Hayate looked glumly around at the nearly-empty classroom. Aizawa-sensei had not been merciful this year, and yesterday's expulsion massacre had left three sad and shocked-looking students waiting for their judgement. The class, such as it was, included: himself, a six-foot-two hare with a human body; his twin sister Miku, a much smaller cottontail rabbit; and some dark-haired guy at the front with glasses and a green face not caused by any Quirk. The poor kid hadn't known what he was getting into. None of them had.

He caught his sister's eye. She twitched her ear towards the other kid and grimaced. They were both thinking the same thing: it could have been us. We're here by the skin of our teeth. If one of us had been expelled… or both of us… The two siblings shared a moment of unhappy silence; the back row seemed awfully empty for just two people.

They were, of course, mutant-types, each with the distinguishing features and abilities of their species, a little different from a certain other rabbit-themed heroine. Their legs were made for jumping, their paws for digging, and their faces for looking adorable; the only difference was that he was lankier and had much longer ears. All in all, it was probably the type of Quirk more suited for police work; Hayate had a feeling they were only here because of yesterday's long jump and running scores, and that wasn't really a comforting thought. If Miku had been expelled…

The classroom door creaked open and he groaned. If this was Aizawa-sensei, coming to cull them again… But, no, this person was not a teacher. The boy who was standing uncertainly at the edge of the classroom looked… somehow familiar, despite being a complete stranger. He was small and skinny, with large, startlingly blue eyes and a few freckles on his cheeks; his hair was short and orange blond, sticking up from his head like the petals of a sunflower apart from two loose locks that hung over his eyes. He seemed to be American, at least on first glance, until Hayate noticed the distinctive shape of his eyes. Where had he come from? Hayate was sure he'd seen the kid somewhere before, and there was no way the kid had been in class yesterday.

Miku looked over and flicked an ear towards the new kid in a silent question. Did she recognise him too? Perhaps he lived near them, then. It was just on the tip of his tongue…

Whoever he was, he had quickly overcome his uncertainty; he was trying to start up a conversation with the glasses guy. He wasn't having much luck. Probably Glasses was too shell-shocked to speak: he wouldn't be too relevant to the story anyway… Then, with a smile, the new kid started to make his way towards them.

Up close, the kid seemed much younger than them, as if he had been moved up a grade or hadn't reached puberty yet. Still, Hayate couldn't help thinking that the kid reminded him of someone older… a teacher maybe? But the only teacher with hair anywhere near that colour was…

Present Mic! Hayate grinned at his sister. He had solved the case, and it was only the first chapter! It was all so simple. But first…

"Good morning, you two!" Spiky Present Mic Jr presented himself to the twins, giving a small bow and a nervous smile. "My name is Sasaki Himawari, but you can call me Hima-kun. Everyone does. It's a pleasure to meet you!" He turned from one to the other. "You two look very similar, and you're sitting next to each other –"

Miku caught Hayate's eye and wrinkled her nose playfully. They both knew what was coming next, and it was the perfect opportunity to have a little fun with the kid.

"— so are you siblings or something?"

The twins gasped in mock horror and confusion.

"Related? I've never seen this young lady in my life!"

"And I've certainly never met anyone like this lanky young gentleman."

"Just because I happen to have a similar Leporidae-related Quirk –"

"Not even a similar species!"

The boy looked up, confused, then saw their faces.

"Oh! Hah, you nearly had me going there." He grinned. "May I enquire of these two stranger's names?"

Miku giggled and waved her hand. "Ah, so close. To be honest, this is actually my ototo, Nakahara Hayate."

Hayate nodded. "And this is my onee-san, Nakahara Miku."

Sasaki Mic smiled brightly. "It's nice to meet you both. I've only been moved into this class today due to some complications with my exam and results."

"Well, I guess Aizawa-sensei needs to fill up the class a bit after yesterday," Miku thought aloud. "Although surely they would have got all the testing done before term started?"

"Well, yes, but… I got in on last-minute recommendations, and… It's a long story. Speaking of which, what did happen yesterday? There's only three people here, I'd have expected much more from the size of the place."

Briefly the twins explained the series of tests they had gone through yesterday, including Aizawa-sensei's threat and the subsequent expulsions. Present Himawari frowned.

"Thank goodness I didn't have to do any tests like that. All I had to do was fight some robots. I really don't see how I could have…" He broke off, deep in thought. Before Hayate or Miku could ask what he meant or what his Quirk was, however, Aizawa-sensei had rolled in, and it was time to start the day.