-Aizawa's Perspective-
All Might was an absolute idiot of a man and a hero who should not be teaching. Certainly not unsupervised. What kind of teacher- no. What kind of person thought it was a good idea to have super-powered fourteen and fifteen year-old's face off in new costumes with potentially deadly equipment that they didn't know how to use?
"It's too late to do anything about it now. Nobody was seriously injured and you and Nezu talked to him, so it shouldn't happen again. And you're going to be supervising from now on." Hizashi piped up from his place snuggled into my side on the couch.
Hitoshi was in his room doing homework. We'd already eaten dinner, so Hitoshi would probably try to get some sleep after he finished his homework. Hopefully his insomnia wouldn't keep him up too late tonight.
"You're right, 'Zashi. At least this will give me an idea of where they are in regards to their combat skills." I said as Loaf snuggled up against the side of my thigh.
"Way to think positive." Hizashi said, his smile so wide his eyes were practically closed from the force of it. I rolled my eyes at him while I pulled up the footage of the battle trials. This was probably going to be a long night.
-Uraraka's Perspective-
The day seemed to go by so quickly.
Breakfast with Fai was nice, though Kuro-san - as he'd asked to be called - had to rush through his so he could make it to work. I still didn't know what he did. Anyways, Fai had made pancakes for breakfast, and not the ones I was used to. She told me they were an american recipe that her parents had from the time they spent living there. Although they were different, they were some of the best pancakes I'd ever tasted. I wasn't sure if that was because they were American, or if it was because Fai had made them.
We finished eating and cleaned up quickly. Then we parted ways in the hallway to get ready. I went off to the room that had become mine in the past two weeks. I quickly changed into my uniform and shoved everything into my school bag. I left my bag on my bed and quickly made my way into the bathroom. I spent around five minutes there before heading back to my room. Fai slipped into the bathroom after me. Ten minutes later, we were both at the front door and slipping our shoes on. We made our way out the door and Fai locked the door behind us.
The train ride was a quiet ordeal as I tried not to fall asleep and Fai was on her phone. At one point I looked over her shoulder and saw her texting Souro. I couldn't wait to meet the guy, officially at least. Fai spoke highly of him and I'd found that she wasn't very easily impressed.
When we finally arrived at the school, having walked from the train station, I could see the gate blocked by a huge group of what appeared to be reporters. I could see other students trying to push their way through, but they were being bombarded by questions, and microphones and cameras were being shoved in their faces. I looked over to Fai and saw her calculating eyes scanning the reporters and the surrounding area.
"I don't think we have time to wait for a teacher to come and get rid of them, so we'll just have to find some way to either get around them, or get through them." she said before looking at me. I nodded and turned back to look at the reporters.
"I have an idea." I said determinedly after a couple minutes. I looked over at Fai, who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Just follow my lead."
Her and I walked up to the reporters and I could see the group of them immediately latch onto our nearing forms. I made exaggerated movements as I got closer.
"I can't believe All Might's signing autographs just a few blocks from here." I said, slightly louder than would normally be needed.
"And I can't believe there were no reporters there." Fai replied, playing along.
"Hey kid." one of the reporters called as we got closer. I turned my attention onto her and put on a questioning look. "You said that you two saw All Might?" the man questioned. All the other reporters looked our way, allowing some other students to slip by unnoticed. They shot us grateful glances as they passed.
"Oh, yeah." I said excitedly. "He had just finished saving someone," I said, remembering the reports I'd read earlier on the train. "And was signing autographs for some of the kids who were in the crowd watching."
"And where was this?" a woman asked from beside the man.
"Just a few minutes that way," I said pointing in the direction we had come from. "Over on Yakitan street." I lied smoothly.
The reporters all looked at each other and their camera people before they all briskly took off in the direction I'd pointed out. The man and woman offering a small parting 'thanks' as they passed. As soon as they were out of ear-shot, I turned to Fai with a giggle.
"I can't believe that actually worked." I said, unable to control the soft giggles coming out of my mouth.
"I can't believe you just lied to a bunch of reporters." Fai said in disbelief.
"Technically, I didn't lie." I said. Fai looked at me questioningly. "All Might did save someone and sign autographs on Yakitan street. It was just ten to twenty minutes ago. The reporters are going to think they got there too late and aren't going to notice the time discrepancy when they look at the news articles later."
"Oh, you are good, Uraraka-san. You are good." Fai said with a sly grin as we walked through the gates.
We didn't notice Mic-sensei and Aizawa-sensei rushing past us towards the gates as we made our way to class.
The day continued as normal, though Aizawa-sensei did look a little confused when he walked into the classroom for homeroom. Though we did have to pick a class representative. We decided to vote and whoever had the most votes would be our class rep, and the person with second most would be our vice rep. I couldn't decide whether to vote for Fai or Shio.
They both seemed like great leaders. Shio seemed good at analysing and he apparently had a decent amount of prior combat and first aid training. Fai had combat training, but I wasn't sure about first aid. They both had level heads and seemed to think through problems logically and rationally. However, Fai had told me that she wanted to be an underground hero, meaning that she didn't want the spotlight. She probably didn't need or want the attention that would come with being the class rep or vice rep. Shio probably wouldn't want the attention either. I wasn't sure if he wanted to go underground, if he even knew about underground heroics, but he was definitely more shy and less open. He also didn't seem that comfortable around other people.
In the end, I just went with Yaoyorozu because she had taken charge and proposed the vote, as well as provided all the necessary supplies.
When the votes had been counted and all the names and votes had been written on the board, Yoayoruzu had the most votes with six. I, surprisingly, had the second most with three. I couldn't help but wonder who had voted for me. Fai and Shio, probably, but who was the third person that had voted for me? I didn't have too much time to wonder because, before I knew it, I was standing at the front with Yaoyorozu and thanking the class for the opportunity to be vice rep.
Classes continued as normal and by the time it was lunch, I'd completely forgotten to wonder. That is, until I'd gotten my food and sat down with Fai. She was sitting with Souro and Fai had a small smile on her face as I sat down beside her. Fai gestured across the table to the boy.
"This is Souro Aizaku. Aku-kun, this is my friend, Uraraka Ochako." Fai said, gesturing to me.
"Hajimemashite, Souro-kun." I said with a small bow of my head.
"Hey." he replied. I blinked at his informality and casualness. Fai scowled at him, but I just giggled.
"I like you." I said. Souro grinned. Fai just sighed in fond exasperation.
"You two are ridiculous. I feel like I'm going to regret this decision." she said as she buried her face in her hands.
"Probably." I told her solemnly, but I couldn't keep the grin off my face.
"We are going to cause so much trouble, Uraraka-chan." Souro said with a matching grin.
"Yes we are." Fai groaned. "And please, call me Ako. I love nicknames."
"Well in that case, Ako-chan, call me Aku. It's what Fai calls me."
"Fai?" I repeated, looking between the two of them with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah. I told you I lived with my parents in America for a couple years, right?" she asked me. I nodded. "Well, there, they don't use honorifics and I met Aku about a year after we moved back to Japan. I was so used to not using them that they sounded weird to me. I told him to just call me Fai and not use honorifics."
"That's oddly sweet and adorable." I said.
"We use honorifics now, but sometimes I don't just to tease her." Souro said with another grin.
Souro seemed like the chaotic type and I knew we would get along really well. Suddenly I felt my phone buzz and I pulled it out.
Where are you sitting?
"Oh!" I gasped out as I read the message. I turned to Fai who had turned to look at me when I gasped. "I can't believe I forgot to ask. Is it alright if my friend comes to sit with us?"
"Is this the guy who saved you in the exam?" Fai asked curiously. I nodded. "I'm fine with it. Aku-kun?" Fai questioned, turning to look at her friend across the table.
"Sure. I don't see why not." the boy said with a shrug as he picked up his chopsticks and went back to eating his food. I smiled and turned back to my phone.
im sitting at one of the tables near the back corner of the cafeteria
im sitting with Fai-chan and her friend
are you ok sitting with other people?
Yeah. That's fine.
I'm just in line getting food.
Also, should I be concerned by the lack of capitals and
punctuation in your texts?
I snickered before responding.
wHat dO yOu mEaN?
mY punCtuatioN is FinE.
anD i hAve pLenTy oF cApiTaLs.
You're impossible.
Maybe
I snickered as I put my phone down and began to eat my own food. It was just a simple yaki udon, but, as I'd found out yesterday, Lunch Rush made even the simplest food taste heavenly.
"Hey, Ako-chan." a voice said quietly from beside me a couple minutes later. I turned and beamed up at the boy.
"Shio-kun! You can have a seat beside Aku-kun." I said, pointing to the empty seat across from me. The black-haired boy nodded before setting his lunch tray down and pulling his black backpack off his shoulders and setting it on the ground in between his legs under the table.
"Shio-kun, this is my friend and roommate, Shifuta Faihato, and her friend, Souro Aizaku." I said, gesturing to each respectively. "And this is my friend, Itamie Nashio." I said to the other two while I gestured to Itamie.
"Hajimemashite, Shifuta-san and Souro-san." Itamie said with a small bow.
"Hajimemashite, Itamie-san. And please, call me Fai. All my friends do. And you can drop the 'san', too. I hope that we can become friends." Fai said kindly. I could see Itamie blush slightly, but made sure not to call him out on it.
"Then you don't have to use 'san' for me, either." he said. I smiled, then looked over at Souro. He was frowning at Itamie, but he also looked confused. Itamie looked slightly uncomfortable as the purple-eyed teen continued to stare.
"You look really familiar." he finally said. "Have we met before?" Souro asked. Itamie looked away.
"I've seen you working at the store down on Akatani street." Itamie admitted quietly.
"Oh, yeah. I remember now." Souro said as he slumped back into his seat. "That would have bugged me all day if you hadn't told me."
It was quiet for a bit after that, everyone eating their food, before an alarm suddenly started blaring through the cafeteira and, presumably, the rest of the school. I looked around panicked and scanned our small group of four. Shifuta and Aizakku looked surprised, but calm. They remained calm even as we stood and a third-year student shouted about this never happening in all his years here. Itamie did the same, but there was something else. Something seemed off about his expressions. He had an almost hard look in his eyes, like he was angry, and there was less confusion on his face than the rest of us, almost as if he knew what was going on. I didn't have time to dwell on it before we were swept away by the pushing and panicking crowd of students.
"This is insane!" I yelled to my friends to be heard above the cacophony of the other students. Souro looked out the window beside him and his jaw dropped in disbelief.
"It's just the press outside! I don't know how, but they managed to get past the gate!" Souro called. I saw, more than heard, Shifuta huff in annoyance. I quickly scanned the crowd and the hall, desperately trying to come up with a way to let the students know and stop the panic. With the way everything was going, if there weren't people already injured, they were going to. An idea came to me when I looked down at my clenched fists and I looked up and turned to my friends, determination burning through me.
"I have an idea, but I'm going to need some help." I told them loudly, still struggling to be heard over the noise.
"What do you need?" Fai asked.
"Ready?" I asked after I had explained to them.
We'd barely moved from where we'd started with so many people crowded in the hallway. All three of them nodded as I touched my clothes and the gravity was removed from them. I then hovered my hand over my neck as Itamie and Souro gently grabbed my arms and Fai rested her hands lightly on my back.
"Three, two, one, go!" I said as I touched my neck and the other three pushed me up and towards a frame in the hallway.
I held my hands out and grabbed onto the frame to stop myself. Thankfully. It was all attached to the wall, so I didn't have to worry about my quirk affecting them. I turned myself around to face the crowd of students.
"Everyone!" I shouted as loud as I could. Everyone stopped moving and I sighed in relief. Though, a few people shifted anxiously, like they wanted to keep moving. "It's just the reporters outside! We should still follow protocol, but we don't need to panic. Would the second and third years please guide the first years where we need to go?" I asked. I saw a couple of the older students nod as they forced their way to the sides of the crowd to direct people. "And will everyone please stop and help anyone who got injured?" I added on as everyone started moving again, though much slower and calmer this time.
I watched with a relieved smile as people helped others off the ground and saw a few people supporting people as they walked. I scanned the crowd and found my three new friends watching me with awe and pride. I flushed as Fai shot me a thumbs up as they slowly made their way towards me. They stopped under me and people went around them as they looked up at me and waited. I took a deep breath and reached up to push off the ceiling. The little bit of momentum was all that was needed for my body to start moving down towards them.
Souro stretched out his arms and grabbed my hands when I reached for him. He pulled me down until my feet touched the ground and didn't let go, even when I had touched my fingers together and let out a breathless "release". I looked up at him in surprise and found him staring at me. I raised an eyebrow and he looked away and stepped back with a slight blush dusting his cheeks.
"That was incredible, Ako-chan." Itamie said quietly from behind me. I turned and smiled at him.
"Thanks, Shio-kun. Come on, let's go before we get left behind."
~~~
Later, after everyone had made it back to class, we sat waiting for our teacher to arrive. This was supposed to be our heroics class, our last class for the day, but class was supposed to start ten minutes ago and the teacher still hadn't arrived. I hoped everything was okay. Suddenly, the door burst open with a shout.
"I AM HERE!" a voice boomed. "Coming through the door like a normal person!"
My heart leaped out of my chest at the sudden entrance and the loud noise, before excitement overshadowed everything else. I turned to look excitedly back at Itamie, but found him scowling at his desk. I frowned, wondering what was wrong. I didn't have long to wonder before All Might was calling for our attention. I turned back to the front as everybody went quiet.
"Today," All Might began. "We'll be doing battle trials!" All Might shouted, revealing a card with the words 'battle trial' printed in bold letters. Then he stepped to the side of the podium and pointed a remote at the wall. I was confused until he pressed a button and rows of briefcases came sliding out of the wall. "If you're going to be heroes, you should look the part! These are your costumes, which are based off of the measurements and suggestions you sent in. Get changed and meet me in Battle Arena Gamma." All Mights boomed, gesturing to the briefcases on the wall. He then turned around and left the room.
Almost everyone scrambled to grab their costumes and rushed out of the room to the changerooms. Itamie seemed to have schooled his expression, but the hard look from earlier had returned to his eyes.
When I finally had my costume on, I couldn't help but smile. After hearing Fai talk about Underground heroics, I had asked her if there were any other kinds of heroics I hadn't heard of. She'd gone on to tell me about a small, and dwindling, type of hero called 'Twilight Heroes'. They were a combination of limelight and underground heroes that were mainly underground, but also did limelight hero work. She said Midnight was a twilight hero and I couldn't help but be surprised. Twilight heroics sounded perfect for me and Fai had given me her support, claiming that "With their dwindling numbers, they could use a hero like you." As such, I had done some remodelling on my initial costume idea.
My original costume idea had been big, bright, and bubbly. With Fai's help and input, I'd made it much more suited for twilight heroics. My new costume was a little bit like Midnight's, though much darker in color. The suit itself was black, intended to help me blend in at night, with a small, thin zipper up the middle. There were three pieces to the main suit, the bodysuit and the two, slightly thicker, kevlar layers. The first kevlar layer covered my torso, chest, and part of my neck. The first kevlar layer stopped on my shoulders.This layer had a zipper on the left side of the fabric. The second kevlar layers started at the top of my biceps and travelled down to my wrists, covering the entire expanse of my arms. On my feet and going up to my knees were a pair of black combat boots.
My favorite part of my hero costume, though, was the pink detailing. Pink stripes lined the sides of the bodysuit and kevlar layer. There was also one stripe of pink going up the outside of each sleeve, as well as the back of the boots. The part of the kevlar layer that covered my neck was also pink. The utility belt around my waist was also the same shade of pink, as well as the pouches attached to it. Overall, I was really happy with the way that my costume had turned out and I couldn't wait to try it out.
~~~
All Might announced the teams.
Team A - Sato Rikido and Sero Hanta
Team B - Tokoyami Fumikage and Iida Tenya
Team C - Ashido Mina and Shoji Mezo
Team D - Ojiro Mashirao and Shifuta Faihato
Team E - aoyama Yuga and Shinso Hitoshi
Team F - Souro Aizaku and Asui Tsuyu
Team G - Yaoyorozu Momo and Uraraka Ochako
Team H - Todoroki Shoto and Koda Koji
Team I - Kaminari Denki and Kirishima Eijiro
Team J - Bakugo Katsuki and Hagakure Toru
Team K - Itamie Nashio and Jiro Kyoka
Then All Might announced the match-ups.
Team I vs. Team E
Team F vs. Team A
Team C vs. Team J
Team G vs. Team B
Team D vs. Team H
And, finally, he told us that Team K would be facing each other in a one-on-one battle. Team K would be going first.
It was time to see what Itamie could do.
A/N - Hello, everyone! I didn't take as long to update, this time! Are you proud of me? ; )
Anyways, this is technically not even half of my original plan for the chapter, and it's already over 3600 words! I figured I'd break it into two or three chapters so that I know what to start working on for the next chapter and I can hopefully get it out to you sooner. However, I'm not going to be able to work on it as much this month because we're moving to a new location at work.
I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. For anyone who lives in a place with cold winters - like me in Alberta, Canada - stay warm and get your fuzzy slippers out and ready. Also, to all the people who celebrate thanksgiving this weekend, I wish you a happy thanksgiving with the people you love. Let them know you're thankful for them, even if you can't be with them this week.
(You Americans will have to wait until next month for your Happy Thanksgiving.)
That's all for me,
Shill, out.