"Ace, stop doodling and pay attention," Katakuri said, shocking Ace out of his stupor. They were just talking about the field trip next week. He'd already given out forms for it, and Ace had read it. He blushed lightly and put his pencil down. "As I said, this trip will last the whole school day. But as it's going off campus, you'll need to have your parent's permission," he explained.

Ace had already signed his with the fake name. His "mother's" name was "Portgas Ami". Somebody who didn't exist. He worried, because if they did enough digging on his mom, they'd find she didn't really exist. Since she was never born, she had no birth certificate or anything. He'd managed to get the bank account by more lies.

He'd gotten an ID first, one of the first things he'd done, and had forged a birth certificate. It was totally illegal, but as long as he didn't get caught, who cared? Besides, if somebody did find out, he'd just never use that appearance again. Easy as pie. He hoped. If he did get caught, he was counting on being let off easy for why he did such a thing.

Surely people would understand a kid doing anything he could to get off the streets. Afraid and not trusting other adults to take care of him. They'd probably pity him instead of be angry. Besides, it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. But it also meant he had to pay taxes. He did that just fine.

God, he really was like an old person.

"I want you all to be mature when we get off campus. No goofing off with quirks as it will still be during class. I will be going with you, along with All Might," the teacher explained. "You have the option to wear your costume or not. It is possible some will just get in the way while we're there." Ace's costume was easy to move around in, so he wouldn't be skipping out on it.

After homeroom, the rest of the day was boring, like it often was before hero basics training. It was the second week of school, and Ace had gotten used to it. And balancing his school life and adult life. Between school and other things, he managed to squeeze in social time with his friends. Still, nobody but Sabo knew of his home life.

Luffy kept wanting to hang out with Ace, which was kind of annoying, even if he meant well. It was just lucky he had other friends to keep him occupied from annoying Ace all the time. He was nice, and Ace didn't want to burst his bubble or risk hurting his feelings. Though Ace and Sabo both imagined him to not be offended easily.

He did annoy the teachers, though. He would ask stupid questions out of nowhere and disrupt the flow of class. It was funny seeing the teachers do their best not to get mad at him. It was hard to get mad at someone so innocent and earnest. Bakugo hated him with a passion, but he disliked many in the class anyways. Not just because Luffy kept calling him a "grumpy-grump". At lunch, Ace was surprised when Law came to their table. He usually ate by himself or sometimes with Todoroki, both quiet and reserved. And powerful.

"My sister saw the portrait you made of me and wants one of herself. I'll pay, of course. Work isn't free," Law said, getting straight to the point. Sabo looked at Ace. It was an offer for a commission. He gave Ace a thumbs up in encouragement.

Ace nodded. He didn't know how much to ask. "I have $50 up for grabs if you are able to make it somewhat polished." That was a nice amount of money. He accepted the commission, and said he didn't know when it would be done. "That's fine. She'll just need to learn to be patient." Then Law walked away. For such a closed off guy, he was pretty polite.

"You know, you could make a lot of money off of your art," Marco said. Yes, Ace knew that well. He said it would be a good side job, perhaps. Once he was a hero. Which was true, he wasn't lying. He would probably still draw. Maybe not porn anymore if he had a real source of income that he could draw what he wanted for money.

For hero training, All Might was out for the day for some reason. They were surprised to find it was their homeroom teacher who would be instructing them that day. Ace didn't know much about his quirk. He didn't use it in front of others much, because there was no need for him to do so at school when he was just the homeroom teacher.

The other hero teachers didn't show off their quirks during class, either. "Today, while you mostly work on attacking or doing hero actions in this class, with me, you're learning to run. It's not always shameful to flee." Bakugo scoffed and crossed his arms. Then someone walked up from behind, with four very large and muscular dogs. They all grew uneasy. "You will each be running from one of these dogs as they chase you through a dilapidated building."

"What?!" many screamed.

Marco walked to one of the dogs and it licked his hand. There was no way the teacher would put them in danger by hiring rabid dogs to chase and attack them. "They won't kill you, but will make it very realistic to be running from a dangerous enemy. I've made some courses beforehand in some of the buildings. You'll be going through one by one to escape. You will be wearing one of these around your waists," he said, holding up a flag of some sort. "If they manage to bite these away, you lose."

Everyone got a flag and clipped it to their waistbands. Ace's was more complicated. His clothes transformed with him. If he put this on one, then it would turn with him. "Can I just carry it in my mouth? I don't have clothes in my animal forms," Ace asked. He was given three more to tie together so it was longer and could drag behind him.

They were in the hub underneath the building they'd be using. Most of the buildings in Ground Beta were like this, had a little viewing room below. Ace volunteered to go first. "There are multiple paths to choose. This depends on luck and quick thinking as well as speed and agility. Ace, go first, make it to the other end of the building without having your flag stolen," Katakuri said. Ace nodded, and went to the entrance. It was a long building, and he assumed there were multiple paths by the terms "luck" and "quick thinking".

The dog was right behind him, and he shifted into a cheetah immediately, sprinting away with the flag in his mouth. He didn't want to take the easy way out and just go as a bird. He sprinted through the hall, hearing the dog barking and snarling behind him. When he came across a blockade, he turned into a mouse and forced his way through, still holding onto the much bigger than him flag.

He slipped through, but the dog was strong and Ace could hear it body slamming the wall before it broke. Ace then turned into a lizard and went into the ventilation system, flying through it s a bird until he was at a dead end and had to make his way out. He ripped open the vent with long claws and dropped inside, running towards the other end.

But the dog was suddenly coming out of another hall fast on his heels. Ace was almost there! He could make it! He jumped towards the goal, but right before he made it, the flag was ripped out of his mouth. He lost. But he was so damn close! Man that dog was fast and aggressive! But now that it had the ribbon, it was perfectly calm.

Ace had never done poorly on one of the events or training before. He did so on this one. It was a bad feeling, failure. He headed down stairs when Katakuri's voice echoed to him that it was over. He had his shoulders slumped. "Better luck next time," the teacher said, but not in a demeaning voice.

He didn't have any sense of humor and was always serious, but Ace knew he cared about his students. When one of them had a bad bloody nose in class, as Sanji had a medical disorder that did that, Katakuri had started buying gauze and kept in the cupboard of the homeroom class for him to use when necessary.

The sensei had also talked to Midoriya after class one day and gave him a packet of paper about standing up for himself when Bakugo kept being passive aggressive. It had embarrassed Midoriya, but it was still thoughtful.

"You were so close, too!" Uraraka said with regret in her voice.

"Well, everyone is bound to lose sometimes," Zoro said. It was true, Ace had done well for the last two weeks. Still, failing at running away… "Though why didn't you just turn into a bird and fly away?" the green haired teen asked. Ace shrugged but said that he didn't want to just have that one default. Though he might have passed from it.

After Ace, most of them could not make it out. The level was hard and there were multiple dead ends that doomed some of the students. They were not allowed to attack the dog or they were disqualified and had detention. Bakugo made it by blowing up anything in his path, which wasn't docked with points since he was going to be running for his life.

Todoroki coated the floor in ice, making the dog falter for a bit, ultimately buying him enough time to make it to the end. Law, lethargic and talented as always, teleported himself to the finish line, swapping places with the sign at the end that said they had made it. Luffy punched his way through the blockage, and everyone else tried their best, too. Sabo failed, as did Midoriya. They was physically fit, but was not fast enough.

While Ace wanted his friends and classmates to succeed, he was glad it was very difficult for most of them. He did start it out with a failure, so there was no high bar to meet. Many left the dogs with their flags, disappointed. But Ace had to admit that it was a well planned out training day. But most were tired from how hard they ran. The girls who succeeded the best were Ashido and Koala. Ashido seemed very physically fit and her acid was used to get rid of anything in her path. Koala paused everything she got past to block the dog and slow it down.

But the rest all didn't do well. Well, they failed all together. "You did very well, even those who failed. Full points to everybody for doing their best and not harming the dogs. You can all go back and change into regular clothes. But I want you to write down what you think you could have done better and then turn it in tomorrow. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir," they said, and headed back to the main campus. Ace and Marco went with the others. Marco failed as well, his phoenix form too large to maneuver easily through the small spaced areas. When they were back in class, Law sent Ace some reference photos of his younger sister. She looked about seven or eight.

He would pay after the drawing was finished. No matter if he disliked it or not. Ace trusted him to keep this promise. He then took his two friends back to their places before going to the grocery store and buying some food. He'd just gotten his pay for that month from , so he splurged on food.

It was always satisfying to go grocery shopping after a payment and just buying anything he wanted. His cart was very full, and he was so glad he could bring along things he carried. There were a lot of bags, so he ended up transforming into a bird with six grocery bags and a backpack full of fruit.

When he got inside, he put everything away in his kitchen and collapsed onto the couch, satisfied. Now he didn't need to go grocery shopping for awhile. He turned into Ami and went to the mailbox and got his mail. Marco got his own mail and then left. It was hard not to greet him. And weird hiding himself like this.

Well, it was necessary. When Ace got back, he went through the mail and found he was billed for the water damage that had been appraised. He scowled and then headed to the office and gave a stern talking to about the fact that he had to pay for the results of the plumbers choosing his unit last?

And it wasn't his fault that they only had three workers that were dispatched for forty units that all had issues. He was persistent and stern until he got his way and then went home, not needing to pay for someone else's mistake. When he got inside, he texted Sabo about it, bragging unashamedly. Sabo found it funny but admirable how mature he had to be sometimes. And that other times he entertained his friends by becoming fictional creatures.

Ace smiled, glad he could do both.

-x-

"I'm prettier than you are," Ace bragged on the roof of the tallest building in Japan. He had designed his own phoenix look that he'd seen in fantasy books or art. He was red with shimmery feathers and long tail feathers that had gold in them. Marco huffed. They were both perched on the roof, making sure to be quiet so they didn't risk being caught and in trouble.

"Yeah, but you can't do what I can. You're just a bird," Marco replied, kicking his feet over the side of the roof. Maybe it was not the best idea to do this on a a school night, when they had the field trip in the morning, but Ace had wanted to go on a flight after a bad day, and Marco wanted to, too. He snuck out of his apartment to do so. Bad boy.

"A prettier bird," Ace replied obnoxiously.

"I'm plenty pretty," Marco said shortly. Ace pointed and laughed at him, instantly back in human form. "Shut up! You're the one that brought it up!"

"Tut tut, aren't mythical creatures supposed to be gracious and proper? Everyone admires them, right?" Marco scowled, and Ace was feeling like pressing buttons right now. But he was just joking, Marco knew that, too. It was fun being around him because they never talked about anything deep like Ace did with Sabo and Midoriya. It was just to have fun doing things together nobody else could do.

Marco looked out at the setting sun, the sky dark purple. "I sure am glad I don't have a stupid quirk."

"There are no stupid quirks, just inexperienced users," Ace recited their homeroom teacher. "Though some are terribly inconvenient. But I like my quirk, too," he said happily. Truly glad he didn't have a useless mutant quirk. Or one that had severe drawbacks. "I bet your family has a really wide range of quirks. Not being biologically related or anything."

Marco nodded. "Thatch is jealous of my quirk sometimes. He wants to fly, but dad told me I'm not allowed to fly him. You can see why it got kind of lonely up here. I think there's only one flying pro-hero in Japan, Hawks. Maybe I can work there in the beginning. I really want to be a pro-hero. A big-name one." He looked to Ace and asked why he wanted to be a hero.

"Money and comfort mostly," Ace said honestly. "I also want there to be a purpose for me. I want to be useful." Marco frowned, but didn't say anything intrusive. Thankfully, since Ace hadn't meant for his words to come out that way. Marco looked at his watch and huffed. It was getting near dinner time.

"I should head home now. I don't want to be in too much trouble," he said, and stood up and stretched. "I'm excited for tomorrow's field trip," he added brightly. Both of them turned into bird forms and flew back to the meeting spot they'd left from. "I'll see you tomorrow," Marco said, and flew home.

Ace turned into a bird and flew in the opposite direction before doubling back and flying home. Marco was already inside his house and Ace slipped through the crack in his window as a tiny hummingbird. When he entered home, he immediately headed to his office, not to eat. He wanted to draw.

And he did, not noticing what he was drawing until it was done, and he was looking at a self portrait with a bunch of people around him. Blank faces, nobody he knew. He swallowed, and deleted the drawing completely. He ran his hands down his face and went to make some food for himself.

He'd realized over the last couple of weeks that having support from their families was something everyone in his class had. All but him. Because he had no family. Nobody to come home to, nobody to vent at but Sabo. Nobody to live with, laugh with, cry with. Nobody but Sabo and Midoriya. Life could be very lonely sometimes. But he knew that, he'd known that for his whole entire lonely life.

He ate and then went to bed, setting an alarm for the next morning on his phone. The field trip should be fun, though they were mostly in the dark about what they'd be doing during it. But a change of pace would be fun, he was sure.