A/N: Hello all. Thanks for choosing to read my fanfic here. I've been excited about this fanfic for a while and I thought I should preface some things before you should start reading.
1. This isn't my first fanfiction - However, it has been a while since I have written a fanfic so please bear with me if some of it seems messy.
2. This fanfiction follows the events after season 3 of the anime minus the movie - Kind of. Some events are a bit moved around. Such as when class 1-A met The Big 3 before the year started rather than after the opening ceremony. You will find out more as the story progresses!
3. I have not read the manga - I have looked at a few pages for references of places and people so if you read the manga and don't see something in here that should have happened previously then I'm sorry xp.
Other than that, please enjoy and leave a review. Those always help. Thanks again!
There it was, Musutafu. Leonard's heart raced as the city came into view from the window. Looking out the window seat he gazed at the pure amount of one tall building after another. It was a much more active scenery compared to the miles of the ocean he saw prior to this. Leonard couldn't even remember the number of hours it had been since he saw the last bit of the states before flying over the Pacific. But now he saw was a forest of brick and mortar. He could see a lot of greenery in the hills far off, the hills and mountains. It was a stunning view.
Looking down at the city, he had no idea how he was going to figure out how he was going to remember his way around the city. Compared to Ladian City, this was a just a massive maze from above it. Eventually, he thought, a lot of walking and learning shouldn't be too hard. He yawned at the completion of his thought, jet lag beginning to run its course.
The flight here was no joke, a fourteen hour-long flight from the states would give anyone a hard time. Unless, you know, they had a quirk that made them not have to sleep. That would be a great quirk come to think of it. Nonetheless, he couldn't sleep on the plane anyway, how could he? The entire flight he couldn't stop thinking about this, luckily he did eat some food. A full year studying abroad at one of the most prestigious hero schools in the world. Anyone would kill for that. And if it came to it, Leonard might just have, maybe. Actually no, that's pretty evil. He would actually work his ass off so he made sure he could go. That's a much better way of putting it.
Leonard watched the city view for a bit longer, feeling lucky he was able to land a window seat. While looking, he could partially see his reflection and he was pretty horrified at what he saw. Bags already underneath his purple eyes and his white hair a mess. The clothes he was wearing didn't much help his appearance either. Some black sweatpants, old beat up tennis shoes and a white T-shirt that probably should have been washed. Quickly fixing his hair to be somewhat presentable, a calm voice of a man came over the intercom.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. The time is 2:27 PM in Musutafu, with a temperature of twenty-three degrees Celsius. We'll be landing here shortly in about ten minutes so if you would go ahead and please fasten your seatbelts. Thank you." The entire cabin began to click their seatbelts and slowly gathered their belongings. Leonard did the same, putting his laptop in his backpack. He also adjusted his watch fourteen hours ahead from Ladian City time. He laid back in the seat and looked out the window once more, the city much closer as they were descending. The ant-sized people slowly became the size of caterpillars. But far off in the distance, something caught his eye. Four glass buildings connected by a bridge. Undoubtedly, it was UA.
More impressive than any building in the vicinity. He smiled, heart racing with an intensity of excitement and fear. Wondering what all he was going to learn, what he was going to experience. He knew of some of the students already from watching the sports festival months ago. All of them were impressive, more powerful than him for sure. Not even class 1-A, but all the classes were great.
He remembered the 1-on-1's. The fight between most of them was pretty quick and not the most exciting. Except for the ones with that Todoroki guy. The last two he was in there had to be some intervention from the teachers. He didn't end up winning the tournament, but everyone sure remembers his name for sure. Leonard looked back out the window.
Eventually, the school disappeared over the horizon as all of a sudden Leonard, still lost in thought, was met with a sudden reduction in speed as the plane had hit the ground landing. Releasing a small whimper, nearly killed by the nerves. Clearly disturbing his fellow jet-lagged passengers, a few giving him a look. Nervously he smiled and let out a simple sorry. The tires continued to screech and so did the jerks of the plane. A few seconds later the plane came to a reasonable speed and began its docking procedures. Again a voice came through on the intercom. This time just thanking the passengers and giving instructions on how to exit the plane in an orderly fashioned. All the things nobody ever did successfully or in the most efficient way possible.
Once the captain finally finished the plane came to a stop at a dock and people began to get up and grab their belongings from the cabinets above them. While of course, taking forever. People in the front slowly began to make their way out onto the bridge and into the airport itself. As fortunate as Leonard was with the window seat, he was unfortunate with the distance from the exit. Nearly fifteen rows from the exit. Releasing a sigh of exhaustion and impatience, he just sat there and waited.
Instead of just sulk in his seat, he pulled out his wallet. Double-checking for some important paperwork. Provisional license, check. UA ID card, check. Twenty US Dollars that he may have to trade for the Japanese currency, check. Everything seemed to be in place. At least one out of many horrifying airport tragedies avoided.
Eventually, it came to his turn to exit, awkwardly bumping into a few people who all smelled of sleep deprivation. Leonard exited the plane and onto the bridge, nodding to the pilots as he made his way to take his first few steps into the Musutafu airport. Emerging from the bridge into the airport, he took a breath of relief as to finally getting off of a flying metal cylinder and back on the ground. He took a look around at the airport and everything was quite familiar, at least by airport standards.
The color palette was mainly white and orange, and there was a lot of hero advertisements. He recognized a few, exciting him, fooling himself he would actually get to meet any of them. He saw banners of Kamui Woods, Mount Lady, Endeavor and so many more. Walking through the large open halls of the airport were just full of these banners. There were a few more he didn't recognize but they all looked impressive. At the end of the hall, he could see a huge banner of the one and only All Might. Still in his muscular form and smiling as wide as ever. Leonard stopped in the middle and just stared at the banner for a moment.
Just a few weeks ago was his battle with All for One in Kamino Ward. Leonard remembered watching the battle the following morning after the news had broke in the states. It was a fight that no one wanted and an outcome no one expected. The retirement of All Might shook the whole world up, and it was still something everyone was getting used to. Leonard thought about what it would be like to meet him, shake his hand and really, really meet him. Like that will happen, too busy with UA work I'm sure. Leonard chuckled to himself and shook his head before continuing on to the best part of airports. Luggage retrieval.
Leonard walked up to where his luggage was said to be and waited around the metal carousel. Gave a loud and exaggerated yawn, before feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and noticed he had a new message from an unknown number saying, "Hello, Leonard Daniels. We just got notice of your arrival in Musutafu. There will be a ride waiting for you by the northern exit gate to take you to UA, you should see someone with a poster with your name on it. You will be safely escorted to the dormitories. We are excited that you chose to study here with us at UA!" The message ended. Even though he was tired, he was thrilled. He almost forgot about the dorms here. He couldn't wait, but the metal carousel could. Still unmoving with no intention of moving soon.
After what seemed like an hour the carousel began to spit out luggage one by one. People began grabbing and checking tags of suitcases and bags and slowly less and less luggage spun around the carousel. Leonard scanned bag after bag and finally spotted his black and orange suitcase. Of course only after he awkwardly touched and grabbed at other peoples black and orange suitcases. Eventually, he had his things and made his way towards the northern exit gate was. Luckily there were a plethora of signs able to direct him that way.
Before getting there, he suddenly pulled his phone out. He almost forgot to text his dad that he made it safely. Quickly shooting a text his way, well knowing it had to be about three in the morning. He'd eventually wake up and see it. Finding the northern exit, the door opened to the cool breeze of the city. The roadway where cars would drop off and pick up people was of course busy. The entire roundabout was. Horns honking and people yelling at each other. Yep, still an airport. In his glancing, he totally missed the sign that read his name right in front of him. A long-haired man wearing a black suit and tie with a matching black sunglasses was holding a small poster with his name. He was standing in front of an extremely clean black sedan. The windows were tinted, no way to see what was on the inside.
Leonard made his way over to the man, rolling his suitcase behind him. "Um, excuse me?" he asked. The man looked to him intensely, spooking him a bit.
"Leonard Daniels?" The man asked him. Leonard gave a shy nod, handing him his UA ID card from the states. The man took it from him, inspecting it up and down. After a brief moment, the man looked back at Leonard with another intent stare. Even though he couldn't see the man's eyes, he felt pierced by them. Leonard felt sweat begin to build up, what is going on here?
All of a sudden, the man's intense scary face swiftly became a welcoming smile. "Welcome to Musutafu Leonard. I hope the flight was good," he said, handing back Leonard's ID card. Leonard just stared, very confused at what just happened. "Here, let me get that suitcase for you." Before Leonard could get a simple thank-you out, the man grabbed his suitcase from him. "I'll put this in the trunk for you, why don't you go ahead and hop in the back." He opened the back door, Leonard still lost at words. Suddenly, a voice came from inside the car, a voice anyone would recognize.
"We really got to work on your people skills Shoma. You nearly gave the kid a heart attack." Leonard jumped and looked over to confirm his guess. "Sorry about that, it's good to meet you, Leonard Daniels." It was him. The one and only. All Might. In his true weakened form, looking like a skeleton, with blue, beady eyes and sunken cheeks. But it was him, wearing a similar suit to that of Shoma. But extremely oversized for his form. Leonard couldn't believe it, it seemed he would be at a loss of words this entire school year if it kept up like this. He just stared into the car at All Might, jaw on the floor, legs unwilling to work.
He looked around quickly, trying his best to convince himself that this was real. He had to have been dreaming. Right, he's still on the plane. He's asleep and that explains everything. Surely All Might wouldn't have come to pick him up from the airport.
"Mister Daniels," Shoma said, still holding the door for Leonard. Shaking himself back into reality he looked up to Shoma. Shoma just smiled at him, "Was there something you may have forgotten?"
"Oh, no, I just. Um." Leonard had no excuse and forced himself to get the feeling in his legs again and sat down in the car. Any minute away from having a heart attack. The door closed behind him and Shoma made his way to the back of the car with his suitcase. Leonard just stared at All Might.
What was he even doing here? Obviously, he was still a teacher at UA but why would he come to do something as menial as picking up a student at an airport? So many questions floating through his head.
All Might extended his hand to shake Leonard's. Leonard awkwardly put his hand in his. Felt like he was touching nothing but bone.
"I've heard a lot about you Leonard. Really glad to have you here in Musutafu."
He has? He is? Leonard thought to himself. That was a compliment he wouldn't be forgetting soon.
Shoma eventually got in the driver's seat of the car and began to drive into the traffic-ridden mess of the roundabout. All Might pulled out a briefcase on the floorboard in between his feet and opened it up, pulling out some papers.
"So, how was the flight kid?" he asked Leonard. Still a bit on edge, Leonard sheepishly spoke up.
"Uh, yeah, it was good. Pretty long." he chuckled nervously, All Might continued organizing the papers. Some sort of packet.
"I bet. It's like what thirteen, fourteen hours from Ladian City?"
"About that much, yeah." Sweat dripping from his brow. Leonard recognized the papers All Might was looking at, it was his student record. The burning question couldn't stay contained, "Sorry I just have to ask All Might, uh, sir. What exactly are you doing here?" All Might looked over straight-faced, Leonard worried he offended him. But the worries went away as he gave a simple smile.
"Well isn't it obvious. I'm here to officially welcome you to UA, you are the first exchange student we've had in a while." Leonard was quite surprised, it actually relaxed him knowing that All Might actually wanted to be here. There's the whole notion that heroes are too good for anyone else, this proved that wrong. At least in All Might's case. Leonard felt his shoulders relax.
"Oh, wow, well thank you. Sorry for being weird, I would have thought you would have been too busy or something." All Might laughed, causing him to cough a bit.
"It's been a busy summer I'll tell you that," Leonard got goosebumps. The way he sounded so grim about it. Leonard remembered hearing about the summer camp a few weeks ago getting infiltrated by the League of Villains, resulting in getting one of the students kidnapped. Then his fight with All for One. His last fight as a pro. Surely that can't be true. All Might brightened up again.
"But I'm glad I got to be the first to welcome you. Especially looking at your records here." All Might adjusted the paperwork he had in his hands already. All of Leonard's grades, exam scores, physical tests. Everything was in there from his 1st year at UA Ladian City. All Might flipped through the pages. "You have your provisional license, great grades on the written tests…" All Might paused for a moment as if had to catch himself.
"I know my practical exams aren't the greatest in the world," Leonard said shamefully, he barely passed to get his provisional license when he took it a few months ago. He looked out the window, noticing they were on some sort of freeway.
"Hey, you still passed your final and got your provisional license. Not everyone in your class can say that." All Might responded. Leonard looked back at him quickly.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. So don't feel bad, looking at this you got the smarts. You just got to learn to apply them, kid." All Might said, beginning to put the papers away. "You'll fit right in with everybody, I can promise you that." Leonard was feeling better every minute he was in the car with All Might. The guy has such a presence of encouragement, beat every expectation he had of him.
"Thanks All Might." he said, "I'll definitely try my hardest."
"I'm sure you will." All Might said assuringly. There was a pause for a moment between the two of them. Leonard looked out the window again. They had gotten off the freeway, now into more of the city. He could see so many people and buildings that just towered over him. All of them coming from different ways and walks of life. In the midst, he noticed a group of two individuals, patrolling. They weren't policemen in uniform. Heroes.
Before he could get a good look at them All Might spoke up.
"So how is Texas this time of year? It's been years since I've been there." Leonard shivered at the thought of Texas summer weather.
"Really hot and really humid. Not pleasant that's for sure," he replied, trying to think if he ever heard All Might in Texas before. The only association he had known All Might and Texas was his signature 'Texas Smash'.
"I can understand that. The weather today hasn't been too bad. Here's to hoping that it stays like this all summer." All Might replied, looking out the window. "I know Ladian City has grown quite a bit since I have been there, I was honestly surprised when I heard UA was able to get a campus there." All Might continued.
"We all were actually," Leonard added, "I was lucky enough to be able to get in last year."
"You're too hard on yourself kid. If you got into any UA school, you earned that spot." All Might smiled and Leonard mirrored it. He felt like he could tell anything negative to this man and he would turn it around to a positive. This was going to be a good year.
All Might looked behind Leonard out the window, causing him to turn around to look out the window and he couldn't believe his eyes. UA was right there, down the street. It looked massive from the plane but being this close, it was a behemoth. They pulled into the front gate, driving down the pathway. The garden leading up to it was beautiful. Fresh flowers splashing in a menagerie of colors and patterns. The hedge archways were glistening green and the afternoon sun just amplified the stunning view of the campus.
They drove right up to the front of the towering building and took a left. Leonard watched the building, still impressing him. Ladian City had a beautiful campus but nothing could compare to this. Leonard noticed the lack of students or really anyone on the campus. He turned back to face the front to see they were pulling up to the front of the dorms and the first one he saw, he knew was his. 'Class 1-A' inscribed on the front of the U-shaped building, underneath it the word 'Alliance' arched in a gold outline. Pulling onto the wide asphalt road, Shoma parked right up in front of the building and parked.
"Welcome to your new home, Leonard. Heights Alliance." All Might said, smiling as he opened the door to get out. Leonard just kept staring at the building through the windshield for a few more seconds until his door was opened up by Shoma. He was standing there with Leonard's suitcase with a smile. Leonard got out of the car and just looked around. Off in the distance, he could see the training areas, at least the urban one. It was a surreal moment for him, this entire journey has been. Shoma handed his suitcase to him.
"I hope you enjoy your time here at UA, Leonard" Shoma said and gave a quick nod before heading back to the driver's seat or the sedan and driving off. All Might was already at the front door waiting for Leonard. Leonard walked to the door continuously looking around for any signs of life besides the two of them.
"Are we the only ones here?" he asked, "Seems like a ghost town." There weren't any sounds coming from the inside the dorm either.
"No, class 1-A is doing some training in Gym Gamma across campus." He answered, pointing over to the gyms. They looked similar to a warehouse of some kind, rather than a gym. "I was thinking after you get settled I could go introduce you. Your classmates are pretty excited to meet you."
"I'm pretty excited to meet them too, although a bit nervous," Leonard answered a bit shaky. Leonard felt All Might's hand on his shoulder.
"As I said, you'll fit right in, kid." All Might smiled at him. "Now come on, let me show you around." he continued, opening the door into the dorm. Leonard followed behind him and walked into the main lobby. It had couches, a kitchen, tables and everything you could hope for in a college dorm, let alone a high school dorm.
"The bathrooms and showers are that way, split up by gender and over here you got.." All Might went on about the rules and all the things that were present. It was all quite wild what was in this place. Especially the courtyard.
Directly across the entrance, there was a glass door leading to it. It was full of plants and even had its own pond. There was a wooden table out there along with four chairs right by the pond. Just looking at it relaxed him, clearly going to become one of his favorite spots. He walked closer to the window and just stared. Not even hearing All Might anymore.
"... however, I'm sure you're wanting to see your room." Leonard perked up at the sound of his room. "You're up on the 4th floor at the end of the hall. I think you'll be able to find it. When you're ready to head out just come find me down here."
"Yeah, sure thing!" Leonard began to make his way to the stairs, a bit too excited. He could almost hear himself giggling. Walking up the steps dragging his suitcase behind, he couldn't help himself but recap the day he has just had. Not only was he in Musutafu, nor was he just at UA, but he got to meet All Might. No one back at home would ever believe him. Well most of them do know that All Might still, in fact, teaches here. Leonard just couldn't help but laugh at himself. Not only half an hour ago he was literally pissing himself in the presence of All Might.
Nonetheless, Leonard reached the 4th floor. Seeing four doors along the side. Each of them had names by the door. Shoji, Kirishima, and Bakugo. Leonard recognized the last one quite well. He has the exploding hands, the one who had to be chained up at the sports festival. That was a weird event, but he was the winner. He must be pretty good. Moving to the last door, he saw his last name 'Daniels' next to the door. Slowly he walked to the door and opened it up to reveal a dark room. Reaching for where he assumed the light switch was and finding it, he flipped it on.
The room was plain but much larger than what he assumed. There was a bed which had some striped, green sheets on it. A desk sat in the corner next to a dresser. At the very end of the room, there was a curtain, walking up to it revealed it lead out onto a balcony with a view of the rest of the campus. Just like the courtyard, he'd probably find himself here a lot too. There was another door on the side that revealed a closet. Which to his surprise had some clothing hanging on it already. His own UA uniform, all cleaned up and ready for use.
He pulled it out and took a look at it. It was just like the one he had back home. The red tie, gray jacket, and green pants. Not wanting to get his travel stench on it he hung it back in the closet. He checked for anything else that might have been hidden, but to his avail there was nothing.
Looking around at the room again, it was pretty empty. Leonard wished he had brought some more memorabilia from home. He sat on the bed and laid back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, halfway passed out from the day. The bed was quite comfortable and was a decent size at that too. Leonard looked at his watch, it read 4:19 PM. He did the mental math in his head trying to figure out what time it was back home. Figuring it was about two in the morning or something. It would be a while until his dad woke up. As soon as he put his arm down, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. His phone kept vibrating indicating a call. His phone screen displayed an incoming call from Dad. Instantly he answered the call.
"Dad? Are you seriously awake?" Leonard asked, sitting up against the bed.
"I can't believe it either." His father groggily said with a chuckle. Leonard couldn't help but chuckle as well. "How was the flight? I saw that you landed a few hours ago."
"It was fine for a fourteen-hour plane ride, but you will never guess who came to pick me up from the airport!" Leonard paused for a moment, whether he was waiting for a response or just to be dramatic he couldn't pause for long. "All Might did!" Leonard heard the phone drop. Hoping it was just the phone, soon enough he heard it get picked up again.
"You're kidding?" his father asked. Leonard smiled and shook his head. "That's so cool! What a way to start the school year, am I right?"
"Yeah, I got to ride in the back seat to the school with him. He's such a nice guy, like, you wouldn't believe how freaked out I was when I saw him in the back of the car."
"Oh, I think I can son. How is the place? It's a beautiful campus from what I've seen."
"It's incredible and much bigger than I thought. I'm really excited to start." Leonard said, starting to get up. Thinking he should unpack a bit before heading out. Opening his suitcase up, his father responded.
"I'm excited for you. Your mom would be proud, son." As his father said this, the first thing that he saw in his suitcase was a framed photo. It was a picture of him when he was younger, beside him were his mom and dad. His mom had beautifully long white hair and purple eyes, she was wearing a simple red shirt and some jeans. His dad, on the other hand, was a bigger man with a large mustache and balding hair. He was wearing that horrendous tan Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts that my mom hated. He could clearly tell where he got his features from, even though he had been told that all his life.
They were at the Estess Park in Ladian City, taking family pictures. Shown in the disgusted look on eight-year-old Leonard, he remembers hating to take pictures. But it was only one of the only pictures he had of him and his mom. Leonard walked over to the desk and put it at the corner.
"I know," Leonard said. Taking a final look at the picture and heading back to his suitcase to put away some of the clothing he had.
"So what are you doing for the rest of the day, besides hanging out with All Might?" His father jokingly asked, hearing a pretty loud yawn on the other end. Leonard chuckled.
"Well, besides that I'm just getting some unpacking done in the dorm. After that, All Might is gonna take me to meet the rest of the class. They're off training at some gym on campus."
"How cool. Well listen, son, I don't want to keep you from hanging out with the symbol of peace." Leonard smiled and rolled his eyes.
"And I don't want to keep you from losing your beauty sleep, old man." Leonard heard his father laugh over the phone.
"Fair enough. Love you, son. I'm rooting for you." There was a pause, he looked back at the picture on his desk before replying.
"Thanks, dad, love you too." Leonard smiled and hung up the phone. After putting away the last of his clothing away in the dresser. The room was still as bare as he found it. He'll definitely need to go buy some decorations soon. Leaving his bags behind he exited the room turning the light off on his way out, he closed the door. Making his way back downstairs he made it to the 1st floor and saw All Might sitting on one of the couches, looking at his phone. Leonard walked up to him letting his presence be known. All Might looked over to Leonard and stood up.
"So, what'd you think of your room?" he asked Leonard,
"It's a bit bare, but that's probably my fault for not bringing much to decorate it," he answered. All Might began walking to the door so he followed.
"You got a whole year ahead of you to figure that one out." All Might stopped and stretched a bit in front of the door. "So, you ready to meet your classmates?" he asked. Leonard gave a big breath and looked out the door.
"Let's go meet them."
