Disclaimer: My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi
- The next day, Outside of U.A. High gates
As he walks on the sidewalk next to the school wall, Tanaka thinks about what the day might bring for him and everyone else in his class. It's only the third day of the school year, however, so there doesn't seem to be any way for him to know what might happen next. It might just be a normal school activity, for all he knows. Just going to have to wait and see.
The brunette goes through his phone to check for anything that might interest him when he hears someone talking to him. Looking up, he finds a microphone shoved straight into his face by what looks to be an eager reporter.
"Excuse me," the reporter asks. "Can you tell us what it's like to be in All Might's class?"
Blankly staring at her for a second, Tanaka gets an annoyed expression on his face before walking past her, not answering her question. It's not he had anything to say about All Might being a teacher here. Even if he had, there's no way he'll tell it to any of these vultures. He only manages to get a few steps before another reporter comes over to him.
"What do you think about being taught by the Symbol of Peace?" The response the second reporter gets is being ignored and the teen briefly increasing his pace.
A couple other reporters have come over to him asking about All Might teaching at U.A., and the response they get is the same as before. Being ignored and Tanaka picking up his walking pace.
"Excuse us," the first reporter said, annoyed. "We just asked you a question! Can you at least answer them?"
"She's right," another reporter agreed. "We just wanted to know if you have anything to say about All Might teaching here!"
At that point, Tanaka stops in his tracks and turns his head back into the direction of the members of the press. A tick mark shows on the side of his head, as he angrily snaps at them with the following. "NO! I don't have anything to say about All Might being a teacher here, alright? And even if I had, what makes you think I'd tell any of you?! Just leave me alone!"
Not given the shocked reporters a chance to ask any more questions, he resumes his speedy walk to the front gates.
"Hey! Could you at least give us one quick answer about-" the first reporter calls out before watching him turn around, showing the police phone number on his phone. This stops her in her tracks.
"You're all well aware that what you're doing is considered unethical, right?" Tanaka asks the reporters. His finger is only an inch or two to the 'Call' button. "All it takes is one call to the local police to get you all charged with harassment of a minor and giving interviews without the consent of their parents or guardians. It won't be pleasant for any of you if those charges end up getting you fired, but it will serve as a very harsh lesson for you."
With his phone still in his hand, the brunette resumes his walk into the building. "Honestly, what is it with the press today?" he rants. "There hasn't been any REAL news for the past few years. Majority of it always focusing on the Symbol of Peace and whatnot. Can't these guys ever focus on anything else? And to make matters worse, they end up hiring someone like that brainless ditz with abominably poofy lips that only cares about herself. Tch. I doubt that she even knows what she's doing."
"Hey! I heard what you said about me!" the reporter in question shouts out in anger. She then tries following after the teen. "I will not tolerate being called that. I was just asking about All Might-"
Before she could say more, red lights and an alarm around the entryway start going off. Then, large metal doors appear and shut the entryway tightly.
"What the...?" she asks in surprise.
"That's the U.A. barrier," her cameraman says. "That's what we call it anyway."
"Now that is just so lame! What the heck is that?"
"Here's the deal. If someone without a student ID or visitor pass tries to enter, the security system kicks in. There are sensors like that all over the school."
"Seriously? They must think they're so high and mighty that they won't even give a brief comment about All Might. And that brat calling me a 'brainless ditz with poofy lips that only cares about myself'? That's just insulting."
"Actually, he was being truthful on that last part."
"Wha?!"
What none of the reporters and cameramen noticed, was the man wearing a hoodie looking at the barrier from across the street.
- 1-A Classroom
Checking through his notes from the previous day, Tanaka thinks about his little interaction with the press outside the campus. Is the whole thing about All Might being a teacher here that big of a deal? He gets the fact that the public is interested in stuff like that, but there must be a line somewhere for the press to be aware. One that they shouldn't cross no matter what.
But just as he's about to elaborate on it further with himself, his homeroom teacher comes in. He doesn't appear to be in his sleeping bag right now.
Aizawa then goes on to address the class on yesterday's training. "Bakugo, you're a talented kid. But you need to grow up already. There's no use wasting it on pettiness and pride."
"Got it," the explosive blonde muttered. He looked like he'd just gone through something horrific.
The underground hero then turns to Midoriya. "And Midoriya, you seem to have ended yet another day with a broken arm. Learn to control your Quirk. I do not like to repeat myself on this, but I did say that you have potential. You just need to overcome this issue."
This has Midoriya lower his head for a bit, before raising it high. A determined gleam can be seen in his eyes as he says, "Okay."
"And as for Tanaka," Aizawa then turns his gaze toward Tanaka. "Your use of your hidden weapon can be considered a bit excessive."
"I understand, sir," Tanaka replies. "I was also careful to use it only once during the exercise."
"I noticed," Aizawa agrees. "You also made sure that neither Yaoyorozu nor Mineta were severely injured once the exercise was finished. Using your head like that is highly important for a hero to do, and that is something that has sadly been not done much out in the field right now."
"Thank you, sir, for giving me that assessment of my grade," Tanaka respectfully says to his teacher. "I assume you have something else to share with us?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," the underground hero responds. "The notice may be late, but for today, I'll be having you..."
'It's not gonna be a surprise pop quiz, is it?' the brunette shadow user thinks in his mind. This thought is clearly shared with his other classmates, some of whom are more scared of actually doing something like that on their third day here at U.A..
"...decide on a class representative."
The brunette blinks at hearing that. 'A normal school activity? That's a first.' Looking around, he watches as the others shout out their disbelief before raising their hands up. Some of them even started making proclamations as to what they'll do once they get the job. Mineta, being the little pervert that he is, made the extremely idiotic declaration of having all the girls in the class to have skirts 30 centimeters just above the knee.
'No one will ever vote for a perverted idiot like you,' Tanaka says mentally.
"Hey, Tanaka," someone speaks to him. Turning to look at whoever spoke, he finds it to be Tokoyami. Tokoyami was looking at him with a questioning gaze. "You appear to be silent in this little debate. Are you not participating in this?"
Shaking his head, the shadow user gives an explanation for him not participating. "I'm not what you'd call 'representative' material. Somebody else deserves it more than me. Plus, someone like Bakugo would only give this class a bad name. And that is something that I would rather avoid."
Iida then cuts everyone off after a while. "Quiet down please!" he orders. "This job is a very serious responsibility. It is not a job for anyone that wants to do it. This requires the trust of those around you, and if we want to decide on a leader, we have to be democratic and vote for one on an election."
Tanaka gives an impressed smirk at hearing that coming from Iida. He did come up with a rather good idea, despite the fact that his hand was raised the highest out of all of them.
"Why did you suggest that?" Kaminari then asks.
"He's right. We haven't even known each other for that long," Asui then adds.
"Everyone'll just vote for themselves if that's the case," Kirishima adds as well.
'Seriously?' Tanaka thinks, before bringing up what he has to say. "Why not just simply give the job to the one with the most votes? And whoever's the runner-up could be the vice representative. It's a no-brainer."
This proposition has everyone thinking on it before Iida declares, "That's not a bad idea. It could work. What do you think, Mr. Aizawa?"
"I don't care however you do it, as long you choose before homeroom is over." Aizawa says, squirming into his sleeping bag and falling asleep thereafter.
"Thank you very much sir!"
- A few minutes later
Now that everyone has casted their votes, the only thing left to do would be to have someone count them. Tanaka decides to volunteer for it, as he walks over to the podium with the votes in hand.
"Let's see," he mutters out loud. Shuffling through them, he gets to work. Looking at the first vote, he says out loud, "Midoriya." This shocks the greenette at hearing his name on the vote. Another vote, the brunette says again. "Midoriya." The third vote. "Yaoyorozu." The ponytailed girl in question looks a bit pleased. "Midoriya. Midoriya. Yaoyorozu," went the third, fourth, and fifth votes. The sixth vote is even more of a surprise. "Iida." Iida is just as surprised as everyone else when he heard his name. Continuing with his task, the brunette finds the remaining votes to be the following: "Midoriya. Yaoyorozu. Midoriya."
The results are: Izuku Midoriya with 7 votes, Momo Yaoyorozu with 3 votes, and Tenya Iida with 1 vote.
"For obvious reasons, those that have voted for themselves are disqualified," Tanaka tells everyone, holding up the ballots that he hadn't read in his right hand. "You don't like it? Too bad!" To help emphasize his point, he uses his quirk to cover the ballots with black mist before they suddenly burst into flames.
The ones that have voted for themselves groan at hearing that.
"Why Deku?" Bakugo exclaims, clearly upset at the results. "Who voted for him?! Somebody better answer right now!"
"Well, it's better than voting for you," Sero replies.
"Agreed. You're not exactly what one would call... 'representative' material," Tanaka adds.
"What did you just say?!" Bakugo angrily yells.
"You heard me. In the three days that we've known each other, you've managed to show us the following characteristics that would NOT make you suitable: you have a rather explosive temper matching your Quirk for one, you also happen to be rather arrogant, rude, insensitive, selfish, foul-mouthed, you tend to make insults at anyone and everyone you come across, and you seem to be one of those people that abuse and mistreat others for your own sick amusement. That last one would equate you with acting like a villain playing the role of the hero."
"I don't know where you get your pathetic delusions from, Bakugo," Tanaka continues. "And personally, I don't care. You should also consider yourself lucky that you haven't done your little... 'demonstrations' of your Quirk on others in my hometown. Some of the other residents living there have a rather extreme dedication to the notion of equality for everyone regardless of whether they have a Quirk or not. Pretty sure that if you let the power get to you, they would've given a very harsh reality check. If given the chance, they would've ripped your small, little arms out of their sockets. Don't go thinking that I'm joking, because I'm not. They will actually do that."
Bakugo gapes in shock and anger, mostly the former. Some of their other classmates try to hold in their laughter at having just witnessed the explosive blonde getting roasted like that.
"Now that it's settled," Aizawa says, having just slipped out of his sleeping bag. "Midoriya will be the class representative, while Yaoyorozu will be the vice representative." Of course, a part of him is rather amused at his student for giving his own evaluation of Bakugo. Another part of him, though, is a bit disturbed about that little titbit in the end.
"Let's move on with today's lessons," he then says.
- Lunch period
"So, who did you pick as class representative for Class 1-B, Tora?" Tanaka asks his redhead friend. He is going through his bowl of steamed rice as he asks. He, Tora, and Kaeda are sitting at the same cafeteria table. They are discussing the results of the class elections from this morning, and Tanaka had just told them of who got the most votes for Class 1-A's representative.
"A girl named Itsuka Kendo," Tora answers, after having gobbled up a spoonful of curry. "She's got this Quirk that turns her hands into these HUGE fists that she uses for combat. She's also one of those big sister types that try to do what's best for her class."
"And that's why you voted for her?"
"Yep. She's obviously the best choice for the job," Tora answers. "Way better than that copycatting prick."
Tanaka raises an eyebrow. "Copycatting prick?"
The redhead nods before explaining further. "The guy's name is Neito Monoma. Apparently, he has this Quirk that lets him copy the Quirk of whoever he touches."
"How many Quirks can he copy at once? And for how long?"
"From what he told everyone in our class, about three Quirks at a time and for about five minutes for each one," Tora replied, before getting into the last of the curry. "He's also got this inferiority complex and talks about this... 'rivalry' between Classes 1-A and 1-B."
This catches the brunette's attention, as well as that of Kaeda, as the former says. "Seriously? 'Rivalry?' What kind of stuff does he say about that?"
"Oh, just some ridiculous things like how 'Class 1-B is more superior than 1-A' and whatnot. Tends to badmouth your class for no apparent reason. I swear if I had to listen to any more of his insufferably idiotic ramblings, I think I would've exploded right inside that classroom."
Now, whenever the redhead gets angry to a certain point, he tends to explode both figuratively and literally. When that happens, his Quirk goes off like a how a bomb would if one were to compare the two. Thankfully nobody was hurt in the few times that he managed to reach that point, aside from that one time where he may have caused somebody to end up in the hospital a few weeks after their first year of middle school had ended. Given how the guy was annoying him during his time at a comic convention with his rather loud ramblings, which in turn has also been getting on other visitors' nerves as well, Tanaka wouldn't blame his old friend for acting like that.
"Oh, will you just relax?" Kaeda tells Tora, playing with his lunch for a bit. "It's not like he can do anything to back up those claims. I mean, he could be saying all that just to make himself feel good. I wouldn't even be surprised if someone smacks him on the side of his head for his troubles should he ever get too out of hand."
The other two nod in agreement to that assessment from their Quirkless friend.
"Back to the topic of our classes, how was your time in the Support Course, Kaeda?" Tanaka calmly asks.
"I have to say, it was quite an exciting time for me," was what Kaeda answered. "Our teacher, Mr. Maijima, is a rather strict teacher but he wants everybody to excel at creating support items without any constraints on us. He also values the creativity we have for our inventions greatly."
'Sounds like his kind of teacher,' the other two thinks at once.
"And not just that," Kaeda continues, getting more excited. "There's somebody in the class that shares my love for inventing."
"Really?" Tanaka asks, turning to look at Tora who in turn asks a question of his own. "You mean... someone that's as crazy for inventing things as you?"
Nodding to that, the Quirkless inventor continues. "You should've seen her in action. The way that girl with the salmon pink hair used those parts to make her inventions was a masterpiece of mechanical engineering. And the way that she cares for each of her inventions, her 'babies' as she calls them, it's almost as if she's Mother Necessity given human form. Oh... just the thought of making new inventions-new 'babies'-with her makes me feels so alive!"
'Oh great, someone that is just an inventing nut as Kaeda is here in this school,' Tanaka and Tora think at once, sweat dropping as they watch their friend go on with his little rant. Looking around, they hope that nobody else is watching this happen. The other students in the cafeteria are either too busy eating, having their own conversations, or in some cases working on their classwork.
Good, they thought. Nobody is watching this happen.
"Kaeda. You're doing it again. Please calm down," Tanaka says. The inventor hears this, before blushing in embarrassment and sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry. My bad," the inventor sheepishly apologizes.
"Get it together dude," Tora says with a deadpan expression to match the equally deadpan tone. "Somebody might've heard and thought you were a madman."
Kaeda then asks, "Oh come on guys. Would you both lighten up? I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?"
Almost as if he were tempting fate by saying that, an alarm starts blaring throughout the cafeteria.
"There has been a level three security breach," a robotic voice announces through the U.A. speaker. "All students please evacuate outdoors promptly."
"A level three security breach?" Tora mutters out loud.
"Somebody must've infiltrated the school grounds," Tanaka realizes. Tanaka has a little tendency to read through anything that might be of use to him. One of those things was the U.A. rule book detailing the rules and regulations that students and staff alike have to follow. The types of level security breaches and what they mean for each one is what he has read and reread a few times, just in case any one of them might somehow occur throughout the school year.
He was hoping that none of what he read would ever happen during his three years at the school, let alone his very first. But apparently as the old saying goes, "Beggars can't be choosers".
Holding out his hand, Tanaka uses his Quirk to create what looks to be a small ball of shadowy mist. Looking closer, the ball would then show to have an eyeball in the center which opens to show a scarlet red iris that looks up at its creator.
"Find whoever managed to get in here, and take them down," the brunette orders. With that command given, the floating shadowy eyeball phases through the floor and vanishes.
"You think your Sentinel might find the guy that snuck their way in here?" Tora asks his friend.
"Hopefully, but we might as well evacuate just in case," responds the brunette. "We should hold on to each other tightly. This could get chaotic."
Nodding to that in agreement, Kaeda grabs hold of Tora's left hand while the latter grabs hold of Tanaka's left hand with his right. As soon as they stand up, so do the other students who begin panicking and rushing their way toward the exit.
The other students were pushing and shoving into each other all the while trying to get outside. In the middle of it were the three boys, still holding onto each other's hands as they try their best to get through it all.
"Any idea who could be stupid enough to get into the school grounds?" the Quirkless inventor of the three asks his friends.
"Who knows? If they happen to be a villain, they must be really smart enough to actually get inside before the alarms went off," the shadow user remarks. What sounded like a thud up above the panicking students manages to catch everyone's attention, including him and his friends.
Looking up, the students in the hallway find Iida in a position that one would associate with an emergency-exit sign, which strangely enough is what he looks to be in front of.
"Everybody! EVERYTHING IS FINE!" Iida yells out boldly. "It's only the press. There is nothing to be worry about. We're fine! This is U.A.! We must behave in a way befitting this great institution and exit in an orderly fashion!"
'The press? What?' The three Lotal boys think before they look toward the window. What they see outside confirms the bluenette's statement. Standing there in front of Aizawa and Present Mic is the group of reporters and their cameramen, no doubt wanting to know where All Might is despite being told that he isn't here.
How the heck did they get past the barrier? Did somebody have a Quirk that can shut it down, or maybe destroy it? It would've been a rather scary Quirk to use if the latter option is possible.
"What the heck is the press doing here?" Tora questions quietly.
"Don't know, but I sure hope somebody called the police," Kaeda answers.
Suddenly, Tanaka feels a sharp pain in the side of his head, which he grabs hold of with his right hand while he closes his eyes in pain.
"Hey, are you okay?" Tora then asks in a concerned tone. He then realizes something. "Did your Sentinel find something?"
"Ugh... yeah. Must've," replied the brunette through a strained tone. "Gonna have to wait until this is all over."
- Later that day, Class 1-A classroom
It was around the beginning of noon when the police came and forced the members of the media to leave the campus. Nobody was severely hurt in the panic thankfully, but there may have been cases of a few students getting minor bruises from the shoving and trampling that resulted from it. Those students were treated for those wounds and were sent back to their classes without delay, along with everyone else.
Once things have settled down, everyone in Class 1-A has assembled for a meeting. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu stand up and walk over to the front of the room with the chalkboard behind them. The former is rather nervous. Understandably so since he's still the class rep right now.
"Well, go ahead, class rep," Yaoyorozu says to her curly haired classmate.
"R-right, we should get to deciding on choosing the other student council members!" Midoriya stutters out before saying. "But first, I would like to say something. I believe... that Iida should be made the class rep. He was able to get everybody's attention during that crisis earlier in a really cool way. I think... I think he's the best choice for the job. That's why I am stepping down and making him the class rep."
Everybody else agrees to what Midoriya has proposed, including Tanaka, since they saw the way Iida managed to calm everyone in the cafeteria down.
Kirishima and Kaminari call out their agreements to the greenette's reasoning, citing what their tall glasses wearing classmate did as well.
"What do you think Tanaka?" Uraraka asks the other glasses wearing classmate.
"Eh. Doesn't make a difference to me," Tanaka says. "Probably should get it done and over with, because some of us haven't learned about the lesson on how 'patience is a virtue'." He looks at Aizawa while saying it.
"I agree with Tanaka," Aizawa says from his position near the chalkboard, ignoring that last bit in Tanaka's statement. "I don't care what you kids do, just as long as you hurry up and do it. You're wasting precious time."
'Yeesh. Talk about impatient,' the brunette sweatdrops mentally. He watches as Iida accepts the job with a salute to the class, announcing that he'll carry out the duties of class rep with all that he can. The class then quickly give their agreement to this.
- Later that day
As soon as the final bell rang, everybody starts packing up their things so they can leave the school for the day. Tanaka is one of the first in the class to leave, as he walks out into the hallway in the hopes of getting to the exit so that he could meet his friends.
"Hey Tanaka," he hears Uraraka calls from behind him. Turning his head toward her direction, he finds her with Midoriya and Iida. They seem to be coming over to him for something.
"We were a bit worried that you might've been mad with how the class election turned out," she says.
"Oh no, it's fine," he reassures her. "Like I said, it didn't make that much of a difference to me. Besides, I was the one that voted for Iida in the first place and was rather happy that he got the job."
This new bit of information surprises the three teens, including the tall bluenette, whom is the next one to speak. "You... voted for me? While I am honored for sure, what I wanted to know is why."
"Easy. You happen to be the most obvious choice for it. You would've taken the job rather seriously given your family history. Plus, you have that leadership vibe about you that immediately catches people's attention. So that's why I voted for you."
Smiling at what his classmate had said, Iida bows in respect while saying, "I thank you for your consideration, Tanaka. If given the chance, I know that you'd be able to help out without hesitation in whatever activities that our class might do in the upcoming weeks."
Nodding to that, the shadow user then says, "I'd be glad to help. Later." He resumes his walk through the hallway, leaving his three classmates behind.
- Later, Lotal, Onder Subway Station
As soon as they step out of the subway train, Tanaka, Tora and Kaeda converse with each other over what had just happened that day.
"What was it that your Sentinel managed to find, Tanaka?" Tora asks. "You did say that it found something."
"Yeah, it did," Tanaka answers, before using his Quirk to create a ball of mist the size of a basketball. The ball then acts like a camcorder, as the three boys see everything that was recorded by the Sentinel as it was searching for the intruder. Through its eyes, they see an empty hallway. Then they see it look around for a bit before noticing an open door.
"One of the doors is open," Tanaka says.
"Yeah but, who's inside?" Kaeda questions.
The answer to that question comes once the Sentinel floats into the room. Withing the peripherals of its vision, the shadowy eyeball creature catches a glimpse of someone going through one of the computers. Turning to get a full view of the intruder, what it sees is a man in his early twenties with light blue hair that's covered with a hoodie. As the Sentinel floats closer to the man, it watches him grab a USB out of the side of the computer he was using. The last thing it sees as it goes up into his face and lets out a loud shriek before exploding is what looks to be a severed hand covering his face. The startled expression of his eyes is evidently seen in-between the fingers.
"Talk about a weird accessory," Tora remarks upon seeing the severed hand covering the guy's face.
"Indeed. But what could he possibly be doing in one of the faculty rooms in the first place?" Tanaka points out. "Was he... looking at something?"
The boys look at each other, in the hopes that one of them might have an answer to that question. But none of them do. They're all just confused and bewildered.
They decide to just simply push the though aside for right now, and head back to their homes so that they can work on their homework given to them by their teachers. They'll go back to the little discussion on what the guy that managed to get into the school was doing by tomorrow.
- Tanaka's house
Dinnertime at Tanaka's house goes by rather quietly, with everyone just eating away without trouble. At least, until his Uncle Chiaki breaks the silence by talking about his business day.
Chiaki Tanaka is in his mid 30s, with long black hair tied into a traditional samurai bun. His dark eyes, which have a gleam of calmness that is needed for his job in the gaming industry he works in, look towards his nephew and then his wife before getting to how his day went.
"Looks like there was another delay in releasing that new game again," Chiaki says in a calm, yet frustrated tone. "One of those gigantification Villains began rampaging near one of the company's warehouses and nearly destroyed everything. Honestly, can't those idiots watch what they're doing when they lose it? It's not like they're trying to prove a point or something."
"Oh, come on Chiaki," Natsumi says to calm her husband down. She's also in her mid 30s, wearing her long black hair in a ponytail. "These things happen almost every day, even if the Pro Heroes are around the scene."
Smirking in response, Chiaki retorts with, "Yeah well, you don't have to wait for your boss to actually tell you when the game will be released. I mean, your department hasn't had to deal with these things on a near daily basis."
Like her husband, Natsumi works in the gaming industry. But while Chiaki works in the Distribution department, she is in the Design department. Suitable for her Quirk, which allows her to create 3D-like patterns and designs based on whatever comes into her mind. Once those patterns and designs are out for everyone else to see, they just simply use them as a model for their artwork and such. She's basically a vital part of the team, given how imaginative she is.
"By the way, Keisuke," she then asks her nephew. "How was school today?"
Having just finished eating everything on his plate, the brunette quickly says "Itadakimasu" before answering his aunt. "Oh, it went fine. Except for the part with those reporters camping outside the school gates in the hopes of getting a statement about All Might being a teacher there."
"Seriously? Can't those vultures focus on anything else?" Chiaki says angrily.
"Guess not. You know how people are in this day and age," Natsumi sighs.
As everybody cleans up the table, they think about what might happen tomorrow. Chiaki and Natsumi for the latest video game, and Tanaka for his schooling.
As the shadow user finishes with the last of the dishes and heads over to his room, he's unaware of the sudden and drastic turn of events that might happen by tomorrow.
A/N: And that is the end of this chapter. It took me a while to actually finish it, while dealing with the usual schoolwork. But of course, it's worth it.
I really do hope you guys enjoyed it so far. Next few chapters will be on the USJ incident, as well as introducing a new character that might show up during it. Not gonna say who, because showing you guys would be a lot more simpler.
Just wait until then, okay? See ya.
