A/N: Hey, everyone! Welcome to the newest chapter of this fic! I am so glad (not to mention hyped) to see that so many people have followed the story and added it to their favorites lists. However, I noticed not a lot of people took the time to also review the fic, which I find to be quite a strange and interesting contrast. Now, I don't mean to sound desperate for reviews and whatnot, but come on, people! If you liked the fic enough to follow it and/or add it to your favorites, then I'd presume there's a good reason why you did so. Please let me know what that is in the form of a review! Be as honest as possible; I want to hear constructive criticism as much as I want to hear praise! Let me know your thoughts so that I can continue and even improve the quality of my writing, and therefore the quality of this story and your reading experience!
Oh, and please don't make your reviews one-liners and whatnot. Those are my biggest pet peeves. Try to provide some specific comments in your reviews. You don't have to write full college essays as reviews, but I also don't want to hear a whole bunch of low-quality, low-effort stuff like "I like this, please continue!" and so on and so forth.
Alright, enough nitpicking! On with the chapter. ENJOY!
P.S.: Due to the slowly improving situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak, I am going to have to remind you all about the basic steps you should take if you want to stay healthy, courtesy of my university's reminder emails:
-Wash hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds at a time, and/or use hand sanitizer
-Avoid close contact with people who are sick
-Keep your hands away from nose, eyes, and mouth (I can't imagine how difficult this part is probably going to be)
-Eat well, get adequate rest, and exercise regularly
-Get a flu shot if you haven't already and are able to
-Stay informed on the COVID-19 vaccines and get shots if you're able to
And if you ARE sick (I hope you get better if you are), please be a good sport and save other folks the trouble of getting sick. You can do this by:
-Covering your mouth and nose with your sleeve, elbow, or a tissue whenever you sneeze or cough
-Not sharing food and drinks with others
-Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes (Again, I understand this is probably going to be difficult)
-Avoiding close contact with others
-Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects
-Staying at home if you're unwell (PRIORITY NUMBER ONE!)
-Staying calm and keeping yourself well-informed (My personal advice)
If you already know this, then great! If you didn't know any of this beforehand, please keep that information in mind as we all go through this trying time. It's a realm of unknowns at this point, and I wish myself and all of humanity well.
P.P.S.: This fic is set sometime after the Joint Training Arc, but I am not going to get any more specific than that. Given the pairing and the premise for this fic, knowing the MHA timeline isn't going to be much of a prerequisite for you guys to understand this, anyway. Things are definitely going to be a bit flexible for this story, just so everyone knows.
"Class 1-B."
Izuku carefully, methodically scanned the freshly reconfigured roster of Class 1-A, taking in the foreign sight of the new transplants as they listened to Aizawa's droning lecture. Their attention span varied from a quick loss of interest (like the brown-haired boy with ovular eyes) to awkward discomfort (the towering boy with the dripping, glue dispenser-like head) to downright loyalty that would put Tenya's to shame (Itsuka).
After his eyes lingered on Itsuka for a brief while longer, Izuku tried refocusing on his homeroom teacher, but to no avail.
"So...this is gonna be how our class is gonna look for the rest of the week," he thought. Then, his brow furrowed, and he tapped his chin with the eraser-capped tip of his pencil. "I still can't see how this benefits any of us after what happened between Kacchan and Monoma. We're all just having the usual lecture. Then again..."
Izuku focused on the short, round-faced girl sitting further back in the classroom, a row or so away from him. She had a short equine muzzle and thick, wavy blonde hair that reached halfway down her back. Her Prussian-blue eyes were large and round, and she had a pair of tall, lyre-shaped, pale-tan horns that adorned the top of her head. She also had notably round legs, shaped like those of a horse; a pair of brown hooves for feet; and a short, horse-like tail poking out from the end of her tailbone and even protruding from her skirt, a sight that the likes of Minoru would've killed for.
"Pony Tsunotori. She's the exchange student from America, the second-safest country in the world thanks to its amazing roster of Heroes. She grew up surrounded by a Hero-savvy culture, yet she's in a totally new land and forced to speak a totally new language in order to get by. And just when she got used to Vlad King's teaching style, she's dumped in Class 1-A all of a sudden and forced to start all over again. I guess I can see where Principal Nezu is coming from when he and the rest of the faculty picked her as a new 1-A student."
Then, the green-haired boy shifted his attention upon another 1-B student. This time, it was the boy sitting behind him, a very short boy with fair skin and, quite unusually, a blank, pale-white speech bubble for a head and neck. Well aware of the speech bubble's very unique ability to change shape and display thoughts in a written form, Izuku noted the ellipsis symbol that was currently dashed across the boy's face as he stared straight at Aizawa's direction.
"Manga Fukidashi. Said to be the most expressive student in Class 1-B, and that's saying something. His Quirk is one of the more interesting ones from that class. I've only seen it in action during the Joint Training Battle exercise, but I think there could be other applications to his powers in combat. I might have to make some observations and notes on him. I don't know why he would be picked as a transfer to 1-A. Maybe his expressiveness is supposed to help keep the rest of his classmates together?"
Next, Izuku glanced at the ovular-eyed boy, who sat a couple of seats away from him. "Huh, Kosei Tsuburaba. I've heard people talk about him in the halls. He's not all that different from Kaminari. Casual and friendly, but not too bright and a bit of a pervert, the kind that would get along with Mineta. Principal Nezu actually swapped him and Kaminari around, so I wonder if their similar personalities played a big factor in that. But what's the point of replacing Kaminari with a virtual clone of him for a week? Maybe there are some minute differences that I don't know about? Differences that run deeper than Quirks? ...I'll think about that later."
Next up on Izuku's observations was a row away from him. The student was a pale-skinned boy with angular eyes, spiky beige hair, a rather flat nose, and small eyebrows. The physical feature that stood out the most, however, was the boy's teeth, which all sat on the outside of his skin, and on top of that, he had no discernible lips, thereby giving him a chilling skull-like appearance.
"Juzo Honenuki. One of Class 1-B's recommended students...and now the only recommended student to sit on Class 1-A. Huh, I gotta get Monoma's words outta my head. Anyway, Honenuki looks a bit scary. People say he's good-looking, but I'm not seeing it right now. But there's one thing that I can't deny, and it's his Quirk. He can trap entire armies with it! I see why Principal Nezu felt the need to include a powerful guy like him in our class!"
Then, Izuku focused on a girl who was sitting on the opposite side of the room as him. She was of a medium height with bright-green, waist-length thorny vines for hair, with a couple of locks wrapped around her forehead a couple of times in the shape of a sideways-facing cross. She also had squinted, judgmental, dark-green eyes are squinted with long lower eyelashes.
"Ibara Shiozaki. She comes from a Japanese Christian background. I'm...not really religious, so she's someone I have to avoid such topics with. If I had to guess, she was picked to be a transfer to 1-A because of her pious attitude. Whether it is meant to help her or us is something only the faculty knows. For all I know, it's just a joke on Principal Nezu's part for Aizawa-sensei. But her Quirk has just as much potential as Honenuki's, even if it requires a more medium-range combat style."
Izuku then glanced at the colossal boy with the glue dispenser-like head, who sitting in the front corner of the classroom. "Kojiro Bondo. He reminds me so much of Koda. They're both so shy and withdrawn despite their big sizes and powerful Quirks. I wonder why Koda was picked as a transfer to 1-B when he would've gotten along well with Bondo? Putting two introverts together might've helped the two of them emerge from their shells. Instead, Principal Nezu thought it would be a better idea to swap them around and have them go through the process of acquainting themselves with new people all over again. If there's a strategy in that, then it's either a bad one, or Nezu knows more about all of us than he is letting on. ...Given his Quirk, it's probably the latter option. Probably."
Next up was a boy who also sat at the front of the classroom. He had long, chin-length, unkempt gray hair and a pair of inward-tilting black eyes, each of them lined with a thick, jagged, tan substance resembling eyelashes. He also sported a set of jagged, shark-like teeth, very much like a certain classmate of Izuku's.
"Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu Tetsu...tetsu... Huh, he needs to have a talk with his parents about his name one of these days... A-Anyway, it looks like 1-A gets to reap the benefits from having two Kirishimas instead of one for an entire week!" The green-haired boy promptly shifted his focus on his aforementioned classmate. "I'm guessing Kirishima's feeling the same way. No doubt Principal Nezu put the two of them together to liven each other up, not to mention see their differences and appreciate their own individualities."
With wasting another second, Izuku's attention quickly fell on the silent, aloof, fair-skinned girl sitting in the row directly next to him. She had shoulder-length, bob-shaped black hair, which was slightly swept up to her right with some shorter strands hanging above her cool cerulean-blue eyes.
"Yui Kodai. I...don't think I even knew she was a Hero student or that she even existed until we first met during the Joint Training Battle. She's just that quiet and distant from everyone. I wonder if her classmates have even caught themselves almost forgetting about her. Either way, perhaps the faculty picked her as a transfer because they thought that being in a new environment would cause her to become more social, at least beyond her classmates in 1-B."
All of a sudden, Izuku felt an uncomfortable chill shoot up his spine when he laid eyes on the boy sitting right beside him. "...Neito Monoma. It's because of him and Kacchan that this new activity was arranged in the first place. He's never had anything even remotely nice to say about anyone from 1-A. I can sympathize with keeping up the class spirit, but...he's a textbook case of overdoing it. Out of all the 1-B students here, I think I know exactly why he was picked as a transfer. The faculty are hoping that, after all this is done, he will start treating 1-A with a little more respect. Something tells me that's a bit of a longshot. And if it's not successful, well, at least we've got Kendo to watch our backs in the meantime..."
Izuku's thoughts started to wander off as he stared at the redheaded girl, who was sitting on the other side of the room as him. The two of them may have been separated by rows of classmates, but to Izuku, it strangely felt like it was large iron walls that were keeping them apart. The moment he laid his eyes on Class 1-B's president while she was fully rapt in attention over Aizawa's droning lecture, Izuku felt as if something had been forged between the two of them, something meant to be special...
But he didn't know why.
"That's so weird..." he thought, almost absentmindedly. "Ever since we passed each other down the aisle, I keep having this...this urge to talk to her again. But...But why? We've interacted a couple of times before, yet I've never felt like this during those times." Izuku furrowed his bow as he reflected on his prior encounters with the redhead. "Well...then again, none of those exchanges were the most direct. That could be why I just started feeling this way. But...what is it that I'm feeling? A...A crush...?"
Then, Izuku shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the intrusive thoughts. However, he internally despaired when he realized his effort was for naught.
"No!" he cried in his head with horror. "No, no, no, it-it can't be a crush! C-Could it? ...No, no way, it's impossible! After all, I..."
His thoughts started to trail off again as his green eyes slowly focused on another student. She was also listening to their homeroom teacher's lesson, her chocolate-brown eyes gleaming with determination and her cheeks as adorably rosy as ever...
Izuku quietly grunted in distress and lightly slapped himself in his freckled cheek. "No, no, no! Keep your head out of the gutter, Izuku! You're a Hero-in-training! You're the successor of All Might himself! All Might, the former Number 1 Hero! You can't just be going around thinking of trivial things like...g-g-gi-girls. It's distracting! No, keep your eyes on the goal. Keep your eyes on the goal..."
Even so, Izuku couldn't help but stare absentmindedly at her again while trying to wrestle with those confusing emotions that boiled inside of him...
Minutes turned into hours, which eventually segued into U.A.'s lunch break. As soon as the school bell rang, signaling the beginning of the break, all twenty 1-A students, old and new, prepared to stand up from their desks when Aizawa walked up to the front of the classroom, having emerged from his sleeping bag like a butterfly from its chrysalis.
"Hold on one moment, everyone," he said, his voice so dull and yet so ominous that it intimidated all of the students into remaining seated. "Now I know what you're all thinking. As soon as you step out of this room, you're going to reconvene with all your old classmates."
His assumptions were confirmed when some of the students looked amongst one another, either guiltily or with fright.
"Unfortunately for you all," Aizawa continued in his usual droning tone, "Principal Nezu has demanded that you all remain in your current class rosters, and that these rosters are to be enforced by all means necessary throughout the week. And after a long discussion amongst the faculty..." He narrowed his eyes momentarily. "And against my personal misgivings, we've decided to do that by..."
The entirety of Class 1-A hitched their breaths with dread, not even wanting to anticipate what Aizawa's revelation would be.
"Assigning two monitors for both classes."
Whispers and murmurs immediately broke out amongst the students.
"Assigning two monitors?" Mina asked.
"What for?" whispered Manga.
"I don't like the sound of that..." moaned Rikido Sato.
"What's a monitor?" Kosei asked dumbly.
"Oh, please let one of them be a girl!" Minoru whispered desperately, even pathetically while keeping his fingers crossed. "Please let one of them be a girl!"
"Everyone, s-settle down!" Tenya cried while subtly flailing his arms in alarm. "Let Aizawa-sensei finish his announcement first!"
"Quiet, now," Aizawa growled harshly, without even having to raise his voice. "Or I will have you all sent to detention, no questions asked." That threat silenced the students immediately, allowing him to continue. "These two monitors will keep an eye on this class at all times and report to the homeroom teachers at the end of the day. They'll be randomly assigned from your roster to prevent the rest of you from interacting with your peers-" He suddenly sighed. "Yes, Iida?"
"If that's so, Aizawa-sensei," the class president said loyally, "then I humbly volunteer for the position."
"Tch, traitor," Minoru snarled.
"What a tool," growled Kosei.
"That won't be necessary at all, Iida," Aizawa droned in response. "I have been observing all of you since the start of the lectures."
"Really?" Izuku thought with a mixture of doubt and dread. "It looked like you were just sleeping to me..."
"And after some careful consideration, I've made my choices on who to pick among you." The Erasure Hero lifted a pale, bony finger and aimed it at a certain direction. "Kendo, please stand."
"Yes, sensei!" Itsuka replied loyally while calmly standing up from her chair.
"Heh, of course Kendo gets picked to be one of the monitors," Neito quietly commented in his usual drawl.
"That's the prez for you!" Pony whispered enthusiastically.
"I wonder who the other monitor's gonna be?" Mezo Shoji asked to himself.
Minoru immediately tightened his still-crossed fingers. "Oh God, please let it be me, please let it be me, please-"
Then, Aizawa pointed his finger to the far end of the room. Nineteen pairs of eyes followed the direction of the finger and laid themselves upon the Erasure Hero's second and final selection.
"Midoriya."
...
...
...
"Wh-What?!" Izuku squeaked.
"What?!" Ochako, Tenya, Tetsutetsu, and Neito cried at the same time.
"WHAT?!" Minoru screamed. Before anyone else knew it, the grape-haired boy scrambled out of his seat, somersaulted over the desks separating him from Izuku (with shockingly graceful skill), and confronted his freckled classmate. "Teach me your ways, Midoriya! Teach me your waaaaays!"
Izuku began waving his hands in an instant. "C-Ca-Calm down, Mineta! I-I swear, I had nothing to do with Aizawa-sensei p-p-picking me!"
"It doesn't frigging matter if you played a hand in this or not!" Minoru shouted so frantically that spit started flying out of his mouth. "You're still partnered up with a hot chick like Kendo, while I'm not! Why, oh why have the gods cursed me on this day?!"
"S-Settle down, Mineta!" Tenya cried with a wave of his hand. "You're disturbing our peers from Class 1-B!"
"I think they're unsettled by us either way, Iida..." commented Mashirao Ojiro, who was eyeing the 1-B students as they awkwardly observed the conversation between the boys.
"Mineta."
Minoru's skin crawled upon hearing Aizawa's cold voice. Left with no other choice, the perverted boy could only shoot an extremely spiteful glare at Izuku before departing for his seat, his head and shoulders hanging in utter defeat.
"Why, oh why do the manga protagonists always get the hot girls...?" he moaned.
"H-Huh?" Izuku asked, tilting his head in embarrassed confusion at the perverted boy's remark.
As soon as Minoru returned to his desk, Aizawa announced, "That concludes the monitor selection. You may be excused now. As for Midoriya and Kendo..." He subjected the two students to his piercing gaze; Izuku flinched while Itsuka boldly stood her ground. "Further instructions will follow at the end of the school day, so be advised."
"Holy whoa, what're the chances of me getting partnered with Kendo? Kendo, a girl I barely know...yet am so interested in lately?! The gods are either being very generous or very cruel to me right now... Aaaaaannnnnd now I'm thinking just like Mineta would-"
"Hey, Midoriya?"
All of a sudden, Izuku's thoughts were dispelled when he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing a chill to travel up his spine.
"AGH!"
He jumped away from the source of the tapping, a stunned Itsuka.
"Easy, Midoriya, easy!" the redhead cried, patting his arm and talking like she was trying to placate a frightened animal. "I just need your help."
Izuku's fright quickly gave way to puzzlement and a hint of intrigue. All the while, he tried his best to suppress the weird yet homely thoughts about Itsuka that were continuing to blossom in his mind.
"Wait, wait, y-y-you need my help?" he asked, stunned.
Itsuka crossed her arms with a serious frown. "Weeeell, yeah. We're partners, aren't we? It's not like I can drag eighteen other students along this activity on my own, you know."
Izuku slowly, awkwardly glanced toward the aforementioned students. Right now, the new Class 1-A roster was taking up a single general corner of the school cafeteria, away from their Class 1-B counterparts like Aizawa had instructed them to do. The students were trying spending this time through eating their lunches together, but even that act had become an awkward and tense affair in of itself, with the 1-A and 1-B students quickly and impulsively sticking close to their current classmates and distancing themselves from their new ones.
As for himself and Itsuka, they had distanced themselves from the rest of the class, although Izuku didn't know he had just been joined by the redhead until now.
"L-Lo-Look," Izuku stammered nervously while staring into Itsuka's teal eyes, "I-I dunno why A-Aizawa-sensei pi-picked me as your partner, b-bu-but I've got no experience i-in leading a-an entire class! Really!"
Itsuka blinked, almost looking sympathetic to Izuku's nervousness over the pressure of being a so-called monitor. "Look, I know you're not the class president like me, Midoriya, nor are you exactly, uh...class president material. N-No offense!"
"None taken..."
"But even so, Aizawa-sensei picked you to be my partner over Iida for a very good reason, Midoriya. And we both know we're all being graded for this activity. Our academic futures hinge on this activity, some moreso than others-"
"Hey!" Kosei snapped from the back of 1-B's group. "I heard that!"
Itsuka ignored her classmate. "And it's our responsibility to guide our classmates to a successful completion of this class activity, based on the rules that have been given to us."
"Guide our classmates to a successful completion?" Izuku repeated apprehensively. "And how're we gonna do that? After what happened between Kacc- er, Bakugo and Monoma, we've got tons of friction between our classes!"
"You're damn right," a voice suddenly hissed, and Izuku didn't need to look toward Class 1-B to know who was speaking. "Now just what in the hell are you doing, Kendo? You shouldn't be interacting with the enemy! You should be helping us concoct an ingenious plan to infiltrate them and figure out the weaknesses behind all their Quirks! If we don't acquire an edge on them by the next Joint Training Battle, then our reputation as a stellar, superior class will be- OOF!"
Itsuka sighed as she returned to Izuku, her fist deflating back to its normal size. "Don't worry about him."
"O-Okay..." Izuku replied, trying his best to ignore the sight of Neito collapsing to the cafeteria floor like a pile of bricks. "A-Anyway, wh-what do you want me to do?"
"Do what you always do!"
"Do what I-" The boy stopped suddenly, trying to process her words. "Wait, what?"
"You know, your inspirational stuff! Inspire your classmates to get along with mine!"
"Wait, what inspirational stuff?!"
Itsuka blinked incredulously. "What, you don't know?"
"N-No. Wh-What do you mean by 'inspirational stuff'?"
Itsuka blinked again before shaking her head. "You know what? F-Forget it for now. We'll talk about it later."
She then faced the rest of the class, and Izuku couldn't help but feel his heart slump. The image of her disappointed face would not be leaving the forefront of his thoughts anytime soon, and knowing that he let her down caused his entire soul to essentially split into half.
"Okay, everyone!" Itsuka announced with a single clap of her hands, soft yet powerful enough to attract everyone else's attention. "I understand that our classes have had our ups and downs when it comes to being on friendly terms. And it's as obvious as daylight that this new activity has brought on a lot of new downs for today. Which I'm quite sure wouldn't have happened had a certain someone not opened their trap about a certain other someone like a doofus."
"Hey, don't blame me, Kendo!" Neito snapped, having quickly recovered from the karate-chop he received no less than a minute ago. "I just couldn't understand why a lowly beast of a bourgeoisie like Katsuki Bakugo would look down on our strong, cultured class and- ACK!"
Save for the single twitch of her eyelid, Itsuka's expression was unmoving while she deactivated her Quirk and continued to address her class, 1-A and 1-B members alike.
"But while class rivalries are beneficial for motivating each and every one of us to become stronger, we can't simply allow ourselves to let these rivalries consume us and turn those competitive feelings into hatred and jealousy. Kan-sensei sees how we're starting to change, Aizawa-sensei sees it, Principal Nezu sees it... That's why they're making us do this. We're walking a fine line between friendly competitiveness and outright war between classes, and if we cross that line, if we fall down that rabbit hole, then we'll be going against everything that we've stood for, the very reason why we are all here in U.A., not to mention sullying the very name of good competition and sportsmanship!"
Upon hearing that last sentence, the entire class seemed to become even more attentive. All of Itsuka's classmates were already rapt with attention, but Izuku blinked in awe when he realized that even his own classmates were becoming quite enraptured with Itsuka's speech. Even Ochako and Tenya were listening closely, with the former softly pumping her fists in enthusiasm and the latter cracking a small smile while nodding in agreement with every other word spoken by Itsuka.
"Yes, everyone," Itsuka continued. "We should remember why we're here. We should all remember why we're standing in this great cafeteria of this great school. I know why, you know why, everyone knows why. And it's because we each want to prove we can be and will be a strong Hero- and Heroine-to-be in our own right. But what's the point if we're going to do it by walking over and piling atop one another until there's only one person left standing at the top of the mountain? That mindset is absolutely counterproductive, and there are many, many other ways to prove our strength and our drive to do the right thing! And one of those ways is this activity!"
In response, the others' eyes widened at the sudden reference to the class activity. Izuku looked back and forth between Itsuka and the rest of his new class roster, astounded over how easily she was able to command their collective attention and assure them of the viability of this new class activity.
"This activity could be our last chance, everyone!" Itsuka proclaimed. "Our last chance at genuinely proving to all of our teachers at U.A. that we are better than these escalating rivalries! That we can get over petty emotions and obsessions and become the best Hero and Heroine that we can be! That we can be trusted with the responsibility of taking the torch from them and becoming the next generation of great Heroes! That we can still become the kind of Hero that people will smile at and feel safe around, especially when we say, 'I am here!' So let's do it, everyone!" Itsuka raised a clenched fist high in the air while giving them all a bright smile. "Let's prove ourselves to the school and to the world by accomplishing the class activity!"
"YEAH!"
Many of the other classmates, comprising all of the 1-B students (sans Neito) and most of the 1-A students, raised their fists with her. Izuku could not help but give a weak pump of his own fist as well, totally entranced by Itsuka's oratorical skills at this point.
"That we can still become the kind of Hero that people will smile at and feel safe around, especially when we say, 'I am here!'"
Izuku's feelings of awe were quickly washed away when he recalled Itsuka's evocation of All Might's classic catchphrase. It wasn't as if he felt bothered by someone else using that catchphrase; after all, he overheard many other people use it in his lifetime, and it wasn't exactly copyrighted, so its use by the public wasn't unexpected. No, it wasn't that. Rather...
"Why did that feel so...familiar to me...?" Izuku thought.
"Well, leave it to Prez to come up with a rousing speech for us right off the bat!" Juzo commented, stirring Izuku from his thoughts.
"Whoo, you go, Nee-san!" Pony chimed in cheerfully.
As for Tetsutetsu, he was sniffling from the impact of Itsuka's impromptu speech. "So compelling... So astounding... S-So manly!"
"Wow, no wonder Kendo's the president of 1-B!" Ochako commented.
"You have my vote, Kendo!" Mina cried with a thumbs-up.
"But Kendo's already the class president..." deadpanned Kyoka.
Meanwhile, Izuku took in the reactions of his old and new classmates, and he glumly looked down at the floor. "She was able to get their attention and their cooperation, just like that. But me? I can never be capable of such motivation. That's why I volunteered Iida as my replacement in the class president position. I don't even know why Kendo said something about my 'inspirational stuff'..."
With a sigh, Izuku glanced back at the rest of his new class, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the new and the old as they continued complimenting Itsuka for her speech. Almost immediately, he spotted Minoru eyeing the redheaded girl, a thin line of drool starting to dangle from the corner of his lip.
"H-He-Hey, M-Mineta?" Izuku asked.
Minoru immediately became as rigid as a statue. "I wasn't checking out her boobs, I swear!" he blurted out. "I was just- ACK!"
"You gotta be kidding me right now, Mineta," Kyoka snarled while she retracted her ear-jack. "Kendo gives us a very big speech on why we should pass this class activity and cooperate with 1-B, and you are ogling her like you always do with all the girls? Guess you're a lost cause-"
"YO!"
The remainder of Class 1-A was startled as Tetsutetsu shot up from his seat, his musculature becoming more pronounced underneath his school uniform. Minoru in particular started to sweat intensely as the gray-haired boy towered over him, his eyes turning feral with defensive rage.
"If you're gonna check out Kendo," he growled, "you're gonna have to answer to ME! Ya hear me?!"
"Pl-Pl-Please..." Minoru whimpered weakly, looking as if he was now staring into the eyes of Death itself.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" another voice cried out. Everyone watched as Kosei quickly approached Minoru, his ovular eyes as wide as saucers. "You're a pervert too?!"
The grape-haired boy nodded uncertainly. "Y-Ye-Yeah..."
"As if that wasn't the most obvious thing in the world..." Kyoka muttered angrily.
Then, Minoru's eyes widened when he noticed the spark of enthusiasm in Kosei's eyes. "W-Wait...too?!" He pointed at the boy. "You're a pervert too?!"
"Hell, yeah!" The ovular-eyed boy pumped a fist in excitement. "Nothing like admiring a nice ass and a great pair of tits!"
Minoru gasped in delight. "And just when I thought I wouldn't be able to share my deepest desires and wildest fantasies with Kaminari anymore, I found you..." The grape-haired boy clenched his fists tightly, and he trembled with increasingly uncontrollable excitement. "HELL, YEAH! LET'S BE PERVERTS-IN-CRIME, TSUBURABA!"
"Perverts-in-crime!" Kosei proclaimed. "Couldn't have said it better myself!"
As the two boys rejoiced in each other's company, Manga slapped his head in disappointment.
"Well, isn't that just great," he remarked. "Of all the combinations our new class could have, we get stuck with the one in which both perverts of the school are in attendance."
"Oh yeah, that's true..." Juzo replied. He gave Kosei a suspicious glance before focusing on Itsuka, Yui, Ibara, and Pony. "Watch yourselves, girls. Looks like we're gonna be stuck with double the perverts for the week."
"Oh, joy..." Itsuka deadpanned.
"Yippee!" Pony cried, having misinterpreted Juzo's Japanese for "pervert".
Then, Itsuka glanced at Ochako, Mina, and Kyoka. "Hey, the same goes for you girls too. Watch your backs when they're around."
"Huh?" Ochako asked, staring at Kosei. "He's like Mineta?"
"He's not as bad." The redhead shot a disapproving glare at both perverted adolescents. "But combine that and his less-than-stellar IQ, he's an ideal ingredient for a recipe for disaster. Mineta's gonna be a bad influence on him."
"Sounds like someone I know..." Kyoka commented ambiguously.
At the other side of the cafeteria, a certain blond boy sneezed.
"If that's true, then we should keep them apart!" Tenya cried before shifting his focus onto Minoru and Kosei. "Listen, you two, I may be ready to condone the cooperation between our two classes, but your behavior around each other regarding lecherous and immoral acts is instilling a grave level of concern, so-"
"Yo, zip it, Four-Eyes!" Kosei interrupted, stunning the class representative.
"Yeah, zip it, Four-Eyes!" Minoru added before clasping his hands over his gaping mouth. "Ohhhhh, I've always wanted to say that!"
"W-W-Well..." Ochako stammered apprehensively, trying her best to maintain an upbeat momentum, "a-at least the first members of 1-A and 1-B are starting to get along..."
"If you can call it that..." Rikido deadpanned in disapproval.
The rest of the lunch break passed by without any further incident. Ironically, despite their great disdain over Minoru and Kosei bonding over their shared identities as grade-A perverts, much of the new Class 1-A followed their example to bond with one another.
Of course, Eijiro and Tetsutetsu latched onto one another in almost an instant, getting along over their similarities in both physique and mentality, especially in regards to their views of manhood.
After some initial awkwardness on the shy Kojiro's part, he and Mashirao both became deeply involved in a conversation over their similar backgrounds in Tokyo and how their Quirks alienated them from their peers at first.
Rikido and Manga both found themselves having an unexpected discussion over the latter's intent to volunteer at a new charity baking event for homeless children, with Rikido giving Manga baking tips and volunteering to mentor him.
Tenya and Juzo bonded almost immediately over how they were born into successful Hero families and the pressure such lineages had placed upon their desires to become Pros themselves.
Following a verbal exchange between Kyoka, Minoru, and Kosei over girls' chests (which ended with Kyoka stabbing Kosei in the eye with her ear-jack and Itsuka delivering a karate-chop to Minoru's head), Kyoka was comforted by Itsuka in an instant, and she became inspired by the redhead's optimism and encouragement, which reminded her of Momo's bouncy and upbeat personality, something that the punk girl strongly admired.
Of course, not all attempts to bond were as successful. Pony couldn't help but continue to feel repulsed by Mezo because of his resemblance to an octopus; Mina's attempts at giving fashion advice flew straight over the traditional, pious Ibara's head; and Ochako could only awkwardly stumble in her efforts to get the aloof, emotionally distant Yui to open up to her.
And, of course, there was-
DING! DING! DING!
Upon hearing the ringing of the bell, the U.A. students collectively filed out of the cafeteria and headed straight back to their classrooms. Many of the 1-A students, new and old, talked amongst one another, or were trying at the very least. But Izuku was quick to notice Neito, who hadn't spoken up one bit and simply spent lunchtime discreetly observing all of the old 1-A students. After some brief contemplation, the green-haired boy decided to take the initiative and approached his 1-B counterpart.
"H-Hey, M-Monoma," he greeted hesitantly. "Y-You haven't spoken since the beginning of lunch! I-I just wanted to-"
"Oh, please."
Izuku's skin crawled the moment the Copy user stopped in the middle of the hallway, directly in front of him, and looked over his shoulder. There was a look in his eyes that exhibited a predatory instinct to run away from.
"Just because our two classes are getting all buddy-buddy with one another," the blond said ominously, "it doesn't mean we're in this to make pen-pals. At the end of the day, we're still your sworn rivals, and that's the mindset that's going to permeate our minds for the entirety of this week."
Izuku blinked in surprise. "W-Well, I don't see how your classmates would-"
"For the sake of this little 'exercise', I won't spoil all the details. But..." Neito focused ahead and continued following their classmates. "For now, I must advise you, Midoriya, don't you dare underestimate my class...unless you want your place as the main character usurped."
"Your class?" Izuku repeated incredulously, before narrowing his viridescent eyes. "Look, Monoma!" He quickly caught up with the Copy user and stood in front of him, barring his way. "I don't get why you've been so hung up about my class all this time, but you need to remember-"
"That my grades depend on the completion of this activity, and so on and so forth. I know, I know. But..." Neito resumed walking, shouldering the other boy aside while giving him another suspicious stare over his shoulder. "Who said everyone was gonna be getting the same grade at the end of this?"
By that point, Neito had reached the doorway of Class 1-A, looked at it for a brief moment (and seeming to contemplate spiting at it), and then stepped through it. Izuku blinked again and followed after him, mulling over his choice of words.
"Who said everyone was gonna get the same grade?" he repeated in his mind. "Is he...planning on sabotaging the class activity to give his classmates an edge? That...sounds a bit low even for him, but after what happened between him and Kacchan, I can't afford to take anymore chances. I gotta tell Kendo-"
"Tell me what?"
"AGH!"
In his surprise, Izuku stumbled backward and hit his head and back on the side of the doorway. He heard a soft gasp of surprise, and then, it was followed by a gentle pat on his shoulder.
"Careful there, Midoriya," Itsuka said, her voice surprisingly maternal in tone. "Always be attentive of your surroundings, and keep a good purchase on your emotions. Or you're gonna keep having accidents like this one."
"You got that right..." Izuku replied while rubbing the back of his head.
"So then, what's this I hear about Monoma and telling me something?"
"O-Oh!" His green eyes lit up. "MonomasaidsomethingaboutwhosaideveryonewasgonnabegettingthesamegradeattheendofthisactivityandIthinkhe'sgonnatrytosabotagetheactivityand-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Itsuka interrupted with a wave of her palms. "Slow down there, Midoriya! One word at a time, one word at a time."
"O-Oh..." After taking a couple of deep breaths, Izuku repeated his explanation while trying his best to maintain a slower pace. "Uh, M-Monoma said, o-or more like implied something about n-not everyone getting the same grade at the end of the activity, a-and-"
"You think he's plotting something devious?"
"...Yeah, pretty much."
"For the sake of this little 'exercise', I won't spoil all the details. But...for now, I must advise you, Midoriya, don't you dare underestimate my class..."
"And, from the sound of what he told me, the rest of 1-B, the ones who are in 1-A, are also planning to-"
Itsuka sighed in understanding and shook her head. "Ohhh, ignore whatever Monoma told you. He's all bark and no bite. Sure, the rest of my class can get pumped up whenever your class is concerned, but I can assure you that Monoma will be the only one conspiring against you guys. Or, in this case, all of us. But he will not get far. Not as long as I'm around." She flashed him a confident, bright smile. "Trust me on this, Midoriya."
Izuku's eyes enlarged slightly. "Huh... She seems confident that Monoma won't get in the way of the activity. But with a versatile Quirk like his, I don't see how Monoma wouldn't turn a situation around to his advantage... Then again..." The boy stared into Itsuka's dazzling teal eyes, which shone with idealism and conviction. "Kendo's always been there to keep him in check... Maybe that's why the faculty also picked her as a transfer to 1-A..."
"O-Okay..." he replied. "I-If you say so, Kendo..."
"Good to hear you agree with me," Itsuka responded. "Now then, let's get to our seats, before Aizawa-sensei sees us and gives us crap for it."
Izuku chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah, don't want that to happen." Then, before he could follow Itsuka to the rows of desks, he impulsively recalled something as an afterthought. "Hey, how'd you know what I was thinking, Kendo?"
Itsuka looked at him curiously. "Hm?"
"How'd you hear my thoughts?"
"Huh?" The redhead stifled a giggle. "You weren't thinking any of that, Midoriya."
"Huh?! I wasn't?!"
"You were muttering up a storm back there, Midoriya."
This time, it wasn't Itsuka who had spoken, but rather Manga. Izuku nervously glanced at the rest of his classmates, all of whom had their eyes on him. Some had blatantly amused expressions, while others quickly averted their glances while trying to avoid scrutiny.
"It's a good thing I managed to overhear snippets of what you said," Itsuka remarked. "I don't even know how I pulled it off, but...I-I guess I did. Heh heh heh..." She couldn't help but cover her grin with her fingers. "You know, I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but your muttering is a bit cute, Midoriya."
Izuku's face turned as red as a tomato. "W-W-WH-WH-WHAT?!"
But she ignored him and turned around. "Now, let's get seated, Midoriya!"
Pursing his lips with embarrassment, Izuku looked back at his schoolmates, specifically the new ones from Class 1-B, as he and Itsuka walked back to their desks. He could feel the stunned and amused looks transfixed upon him. Upon finding his desk, the green-haired boy quietly sat down, but as he did, he took this time to take one last look over his shoulder, at Itsuka.
"That we can still become the kind of Hero that people will smile at and feel safe around, especially when we say, 'I am here!'"
"That's weird," he thought. "Why do those words sound so...familiar...?"
It was already a nice, peaceful afternoon in Musutafu. Warm rays of golden-orange light were pouring over the building rooftops and into the street, illuminating the colorful walls, reflecting off of the shining glass windows, and bringing out the liveliness of all the greenery. A kind and gentle warmth held the streets in its grasp. It helped ease the spirits of the civilians and keep them placated as they went about in their daily routines. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement amongst the townspeople that this feeling of tranquility was because of Endeavor's heroic escapades, the latest of which was currently dominating the screens of every TV and the waves of every radio in town, keeping everyone enraptured by the brand-new Symbol of Peace.
However, in a dark alleyway, which took up the tight space between a boutique and a café, two shady figures waited. The pair was enshrouded in ragged beige cloaks, which helped keep their facial features obscured. They watched in silence as pedestrians passed the alleyway, not bothering to look into its abyss but seemingly being guided by an instinct to stay as clear of it as possible. Lying beside their feet was a peculiar cardboard box, which was large enough to fit a medium-size dog...or a massive hand.
"Yo," one of the figures whispered, his raspy yet timid voice almost drowned out by the noises of the bustling street. "It's been half an hour now. You...You think he got...c-ca-caught?"
"It's just a half-hour," the other figure replied, her voice a snakelike hiss as she observed the passing civilians. "If he got cornered by some Pro, then we'd know about it by now. With a Quirk and personality like his, he's...not exactly the most discreet person in town. Especially when he's cornered..." She gave him a dissatisfied side-glance. "You worry too much, Gust Boy."
"I-It's Gust Man! A-An-And just because he's taking some damn phone call from our new boss, i-it doesn't mean nothing can go wrong, Dusty Ash!"
"Ahhhh, what could possibly go wrong? Worst-case scenario, people'll think he's some big bum and steer clear of him. As long as he keeps that stupid rag over him, that is. I've seen bigger bums than him, you know."
"Anything can go wrong in a situation like this!" The man started pacing around nervously. "Ohhhh, I really don't like the looks of this! What if it's a trap?!" He started looking around frantically. "What if the cops have been tracking us?! What if they sicced Endeavor on him?! What if-?!"
"Jeez, calm the hell down, Gust Boy. Like I said, if something happened to Volcano on the way there, we'd know by now." The woman rolled her eyes underneath her drawn hood. "Word of advice, fizz out during downtime, no matter how tight things seem. It's not like the cops can get eyes on you the second you say, 'Screw it! I'll become a Villain!'"
"It's Gust Maaan! A-And..." He started twiddling his fingers. "I'm-I'm just afraid of facing En-Endeavor, th-that's all."
The woman stared flatly at her companion. "You're in the wrooooong line of work if that's your biggest concern, kid. And besides..." She stared at the street again, a devious grin curling on her lips. "If that Curator guy that hired us is actually legit, and I'm sure he is, then Endeavor will no longer be anyone's worries."
"That's IF that Curator guy is legit!"
"He is," a new voice boomed.
The duo watched as a third cloaked figure entered the alleyway, his mighty, booming steps frightening off a rat and some cockroaches that were scavenging nearby. This newcomer towered over the other two, and underneath his hood, his red eyes and toothy sneer were visible. Nearby pedestrians couldn't help but notice his presence and make sure they were a few feet away from him out of some instinct of fear.
"Dusty Ash, Gust Boy," he announced, "get yourselves ready." He raised his left fist, which was revealed to be encased in a rock-like gauntlet that glowed and hummed. "We've just got our first assignment. In a few days, we are about to level the playing field."
The woman grinned excitedly, while the man looked utterly irritated.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, IT'S GUST...FRIGGING...MAN!"
A/N: And that marks the end of this newest chapter! What a read, huh?! Now, I did have some considerable difficulty in figuring out the scenes and the overall flow of the chapter, but I think I managed to pull it off decently in the end! But I suppose that's what I get for tackling a story that's fully within the MHA canon. Hopefully writing the following chapters will be more of a doozy for me as we go along. Either way, sorry this chapter took longer to get out than expected. I will try to make the updates quicker next time around, but I can't give any guarantees nowadays, what with my job and all.
Now, just in case any of you were not able to follow exactly who managed to stay in 1-A and exactly who moved in from 1-B, the new 1-A roster is as follows:
Old Class 1-A students
1) Mina Ashido
2) Tenya Iida
3) Ochako Uraraka
4) Mashirao Ojiro
5) Eijiro Kirishima
6) Rikido Sato
7) Mezo Shoji
8) Kyoka Jiro
9) Izuku Midoriya
10) Minoru Mineta
New Class 1-B students
1) Itsuka Kendo
2) Yui Kodai
3) Ibara Shiozaki
4) Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
5) Pony Tsunotori
6) Kosei Tsuburaba
7) Manga Fukidashi
8) Juzo Honenuki
9) Kojiro Bondo
10) Neito Monoma
And to make sure we're all squared out here, guys, the new 1-B roster is as follows:
Old Class 1-B students
1) Yosetsu Awase
2) Sen Kaibara
3) Togaru Kamakiri
4) Shihai Kuroiro
5) Kinoko Komori
6) Jurota Shishida
7) Nirengeki Shoda
8) Setsuna Tokage
9) Hiryu Rin
10) Reiko Yanagi
New Class 1-B students
1) Yuga Aoyama
2) Tsuyu Asui
3) Denki Kaminari
4) Koji Koda
5) Hanta Sero
6) Fumikage Tokoyami
7) Shoto Todoroki
8) Toru Hagakure
9) Katsuki Bakugo
10) Momo Yaoyorozu
Now, I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:
-acosta perez jose ramiro: Actually, those weren't supposed to be OCs of my own design. They're the Wild Villains and the Volcano Thieves, Villains featured in the "My Hero Academia: Clash! Heroes Battle" arcade game. They're not canon, but I thought they had interesting designs and personalities, and I decided to adapt them here. Just so you know.
-KHfan98:
1) If you are talking about the Lurkers, then Death Arms isn't a part of that group. It's Edgeshot, Kamui Woods, and Mt. Lady. Nothing about Death Arms. But yeah, Kamui Woods wouldn't stand a chance against Maguma.
2) I think I've heard of it, but I never got around to reading it. I'll check it out when I can! Thanks!
Well, hope you enjoyed this somewhat late chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!