Author's note: Hey there! Yes, this one was also written before I opened this account, so enjoy this little piece from last December.
Tetsutetsu smiled at the UA gates. He made it into the hero course. He was placed in class 1-B. He could be a hero!
At UA, a whole new life awaited him. Perhaps now he could finally surpass his metal fatigue. Perhaps now he could finally prove himself to his siblings who said being a hero was impossible for someone like him. For someone who looked like him. Tetsutetsu shook the thought of his appearance away, straightened his back, and marched forward into UA.
Tetsutetsu peered around into the different classroom windows as he looked for 1-B. This school looked absolutely amazing. There were people of all different quirks and pro hero teachers and is that an indoor swimming pool?
Tetsutetsu grinned, taking it all in. Yes, this was the place where he'd surpass all of his limits. Plus Ultra!!
He found 1-B and entered the room. Some of the other people already there looked at him with a confused expression, but then went back to their conversations. Tetsutetsu looked at the seating chart on the chalkboard and set his backpack down on his seat. He approached a boy with blonde hair talking to someone with a speech bubble in place of a head.
"Hey, there! I'm Tetsutetsu," he greeted animatedly, with a big smile adorning his face.
The other two stared at him until the blonde one sneered and said, "What's your type doing here?"
"My type?" Tetsutetsu asked, forehead creased in confusion. The blonde kid rolled his eyes.
"You know, the type that looks like you," the blonde said with a glare. Oh great. Tetsutetsu had thought he would be free of that here.
"Don't be mean, Monoma. He got in like we did," read the speech bubble head. Despite the insults from the blonde kid, who apparently was Monoma, Tetsutetsu carried on with trying to make a friend.
"How does your quirk work?" Tetsutetsu asked the speech bubble head person.
"Well, I think my parents named me Fukidashi Manga after I was born because it fits my manga type quirk. I just look like a manga speech bubble. Seems lame, but it's surprisingly strong," read the words that appeared on the speech bubble.
"Bro, that's awesome!" Tetsutetsu replied.
"I don't really think someone like you gets to decide what's 'awesome' or not," Monoma said. Tetsutetsu crossed his arms.
"C'mon man, what is it that's wrong with me?" he asked. Monoma scoffed.
"I'm surprised no one's told you before. To put it bluntly, you look like a villain. There is no way any civilian would trust you if you came to save them. It's a wonder UA trusted you enough to let you in," Monoma said, seeming to be taking delight from his own brashness. Tetsutetsu raised his nonexistent eyebrows.
"What about me specifically gives off that misconception?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"I don't think you'll like it very much if I critique your entire appearance, and I don't want you to go all villain on me, so why don't you go run along now and figure it out yourself," Monoma said smirking. Tetsutetsu was taken aback. Thankfully, the homeroom teacher entered the room to break the awkward tension. As Tetsutetsu made his way back to his desk, he overheard Monoma say to Fukidashi, "It's not rude if I'm being honest."
As the homeroom teacher introduced himself as the pro hero Blood King, Tetsutetsu felt waves of insecurities crash upon him. But no! He couldn't let that get to him! He sat up a little straighter and smiled. He would fake his confidence 'till he made some real confidence.
Apart from Tetsutetsu's little altercation with Monoma and Fukidashi in the morning, his first day at UA was practically perfect in every which way. The classes were awesome. He couldn't believe he got to take English with Present Mic and History with Midnight. And even more spectacular was hero training with All Might! Lunch was fantastic too. Lunch Rush made the best food a growing hero could hope for (and it had lots of iron!) Plus some girl named Kendou heard what Tetsutetsu's quirk was and wanted to arm wrestle him because of her giant hands. They were at a stalemate for so long they had to call it a draw.
Come to think of it, everyone who was watching the arm wrestle seemed to be cheering for Kendou. It was probably for the reason of girl power. Or was it for the same reason that Monoma informed him of. Does he really look like a villain?
He ran a hand through his metal hair which made a scraping noise as he pondered on this and the rest of his day on his walk back home.
Tetsutetsu realized how lost in thought he was, and figured he got lost. Great. He got out his phone for google maps and kept going.
On his second day at UA he decided to confront this issue of his villainous appearance. It would be dishonorable to continue to hide away from his problems instead of confronting them head on and finally solving them.
The only one left in the 1-B classroom when he arrived from hero training at the end of the day to grab his stuff and leave was Kendou. He walked over to her and smiled brightly.
"Hey, Kendou! That was a really great arm wrestle we had! We should do it again sometime!"
"Yeah! It got me so fired up for the rest of my time at UA! I can't wait 'till I get strong enough to beat you someday," Kendou said smiling.
"Speaking of things that get ya fired up for UA, some people were sayin I look like a villain, and that didn't get me super pumped at all," Tetsutetsu said, using this opportunity to try and figure it all out. Kendou sighed and fidgeted a tad.
"Well, saying you look like a villain is a bit too strong in my opinion. But, um, you do have kind of a steely gaze, if you know what I mean?" Kendou said not sure how to proceed with this, as she thought Tetsutetsu was a genuinely good person and she didn't want to hurt him. Tetsutetsu deadpanned.
"A steely gaze? I have a steely gaze? That's literally my quirk! I can't change something like that about myself to look better for others!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, annoyed that he couldn't solve his problem. Kendou gave him a Look, put her hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.
"How could you be in the hero course with the little amount of confidence you have? You're not supposed to change something as trifle as your appearance for anyone as long as you're healthy," She half-yelled, trying to get the concept of self-esteem through Tetsutetsu's thick, metal skull. Tetsutetsu backed away from Kendou.
"I-I can't be a hero if people think I have a steely gaze and that I'm unaproachable...," Tetsutetsu stammered. Kendou shrugged.
"Yeah you can. Just look at Endeavor."
"I- B-But W-What if I-,"Tetsutetsu put his head in his hands, "I don't know what I'm saying," he looked up at Kendou, "Or what I'm trying to argue."
"Tetsutetsu, my dude, it's okay. Just... You should probably work on that self-esteem of yours, yeah?" Tetsutetsu nodded.
"Yeah, I will," he said with a determined smile, "So, see ya tomorrow?" he asked, starting to leave the classroom. Kendou walked over to him and gave him a fist bump as she left the room.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she said walking away from the 1-B classroom. Tetsutetsu followed behind her as she walked to the UA exit. Suddenly she stopped, turned around to face Tetsutetsu, and called out to him. "Hey, don't forget to use that steely gaze for good!" Tetsutetsu laughed.
"Sure thing, Kendou!"