The class was chattering about themselves or things they'd heard about in UA, and silenced when the next teacher came in to teach their subject. But everyone was more looking forward to the hero training course. That would be the most interesting, clearly. And there were three students in the class that were the most book smart just based on the math and english lessons. The proper girl, Iida, and Koala. Sabo didn't show himself off by smarts so far.
When english ended, they waited in their seats for the next teacher, who zoomed inside. All Might was their teacher?! Everyone were shocked. "I am here!" All Might declared. "As your teacher!"
"Wow! He's our teacher?! Why did nobody say anything?!"
"I already knew…" Sanji said. A handful of others agreed. It seemed they hadn't all gotten the same acception hologram. Hmm, kind of weird. All Might pretty much said hello, and then told them to get their costumes. Ace had transformed into him at Midoriya's home, and he knew that grin had to be uncomfortable.
Nobody protested getting straight to action, and hurried to get the briefcases with their costumes inside. Then they went to the changing room and got dressed. Looking at some of the others in the changing room made him realize his costume was pretty simple. A red tight tank top and some shorts with nice black boots. He had a belt with compartments in it though and red gloves.
"That's your costume?" Luffy asked. "It's so simple!" Ace said he wasn't one to talk, as his was very simple as well. "Shishishi, that's true. Not like Iida's at all!" Indeed, Iida's outfit was very detailed. As was Bakugo's. Though his had to have some sort of use other than just there to look cool. But the gauntlets did look heavy and inconvenient.
Ace walked to Sabo and Midoriya. "Do they look right?"
"You drew them perfectly, they look exactly how I wanted," Sabo said, admiring his blue and black costume. It was long sleeved, and he wanted to look proper. So he kinda looked fancy. But he'd always liked wearing nice clothes. Ace would wear a tank top and some shorts in most places where Sabo liked to wear fancy clothes and look smart.
Midoriya's outfit was green and white, with bunny ears and a mouth piece mask. "They're not bunny ears," Midoriya said in embarrassment.
"Then what are they?" Luffy asked, cocking his head, which bent to the side unnaturally. A quirk that made him super flexible? Midoriya just said he thought they looked cool. "Shishishi!" and Luffy bounded away and to his two friends.
When they all got out of the changing room and met up with the girls, Ace saw that some of their outfits were also very complicated. And some looked hard to get into. Shorts and a tank top were just fine and he could change in a second. Those with the skin tight body suits would be harder to get into, and more difficult to replace. So Ace was happy with his simple outfit.
"Wanna race?" Marco asked with a grin. The grounds they were to go to weren't super close. So Ace said why not? They stood at the same distance and both changed forms. Marco as the phoenix and Ace as the fastest bird he knew of.
"One, two, three!" Ace said, and they both shot off and towards the place they needed to go. Ace beat his wings faster, but he was much smaller than the large, human sized mythical bird beside him. Ace changed his form into Marco's, only he was red. He flapped his wings harder, but Marco was faster, and he won.
Then both landed, and Ace pouted. "Hah, better luck next time."
"I'll develop a form much faster than yours. I have a lot to work with," he said back. All Might was waiting inside the stadium/arena/ring, and they waited outside for everyone else to arrive. Marco asked him about himself. He was interested in Ace because he'd never met anyone else with a flight quirk. "I can change my body into anything I want. Changing my voice is possible, too."
"Can you turn into a sea creature?"
Ace nodded, leaning against the wall. "I'm working on changing my interior, too. I can't change into other creatures fully, so I don't have the inner workings of a sea creature. But I'll get a lot better at that," Ace vowed. Marco asked if he could change into other humans. Ace said he didn't know, a lie. But Marco was his damn neighbor. He wouldn't let him know.
The others arrived then, long after the two made it there. What a long walk. No wonder hero training was a two and a half hour class. When they all gathered, the doorway opened for them to enter Ground Beta, the same set up as from the entrance exam. The class crowded together, and Sabo hit Ace's arm for leaving him behind.
"Sorry," Ace said unapologetically. All Might was still beaming, and complimented them on their costumes. Ace felt unremarkable, but wasn't the only one not in a complicated costume, so that was a relief. "We're getting right into it, heroes! A trial of battle! You're all heroes, now. Might as well get right into the good stuff!"
Hands were raised, asking questions about what they would be doing, instead of waiting for directions. "Do we have snack times in between?" Luffy asked. His two friends didn't look surprised by the question. The class all looked at him, and he added that he got hungry easily.
"Young Luffy, there are no food breaks, but it is a good idea. We must replenish our strength after battles!" He scribbled something down on a piece of paper he was holding. Luffy giggled. Ace shook his head, and the questions had stopped after Luffy's silly one. It gave All Might the chance to explain how it would work.
"You will be fighting in teams of two," he started, and then explained the rules. One team was the villains and the other were the heroes. The hero team had to find the bomb the villain team were guarding. Touching the bomb or tying up both villains meant the heroes won. But there was a timer, and the villain team would win if they ran out of time. So it was easier to win as the villain, just let the clock run out.
Lots were drawn, and Ace ended up with Sero, the tape guy. They were against Todoroki, one of the two who got in on recommendation, and Sanji, a blonde who seemed to have already made an enemy with the smallest member, Mineta. The one that kept staring at the girls' asses and boobs.
Their match was first. Ace and Sero made their ways to the bomb, choosing to go to the top floor. Sero would watch the bomb and Ace would be the one going after the two students in the hero team. Ace stood in the third story corridor, and immediately, he saw the ground turning into ice. Everything around turning into ice, covering every inch of the building.
Ace turned into a polar bear, unaffected by the cold around him. It was freezing, his breath coming out in little puffs. He could heard Sanji arguing with Todoroki about the method, but Ace didn't hesitate to attack. Just run out the clock. He turned into a falcon, and went flying down the staircase and down the hall to where they were being noisy, and turned into polar bear again.
Sanji didn't seem to be a long distance fighter, so Todoroki did most of the work against Ace while Sanji went to get the bomb. Todoroki shot ice at Ace, and he shifted midair into a arctic fox. He had learned all sorts of animals over the summer. He shot forward and attacked viciously, changing sizes and turning into a white dragon. The scales were hard and thick. Ice didn't affect them.
He went after the half redhead as he ended up running down the hall from him. Ace slammed a hand into the ice on the wall, it shattering in the hallway and leaving a pile of broken ice shards. He kept the guy busy, and when he was tapped in ice, Ace just shrunk and got out of it, trying again. He was impossible to trap in ice completely.
Even when his whole body was encased in it, he shrunk down to a mouse, and then as an elephant to break it up. The time ran out, and Sero must have stopped Sanji, as the hero team won. Ace had never transformed that many times and put out physical effort in each one. He was out of breath and just kind of tired. Todoroki melted the ice in the building, and walked out with the other two. They were all in good spirits. It was good practice training!
"Hey, can you really turn into anything?" Sero asked on their way down to the hub where the others were waiting.
"So far. I mean, I can't turn into an object like a book or something. But living stuff is fine for me. Even fictional stuff." Ace turned into Pikachu and jumped onto Sero's shoulder. "This would be the best halloween costume with someone dressed as a pokemon trainer."
Sero and Sanji busted up into laughter, and started to joke around with him about what to turn into. When they made it back to the hub, Ace was back to his normal body. But he was tired. They all got graded well, having not damaged any of the building. Ace and Sero won, but the other team still got high marks for the proper conduct and quick thinking.
Ace looked forward to seeing everybody else's powers. Next up was Sabo and Kaminari. They were the villains and their plan went off without a hitch. Sabo coated the entire building, all the halls, into thick thunder clouds. Kaminari injected electricity into them and electrocuted the heroes, beating Tokoyami and Tsu instantly. They lost. It was kind of embarrassing, but the villain's plan was quick thinking.
Ace gave Sabo a high five. Luffy's quirk was his body being made of rubber that he could stretch however long he wanted to. He ended up losing his partner, Koala a bunch of points by damaging half of the building in one of his moves. She was pissed, as they'd both lost because he had messed up the staircase, taking away their ability to move up to the next floor to get the bomb. She didn't trust Luffy to "shoot her up" to the next floor.
The heroes won that one.
Everybody had really interesting quirks, and Marco and Law both amazed everybody. Law didn't even move an inch to win. He was on the heroes team. Mineta was fine with him doing all the work. "Room," Law muttered, putting his hand up and creating a huge dome. He took out his weapon, which was not a real sword but still cut the building apart into tiny pieces.
He ended up cutting apart both villains, Kirishima and Marco. But Marco's flames healed him over even as Kirishima freaked out about being cut in half. He was perfectly fine, alive, but still sliced in half. But Marco flew through the rubble and got the bomb to fly away. But then Law moved a finger, and Marco and the bomb were right in front of him, switching him with Mineta.
Law touched the bomb, and won, before he put everything back together. When that group got back, everyone stared at Law in shock. "That's way too overpowered!" they shouted. Marco laughed and thumped Law's shoulder, which irked him. He said nothing and walked to the back of the room and sat down, not far from Zoro, who was napping after winning his match.
Finally, Midoriya and Uraraka were vs. Bakugo and Iida. Ace and Sabo wondered how this would go. Bakugo hadn't seen Midoriya using his quirk yet. Would the shock piss him off more? He already detested the other, and had already seen a bunch of strong quirks. Since Bakugo was so prideful, he would be determined to win no matter what, and it would make him even angrier with his formerly-quirkless peer beat him.
Ace stood with Sabo, both watching with a pinched expressions. "Do you know Bakugo personally?" Sero asked Ace.
"We went to junior high together," Ace replied. "He's really testy and prideful. He won't take losing lightly." Sabo nodded in agreement. It soon became clear that Bakugo was furious with Midoriya. Nobody could hear what they were saying, but the two of them, once they clashed, were shouting to one another, both looking angry. Bakugo looked like he lost all self control, and the freckled one looked mostly determined if not a little worried.
It was a mess. Uraraka did make it to the bomb, but Iida was guarding it. Most people were focused on the footage of Bakugo. He'd made it clear just by this that his quirk, explosion, was dangerous.
"I didn't think he was the kind of guy to have a lot of control over his quirk," Sanji said. "He seems like a literal hot head, but he's maneuring it pretty well." Then he blew apart the wall. "Nevermind."
Ace and Sabo were quiet, not knowing what would happen as it became clear that Midoriya not using his quirk and only reflexes was not enough. He couldn't let his body break during this. The teen had told Ace and Sabo that he was scared of being a burden. To anybody, with a quirk that put him out of action.
He did as much as he could without the quirk, but by then Bakugo had already burnt him in many places. His suit was fucked up already, one sleeve and the mask and head part completely ruined. That's why something like Ace's or Luffy's would be most convenient.
When Midoriya finally did use his quirk, it was to break apart the ground above. Destroying the floors above and the roof. Uraraka used this as a distraction and weapon, retrieving the bomb. Even though all of the broken rocks might have set it off if it were real. The hero team won, but both were in worse shape than the villains they beat, and the building was ruined, now.
Midoriya's right arm was broken and purple from using his quirk, and his left arm was burnt badly by taking a blast from Bakugo's explosion directly. He was so reckless. It was only okay because there was somebody on campus that could heal him, the nurse. If she weren't there, Midoriya would have a long road of recovery.
It was the most violent match, and had the worst injuries. Others had bruises, but not the wounds that Midoriya did. Ace wondered what kind of mood Bakugo was in, now. He lost. In front of everybody, he lost. Ace, Sabo and Midoriya all beat him. When he came back in to get graded, Midoriya was on his way back to the main campus infirmary.
"I can't believe his quirk does that to his body," Jiro said quietly.
"He broke his arm and legs at the entrance exam," Iida commented, smiling and in a great mood after being given the most points in his match. Not damaging anything or lashing out in anger. Ace looked at Bakugo, who looked kind of shocked and dismayed, looking at the ground. Well, he was the last match. For better or worse, it ended with him.
All Might said he'd meet up with them at class but had to go to Midoriya for his results. Ace grinned. "Who wants to fly back?" There was no teacher to tell them they couldn't. Ace turned into a huge dragon form with spikes on his back in rows to sit between. Sabo grinned and hopped on. Marco got on, too. Sero, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, Zoro and Luffy all agreed. The others were nervous about it. "Ready?" Ace asked. "Hold on tight. If anyone falls, Marco will catch you."
"Sure, why not?" Marco agreed. Ace set off, and those on his back were cheering in amazement. He only flew them back to the main area, behind a wall so nobody saw them from the main building. He landed, and those on the back cheered, exhilarated. They got off, and Kaminari's knees buckled.
"Wimp," Sero said jokingly. "Damn, that was cool! You really can turn into whatever, can't you?! I'm jealous!" he shouted. Kirishima agreed that it was awesome. Those went inside and changed into their normal clothes, grinning. Their hair was all a bit messed up from the wind. When the rest of the class caught up, they were all inside and joking around.
Ace had fun with people enjoying his quirk. They were referencing different characters for Ace to change into, nobody suggesting anyone human yet. Bakugo didn't come back but to snatch his things up off the desk. He didn't wait for All Might to return, he just ditched.
The pro-hero did come back in and go over that day's class. "Young Ace and accomplices. You won't do something so reckless on campus again," he said, voice surprisingly firm. Well, they weren't in trouble, just a warning. But they all nodded. Then he left, and everyone packed their things, exchanging phone numbers.
Midoriya had called his mom since he was injured. So, Ace and Sabo left. "I can't believe you made friends by turning into a pokemon. You're a weird one, Ace," Sabo said over the wind. Ace laughed, happy with his first day of school. He dropped Sabo off at home. He grinned at his closest friend and then turned into a bird, flying back home as a small bird.
He saw through Marco's open window that he was napping. It was weird, being neighbors when the other had no idea. He flew in through the window, and smiled, only to lose his smile. He had nobody to tell about his day. No family, no other friends. He sat on the couch with a sigh. Slapping his cheeks, he started on his homework.
Hey. Ace was surprised by the message from Marco. They'd all exchanged numbers, but don't classmates usually do that? For homework references and everything? It was so weird knowing he was right next door but he didn't know. He put his book down and moved on his bed to grab it.
Hi.
Do you wanna go flying sometime?
It seemed he really was happy to know somebody else who could fly. If his only quirk was to fly, he could see wanting someone else who could enjoy it with him. Unlike Ace, Marco couldn't bring people along with him when he wanted. And flying with somebody else had been fun, racing was really fun.
He wasn't against the idea of going on flights. He just had to make sure the guy didn't know his flying buddy lived right next door. Had he made another friend so fast? Ace smiled and said he was cool with that.
Awesome! Have you ever gone flying at night?
Yeah. Flying at sunset is my favorite, though, Ace replied with a smile. He bookmarked his book, since he assumed this conversation would be ongoing, and put on the TV. Marco really was ecstatic to have someone to talk about and he wanted to go flying as soon as possible. Ace felt like an old person when he said he was busy sometimes.
That's cool! When would you be free?
Just ask when and then I'll tell you if I'm free then.
Are you free now?
Ace looked at his homework on the bed. He'd finished. He didn't need to go shopping, nowhere to go, nothing to do. He was completely free, but had been happy to just hang out on his bed. But going flying would be nice, and he was feeling very lonely right now. Coming home to an empty house shouldn't have hurt like that, but knowing how Midoriya was with his mom, he was sure a lot of kids would have returned home to tell their families all about their first day of school.
Ace didn't have that pleasure, but it wasn't like he expected it. He hadn't even known he would feel that way afterwards, since he had no other expectation than to go at life alone. But he would be happy to hang out with somebody right now. Maybe he could become a good friend with Marco, too.
But could you have more than one or two close friends? He wanted to be friends with everybody in class, but he was worried he wouldn't be good enough for them all. Or what if he expected to much from them, and they thought he was needy?
Did he act too cool on the first day? He was just being himself. What if they expected him to be cool everyday?
Ace?
He got off track, and slapped his cheeks. Insecurities about friends weren't welcome. He replied that he was fine to go now if he wanted. Marco messaged back a meeting place. Marco didn't know where Ace lived, so he put a meeting place at the sports stadium not too far from there. Ace promised he'd be there soon.
But he had to wait ten minutes after he heard Marco's front door slam shut to go out the window as a tiny bird. He had his phone with him, but of course it shrunk when he left. He met Marco on the roof of the stadium, but decided to take him by surprise, and flew as a bird up behind him before changing into a bear and dropping himself on top.
"Oof!" Marco grunted. Ace got off and changed into normal form, laughing as Marco's healing flames healed the back injury from a giant bear jumping on you. "You asshole!" Marco shouted, but not in hate. He was uninjured, after all. Ace turned into a bird and flew away, a game of tag and Marco flew after him.
It was really fun to fly and joke around with somebody else. Somebody other than Sabo, who he had a deep connection with. They flew around and then ended up getting something to eat. "So, what's your family like? Do you live with them?" Marco asked, the dreaded question Ace knew he had to somehow deflect on any new friends. His face fell into a blank slate, filtering through any lies tat would be possible. He couldn't say he lived with his mom but he couldn't say he lived alone.
But goofy though he seemed, it looked like Marco could read the room. "You don't have to talk about them if you don't want to," he added quickly. Ace thanked him, and said he didn't want to talk about his homelife. "Okay, I get it," the phoenix said lightly, and Ace felt he actually wouldn't press him about anything, which was a relief. Hopefully nobody else would be nosy.
"I live with my dad and brother, Thatch. We're both adopted. My dad adopted all his kids. I have a bunch of older brothers, but I'll be the only hero in the family," Marco explained happily. Ace felt a lance go through him. Marco had a big family, then. He was lucky. Ace smiled and asked about what they were like.
Marco adored his family, that much was clear. He was the second to youngest, with Thatch being two years younger, and aspiring to be a chef. He probably cooked the goodies Ace ended up throwing away. Now he felt guilty about wasting his hard work. "They sound nice. Have you always wanted to be a hero?" Ace wondered as he set off on his second crepe.
"Yeah. Well, no. I wanted to be a doctor first, but that changed eventually. What about you?" Marco wondered.
Ace honestly said, "I'd never used my quirk around other people before the end of last school year. I secretly wanted to be a hero, but not long. I never really thought about a career or anything. But I think my quirk can be useful for many purposes. So I want to do that." Marco raised his brows at hearing he hadn't used his quirk. But he didn't ask about it.
"I think you'll definitely make a useful hero." Ace smiled and nodded. They looked at the time, finding it was getting close to dinner time. They said goodbye, to see each other in the morning. "I had a lot of fun! You're pretty cool, Ace."
Ace smiled bashfully, still not used to compliments of any kind. He smiled and returned the sentiment. Marco flew off first, and Ace went to his favorite take out place and got some food before flying home and back through the window. He left the apartment through the front door only to get the mail, which was just some advertisements. He then ate his dinner on his bed, watching a movie an relaxing, feeling satisfied with his first day of school. The teen looked forward to the rest of the year! And all of the fun he'd have and grow stronger.