In truth, the fact that one could live such an ordinary life in a world of the extraordinary was rather… off putting, to say the least.

And yet… for as off putting as it really was… Yosetsu Awase reckoned that it was to be expected at this point, and he found himself exhaling gently as he walked down the halls of the Choritsu Middle School with a bored look on his face. All around him, various other students ran around the place with no real care for the 'no running' rule that had been taught to them on the first few days of school, with all of them too ecstatic that the last bell of the day had sounded as they rushed off, intent on leaving the school premises as soon as possible.

They were all lowerclassmen, no doubt, and just seeing them being as enthusiastic as they currently were was enough to make the boy chuckle gently as he raised a hand up to his head and tug on his zig-zag patterned headband, loosening it up just enough to make his forehead feel a little more comfortable as he walked onwards, only to pause briefly when a lowerclassman nearly crashed straight into him. No apology was given as she rushed onwards, intent on leaving the school as soon as possible as she sprinted off, prompting Awase to sigh in irritation as he shook his head.

'Psh, kids,' thought the boy, with him forgetting how he too was a kid as he thought that, whilst he huffed to himself and walked onwards, making his way through the corridors of the school before he came to a stop by one of the many lockers that lined it. A soft exhale escaped his lips as he walked up to it with a neutral stride, and once he was directly in front of said locker, one that was without a lock, he raised his hand up and pressed his palm up against its side.

Inhaling gently, Yosetsu focused a little as he narrowed his eyes at his locker, and after a second or two ticked by, a handful of tiny, practically unnoticeable cracks on the side of his locker began to glow just a little… and not even a second later, the glow faded away, and as soon as he pulled his hand away, his locker door squeaked open, allowing Awase to smile and reach forwards, with him opening it up fully thereafter.

His locker was mostly empty, something that was to be expected at this point, considering how Yosetsu had mostly emptied it due to the lessons of the day. Reaching behind himself, Awase was quick to remove his backpack from his back and unzip it, with him lowering his arm into it and pulling out several books shortly thereafter. Aforementioned books ranged from the usual Japanese textbooks all the way down to a math textbook that looked as though it had been through the grinder several times over, and once they were out, he was quick to shove all of them into his locker with little concern for tidiness. Within seconds, his backpack had been made much lighter with the removal of all that extra mass… though it wasn't completely emptied, as evident by how a single educational textbook still remained within his pack.

"Foundational Hero Studies…" muttered Yosetsu with a fond smile on his face, and at that, he chuckled gently and shoved the book back into his bag, with him intent on looking through it once more when he was home. Unlike the other elementary subjects in Choritsu, Foundational Hero Studies was a subject that Awase was very much interested in, and by all means, it was for a rather good reason.

The book was, unsurprisingly enough, about Heroes… or in layman's terms, licensed Quirk users. They have been an incredibly popular subject ever since the very first Hero had made their debut several decades ago, and even now, they were still an incredibly hot topic due to their effect on the general public, so much so that they were being talked about in schools! The mere thought of them was more than enough to make Yosetsu smile a little as he zipped his bag back up, with him fondly recalling several Heroes, be they local or international, all the while.

Be it the global number one, All Might, the Rescue Hero Thirteen or even the American Union Hero, Flag Fighter… Yosetsu, in spite of his mostly uncaring nature, somehow managed to find multiple soft spots for these keepers of justice, and by all means, he wasn't the only one that did so, as hundreds of others did so as well. There was a good reason for this, of course, as Heroes selflessly defended the world whilst asking for very little in return… and in general, they were just cool, with their Quirks doing quite a bit to bolster just how… awesome they were.

The sound of a close-by locker slamming shut was more than enough to snap Yosetsu out of his mild trance, prompting him to jolt upright as he turned towards the source of the sound. As he did so, however, he found himself staring at a rather short individual, who was standing in front of a locker that was situated not too far from Awase's. As he locked it back up, the shorter boy adjusted the position of his rather ragged backpack on his back before he stretched his neck a little, a clear sign of soreness, before he glanced over to his side, inadvertently making eye contact with Yosetsu all the while.

In those few moments, Yosetsu acknowledged a handful of details in regards to the shorter boy's appearance. Black hair with an ahoge styled up to resemble a crescent moon, a generally indifferent expression alongside his mostly uninteresting looking face and his blue eyes… all of it made the boy quite an unassuming sight to behold, but even so… something about this kid made Awase shudder a little as they stared at one another, not that he showed his apparent discomfort, anyways…

For the briefest of seconds, Yosetsu Awase's dark grey eyes locked onto the shorter boy's blue pair, and at that, they maintained eye contact for a short amount of time before the shorter of the two broke it. Lowering his gaze, the blue eyed young man snorted a little to himself in apparent bemusement before he began to walk past Yosetsu with a steady stride, and as he waltzed off, Awase watched on impassively until he walked out of his field of view… and by then, he could only chuckle a tad as he adjusted his grip on his backpack.

'... don't remember him being here…'

A few hours later

Walking from the Choritsu Middle School all the way back to Yosetsu's little house was quite a hassle, though by all means, the young man was used to it by now.

Without much fanfare, and after he dug through his bag for his house key, Yosetsu's fingers wrapped themselves around his keychain, and thereafter, he pulled the thing out of his bag and fumbled around it for his house key. Once he got it out, he unlocked the door to his home and entered the decently sized, two storey apartment located in the Kitakanbara District of Shidaihama, and once he was in, he set his bag down and locked the door once more.

"I'm home!" announced Yosetsu, though he got no response as his voice simply echoed through the house, something that he was, unfortunately enough, getting very used to by now. In spite of this, however, Awase's shoulders did slump downwards a little as he acknowledged that, as with all other days, his parents weren't present at home, though he was quick to shake that thought off as he shook his head and moved to go through his daily routine.

A quick shower was more or less how his aforementioned routine always started, with him cleaning himself up before he settled his dinner. Thereafter, the young man would settle on doing his homework and a tiny bit of revision, though that in itself wasn't necessary as he had most of the modules memorised by now, a side effect of being taught the same thing over and over again, he supposed. Sure, he knew that it was a nice gesture, so to speak, for his teachers to make the information that they wished to bestow upon their pupils impossible to forget, but even so… the fact that they had taught them that the very first Quirk user came from Qing Qing, China, so often that Awase could recite the line of text that described the event by heart was rather worrying.

And hell was that thought ever a reality right now, as Yosetsu found himself flipping through one of the few notebooks that he had in his room. Flipping through its many contents, Awase found himself groaning to himself as he swiftly snapped the book shut and leaned back on his chair with an irritated grumble, with him deciding against reading up the complete history of Quirks for the tenth time this month all the while. As he did so, he stood himself up from his room chair and began stretching a little, with all his joints making an audible pop all the while, before he sighed and shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the mild headache that came with reading through the same notes that were all about Quirks yet again.

Quirks… a truly strange and, honestly speaking, mundane name for such an extraordinary part of everyday life. The ability to do the extraordinary… to make use of superpowers… being bestowed such a simple name as a Quirk was an incredibly strange thing to be hung up about, and yet, the mere thought of them was more than enough to make Yosetsu smile just a little in amusement as he walked over to his bed and laid down atop it, with him now staring up at his room ceiling with a disconcerting look on his face, with him quizzing himself, so to speak, on all this just to make sure that he remembered all of it.

They emerged some time during the early 20th century, that much was clear, though how or why they were a thing in the first place was still yet to be explained. The Choritsu Middle School, alongside many others, went with the assumption of Quirks being a natural evolutionary step forwards for the human race, while others assumed that it was a science experiment gone horribly horribly wrong. And then there were the people who thought that the Quirk phenomenon had originated from a strain of virus that was transmitted by mice… a theory that had no real evidence to back it up… but even so, it wasn't exactly off the table, and by all means, all these contradicting pieces of information ended up making Awase's head hurt as he sighed and held a hand up in the air and stared at it quietly.

In all honesty, it felt rather strange to know that superpowers, or rather… Quirks were so normal now. Less than a year after they had first emerged, those with Quirks made up about 10% or less of the global population, but now, they made up over 80% of the world, and Yosetsu was a part of that 80%... a thought that, despite sounding rather nice, did make him feel a little inadequate. Sure, having a superpower was cool and all that, but even so… it did make him feel a little less… special, for the lack of a better word…

That wasn't to say that he was ashamed of his Quirk, of course. His unique ability, Weld, an Emitter Type Quirk, was certainly something he was very proud of, but in this day and age, Yosetsu, perhaps out of some form of morbid fascination regarding the unknown, couldn't help but wonder how it felt like to be… Quirkless. He tended to not think about it too often, but whenever he did, he couldn't help but wonder how it would feel, to not be able to Weld things together at an atomic level… to be a part of the 20% or less who didn't have Quirks…

Before he could indulge himself in such strange thoughts, however, Yosetsu blinked a little when he heard his smartphone vibrating from all the way over on his room desk. Upon hearing it do so, Awase blinked and stood up, with him walking towards it shortly thereafter. Picking it up with little fanfare, Yosetsu found himself staring into its blank screen for the briefest of moments with his usual neutral expression. As he did so, his reflection stared right back at him, and for the briefest of moments, the boy wondered if he should get a haircut. Somewhat self consciously, he raised his hand up to his black, spiked up hair and ran his fingers through it… and within a second or two, he huffed to himself and shrugged. Nah… probably not. Besides, none of his teachers brought it up just yet, anyways, and as long as his headband kept it away from his eyes, he reckoned that it would be fine.

It took him less than a handful of seconds before Yosetsu managed to turn his smartphone on, and at that, he held it up to eye level and thumbed through it several times over as he made his way back to his bed. Laying down atop it, Awase held his phone up and above his head before he found himself wincing a tiny bit when he realized that his phone had vibrated due to a notification informing him that his personal favorite game was undergoing maintenance, something that would last until midnight if past experience has taught him anything, prompting him to scrunch his face up in irritation as he exhaled, though before he could thumb into any other app on his phone, his phone began ringing as a name popped up on its screen.

The sudden call to his phone was more than enough to make Yosetsu gasp in shock as he loosened his grip on the device, in turn causing it to fall onto his face not a second later. Awase grunted a little in irritation as this happened, with him grumbling as he felt his nose being squashed beneath the device. At the same time, however, the young man found himself wincing a little when his nose inadvertently answered the call for him, prompting a somewhat familiar voice to pipe up from the other end of the line.

"Yosetsu…?" came the gentle voice of a middle aged woman from the other side of the phone, and upon hearing it, the aforementioned young man was quick to widen his eyes in surprise before jolting upright from his original position, with him picking his phone off his face in the process, before he opened his mouth to respond to the caller. All his irritation in regards to his phone crashing down onto his face was forgotten at this point, with all of it being replaced by no small amount of delight after having heard the woman's voice.

"M-Mum! I… uh… didn't expect you to call so suddenly!" piped up Yosetsu rather awkwardly as he felt his heart speed up a little whilst the corners of his lips twitched upwards just a little. He never did have much time to spend with his parents, what with them being incredibly preoccupied with their jobs, and to just hear one of their voices was more than enough to overwhelm the usually tense young man as found his spirits rather significantly raised. It seemed as though his mother could sense his delight, however, as evident by the gentle laugh that she allowed to leave her lips before she continued to speak.

"Well, I hope that I'm not calling at a bad time, dear!" commented Mrs Awase as a gentle, if a little strained, giggle escaped her lips. Yosetsu was quick to acknowledge the strained undertone of his mother's giggle, though he didn't have the heart to point that out as he opened his mouth to respond, though before the words could leave his mouth, the boy was quick to stand up and pace around his room several times over, with him still feeling rather happy to be speaking with his mother, however briefly, as he responded.

"N-No! I'm not doing anything right now, so it's all fine, mum!" assured Yosetsu gently as his mother sighed in apparent relief once more, and after a short bout of silence, which allowed Awase to hear the sound of machinery operating in the background, she spoke up once more, with her sounding rather… remorseful all the while.

"I… I see… well that's good. That's good! Well… I'm calling to say that your father and I will be working a little overtime tomorrow, Yosetsu…" said Mrs Awase, with her dropping that massive bombshell onto Yosetsu rather abruptly, prompting him to halt his pacing rather abruptly as he took a second or two to let what his mum had told him sink in. His silence was more than enough to worry his parent, however, prompting her to speak up. "Y-Yosetsu…?"

"H-Huh? Wha- oh! Oh… I… I get it mum… I… I get it," assured Yosetsu as he dropped back down onto his bed, with his rear impacting the soft surface with a mild plop just barely audible. His shoulders slumped a little as he processed his parent's words, and not long after, he continued, with him barely able to keep his distraught tone of voice at bay as he spoke. "... are you sure about this, mum…? You and dad could use a break…"

"There's no need to worry, dear! Your dad and I are completely fine!" assured Mrs Awase as she did her best to calm her son down. She knew that he missed them dearly, and after a rather unsavoury… incident, he ended up incredibly worried for their wellbeing, but she didn't have a choice in all this. Her Quirk… hers and her husband's… they were both incredibly well suited to their current occupation, and by all means, they were a low income family. They needed to make up for that with an extra set of hands… though it came at the cost of their only son's mental health… "Y-Yosetsu… I'm sorry… I-I…"

"N-No, it's alright, mum. I get it… I shouldn't hold you up any longer…" apologised Yosetsu, with his formerly delighted tone of voice now replaced with a remorseful one as he slouched his shoulders sadly. The short bout of silence that came thereafter was more than enough to convey how he really felt towards this whole situation… but even so, he kept his tone of voice positive, for as forced as it was, before continuing. "See you soon, mum…"

"Y-Yeah! See you soon too. Be careful at school, Yosetsu! Don't forget to look both ways before crossing the streets!" instructed Mrs Awase, with her making a mild attempt at sarcasm as she spoke, and to that, the youngest member of the three person family laughed a little as he nodded, a gesture that was not visible to his mother, before responding.

"Gotcha, mum. Say hi to dad for me…" requested Yosetsu, and to that, Mrs Awase was quick to respond in the positive, and before long, the younger Awase hung up and sighed a little to himself, a sad, downright defeated sound that was rare to come by, even for someone who was already as demoralized as he was… though then again, he reckoned that at this point… nothing was impossible, and as such, he found himself sighing deeply as he leaned forwards, with him propping his forearms up onto his thigh all the while.

As he did this, Awase found himself staring into his blank phone screen with a frown present on his face. His reflection frowned right back at him as he thought about getting a part time job in order to support his parents, if only to lessen their burdens just a tiny bit, though that thought was quickly squashed when he remembered that the legal working age in Japan was 15, and he was still 13, or he would be in a few months anyways. Upon realizing that, he found himself shaking his head as he lowered his phone and stared up at his room ceiling, grumbling to himself on his current situation as he ran his fingers across his forehead with one hand. The other ended up gliding against the soft surface of his bed as he found himself slowly but surely becoming lost in his thoughts.

'Why can't anything be simple in life, dammit…' thought Yosetsu rather disgruntledly as he acknowledged how, even in a world where literal superheroes were an icon of society, he was still unable to do something as simple as help his parents out. That thought ended up plaguing his mind quite a bit as he leaned forwards and rested his forearms atop his thighs, though before long, he found himself glancing down at his hands, with him clenching one side into a fist as a thought came to mind. 'But even so… I wonder… if being a Hero could…'

And as soon as it came to mind, Yosetsu found himself rolling his eyes a little as he ejected it from his thick skull. Best to not get too lost in his thoughts, he reckoned, and besides, the occupation of a Hero was by no means something that Awase was made for. Heroes were strong, charismatic and, above all, respectable pillars of justice that held society up on their shoulders, and Yosetsu… well, physically he was just a bit above average at best, he was unsociable and boy was he far from suited to being a pillar of justice, among many other things. By all means, he'd be better off working at the Higashi-Niigata Thermal Power Station with his parents when he grew up… a miserable existence, to say the least…

'Jeez, when the Hell did I start thinking such depressing thoughts?' thought Yosetsu as he abruptly cut his previous thoughts off with a harsh groan. As he did so, he stood himself up onto his feet and stretched his back a little, with him seeming rather content with the mild pops in his joints all the while. 'Geh… Hero or not, I'm still me, and I'll just have to go through life as I always do!'

And with that in mind, the grey eyed young man found himself smiling just a bit as he twirled his headband around his index finger once more… though as he did so, he found himself exhaling gently as he glanced down at his smartphone, only to pick it up and twirl it in his hand not long after. After a handful of twirls, Awase held onto his phone and stared into his own reflection yet again, with him sighing to himself all the while.

'Of course… it would be rather nice to be a Hero… if to give back to them after all that they've done for me…'

The next day

A small yawn was the first thing that left Yosetsu's lips as he walked down the corridor of the Choritsu Middle School for the upteenth time, with him scratching the back of his neck shortly thereafter whilst also leaning backwards, causing several of his spinal joints to pop in the process. Admittedly, he wasn't able to sleep that well the previous night for a multitude of reasons, and his sleeping posture wasn't exactly the best, something that came back to bite him in the ass twice over, though seeing as how there was nothing he could do about it now, he opted to just live with it for now.

"Oof…" muttered Awase with a mildly satisfied smile plastered on his face as he sighed in satisfaction at the popping of his bones, though his momentary bout of delight was quickly cut off when he heard some footsteps approaching him rapidly, and at that, he jolted to the side and avoided a head on collision with a lowerclassman that was rushing onwards, presumably thinking that he was late for class despite it not having started yet. "Jeez, slow down…"

Of course, his offhand remark was not acknowledged by the younger boy as he sprinted onwards, prompting Awase to shake his head dismissively as he stopped by his locker. The boy ended up sighing a tiny bit to himself as he raised a hand up and pressed it against his shut locker door, and as with the previous day, he found himself narrowing his eyes in focus as he did so, and as soon as he removed his palm from his locker door, the thing squeaked open, allowing Awase to retrieve the contents inside. Once he was done with all that, the headband-wearing child huffed gently before he stepped backwards and shut his locker back up, though before he could perform his little trick to weld it shut once more, the grey eyed child took note of… him again.

He didn't know why his eyes were instinctively drawn in his general direction, but regardless, Yosetsu's gaze found itself hovering over to a close-by locker, where a single boy was rummaging through it without a care in the world. It took him a few seconds to get the books that he was looking for out of it, and as soon as he managed it, he leaned backwards, away from his assigned locker, and sighed a little. In his arms were no less than five textbooks, all of which were relating to several subjects that were taught in the Kamishiro Elementary School, with the boy himself wasting no time in shoving all of them into his backpack.

A mildly amused huff ended up escaping Yosetsu's when he saw the shorter boy shoving several large textbooks into his ragged backpack, with him even making an attempt to shove a sideways math textbook into the damn thing only to be disappointed when it didn't fit, a sight that ended up making Yosetsu snicker a tiny bit in amusement, though as that sound escaped his lips, the blue eyed child perked up a little and glanced over in his general direction. At that, he raised a brow when he abruptly made eye contact with Yosetsu, who blinked in surprise at his little amused huff had been noticed by the other kid. Even so, he didn't really think much of it as he welded his locker shut and readjusted the position of his backpack on his back.

Though he didn't exactly focus too much on the shorter boy's gaze, Yosetsu did notice how he seemed to be staring at him with a rather… curious shine in his eyes. Curiosity… and irritation, no doubt, as evident by how he had narrowed his eyes quite a bit at Awase when they made eye contact. Vice versa, however, Yosetsu simply offered him his usual flat, neutral stare as he maintained eye contact with him for the briefest of moments, though as the seconds ticked onwards, the grey eyed boy found his stone cold facade wavering a little as the blue eyed child sharpened his gaze a little, just enough to make him flinch, before he shook his head and broke eye contact with the boy and walked off to class.

He would rather not be held back from class because of this newcomer, after all. His record wasn't exactly the best, what with him having arrived late several times over in the past due to irregular sleeping habits, and he'd rather not worsen his record even further because of a staring contest.

And yet, whilst he was walking off to class, Yosetsu Awase couldn't help but feel a shudder go up his spine as he felt the blue eyed child's gaze fixed on him until he rounded a corner, and as soon as he did, he let out a sigh of relief before he continued onwards to his class.

'What a strange one he is…'

Some time later

Classes were, simply put, mundane to Yosetsu, though for the sake of his future, he more or less forced himself to power through his lessons.

Of course, that in itself was a lot easier said than done. While the headband-wearing boy did like his teachers… for the most part… he still found their teaching methods to be… less than desirable, so to speak. While yes, it was understandable for them to be incredibly bored at this point, what with them having taught the same things over and over again for years on end, Yosetsu really did wish that they were just a little more enthusiastic with their lessons.

A good example of all this was happening right in front of Yosetsu's eyes right now. The late morning lesson for his class, Class 3C, was in regards to the foreign language of English, a language that, honestly speaking, wasn't particularly important but still worth learning, and while Awase was interested in it to a certain degree, the way his teacher for the subject spoke nearly put him to sleep several times over. Hell, the student behind him did fall asleep at one point, not that the teacher cared, anyways, as he simply continued on with his lesson.

This continued onwards, much to the entire class' dismay, until the bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. At that, the foreign language teacher offered a quick farewell to his students before he left the classroom, with him doing it so quickly that one could have mistaken his Quirk as something interesting and not something that was just as mundane as himself. Hell, half the class didn't even notice that his lesson had ended until about two minutes after he had left. Yosetsu was, embarrassingly enough, among the aforementioned group of students, as he was still in a dazed state, a state that he was knocked out of when the next subject teacher entered the room.

A quick greeting was all it took to snap Yosetsu out of his trance and jolt upright, and the same applied to the other students that were half asleep after the bore-fest that was the foreign language class. Hell, a guy with a Mutation Quirk, one that gave him a crocodile head, ended up roaring in shock when the newly arrived teacher had entered the room, though he was quick to apologise thereafter in embarrassment.

Once the class had accepted his apology, they were quick to turn and stare at the teacher that had just entered. This one… well, they actually liked this teacher, honestly speaking! He was the Quirk History teacher, one of the better subjects to be lectured on in the Choritsu Middle School, and unlike most of the other dull professors that worked here, the guy that stood before them with the droopy eyebrows and cheeks that resembled a bulldog was a lot more entertaining and enthusiastic than one would expect, something that his tired looking exterior did not reflect that well…

Regardless of his physical appearances, however, on a regular day, the class would immediately brighten up as soon as the Quirk History teacher entered the room. Today, however, the classroom noticed that he hadn't entered the place alone. No, instead… there was someone else with him… and this aforementioned person stood at the front of the class whilst the teacher sat down behind his desk, smiling a tiny bit as he let his students whisper among themselves in regards to who this person was. No one really had any real opinion in regards to who the new kid was, exactly, with most of the boys joking about how short he was while the girls whispered about him being rather… cute, for the lack of a better word. As for Yosetsu, however, he found himself blinking a little in surprise when he realized…

'It's that kid…' thought Yosetsu, genuinely shocked as he blinked at the somewhat familiar sight of that short, black haired, blue eyed boy standing at the front of the class. He didn't seem too interested in being here at the moment as his eyes lazily scanned the room, though with that being said, he did noticeably raise a brow in… surprise(?) when he noticed Yosetsu present in the classroom. Likewise, Awase's brows raised a little higher up on his face when they briefly made eye contact yet again, though before much else could be done, their Quirk History teacher cleared his throat and caught everyone's attention with the sound that came immediately thereafter.

"Alright class, if you'll allow me," began the teacher, with his tone of voice carrying quite a deep yet friendly baritone as he spoke. "If you recall, one of your classmates was recently transferred to another school in order to be closer to home. As such, we've had an empty seat in the class for quite some time. Of course, that changes today.

"If you may, please welcome your new classmate. Now, I would do so myself, but that would be rude of me. So with that said, could you do the honors of introducing yourself, my boy?"

As he concluded that brief explanation in regards to why the short boy was here, the Quirk History teacher glanced over at the aforementioned child with an expectant look in his hard-to-see eyes, though he was quick to quirk a brow higher up onto his face when he realized that the blue eyed child hadn't acknowledged him just yet. No, instead, he was staring around the classroom with a vacant look in his eyes whilst fiddling with a blue bracelet that was on his left wrist. A few seconds of awkward silence passed before the teacher felt his eyelid twitch a little in irritation, and likewise, the students Yosetsu included, snickered a little at his expense before he cleared his throat.

"May you introduce yourself, please?" said the Quirk History teacher yet again, with him speaking with a more serious tone of voice this time, one that jolted the newcomer out of his brief stupor.

"Hm? Oh," muttered the blue eyed boy as he glanced over at his new teacher, and as he did so, he raised a brow before shrugging and nodding. Thereafter, he turned to address the class, with him speaking in a voice that sounded so… empty… so much so that it sent chills up their spines as they felt his gaze boring straight into their souls. "I'm Augus. Augus Mikazuki."

Silence came after, with the Quirk History teacher sweat dropping a little as he wondered if the child… Mikazuki Augus, as he went by, had anything else add on to his introduction before he ushered him over to his seat. Evidently enough, however, he had nothing else to add on, and at that, the teacher nodded, causing his cheek flaps to clap against his jawline in the process, before he gestured towards the only empty seat in the room, situated near the center of the classroom and, one row away from Yosetsu's.

"Well, erm… thank you for introducing yourself. Now, if you may, Augus, please take a seat. I believe that we've delayed my lesson for long enough, after all!" joked the Quirk History teacher as he motioned towards the empty desk and chair that was situated close to the center of the room. Mikazuki responded to that with a nod and a mild grunt as he did as he was told, and within seconds, he found himself situated atop the empty seat with his bag leaning against the back leg of his desk. Thereafter, he reached down and pulled out his Quirk History textbook alongside his incredibly shoddy looking pencil case before turning his attention ahead of himself, ignoring practically everything else that was going on around him all the while.

A mildly amused huff ended up escaping the teacher's lips as he watched Mikazuki Augus remain at attention expectantly. Very few kids his age could attest to being this neutral whilst in class, and yet, here he was, ready for class on the first day of being here. It went against what all the records regarding young Augus had said about him, though for now, he reckoned that it wasn't exactly important, as the teacher shook his head and began his lesson, though not before he told off the kid sitting by Mikazuki's left for attempting to slip in his phone number, having considered Augus to be 'cool' enough to warrant it.

"Alright then, now that we've introduced our new student, how about we begin our lesson?"

An hour later

Quirk History period had ended a lot sooner than Yosetsu was expecting, and though everything that he had learnt in it was rather common knowledge at this point, Awase couldn't exactly say that he minded it, especially when the teacher for the subject was a lot more entertaining than pretty much everyone else at this point.

A quick glance over at the classroom clock told Yosetsu that it was 12:30, lunch time, so to speak, and as such, the students found themselves filing out rather swiftly. Several of them were keen on interacting a little with Mikazuki before leaving, however, as they were interested in the new guy and whatever his Quirk might've been, and yet… they weren't able to get him to answer any of their questions properly, much to their dismay as they left silently in defeat. Huh, now that he thought about it… Mikazuki didn't even say… anything throughout the entire lesson. He simply stared straight ahead and… listened. Quietly…

Awase had spared him several glances throughout the entire class, and he had not seen his fellow classmate so much as part his lips for the entire hour since he had introduced himself… and that was rather… unsettling, to say the least. He knew that some kids were incredibly attentive when it came to their education, but damn, Mikazuki was really something else…

"Awase, a word please?"

Blinking a little upon hearing his name being called out, the aforementioned young man glanced forwards and saw that his Quirk History teacher was calling for him. Without wasting much time, Awase nodded and got up from his seat, with him placing his bag back down all the while. He gulped a tiny bit when he was called out, with him wondering what nonsense he had inadvertently gotten himself into this time to warrant a personal conversation to be had with his superior, though he kept his worries at bay for now as he stiffly walked up to his teacher.

"You called?" greeted Yosetsu in a mostly casual tone of voice, with him remaining as polite as he possibly could as he spoke. In response to his words, his Quirk History teacher simply nodded before he explained himself.

"Yes, yes I did, Awase. I have something to ask of you," answered the Quirk History teacher, with his flabby bulldog-esc cheeks inching upwards a little as he spoke, with him clearly smiling all the while, a sight that made Awase shudder a little. It was always weird to see that, regardless of how this guy had been his Quirk History teacher for the better half of his third year here, though he didn't bring that up as he nodded, telling his teacher that he was listening. "Simply put, I want you to… pair up with Mikazuki."

"Say what now?" muttered Awase, with him struggling to process what he was just told as he stared at the older man with raised brows, and to that, the Quirk History Teacher chuckled a fair bit as he allowed what he had just said sink in. "You want… me to pair up with Augus…? But… why?"

"Mikazuki Augus is in a rather… tense situation right now, so to speak. There are issues in regards to his past that contribute to his mental health, and believe me when I say that Kamishiro Elementary is not the first school he's been to. He was actually meant to join the class yesterday, though… minor complications kept that from happening," explained the teacher rather solemnly as he kept his voice down, with him glancing over at the focal point of their conversation as he spoke, with Yosetsu doing the same shortly thereafter. Most of the other students had funneled out of the classroom by now, with the only exception being a handful of leftovers that remained behind to gossip about the new addition to their class or to get a few extra minutes of study in, and Mikazuki himself, who busied himself with scribbling into a torn notebook that he had pulled out from seemingly nowhere. His face was scrunched up in concentration as he tried writing something down onto it, something that amused Awase quite a bit.

After seeing him with that resting bitch face for the better part of the past hour, alongside the two other instances where they had crossed paths at the lockers, that look of concentration was certainly a breath of fresh air…

"I won't divulge the information, more for the sake of his privacy, but I myself hope to relieve some of the tension from his shoulders. Of course, as a teacher, I can't focus too much on a single child. That would make it unfair to the others. But as for you, however… I can very well see the two of you becoming friends in the foreseeable future," admitted the Quirk History Teacher with a bright smile on his barely visible lips, and in response, Awase found his cheeks reddening just a bit as he let that comment sink in. not long after, however, he found himself wincing a little as he acknowledged one thing…

"But why me specifically, anyways? There's probably other people that're more suited to this?" pointed out Yosetsu offhandedly as he gestured towards a small handful of the students that were still in class, namely a brown haired girl with pigtails who was chatting away with a blonde shorty. His teacher was quick to acknowledge his concerns with a small nod of his head, though before long, he elaborated further.

"While yes, in a conventional sense, there are many others who are undoubtedly better suited to this task than you are… but with that said… as I had just told you, Mikazuki Augus is very much a special case all on his own. Others are no doubt more friendly than you, no offense," explained the teacher, with him swiftly amending his words, to which Awase shrugged indifferently, seeing no offense in his teacher's words, prompting him to continue speaking. "But your… personality, so to speak, makes you a better match for him than anyone else in this class."

"I'm not sure if I should be flustered or insulted by what you just said, honestly," admitted Yosetsu, with him deadpanning his words rather effectively as he crossed his arms apprehensively, and in response to that, his Quirk History Teacher ended up laughing a little as he shrugged.

"That… is something you'll have to find out for yourself, Awase," muttered the teacher with a small smile on his face, to which Yosetsu rolled his eyes at his cryptic nature. For as nice as he was, the teacher really enjoyed messing with his students from time to time, something that Awase would've minded if he didn't find him as likable as he was, and as such, he found himself nodding disgruntledly rather than throwing a jab at him.

"Alright alright, fine, I'll play this game of yours. But what's in it for me, huh?" inquired Yosetsu with a small smirk as he crossed his arms and eyed his teacher slyly. Honestly speaking, he wasn't expecting to get anything back from all this, though it would be fun to ask, he supposed. His response came almost instantaneously, with his senior chuckling under his breath before responding.

"You'll be doing a good deed by getting a new classmate to get accustomed to his new environment. That, and who knows, you might make a friend out of him," explained the Quirk History Teacher, with him lowering his voice as he added on; "Cuz' god knows you need some…"

The mild twitch of Yosetsu's eye was the only real indication that he had heard his teacher's comment, though he didn't say anything on it as he grumbled and nodded, with him crossing his arms all the while.

"Fine then… I guess even I need to do the right thing from time to time, huh?" quipped Yosetsu as he glanced over at Mikazuki with quirked brows and an overall intrigued expression plastered onto his face, and at that, his teacher, after offering him two Hall Passes, gave him a gentle push forwards, much to his chagrin.

"Indeed, now go and be a Hero, Awase. God knows we need one around here!"

And in spite of his mildly irritated scoff, with it being the only real indication of his annoyance towards the older man's words, Yosetsu couldn't help but smile a little at that word…

Hero, huh? Well, he didn't think that he was even worthy of being considered a hero in the first place… but even so, he had to admit… it did feel nice to be called one, even if it was in a heavily sarcastic manner.

"Yeah, whatever you say, I guess…"

The sound of footsteps approaching him was quick to snap the boy's attention up and away from his textbook, with him raising a brow when he saw that kid with the headband around his head standing not too far from his table.

As he approached him, Mikazuki Augus tensed up a little on instinct as he felt his hands tightening around his textbook quite a bit. At the same time, however, the boy remained stoically silent as he watched the headband-wearing child stop in front of his table and place a hand atop it, with him exhaling gently as he pondered on what he should say to him before opening his mouth. All the while, Mikazuki remained stoically silent, if a little on guard, as past experience has taught him to never let it down, even when in a relatively comfortable location.

"Hey there…?" tried the boy after some time, with no small amount of apprehension being audible in his voice as he greeted Mikazuki with a mostly indifferent look on his face, though quite a bit of uncertainty could be heard beneath his mostly neutral tone, something that the blue eyed child picked up on, not that he cared much about it for now, as Augus found his attention fixed onto the taller boy entirely. He stared silently at the guy for a brief few moments whilst he stared back, with each second of eye contact making him feel a little more uncomfortable, though before long, he responded accordingly.

"Hi," responded Mikazuki indifferently as he maintained eye contact with the kid, who huffed a little at just how… uncaring he sounded as he flinched at his tone of voice, though it was only a minor reaction, one that Augus cared little about, and as such, he dismissed it as he watched the headband wearing kid jerk a thumb towards the Quirk History Teacher, who waved at him for some comedic effect that fell flat on its face.

"Alright so here's the deal, teach' over there wants me to buddy up with you, just to show you around the place and get you accustomed to how the school works. You fine with that?" explained the taller kid, with him keeping his words short and simple as he stared down at Mikazuki with an indifferent look in his gaze, though behind said indifference was a small amount of irritation. It seemed as though he really didn't want to do this, though at the same time, he reckoned that he may as well, and upon noticing this, Mikazuki couldn't help but huff a little as he nodded, with him picking up his notebook and shoving it into his back shortly thereafter.

Silently, the headband-wearing boy watched on as the shorter kid leaned down and zipped his bag up, and shortly thereafter, he stood up from his seat and turned his towards Awase completely, who raised a brow at this, though it didn't take long for him to take the hint.

"I'll take that as a yes?" asked the taller boy rhetorically, to which he was answered when the shorter kid nodded, and at that, he snorted in amusement as he gestured for the blue eyed boy to follow him out, with him handing him one of the two Hall Passes the teacher had given him prior. "Alright then, follow me I guess."

"Ah," was Mikazuki's simple response to the headband-wearing boy's instructions, and with that, he was led out of the classroom by the boy, who remained mostly silent as they marched on. Before leaving, however, Mika swore that he saw their teacher snickering to himself behind his palm, though he didn't question why for now as he shook his head and turned back towards the boy he was with, seeming mostly indifferent to his current situation, just not enough to stop him from asking; "What's your name?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah my name. Awase, Awase Yosetsu," introduced the boy with a mild shrug as he crossed his arms, only to lean over to the side to avoid a collision with a shorter guy that sprinted past the two of them. Mikazuki found himself nodding at that. Yosetsu Awase, huh? Not too hard to remember…

"Ok, Awa. I'll be in your care I guess," muttered Mikazuki nonchalantly, and to that, Yosetsu found himself nodding a little in response to his little comment… only to blink a little when he realized what Mikazuki had just called him.

"... excuse me?" muttered Yosetsu, bewildered at what he was just referred to as… though in response to his comment, Mikazuki simply remained silent, prompting Awase to groan in irritation. "Alright, whatever. Just don't get lost, cos with your height, you just might."

Though he had whispered that latter part out, a small, amused snort ended up escaping Mikazuki as he shrugged in apparent agreement. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"… seriously?" blurted out Yosetsu, with his genuine surprise at that blatant admission from Mikazuki being more than enough to override his usually silent self as he stared down at him in bewilderment.

"Ah. Happened more than once," admitted Mikazuki in his usual deadpanned tone of voice, with him sliding a hand into his pocket as he spoke, amusing Yosetsu further as he snorted. "It's annoying."

"Bet whoever you were partnered with weren't too happy about that, huh?" commented Yosetsu as the two of them rounded a corner, only for Augus to weave to the side as another student rushed past them, yelling about missing a deadline all the while. Rather awkwardly, however, Augus had moved towards Yosetsu as he shifted to dodge the inbound student, and as a result, his back pressed itself up against the boy's arm, much to his chagrin, before he got off him, post-haste.

As Augus got himself off him, however, Awase found himself blinking as he felt something… odd press against his arm. Said sensation was quick to fade away when Mikazuki pushed himself away from him, however, and as such, Yosetsu was quick to dismiss it as well, with him considering it to be just a figment of his imagination for now… though with that being said, he did notice how there was a rather noticeably, rectangular-shaped bulge on the back of Mikazuki's school uniform. Strange… though he reckoned that it wasn't worth bringing it up for now. It could be his Quirk for all he knew and cared.

"Ah, the teacher was not happy that I missed class on the first day. I didn't have anyone to help me around, though," admitted Mikazuki as they marched onwards, with his words snapping Yosetsu out of his temporary stupor as he blinked and followed his acquaintance onwards, and to that, Awase found himself raising a brow in apparent surprise. Odd… new students tended to be sheperted around the school grounds by a buddy for at least one week before they could roam around on their own, so to hear that whatever school Mikazuki was in prior to Choritsu Middle school was… a little worrying to him.

"Sounds pretty lame, not gonna lie," admitted Yosetsu, with him feeling genuinely sorry for Mikazuki, not that it meant much, really, as he brought a hand up to his neck and rubbed it a little, to which Mikazuki shrugged indifferently.

"It could've been worse," said the boy with a shrug, and at that, Yosetsu snorted in bemusement as he nodded, having accepted that answer by now, before he glanced down at Mikazuki with a raised brow. Huh… the guy wasn't as much of a prick as he had initially thought him to be, all things considered. Sure, he looked to be a bit of a stiff lil' shit, but so far, he seemed to be quite a good fella, one that Awase could probably get along with if he tried… "Besides, I got expelled two weeks later, so it didn't matter."

"... shit, what the Hell did you do to get expelled so quickly?" muttered Yosetsu, having been snapped out of his thoughts by that nonchalant admission of being expelled as he blinked at Mikazuki with a baffled look on his face. "Are you tryna speedrun education or something?"

"No. Someone tried to take something from me after school. I didn't let them. Everything after made its way back to the school, which expelled me shortly after," admitted Mikazuki, prompting Awase to scrunch his face up as he processed what he was just told, mildly surprised at just how forthcoming the guy was despite the two of them only just meeting mere minutes ago. That, and considering the grounds of expulsion were incredibly tight in Japan, he reckoned that there was only one reason behind why Mikazuki was expelled in the first place, a thought that made him shudder ever so slightly.

"Well, that sucks," muttered Yosetsu, to which Mikazuki snorted.

"It wasn't a good school anyways, so it doesn't matter. I think it was shut down recently," assured Mikazuki offhandedly as he glanced up at Yosetsu, who nodded a little as he processed Augus' words, and thereafter, he opened his mouth to ask his acquaintance something, though before the words could leave his mouth, his tummy ended up grumbling a little, prompting him to redden in embarrassment as he set a hand atop it. Mikazuki didn't seem to notice it, however, or at least he pretended not to, as he walked on, only to slow his pace a little when Yosetsu cleared his throat, almost instantly catching his attention.

"Hey, you wanna go grab something to eat before I show you round'?" inquired Yosetsu with a mild shrug of his shoulders, and in response to his comment, Mikazuki's stomach grumbled a little before he could speak, a sound that made Yosetsu bite his lip in order to hold back a small snicker before nodding a little. "Yeah, that's definitely a yes. C'mon, our first stop's the cafeteria."

"Ah," replied Mikazuki flatly as he slid his hands into his pockets and shifted his fingers inside of it several times whilst Yosetsu watched on in silence, with him wondering just what Augus was trying to get out all the while. It couldn't be his phone, right? After all, it wouldn't take too long to… is that a raisin? Yeah, Mikazuki had just fished a raisin out of his pocket, and shortly thereafter, he popped it into his mouth and chewed it up before swallowing it. As he did so, he noticed Awase's baffled gaze fixed squarely on his person, prompting him to raise a brow curiously. "What?"

"... nothing," assured Yosetsu with a shake of his head. What a weird one, Mikazuki was, though then again, considering just how strange the world they lived in was, he reckoned that it wasn't too bad, and with that, he gestured for them to continue onwards. "C'mon, let's go."

"Okay, Awa."

"There's no point in me asking you to not call me that, is there?"

"Not until I can remember your name properly."

"And how long will that take?"

"A long while."

And for as subtle as it was, Yosetsu found his lips twitching upwards in amusement at Augus' rebuttal to his jabs as he bit his lip in an attempt to keep another rebuttal from escaping him. Thankfully enough, for him at least, the words never left his lips as he simply remained silent, and all the while, Awase simply stared down at Mikazuki with an… uncertain look in his eyes.

What a strange one he was. He knew that already, especially after he saw how… differently he had acted, especially when compared to the other students present. What was the word used to describe someone like him…? Oh right, someone who preferred to let actions speak louder than words, he reckoned. Thus far, Augus had spoken very little to Awase, or at least, when compared to the few who wished to be his friend in the past, anyways. He seemed to know the importance of keeping things short, simple and concise, something that Yosetsu could respect quite a bit… but even so… there was something that stopped the boy from outright liking him on the spot…

The eyes… it had to be the eyes…

Cold, calculating and, in a word… deadly… Mikazuki's eyes struck Yosetsu as belonging not to someone who was attending elementary school, but rather… they seemed to be more fit for… for a killer. His attention was sporadic, with his eyes bouncing from object to object at any given second as he surveyed his surroundings with maximum attention, and his body was always tensed up, seeming ready to lunge away at any sign of danger. His fingers clenched and unclenched themselves frequently, almost as though he was expecting to get into a fight at any given second, and though his expression was almost unreadable, the occasional twitch of his brow and the corners of his lips told Awase that he had quite a bit of tension built up inside of him, a sign of past experiences still haunting him, so to speak.

After all, he knew how it felt to bottle up past trauma. The lack of emotion he showed was just his way of coping with all this, and he reckoned that the same applied to Mikazuki, he reckoned, though he didn't think too much on all that. For all he knew, Augus probably had a Quirk that just made him this way, so it wouldn't be polite to judge him for his behaviour.

"Is something wrong, Awa?" inquired Mikazuki after a few seconds of walking, to which Yosetsu blinked as he glanced down at his acquaintance with a raised brow, and at that, he realized that he had been staring, prompting his cheeks to redden a little as he swiftly averted his eyes and cross his arms, a gesture that made Augus huff in amusement all the while.

"No, nothing's wrong, Augus. C'mon, let's get a move on before I starve myself to death."

"Alright."

And with that said, both Yosetsu and Mikazuki set off to get something to eat, with neither realizing that this chance meeting of theirs would, inevitably, make both of their lives much more interesting…

Yeah I didn't expect to be posting this so soon either, but it was either this or MHA reacts to SD Gundam G Gen Crossrays, and this one won!

Welcome to the revamped version of my old story, Iron Blooded Heroes! For those unaware, I posted this once back in 2018 or 2019 but after a lot of scrutinisation and consideration, I took it down because I didn't like where it was going. This rewritten version is essentially the old story but with my current writing style, which is hopefully an improvement… hopefully.

Those that read and somehow remember what happened in the original version of this story will probably remember a few plot points that will eventually be carried over from there to here, but for the most part, things will be brand spanking new, and it'll definitely be much longer. That's my thing, you see. Stories that're longer than necessary.

I'll admit to doing a bit more research for this story than most of my other ones. I'm not Japanese, you see, and I realized that they do things differently there than they do here. Likewise, I got the geography messed up in the original draft of the story, so I invested a lot… lot more time into making sure I got it right this time. I doubt I got it perfectly fine so far, but it's more than I can say for the original version!

For those wondering, in this story, Yosetsu Awase hails from Seiro, in the Niigata Prefecture, and he attends Choritsu Middle School, a school in a close by area. Mikazuki hails from the same area, though specifics will be revealed in a later chapter.

Quirks? Why would I spoil the surprise? Unless you already read the original version, you will not know just yet!

Anyhow, that's essentially it. Hopefully you enjoyed this rewrite, and hopefully it has a longer lifespan than the previous version!