The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 9: Academy of Heroes
Chapter 4: Meet and Greet
[Sunday 2nd April 2282]
[1-A Dorms, U.A High School]
Shota managed to get only a single slip of paper read and signed before the front doors opened and the imposing form of All-Might entered the room, dressed in his yellow suit. "Ah, Aizawa! Glad I could catch you without the students! Greetings to you, Little Eri!"
Eri looked up and waved; "Hello Grandpa Toshi!" she greeted, before getting back to her colouring book.
All-Might ruffled her hair; "Now remember Eri, call me All-Might when I look like this, okay? I don't want my identity getting out after all!" he told her kindly, "Now Aizawa and I are going to have a little chat. You can stay, but don't repeat what I say to anyone, okay?"
Eri nodded seriously, not looking up. Living with important people meant that Eri had to keep lots of secrets, but so long as she didn't have to hide stuff from her Mama, she didn't mind too much.
The black haired man sighed; "What do you want, All-Might?"
"Well, calling you a Big Fat Liar is probably the top of the list!" the Number One declared, his smile not changing a bit.
Aizawa rolled his eyes; "So you were watching the assessment. I suspected as much. Don't you have better things to do, like helping Inko or preparing for classes?"
All-Might waved him off; "Oh please, Inko had everything in hand well before she moved in today. All there was for me to do was move boxes from the van and then keep out of the way while Inko unpacked the last of her things. Now don't change the subject!" the Pro demanded, "Really? "A Logical Ruse?" April Fools was yesterday!"
The Number One suddenly became uncharacteristically serious; "You've a record of 154 expulsions, including your entire First Year Class last year! Not to mention the rather needlessly cruel things you said to Young Hagakure."
That last part made Aizawa's frown deepen a little out of guilt; "I apologised to her. Besides, she'll face much worse than that in the real Hero World. She can consider it an early crash course in dealing with hostile authorities."
"Usually you mercilessly cut out the weak links. We both know that you fully intended to expel someone today, so what made you go back on your word?" All-Might asked.
"You're wrong." Aizawa said simply, "I cut out those that aren't links at all; the Zero Potential. Weak links can be strengthened, but if they have no potential then I'm not wasting my time. You don't polish a turd after all. If any of them showed zero potential, I'd have kicked them out without a second thought. While Hagakure showed nothing of interest in the Assessment, she did show some fledgling skill in the Entrance Exam, besides I couldn't very well expel Hagakure once Amaterasu put her foot down. My quirk doesn't work on her, and I'd rather not get on the wrong side of those jaws again. Of course, if I choose to expel someone for serious mistakes, I won't accept arguments from her. We full teachers do have seniority over her."
"You make it sound like you were threatened, but I saw the pride in your eyes. You were happy Young Izumi passed your little test, right?" All-Might said with a knowing smile.
"Don't get cocky over your prized pupil." Aizawa said with a roll of his eyes; "She simply had the guts to stand up for what she believed in, even in a seemingly impossible situation. Heroes can't just give up and say, "oh well, I did my best!" after all, and teachers have to look out for their students. That's part of why I expel so many weak links from my classes if they resist improvement; a weak link brings the rest down and if they refuse to be strengthened, then I treat them like the Zero Potential to preserve the others' growth. Besides it works out for me; I know she'll work hard at any task I set her, so I can use her as my own Assistant Teacher to keep these little monsters under control and make things easier on myself. It's a win-win." the man grinned. Privately, he was thinking of Bakugou; no one else would be able to control him and if he eventually becomes Class President, things could get very tense in Class 1-A without Izumi keeping him in check. At least she could reign in his worst traits.
However, the mention of Amaterasu did remind Aizawa of something; "All-Might, remember that you're her teacher now, and also technically her boss since she's primarily YOUR assistant teacher. I get that you're in a relationship with her mother, but you can't show any kind of favouritism towards her, or her sister. Bakugou too for that matter. Your relationships outside of school have to stay OUTSIDE of school."
"Not to worry; I have already been given the lecture by the Principal, and I'm sure Young Izumi, Young Himiko, and Young Katsuki will understand." All-Might said dismissively. With the important parts of their conversation dealt with, the two teachers chatted for a few moments longer about their lesson plans for the next week, before All-Might headed off to his next order of business, after giving Eri a goodbye hug naturally, and Aizawa turned back to his papers. Neither Pro was aware of a certain dual-coloured boy listening from around the corner, his heterochromatic eyes narrowed.
Soon after, the quiet common room began to get noisy as the students returned, all pink-skinned and clean from their baths and dressed in their casual clothing again. Aizawa looked up and nodded at them as they arrived, silently gesturing for them to take seats around the Common Room. Once everyone was seated, he addressed them; "Right, now that you'll all be staying in my class for now, we need to go over some basic ground rules and other prep stuff."
Aizawa handed out some papers to each of them, which contained basic information on the curriculum, school clubs and basically whatever information wasn't already in the guidebook, meaning only things unique to the Hero Course. Once everyone had a sheet, Aizawa spoke again; "As your Homeroom Teacher, I'll be in charge of your dorms too. The rules are pretty simple; Boys and Girls aren't to enter each others Dorms without permission, nor can you enter them at all after curfew or the opposite gender's laundry and bathing areas at any time. The Cafeteria is open from 7am to 9pm so you can get free food there, but you can use the Dorm Kitchen as you want; just don't make a mess or expect me to cook for you. Keep the noise down, Curfew is at 10pm and if you make a mess, clean it. You're all responsible for your own rooms, and I will be making weekly chore lists for the rest of the stuff. I have a small office down here on the ground floor, and my apartment on campus is Apartment 3A, which is the left side apartment on the third floor of the Teachers' Apartment building, so if you need me for anything at anytime, come and get me. Part of my job is keeping you all healthy, so if you need something then ask me. Girls, if you need something but aren't comfortable asking a male teacher, then just let me know and I'll get a female teacher for you, or ask Amaterasu if she's comfortable with it."
Everyone nodded in understanding. When he wasn't terrifying the class, Aizawa-sensei actually seemed like an okay guy. It made him surprisingly easy to trust, even after the mind games he'd been playing with them earlier. "That's all I've got to say for now. I'll leave you all to deal with unpacking and introducing yourselves. Oh, my phone number is on the fridge; in case you need to contact me and I'm not in the staff room, my office, or my apartment. Amaterasu, come with me a second, and bring Eri too."
Izumi nodded and scooped Eri up before following the man to his office, leaving the Hero Students to chat amongst themselves for a bit. Aizawa let the girls in to his office, which had just a desk with a computer, a swivel chair, some file cabinets and a small sofa that Izumi suspected Aizawa would be sleeping on a lot. The tired Hero gestured for Izumi and Eri to sit on the sofa while he relaxed in his swivel chair.
"Right, so obviously you being Assistant Teacher means you need to know some extra stuff. Firstly, here." Aizawa said, handing Izumi a small booklet and a pager. "That booklet is the staff handbook written by Nezu. Read it to learn all the rules we've got. Nezu put marks in yours to show which rules DO NOT apply to you and which responsibilities you don't have to worry about. You'll also find codes for the Pager. Use it to contact the staff quickly. If you press the red button without typing a code, then it'll be considered a distress call and we'll call come running. Flip the blue switch to the On position if you need to leave campus for Emergency Hero Work, then flip it off when you get back. For everything else, read the handbook." he lectured.
Izumi took a moment to memorise what Aizawa told her, then nodded. "Got it."
"Good. Now you're the Heroics Assistant Teacher, which means you primarily work with All-Might and help him out. He's your boss, so try to maintain professional behaviour. U.A runs a six day week, and on Mondays you'll be planning lessons for the week with All-Might. Tuesdays you'll be with the combined Third Year classes, and then from Wednesday to Saturday, you'll be with Classes 2-A, 2-B, 1-A, and 1-B. If All-Might gets called away, you'll be working under that class's Homeroom Teacher instead."
"Sounds simple enough. So I'm in normal classes with 1-A until after lunch, then I report to All-Might?" Izumi asked for clarification.
"You got it. Sometimes you'll be sent somewhere else or given another task, but we'll give you warning. While acting as a teacher, you're expected to be in Hero Gear and you MUST command the respect of the students. You'll be in charge of them, even the older ones, so don't take any lip. You have the authority to issue detentions, demerits, and even House Arrest, with Expulsion being the only thing you need Nezu's permission for. Use the handbook to get an idea of which infractions earn which penalties, but those are just guidelines and it is mostly up to you, just don't be unreasonable and don't be soft. If you don't punish bad behaviour then it'll cause problems." Aizawa warned, giving her a very serious look.
The Greenette gulped and nodded. She didn't like the idea of punishing students; it hadn't occurred to her when she accepted the job, and she imagined it would be very awkward to have to punish one of the 1-A students, or god forbid, Kacchan or Himiko. Still, she accepted the job and she would do it well.
"Okay, I think I can manage that..."
"Good. I know it's hard; you're a softy through and through and with Eri being so well-behaved, this isn't something you've had to worry about. Just consider it practice for when Eri enters her teenage rebellious phase!" Aizawa smirked, injecting some levity into the conversation.
Izumi giggled and Eri just tilted her head; "I'm gonna be a Rebel? Like Princess Leia?" she asked cutely. Her only reference for Rebellion was Star Wars, which she'd watched with Kota at Christmas.
Her Mama stroked her hair with a giggle; "Sure baby, just like Princess Leia. Just remember to only rebel against bad guys and not your Mama, okay?"
Eri nodded seriously, before imagining herself and Kota as Leia and Han Solo, fighting Storm Troopers on the moon of Endor. With the little girl lost in her own imagination for a bit, Izumi turned back to the amused Aizawa.
"Now, as a teacher you can leave the campus at any time, but please let us know via the pager, or we're going to assume you got kidnapped. Teachers have a private training ground behind the school, which you can use so long as it is ONLY you; no students allowed. It's called Training Ground X, so it's pretty easy to find. Just be careful; Power Loader likes to test his gear there, so be mindful of explosions."
"I practically lived with Kacchan for my entire life; I'm always mindful of explosions." Izumi smirked.
Aizawa rolled his eyes and continued; "Now the last two points are your position in the class and your role as Eri's mother. In the class, you're a normal student during normal classes, but at all other times, your teaching position takes priority. That includes here in the Dorms. Outside of school hours, you are off the clock and can do what you want within the rules. As for Eri; you will be solely responsible for her accept during class time. Eri will stay with you until after the morning home room, then someone will take her to the Principal or Recovery Girl. Her lessons will start at 9am and end at 3pm with a short break at 10:30, after your second period, and then a longer one for Lunch, which she'll have at the same time as the students. If you need someone to watch her outside of those times, just ask one of us or get your siblings or another person Eri trusts. Eri, if you feel like you need your mother for any reason, then tell whoever you're with and we'll take you to her, no questions asked. Otherwise, please don't wander anywhere alone, okay?" he lectured.
Izumi and Eri both nodded in agreement, understanding what they'd been told. Aizawa nodded with approval, glad that the girls were relatively easy to deal with. "Now, let me go over some of the lesson plans that the Principal has for Eri, along with what I'm planning on teaching with her quirk..."
While Izumi and her little girl were speaking with Eraserhead, the rest of Class 1-A were lounging around in the common room making small talk. Someone had suggested they introduce themselves properly, but they ultimately decided to wait until Izumi and Eri got back, so they could be included and Class 1-A could hear those long stories that explained why Izumi was in their class and why Eri was her daughter.
"It's kind of crazy, having a Hero our own age as a teacher as well as a classmate. I've heard a little about Amaterasu, but I'm not a local so I'm not super knowledgable about her." Kaminari commented.
"Pretty much everyone in Musutafu and the surrounding towns know her. She was the Kami of Musutafu before becoming an official Hero. It's almost been a year since her debut." Yaoyorozu said.
"Bakugou and Midoriya, sorry, Himiko; you two are her siblings right? Can you tell us anything about her? So we know what to expect?" Sero asked.
Himiko nodded happily; "Sure! I'll leave most of the explanations to Izumi herself, but I can give you a few tidbits. Izumi is a lot more gentle and soft spoken than Kacchan and I, and she comes across as a big softy. She kind of is too, but she's more confident than she lets on. She's also a HUGE Hero and Quirk Nerd, and is super into Art, especially old Japanese style paintings. She's not one to judge either, so she'll be nice so long as you are too. Honestly, she's a pretty normal girl, so you can all relax."
That seemed to put the few worriers of the class at ease, and made the more friendly ones even more excited to see their Hero Classmate. Katsuki however huffed at Himiko's description. "That shit is all true, but it's only half the story. Izuchan may be a complete fucking softy most of the time, but she's still a real Hero. She got that title by doing real Hero Work and taking down some serious assholes. Don't underestimate her, or you'll end up getting your ass handed to you; trust me, I know."
All but the most serious and confident students gulped at that. They thought back to when Amaterasu had faced down Eraserhead, actually dragging him forward with his own capture weapon and not even flinching as he threatened her with expulsion. Shoto especially made a note to keep an eye on his new classmate/teacher, since his father AND All-Might had their eyes on her.
"Hey, I found something!" yelled a grinning Ashido. She'd been tapping away at her phone for the last few seconds, and was now triumphantly waving it around, "I found a video of Amaterasu!"
"Sweet! What's it called?" Sato asked.
"REAL VILLAIN FIGHT!? AMATERASU DEBUT! FULL! It's a kind of clickbait title, but eh, what you gonna do?" Ashido shrugged, "The thumbnail is kind of grainy, but it looks like some kind of snake monster?"
A few of the students' eyes widened, including Himiko's and Katsuki's. "Shit, that might be the Orochi fight. Don't watch it unless you've got a damn strong stomach." the explosive blond said, turning away with disgust. He and Himiko had already seen it, and they would never willingly watch it again. Frankly, they were surprised it hadn't been taken down yet; most video sites deleted it immediately and even news sites only had the censored highlights.
No one else in the class had seen it though, so with some trepidation they either pulled up the video on their own phones or huddled close to someone else who had. Only Ashido left the sound on, with the rest of the class either listening to her video, sharing headphones, or just watching a muted version so that the sound didn't echo around the room.
As it turned out, Katsuki's warning had been no joke, nor was the video's title. It was the FULL version of the video, the one that had been shot and sold to the media by the original reporter. The video began with All-Might holding Eri and an unconscious Izumi and facing down a possessed Taro Chisaki, who'd just recaptured Kai Chisaki from the police, and from there it went all the way to when Izumi and Eri were finally taken away in the ambulances. That meant it showed the full battle with Orochi, including the memories Orochi showed of the girls' torture, his attempts to make Izumi kill Chisaki, Izumi and All-Might fighting Orochi together, and Izumi and Eri's possession/fusion and ultimate victory against the monstrous snake demon.
Class 1-A was deathly silent as they watched, with Katsuki and Himiko refusing to watch and silently worrying how Izumi would react if she came back to see them all watching the video. Funnily enough, Tokoyami and Aoyama were also refusing to actually watch and were merely pretending to, though Himiko had spent enough time people watching to know when someone was faking something. One by one, the videos ended until the whole class was staring with shock at blank screens.
"Hey Himiko?" Hitoshi said, breaking the silence, "I take back what I said earlier. Your friends aren't nuts, they're absolutely terrifying!"
"Protecting Eri like that was really manly, but how can she go face to face with all those Villains and not be afraid?" Eijiro muttered, doubting he could have done that.
"I'm really regretting this… I shouldn't have found that video..." Ashido groaned, a tinge of green on her pink cheeks, "Seeing that Chisaki scumbag torturing Amaterasu and that adorable little girl… that was awful."
"Eri." Ochako chimed in, looking like she'd severely overused her quirk, "Her name is Eri. Izumi adopted her as her own daughter, but she didn't explain why. I think we can figure out why now..."
"Is no one else going to mention how Chisaki freaking killed her, and she just came back to life!? Isn't that a bit beyond quirks!?" Kaminari exclaimed.
"I was trying not to think about that..." Ojiro shuddered, "Bakugou, Himiko; do either of you know more about that?"
Katsuki nodded reluctantly; "Yeah, it's called Astral Resurrection and is part of her Okami Quirk. Once per day, she can resurrect from death and revives at peak condition. She's done it a handful of times… three or four I think." he said bitterly, still angry about each and every use of it.
"Taking the name of a Shinto Deity now makes sense; that's certainly a God-like quirk." Shoji said, among the calmer members of the class.
"I'm more impressed that she was able to hold herself back with Chisaki. That guy really hurt her, and hurt Eri who became her daughter, but Amaterasu didn't kill him even when given the chance. If someone had done that to me and my kid, I don't think I could have." Sero admitted. Heck, he didn't think he could have restrained himself from shooting Chisaki if he had a gun to his head, even though Sero had never been hurt by him.
"I feel bad that we snooped into this. It feels like we've violated Amaterasu's and Eri's privacy. I think we should apologise, Kero." Asui croaked, her expression nearly unchanged though her tone was sad.
"I agree. This video is one that is frequently deleted from what I can see, so we clearly weren't meant to see it." Tenya declared, hands chopping robotically.
"Is that a good idea? Didn't Amaterasu take down a villain that even All-Might struggled with? Is pissing her off really a smart plan?" Sato asked fearfully, the ever silent Koda nodding frantically beside him. The animal loving boy had seen Izumi's Wolf Form in both real life AND the video, and he definitely didn't want to invoke its wrath; especially by mentioning that they'd seen its cub being hurt.
The mention of Amaterasu beating Orochi while All-Might didn't/couldn't made Shoto narrow his eyes; the puzzle of Amaterasu was becoming more interesting and complex.
"I think we should simply bite the bullet and confess. It was our own fault for viewing an illicit video." Yaoyorozu said, regretting it for many reasons.
"Yeah, and come on, this is still Izumi right? Himiko said she was a softy and she definitely seemed like one before. Plus she stuck up for Hagakure; she'll probably won't be too mad… I think?" Jiro said, her confidence decreasing the more she thought about it.
"Amaterasu… I knew she was a nice person after she stuck up for me, but to see that little girl Eri being tortured and choose to take her place, then let herself be hurt over and over both before and during the battle with Orochi… That takes something else altogether." Hagakure muttered, still numb with shock.
"Well, I am a hero."
The entire class nearly leapt right out of their skin as Izumi reappeared, holding hands with Eri, who was shyly watching the class.
"H-Hey, you're back! What did Sensei want?" Ochako asked nervously.
"Nothing major, just a brief heads up on my duties as an Assistant Teacher to the Hero Course." Izumi smiled, taking an empty seat between Ochako and Katsuki, putting Eri on her lap, "So… watch anything interesting recently?" she asked, a knowing smile on her face
The class shuddered; "H-How long have you been back for?" Jiro asked.
"Since Hitoshi said I was terrifying." Izumi giggled, causing Hitoshi to shudder.
"Uh… sorry?" he said, unsure of what to say or do to appease the Greenette.
"Don't be. I'm not mad, at your comments or you watching the video." Izumi admitted, "But no offence; I don't really want to talk about it, so let me go through everything REALLY quickly."
"Of course! Please, go ahead." Yaoyorozu said.
Izumi smiled; "Okay, first up; my quirk. It's called Okami and this is what it does..." she began, before going into the explanation of her Wolf Form, Demi-God Form, Divine Instruments, and Celestial Brush Techniques, "… those are the primary abilities I have, but I have four others which don't really fall under those categories. Astral Resurrection is one of them, and Kacchan explained that pretty well. Second is Ishiko." Izumi pointed at Eri's horn, where the Poncle was lounging.
Class 1-A stared at the tiny glowing person with curiosity, only to be shocked when Ishiko spoke to them; "Hey! I'm Ishiko! I'm a Familiar created by Izumi's quirk. I usually spy for her in emergencies, and can store a single object inside a sort of pocket dimension. I think independently though, and I can't telepathically speak to Izumi."
"Whoa… that's crazy." Kaminari commented.
"Oh, you haven't heard anything yet." Izumi grinned, "You saw the Orochi Video, so you saw what happened between Eri and I. Simply put, I can sort of possess people like a spirit, transforming their bodies into something I can use more comfortably, and improving both their quirk and my own. Eri is the only one I've been able to successfully possess though, and only that one time. I haven't figured out how to do it on command." Izumi confessed. She'd tried it with a few of the Konohana Household, and even her mother and siblings, but she hadn't been able to. Even trying to repeat the process with Eri proved fruitless.
"Now, the last ability I've figured out is technically a secret to all but my family, the government, and the top Heroes, so you need to keep it a secret." Izumi warned, "I'm only allowed to tell you because Principal Nezu got the approval of the Government, since it could be used as a useful teaching tool. Fair warning, it's kind of crazy and scary." Izumi said.
"Compared to what you've already told us, it can't be that bad!" Sero joked.
"I can give and take people's quirks via touch."
The entire class paled, even Aoyama and Tokoyami, who hadn't been surprised by anything she'd said so far.
"You can what!?" Ashido shrieked.
"Exactly what I said. If I have the permission of the donor, I can take their quirk and then use it myself, store it within me where I can't use it, and/or transfer it to someone else. Of course, I can also return it. Don't worry though; when I said I need their permission, I really mean NEED. Watch." Izumi said, putting a hand on Ochako and activating her quirk. Through rigorous practice, Izumi had overcome the issue of her quirk being limited by who initiated the contact, so now it didn't matter if they touched her or she touched them; she could give or take quirks regardless.
Ochako squeaked in shock as Izumi's hand turned black and pulsed with red veins, until some unseen force shoved Izumi's hand away like a magnet with the same poles. "You see? Because I didn't have Ochako's permission, I couldn't take her quirk. I also need your permission to give you a quirk too."
Everyone was left gaping at that, while Shoto narrowed his eyes dangerously. Now he knew why Endeavor was so interested in Amaterasu! As one of the Top Ten Heroes, he would know about this ability, and considering what Endeavor did to Shoto's mother and the rest of their family for the sake of breeding and training his perfect "successor", there was no doubt in Shoto's mind what he would do if he got Amaterasu to use her power for him.
"You say all the Top Ten and the Government know about this?" Shoto asked.
Izumi nodded; "Yep. I'm allowed to take quirks from anyone who consents and can lend them out for up to 24 hours to approved people, such as Heroes or Hero Students. If I want to lend them for longer, or lend them to people that aren't approved, I need government permission. So far I've mainly used it to give quirks from retired Heroes to their successors, or take quirks from Villains who bargained for a reduced sentence."
"Have any Heroes in the Top Ten asked you to do this for them?" the dual-coloured boy asked.
Izumi gave him a knowing smile; "No, but one has been awfully insistent about speaking to me since this power was revealed. I won't say who, but I refuse to be around him. He's probably the only Hero I hate."
Shoto's eyes twinkled for a moment and Izumi could have sworn she'd seen a ghost of a smile before he clamped down on his emotions and nodded stiffly. If nothing else, Izumi had made a little progress with Shoto! At the cost of terrifying the rest of the class…
"Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say that your powers are scary as hell." Kaminari smiled nervously, "Awesome, but scary."
"Yeah… Not gonna lie, I know you're a Hero and thus a good guy, but I'm super glad you need permission to take our quirks… though if you ever take a quirk from someone that compliments acid in some way, then hit a girl up, yeah?" Ashido said with a wink.
That earned a few chuckles and to Izumi's pleasure, the class seemed to relax really quickly. It would likely take some time for them all to really adjust to what she'd said, but Izumi was confident they'd all get along well once they'd had the time they needed.
"Now, as for the rest; I just got done learning the details from Eraserhead, so here's what you need to know about my position and why Eri's here..." Izumi said, before quickly explaining how she came to adopt Eri, what her duties as Assistant Teacher entailed, and the arrangements made for them were.
Once she was done, Class 1-A felt like their heads were spinning, but they couldn't think of a single question they still had for Izumi. It was all very strange, but in the world of quirks were people could create things from their own fat cells or make explosions from their hands, everyone had grown used to strange.
"So, that's everything about me and Eri here! Hopefully that answers all your questions." Izumi said.
"You know, as complicated as all this is… isn't it also kind of cool? We get a Hero as a classmate and Dorm mate, and said Hero has a super healing/fixing ability and can trade quirks with people? With all the different quirks we have in class, doesn't that mean we could all do potentially anything? Like Ashido and Kirishima; imagine being able to harden your skin AND shoot acid?" Jiro pointed out with a grin, "That's pretty rocking!"
"Hey, yeah! We could do some crazy combo stuff! Like imagine me with Asui's Frog Quirk?" Kaminari grinned, "I'd be a Thunder Frog! That sounds like a real Pokemon!"
"You're already a Pokemon, Pikachu." Katsuki smirked, "My Explosion quirk is enough for me… but having Shark Tooth's hardening would let me do more without fucking up my arms."
"I'll stick to my own quirk thanks." Shoto said coldly, not liking where this conversation was going.
"I agree. Aizawa-sensei will get mad if I use Quirk Exchange frivolously." Izumi said.
"Aw… it's still cool though… But I suppose we'll just have to make do with having this little cutie living with us!" Ashido beamed, looking at Eri. The white haired girl blushed, but smiled shyly at the Pinkette, making the girl swoon.
Kaminari stood and raised his hand; "All in favour of Eri Midoriya being Class 1-A's adorable mascot that we protect and spoil, say Aye!"
"AYE!" yelled back most of the class. Only Shoto, Katsuki, and Tokoyami kept silent (though Dark Shadow shouted "Aye!" on Tokoyami's behalf).
"The Ayes have it! Eri is our mascot!" Ashido cheered.
Izumi giggled while Eri looked on, dumbfounded. "Mascot?" she asked, looking up at Izumi with shiny, innocent eyes.
"Sort of like the symbol of our class. Don't worry Pup, it just means they all like you and will probably spoil you a little… just don't eat too many treats." Izumi said between her giggles.
Eri brightened up at that, feeling some of her shyness melt away; "O-Okay! I'll be the best mascot I can be, promise!"
"Atta girl! I don't care what Aizawa-sensei said, this year is gonna be fun!" Ashido beamed.
"Yeah!" the others cheered.
Izumi grinned; "It sure will be. But what were you guys up to before you started watching that video?"
Ashido grinned and stood up, "We were waiting for you to come back so we could do proper introductions! Aizawa-sensei said our names during the assessment, but none of us have really talked properly yet! If we're going to be living together, we should become pals!" the cheerful girl declared. Her bouncy attitude and fluffy hair made her look a little like an excited kitten, though her general pinkness and small yellow horns made her look a little more like an alien kitten.
"Cool. How are we doing this?" Izumi asked, privately wondering if it would be rude to take notes on what everyone said for her Hero Journals.
"How about stuff like our names, our quirks and some of the stuff we like?" Eijiro piped up.
"Sounds good to me." Kaminari smiled; "Let's do it in order of our class rankings, from lowest to highest. That way each intro is more badass than the last!" he suggested. No one objected to that, though both Katsuki and Shoto looked like they didn't want to take part, while Tokoyami and Koda seemed uncomfortable with speaking at all.
Tenya looked to Izumi; "Do you approve of this plan, Amaterasu-sensei?"
Izumi smiled nervously; "Please, just use my name. Besides, I'm only in charge when in my Hero Gear and no other teachers are around."
"Of course, my apologises Izumi!" Tenya said with a salute, earning a few giggles and a sigh from an exasperated Izumi.
"Let's get this shit rolling so I can get on with my life!" Katsuki snapped; "You, Invisible Girl, you're up."
The Invisible Girl hopped to her feet and her sleeve flapped, showing she was waving. "My name's Toru Hagakure! You can probably already tell, but my quirk is Invisibility! I love caramel, and those hilarious TV Shows with hidden camera pranks!"
Most of the class smiled happily at the girl. Hagakure appeared to be so bubbly and cheerful that it was infectious! It made her classmates even happier that she hadn't been expelled. "By the way, Hagakure-" Izumi began, only for the Invisible Girl to cut her off.
"Call me Toru! I don't care if sensei was lying or not; you saved my bacon back there! You can call me by my first name!" Toru declared.
Izumi felt a fuzziness in her chest at that statement; "Aw, thanks! I wanted to know how you dealt with the robots in the Entrance Exam. Did you get in mostly on Rescue Points?"
"Oh, that was tricky." Toru said, "I figured out that the Robots only used normal vision, and didn't switch to infrared or thermal vision unless they suspected something, so I just snuck through groups of them then alerted them, making them shoot each other! I was also able to blind the few using Infrared Vision by refracting light through my body to make big flashes. Most of my points were Rescue Points though, since I kept distracting Robots from other people."
Izumi nodded approvingly; that was a clever use of a non-combat quirk. Next was Hitoshi Shinso, who didn't look too happy to be doing this: "I'm Hitoshi Shinso. My favourite animals are cats, and my hobby is riding my bike around town. I got into the Hero Course by helping Himiko over there deal with the Zero Pointer in our test site and rescue some trapped examinees. My quirk is..." he hesitated, but took a deep breath and continued; "it's Brainwashing. If someone answers me when I speak, I can take control of them and give them commands that they obey. Nothing that requires complex thought though."
There was a moment of silence, during which Hitoshi expected his new classmates to make some comment like all the others used to, but aside from a few nods of acknowledgement and an excited look from Izumi (who was fascinated by his quirk), no one seemed that bothered. The purple-haired boy sat down with a relieved sigh; he supposed that after Quirk Exchange, Resurrection, and the other laundry list of weird powers granted by the Okami quirk, something like his wouldn't raise any eyebrows. Either that or Hero kids were just nicer than the average middle schooler.
From there, everyone introduced themselves in their own ways, talking a bit about their quirks and their likes. Kyoka Jiro's explained her Earphone Jack quirk and how it gave her super hearing, as well as her love of music (which she seemed reluctant to admit). Izumi had her pegged as a Punk Girl, to go with her unenthusiastic, snarky and teasing personality, but apparently she preferred Rock. Denki Kaminari was the stereotypical "Cool Guy", being casual and friendly. His quirk was Electrification and he enjoyed hamburgers and keeping up with the latest trends. Hanta Sero's quirk; Tape, was simple but versatile, while his personality was fairly normal for a high school boy; friendly and sociable without taking himself too seriously. He enjoyed healthy food and was a fan of orange; both the colour and the fruit. Yuga Aoyama, whose quirk had already been revealed, proved to be fairly egotistical and vain; acting like he was a prince among peasants.
As Aoyama professed his love of himself and all things sparkly, Izumi began to feel something slightly off about the boy, like he was hiding some major insecurities, putting him on the list of people Izumi aimed to help, along with Hagakure and Shoto.
Following Aoyama was Tsuyu Asui, whose Frog Form Quirk basically gave her all the powers and abilities of a frog. She was a dependable and straightforward girl who said what was on her mind, often while putting a finger to her face out of habit. She professed a love of the rain, and since most people were disclosing their favourite foods, she told everyone hers was Jelly. She also stated that she wanted everyone to be her friend, so asked them all to call her Tsu. Rikido Sato was next, and despite his imposing frame, didn't appear to have a high opinion of himself. His quirk was Sugar Rush, which increased his muscles while decreasing his cognitive functions as he ate sugar, which provided him with a great boost of power in exchange for making him extremely lethargic once the sugar wore off. Unsurprisingly, he enjoyed baking and sweet things, but was a pretty good cook all around which lead to him offering to make meals for the class from time to time. Eri shyly asked if she could help, since she'd enjoyed helping Doi in the kitchen.
When it came to Koji Koda's turn, the large boy turned beet red and weakly shook his head; refusing (or unable) to talk. Izumi offered him one of her notebooks and a pen so he could write instead, which he accepted gratefully. His quirk was Anivoice; the ability to talk to animals and command them. He enjoyed animals and nature, and was a vegetarian as a result. Then it was Ochako's turn; the girl gave a shy but friendly introduction and explained her Zero Gravity, which Izumi already knew about from their brief conversations on the phone, but Izumi did learn some new things, such as Ochako's love of the starry sky and Japanese food, particularly mochi. Izumi idly wondered if she should make some, before blushing and shaking those thoughts from her head and turning to listen to Mina Ashido's introduction. The Pink Girl could secrete acid of varying strengths, which she explained in her cheerful and energetic way. Mina proclaimed she was staunchly against bullying of any kind, while also declaring her love of both Natto and Okra, which baffled Izumi (an unrepentant hater of Natto).
Then it was Eijiro Kirishima's turn, and to Izumi's surprise, Katsuki straightened up a bit when the Redhead stood up. Izumi was sure Katsuki liked Eijiro more than he let on, but decided not to comment just yet. Eijiro's quirk was Hardening (an ideal Heroic Power, in Izumi's opinion) and he liked pretty much anything that contained meat or was manly in some way. He was unrepentantly manly, but seemed to retain a friendliness and softness to him, along with a noble spirit. He was, ironically, a perfect foil to the explosive, anti-social, abrasive and crass Katsuki Bakugou, who had paid more attention to the Redhead's introduction than all the others combined. The next person to introduce themselves was Mashirao Ojiro, whose quirk: Tail, did exactly what one would expect… it gave him a fully articulated tail. Ojiro was calm and dignified with a hint of shyness, but otherwise unremarkable, though he did share that he practised and enjoyed various martial arts. Then there was Mezo Shoji… best described as enigmatic, gentle despite his appearance and an all-around nice person. He reminded Izumi a little of a Buddhist monk. His quirk was called Dupli-Arms and allowed him to manifest a functioning duplicate of any part of his body from his tentacles. Ironically, Shoji claimed his favourite foods to be Takoyaki and Squid Ink Pasta, which got a few smiles from his classmates.
Fumikage Tokoyami's introduction got off to an amusing start when his quirk, Dark Shadow, decided to introduce itself. The quirk, while mostly controlled by Tokoyami, had its own sentience (something Izumi found very fascinating) and was much more cheerful and playful than its gloomy wielder. Tokoyami, after wrangling Dark Shadow back under control with a borrowed flash light (courtesy of Yaoyorozu), finished his own introduction by stating that he enjoyed darkness and apples. Katsuki immediately dubbed him "Nevermore", while nicknaming Dark Shadow; "Polly".
Dark Shadow was thrilled! Tokoyami less so.
Himiko followed after Tokoyami and gave a friendly and confident introduction, giving her name, her quirk, and professing her love of Pomegranates and her quirk-induced fascination with blood. A few of their classmates looked a bit squeamish, but it was clear from their expressions that they didn't dislike Himiko or begrudge her tastes, they were just uncomfortable with blood in general. Eri was the same in that regard.
Tenya was next, and more or less repeated what he'd said to Izumi earlier that day. He gave the impression that he wanted to say more, but since everyone else had merely introduced themselves, explained their quirks and given their favourite foods and hobbies, Tenya opted not to say any more than that himself. Since he was the second friend Izumi had made at U.A (counting Ochako at the Entrance Exam), the Greenette decided to ask him about it later, though she suspected it involved Ingenium.
Then it was time for Shoto Todoroki's introduction…
"My name is Shoto Todoroki. My quirk makes Ice." he said simply, sitting back down again immediately. Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"Uh, is that it?" Kaminari asked.
"Yes." Shoto replied. His spoke in an emotionless monotone, his expression never changing. It was a shame too; Izumi thought he was rather handsome, even with his burn scar, but his usual blank expression made him look cold and unapproachable. She really had her work cut out for her to get him to open up a little.
"What about your likes? Food, hobbies, stuff like that?" she asked, trying to coax more out of the Icy Boy.
Todoroki shrugged; "I have no hobbies. My favourite food… I guess it's cold soba."
No one really knew how to reply to that and the high energy atmosphere of the room plummeted, something that Shoto either didn't notice or didn't care about.
Katsuki growled and leapt to his feet; "Freaking Half n Half. This is how you do introductions! The name is Katsuki Bakugou, the future Number One Hero! My awesome quirk is called Explosion, and I give you all three guesses at what it does! I like spicy food, climbing mountains and kicking ass! Izuchan over there is my partner and rival, so if you fuck with her, you fuck with me! Same for Sunny. Be nice to Snowball, or I'll kill you if Izuchan doesn't do it first! Talk down to me and I'll kick your ass! If any of you prove you're worth more than shit, I might bother remembering your names, but until then you're all extras! End of Intro!" he sneered, before sitting back down.
Izumi face-palmed while most of the class shared the same thought; "That was worse than Todoroki's!"
Eijiro, on the other hand, thought it was the manliest thing he'd ever heard.
"Um, it's your turn Izumi." Ochako gently reminded the face-palming girl. Izumi blinked in surprise.
"Didn't I already introduce myself earlier?"
"Well yeah, but we don't know your hobbies or anything like that." Sero pointed out.
"Oh, fair enough. I have three hobbies; Hero Work, Quirk Analysis, and art, specifically painting." Izumi said.
The class nodded, and Eri raised her hand shyly; "C-Can I have a turn?"
"Of course! You're our Class Mascot!" Yaoyorozu smiled.
Eri blushed as all attention went on to her; "Um, my name is Eri Midoriya! I like my family, and my favourite food is Apples, and Mama's Katsudon! My quirk is Rewind, and lets me turn people back in time, but I can't use it very good yet… Mama also gave me another quirk, it's called Barrier." she said, before putting her hands together in prayer and causing a golden bubble to appear around them all. A few of the class poked it and found they couldn't budge it, not even when Eijiro punched it at full force with his hardened fist.
"Because of the experiments that Chisaki did, Eri also has some of my powers." Izumi said, so Eri wouldn't need to hide her other powers, "She can use my Wolf Form, my partial transformation, and my Sunrise Technique. She can also control my mirror if I summon it for her."
Eri nodded excitedly and demonstrated by turning into her Puppy Form, earning some coos from the girls. She ran a lap around the room, then turned into her Demi-God Form, her tail wagging happily behind her.
Class 1-A clapped politely and smiled at her, while Aoyama and Tokoyami watched her carefully. Eri bowed politely and sat back down on her mother's lap, now feeling confident around most of the class (though she was still nervous around Tokoyami). With Eri's introduction done, the class then looked to Yaoyorozu to finish the introductions. The prim and proper girl complied; "My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. My quirk; Creation, allows me to manipulate the molecular structure of my fat cells in order to create objects from my body. I can create anything non-living, so long as I understand the object's molecular construction and have enough fat cells to produce it. On a personal note, I enjoy reading and have a taste for traditional English Afternoon Tea."
Sero whistled; "Whoa, you're fancy. You must come from a pretty well-off family!"
"Ah, yes I suppose I do." Yaoyorozu admitted, "However I intend to work very hard at becoming a Hero! In fact I would like to assist you, Midoriya, in helping the class with any problems."
Izumi nodded happily; "Sure! With all the amazing quirks and talents in this class, I bet we'll be able to resolve any problems if we work together and put in the effort!"
"Speaking of effort, we should lug the rest of our stuff upstairs." Kaminari sighed, reluctantly getting up and turning to where the piles of luggage still sat.
"I'll help out. I make a rather fetching Pack Wolf if I do say so myself!" Izumi chuckled before transforming. Himiko, Eri, Tenya, and Ishiko offered their own help too, and after a pleading look from Eijiro, Katsuki relented and stood to help as well.
And with that, Izumi and Class 1-A become friends, and in the months to come, that friendship would save many lives. But for now, Izumi was content to just be with her new friends, learning more about them and growing closer.
Tomorrow, U.A High School would start for real!
Next Chapter: Trials of Teaching Part 1
To be Released: December 7th 2021
And that ends the first part of the arc, and everyone is introduced. Class 1-A has gotten a taste of how crazy their lives are going to be now, and Izumi learns her responsibilities as a teacher. The students are definitely not going to be forgetting what they saw in that Orochi video! At least they now have Eri as their adorable mascot, now that she's comfortable with them!
Next chapter will detail the first day of classes for the students, some bonding between them, and Izumi's first experience with lesson planning with All-Might!
Thank you all once again, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on this chapter and the ones to come!