Ch 34 - Sounds Like We're Moving On
A few weeks had passed but everyone was still talking about it as if it was still breaking news. It was a testament to the faculty of UA on how quickly they sprang to action after the announcement of All Might's retirement. They had not only planned out a secure dorming system for the students, they had built it and gotten permission from the students' families in a matter of days.
Of course, there wasn't any resistance on Neon's part or Ito's. The government worker had more than enough confidence in Principal Nezu and Neon was just relieved this meant that Ito didn't need to do her weekly pop-ins anymore. Although, they now had monthly appointments and Neon still had to call and ask for permission for any non-school and hero-related activities.
In order to protect the students from the public eye, the students were asked to move in right away, despite it still being a few weeks left of their summer break.
Even though it was move-in day, Neon had actually been staying at UA for several days already. Due to the press conference, her face and sound bytes were used in every news report as a representation of Class 1A. Whatever notoriety she had from her outburst at the sports festival paled in comparison to now. The press had surrounded the campus since the incident, not just to capture All Might but also her as well. The handful of people waiting outside her apartment made her a shut-in before UA took mercy on her and let her move in early. She kept a low profile and stayed mostly on campus grounds except for one tedious errand.
As the whole class arrived and gathered out in front of their new home, something else temporarily took their attention away from what they were doing in the first place.
"Neon! Your hair!" Ashido shrieked with excitement, "You changed it!"
Neon pulled down the red mouth mask she now wore in public and then ran her hand over the newly buzzed undercut on the left side of her head as the rest of her now pitch-black hair hung down to her right shoulder. She gave a little shrug. "I was getting recognized too easily with my old hair."
"Nice," Jiro said, "You went with the look I suggested."
"Oy! Pay attention," Aizawa lectured as he stood at the base of pale blue marble steps that led up to two sets of double doors. A brown brick pathway stretched from the steps to the street with green grass and park benches on either side.
"I'll explain briefly about the dorms, but first…" Aizawa said, "For now, we will focus on getting the provisional licenses we were planning to have you get during the training camp."
"Oh yeah," Sato mumbled, "I totally forgot about that."
"So much has happened since then...It totally slipped my mind too," Ashido admitted.
"This is important. Listen up," Aizawa scolded, "Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Midoriya, and Iida. These five went to go save Bakugo that night."
He paused and his eyes scanned his class, who all looked tensely back at him.
Their teacher sighed. "Your reactions tell me that you all were at least aware of it. I'm going to set aside a number of issues and say this: If it weren't for All Might's retirement, I would've expelled everyone except Bakugo, Nagano, Jiro, and Hagakure. Of course, the five that went but also the twelve who knew but didn't stop them. I would be grateful if you could follow the proper procedures and act properly in order to regain that trust."
Everyone lowered their gaze in a mix of shame and guilt except Neon who gave her teacher a look that clearly meant, Meh. What can you do?
Aizawa frowned at her but continued on. "That is all I have to say about the matter. Now in terms of your life in the dorms...I do have one announcement to make," he said and then nodded over at Neon, "Nagano is going to be the RA for your class. Any disputes in regards to living habits or communal areas will go through her, understand?"
"What?!" Neon gasped. Her jaw pulled down hard on the straps of her mouth mask, "You just don't want to deal with it so you're pushing it on to me!"
"And that critical thinking is exactly why I put you in the role," Aizawa said and then he turned on his heels, "Alright. Now, we're going inside. Let's have some energy!"
As their teacher walked up the stone steps and entered the multi-storied building, Bakugo suddenly grabbed Denki and dragged him behind some hedges. "You. Come!"
"Wh-what?" Denki gasped.
The class watched in surprise and horror as electric sparks shot out from behind the greens and then Denki leaped back into view.
"Yayyyyy," he croaked with snot dribbling out his nose and two thumbs up signs pulsating from his waist.
PFFFFT!
Jiro turned her face away and covered her mouth with her hands but it wasn't enough to stop the laughter and soon the whole class joined in on it too.
"Ha! What did Bakugo do?!" Sero laughed.
"Kirishima! Hack Job!"
"Huh?" the two of them turned to Katsuki, who marched over to them with his hands in his pockets. He pulled them out with a stack of cash in each hand.
"EH?!" Kirishima exclaimed, "Wait! You're scaring me! What is this? DId you shake someone down for this money?!"
"No! I withdrew this money. It's legit!" Katsuki snapped, "Kirishima, you used up all your allowance right?"
"B-," Kirishima protested but Katsuki shoved the money into Kirishima's hand.
"And you! Hack Job. Thanks!" He scowled and then continued on his rant, "Because of you calling me out like that, the press has been swarming my house and bugging me so don't think just because you look dumber than before and that you said something nice about me on national TV that I'll treat you differently. Nothing has changed between you and me, got it?"
So that's how Noisy Boy shows gratitude...
Neon raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he stormed off.
"Hey guys! Sorry for causing so much trouble," Kirishima shouted to the class, "But let's all go eat yakiniku tonight. My treat!"
"Yayyyy!" the class cheered.
"Hurry up and get inside!" Aizawa shouted and the students quickly collected themselves and obeyed. However, the mood was definitely lifted and they were in better spirits when they entered their new home.
Neon was the only girl assigned to the second floor with Tokoyami, Aoyama, Midoriya, and Mineta as her floormates. She was very concerned about sharing the floor with the class pervert but she was glad that at least her room was directly in front of Tokoyami's and not Mineta's.
Since her room was already done, she spent most of her time helping out the girls unpack their stuff. She was sweaty from helping Momo wedge in a large canopy bed that was too big for the room so she returned to her room to shower. Just as she was putting on a clean black hoodie and some jean shorts, she got a call from Tenya.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Neon-san! As a RA, it is imperative that you come down here and settle this matter down in the common area. You see-"
Neon groaned. "It's only been a few hours and there's already a dispute? Ugh. I'm going to kill Eraser Head...I'll be right down...And don't make it a habit to call me everytime something comes up. No one likes a tattletale!"
She hung up and marched downstairs. She found most of the guys already relaxing after their day's work and the girls were all there too. Turns out the dispute was that the girls wanted to have a contest to see whose room was decorated the best and there were some discenters. Namely, Mineta, Midoriya, and Tokoyami.
"Should I be worried that the three guys who don't want us near their rooms are all on the same floor as me?" Neon asked, turning to Todoroki, who had just gotten out of the shower himself and was wiping his damp hair with a towel.
"I think with Mineta, you should be constantly worried," Todoroki said.
"Facts…" Neon mumbled and then clapped her hands, "Okay. In this case, I'm going to side with the girls. Majority rules unless anyone else is against it. However, since it is a matter of privacy, if someone does not want anyone in their room, they have the right to say no."
"I-" Tokoyami started to say but then Mina chimed in.
"But then they will be losing out in an invaluable high school memory that we could all laugh and think fondly of for years to come! No pressure!" she shouted.
"I...withdraw my protest," Tokoyami sighed.
"Oy! No guilt tripping, Mina!" Neon said, "Who's out?"
"Erm...Bakugo isn't here and nor is Tsu-chan," Denki pointed out and Neon nodded.
"Okay. They're out. Midoriya?"
Midoriya gulped. "In?"
"Minet-"
"In!"
Neon blinked. "Why did you change your stance so fast?"
"I want to see the girls' rooms! Enter the locked gates! The forbidden paradise! The-" Mineta started to yell.
"Okay, we get it. God...don't make me regret this," Neon sighed, "Alright. Let's go!"
"W-Wait!" MIdoriya protested when they stopped at his room first, "I'm not ready for guests!"
"Too late!" Mina exclaimed as she flung open his door and revealed what could only pass as an All Might gift shop.
"That's...amazing...You even have All Might curtains," Neon whistled and then eyed the 'limited edition 24 of 100' sewn on the corner of the red, white and blue drapes, "This is truly your room, Fan Boy!"
"I-I just admire him...a lot," Midoriya said meekly.
"You don't say," Neon chuckled.
"Alright! Next is Tokoyami!" Hagakure shouted.
"Eh? Where is Tokoyami? He's not here." Ochaco asked.
They filed back into the hallway and saw the person in question leaning up against his door with his head bowed and arms crossed over his chest.
"Hrmph...This is foolish," he scoffed.
Without hesitation, Mina and Hagakure went over to him and tried to push him away from the door but he would not budge.
"Come on! You already agreed to it. Don't back out now!" They pushed even harder, with Hagakure practically putting her whole body weight on him but the boy refused to move.
"Come on!" Mina roared. She shoved Tokoyami right off of his feet and opened the door before he could even hit the floor. Mina and Hagakure ran into the room and everyone else soon heard them scream.
"Ah! So black and dark! So scary!" Hagakure shrieked.
"Eh?" Neon asked as she poked her head through the door while Tokoyami got to his feet. The whole room was dimly lit by ghostly purple light that flickered from the eyes of various skulls throughout the room. Neon could see the silhouette of furniture and a few black inked posters hanging on the wall but that was mostly it.
"Oh? So you like this kinda stuff too? I think I have this keychain! I got it in middle school," Kirishima grinned as he held up a tribal metal symbol.
"Get out…" Tokoyami growled.
"Wait! Is that a sword?!" Midoriya gasped, "So cool!"
"GET OUT!"
"Okay, okay," Neon said as she grabbed Kirishima and Mina by the collar and dragged them out, "We've overstayed our welcome. Thanks, Tokoyami."
"W-Wait. I wanted to see more!" Mina whined but Neon tossed them into the hall and waited for everyone to leave, including Tokoyami, before closing the door.
"Okay. Now mine! Voila!" Aoyama exclaimed, being the first to willingly open his own door. He jumped into the room and waved his arms out with a flourish.
"SO BRIGHT!" the class gasped at the disco ball twirling it's light on the bedazzled fabric that draped over his bed, carpet, and drapes. There were even several gilded mirrors of various shapes and sizes placed around the room.
"Non non...Not bright," Aoyama said with a wag of the finger, "Dazzling, sparkling-"
"It's actually exactly how I thought it'd be," Hagakure said and Mina nodded in agreement as they headed out the room.
"Next would be-" Ochaco started to say but was cut off by a sinister chuckle, echoing through the halls.
"Come on in…Please...Don't be shy…" Mineta called out to them while peeking out from the shadows of his partially opened door. He crooked his fingers at the females, "I'll show you something amaz-"
"Okay! Third floor everyone?" Neon called out.
"Third floor," Shoji agreed.
"WAAAIIIT!" Mineta shouted as he leapt out of the room, "Why are only the guys getting looped into this? Shouldn't this involve everyone? Shouldn't we decide who has the best taste in interior decoration from everyone in the class?"
"SURE!" Mina said without hesitation, "Well, we've already seen it before, but here's Neon's room!"
"Wait a second!" Neon protested as Mineta practically kicked down her door.
"Get the hell away from my dresser and closet, Mineta, or else I'll make sure you lose all your balls. ALL. OF. IT," Neon roared from the doorway and the grape boy slowly backed away.
"WHOAAAA! IS THAT A KARAOKE MACHINE?!" Mina screamed when she barged into the room first.
"What?!" the other girls gasped.
Neon's room as almost the same as her old apartment. Her white bookcase acted as a room divider once again with it pushed against her new bed, that was now covered in red sheets with white and black swirls threaded through it. Her small tv sat on top of the wooden dresser next to her desk, along with her soundbar. On the floor, near the door that led to her balcony, were two speakers and a standing karaoke machine with a small screen embedded at the top.
"Oh...Yeah…" Neon said, "I got that after our training camp...Figured I could do vocal exercises with it…Also why I put up all this...So...Let me know, guys, if it gets too loud."
She gestured to the thick woven tapestries and large black acoustic panels she had adhered along the walls for soundproofing. Each tapestry was white at the base but with various colored yarn knitted over the top of it in a wave like pattern.
Todoroki blinked. He ambled along with Neon. Neither of them in a hurry to participate in the contest and both just going along for the ride. "Vocal exercises?"
"Yeah," Neon sighed as she entered her own room, "Although...if any of you guys want to have a karaoke night or something...just let me know...I can set it up down in the communal area and then bubble myself up in my room."
Jiro laughed heartily. "So you'll let us sing but you don't want to hear it."
Neon's grimace was her answer and that only made the other sound Quirk user laugh harder.
"Oh...This looks just like Neon's previous apartment...except she added some additional soundproofing, which is good considering the close quarters to us and her need to train her Quirk," Midoriya murmured, mostly to himself but a little too loudly, as he entered the room.
All eyes flicked towards him in surprise while Neon covered her face with her hand.
Oh no...
"Y-You've been to Neon's apartment?" Mineta roared and then launched himself at Midoriya, grabbing him by the collar of his t-shirt and shaking him furiously, "Do you mean to tell you mean you've already been to the apartment of a young, teenage woman who lives alone by herself? UNFORGIVABLE!"
"It wasn't like that!" Midoriya protested.
Neon went over and yanked Mineta off of Midoriya and then threw Mineta out the door. "You have too wild of an imagination. Eraser Head sent him to my house to deal with a school issue that he was too lazy to do himself," she said, over-generalizing the situation as not to mention her sister, All Might, or the fact it involved the incident with Hero Killer Stain, "That's all."
"What school issue?" Todoroki asked.
Neon shrugged. "It's already resolved. Alright...Everyone! Moving on to the third floor! Let's go. Everyone out."
"But there's still my room!" Mineta sang out, "Come, ladies! Come into my-"
"Third floor. Let's go," Neon shouted without missing a beat.
"Oy...Neon," Todoroki said as everyone started to file out of the room and the both of them hung at the back "That school issue-"
"It was about our internships. About Iida-kun," she mumbled under her breath so only he could hear, "I'm in good standing now with the government, if that's what you are worried about. Any talks of me transferring or leaving UA has stopped."
"Ah. I see," Todoroki said.
In the hallway, Ochaco gave Midoriya and Tenya a little nudge. "Hey, Deku! Iida-kun!" she whispered, "Did you notice that Neon and Todoroki seem to be a lot closer than before?"
"What do you mean?" Tenya asked, "They used to come to school together and sit next to each other in class. It's only natural-"
"I know but...don't they seem a little different?" Ochaco asked.
"Different? Like how?" Midoriya asked.
"I don't know…" Ochaco said as she gave one last look before heading with the rest of the class to the third floor, "It's just...different."