It was first period math, actually a normal day, ignoring the dead body sitting next to oneself. Big circles under the eyes, limp body, dark aura and frantic muttering. At first glance, you'd say you had a Satanist sitting next to you, mumbling some sort of religious ritual while writing letters on a sheet of paper at the speed of light.
Orochimaru eyed the boy. The whole thing had started a few weeks ago. Sometime after Bakugou had been fucked over by a villain and Brokoli-head had run in like an idiot because he actually thought he could do something. After that, a certain hero came along, had to save both boys, sprinkled the sidewalks with slime, and then stuffed the oh-so-evil person into a bottle.
And that was the start of a change in Midoriya. He was training and Orochimaru, who had no idea how the change happened because he hadn't been watching the news, asked a simple question:
Are you in love?
::
"Are you in love?"
Midoriya squeaked as he suddenly found the snake boy standing next to him. He leapt back, nearly tripping over the chair and waving his arms wildly through the air. His muscles ached at the movement and he winced.
Only then did he realize the question and blushed.
"...W...what?!" he asked, his voice several octaves higher.
"Are you in love?" the boy repeated, his face blank. When the greenette couldn't get anything else out besides a squeak, he began to explain:
"You've started working out to improve your body, you're often absent and write long texts in your notebook, and after school you always seem to look forward to meeting a person you like."
Midoriya blinked. He blinked a second time and then lapsed into a jumble of shouted and mumbled words as he tried to explain himself. He wanted to somehow get across that it was a misunderstanding that he wasn't.... in love. And between all the words that poured out of his mouth, one question remained very clear.
"Kenta, since when are you interested in love?"
The snake boy looked at him blankly.
"People around me tend to fall in love with someone or something" he began and Midoriya looked at him confused, "so I've been reading up to take the proper measures if it ever comes to me being confronted again and being forced to play matchmaker" he replied, remembering the time when Takumi still had a crush. When he was done with him, the boy had sworn never to ask him for help again. At least not when it came to his love life.
Midoriya was also at a loss for words. Kenta knew about love? And someone had actually asked him for help? That seemed absolutely out of character for him.
"What kind of measures?" he asked curiously.
"People get closer when they are caught in life and death situations"
"Huh?"
"So I abandoned them on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean".
"W..what?"
"Unfortunately it didn't go as planned"
Midoriya stared at the boy dumbfounded. Never mind Kenta knowing something about love. Because he clearly didn't.
And after making an inner note never to ask Kenta for help, should he have any emotional problems, he eventually came back to the topic at hand and had to explain why he was training. Something about heroes, UA, his childhood dream, a lot of self motivational speeches and a mentor.
::
In retrospect, the mentor thing was a slightly more interesting topic. But who would have thought that the blood spitting skeleton can inflate himself to look like pajama hero number 1.
The only question now was why the Symbol of Peace would train some random, quirkless nobody he had picked up off the street. The reason was unknown at the moment, but Orochimaru had a unparalleled information network, so the answer would come bouncing his way sooner or later. All he had to do, once again, was to wait.
Until then, he would send a clone after them and keep watching. Now that he thought about it, he also had his Recommendation exam coming up soon. He had been given the opportunity, so he wouldn't bother with any other schools. He would ask if he could go to Class 1-C and then he would have nothing else to worry about. He had always said it before and he would say it again now. He didn't want to become a rainbow colored pajama hero whose half career involved having little figurines made of himself and posing for selfies.
From that statement alone, you should hear what a high opinion he had of heroes. It was so low that it stuck to the sole of his shoe while he walked through a pile of dirt.
He didn't want to say that they were incompetent, some did their job relatively well, otherwise humanity would have been lost long ago, but the whole system was just too inefficient. Why spend fifteen seconds smiling into a camera and saying some catchphrase when you can do something productive in that time?
It was like, oh look, there are people getting wrecked, but next to me is a camera, just look cool, run into the wreckage, grab someone and soothe them in the process, while smiling more at the camera crew than at the actual victim.
But maybe it was just his opinion again, making everything look over the top bad. Well, he didn't have to like heroes, after all, they weren't on the same side anyway.
The school bell rang for break and the first students jumped up to rush out of the classroom. Orochimaru remained seated, as did Midoriya, who had been summoned back to the land of the living by the bell and now realized that he had absolutely no idea what was going on in the classroom.
The two of them were alone, except for one student who was sitting in the back of the class reading a book. But he would not interact with them anyway.
Midoriya turned to his friend, a hopeful expression on his face. "W...what came up in class?" he asked, ready to write down what he had missed at his inhuman speed, only to be greeted by a blank face.
"Good question," Kenta said, looking at the blackboard. Then he turned back to the greenette.
"Quadratic functions," he read off the heading, and Midoriya sweatdropped. He shouldn't have asked. Kenta never paid attention in class and yet he was top of the class. A true prodigy. What he wouldn't give to be anywhere near that talented.
"N..never mind" he muttered and began to arrange his pencils. Silence followed, broken only by the eternal ticking of the clock and the shouting that came through the open window. The sun's rays that found their way into the classroom were the only light that illuminated the room.
Suddenly, Kenta spoke up again.
"Midoriya."
"Yes?" he asked uncertainly, not expecting Kenta to address him on anything first. He raised his head, his green eyes meeting golden ones.
"Do you happen to know a hero named Kaze?"
Midoriya's eyes lit up at the name. His hand went to his backpack and he fished out his hero analysis. He flipped through the pages briefly before stopping in front of one in particular and shoving the open notebook in Kenta's face. A glittering aura enveloped him as he began to hold his presentation.
"Kaze is a pro hero who made his debut eight years ago. He became better known after his telekinesis quirk stopped a building from falling on a crowd two years ago. Shortly after, he expanded his agency and moved to the outskirts of Tokyo. There are many research institutes and a large industrial area where many heroes are considered unsuitable with their quirks, but he has not caused any unnecessary property damage so far. His control over his power is highly precise and it is incredible because it requires high concentration. He can move up to ten objects independently and his weight limit is about 500 tons. That's very strong compared to regular Quirks in the telekinesis, levitation and gravity category. But the recoil is similarly strong. His telekinesis is like another muscle, if overworked it can cause extreme pain, bleeding or brief failure of his quirk. This is something you could see once in this one video when he-"
"Thank you Midoriya, that was very informative" Kenta interrupted him and pushed the notebook with the colorful drawings out of his face.
The greenette blinked briefly before he blushed embarrassingly as he realized he was already rambling again.
"Huh....o..oh y..yeah"
He laughed nervously and carefully closed his notebook again. He placed it on the table, his hand resting on his cover as he looked at the burnt edges. A sad expression was on his face before it was replaced by a determined one.
Then his gaze fell back to Kenta.
"W..why do y..you ask? You d..don't have to answerbutIthought..." he inquired curiously. Kenta was never someone who was much interested in heroes. Even though he got the opportunity to go to UA, he only wants to go to an unimportant side class. So why the question?
Kenta looked at him silently for a moment.
"There is an establishment where Kaze patrols that I find very interesting. It would be a shame if he wouldn't be able to protect it" he answered and a small grin settled on his lips.
Midoriya didn't get a chance to ask any more questions because the school bell declared the break to be over and the first students came in, their loud voices drowning out the quiet voice of the greenette.
~*~
"Soon is your recommendation exam. When that happens you will be accepted into UA. Are you excited?" asked Misaki during dinner. It was nothing special. Some rice, fish and a simple sauce. That was all she had been able to make today.
She got no answer from her silent son. Instead, the other replied.
"It's just a school, Mom. We should know by now that UA can be a little eccentric but it's nothing special." he mumbled, pushing aside the fish on his plate. Misaki sighed and looked at the red head. He had grown, become so tall, so mature. Time passed far too quickly for her taste. Where had her little son gone, the one who was so happy? Not the one who did everything to support the family, pushing himself to the limit at his young age.
"I'm just worried" she said softly.
The silence was stifling, the hum of the ventilation system didn't make it any better. It was a dinner like any other day and she seemed to be the only one making an effort to keep a conversation going.
"How was your day Nibori?"
Once again she tried to start a conversation.
"As usual."
And again it came to an end right after.
She laughed dryly.
What had happened to this family?
Her hand reached to the end of the table where a radio stood and turned it on. Music droned through the speakers, filling the silent room.
~*~
The day of the test came quickly and just a few weeks later, Orochimaru found himself standing outside the gates of the hero school. He was wearing simple black pants, a blue shirt, sneakers, and he had a backpack slung around his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow. They couldn't have made it any bigger, could they?
Shaking his head, he walked through the gate, strolled into the entrance, had his admission confirmed, and then sat down in his assigned seat in a classroom. Other students of the same age had already gathered in the room. He let his eyes scan the room along with the people inside. A boy with his hair split down the middle caught his eye and he could have sworn he had seen him before at some point. One side white and the other red. Two-colored, just like his eyes, one side gray and the other turquoise- ah!
He remembered seeing this very boy years ago at the gala his parents had dragged him to. The son of Endeavor, Todoroki Shoto if he remembered correctly. He and his father had been just one of the many he was introduced to that evening. An interesting coincidence that they met again here. Though considering the boy's father then perhaps not quite so.
And Todoroki probably couldn't remember him at all, because he was busy trying to kill everyone around him with his gaze.
A teacher entered the room, a pro hero judging from his clothes. All eyes moved in his direction.
"My name is Kan Sekijirō, hero name Vlad King. I will be the supervisor for the written examination" he introduced himself and shortly after followed brief instructions and rules regarding the test. After that, the sheets were handed out and they were given three hours to finish everything.
Orochimaru briefly flipped through all the papers unimpressed. The test included questions ranging from math, to history, to literature, and also some questions regarding the profession of a hero. The questions were hard enough that an average student would have trouble, but in front of Orochimaru they seemed like elementary school assignments.
He sped through the tasks, not hesitating once to complete them. His tablemate gave him a stressed look, to which the sannin laughed inwardly. His answers weren't perfect, they didn't have to be, so he integrated mistakes. There was an art to pretending you couldn't do something when you clearly could, and he had fun incorporating the mistakes in such a way that it took several geniuses to figure out he was doing it.
He knew the director was a clever little rat, probably the one who had created the test, but Orochimaru was no less intelligent. He had to admit that Nezu's IQ was probably higher than his, but his life experience made up for it.
Well into the time, he put his pen aside and sat back, satisfied. Once again, he could feel the incredulous look of his tablemate on him and the teacher also eyed him appraisingly for a moment before turning away and watching the other students in the room.
About an hour later, the others slowly finished and the group was led out of the room.
_________________________
It was a pain to write during a writer's block. But I have a schedule to keep, so I forced myself to keep writing. Maybe you notice my non-existent motivation while reading.
And now that I'm done complaining, let's move on to the next point:
I mentioned sometime a few chapters back that I plan to change the cover and book title. I was a little creative and designed a few, but now I can't decide which one to go with. So now I'm asking you guys.
In short, a vote.
And for this I would also like to ask all my silent readers to participate. Just write a comment to the cover you like best. Even if it's some bullshit like "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" I would be completely happy.
Here I want to mention briefly that none of the pictures used are mine.
So on to the first cover.
The first one. I don't have much to say about this one.
I agree that my book becomes a bit bloody at some parts but I honestly don't think it's horror and gore enough to get such a cover. Well, I still made it.
I actually like this one, but Orochimaru looks kind of dejected... dunno how to describe it. So I was unsure if it fit.
This one captures the comedic side of the book perfectly. I just thought, I made a cover for the more dark chapters, why not make one for the one where I only spew bullshit?
I don't think this one fits the book in any way (because Orochimaru is clearly not on a redemption), but I liked the picture so I still made a cover with it. Just ignore this one.
That's it with the covers from my side, now your votes are needed. I just hope that not too many have skipped this part, because your opinion is really important to me. The voting will run for a few days (about a week).
First of all I say thank you in advance, if you have any questions or improvements, comments are always welcome.
So bye and until the next chapter.
(I have the feeling that this part was longer than the actual chapter...)