Last chapter, our favorite practitioner of dark magic joined his new classmates in an impromptu test. Now, after a quick sprint for their lives, the students of the newly formed 1A find themselves outside of their school, quite a bit earlier than they otherwise would have.

Let us see where this goes, shall we?

"Phew! That's not how I expected our first day to end. Too bad my ride won't be here until way later into the day. Does anyone know when the next train to Saitama is?" The electric boy, Kaminari asked his fellow students, many of which were still catching their breath from their recent sprint through U.A's gigantic campus.

"T-Twenty minutes walk, a-about- wow I need to do more cardio!" Ochako said between breaths, waiting a few seconds before starting again. "The closest train is twenty minutes walk south of here, but that one leaves in less than fifteen and I doubt many of us are in any condition to make it there after that run." With a few obvious exceptions, like the guy with engines in his legs.

And a few not-so-obvious exceptions like Izuku Midoriya. "H-Hey, why aren't you tired? Isn't your quirk just summoning those cool monsters and some grab bag powers?" Sero asked, also recovering but faster than most thanks to his agility-based style.

"That's part of it, but all of those flashy powers rely on my energy levels. Both from my quirk, and my basic physical stamina. The thing is, the stronger my quirk gets, the stronger I become physically. The reverse is also true, the stronger I get physically, the stronger my quirk becomes." Izuku simplified, not particularly wanting to explain the differences between magic and life force and how they fed each other.

"No wonder he was so ripped! Glad to see that your powerful quirk didn't stop you from getting even manlier!" Kirishima exclaimed, mind flashing to how Izuku looked while they changed into their gym clothes. He and the rest of the class had been a bit too busy rushing to care beforehand.

"Thanks? I think. Anyways, the trains here run on an hourly basis to pretty much anywhere so you shouldn't need to wait long." It was a side benefit to being the home city of U.A. Plenty of public transportation options for coming in and out of the city to pretty much anywhere else in Honshu.

"I'm guessing you two are locals then? Do you know about any good spots around here to kill time? Preferably on the cheap, I didn't bring much cash with me." The pinkette of the group asked, getting a shake of the head and a nod from Ochako and Izuku respectively.

"No, I'm new to the town, I just make it a point to learn about all the public transportation options available wherever I go. I second the cheap sentiment, I'm only carrying enough for my train fare plus some light snacking money." She turned to look at the other person that was asked, who apparently was a local.

"There's a nice game shop mixed with a cafe just down the street. They're also usually pretty quiet around this time so they could easily accommodate all of us." Izuku provided, smiling at the thought of visiting his old stomping ground. It had been a while. "It also has some good background music.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear. I'm down." Jirou gave her reply and signaled for the greenette to lead the way. Good food and good music with some games on the side? If what her classmate said was accurate then this might be her new go-to place while attending U.A.

"An excellent idea! Mr. Aizawa said it himself, we won't have much time for leisure while attending the hero course. So we should get it out of our system now during a rare half day. And I for one think that we should turn it into a class activity!" Iida karate chopped into the conversation, getting some of the other students hyped up.

All but two. "I ain't got time to spend hanging out with you losers. You nerds can do whatever you want, just don't get in my way." Bakugo didn't even bother yelling, he just said his peace and walked out on everyone else.

Todoroki had already left before their conversation even started.

"Well, 18 out of 20 ain't bad, right? Come on Midoriya, lead the way!... By the way, what kind of games are we talking about here? Tabletop? Video games?" Kaminari asked rapid-fire, trying to bring back the mood that Bakugo interrupted.

"A little bit of everything really. You'll see when we get there."

Half an hour later, Tsuru Game shop

Play: Mysterious Dusk (Red-Sprouted Memories) (Type Lumina OST)

"Midoriya boy, I know I told you to bring any new friends you find here… But I didn't expect a whole class! Welcome all you youngins, I promise this place is usually more active. You all just came at a slow time, feel free to look around." An aged lady walked out to meet the large group of teenagers that entered her store.

It had a vintage look to it. Compared to the minimalistic and spacious modern stores, this one was a bit homier, the shelves were made of polished wood and metal instead of glass or plastic, and there was a clear divide between the game section and the cafe. The floors were also wooden, with the odd carpet here or there, though they were kept away from the cafe.

Speaking of which, the smell coming from the baked goods was divine.

"It sort of just happened. Everyone, meet Ms. Tsuru, the owner of this place. How has it been?" Izuku introduced the elderly shop owner who barked out a laugh.

"Same old same old. Busy mornings, quiet afternoons. It gets tiring on these old bones sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for the world." She responds with a good deal of boisterousness the hero students didn't expect from an old lady.

"Wow Midoriya, I had my doubts but this place looks, and smells great. The music isn't what I usually listen to but it's some quality stuff too. Sounds retro too, where's it from?" Kyoka Jirou slapped the greenette on the back before heading toward the cafe. "Hmm, just 400 yen for cinnamon biscuits and complimentary tea? Great deals."

"The song's from an old game that came out decades ago, I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. I have a bunch of them on the playlist so visitors are bound to hear something new every time they come in." It was a sure-fire way to keep the music unique. After all, most people didn't look into such old songs from obscure places.

"And yes, I don't believe in the absurd markups other stores do for their items. You don't keep loyal customers by ripping them off." The lady owned a small store with loyal customers, and she wanted to keep it that way. And nothing bought loyalty quite like having quality snacks at half the price of a regular store.

Of course, having a multi-tasking quirk helped quite a bit. There was something about seeing a single elderly lady simultaneously take care of a dozen orders at once and doing so perfectly that brought people in and kept them there.

"I'll have the green tea and chestnut mochi please!" The rosy-cheeked heroine-in-training wasted no time in placing her order, shortly followed by her classmates, though most settled for just a drink, be it coffee or tea.

"Right away young heroes, Midoriya boy, would you mind showing your classmates around the shop? If any of them are like you I'm sure they'll love my selection." Izuku sweatdropped, though he didn't disagree. There was bound to be at least one of his classmates that were interested in games, both old and new.

"We have maybe ten minutes before she's done with all of your orders. I guess I might as well do what she asked. Come on, over here is the trading card section, it's where I buy a lot of my singles whenever I can't find them online." He led them with a smile, it was nice to share his interests with his classmates, and maybe even friends, for once.

"So these are the cards you use for your quirk. Say Midoriya, would you happen to have the rulebook of the game available? I'm interested in knowing a bit more about it." Yaoyorozu asked point-blank, partially wanting to know more about her classmate's quirk but also interested in the game itself.

"...Sure, just know that this game is rather complicated." The rulebook itself only taught the bare basics. The actual rules to the game may as well have an asterisk after every single line. At the end of the day, card effects and understanding of pedantic writing were what separated the casuals from the pros in Duel Monsters.

The next day, Homeroom

"I activate Shrink to cut your Batteryman AA's attack points down to 1,500!" The ravenette of the class declared, flipping her face down spell to survive another turn against Izuku's surprisingly powerful battery monsters. Her own Cyber Twin Dragon being strong enough to survive against the remaining 2,000 attack batterymen.

"Sorry, but not quite, you need to pay attention to every word on the card description." Izuku corrected Yaoyorozu, pointing at the keywords 'original ATK points' written on Shrink. "Batteryman AA's original attack points are zero. So Shrink does not affect its boosted power."

"Ah, I guess I lose then. I can't believe I missed such a simple detail." She lowered her head with some shame. Something that Izuku was having none of.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You just learned about the game yesterday and started playing today. Give it some time, you've already made good progress understanding the turn phases and steps." Hell, it took him months to figure out all the intricacies, granted he was like six at the time.

"Thank you, I suppose you are right, I just need to be patient. I am liking these Cyber cards, by the way, they are so versatile and they pack a punch." Similar to her own fighting style. While the ravenette could theoretically make anything and everything on short notice, she preferred to rely on a few simple but effective options in combat.

There aren't many hero-related problems that a cannon couldn't solve.

"Nerds. Nerds everywhere. Hurry up and shut up!" Bakugo yelled at the nerds.

"While Bakugo's attitude is unacceptable, he has a point. Class is about to start and Mr. Aizawa will be here at any moment! Time to pack up you two!" Iida also yelled while telling the two nerds to do the same thing, but in a socially acceptable way.

"I don't care. So long as you pay attention, you don't bother others, and your grades don't slip, you can do whatever you want in class. Just be aware that I'll be testing your spatial awareness the whole time." The ever deadpan Aizawa said as he suddenly appeared from under his desk.

'Was he there the whole time?!' Every person in the room sans the caterpillar man thought in unison.

"But first you all need to pick a class president and vice president. I don't care how you do it, just get it done by the end of the period. And try to keep it down." …The class as a whole looked to each other, trying to communicate their shared feelings of confusion through just their faces.

"Ok. I guess one of us has to be class president and the vice, any takers? A show of hands should be fine, we can narrow it down from there." A sea of hands reached for the sky. "...Alright, how about a vote then? I mean, we don't know each other very well yet, but first impressions count for something." Izuku suggested which was responded with mixed opinions.

"He's got a point, but what's stopping everyone from just voting for themselves? At best we'll get one or two people with an extra vote, that doesn't sound like a great way to decide who's best." Sero raised a good point.

"How about we make it a rule that you can't vote for yourself. That way we're forced to pick whoever else we think will make a good candidate. Though then we'll have to worry about a longer election if there's a tie…How about If a tie happens, they can play a game of chance or something." There was a bit of grumbling and at least one curse(no prizes for guessing from who) at Izuku's suggestion, but they ended up going with it since it sounded fair.

Relevant votes:

Izuku Midoriya: 9

Momo Yaoyorozu: 4

Shoto Todoroki: 2

Tenya Iida: 2

Others: ≤ 1

"How the hell did grab bag get nine votes?! And why don't I have any!" Bakugo screamed, first in incredulity followed by barely contained rage.

"You can't have a much better impression than the stuff he pulled off yesterday. Also, your personality so far has been about as likable as flaming garbage." *pop *pop "Correction, exploding garbage. Though I do wonder how Yaoyorozu got so many votes?" Kaminari bravely dissed Bakugo before asking his question.

"She just seemed like a good fit." "Getting in on recommendation is no easy feat, and I guessed that Midoriya would probably win anyway." "She was super nice yesterday!" "Having the bubbly ojou-sama as president just makes sense." Izuku, Todoroki, Hagakure, and Mineta each gave their reasoning.

"Well that was fast, we still have plenty of time until the first period... Want to go for another round, Yaoyorozu?" Izuku's question was met with a wide smile, which he returned.

His classmates here were much more fun than back in Aldera.

Well, that took way too long to write. Summer classes have been a doozy, not to mention the more personal projects I've had going on for a while now. But enough of my excuses, late as it may be, I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter.

I'm planning on making another story soon, mostly as a way to keep my mind fresh and avoid writer's block. I'll say that it will be a One Piece story and leave it at that for now, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now, would I? Until next time.