Chapter One
Beginning Again
A lone Japanese boy sat on an airplane that had almost landed in America. He had never been there, and only knew of the culture from television shows. He wondered if all Americans competed in singing competitions. As the plane's wheels finally skidded on the runway, he took a deep breath, the nerves shaking the breath from his body. He had no problems living in his home country, but his parents wanted a different life for him, and here he was. Kondou Yoshitoki, the first transfer student to the American campus of U.A. High, was ready to keep learning how to be a hero.
The world as we knew it was filled with "Quirks", abilities possessed by eighty percent of the world's population. Many people decided their lives would be the same, with or without special abilities, and they continued on as regular members of society. Others wanted more, they wanted to be recognized as "special", for better or worse. As villainy grew, regular citizens rose up to protect their cities, and became known as heroes. After a time, schools were built to help the next generation grow to be professional heroes, and to keep the world safe from the presence of evil. The most prestigious of all schools was U.A. High, located in Musutafu, Japan. The greatest heroes came from U.A., and as the school grew in prestige, they opened other branches across the world, to allow more heroes to flourish in an experience only U.A. could provide. The American branch was one of the smallest and most recent additions to the U.A. program, and had only started accepting transfer students from out of country. All U.A. campuses were built to the same standard, and Kondou Yoshitoki was pleasantly surprised when he stepped onto the school grounds. However, he was running short on time, and had to find the school workshop before going to his first official class in America.
As Kondou ran to the workshop for a special piece of equipment, class was about to begin in U.A. America's class #1. These were the best candidates for future heroes the country had to offer, taught and managed by the best professional heroes in America. The students were in their seats, but as the homeroom teacher had not arrived, the usual chatter filled the room. Talk about the weekend, the U.A. Sports Festival and how cool the U.A. students were in Japan, or the recent attacks on the main branch of U.A. kept the students busy until the door opened. A tall man stepped into the classroom, a pair of blue tinted glasses sat on his face. He had brown hair that was cropped on the sides, and wore a standard blue suit, the same shade as his glasses. The class quieted down, they knew there would be official talk of the main U.A. branch. It was all over the news, but this campus had not officially addressed it, perhaps waiting for more details to come in before worrying any students.
"Good morning, class. As you all know, there have been some unfortunate issues with the U.A. High main branch. However, at this moment in time, we- ", the man with blue glasses stopped as the classroom door opened once more. A Japanese boy stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. He bowed, then stood up, remembering this was not his culture. He extended a hand to no one in particular, then spoke.
"Kon'nichiwa, watashinonamaeha Kondō Yoshitokidesu. Watashi wa atarashī iseki gakuseidesu." The class stared back in silence. Yoshitoki stared back in silence. The teacher's eyes shifted between his students and this new child. The room stood still, until Yoshitoki laughed, very loudly, several students jumping in fear. He pulled a small, circular device out of his pocket, and attached it around his neck. It beeped twice, and two blue lights blinked green.
"My apology. This device help translate English until I can speak with you. Given by support workshop downstairs. My apology. My name is Kondou Yoshitoki, I am transfer student from Japan, main branch of U.A. After danger in Japan at school, parents wished me to America to be safe, and to learn." Yoshitoki bowed again, his face as red as tomatoes. The class relaxed as they realized this new person was not insane or about to attack them.
The man standing in front of the class smiled, his eyes wrinkling at the edges. "No worry at all, Mr. Yoshitoki. We were expecting you a little later this week, so my apologies for starting without you. There's a desk open next to Ms. Hughes and Mr. Kiley, feel free to have a seat. The rest of you, before we get started, I would like to introduce ourselves to our new classmate. Just give us your name, your Quirk, and a fun fact to bring us all closer together." He motioned to the first person in the first row.
A small girl, African, stood up quickly. Her piercing eyes found Yoshitoki's immediately, and she spoke with a voice that sounded much older than she looked. "My name is Chiamaka Opeyemi, but you can call me "Chichi". I am eleven years old, the youngest to ever attend a U.A. campus. My Quirk is called "Imposing Intellect", which just means I'm really, really smart. One fun fact about me is that I'm on almost every government watchlist in case I become too intelligent and use my Quirk for evil." Curt and to the point, Chichi sat down immediately and said nothing else.
The next member of class stood up. He was much larger than Chichi, and had a mohawk. He rubbed the back of his head, almost apologetically. "Hey there, new guy, my name is Paul Brand. I'm the Vice President of this class, with uh…Chichi there being the President. She's the smartest here, so…uh. My Quirk is "Melting", basically I can melt anything I touch, and turn it solid again. It doesn't sound so cool, I know, but I'm working on it. Anyway…I'm glad you made it here safely." Paul Brand sat down very quickly and looked at the floor, public speaking wasn't something he enjoyed, which is why he was very glad Chichi did all the talking for him.
The next two students, one male, one female, stood up at the same time, and the man at the front of the class rolled his eyes. "My name is Willow Rhodes, and his is Ash Hargrave. Our Quirks work as a team, mine is "Miasma" and his is "Antidote". I have the ability to create poisons from my body, and he is completely immune to all toxic things, so we always work in unison." They both waved at Yoshitoki and sat down, without listing any "fun facts".
The rest of the class took turns telling the new student who they were. There was Clint Rocksteady, a muscular student who was super strong, and Sam Diaz, a large Hispanic male who could turn his body into rubber. With a small raincloud above her head and nervous tears in her eyes, Isabel Benton introduced herself and explained her emotions could make it rain. Teo Canseco, another Hispanic male, stated he could control technology with his mind, and several students shouted out that he was also a Wi-Fi hotspot, and they took their phones out to show Yoshitoki as proof. Teo had blushed at that, he didn't like the attention being on him for too long. Reed Romero could see the future, which Yoshitoki thought was incredible, and Luke Olhauser could absorb light and use it however he wanted, as a weapon or as a human flashlight.
Yoshitoki took several notes as the students talked, so he could keep everybody straight until he became more familiar. Avana Hughes, the girl that sat next to him, could turn her arms into fire and use it to fly. The other student that sat next to him, with a thick Irish accent, introduced himself as Brian Kiley, capable of healing any injuries to himself at a rapidly increased rate. Corinna Peyton had the ability to influence other people to do what she asked them, which Yoshitoki thought was scary, he liked being in control of his own body. The last student, Julian Cooper, had hair down to the middle of his back, and could control his hair by plucking it out. It hardened and became pointy, Julian explained, and he had an entire closet full of shampoos to make his hair do different things.
The man at the front cleared his throat as the students finished, "And I am Arthur Harring, the homeroom teacher of this class. We are honored to have you here, Mr. Yoshitoki, and hope you find this class as good as your original class in Japan. Would you mind telling us about yourself before we move…oh hang on, we missed someone on the class list. Dave? Is Dave here today?"
A slender, pale boy at the very back of the class stood up. No one looked at him, except Yoshitoki, who had heard the chair scrape on the ground. He spoke, "My name isn't Dave. It's never been Dave. My Quirk is Unremarkable, where people have a really, really hard time paying attention to me. Like right now, after you said my name and asked where I was. Alright, thanks." Dave sat down, and Yoshitoki, who had seen and heard this student, immediately felt inclined to look away.
After a brief pause, Kondou Yoshitoki stood up, bowing slightly. "I am Kondou Yoshitoki, as said earlier. My Quirk Tectonic Shift," he hit his hands together at an angle "like earthquake waves. I can shoot waves out of hands, and raise earth, lower earth. Hurts head, headaches after a while. Fun fact, this first time in America, and I love your singing shows." The rest of the class nodded approval and smiled, they could see why he got into U.A. with a Quirk that powerful. Yoshitoki sat down, and Arthur Harring spoke again.
"Thank you for that, Mr. Yoshitoki, I'm sure we are all very excited to see you working with the rest of the class. Now, for the business part. There have been several attacks on the main branch of U.A. and we want all of our students to be aware of this. As of this time, no other campuses have been targeted, but we have increased security as a proactive measure. A new group calling themselves the "League of Villains" have made several attacks, but these have all been centered in Japan, which I'm sure is why Mr. Yoshitoki's parents have decided we were a good option for his future. It isn't all gloom and doom, however, as all U.A. campuses are dedicated to the safety of their students, and since we did get the new student a little early, let's change the schedule this week. We'll have some fun to break us away from the bad news. We're all going to the sports area and doing some physical training instead of the classwork, so we can all readjust to a new Quirk in the class mix."
The students cheered, they didn't want to do schoolwork to start the week. Yoshitoki didn't cheer, even if the students in U.A. were all still safe, he wondered how long that could last. He knew he was safer in America, but his friends were not here, and were not safe with him. He looked at Arthur Harring, who was staring back at him. Mr. Harring nodded without a smile on his face, he understood the situation Kondou Yoshitoki was in, and he was intent on making this new student's U.A. America experience as good as possible. Arthur Harring would keep his students safe, no matter what.