Chapter 4: Results

Chapter 4: Results

Fic recommendation of the Day: Darth Vader: Hero of Naboo by AkumiKami64

"Both desire and imagination are stored in the mind of the individual and when stretched, both have the potential to position a person for greatness." – Eric Thomas

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She wishes she could flush herself down the toilet if only to have a way out of here

"Oh look, it's little Mina again," a shrill voice rang out in her ears. Mina couldn't stop the drip of fear that slid down her spine, as her heartbeat began to speed up.

Mina turned from her locker and greeted her tormentors with all of the courage of a dog when the vacuum got turned on.

Which is to say, none.

Quickly, the group surrounded her, blocking off all her possible exits. A practiced motion, as they had countless days of practice in bullying her.

From the group, the bane of her existence stepped forward with her normal skin and normal hair and normal eyes and normal everything. The only thing out of place was the criminally cruel smirk that twisted its way along glossy lips and was backed with pearly white teeth.

Gosh, how she hated those shiny ass teeth.

"How was your weekend, Mina? Figure out how ugly you are?"

The monster hidden behind makeup shone through as it leaned in forcing Mina to lean back in terror.

"Do you need a reminder?"

Mina woke groggily to a bright light slapping her in the face.

If this was the afterlife, it sucked.

It was chilly, her mouth tasted like spaghetti, and her eyes felt crusty. It was a bunch of crap is what it was. And spaghetti? Really? Didn't she have spaghetti for lunch before the exams…And here comes the embarrassment.

She remembered it all now vividly, too vividly. The desperation, hope, nausea, barfing, and peaceful embrace of unconsciousness. Oh, how she wished that last one would happen again. She couldn't even think of talking to anyone after that, especially Lee.

"Ah, I think she is waking up!" Lee's voice resounded in her ears.

Yup, the afterlife was officially garbage. Maybe if she just laid here and acted like she was asleep, he'd go away.

"I know you're conscious, girlie, so don't go acting like you aren't. Plus, your friend here was been worried sick and pacing a mark into my floor," an older voice said and dashed her hopes away with all the tact of a sledgehammer.

Mina opened her eyes and was greeted with a bright light that-oh wait. It was just Lee's smile.

"Oh, Mina! I am so glad you are awake and not severely injured!" He cheered.

Mina suddenly found herself speechless, as she had never been in this kind of situation before. Someone who wasn't her grandmother was glad she wasn't hurt.

Something bubbled up inside of her. Something similar to when she was around her grandmother when she would give her one of her patented hugs. Happiness, she recognized. She was happy that somebody cared.

A wide, bright smile grew on her face to mirror Lee's own and she gave him a thumbs-up, just like he did, and responded, "You know it! You can't hold an Ashido down!" She claimed.

Lee nodded his head with a smile. "Yosh! That is the spirit, Mina!"

"Yosh!" Mina mimicked with a giggle.

"Yosh!" Lee responded right back.

"Alright! Alright, since you are healed up enough to be screaming like that, then you are well enough to get up and moving," the old lady interrupted.

Mina and Lee both stopped their celebration abruptly. Mina looked at the old lady curiously.

"Uh, not to be rude," Mina began slowly. "But who are you?"

Chiyo Shuzenji, Youthful Heroine "Recovery Girl"

Quirk: Healing

The woman stepped forward and pointed her cane, a cane that looked like a giant injector needle, at Mina and introduced herself. "I am Recovery Girl, or, if you want to be specific, the one who healed your pink keister after your friend here hauled you in," she answered sharply.

The woman looked at Mina with a slightly irritated look, while Mina looked into space confused.

...What was a keister?

Luckily enough, Lee chose to intervene right then and there. "Ah, I am so sorry, Ms. Recovery Girl," he apologized. "We did not mean any offense to you for not knowing who you are. I am extremely thankful for healing my friend! Right, Mina?" He asked and looked to the spaced-out Mina.

Mina, unbeknownst to the other two occupants, continued to contemplate what keister was.

Was it a food?

Was it a metaphor for something?

She was violently shaken from her thoughts by a sharp nudge to her shoulder and she refocused on the older lady, Recover Girl, and Lee, who bumped her.

"Huh?" She blurted out confused.

Lee laughed nervously while Recovery Girl just gave them both a flat stare.

"Just get out of my office."

"Yes, ma'am. Let's go, Mina."

"Wait, what's a keister?"

A brandished needle-cane.

"...I'm just gonna head out."

Principal Nezu sat at his desk watching several screens replaying the footage of today's entrance exams. To any normal person, the number of screens and footage would be overwhelming and hard to focus on, but Nezu was built for such tasks.

Honestly, he was just reviewing his staff's work, as they had already tallied the points. But, as principal, he had to go over what they did as he was not given the chance to see each and every group perform. It was no slight against them and they knew that. The fact was that he was just better suited for this job due to his Quirk.

It was in his nature really.

So, here he was finalizing all of the points accumulated by the examinees. He reviewed them at a speed most just couldn't keep up with. Some got no points, others got some, others came very close, but these all would not make the cut. The thick stack of 'denied' examinees towered over the in comparison measly stack of 'accepted' students.

This, though, was typical of UA and everyone trying to attend knew it. UA was the premier hero school in the east, and they earned that reputation with the quality heroes that came from here.

Also, the personal endorsement All Might, the Symbol of Peace, didn't hurt.

Nezu combed through the 'accepted' students with a keen eye and memorized the students that he would be seeing in the coming year or years if they overcame the many challenges thrown at them from both UA and the world. There was enough for a full class. No, two full hero courses. Hmm, Aizawa and Vlad would have their hands full with these ones.

There were more than a few legacies in this year and other notables. Ingenium's younger brother, Endeavor's youngest son with the dual-Quirk mutation, the Yaoyorozu girl who was recommended, and a few others. These ones had a leg up on the competition and it showed in their performance or lack thereof in the case of Yaoyorozu. Regardless, it was impressive.

Some, though, came from nothing and those were in the majority. The girl with the very intriguing Quirk that affected Gravity, the boy who topped the scoreboards with his explosive quirk, the boy who destroyed the Zero-pointer with a single punch, and a few others were sure to make waves in the coming semester. He could just feel it. Finally, came the boy who was Quirkless.

Watching the footage, Nezu couldn't keep the small smile from forming onto his face as he focused on one screen in particular.

On it, a boy in green with a bowl cut hairstyle cut bashed through any and every robot that stood in his way-very much like the blond-haired boy who unleashed miniature explosions from his hands. Nezu watched the Quirk-less boy use nothing but his fists and feet destroy the robots that other examinees had trouble with. Granted, the robots were mostly hollow, but that didn't mean they weren't tough enough to prove a decent challenge to the untrained. Nezu watched as the footage finally came to the moment where the boy, Lee, summoned up some sort of power from nowhere to rescue a fellow examinee from where she was pinned underneath some debris.

Nezu knew that she was in no danger, the foot only looked like it was going to step on her, but it would've stopped once it detected the presence of a human underneath it and adjusted accordingly.

Probably.

Still, the power Lee produced was so similar to that of a Quirk that Nezu had to go through his medical files just to reassure himself that Lee did not have one. He did not, so what was this ability that gave him such Quirk-like abilities?

Was he a later bloomer and the medical records just didn't update? He threw the possibility of him lying out of the window, as what would he gain by lying about such a seemingly powerful quirk?

No, Nezu concluded, something was going on with that boy that he didn't know and Nezu felt that familiar tingle make itself known in the back of his head at the prospect of learning something new.

He'd figure out the answer to the question that was Rock Lee. After all, Nezu mused to himself as he stamped the score sheet with the words ' Accepted', he would be seeing him in the coming semester.

Now, to make preparations for their arrivals.

"190, 191," Lee grunted out as he tried to keep his balance on the balance ball. Normally, this would not be that hard, but Guy- sensei had upped his training to another level. So, here he was, cranking out push-ups in a handstand while trying to keep his balance.

"192, 193," He breathed out. Had to watch his breaths. Being upside-down made the blood rush to his head and made his legs feel numb, so focusing on his breathing was even more important than with a regular exercise.

Sweat dripped down his forehead and splattered against the rubber of the balance ball reminiscent of rain on a window. Already, he was sweating in other places and his hand was beginning to get a little moist.

Ugh, moist. Lee didn't appreciate that word much. Wait, he needed to focus! Had to finish this set

"194, 195," He continued to count as breathed in and out with each pushup.

"196, 19-," He began.

"LEE!"

The loud noise broke Lee's state of balance and his hand slipped. his arm folded at the elbow, and he toppled over like a house of cards.

He hit the floor of the dojo with a soft grunt and groaned as he tried to catch his breath.

From his position on the floor, Guy-sensei walked in his field of view smiling brighter than the sun.

Why was he…Lee's eyes searched and latched onto the envelope in his sensei's hand.

His eyes widened in recognition and he felt hope begin to grow in his chest.

Lee slowly got up, eyes glued to the envelope that held his fate.

Guy smiled amusingly at his protege and said, "Why don't you open it up, Lee? See what your future has in store for you," He told him and offered the envelope to his student.

Lee's eyes flashed from the outstretched envelope to his Sensei before he slowly grabbed the letter. With almost a frame like care, Lee ripped open the letter to find...a weird device thing.

Confusion fell upon him, and he shook the envelope out to see if there was anything other than that in there.

Suddenly the device in his hand lit up and a "Hello!" Rang out from it.

The sudden greeting shocked him and he almost dropped the device that was now projecting an image of a...mouse? No, wait. That was the principle, right?

"I am the UA Principal, Nezu, and this is a prerecorded message for Rock Lee. If that is who is hearing this, great! If it isn't, well please find him because this is important," Nezu said.

He was Rock Lee, yes. Lee didn't utter a word, too transfixed on listening. He knew what was at stake. Moment of truth time.

"As you may know, it is required a minimum of 60 villain points to be accepted into the Hero course. After the scores were tallied, you, Rock Lee, had earned a total of 39 villains points making you Close, but not close enough for UA standards. I am sorry," Nezu spoke neutrally.

Silence. Lee couldn't even hear his own heartbeat. He...he didn't make it? He didn't get enough points. But he was so sure that…After all the work he put in and he only got 39 points?

His head dropped as he felt his eyes begin to water. He couldn't do it! After all the training and-and all the days and nights, he still wasn't enough. He-he didn't...

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder and shook Lee out of his thoughts. Lee looked up at his mentor through watery eyes.

"I-I didn't make it Guy-Sensei," He whispered sadly. "I-I wasn't good enough to get in."

Guy- Sensei smiled softly, one Lee knew was only reserved for special moments. This was one of them. Lee knew he'd say something to try to soften the blow of being rejected, but didn't know what could make this any easier.

"The message isn't over, Lee," He spoke softly to him.

What? Lee turned his head back to the projected image of Nezu that still stood there. Why was he still here?

"About 45 seconds have passed and I think that is enough time for you to realize I am still here," The principal said. "As I was saying, off of Hero points alone, you did not make it, but there is another category you did well in that more than made up for it. That is in Rescue Points,"

Wait, he didn't mean…?

"Due to your heroic actions of aiding and rescuing two other examines, you earned 45 rescue points,"

Tears began to flow down Lee's face and he was in no hurry to stop them.

"Making your grand total score out to be 84 points. That is more than enough to get you into UA Academy, young man,"

A sob. He was sobbing now. Crying as hard as he could. He'd done it. He made it.

"We hope to see you in the coming semester. Welcome to your hero academia, Rock Lee!" Nezu finished with a small smile.

The device slipped from his hands as Guy-Sensei gathered his sobbing student into his arms and cried along with him. Lee latched onto his teacher almost desperately and cried into his shoulder tears of joy and relief.

He muttered through tears, "I did it. I did it, Guy-Sensei. I did it," and his mentor held him just a little bit tighter.

He'd done it. He'd really done it.

Lee was nervous, and he usually didn't get nervous like that. After having to literally fight blindfolded on a swaying platform as someone swung a bo-staff at you, nervousness kind of has no place. Still, people? People were something Lee didn't have the most experience with.

This was why he was nervously pulling at his uniform tie, ugh he disliked ties almost as much as his sensei, while he stood in front of the door that protected him from the people inside.

He'd have to enter eventually, though. He knew that he would have to face the teenagers with Quirks that also got into UA. This was his future and he had to grab it by the reins and take control. He wasn't a child anymore! He was a man! A manly man!

Somewhere a red-haired teenager was overcome with the desire to scream a "Yosh!" out to the world. Weird.

Lee was a man who would totally enter this classroom and sit down like a student because earned his place here just like everyone else did.

He breathed in and out deeply and mustered up the courage to push open the door. He stepped into a loud, chatty space filled with teens of all shapes and sizes.

Slowly he took in the scene before him. There was a boy with reptilian features, two girls with long green hair, a boy with silver hair with extra something around his eyes, a person whose head was not really a head but a thing with holes and a weird opening. Lee really wasn't sure what to make of that.

There were so many colors and oddities and it was... wonderful.

So caught up in it all, he never even seen the orange-haired girl slide directly to his right.

"Hiya!" A voice rang out next to him.

The sudden greeting that was way too close shocked him, and on reflex, he swiped at it. To his surprise, the swipe was firmly blocked with a solid forearm block. Eyes widened in surprise, he quickly traced the arm up to a pair of green eyes that shone with amusement and understanding it seemed.

"Martial artist, I'm guessing?" She said eyes glancing at the arm that he almost accidentally hit her with. She dropped the guard which prompted Lee to pull his arm back as well. She shook her arm out a little, "Got some strength there, so that's something. Should've known you did martial arts by the hand wraps, but," she shrugged here, "could never be too sure."

She held out her other hand for him to shake and said, "I'm Itsuka Kendo. Welcome to class 1-B."

A/N: Long one but had to answer some questions: Boom, okay. Took forever cuz I really was stuck on deciding what I wanted to do with Lee. I want this to be his academia, to be his story without overshadowing Midoriya and his development because he is still All Might's successor, ya feel me? So, I know I couldn't put him in UA and still make him main character-esque without moving over all of the characters in class 1-A, yknow? So, after a long debate with my friend, I decided to put him in 1-B because it helps keep the story on track, it gives Lee the space to develop, and it doesn't take away from anybody minus the character I swapped him out with. That was Manga Fukidashi by the way. Anywho, yes! Class 1-B where the "second bests" are. Note how I put quotes around that because with Lee they're about to put in the spotlight a lot more due to the things I have cooking for the arcs. The happenings of class 1-B are generally unknown, so I have to create some actually worthwhile stuff. If you have any ideas, shoot them my way. I'm planning to follow the apprehension test, the battle trial, and the other arcs where they're with 1-A or it just makes sense for them to do as well.

Also, to address Lee having Chakra. He does and doesn't. Chakra is a very real concept in the real world that doesn't have the same implications and powers that they bring in Naruto. They're more spiritual. In this fic, Lee, as a martial artist, can channel that energy through his chakra gates, another real-world concept, to give him a boost. Like an adrenaline rush with some pizazz. It wasn't an ability he was born with, he wasn't gifted it, and he didn't take it. He earned it.

Now, it is nowhere near the level of the anime. He isn't 'super' strong or 'super' fast. What was described in the last chapter was an exaggeration. He is just able to get to the peak of human capabilities through it and humans can do some crazy stuff when the need arises. You have real-life humans that can deadlift 1,000 pounds, bench press over 700 pounds, squat over 1000 pounds, run at damn near 30 mph, punch and kick hard enough to fracture a bone and so many other things. Do you know how hard it is to fracture or break a bone? Crazy hard! These are all within the range of actual people who do not have 'superpowers'. Everything Lee does is 100% bonafide all-natural products of hard work, hence the title and the character. There will be drawbacks, though, because, realistically, there is only so much the human body can handle for an extended period of time. He's not Batman who has plot armor and money to save him.

That's it, though. Short chapter cuz it's a transitional one. After I'm done with finals, I'll be able to finish the next chapter, ya digg? Stay up and watch the new season that is out now.