First P.E. Class

Pierre looked at his new students. “Another year, another class, am I right?” he thought to himself. It was always an interesting job, being the Physical Education teacher at one of the most prestigious Hero Schools in the world, and this year looked to be no different. He could tell that this class was on course to be something special though, just a voice in his gut told him so.
He had called his students to get changed into their exercise clothes and meet him on the track. While he loved the facilities that Shiketsu had (Not to mention that being a teacher meant he got to use it all for free!), on such a stunningly sunny day like this it would be a travesty to waste time underground. He basked in the sunlight and sighed. Japan was a beautiful nation, with a culture he had practically dedicated his life to, but nothing could replace his love for his homeland. Ah, France! In April, it would be having its own sunny days, with the birds having just arrived, the trees blooming, and gorgeous girls beginning to wear less by the day…
He shook his head clear. He could spend time in his head thinking about beautiful days, or he could enjoy the one right here, not to mention do his job. His students would need him if they wanted to become top tier heroes, after all.

Class 1-D were milling around on the track course. It was their first time doing a P.E class together, and the cliques were already forming. The “Hivemind”, as the rest of the class called them, were all together, chattering about various inane topics as rich teenage girls are wont to do. The gym crew, consisting of Bobby, Hifumi, Jugo, Kaylee, and Shinken were together, discussing what type of exercises they were each hoping to do. The others were still finding their footing, either by themselves or in pairs, waiting for their teacher.

The professional Hero and Teacher raised an eyebrow as he examined his students. Just what were they feeding kids these days? He was a big guy, standing at 195 centimeters, but some of these teenagers were eye to eye or even taller than him! Hell, the tallest was a girl, who had to be seven foot tall! “Oh, how I pity her when she learns of the beauty of fashion.” Pierre thought to himself. He was still a Frenchman; fashion was in his blood. Putting such thoughts aside, he whistled, put his gym bag down, and got the students attention.
The students took notice of their teacher as much as he took notice of them. Pierre, or as he was better known, Ippon, was a hard man to miss. Not just his height but his entire build was massive, and the judo gi that he was wearing just made it obvious that he was in peak condition. He got them to line up at the start line of the track before he began to speak with his deep, authoritative voice.

“Welcome, Class 1-D, to your first class on Physical Education! I am your Sensei, Pierre Vachon, also known as the Hero Ippon! I shall ensure that each and every one of you reaches your physical potential, so that you all become the best heroes you can be! Now, let us not waste this sunlight!” (He noted one of the tallest lads smirked at that) “Let us warm up with a nice jog! When I call out instructions, follow them as swiftly as possible! Let us begin!”
With that, Pierre turned, and with a gesture, began jogging around the track. Some students took longer to start than others, but all of them did set off.

Pierre had the students warm up for about 15 minutes. He was not one for simple laps, he would randomly call out various orders; changing direction, high knees, circling arms forwards, backwards, one each way.
“Warming up is a crucial part of exercise! It’s more than just stretching the muscles; joint mobilization, ligaments and tendons, heart rate! All of these are vital to effective exercise, and important to do before activity unless you want to injure yourself!”
He carefully watched his students as they ran. Some weren’t taking it very seriously, while others seemed to forget that this is a GENTLE warm up! Those five girls were staying close and doing a nice, light jog, while the tallest students were going too fast and racing each other! He barked out for everyone to slow to a walk for one minute, before a second set was done. Once he felt that all the students were sufficiently warmed up, which was certainly a sliding scale considering that one of them was billowing smoke, he had them return to the front of the track, next to the start line for the 100m dash. Some were panting, but there was plenty of water on hand. Proper hydration is vital for effective exercise!

“Well done everyone! Now that everyone’s nice and warm, the main part of this lesson can begin! In any line of Hero work, speed is of the essence. Whether it is rescuing a civilian, chasing down a villain, or indeed in combat, there will be many times, where you will need to be fast! For that end, there is no better metric to go by than your 100-metre dash! Now I know some of you have quirks that are related to movement, and some of you may feel that this is an unfair advantage, but to that I have two things to say. One, life is not fair. Some of your quirks grant speed, some grant object manipulation, some are more esoteric, while some people have no quirk at all. In your duties as a Hero, you will be using your quirks all the time, as will the villains you face. Ignoring your powers in the pursuit of a sense of fairness will not be reciprocated by villains, so put such thoughts out of your mind. Two, you are not in competition with anyone but yourself. No matter what you get, you can always surpass yourself. That should be your goal more than petty point scoring. Now, in order to avoid any arguments, you’ll run in the alphabetical order of your names. Now line up and when I call your name, get into place!”
While there were mumbles of discontent from some students, the intimidating teacher suffered no disobedience. Before long, the students were lined up, and with Pierre’s tablet synced to the automatic timer system at the start and finish line for precise results, the students each took their turn.

Ashleigh was a bundle of nerves at the best of times, having to go first out of the whole class was a nightmare for her! After some gentle coaxing from her teacher, she took her starting position and ran with all she had! She crossed the finish line with a sub 13 second time, very respectable for a non-quirk-enhanced runner. Unfortunately, she stared intently at the teacher as he read out her time, resulting in him calling her to run until he realized what happened.
Atsushi flipped her hair over her shoulders as she limbered up on the start line. She was straight forward with her approach to this; power off the line and sprint non-stop. At the halfway point, she felt the inklings of fatigue, that was before her regeneration kicked in to keep herself feeling fresh! She crossed the finish line, before turning around and striking a cute pose as her time was called out. A sub 8 time! She happily walked back to the group, showing no sign of tiredness following the run.
Bobby was glowing, both metaphorically and literally, as he took his starting position. The weather could not be better for him to do well, and from his night-time training he knew he could do a sub 10 even without his quirk. He sprinted down the track, crossed the finish line, but despite nearly breaking the 6 second line, he seemed disappointed with himself, as though his ego had been damaged. Nothing that some teacherly praise couldn’t smooth over though.
Chihiro had been prudently rationing her stored qi throughout the lesson, taking from the forest prior to the lesson and carefully taking only what her classmates didn’t seem to miss. She charged off the line, using all that she could in the less than 6 seconds that it took her to complete the race. She didn’t seem to react to any of the praise from the teacher though. She almost looked guilty.
Christopher seemed uneasy; his quirk was other quirks, and he hadn’t wanted to use any for this lest he be accused of stealing someone else’s approach. Stuck between the choice paralysis of so many quirks and the fear of confrontation, he elected to just run it with nothing but his own muscles. This didn’t go so well, as his time came back as a high 13 seconds. Still, he figured, he could use the other’s times as references for what to expect when he used their quirks.
Edith was grateful she was going after such a poor time. She may not have a boost from her quirk, but she had experience running track before. She took a conventional position, and with a good start, finished with a low 12 second time. She seemed pleased with this, taking the praise from the teacher with feigned grace, and made her way back to her clique.
Faith rolled her eyes as she took her place, she seemed to be trying to cover her reluctance to have her speed measured with an air of “I’m too good for this”. Pierre could see why, as the poor girl was out of breath before she was three-quarters of the way to the finish, barely staggering over the line. She completely ignored any comments about her 15 second time, from the teacher or fellow students, though she was overhead saying “Whatever, I’m just going to use my drones for movement anyway, this was a waste of time.”
Genma was another student whose quirk offered no edge in the dash. Still, he took his place, and while his 14 second time was not impressive by the standard set by some of the faster students, he did still look stylish doing it. Slicked back blonde hair looks good in running, it seems.
Hailey didn’t look like she had any interest in doing the dash; flipping her hair back as she stood arms crossed at the start. She didn’t even try to run, she just suddenly flew forward, arms crossed the whole time, crossing the finish with a sub 9 second time. She flew back to her group with the same arrogant air that she had had the whole time.
Hifumi’s run was interesting. He hadn’t paid much attention to the previous students, just focused on the finish line, staring intently at it. When he set off, he ran for perhaps half a second, before blinking out of existence and reappearing just in front of the finish line. There were a couple of students who, by the looks on their faces, took umbrage with the fact that he had run less than 10 meters, but as Pierre called out his time and congratulated him on “a stellar time and use of your quirk”, they held their tongues and simply sulked.
Hiro did not appear to be the athletic type, but he had a trick up his sleeve. As he walked to the start line, he filled his mouth with a special concoction that he had come up with to give himself a boost. As he swallowed, he could feel the effects rip through his body, and all of a sudden, he was pumped! He sprinted off the line, not slowing down at all, crossing the line with a sub 12 time. He nodded as the teacher praised him, trying his best to hide the crash of the drug. It only worked for about half a minute, and now he had to pay for a while.
Imai had no quirk advantage, but he had plenty of cardio experience. He set off at a fantastic pace (by mundane standards) and crossed the finish with a sub 11 second time. Like always, he seemed very reserved when it came to the praise and seemed neither pleased nor disappointed with his time.
Inigo seemed to be bargaining with his dragon as he walked to the line, whispering intently to Gigan until it sighed, and morphed around him into a suit of armor. Whatever Inigo promised to get his dragon to agree saw results, as a combination of wings and his own fleet feet pushed him forward into netting a sub 10 second time.
Jugo had been charging up since before the first runner. As soon as he was called, he was there on the line. With a rush of air, he soared off, the air from around him blasting backward in recoil. The boy was dead flat horizontally, minimizing any drag, and crossing the finish with a sub 6 second time. He seemed satisfied with that time, returning to his friend group, only getting grumpy when a comment was made that, if he were taller, he’d break the 5 second barrier.
Kaylee, much like her previous classmate, had been preparing both mentally and physically before her turn. As she stomped over to the start position, a certain student paled as he detected what was on her mind. A green flame engulfed her, before she charged off. The flames were blasting from her feet with each step, propelling her faster and adding to the already insane power in her large legs. It took her a few seconds to seemingly calm herself down before she responded to her teacher congratulating her for her sub 5 second time.
Maxine, out of all the students, had the most bizarre starting position. Before walking to the start line, she had had one of her friends unzip some zips on the back of her custom gym shirt. Then, instead of taking any conventional position, she simply lay down on the ground, with her head at the start line! After giving a thumbs up to the teacher that she was ready, she suddenly sped forwards! Had a closer look been taken, they would have seen six bony yet powerful limbs coming out of those unzipped holes, carrying her down the track in an almost insectile fashion. While unorthodox, the sub 10 second time couldn’t be argued with.
Minerva had a history of athletics and was determined to use her quirk to amplify what she already had. As she crouched into the traditional runner’s pose, lightning arced across her, running from her head to her toes. She dashed off, seeming to emulate the previously seen technique of boosting from her projections. She crossed the line with a low 8 second time, securing herself as the fastest of her group. With a “fast as lightning!” quip, she returned to her friends.
Noah took a unique posture before he started; crouching in such a way to maximise his wings. If there was anyone who laughed at such a pose, they weren’t laughing as the cherub set off with an audible crack! Less than 4 seconds later, he had crossed the finish line, happily yet humbly accepting praise from his honoured teacher for his time.
Nyoro took her place, but still had to shout that she was ready as her quirk did its work. Fortunately, it did not interfere with the timing system this time, but even though she had tried her best, she still got over 15 seconds, and right after one of the best times too. Though she was distressed, it was alleviated somewhat by her teacher actually noticing her state, and even coming over to comfort her! She was used to being ignored, having an authority figure actually take notice was a big deal for her.
Owari seemed zoned out as he took his start, as though he were going through motions that had been repeated countless times. His face kept this implacable nature even as he sped down the track, getting a solid mid 7 second time. Rather than seeming particularly pleased with a time that was impossible without a quirk, he seemed rather sad, murmuring something under his breath that was only audible to him.
Shinkan pulled out a lump of coal he had stashed away and chomped down on it before taking his place, to the shuddering of more than one student. His teeth must be as strong as the rest of him to bite down on solid coal like that! As he blasted off the start line, there was so much smoke that the laser was visible, and if it weren’t for the laser at the other end, no one would have been able to tell that the engine boy had finished! It was clear that the “snack” had done its job, as he got an extremely impressive sub 5 second time.
Sora was another who took a strange start; balancing on his hands in a posture that must take a lot of strength. For those who looked closely, they noticed that not only was he balancing on his hands, but he was actively gripping the ground. The moment he started, he let go, and seemed to drop horizontally! His gravity quirk was on full display, and he “fell” across the finish line just under 5 seconds! Of course, he took quite a bit more distance to slow himself. An indirect means of acceleration requires more finesse, after all.
Victor didn’t like cardio, said it “killed his gains”. Still, like all the other students, he took his start. However, before he began, he surrounded himself with water, encasing it around him. As he ran, he manipulated the inertia of the liquid, getting more propulsion than he otherwise would have. As soon as he felt the lethargy creeping up on him, his quirk’s healing aspect kicked in, giving him the stamina needed to finish with a sub 12 second time. “Not bad for my first ever sprint!” he exclaimed, as he returned to his gym buddies.
Yui was the last to go, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let these kids (even though they were only a year younger than her) beat her! She crouched on the starting line, looked up with fire in her eyes and gritted teeth, and ran down the track like she was chasing someone who owed her money. Crossing the line before allowing the lactic acid to catch her, she got a low 10 second time. She did her upmost to play it off as though she didn’t care, and while it was a good time for her, she felt she could do better.