The dawning hours of the city of Musutafu were truly beautiful, or at least that was what Izuku believed. Almost universally the dawn was held up as a symbol of renewal and rebirth; a new start and all that it implied. Somewhere in the world an atomic clocked ticked from 5:59:59 to 6:00:00 and Izuku opened his eyes. He had long ago used the quirk Watchdog Food Timer to fully synchronize his circadian clock with the international atomic time allowing him to always fully comprehend the exact time of day. He had later discovered a quirk that allowed him to always know the time by simply closing his eyes, but refused to use it after all the work he had already put into his current setup.
Three hours of dreams flashed through his mind and he took a minute to painstakingly analyse them for any subconscious thoughts that he might have. Finding nothing except the anticipation of a new day he uncrossed his legs and stood up from the bed onto the floor. With a wave of his hand and a minor use of his quirk Hyper String Theory, to control the various threads that made up his bedding, and his bed was instantly made.
Standing in that position for a moment Izuku activated Area Free, a vague quirk that gave him a few kinds of clairvoyance, and closed his eyes as other rooms in the house flashed through his mind. In terms of vision this was not his best quirk, it was miles behind Parasite seeing, but Area Free did far less damage to his faith in humanity than Parasite Seeing.
The room that was normally set aside for Himiko, was occupied by the same girl who fiercely hugged her pillow while rolling around in the bed. Izuku smiled at the sight and he watched in amusement as Himiko opened her eyes warily before glancing around the room, before he severed the connection. The girl was incredibly sharp for her age with nigh impeccable instincts. Izuku had picked her up a few years ago when she had walked up to him and acted all lovey-dovey before she stabbed him in the heart. It was a strike that penetrated straight through his ribcage and the sight of her licking the blood off of the knife had been one that he still remembered today. It had been one of the few times in his life that Izuku had been genuinely baffled.
A lot of things had happened after that and it had ended by him offering Himiko a job. Still, the fact that he was her employer and benefactor did not stop her from stabbing him, whenever she got the chance, and consuming his blood. The only two rules that he had laid down regarding this practice was to ensure that she did not harm him in front of his mother and that any blood that she took was used up or properly disposed of; after a major incident a year ago caused an absolute disaster. Their relationship as a whole was complicated and Izuku was hesitant to apply a label to it although Himiko would unhesitatingly apply the label of either 'boyfriend' or 'lover', however inaccurate those labels would be. The girl possessed no house of her own and Izuku's mother allowed her to stay over with the understanding that no licentious activities would take place, although enforcement of that edict was ultimately left up to the far more capable Izuku.
Izuku switched his attention to the other person in his house, his beloved mother. She was in the kitchen but she wasn't cooking today. Instead boxes of his favourite food were stacked in the kitchen. He understood the situation immediately. Apparently his mother wanted to reward his entry to U.A. She probably didn't do this yesterday due to the fact that Himiko wasn't present. Izuku smiled at the thought and activated the quirk Very Hungry, a simple quirk that allowed him to generate and dim hunger. He had a system of removing any feeling of hunger until he was ready to eat and only then increasing it. Waves of hunger pains assaulted him and Izuku grinned as he felt a terrible burning in his stomach that grew. Unlike most of humanity starvation was not a thing that was able to kill him; in fact he found it would only improve the taste of his food. Izuku changed from his pyjama's to his clothes in an unbelievable time before using Alibi Block to appear right outside the kitchen.
"That smells good mom," he said as he walked into the kitchen. His mother stood amongst shiny appliances and a white tiled floor holding the boxes of pizza that had obviously just been delivered judging by the slight steam emanating from it.
"I wanted to congratulate you on making it into U.A," Izuku's mother said smiling as she put the boxes down on a counter. "So I got your favourite for breakfast."
"Pineapple pizza," Izuku said, salivating at his favourite dish, the most controversial of pizzas.
"Yes, I found a Pizza Hut in town a couple of minutes' walk," his mom said with a smile.
"Thanks mom I'll definitely check it out," Izuku said. He had actually seen it a few times but he wasn't the type to eat when alone and the rest of his fairly small circle of contacts had been rather busy with meetings, work, training and killing heroes.
"We should totally go there soon," Himiko said as she appeared behind Izuku and looped her arm around his body and leaned into him. The woman had an almost supernatural sense for where he was and he could hear her silently leaving her room as soon as she left his own. "We haven't been on a date for so long," she continued causing Izuku to sigh and his mother to smile at the pair.
"Maybe we should," Izuku said as he disappeared from her arms and reappeared on the counter next to his pizzas. "Have you seen my schedule today Himiko?"
"It's a meeting between Abnorma Link and the Nations alliance," Himiko said as she flipped open a notepad that she somehow managed to conceal in the purple nightie that she wore. "You, or more accurately I, will negotiate a deal that will provide changes in weather patterns for countries experiencing significantly extreme climates. Think they'll go for it?" Himiko asked smiling.
"They will," Izuku said. "Eventually. There will be a lot of fuss about any possible dangers to the surrounding atmosphere. There will be somebody bringing up the effects of climate change, which is out of context for this topic and there will be some subtle pressure from a few countries to submit to. All you need to do is focus on the deal and not let yourself be bogged down by any minor details and call them out on any possible amendments. Think you can do it?"
"I'll have them eating out of the palm of your hand," Himiko said with her patented blush. "Now hit me with the goods." Izuku rolled his eyes outwardly but inwardly he was grinning. Walking towards her he raised his hand only to be met by the outstretched arms of Himiko. "Not that way," she said leaning forward. "The other way," she said before slightly puckering her lips.
Izuku sighed and then leaned forward and embraced Himiko in a kiss, pouring over a dozen carefully chosen quirks into her body as he did so. Regrettably when he first tried this operation this was the only way that he could still transfer quirks and while he had learnt better ways of transferring quirks since then, Himiko refused to use them. What a clingy girl, he thought as he heard his mother giggle behind his back.
"Don't overuse them," he warned the girl who had become a close friend. "You know the limits that your body can take and I will be extremely upset if you go beyond those limits," he said sternly, perhaps excessively so, but there were extreme consequences for not obeying those limits. Almost everybody who possessed a quirk had certain biological mechanisms in their body that allowed them to use the power of their quirk with only a few people lacking the specialised bodies that allowed them to use the quirk to the fullest. For example Katsuki's body was extremely resistant against explosions and prone to sweating and the muscles in her arms and legs were naturally strengthened to deal with backlash from the explosions.
Anybody who obtained one of his quirks would not get those same biological mechanisms. From what he had observed of people only he could handle the vast number of quirks that resided inside his body. He had long since discovered that the consequence of taking on even an insignificant fraction of his quirks was dire. If Izuku were to transfer too many of his quirks to Himiko then his friend's body would explode under the strain and thus he was forced to be selective with the quantity and quality of the quirks that he bestowed.
Blushing fiercely now, Himiko grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite of it while using her other hand to hold her cheek. Izuku decided to let her cool off and dug into his congratulations gift, eagerly feeding the insatiable monster in his stomach and his mother became the sole initiator of the conversation turning a morning meal into a pleasant chat. Himiko was the first person to finish, wolfing down her pizza to allow enough time to get to her meeting. She then walked up to her personal fridge. With a jaunty wave she left from the room and Izuku heard her move upstairs, where she was most likely changing for today. His mother had finished her meal and so Izuku took care of the leftovers cleanly finishing off the remaining slices and preventing the cardinal sin of cold pizza.
"Have fun today," his mother said smiling at him and Izuku nodded in gratitude for the meal before he snapped his fingers and Masaru was standing there in his place. He noticed his mother frown for a second at the change but it was unfortunately a necessary evil and she had long accepted it as such.
"I will," he said moving forward to embrace her, letting her know that it was still him beneath it all and she returned the hug unhesitatingly. Then with a grin he also disappeared from the room, leaving his mother alone in the house.
xxx
Izuku whistled as he walked into the classroom and took a glance around at the surrounding students. He was one of the last people here and the rest were present, talking quietly in a far more subdued mood than yesterday. A few dirty looks were sent his way, evidently a result of the trickery he employed yesterday but there weren't half as many as he expected. This class actually has a pretty good mindset from what he could see. Walking to his desk next to Katsuki he dropped his bag next to him and his elbows on his desk and his head on his palms observing all of his classmates.
He had already 'fought' beside Shoto Todoroki and Fumikage Tokoyam, although that bout against their teacher could hardly be called a true fight, and he had quite adequately got their measure. Both were competent, with powerful quirks, if a bit untrained and Izuku could see them becoming decent heroes in a couple of years once they made it through their training. Those two were probably the strongest in the class besides Katsuki. Next was Tenya Iida and Ochaco Uraraka who he had met previously on the day of the exam and briefly yesterday. Iida seemed to be fairly strong with a good quirk and a style of movement that complimented it. He was a little uptight, but then again there wasn't really anything wrong with that. Ochaco however was new to this hero business with a powerful but indirect quirk and a few clever ideas on how to utilise it. Overall he evaluated them as rough but with a spark of potential.
All of the other talents in the class were adequate, he supposed. He hadn't seen a lot from them but nobody had committed any major errors that disqualified them in his mind. It would require more time to judge them, but then again on the other hand why should he bother. It wasn't his duty to improve the strength of the class and teach them how to be real heroes.
Outside of Katsuki, none of the members of this class were his friends. He decided to leave it up to Aizawa to hone them and see whether his competence rubbed off on them. His eyes slid over the door an instant before it slid open and the subject of his thoughts entered the room. The man once again looked as if he suffering from sleep deprivation but he still moved forward in a walk that conserved every speck of energy. Unlike yesterday there was an immediate hush that followed when he entered the room and everybody adopted a state of readiness. The results of yesterday had obviously impressed on the collective students that Aizawa was not a teacher who valued inefficiency.
"You need to select a class representative," the scruffy looking teacher said as he eyed the class. His words were said with no inflection more than his usual tone but it immediately set off a plethora of reactions, mostly various people volunteering for the 'honour' of leading the class. Izuku actually had no clue why though, considering it was only an administrative position the like of which they had at every other middle school. It was a bit baffling to him and he resolved to ask Katsuki about it afterwards.
Suddenly Iida's voice cut through the general cacophony demanding silence and Izuku listened to the young man who had started to make an impression on him.
"Heavy responsibility. Ambition does not equal ability. Leader must be chosen by election," these words came from the young Tenyas mouth and gave Izuku a much better picture of his glasses wearing classmate. It was nice to see people that were so passionate about getting involved in civics. It was truly a pity about what he was going to do next.
"I vote for anybody except Katsuki Bakugou," Izuku said raising his hand and putting on his most innocent smile. For a moment there was quiet and then his childhood friend exploded rushing forward and grabbing him by the front of his shirt.
"Are you shitting me I-Masaru," she said forcibly correcting herself. "Why the fuck would you say something like that?"
"It will be anarchy in two days with you at the helm Katsuki," Masaru said with a voice that sounded far more truthful than he actually was being right now. He could see Bakugou start to boil over and so he decided to add fuel to the fire. "Quite frankly I'm sure that even I could get more votes than you."
"Watch me beat you," Katsuki said glaring down at him and Masaru could tell that he had managed to truly make her angry. She glared at him before turning down and sitting at her desk, waiting to vote and Masaru had to do his best not to smile. He could hear the murmuring that rippled through the class after that brief confrontation and he felt a surge of satisfaction at the way the scene played out. Now if everything goes according to plan…
xxx
"In your smug face Masaru," Katsuki shouted out triumphantly in the results. She had beaten him by six votes to his five. Still the two of them had edged out the other competitors by at least three votes. A smug smile hit his face and he watched with some satisfaction as Katsuki own smile faltered. Besides his own mother, she had known him for the longest and right now she must have realised that she had been played. Katsuki had always been exceptionally intelligent and she would no doubt figure out what he had done in a bit.
What he had done was to overrule the standard election set up of everyman for themselves into a two party system whereby people would vote for either him or Katsuki. This might not have worked if either of them hadn't annoyed their classmates so thoroughly in the previous few days. Those who were aggravated by the lies that he told would vote for her and those that rightfully thought that Katsuki was a jerk would vote for him. However since class selection relies on both a class president and a vice president, both of the sides had lost in the end. This is what economists call a prisoners dilemma and the method that the class used was not the correct way to resolve it.
In the meantime Masaru got the opportunity to be Vice president under his best friend, not a bad deal by any stretch of the imagination.
xxx
"And the whole thing worked out as planned," Masaru said as he leaned back in his seat, smugly sampling his rice. He was not alone in his table. Katsuki sat opposite him as usual and both Ochaco and Iida had joined them as well. Somehow, he still wasn't sure how, the two of them had become on quite good terms with Masaru.
"That's pretty shady," the brown haired gravity-negator said looking at him with a dubious look. Behind her Iida also conveyed disappointment in Masaru's somewhat circumspect way of doing things.
"I am going to punch you sometime Masaru," Katsuki said through gritted teeth clenching her fists. For once she was not shouting and it was probably because ultimately she didn't want the reason for her victory to be further spread and perhaps prompt a revote. She really didn't have to worry however; Aizawa would not indulge the classroom in what he saw as a pointless re-election. In fact despite his general lackadaisical attitude it was likely that if the people chosen were unsatisfactory then he would have not allowed the results of the vote to come to pass. Aizawa did not seem to be a man that would tolerate people who were not suited for the job.
"Hey we have Hero Basic Training next," Masaru said shamelessly changing the subject and he immediately saw the three others at his table react. By now it was common knowledge that All Might was teaching that particular class and the surrounding atmosphere amongst their class could not be more excited. All Might was venerated in Japan to a greater extent that even Izuku despite it being both of their birthplaces. Not that you would ever believe All Might was Japanese considering how American his costume and moves were. Masaru briefly wondered if the surrounding students knew that All Might regularly showed up in the top ten most popular hero lists in America as well.
"I heard from Mina that Class 1-B had already had a lesson with him," Ochaco said in a voice that was tinged with slight envy of somebody towards the person in front of them in the line.
"Well we can always go ask them," Masaru said standing up from the table leaving his empty tray. He had wolfed down his lunch with alacrity earlier and had spent the last few minutes just talking to those other three that were still talking. As he stood up he scanned the cafeteria looking for people who could possibly be part of the other hero class. Unfortunately the cafeteria was full of general students, management students and support students. He actually didn't know many of the other students; after all it was only the second day. His eyes picked one student out of the multitude that he did recognize.
Aizawa had mentioned the name of the class president of Class 1-B to him, an Itsuka Kendo, a name he had recognized as the orange haired girl who had scored sixth in the exam and Masaru had made a mental note to speak to her about various things related to the position of class president. Turning away from his table and hearing some shuffling from behind him he decided to kill two birds with one stone. Utilising nothing but a brisk walk he managed to navigate the somewhat busy cafeteria.
Itsuka didn't sit alone. With her sat a blonde haired boy with a slightly arrogant look and a blonde girl with a pair of large horns and wide eyes. With barely a pause Masaru took the fourth seat leaning back into it and was about to introduce himself when the blonde boy interrupted him.
"Is this the typical rudeness that can be expected of you Class 1-A students?" he said in a very mocking manner.
"Actually no," Masaru said back with a grin. "Most of Class 1-A students are quite polite, with the exception of Katsuki."
"Fuck you Masaru," his ashen blonde friend said catching up causing the other two students heads to whip towards her.
"It's a personal thing," Masaru continued ignoring the interruption. "I sometimes like to do these things that step over the line slightly," he said staring directly into the blonde haired boy's eyes in a manner quite uncomfortable for a person. "Shy and unused to the situation," he said gesturing towards the blonde haired girl. "Probably due to coming from outside the country. Thoughtful and considerate," he said gesturing towards Itsuka. "Hmm," Masaru said looking at him, debating whether to say what was on his mind and deciding ultimately that he didn't want a fight to day.
"Masaru Tenchi," he said, turning away from the blonde boy and looking at the two females.
"Wait, don't ignore me 1-A Trash," the boy whose name he still didn't know called out to him and that set Katsuki off.
"Who the hell are you calling trash, trash!" Katsuki yelled at the boy and Masaru almost sighed in irritation. 'Don't stoop to his level Katsuki,' was what he wanted to say but unlike his best friend he knew how to pick his battles.
"Itsuka Kendo," the orange haired girl said politely as she switched attention between the swiftly developing argument and Masaru.
"Pony Tsunotori," the girl with horns said and Masaru immediately managed to place his accent.
"You come from America right?" he said in perfect English getting a confirmation nod as the girl's eyes lit up.
"Do you speak English," she said focusing on him.
"No, I'm afraid that I don't speak a word of that tongue?" Masaru said, still speaking English before turning towards Katsuki. "Hey Katsuki how well can you speak English?"
"I'm not doing this Masaru," Katsuki said, flat out denying him in the same language. "I know you thrive on chaos but quite frankly I have no desire to get into a fucking comedy skit right now."
Their banter was broken by the laughter from the two other girls at the table and Ochaco who had caught up to them now. Iida and the blonde guy remained stoic although Masaru could swear that he saw a trace of mirth from the usually stoic Iida.
"Nice to meet you Masaru," Itsuka said smiling back at him. "We might have to conscript you to help with Pony's language someday."
"It would be a pleasure to be press-ganged," Masaru replied. Despite his short interaction with them he judged that they would be able to get along. Maybe not with the other guy though, with whom Katsuki had already managed to be drawn into an argument again.
"Anyway we're from Class 1-A and we have Hero Basic Training next," Masaru said.
"With All Might?" Itsuka asked, to which Masaru nodded immediately.
"Jumping right to the heart of it," he said. "We just wanted to know how the session was; so that we can be more prepared of course."
"Of course," Itsuka said as she grinned at him. "Well as much as I would love to enlighten you I think it would be much more effective for you to find out on your own. I wouldn't want to affect All Might's lesson."
"So cruel," Masaru said but there was no heat in his words. Just then the bell rang out indicating that the time for food to be eaten had drawn to a close.
"Well I should probably stop that," Itsuka said gesturing to the two arguing blondes.
"I'm actually finding it quite fun to watch," Masaru admitted as he locked his full attention on the two who looked to be seconds away from coming to blows. By that he meant that Katsuki was going to punch the blonde boy in the next few seconds. "Maybe just hold on a bit?"
"Be that as it may I'm still the class president and have to set an example," Itsuka said only for Masaru to hold up a finger pointing towards his friend.
"That's our class president," he said with no inflection in his tone.
"Really," Itsuka said and there was silence while the two girls digested the statement.
"Yup," Masaru said. "If you ask me the only reason she won…" and it was at this point that he was gripped in a headlock.
"Stop stirring up shit until our lesson with All Might is over," she said and began to physically drag him away.
"Bye, it was nice meeting you," Masaru said waving back to the two girls.
"It was certainly an experience," Itsuka said diplomatically, but she didn't look unhappy about their conversation.
"Nice to meet you," Pony said in much accented Japanese and that was the last he heard from them before he was dragged out of the room.
xxx
"I have come through the door like a normal person," All Might said as he did anything but. His entrance was as bombastic as to be expected from the number one pro hero. Well the Japanese number one pro hero at least. The heroic society for Japan was ridiculously insular and even many of the students who attended this school would likely not have heard of more than a handful of foreign heroes. Masaru did not exclude Katsuki from this assessment. She, and she never would admit this, was an All Might fan through and through.
"Battle Training," All Might said and the words had barely left his mouth before Masaru was whipping his head around towards Katsuki. The young girl wore a feral smile that spoke of far more viciousness than was strictly healthy. That wasn't the only pleasant surprise as with a single gesture from the caped hero, rows of shelves containing numbered cabinets slid out from the wall. "Looking very good is important," All Might said with his trademark smile and Masaru felt a tinge of cynical annoyance before he forced it down.
His number was notably absent from the lockers. His chosen quirk was both absolute in its power and its limits. Unless he was to get technical, to the extent that he paid a personal visit to the support department, no improvements could be made on his quirk. Thus he decided to focus on something that he personally found important, namely getting something with pockets that could store a lot of room, could hide his hand movements and something that looked cool. In other words he took the Knuckles school of dress and got himself a trench coat that would cause the most hard-boiled PI to turn green in envy. Pitch black with an upturned collar that covered his neck with a grey shirt beneath it with black jeans and black boots. The only hero-ish portion of his costume was the blank white mask that covered his face with black transparent eyeholes.
None of his costume was appreciated by his mother or his stunt double. Inko had called his costume creepy and unsettling and Himiko had said that he looked villainous. They were probably right. Making costumes that looked good was never his forte as evidenced by the various memes that still mocked his original costume. Still few heroes stuck with the costume they started with and he was well prepared to change his look down the line if it became necessary; that is if he was still a hero by then.
Masaru moved quickly, like clockwork as he swiftly adorned his new vestments before he lifted up the final piece of his outfit. Putting on a mask was always a fun thing to do. Masks made it far easier to compartmentalize. Even flimsy eight shaped masks, like the one that he used to wear, made it easier to put on an act, to exaggerate certain aspects of his personality and downplay the others. That was the advantage of a mask. He wondered who the hero behind this mask would turn out be.
Ceasing his musing he donned the mask and proceeded to the testing area that was apparently called Ground Beta. An urban area complete with streets and tall buildings greeted him, a scene that could be witnessed on every walk home. Masaru was contemplating the money that went into the construction as the last of the group arrived and he briefly scanned the surrounding students, noting that his costume was probably the worst.
"Are you ready?" All Might said not waiting, and not needing to wait for an answer. The class was like a live wire ready and willing to discharge their energy and their battle spirit was fanned only higher by the flamboyant, energetic legend in front of them.
"Most of the shown battles against villains occur indoors, but most of the more dangerous criminals lurk indoors," said All Might and Masaru could agree from his own experience. Not that he would classify many of the criminals that he fought as dangerous. His most dangerous opponent to this date fought him outdoors in the open, but he didn't want to think on that guy right now.
"You will be split into hero and villain teams," All Might's simple words cut through Masaru's recollections and he once more focused on his teacher. "And face off in two by two battles." The questions came hard and fast after that and Masaru listened casually as All Might laid out the rules.
They were to be assigned battle partners and then divided into a team of villains and heroes. The villains were stationed inside the building with a nuclear weapon that they had to protect from the heroes or alternately capture them. The heroes were outside and had to infiltrate the building and secure the bomb or capture the heroes. Basically the two teams were playing the world's most destructive version of Counter Strike.
"Are there any medics standing by," Masaru said looking dead on at All Might.
"Do not worry young Tenchi," All Might said flashing a grin. "I will personally intervene before anybody gets hurt and any injuries will be taken care of by Recovery Girl.
That wasn't what he asked but Masaru just nodded. All Might was surprisingly reckless for a pro hero. If he was running it he probably would have overcompensated with medical attention but he was obviously not the expert here. The lots were drawn and Masaru got a pleasant surprise.
"Katsuki," he said giving a high five to his partner. "Yeah we're going to dominate the competition now."
"Yeah," Katsuki said as she looked at his blank mask giving him an inquiring look. "Yeah we are," she said as she narrowed her eyes. She obviously believed that he had manipulated the draw in order for them to partner up and nothing that he could have said in these few seconds could have convinced her otherwise.
"Come on Katsuki show some enthusiasm," he said smiling but she obviously couldn't see through the mask. "Team A for awesome."
"And the first two teams up," All might said. "Team A as the villains and team E as the heroes."
"Oh wow," Masaru said as he turned his head towards the team of Tenya Iida and Shoto Todoroki. Both of them part of hero families since the day they were born. Both of them well trained with good quirks. "Maybe this won't be as easy after all," he said as he watched a vicious smile form on the face of his best friend.
