A brisk autumn breeze sweeps the streets of Musutafu, littering leaves and bits of once blooming flowers across the pavement. As the wind continues to blow, a young teenage boy pulls the hood of his sweatshirt up and over his head to block out the cold. The once lively town had begun to settle down for the upcoming winter season, leaving the streets practically empty. The boy walks quickly to reach his destination: UA High. The high school where future pro heroes are trained. As he reaches the main staircase, the bell rings, signifying that he is late to class. Again. A deep sigh escapes him as he hurries to his classroom hoping that his teacher, Nana Shimura, would not notice his tardiness. Unfortunately for him, that was not the case.
"Toshinori! So glad you decided to join us today." Nana says with a smile, although Toshinori can see that it's forced. "Please, take your seat." She gestures to the only empty seat in the class.
The teenage boy, Toshinori Yagi, slips into his seat quietly as he mutters a brief apology to his teacher. The cold plastic chair does not help to ease the sore muscles in his body. For well over half a year now, he has been training day and night to improve upon his combat skills. This training is what got him into UA as the first and only quirkless student to ever attend. Because of this handicap, Toshinori has to work much harder at succeeding than the rest of his peers. Now, just a couple weeks into his first year at UA, he is feeling the aftermath of the intense training sessions. Constantly late, always falling asleep during lectures, and still he hasn't seen much improvement. A gentle tap on his shoulder disturbs him from his overthinking.
"Pssst- hey!" The girl sitting in the seat just behind Toshinori's whispers, "This is the third time you've been late!" She's very observant, he thinks. "Are you alright?" He can't answer her right away out of fear Ms. Shimura might overhear. Still, this girl is persistent. "I know we've never formally spoken before, but I'm Risako." Ah yes, Toshinori has heard her name before. Risako Kusatsu, the girl with the hair quirk. She can grow her hair out to any length and use it to her advantage. She can also retract her hair to any length, and usually chooses to keep it in a long braid down to her knees. She's very pretty and all the boys in their class tend to fawn over her, while she remains clueless. "You're Toshinori Yagi, right?" She's still trying to get his attention, or at least get him to talk. He looks up and Ms. Shimura has her attention on the chalkboard so he attempts to make a brief response, hoping to appease his classmate.
"Yes, I am Toshinori Yagi." He replies quietly as he looks over his shoulder. Risako sports a big smile that takes up her whole face. She is indeed very pretty, he thinks. "You're the only quirkless student to attend UA huh?" She seems all too excited about that statement. Before Toshinori even gets a chance to respond, she continues, "Wow! That's so cool! You must be so amazing then! For them to let you into school without a quirk." She's still beaming. "Uh, yeah I guess." Blushing from the compliment he was just given, he thinks about what she said. Amazing? That is the last word he would use to describe himself. While his self esteem isn't great, it's also not that bad. But he knows what he truly is. Not amazing or even remarkable in any way. He's very much average, and he's okay with that. He did get into UA without a quirk which is remarkable in itself. But that was purely from hard work, dedication, and many letters of correspondence with the principal to grant his admission. He might not agree with her when it comes to saying he's amazing, but he knows he is very persistent and that's what gets the job done.
"So, me and a couple other of our classmates were gonna have a study group after class. If you want to join us?" Her question once again snaps him out of his head. A study group? He'd never been invited to something like that. He also didn't really socialize with his class though. He was so focused on catching up to them that it was actually making him fall behind. "I noticed you've been late a few times already this year, we've got some good material that I think could help you catch up." The smile that lit up her face had now turned to a look of concern. Her kind words matched her sweet personality. Good qualities for a future pro. He figured she could probably be the number one hero easily. "Well, maybe. But I should really focus on my training." He says that and only regrets it after he thinks about it. He does need to catch up with the book work, but he also needs to catch up with the physical work too. How can he ever be a pro hero, or even a hero at all if he doesn't compare physically to the others. Too, though, he'll never get a chance to graduate if he doesn't keep up with classwork. It's hard to find a good balance between class and training. "Haven't you been training every night for a while now? I think a little break would be good!" Her golden smile is back "If you change your mind, we'll be in the student lounge after class." Risako sits back in her seat and Toshinori acknowledges her offer with a small nod. He turns his attention back to Ms. Shimura too late though, as she's been staring at them for a minute or so now.
"Toshinori, anything you want to share with the class?" She's giving him the look. The look of 'if you do that again you're going to regret it'. "No ma'am." Toshinori turns every shade of red and keeps his head down. "Why don't you see me after class." Phrased as a question but the only answer is yes. "Yes, Ms. Shimura." Great. Now he's going to be late for training. Or the study session. The question of whether or not to skip training for one day still lingers in his head.
The bell rings, announcing that class has ended, and Toshinori realizes how quickly the day went by. He tried to keep his attention focused on the lesson at hand for the day but he couldn't stop thinking about his training, and was curious as to what punishment Ms. Shimura was going to give for chatting in class.
The classroom clears and it's just him and Ms. Shimura now. "So, Toshinori," She begins and motions for him to come to her desk. "You've put in a lot of effort to be here." Referring to his intensive training and his persistent begging until he was finally accepted. "You know, the school only admitted you to make an example out of you." Oh. He felt that one sting. "They think you could be a sidekick at best. But most of the faculty think you wont make it to the second semester." Why is she telling him this, he thinks. "But, I see great potential in you. You've persevered and worked extremely hard to make it where you are now. It's really not fair that you don't have a quirk. Especially when I see so many others taking theirs for granted." He thought this was going to be a lecture on his behavior, so this is a relief to him. "Tell me, Toshinori, what drives you to want to be a hero, despite being quirkless?" He thinks long and hard on his answer before responding. "These citizens have no one to believe in. They need to rely on someone." He feels confident in his words as he continues. "That's why, I want to be the hero that gives people hope." His words surprise Ms. Shimura, and she purses her lips as the realization sets in. "Huh- so that's what drives you to become a hero, even though you're quirkless."
"Yes!" He replies, knowing fully well that the odds are against him. He knows that it's not highly likely he'll ever be a pro, but he's not going to stop trying just because of that.
"You've got some crazy ideas.. Heh." She half-chuckles, giving Toshinori a slight feeling of embarrassment. "Success is not only training your body but also your mind. You have to be just as strong mentally, or you'll never be a pro." She tells him as he looks down to the ground. "Don't give up everything you've worked so hard for just to train. I overheard Risako's invitation to you. You should go, and hurry up! Don't want to be late." With that final statement, she motions for Toshinori to go. He bows to her, says a quick thank you and takes his leave. She was right, if he continues the way he has been then he will fail and his hard work to get into UA will have been for nothing. So off he went, on his way to the study group.