A/N:

since someone mentioned it, I would like to say that these chapters are short on purpose bc of the style of the fic (it's in sections, different POVs, and I entirely write each one the night prior to posting it like a dunce), though there will be some long (and some really long) one scattered about - sorry if that wasn't made clear :P

on another note: if you can't tell by now, a good chunk of these fics will be focused on exploring the butterfly effect of itachi's/mikumo's (mitachi itakumo? nvm that second one sounds like a ship name) existence, but it will have a few heavier ripples that he causes at some point

also! apologies for not uploading on friday! got a little busy, whoops ;,D

"Woah," Kouji hears someone whisper - Kaminari, he thinks - "Everyone looks so badass…"

Kouji fiddles with his hands and glances down at his costume. He liked it when he and his mother designed it, but now that he's seeing everyone else's, he can't help but wonder if he'd just been caught up in all the excitement of being accepted into U.A.. His costume doesn't have any cool gadgets or designs, after all…

"Holy crap man, is that a real sword?!"

Kouji's head snaps towards the direction of the sound, and he blinks when he sees that one of his classmates does, in fact, have a sword strapped to his back.

"I can't believe they let you have that! That's so awesome!"

Kouji forces out a breath. A sword is dangerous, but surely they wouldn't let his classmate have one unless they knew he could use it… Right?

"Mikumo's always been good with weapons. He has a lot, actually, and he had to send in a form for all of them. Plus, he had to prove that he knew how to wield them, and…"

"Shall we begin, my wards?!" All Might calls out from the front, and Kouji lets out a sigh of relief, grateful that he'd cut off the boy's unintelligible mutters. He has nothing against the green-haired boy, of course, but when he speaks rapid-fire like that, he can't help but feel a little anxious. "It's time for battle training!"

Kouji's gratefulness dissipates in an instant. He kind of wants to die. Judging by the sharp grins on some of his classmates' faces, he just might.

"Sensei!" someone in a knight-esque costume calls out, and it takes a moment for Kouda to realize that it's the boy with engines in his legs - Iida. "This appears to be the same field used in the entrance exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape maneuvers?!"

"Nope!" All Might replies with his signature grin. "You'll be moving on to step two! Indoor anti-personnel battle training! Villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, but statistically, the most heinous villains are more likely to appear indoors," he explains. "Between confinement, house arrest, and black market deals... in this hero-filled society of ours... The cleverest villains out there lurk indoors!"

Kouji half-wishes he hadn't heard any of that. He's going to be paranoid for weeks.

"You'll now be split into villain teams and hero teams," All Might continues as if he hadn't just dropped a verbal bomb on his students, "And face off in two-on-two indoor battles!"

Kouji winces at the sudden increase of volume that follows, and he begins lightly tapping his forearm to ground himself.

You'll be fine, he tells himself. It's just an exercise. All Might won't let anything happen to anyone.

Except, of course, he could always make a complete and utter fool of himself. Or break something - either his bones or the surroundings. Or have no animals heed his call. Or—

"Listen up!" All Might says, catching Kouji's attention. He nearly does a double take when he sees the book he's unabashedly reading off of, though he supposes that All Might technically isn't a teacher, so he can't judge the man too harshly. "Here's the deal. The villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout, and the heroes will have to go in and take care of it!"

Kouji's sure that his palms would be incredibly sweaty, had it been easier for him to sweat, the moment the words 'nuclear bomb' leave All Might's mouth. He knows, realistically, that U.A. wouldn't use a real one and put them in immense danger like that, but it doesn't do much to calm his nerves, especially considering what they had to face in the entrance exams.

For all he knows, the bomb might blow them all to pieces, even if it's not nuclear. Which… he needs to not think about, lest he starts spiraling.

"—limited amount of time to either capture the villains or secure the weapon. The villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until the time is up."

That… isn't so bad , Kouji decides. His quirk isn't particularly strong - not in the way things like explosions or enhanced strength are, anyway - but it's fine when it comes to stealth. It might give him a little bit of an advantage in this exercise, since he can have a few creatures - rats, probably - scout out for him, and if there are any birds around, he can ask them to help with capture.

"Your battle partners will be decided by... drawing lots!" All Might announces. It strikes him as an odd way to choose, but he doesn't really mind, since he doesn't know much about his classmates just yet. Plus, the green-haired boy's explanation about team ups between agencies makes at least some amount of sense.

It is a little funny, though, how he has each student line up to grab a piece of paper out of a box. It also makes All Might a little more human and down-to-earth, which is nice.

He ends up drawing 'F,' which he holds up a little awkwardly while looking around for his partner. Barely a minute later, a boy wearing mesh, black clothes, and gray plating appears before him, and Kouji remembers him as the one who has the sword.

"Hello," the boy greets politely as he shows off his letter, and Kouji finds himself a little surprised by his soft tone. Based on his costume, he'd expected someone a little more stand-offish, which in retrospect is a bit of a mean assumption.

He offers a light wave in response, hoping that his partner isn't offended by his choice not to speak. It's just hard sometimes to get up the nerve, especially with so many people laughing at how high-pitched his voice is…

"I'm Mikumo," the boy introduces after a moment. Before Kouji can start worrying about how he'll get his name across without speaking, the boy tilts his head slightly. "You're Kouda, correct?"

Kouji nods, relieved. He does feel a little bad about not remembering his name, though. He only really caught the ones of the names who introduced themselves repeatedly, or who spoke a lot during the Quirk Apprehension Test.

They both fall into an amicable silence after that, and after All Might draws the first two teams, they all head up to a room where they can watch the matches.

Unfortunately, Kouji's nerves are already fried only a few minutes into the spectacle. His classmates are really, truly going at one another, as if they're locked in a battle to the death. But it's like watching a car wreck; he just can't look away.

At least they can't hear anything. Kouji thinks he might've vomited if he'd been able to hear the breaking of the green-haired boy's bones.

It's only when dust covers the screen that he can finally glance away. His eyes immediately flick over to Mikumo, who has a small frown on his face that he can't quite decipher. He doesn't have much time to inspect the boy's expression, though, because he notices Kouji's gaze not a moment later and turns his head towards him, lips curling into a polite smile.

Kouji smiles back sheepishly, but feels his ears burn. It's awful being caught staring, and he can't help but force himself to look back at the screen to avoid looking at his partner.

He just hopes that his match doesn't go as poorly as this one. He doesn't think he'll be able to handle that in the least.

Unfortunately, his match creeps up on him all too soon, and he finds himself trying to suppress a nervous breakdown.

His tongue feels thick in his mouth, and he knows that even if he tries to speak, he won't be able to. Which is… not good, considering the exercise they're about to start.

His only consolation is that they're the villains, so he barely needs to move his trembling legs unless the heroes show up.

"Do you have a plan?" Mikumo asks quietly, blinking when Kouji stares at him like a deer caught in headlights. "Ah, nevermind. We'll make one together." He hums, looking around the room before pausing. "I believe I may have an idea, though I'll need you to tell me more about your quirk," he says almost apologetically.

Kouji opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He feels dread settle in his stomach, and red hot shame bursts within his chest. He's useless, of course he is. He knew he never should've applied to U.A. with such a non-offensive quirk; something like this was bound to happen eventually. Maybe it's better that it happened now, so—

"Do you know sign language?"

Kouji startles, head snapping towards Mikumo.

"Because I do. If you wish to communicate that way, that's alright with me."

There's a brief moment of silence where Kouji stares at him, eyes wide. Mikumo slowly raises his hands and repeats the question in sign, and Kouji feels relief sweep through his bones.

"Yes , " he responds with shaking hands. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Mikumo replies. "It might be beneficial to communicate that way after the match begins anyway, since I doubt our opponents will understand what we're saying."

Kouji nods, unable to hide his smile, which Mikumo returns kindly. As warmth blooms in his chest, he raises his hands once again and starts explaining his quirk.

When he's finished, Mikumo hums consideringly. "Alright. Well, if you're willing to listen, I'm fairly certain I have a decent plan."

"Of course," Kouji replies quickly.

"Right. My quirk has a few different applications, but for this exercise, I believe that the most useful one will be the creation of minor illusions. If I can catch our opponents off guard, you should be able to capture them without an exceptional amount of difficulty, preferably by asking the nearby animals for assistance. Birds, as I'm sure you've already noticed, would be perfect, as they could fly around our opponents and catch them in something akin to a web," he explains, opening a nearby window. "Of course, we'll likely have to make up a few plans on the fly, though this is our best bet for now. However, if you see an opportunity appear before you, don't hesitate to take it; swapping an inferior plan for a better one is never a bad thing."

Kouji feels a little dizzy throughout his explanation, though he understands the gist. He is worried about how large of a part he has, though. If he messes up and they lose, then it'll be his fault, and—

"Kouda," Mikumo says, interrupting his downwards spiral, "Don't be afraid to ask for help, either. I won't blame you for anything that goes wrong, and I hope that you'll extend to me the same consideration."

Kouji swallows, then lets out a breath. "Okay," he eventually tells him with a hesitant smile. "Let's do this."

Mikumo smiles back just as All Might's voice rings out over the loudspeaker. "Let's."

A/N:

i have no idea how to speak sign language (neither ESL nor JSL), though I am fairly certain that it isn't as clear cut as this, so do note that whatever they're saying are the interpreted/translated versions - not direct signage

also, I know I didn't add an 'ending' or anything, but do know that they won, and it wasn't even *close*, primarily because Mina and Aoyama were struggling to work with one another
I didn't want to add a battle scene because it would've literally just been a rehashing of Itachi's plan, and the mention of their win just seemed awkward and out of place, so I left it with that sweet little comment at the end, which is meant to suggest that their magical friendship helped them win
no-
(yes)

but that's it for this section of the fic! i'll probably start on the next one, and start posting again on Tuesday (or Thursday, depending on how things go), so watch out for that; it'll cover the USJ Arc :)
though do note that i might come back and edit these chapters later on... i probably won't add anything, but the quality can definitely be improved, LOL

anyway
Thanks for reading!