"Leaving so soon, young Midoriya?"
All-Might popped into his weird, lanky form as the young boy finished his exercise routine for the day. He hated it – each day that passed felt like that was becoming his default body, instead of the muscular shape he had for most of his life – but he wouldn't let pride and nostalgia let in the way of his gradual recovery. If it could even be called that, he was starting to get the feeling that it was more of a slow goodbye than a proper regeneration.
"Ah, yeah! I have… Well, a new place opened up downtown." Izuku let out a sigh as he started feeling his muscles slowly go sore from the intense exercise routine. "It's a fighting academy for quirkless people."
"Oh? Have you regretted your decision so soon? What a shame, I guess you'll have to pass One for All to one of your frien-" All-Might started, with a small tone of benevolent sarcasm in his voice, before his newfound pupil started spouting noises of embarrassment.
"Ah, no no no! Of course I haven't, I'm sorry All-Might! It's just… It's a little personal for me, you know? I thought I was going to stay quirkless for the rest of my life, so…" Now it was the larger man's turn to interrupt him.
"Don't worry, I understand what you mean, boy. I would have liked to come with you, but… It seems I have exhausted most of my One-For-All time for today, unfortunately. I will have to make a visit some other time; it's a shame I will have to skip on the inauguration." All-Might looked a little sad, but then morphed into his original, ever-grinning form once more to give Izuku his last speech for the day.
"Well, take a good look for me, young Midoriya! Maybe, if this whole UA teacher thing doesn't work out, I can give out a few classes there." He let out one of his characteristic thunderous laughs. "I will see you tomorrow, if you're still up to the challenge."
He watched as Izuku slowly faded into the distance, maintaining the muscular vessel until the small boy was lost to the horizon. The transformation back was accompanied by a small coughing of blood, but he was getting used to it at this point.
"Ah, he forgot to tell me what it was called…"
LITTLE STARS FIGHTING ACADEMY.
The massive, metallic letters attached to the front of the sign spelled out, announcing to the whole town something new had arrived. The exterior was painted with vibrant tones of red and green, with some complementary white coloring. On the roof, there were cutouts of five pointed stars along with a big circle made out of tiny LED lights. Nobody had seen it yet, but the gimmick of this setup was that during the day small plastic appendages would pop from the outer surface of the circle, giving it the recognizable shape of a sun along with its sunrays. At night, however, the rays were gone, and the lights were set to a pale blue, almost white color, making it resemble a radiant full moon.
The building had three stories in total: the first one served as a lobby and waiting room, with monitors to show the action happening upstairs; the second was were the actual classes happened, containing a total of four large tatami rings, training equipment, changing and shower rooms for the students and teachers and a small podium-like structure from where the teachers could give out speeches; and finally, the highest floor was a general storage room. The building wasn't tall at all when compared to the enormous apartments and even UA itself, but it still had a strong aura around it. A small bastion in a cold world where quirkless people could do their best to become heroes, become each little stars that together form a constellation whose light can shine brighter than that of the spotlight the quirk users had set onto themselves.
People crowded all around the building, trying to get a look through the various glass panes and windows scattered on it. The few who dared to go inside were mostly either small kids or the elderly, those who still had the spark of hope that their lack of a quirk could be useful to society; and those who wished to take a peak on what their life could have been like. Izuku was neither, although he still wanted to pay a visit to the place. He sneaked through the crowd in a hurry and made his way to one of the comfortable-looking chairs of the lobby that faced a monitor showing the second floor, not wanting to miss the precious few seconds before the class started.
Due to the small number of people that were willing to take the free first trial lesson, only two of the rings were in use. The one on the right from the stairs was occupied by Glória and a tall man wearing glasses who, would teach the elderly, while the kids would head to the left ring where Victória and Eros were.
If one was to just glance over him, it would look like Eros was a living version of one of those famous ancient Greek fighter marble sculptures. He had the characteristic short curly black hair and equally curly beard. His muscles were almost unnaturally large, and he stood at about 6'5 feet tall. The man oozed self-confidence and strength from every pore of his distinguished manly body, yet there was something caring and warm about the look in his eyes. That was especially important when working with small children.
Each of the teachers presented themselves, a genuine smile present on each of their faces. They each wore matching white sweatpants along with a shirt. Each of their shirts had a different symbol, however: Eros' was the sun, Glória's was a star, Victória's was the full moon and the remaining teacher – named Stephen – was an asteroid.
Waiting until both groups had formed lines behind their respective rings, the four of them stood up on the elevated part of the room, taking a while before bowing and speaking collectively:
"Welcome everybody to our academy!"
After a relatively easy round of collective warm-up and stretching exercises, both pairs of teachers separated into their respective rings. Glória and Stephen taught the older men and women a variety of self-defense techniques, from various different martial arts, cultures and even some made to combat specific types of quirk in case of a villain assault. Granted, the first thing they explained was that these were supposed to only be used in extreme situations, where there was no one nearby or there was just no reasoning with the opposing party. Most of the moves weren't suited for a prolonged assault, most useful in opening up escape opportunities and some techniques for binding the aggressor until the police or some other authority came.
The left ring, on the other hand, had a different mood entirely. After giving a speech about the history of heroes, villains and vigilantes, Eros' team involved the children in all sorts of playful yet educational activities, including: running around the room using different fighting stances, "sword duels" using the cushioned training bats, play-fights were they would all tackle Eros at once, and even a sort of simulation where Victória acted as a giant monster destroying a fictional city. Izuku understood that, even if each one of the scenarios had an educational value, their main purpose was entertainment, motivation. By involving the kids in these scenarios that had some resemblance to real life, it reinforced the idea that their actions mattered, in the academy and out there in the uncaring world.
The class was over after about an hour or so. Nobody was bruised or looked overly exhausted, but it was definitely an effort, and most of them had small smiles and expressions of enjoyment on their faces. Before they could leave, Eros suddenly jumped on the highest part of the podium and started giving out a speech. He had a loud, booming voice, yet it didn't feel like he was trying to forcefully grab everyone's attention. Rather, it was a congratulatory talk, a little celebration of their efforts so far.
The man cleared his throat, and took a small breath before proceeding.
"I would like to thank you all for coming here today.
As you all know, there are a few people like us who just so happened to be born without a quirk of our own. For most, it is a curse – a factor they cannot live with, a feeling as if a part of their very essence was missing.
What we seek to teach in this academy, primarily, isn't just how to fight – or how to defend. It is the ability to respect. Respect both our fellow quirkless brothers and sisters, and those who were born with fortune on their side. There is no meaning to a fight if you don't respect your rival.
I once had a close friend of mine have a serious talk with me. The man confessed that the worst part of his life experience wasn't not having something special going on for him, but to be treated as if he was nothing, less than nothing. To be ignored and stepped onto. A complete lack of respect.
But we shall not fight hate with more hate, for that is how a war is born, not a sparring match. We must teach our rivals how to respect, combat their unfounded opinions by showing just how much we are capable of doing, how much effort we put into what we love.
That is why I believe that you all are great candidates to be the heroes for the newer generations. To have the courage to step inside these doors, while everyone outside silently judges you, some just waiting for you to fail to boost their twisted ego, others with the sparks of heroism inside them yet with the burden of this oppressive society over their shoulders.
Even if you do not enroll, even if you think your body is too weak to fight. Never forget this message. I want you all to go out there and from now on show these people the same spirit you showed in here today. To put your best into every little thing you do. May each of you, little stars, shine your light more intensely from now on, and guide our fellow fighting brothers and sisters through their own journeys.
Thank you for listening."
Under all the sudden cheering from both the people inside and outside, a faint sob could be heard coming from a short green haired boy in the waiting room.
"Sure managed to make their day, huh? Thought you'd forget to say little stars at least once, good job." Victória shouted at Eros after a long sip of water. A good amount of people from the outside had come enroll in the academy shortly after the class was over, and the combined noise of the crowd on the lower floor made chatting somewhat difficult.
"This is the academy where we are going to be staying for the rest of our careers. I had to give the people a good idea of what we are like." Eros replied with a big grin on his face, towel over his shoulder and ready to use one of the shower rooms specifically designated for the instructors. "Oh, by the way, someone sent you a package. I put it upstairs so you can focus on it better."
Victória mouthed a small thank you and headed to the storage area. Since they had just settled in the city, it was mostly empty, apart from a few old tatamis and wooden planks that would be used in later events. In the middle of the room laid a small metallic disk, with a red light blinking on its dark grey center.
The device lit up almost on cue as Victória sat down and settled her water bottle besides her. The figure of a small unidentified animal ("a rat?" thought Victória) arose from it, the characteristic glow of the hologram faintly lighting up the rest of the dim room. It stayed immobile for a few seconds, blinking and sipping from its equally tiny cup of tea, before speaking up.
"Good evening, Miss Machado! I apologize for not having an opportunity to introduce myself to you directly. I am Nezu, the principal of U.A. High."
She blinked. That was Nezu? She expected him to be an old man, maybe middle aged at best based on her mother's descriptions of him. Though she had to admit, his cutesy appearance helped her get over some of her initial nervousness of receiving a letter that would basically decide her whole future.
"As you may know, the conditions of your exam were… not standard, one could say. Due to your late arrival in Japan, you didn't have to share your exam grounds with anyone, so we had to completely discard the rescue points system and the good sportsmanship bonuses. Speaking of a score, here is your final result in the physical test!"
The projection held out a white card, with the number 70 written in the middle with a big font. Was that good? Or was it seventy out of one hundred?
"Ah, you are probably asking yourself, is this a good score? And indeed it is! Just so you have a reference point, the best score on the regular practical exam was a 77. Pretty close!"
Woah.
"However…"
Oh no.
"We share a few concerns regarding your case. You showed us an excellent result while fighting the zero-points robot in the end of the exam, but your tactic – or lack of it – seemed to be based purely out of emotion, with no thought behind it."
"Moreover, there are a few problems with your academic curriculum as well. While the notes and activities your mother provided us have shown you have good capabilities and are dedicated to your studies, your knowledge seems to be behind of what the Japanese education system would consider adequate for a high school of such a high level."
Hologram-Nezu paused to take another, painfully slow sip of his tea. The suspense was killing her.
"After analyzing all that was provided to us, we have finally decided…"
Nezu pulled out another card, this one with four simple letters printed in a shiny golden gradient.
Pass.
"Congratulations, Victória Machado! Welcome to our Hero Academy."
