Chapter 11: Something about Leadership

Junko:

There was something about calmer days like these that could put a guy at ease. For one, seeing the sun in the sky hang there almost lazily could help take one's mind off of any morning woes. That warming sunlight also called out to the cute butterflies, which would gather to the flowers to begin their daily rituals.

There was also the always-appreciated benefit of no wild winds to mess with the results of his immaculate morning hair care.

Junko's hand instinctively shot towards his right, gently feeling that long braid he'd spent this morning meticulously tending to. Just as neat and stylish as he'd recalled making it this morning. He lowered his hand, joining the other to grasp the handle of his book bag, which he held loosely in front of him.

A relaxing morning stroll to class after the battle trials and night of partying, this really was not a bad life. He had been pretty certain about pursuing a heroics course at UA, but even then he wasn't sure what had awaited him there. But this morning of peace after so much excitement, it really spoke to him that this was the right choice.

Which meant it was about time for a call of "Shuzenji-san!" from behind and a hand to eagerly pat his back, causing him to lurch forward from the suddenness of it all. Junko regained his balance within seconds, his hands immediately shooting to his hair. To his relief, his hair stayed as styled as it was, that sudden pat from behind not upsetting it. He lowered his hands, glancing to his left as someone stepped around him.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Shuzenji-san! I hope you're doing fine?"

Junko quickly recognized the boy from yesterday - both from the battle trials and the party afterwards, though a pink-haired-and-skinned boy with a bird's beak would've been pretty difficult to forget, he had to admit. "...Tokoyami-san." He stood up fully, still looking at the smaller boy. "I'm fine, just wasn't expecting that."

It was a bit hard to tell, given the beak, but he noticed the boy - Yuudai, if he remembered correctly - smiled up at him, looking fairly relieved. "That's good to hear, Shuzenji-san! I was worried you were about to topple over there!"

"Guess I'm lucky you didn't pat me that hard," he replied with a small smile. Tightening his grip on his bag, he resumed his stroll towards the school.

Yuudai quickly caught up with him, his pace a bit quicker to make up for his shorter legs. "So, Shuzenji-san, that was a pretty fun party last night, huh? I'm really glad Nishiya-san suggested it, cuz it was nice to party after all those awesome matches!"

"It was, and Sayo delivering those cookies was also a real plus."

"Those were absolutely delicious, I'm glad she brought those along!" The shorter boy hummed. "Not to mention seeing Sasaki-san go to town on Toyomitsu-san like that in the middle of the party! The craziest thing was, Toyomitsu-san seemed to have a blast getting hit like that!"

"That was really shocking. It was lucky they didn't break anything doing that."

Yuudai laughed at that. "I'll admit, I didn't think that was going to be the big event of that party!"

Junko couldn't help but laugh as well as he recalled the scene so freshly: Kojiro and Itami stood in front of the crowd, declaring they had a show of strength to put on for them. The next thing anyone knew, Kojiro delivered an uppercut that sent Itami sailing over a table and onto the ground a few feet away. And yet Itami was up a second later, demanding more from Kojiro, who obliged with yet more blows to the kid, eventually ending with a suplex that laid Itami out for a few seconds, though he still managed to get up from even that. The awkward silence and even-more awkward applause that followed managed to prompt Kojiro to deny a possible encore, despite Itami's pleas.

The two laughed over that for a second or two, after which a silence fell between the two for a few seconds, their stroll towards school continuing. After a few seconds, Yuudai turned towards Junko. "It's a pretty nice day out, isn't it, Shuzenji-san? We've had some real luck with the sun these past few days!"

Junko nodded. "Not too windy, not too cold either. It's been a nice start to the school year."

Their conversation continued in a similar manner the rest of the way to U.A., with Yuudai initiating whatever topic he could think of - ranging from their battle trials to a bit of news from that morning about a villain having been taken down last night - with Junko merely responding to whatever topic was offered. Not that this bugged him; he was quite content to let Yuudai lead the conversation, as he was more than happy to have someone chat with him so casually this morning.

Their chat eventually ended when they reached their classroom, Yuudai bidding Junko a good day before hurrying over to his desk. Junko's trip was much shorter, being in the second column from the door, two seats from the front, right behind the already-present Himari. He took his seat, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead.

For the second time this morning, something made contact with him to get his attention, though instead of it being an excited pat with a hand like Yuudai earlier, this one felt much weirder and rounder, poking his shoulder. He turned around, and nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw it was a green tendril with a venus flytrap-like mouth at the end of it.

"Oh dear! I'm sorry, Shuzenji-san!"

Junko quickly recognized the voice, following it and the tendril to its owner, the occupant of the seat behind him. "Oh, Nishiya-san." He chuckled, quickly checking his hair to make sure that being startled hadn't thrown him off. "I'm okay, just wasn't expecting to see that."

"I'm glad to hear that, Shuzenji-san." Viola smiled sweetly at him - which he found rather impressive, given the three tusks that lined either side of her mouth - as her tendril returned to join the other three that made up her metaphorical feet. "I know I said it earlier, but I wanted to thank you again for your help during the match yesterday. If it wasn't for your help, I don't think I could've beaten Kenji or Reiji."

Junko couldn't help but smile in return. "If anyone should be thankful, it's me, Nishiya-san. There's no way I could've taken on either of them alone, so your appearance then was really helpful."

Viola laughed gently at that. "Let's just say we both saved each other, Shuzenji-san. It was a team effort that beat them, after all."

"Hey, you two," a voice chimed in behind Junko, "don't forget that was a three-person team there!"

Junko turned, seeing the new voice belong to Takara, who quickly leaned against Junko's desk after having confirmed she got their attention. "No way we could ever forget you, Takara-san."

Takara grinned at Junko's comment. "Well, I never got to thank you both, given I was out like a light cuz of Sparkly's blasts. So, thanks for proving to him that I'm Toshi's coolest friend!"

Kenji - who Junko quickly understood to be the aforementioned "Sparkly" - responded to that in the form of both his hands slamming Toshi's desk, shooting her an annoyed look. "I still knocked you out, Takara-san! You only won because of your teammates!"

"A win's still a win, Sparkly! And I'm still cooler because I didn't go for a cheap shot like you did!"

Kenji's response wasn't one Junko - or most of the students, he presumed - understood, given it came out in English, but it likely was on the more vulgar side, given how annoyed he still looked. He quickly returned to talking to Toshi and Himari, mentioning something about how cool he was during the match.

Takara turned back to the two, laughing. "He knows I've won this time, even if he won't admit it." Junko joined in, Takara's laughter was too contagious for him, and Viola couldn't help cracking a smile. "I gotta say, Twinkle Toes, never really took you for the prudish sort."

Junko blinked, realizing Takara was referring to him by that name, though the rest really confused him. "You're saying I'm a… prude? What brought this on?"

"Well, you left me lying on the ground after taking that blast from Sparky! Guess the idea of carrying me away like that made you all shy, huh?"

"I didn't mean to, but with Kon-san and Carter-Uraraka-san there, my only choice was to-"

Takara patted his shoulder. "Relax, I'm just joking, Twinkle Toes. You did your best, and I'm glad you helped me out with your mist. And we couldn't have won without you two together, after all!"

She stood up, giving the two an appreciative nod, then grabbed her bag, making her way to her desk at the back of the classroom. The two watched her head there, before Viola turned back to Junko with a smile. "Yes, thank you, Shuzenji-san. We really couldn't have won without your help."

Junko smiled at that, nodding to her. "The same to you and Togata-san. I'd have been in trouble many times without either of you."

Before Viola could respond, the bell rang out prompting the rest of their classmates to head to their seats. Viola ultimately settled on giving Junko an acknowledging nod, after which point she focused on preparing her desk for the day ahead.

Junko faced ahead, grabbing his own stuff from his bag, the smile from before still on his face. Not once but twice this morning, his classmates had gone out of their way to talk to him. It really was such a welcoming atmosphere here.

"Good morning, kero." Everyone's attention focused forward, seeing Froppy enter the room, followed by Red Riot. Froppy stepped forward, nodding to her students. "Before we get started today, Kirishima-kun and I wanted to hand out the results of yesterday's Battle Trials. We'll be proceeding with class as normal right after. It's all yours, Eijiro."

She stepped back, allowing their muscular Heroics Instructor to take over for her. "All right, kids, I could feel your manly spirit yesterday! But I think some of you deserve a particular bit of praise for your actions there! So! First up is Todoroki Makoto!"

The coral-red-haired girl in the back of the third column hopped to her feet, smiling and waving her hand. "Right here, Red Riot-sensei!"

"Your manliness was really excellent, I could feel the fires burning within you during that last stand of yours! You knocked out Toyomitsu and did a real number on Sasaki! However!" Red Riot pointed her way. "Make sure you work on training up your durability from now on, Todoroki-san! If you can't pace yourself, you're doomed to end up another person that needs saving! So try not to be that one next time!"

Makoto nodded, bowing to him. "Understood, sensei!" She plopped back down into her chair, looking a bit proud of herself for being the first to get praise.

"Alright, next up, Nishiya Viola!"

The green-haired girl behind Junko stood up from her chair, her cheeks turning rather red as she seemed to realize everyone's eyes were on her. "Y-yes, Red Riot-sensei?"

"You were really manly during your match, Nishiya! Taking out both Carter-Uraraka and Kon was amazing, you really know how to put in that manly power! But you gotta think your tactics through next time, Nishiya!" He pointed to Junko, then Takara. "Shuzenji is no weakling, but he was in some real trouble while Togata-san was scouting ahead! And then once she was taken out, Shuzenji only barely managed to make it back to you, Nishiya; if he hadn't, you might not have been able to beat both of them!"

She blushed a bit more, her hair seemingly moving of its own accord to hide her face - which Junko noted were actually some vines interwoven with her hair. "I-I'll keep that in mind, Red Riot-sensei..."

"See that you do, Nishiya, I can tell you've got some great potential there! And next, Shuzenji Junko!"

"H-huh? M-me?!" Junko blinked, not having even remotely expected that. He awkwardly hopped to his feet, nodding rigidly. "Y-yes, sensei?"

Red Riot laughed. "At ease, Shuzenji!" Junko exhaled, taking a moment to relax. "But yes, you were just as manly as Nishiya! Whether it was facing down Yoarashi alone, dodging around Carter-Uraraka's attacks to heal up Togata, or doing everything in your power to support Nishiya, your manliness really shone through there! Sure, you had to retreat to Nishiya, but doing so got your team the win! You've got a good head on your shoulders, so keep it up and you'll go far!"

Junko felt his cheeks redden, bowing to Red Riot. "I-I'll keep that in mind, Red Riot-sensei!" He quickly sat down, rubbing the back of his head. It really did feel nice to have one of the top pros give him such glowing praise.

"And now, Shoji Yumi!"

The orange-haired girl stood up, her multiple-arms straight at her sides as she nodded. "Yes, Red Riot-sensei?"

"While it didn't work, you deserve a real hand for your efforts in trying to clear a path for Shishikura! You worked hard to hold off Tokoyami and the other Nishiya, even with them bearing down on you! Your willingness to risk yourself is what heroes truly are made of! Keep that fire with you as well, and you'll become a hero everyone can trust to have their backs!"

Yumi nodded, her numerous fingers interlocking as she seemed to be thinking on Red Riot's words. "Thank you, Red Riot-sensei."

Red Riot nodded back at her, before motioning to three of the students. "And finally, I want the villain team of the fourth match to stand up! Yes, Tokoyami Yuudai, Nishiya Masaki, and Iida Katsumi!"

The three of them stood up, Masaki and Yuudai looking proud while Katsumi looked a bit more uncertain.

Red Riot sharp toothed-mouth formed into a grin, crossing his arms. "You all deserve a special mention for managing to be the only team with everyone still standing by the end! Your tactics were a bit shaky, but Nishiya and Tokoyami, your pincer move in the hallway really put the girls on the defensive! And Iida, you did a great job by yourself, holding off Shishikura and Shoji until your allies could return! That was some real manliness there!" He then motioned to Yuudai. "And you, Tokoyami! Keep working on that banter of yours, I can sense the future manliness there!"

Yuudai nodded slowly, looking as though his birthday had just come early after Red Riot's praise. He sat down, taking a moment to notice the offered hi-five from Masaki, though the two eventually shared it. Junko took note that Katsumi seemed a lot less excited by the praise, glancing over her shoulder - he presumed at Eiko, who was looking a bit more bandaged than normal.

"Alright, that's enough kero." Froppy said, patting Red Riot's shoulder. "I gotta get class started soon, after all."

Red Riot laughed. "Yes, yes, I'll stop stealing your students' attention!" He placed a stack of papers on the desk. "I'll see you all in Heroics class! Make sure you all study your trial assessments, too, we put a lot of thought into those!" He then strode out of the classroom, nearly slamming the door behind him as he left.

"He's going to end up owing the school a new door one these days, kero…" Froppy said, staring at the door for a second. She then turned back to the class. "Well, much as I'd like to start class right now, there's one more important matter we gotta discuss today."

A lot of the students glanced at each other, low mutterings occurring between the various students. Junko had to admit, after that whole event this morning, he had to wonder what could be so important as the trials.

Froppy grabbed a piece of chalk and, with a few swift motions, had written three words in the chalkboard. "That's right, kero: its class representative time!"

The murmurings grew more excited around Junko, and he could already tell a lot of his classmates were excited for this - and probably hoping to get that position.

'Maybe,' Junko thought to himself, 'this morning's calm was just hiding what'll be today's storm.'

Tsuyu:

3 Hours Earlier:

The teachers lounge was ablaze with gossip as the teachers got together for their first day after the battle trials. While it was a common occurrence for the first years to have exciting battle trials, this year it was particularly interesting because the students were children of heroes, especially class 1A. However the focus of the teachers discussion was not class 1A. Tsuyu sat at her desk overhearing the teachers excitedly discuss class 1B.

"Yeah, that's right!" Dynamight's chest beating was so consistent this morning that Tsuyu was surprised that he hadn't spontaneously grown a drum. "That Kenmono kid went so all-out that he demolished the whole building!"

Tsuyu recalled Kirishima going on about that after the match, calling her up literally minutes upon its conclusion to talk about how amazing it was that one kid could single-handedly tear down a building on his own like he did. It really was impressive, no denying that, though that Bakugo felt like he needed to continue talking up that event really was peak… well, Bakugo.

"So, yeah, 1-A might have Deku's kid…" Bakugo continued on to all the teachers who were still listening to him, "but I think we should all be looking at Kenmono instead! 1-B's really going to be where it's at!"

"That's really impressive, kero." Tsuyu piped up at that moment. "I just hope you remembered to tell him to keep an eye on how much damage he's causing. I seem to remember a future Principal who told you the same thing after your first match here."

Most of the other teachers fell silent at that, while Bakugo was glaring daggers her way. "You care to repeat that, Asui?"

"Just something that popped into my mind, Bakugo-chan. I mean, it's pretty great to hear he's so strong, but a villain destroying their own base isn't a very smart way to handle things, kero."

She could practically hear Bakugo grinding his teeth over those comments, fighting his instinct to call her out to throw down and his respectful position as a teacher. "Just wait 'til we get to the Sports Festival. 1-B's gonna stomp you guys into the ground!" He turned away from her, grabbing Kaminari and dragging him off to have someone who'd be willing to let him continue his bragging.

"I always knew tongue lashings were your thing, Tsu, but that really was quite something!"

She turned to face Kirishima, who was leaning against her desk while holding up two stacks of papers. "He sometimes needs a reality check, Eijiro. Doesn't matter if he's the current highest-ranked hero-teacher at this school, we know what he was like back then, kero."

He laughed. "Give him some credit, he's got some skill with kids and manly spirit to spare! I think he'll do alright with the kids. And for what it's worth, they sent less classmates to the infirmary than 1-A did!"

"And which one of us was overseeing the trials again as the heroics teacher, kero?"

"Hey, I just oversee them, you can't blame me if they get out of hand! We'll just need to instill that control like any teacher would! Speaking of, Tsu," he leaned in, dropping one stack of papers on her desk. "I gotta say, they're quite the crazy bunch! Kinda reminds me of how much we went through!"

She gave a quick glance at the papers, seeing Toshinori Midoriya: Trial Assessment at the top of the first. "So, how many times did you use 'manly' in each assessment, kero?"

"Hey now, you're making it sound like I'm obsessed with the word!"

"How many times?"

The two stared each other down, which eventually ended when Kirishima looked away, blushing. "A-at least once per. But they all showed a lot of spirit, so that's gotta be worth praising, right?"

"Just so long as you didn't praise anything I need to tackle with them, I suppose it's fine, kero."

"We both know I'm a lot more responsible nowadays! I know where to draw the line, trust me."

Though she'd managed to keep a straight face most of the morning, she couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Okay, you've made your point, kero. I was sure you'd be able to handle it anyway."

Kirishima stood up, scratching the back of his head. "Haha, well, you really are the expert in tongue-lashings!" He sighed, glancing at the papers in his hand. "Now to give Katsuki his. I just hope he's gotten everything out of his system."

With that, Kirishima got up from where he was standing, giving her a wave. She stared at the papers sitting on her desk, a thought occurring to her. She opened her mouth, her tongue shooting out and wrapping around Kirishima's arm, giving him a tug back in her direction.

"Wha- hey, Tsu! It's been a while since you've used your tongue to get my attention." He turned back towards her. "So, what d'ya need?"

Her tongue returned to her mouth, and she motioned at the papers. "We've gotta pick class reps today."

"Oh, right! But, isn't that normally up to the class to decide how to do it?"

"Normally, yes. But…" she glanced at the names listed on her attendance sheet, the list reflecting so many names that were familiar to her. "So many names I know so well are in my class this year, and I know they know that too, kero. If I leave it up to them, I'm afraid that can cause all kinds of tension this year. I think we should pick ourselves."

Kirishima nodded. "Yeah, I can tell we've got a few problem kids there. I guess we'll go down the list, and see who fits the best among them?"

"Right." She handed him the stack of trial assessments, then grabbed her own register. "We'll go by entrance exam scores and general performance in the trials. Win or lose doesn't matter, just how well they did overall, kero."

"Yeah. So, let's get the big one out of the way: Deku's kid, Toshinori."

"He scored very well on both the tests and the practical exam, so that's a promising start for him, kero. He also took out Betatsu-chan very handily in the trial."

"Yeah, though he really didn't show much initiative there." Kirishima frowned. "He mostly followed Tsuki's lead, and they both left Pestu behind. Not a good look in either case."

"Yeah. Plus, I heard he went to see Hitoshi-chan yesterday, kero. I don't think we should add more pressure to him."

"Mmm, that's a good point." He gave a look that reminded Tsuyu about what they'd all recalled from that day. "Well, he's out. I think the same applies to Pestu and Tsuki, too. They might've won, but neither did a good job on the whole team part. Not good rep material."

"I was thinking that too, kero. And since you mentioned her, I think Betatsu isn't good, either. She's really smart, but she's got her dad in there, and lost focus really easily."

"Yeah. I don't think the rest of the team works, either: Yuno was too aggressive at points, and if memory serves, Saori's taking after Denki from back then."

Well, that sorted that out pretty quickly. "Most of the second trial's group left something to be desired, kero."

Kirishima laughed. "Lots of good moments from them, but I think you're right. Makoto is probably the best among them personally, she put herself on the line."

Tsuyu nodded. "I agree, kero. She also scored pretty well, too; Akari-chan scored better, but she's not really the sort to lead others like a class rep should."

"So we've got Makoto as a choice…" Kirishima scratched the back of his head. "As for the third trial, the ones who stood out most to me were Junko and Viola."

Tsuyu checked the test scores. "Viola-chan's a real smart one there, kero. Overall scores are among the highest in this year. Junko-chan's a lot more average there, but he doesn't necessarily need to be at the top to be the rep."

"Yeah, for sure. I guess we can keep them both in mind. Takara's a bit too impulsive, and the guys' team had energy but don't really seem good for the role otherwise."

"On the topic of smart ones, Eijiro," Tsuyu interjected as she turned the list of entry exam scores to Kirishima. "Check out the disparity here, kero. Shishikura Eiko-chan."

"Shishikura? Oh right, Seiji's daughter! Lemme see…" His eyes scanned the list, his eyes widening as he looked it over. "Whoa, a perfect score on the written part! And yet she's the lowest scorer in the combat part who made it into the hero course!" He rubbed his chin. "Guess that checks out, though, given how much damage Katsumi did to her. I think we should keep her from the position. She's got a good spirit, but given what Eri's said, she doesn't have the energy to be rep."

"That said, there's promise with her team, kero. Both Himari-chan and Yumi-chan scored pretty well both on the physical and written portion of the entrance exams. Not nearly as good in their written scores as Eiko-chqn, of course, but still worth considering, kero."

"Speaking of teams, there's the villain team for that match! Yuudai, Masaki, and Katsumi!" Kirishima grinned, closing his eyes to - as Tsuyu figured - think back on that match. "Well, Tsu, lay it on me! What's your take on them?"

"There really is no escaping your exuberance, huh?" She couldn't help but smile, despite her comment. "In terms of grades, Katsumi-chan's about average, and Masaki-chan above her, and Yuudai-chan's got the highest among them. As for the entrance exams, Masaki-chan got the most takedowns, followed by Katsumi-chan, then Yuudai-chan - oh, hey, it says he only took out robots, the other two were mixed, kero." She placed her finger on her chin, looking at him. "If I had to say, I think Yuudai-chan would be the best among them. Katsumi-chan's arrogance resulted in the girls getting her infected, and Masaki-chan ran off on his own earlier on. Yuudai-chan was the most team-oriented of those three, and did help Masaki-chan to where they fought Yumi-chan and Eiko-chan, kero."

Kirishima nodded. "So… Yuudai, Himari, Yumi, Viola, Junko, and Makoto. Well, we can only have two of them as 1-A's reps. Let's get that figured out, Tsu."

"I think we should remove Junko-chan. He did very well, but he hasn't struck me as the leading sort, kero. His grades being just average also should take him out of the running." She placed her index finger on her chin.

"If that's the case, I think Himari should be taken out. She hesitated a few times during the trials; even if she was able to sacrifice herself in such a manly way, her hesitation at other points is still undeniable." Kirishima sighed, shaking his head. "For that matter, I think we gotta take Yuudai off that list, Tsu; much as I dig their team's total victory, he got a bit carried away with his acting, and didn't really push his team to work together. Good potential on both their parts, but not good enough for now."

"So that leaves Makoto-chan, Yumi-chan, and Viola-chan. Those three seem pretty capable of the task, Eijiro. Now it comes down to picking the best of them for these roles, kero."

"Well, I think that-"

"Hey, Eijiro!" The two quite easily heard Bakugo from halfway across the teacher's lounge, who stepped over to them with an annoyed look in his eye. "You gonna stop letting Asui take up all your attention and come give me those trial assessments?"

Kirishima scratched his head, standing up and handing the papers over to Bakugo. "I'm having an important conversation with Tsu about 1-A's Class Reps, you know?"

Bakugo raised an eyebrow. "What, you not letting the students pick or something?"

"Given how many big names are in my class, I thought it'd be a good idea, kero."

He inclined his head a bit, before looking at Kirishima. "Dunno why you're wasting so much time on that group of extras. 1-B's gonna be sweeping everyone, so you might as well focus on the real main characters there."

Tsuyu and Kirishima shared a quick glance and smile. They'd had a good while to get used to reading between the lines when it came to him. Kirishima raised his hand to Tsuyu. "Well, I'll catch you later, then, Tsu. I've got your class lined up for the first, after all." He then walked away, following after a bragging Bakugo.

'Looks like even Kaminari couldn't get it all out of his system,' thought an amused Tsuyu. She then returned to the stack of papers in front of her, pulling out the three names she'd been thinking on. She could figure out the best for the roles on her own, given it was the future of her class being considered here. She sighed, flipping open the first, and prepared to keep as unbiased as she said she would at the start of the year.

Yumi:

"Now, normally," Froppy continued from the front of the classroom when their chatter died down, "we'd let you pick your choices for class reps. But this year, it was decided that we'd be picking for you, given the increased size of the hero classes, kero."

Yumi heard the murmuring grow quieter around the classroom, a lot of the students a lot less concerned over how they'd get to be in that position. This made perfect sense to her, of course: the class size was quite large, and as she recalled her dad once telling, their first year's rep process was quite the mess.

"But we won't force you to accept the position if you're not willing to, kero. We thought long and hard about this, but if you truly believe you're not up for the task, just tell me, kero." She held up her clipboard. "Now, if you're all ready, I can announce our choices."

Any voices that had been going on about what their chances were grew silent, most everyone focused on Tsuyu.

"Alright, thank you, kero. So, I'll start just the class rep." She looked left, facing someone in particular from the side of the class closer to the doors. "Given your overall performance this year, I believe you'd be a good fit for the position, Nishiya Viola-chan."

"H-huh?" That was the only response Viola could make at first, until almost everyone turned to look at her. As if what had just happened had finally dawned on her, her face became covered in a sheet of crimson, trying to hide her head in the blazer while her leg-vines rose to help shield her face. "M-me?! A-are you sure that's the best idea, Froppy-sensei?"

"I do think so, Viola-chan." Froppy looked as calm as ever, so no one in the class could tell if she'd expected that reaction or not. "But you know yourself best. If you do not think you could manage it, I will understand. Just don't refuse because you do not think you are worthy of this position, kero."

Viola's vines lowered, and Yumi noticed her eyes darting around the classroom at the various students looking at her, likely gauging their reactions to her. After a second, she turned back to look over at her left shoulder - looking to Masaki, Yumi realized, recalling the two shared a last name. Getting a nod from Masaki, Viola faced forward, though a hint of pink was still visible on her cheeks. "I-I'll accept the position, Froppy-sensei."

Froppy sent a small, reassuring smile her way. "I'm sure you'll do well, Viola-chan." She then turned her gaze to the right. "And as for the class's vice rep, I believe the best choice would be Shoji Yumi-chan."

Yumi blinked, the words not quite resonating for a moment. Suddenly feeling all eyes turning her way, she felt her own cheeks grow warm, and she pointed at herself. "You mean me?"

"You're the only Shoji Yumi in this class, kero."

Yumi glanced around the classroom for a few seconds herself. Thankfully, there was no apprehension or dislike visible in anyone's eyes. She recalled her mom telling her about her days as her class's representative, and the importance of the role she'd played in her classmates' school lives. Feeling two of her hands play with the pearl earrings her mother had gifted her, she nodded. "I can do this, Froppy-sensei. I won't let our class down."

"I'm sure you can handle it too, kero. I take it everyone is quite happy with the results?" Yumi noted a few kids, like Kojiro and Hoshou, looked a bit dejected, and a few like Tsuki looked uninterested in the whole thing, but most seemed content with both her and Viola as 1-A's reps, and nobody raised any complaints otherwise. "Very great, kero. No worries just yet, of course, we'll help ease you into the position during the coming week, we just needed to establish them today. I'll start passing out your assessments from yesterday, and then we'll proceed from there, kero."

Yumi leaned back in her seat, but despite trying to relax, she couldn't help but play with her fingers as she thought on what was going to be her life over the next year or so. While she had been expecting this year to be filled with excitement, and that she'd be stepping into her parents' shoes, she didn't think the first big step would be right into her mom's shoes. She'd been especially surprised, given she had been on a losing team, though Red Riot's endorsement of her actions made the idea sound more sensible in that context. And yet, to be weighted so favorably compared to her other twenty-two classmates…

Yumi's concentration was returned to the here and now as Froppy stopped by, placing her assessment on her table. She picked it up the second Froppy had walked past, scanning the document. Overall, it was about what she'd expected from what Red Riot had said of her: amidst all the praise for her "manliness," it noted she didn't take the initiative to knock out either of her restrained enemies until they'd broken out, but was otherwise a glowing review of her teamwork and willingness to protect her classmates. She could feel a wide smile sneak into her face at that praise. It looked like both he and Froppy very much believed in her, and she'd believe in them for her time ahead as the vice-rep for her class.

Feeling at least a degree of certainty in her future role, she couldn't help but look over at her future rep she would be second two. Viola seemed to be just as worried and flustered as she was earlier as she poured over her own assessment. Yumi couldn't help but worry over her, wondering how long it might take her to get used to the idea of being the class rep.

Viola:

"I don't know if I can do this, Saki!"

"You're still worried over that, Hero-chan? We already talked about this during lunch, too! You and I know how great you can be at handling these kinds of things!"

"I dunno why I agreed so quickly… Froppy-sensei sounded so sure of me, and it was all so sudden!" Viola's vine-feet raised their heads to look back at UA while she herself still faced her older brother. "Do you think that she's still there? Maybe she'll change her mind, even though the day's over?"

"Viola, please." Masaki placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a toothy smile. "You're the coolest little sister a brother could ask for, so I know you can do this! Like I just said, you've always been great with stuff like this, too!"

"Saki…" Viola smiled back, her vines heads turning away from the school for a second… before turning right back around to face it. "But I'll be interacting with so many other students! What if they think poorly of my classmates because of me? Or what if it gets cloudy out and I say something wrong because of that?"

"Viola…"

"I think you'll do great, Nishiya-chan."

The two wheeled around at hearing someone call out to them, and saw Junko standing right there. Viola recognized the voice as Junko's upon seeing him. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that, Shuzenji-san?"

"You were talking about being made the rep, right? I think you'll do a good job."

Viola felt her cheeks redden a bit, now getting encouraged and attention from another person. "Y-you're too kind, Shuzenji-san. But you heard Red Riot-sensei, my strategizing had holes in it-"

Junko shook his head. "None of those matches were perfect, but they were our first battles this year, and with people we didn't know. You still led us to a great victory, even then."

Viola felt her cheeks grow redder. "Y-you might be right, but even then, tactical acumen means only so much. How can you be so sure I'm right for this role?"

"I mean, you took command and figured out how to use our skills best!" A new voice called out beside them, causing them all to collectively jump. "Nobody better than you for it, I'd say!"

Viola wheeled around, spotting the other person she'd spoken to in the classroom. "Togata-san!"

"The one and only, Kodama." Takata waved to the rest. "Good to see you again, too, Twinkle Toes. And Party Dragon, too."

Viola tilted her head. "Weren't you heading out with Midoriya-san and Amajiki-san after class?"

"Oh yeah, I still am! Sparkly too." She pointed over shoulder at Toshi, Kenji, and Himari, who were across the street. "We were just trying to figure out where to go when I spotted this gathering! Wanted to congratulate you on your new role, so I popped on over for a hot sec!"

"Y-you really think I'll do a good job at it, Togata-san?"

"Oh yeah, of course! I mean, I spent half of that match face down, and no matter how good I looked doing it, I wasn't exactly topping any performance lists." She patted Viola's back. "It was your planning that got us that far, y'know? I can tell that planning's gonna serve you fine as rep, too!"

Viola looked at each of the three assembled classmates, all looking rather certain of the words they'd said to her. Eventually, she and her vines' heads nodded, smiling at them. "Thank you. I'll… I'll do my best, if you're all this sure of me."

Masaki patted her shoulder. "What did I tell ya, Hero-chan? We're sure you've got this down!"

Viola couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I get it, you've made your point, Saki! But thank you all, truly."

Takata grinned. "Well, I gotta be getting back to Toshi and Cotton-ball now, but I'll see you guys later! Hope you guys are ready for tomorrow!"

Viola blinked, and noticed her companions looked rather surprised, too. "Ready for tomorrow?"

Takara laughed. "Oops, spoilers! Well, just pretend I didn't say that! I'm sure we'll all be just fine, anyway." Giving the three a parting wave, she checked the streets and then sped across to where the other trio was awaiting her return.

Viola glanced at the other two, both of the other two giving her a shrug. "Well, we're going to be continuing on to dorms from here, Shuzenji-san. Would you like to join us?"

Junko nodded. "I'd be happy to, Nishiya-san."

A/N: Well well well, I should have realized that even I can't be trusted to get a chapter out on time with generous time given to me. But hey, this one got out, and well that's something ain't it? However I have to give all the credit for this chapter to KingOfStories01, he literally wrote the entire thing. I was in a bit of a writing funk, I couldn't do it, and he came in clutch. So be sure to give his stuff a looksie and give him the support he deserves. Hopefully these next few chapters will hold ya over till we get to the real plot heavy stuff. Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!