucked in a breath. Aside from Ochaco Uraraka, Chiffon was the first to throw that far entirely through his own strength. That was somewhat terrifying. Did that mean his strength and speed both surpassed theirs?

"Oh?" Shota Aizawa was slightly surprised, though fortunately, that level of strength was still within the realm of comprehension.

Chiffon had used eighty percent of his strength. If he went all out, the distance should have exceeded 1,300 meters.

But that would have drawn too much attention. Right now, he only needed to irritate Bakugo a little and secure a middle-to-upper ranking. There was no need to stand out too much.

Several dozen minutes later, everyone had completed all the physical fitness test events and gathered on the field.

"Then, let's announce the results quickly," Shota Aizawa said. "The total score is simple—the sum of all your event scores. Explaining them one by one would be a waste of time, so I'll reveal them all at once."

"The person with the lowest total score will be expelled." Izuku was still worried nonstop. After all, he knew that in the other events, he was at most only a little faster than an ordinary person.

First place, Momo Yaoyorozu. Second place, Shoto Todoroki. Third place, Chiffon. Fourth place, Bakugo Katsuki. Fifth place, Tenya Iida. Sixth place, Fumikage Tokoyami. Seventh place, Shoji Mezo. Eighth place, Koji Koda. Ninth place, Eijiro Kirishima. Tenth place, Mina Ashido.

Eleventh place, Ochaco Uraraka. Twelfth place, Koji Koda. Thirteenth place, Rikido Sato. Fourteenth place, Tsuyu Asui. Fifteenth place, Aoyama Yuga. Sixteenth place, Hanta Sero. Seventeenth place, Denki Kaminari. Eighteenth place, Kyoka Jiro. Nineteenth place, Toru Hagakure. Twentieth place, Mineta Minoru. Twenty-first place, Midoriya Izuku.

"You're above me?!" Bakugo Katsuki turned and glared furiously at Chiffon. That self-righteous bastard had actually ranked above him. Third place should have been his.

Chiffon answered Bakugo Katsuki with only a smile. The best response was to remain unchanged in the face of all changes. That was how one dealt with Bakugo Katsuki.

"Damn it!" Bakugo Katsuki slammed his fists together, desperately wanting to beat Chiffon senseless.

"We really aren't the same kind of people. Chiffon ranked third, while I ranked seventeenth. That's not a small difference." Denki Kaminari said helplessly. It seemed thunder truly had an innate advantage over electricity.

That was because Denki Kaminari did not know Chiffon also had the Air Manipulation Quirk. If he knew Chiffon had two Quirks, he would probably have to hide in a corner and draw circles.

"By the way, the expulsion thing was a lie," Shota Aizawa said calmly.

But to every student's ears, it sounded entirely different. Wasn't this just screwing with them?!

Izuku in particular nearly turned to stone. He had worked so hard to fight for a high ranking so he would not be eliminated and expelled, only for Teacher Aizawa to say it had been a lie.

"It was a reasonable deception intended to draw out your Quirks to the greatest extent possible." Shota Aizawa revealed a playful, sinister smile.

"But wasn't it obviously a lie? You only had to think about it a little to know. Chiffon already said from the start that expulsion was impossible." Momo Yaoyorozu said, looking at Izuku and the others with some disdain.

They had not realized it at all.

"That was honestly pretty nerve-racking." Hanta Sero forced a smile.

"I'm always ready to face a challenge." Eijiro Kirishima raised his fist, full of enthusiasm.

Chiffon glanced at Eijiro Kirishima. This guy seemed to get mocked a lot. Some people said he looked like Natsu from "Fairy Tail," and now that Chiffon looked at him, it really was true. Even their voices sounded alike, didn't they?

Some people also mocked him by saying he was an infiltrator. Chiffon could not tell right now, though. He could not falsely accuse a good person, especially when Eijiro Kirishima was so hot-blooded.

The test ended there. Everyone returned to the classroom, preparing to go home.