Hey guys! I had this sort of idea for a while and I finally got around to putting it into words. This is my first official BNHA fanfic and I've been in love with the series from the moment I started it. I really love writing and have so many ideas, but this is my first big project. I wanna update as much and as soon as possible but a full-time student schedule can get hectic at times, so I'll do my best.
I don't own any part of BNHA or any references I make. Hope you enjoy the read. Please rate and review!
Cross-posted from AO3
As the morning bell rang for homeroom, the students of class 1-A scurried to their seats in hopes of avoiding another tongue-lashing from their no-nonsense teacher, Aizawa-Sensei. Some of the students were catching up with each other after going home to their families on the weekend, while others were merely chatting idly before class began.
Yaoyorozu Momo calmly sat in her seat as she waited for class to begin, hands neatly folded atop her desk and eyes forward towards the blackboard. It seemed like it would be just another day for the young heroine in the making. Her morning started off as mundane and regular as usual; She woke up to her own circadian rhythm, spent her usual amount of time getting ready in the morning, and tried her best to keep her rambunctious classmates in check as they prepared for the day. After the provisional licence exam was completed, the group at UA seemed to hit a slump in terms of excitement happening around them. In all fairness, the class had dealt with a somewhat unreasonable level of conflict throughout their times at the hero school so far, even by hero's standards. It was only right that there would be lulls in the action, but that didn't mean it was any less excruciatingly lame to sit through.
As Iida Tenya, Class Rep and Momo's partner in class bureaucracy tried his best to keep everyone in their seats and quietly prepared for homeroom to begin, Aizawa-Sensei slithered into the room in his usual attire in his large yellow sleeping bag. His authoritative aura immediately had its effect as the room went silent as he made his way up to his podium at the front of the room to make his daily announcements.
"Good morning, class." The scruffy hero lazily drawled out, "Today I have an important announcement for you all,"
The entire class leant forward in anticipation at what this announcement was. This was just what the class needed to kickstart some new excitement.
"As you may or may not have noticed, Mineta is missing from the class today. As it turns out, he has decided that the hero course is no longer the path that he wishes to follow. He has transferred out of the hero program and is now in general studies."
Aizawa paused for a moment to let the information sink in. His expression remained unchanged, but he internally sweatdropped ever so slightly at the lack of surprise of his class.
"So, he was missing. I didn't even notice." Shoji said. "In all honesty, I was not entirely certain how long he would remain in the hero course. He did not exactly possess the passion for heroics as one would expect."
"I must concur, it was only a matter of time," Tokoyami added.
The reaction from the female population in the class was one akin to relief, as they were now free from Mineta's extremely perverted agenda. Momo sighed to herself. She no longer had to sit next to that perverted pig and as far as she was concerned, it was good riddance to him.
As the rest of the class murmured amongst themselves about their ball-headed acquaintance's departure, Midoriya's hand shot up.
"Excuse me, Sensei. If Mineta-kun is no longer in the hero course, does that mean we will be getting a new student to replace him?". The class quieted down upon hearing this question, now all interested in hearing whether they would be joined by a new hero in training.
Aizawa sluggishly shuffled the papers on his podium and shrugged, "Pretty much. That was going to be my next announcement. Please welcome the newest student of class 1-A, Matsuo Ryuusei. Get to know him and integrate him into the class while I take a nap." As Aizawa slumped onto the floor for his midmorning nap, the door the classroom opened to reveal 1-A's newest student. All eyes were on the young man as he slowly walked into the room and stopped at the front of the class. He was a tall individual, standing about as tall as Iida, with broad shoulders and a somewhat muscular frame. He ran a hand through his short and spiky black hair with his other hand in his pocket, giving the class a small smile. As Momo eyed the newest addition to her class, she could not help but notice that he was quite handsome. 'He must also be a capable hero if he was able to join the class at this stage.'
"Hey everyone, I'm Matsuo Ryuusei. You guys can call me Ryuu, happy to meet ya. I hope we can all get along." He then tried to walk to his new seat in the back of the room before he was abruptly stopped by Iida who had suddenly appeared in front of him with a large grin on his face and waving his arm in his signature chopping motion.
"Greetings, Matsuo-kun! My name is Iida Tenya, and I am 1-A's Class Representative! It is an honour to have you join our class and I'm sure we would all appreciate if we could learn more about you to help integrate you into our class and become great comrades!" He said with his usual theatrics and formality.
Ryuu sweatdropped at Iida's behaviour, "Uhh yeah I guess that's cool. But you ain't gotta talk all like that man, it's not that serious. And call me Ryuu, I ain't really down for all that formal stuff."
Ryuu's accent and form of speech caught a few by surprise, and Ashido was the one to voice the general curiosity, "Where's your accent from, Ryuu?"
Ryuu turned to the pink acid-user with a friendly smile, "Oh yeah I get that a lot. I'm from Kabukicho over in Shinjuku prefecture. Honestly, I'm still having trouble getting used to how nice and fancy this whole place is."
Momo was extremely caught off guard by this, as Kabukicho was notorious as being one of the worst areas in all of Japan, full of crime and poverty. It was very rare for people to come from a place like that and become very successful in their lives, usually turning to crime to make ends meet. Her parents had told her about certain areas like that and that she should not associate with those kinds of people whatsoever. In her father's words, they were nothing but 'hoodlums' and 'thugs'. Momo was curious to find out exactly how someone with such a background could end up at one of the most prestigious hero schools in Japan.
Uraraka bounced up and down in front of Ryuu's desk "So, why don't you tell us more about yourself, Ryuu? We'd love to learn more about you." She beamed, getting several voices of agreement from her classmates.
Ryuu, now sitting at his assigned seat between Momo and Midoriya, shrugged in compliance. "Sure, I guess that's pretty fair. I grew up in the slums in Kabu, everyone was pretty much in the same situation, we was all poor and barely scratched by if we did at all. The hoods were pretty much all run by gangs and you couldn't really go anywhere without running into some kinda crime, whether it be dope dealing, pimping, or something like that. Almost everyone I knew as a kid is either dead, in jail, or well on their way to one of the two. No one from where I came from had anything given to us, we had to fight for everything or someone else who wanted it more would get it. My old man got caught up in some Yakuza business and ended up getting killed when I was 7, so I had to start providing for my family. We did the best we could, my moms worked 2 jobs, I worked after school as much as I could while still staying at the top of my class so I could make it out the hood to be a hero. I want to make a real difference and give back to places like where I grew up cause I know exactly what they going through and I have the power to make a difference. I promised my mama I'd make things better for everyone back in Kabu, and once I become a pro hero, that's the first thing I'm gonna do."
At this point, the room was deathly silent, everyone taking in the story that they just heard, some like Ashido and Hagakure brought to tears as they learned of the struggles of their new classmate. Everyone else wore solemn expressions, no one daring to break the silence that had overcome the room.
Ryuu chuckled lightly to help the mood, "Heh sorry about that, I'm pretty sure you meant like personal interests and my quirk and stuff, right?" Getting nods from several people, he decided the mood had lightened enough and he carried on, "Well first off, my quirk is called 'Aura'. I can generate a malleable energy from my body that can become basically anything I want it to be. I can make weapons like swords or staffs, shoot the energy like a gun, and I can even coat my body in it to enhance my strength and speed. The only real hindrance is how tired I am, but I try to stay in pretty good shape to help deal with that." Ryuu received resounding excitement from the rest of the class at his amazing quirk.
"Wow, that's such an awesome quirk, Ryuu! You must be super strong, man! You are so MANLY!" Kirishima yelled while pumping his fist in the air. Many other students also voiced how impressed they were with Ryuu's quirk before they were overcome by Midoriya's infamous mumbling as his mind ran wild about the so-called 'Aura'.
"Such a quirk could have almost infinite applications in both combat and non-combat situations. With the ability to create both melee weapons and projectiles, Matsuo-kun can theoretically fight on par with any opponent, and he can even enhance his strength and speed with his aura. Given the nature of it quirk it can be probable to assume that the strength of his aura relates to his physical energy or something of the sort and based on looking at him he seems to be in very good physical shape, so his quirk could probably be used for long periods of time, making him even more deadly in combat…" Izuku was pulled away from Ryuu by an apologetic looking Iida as he continued his rambling.
Momo stared at Ryuu, who was being bombarded by many of their classmates asking him about his quirk. She was very right in her previous assumptions that Ryuu must have been very capable, and now that she was sitting right next to him, she could feel the power and charisma that he exuded. A slight blush came to her face as a warmth ran through her body, and Momo looked away to hide it from her new peer. 'I don't know why I'm feeling like this right now. This has never happened before…'. Momo pondered the thought for a moment. They have only just met and have yet to be properly introduced, how could she be so forward as to say she has already begun to think of him so fondly? Sure, he seemed to just ooze confidence and a strong set of morals, and he was definitely very good looking, but they knew next to nothing about each other. As vice-rep, it was her duty to become more acquainted with the new student to be able to aid him whenever needed, so she was only doing her job by finding out more about him and spending more time with him. It's not like there was an underlying motive to becoming close with him and spending time with him. She was just doing her job and vice-rep and future hero. Rapport and trust building. That was all she wanted to get out of it…right?
As the school day wore on, Momo found it harder and harder to remain focused on any lessons as her mind continued to wander over to her new classmate sitting directly in front of her. She felt quite relieved that she could stare at him all day without him being able to notice due to his back being turned, but at the same time, Momo was afraid that losing focus like this on a consistent basis would be nothing but detrimental in the long run. From what she could tell, Ryuu was an excellent student, keeping up with the lessons with ease and showing a tremendous understanding of many different subjects in the process. It came as a surprise that despite his casual and somewhat vulgar way of speech, Ryuu seemed to be very intelligent and verbose when he wanted to be.
When lunch came around, Momo decided to take it upon herself to take initiative to properly welcome Ryuu to their class and extend an olive branch to him. That was it. No other reason whatsoever.
As Present-Mic finished his lesson and the lunch bell rang, Momo quickly packed her things and steeled herself, 'It's now or never!' She thought. She slowly reached out to tap on Ryuu's shoulder with her eyes clenched shut. With her eyes clenched shut, she never noticed Ryuu turning around to put his notebook into his school bag, and Momo ended up putting her finger right onto Ryuu's lips. Her eyes shot open and she went scarlet red in the face as she shot her hand back to her person.
"I-I am so sorry Matsuo-san! I did not mean to poke you in the face, please forgive me!" Momo rambled out. She did her best to repress the thoughts of how his lips felt on her fingertip, 'They're…very soft. A lot softer than I would have imagined…'.
Ryuu had an amused and slightly confused expression on his face, "Don't worry about it, Yaoyoruzu. And I thought I said to call me Ryuu, we are going to be classmates, after all, you don't gotta be so formal."
The dark-haired girl bashfully rubbed her arm and looked away, "W-well, in that case, it would be fine for you to call me Momo. I wouldn't mind if we greeted each other on a first name basis. As you said, we will be seeing each other a lot for the foreseeable future." Momo internally cursed herself for stuttering and being unable to make consistent eye-contact with her new peer.
"I guess it would only be fair. Nice to properly meet you Momo," Ryuu said with a warm smile that brought the blush back to Momo's face. "Now was there a reason that you was poking me in the face, or is this just something I should expect from now on?"
Momo's blush deepened in embarrassment at being called out for what she did, "Well, n-no actually, I intended to ask you if you had already made plans for lunch, and if not I was curious if you'd be willing to join myself and some of our other classmates to eat and get to know each other a little better.
"That sounds great, Momo. I'd love to." Ryuu replied with a smile, getting to his seat after collecting his things. "Lead the way."
Momo sat with Ryuu between herself and Kendo Itsuka of class 1-B, with Jiro, Asui, Ashido and Uraraka sitting across from them in the UA cafeteria. The group of girls welcomed the new student with open arms and were happy to be able to get to know him a little bit better.
"Wow, so you study martial arts too? That's awesome! I have a black belt in karate, myself." Kendo proudly said, pointing a thumb to her chest.
Ryuu sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "That's real impressive Kendo. I kinda realized that street-brawling wasn't the best way to fight all the time, especially against experienced fighters, so I took up Kung-Fu and Jiu-Jitsu in my spare time as a part of my hero training. With studying to get into UA, working, and training, I didn't really have all that much free time, so I figured why not pick up hobbies that benefit me long term as a hero, two birds with one stone. That's what I tell myself anyway." He finished with a chuckle.
"Ryuu-chan, you are a very impressive person. I am glad that we will become heroes together." Asui noted with her index finger on her chin.
"Likewise, Tsu-chan!" Ryuu replied with a wide grin and a thumb up. Everyone else at the table was slightly surprised to see the usually stoic Tsuyu put on a moderately warm grin, but they supposed Ryuu just seemed to have that effect on people.
Ashido pouted, "No fair, now there's another super awesome person in our class fighting for the top spot! Between Todoroki, Midori, Iida, Explodey, Yao-Momo, and now Ryuu-kun, how is anyone else supposed to keep up?! Not to mention, Ryuu has taken the top spot as the new hottest boy in the class!" The pink-skinned girl immediately slapped her hands over her mouth has a shade of lilac dusted her cheeks and her eyes shot over to the boy in question.
Ryuu burst out laughing at Mina's blatant outburst, "Why thank you, Mina! That's nice of you to say. But come on, y'all gotta be pretty hard hitters too if you already been at UA, no? Give yourself more credit than that, girl."
"Damn humble too" Jiro muttered under her breathe.
"I must say, Ryuu-kun" Momo interjected, "I was also very impressed with your display of knowledge throughout all of the lessons this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of your breadth of knowledge and ability to communicate your thoughts."
Ryuu's smile dropped to a neutral expression and he turned to face Momo, "You were pleasantly surprised, huh? Wanna tell me exactly what you mean by that?"
The rest of the table grew slightly nervous at Ryuu's expression and tone of voice, and they all knew that what Momo said next would be a deciding factor in the new boy's first impression of her.
"W-well you see…It's just that you're… I just meant that…"
Ryuu put a hand up, "Let me finish that for you, Momo. You were surprised by my intellect and the fact that I could speak in a certain manner despite where I grew up and the circumstances of my upbringing correct? You were surprised that some hoodlum nobody from the slums of Kabukicho somehow got into the hero course at UA and seems like he can get somewhere in life? Is that about accurate?" Silence from the onyx-haired girl was his only reply. "I guess this is to be expected, how could I even think to breathe the same air as the Yaoyorozu Momo, heiress to the billionaire Yaoyorozu corporation? I am just a thug from the hood who has no business speaking in complex sentences or knowing anything about anything, right?" Ryuu then stood up from his seat, "Excuse me, everyone, I've lost my appetite. Oh, I'm sorry what am I thinking," He turned to Momo, "I ain't feel like eatin' nothing no mo', I'm finna bounce just now. Is that more on the nose, Momo?" he spoke matter-of-factly before walking out of the cafeteria.
The table was deathly silent all around, all eyes on the retreating form of Ryuu until he rounded the corner out of sight when everyone's gaze shifted towards the now guilty looking Momo.
"Yao-Momo! Not cool, girlfriend! How can you judge Ryuu-kun like that?" Ashido exclaimed. Next to her, Tsui had the same blank expression on her face except with a slight frown, and Uraraka had a deep scowl painting her visage.
"I can't believe you, Momo! Just because he grew up with a family that wasn't filthy rich and not from the best place doesn't mean you know everything about him. Not everyone got to grow up with a silver spoon in their mouth like you, princess." Uraraka said in an uncharacteristically hateful tone before storming away from the cafeteria herself.
Momo stared at where the two had just left and hung her head in shame as she had now deeply insulted two people, with Kendo rubbing her back sympathetically. From the other side of the table, Ashido and Jiro sighed while Asui kept her eyes fixed on the offender. "I'm quite surprised Momo-chan. For someone with such usual tact and gracefulness, that was a very bad thing to say about Ryuu-chan. I wonder if how long he will be angry with you."
After a few minutes, Kendo chuckled awkwardly to try and diffuse the situation, "Well, uh…I guess on the bright side it still could be worse? Heh, it's not like you sit next to him in class or anything right?" Seeing Momo sink further down with a rain cloud over her head was not a good sign, "Oh…well shit."
Happening to walk by the lunch table and witnessing the entire ordeal between Momo and Ryuu, Bakugo Katsuki shook his head with an angry pout, "What a fucking asshole ponytail is for saying that shit to him. Some people have no fucking manners." he spat out before catching sight of an all too familiar head of emerald-green hair, "DEKU, COME BACK HERE YOU SHITTY NERD! I'LL KILL YOU!" he exclaimed before running after the one-for-all inheritor.