"What about the Todoroki child?", the red-headed man asked, as his peers and him went through the results of the recommended students. "He blasted through pretty much we put in his path.", he said smiling at the video footage.
" Knowing Enji, he made the kid go through hell and back until he was sure he was at least this good, so I'm not surprised. He's pretty cute though." Midnight added, putting in her two cents.
"Yeah, that kid rocked, man!" Hizashi interjected in his normal upbeat way, jolting the dozing Aizawa awake.
They were seated in the professor's lounge, reviewing footage from the First Year recommendation entrance exam. There were plenty of high caliber candidates this year, as always.
They were teenagers with excellent grades, excellent handling of their quirks, and of course, with the financial means amd connections to be recognized by the most prestigious Hero Academy in Japan.
"Very good crop this year, uh? Too bad we can only pick four of them." Present Mic, muttered as he leafed through the participant's files, only to stop at a fifth one.
"Who's that Shinomaru Kenneth guy?" he asked to no one in particular, sliding the file towards the other participants.
"I don't know, I didn't see him at the Exam, today", The R-rated hero said, looking quizzically at the picture. "I'd remember seeing such a cute boy, if he had been here."
"I'm sure you would..." Aizawa grumbled, one red eye peeking through his disheveled hair.
"Probably a special case. Take it up to the mouse, if you're curious." He said, before closing his eyes.
King Vlad looked at the profile, pensively, scrutinizing its content.
"A kid from America, uh? But he has a Japanese name." he noted.
"Probably moved around with his parents due to their line of work, maybe he is half japanese", Aizawa piped up, sounding slightly annoyed. "Look, I'm trying to get so sleep, would it kill the lot of you if you didn't talk?"
"You know it's only one in the afternoon, right? Hizashi mentioned snarkily, before reahisting his reading glasses.
"He must be something special if he can skip the selection process completely, uh." he insisted, trying to dig into what his sleepy friend knew.
"For heaven's sake, Mic, can you shut up?"
Vlad King and Midnight couldn't help but snicker at the two friends bickering.
"Not until you tell me everything you know about that Shinomaru kid" the blond man said, being loud on purpose, to the great anmoyance of the underground hero.
"Fine, fine", the tired looking man said, attempting to ignore his ringing ears. "As long it helps shutting your trap."
The other occupants piped up at that, focusing on Aizawa.
"I don't know much", he began, stretching his arms and back, "But Principal Nezu said that the kid his a special case. Apparently, his folks are some big shots in the States. The principal got a phone call from someone high up, so high up he couldn't say no" he finished with shrug.
The last words left his audience understandably lost for words. Those names were in the top echelon of heroes in the whole world.
Present Mic whistled, breaking the silence. "Damn, what kind of monster is that kid? Does his family have some kind of dirt on the principal? He asked, now really interested in the file he had in hand.
"Do we know anything about his quirk? Vlad King asked, arms crossed a pensive look on his face.
"It says Samsara on here", said from the other side of the table. "Energy control, of some sort. It's rather vague.
"An emitter than... I guess he'll go to your class. The principal might need a failsafe to keep him in check" The blood hero said, adressing the red-eyed Aizawa.
A grunt was all the answer he received, as the black haired man closed his eyes again, eager to catch some shut-eye.
Izuku Midoriya was nervous as he made his way towards class A-1. The large campus made him feel small, reminding him of how lucky he was to have been admitted in such a prestigious school.
He thanked all his stars everyday for the opportunity he had been blessed with which ultimately allowed him to be in his current situation.
But that was the easy part and he knew it. He'd managed to get his foot in the door, but powerful quirk or not, he would only become a hero through hard work and dedication.
This was the first day of the rest of his...
"Take your foot off this desk, this instant! have some respect for those who came before you! It was a tall bispectacled teen, the same one who seemed like he had a rod up his butt during the Entrance exam.
"Oh, and who's gonna make me, you? Kacchan retorted, in his usual less than kind tone." I really like crushing posh bastards like you..."
"Excuse me, lad" someone behind Izuku said, distracting him from the altercation. The voice was deep, with a slight accent Izuku couldn't quite place.
Turning away to face his interlocutor. The green eyed boy had to look up to meet the almost completely black eyes of the stranger, the darkness of the sclera only broken by two digital blue irises.
"Do you mind? the stranger asked again, his voice level, "You're standing right on the door sill. Do you have an intangibility quirk?" he continued, speaking as if he was reading off the ingredients off the back of some bottle, whilst a curious finger went on to poke the shorter teen.
"Sorry!" Izuku didn't mean to yell, but the strange student made him nervous, even if he didn't seem to come off that way. He quicklly stepped aside, letting the taller teen in, who only nodded, before making his way in to the class.
"I'm Shinomaru Kenneth, by the way." he said, adressing the green haired boy. "You must be Midoriya Izuku. It's a pleasure to meet you." he finished putting his hand forward.
Izuku took a slight step back, suddenly wary of the strange student. "How do you know my name?" He said, stuttering slightly. Was he a villain? Maybe he was one posing as a student. But why would a villain be here? In U.A. of all places?
"Oh", the now named Kenneth said, as if it by a sudden revelation. "Yes, a stranger knowing your name and face would indeed be umsettling, I apologize." He even looked sincere in his contrition.
"The list of students in Class A-1 is available to all students of the class on the school's website. I wanted to make a good impression, so I memorized everybody's face and name." He finished with a toothy smile, as he dragged his fingers in his shaggy white hair.
"Ah", Midoriya said, feeling embarassed, face flushing a bit. "He is just a bit awkward, I guess.", he thought to himself. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you." He said copying Kenneth's earlier movement.
The two teens shook hands, with Kenneth smiling warmly.
"You're not from Japan, are you?" Izuku asked, curious about his accent.
"You noticed?" Shinomaru asked, tilting his head slitghly.
"Yeah, it was rather simple. Your japanese is perfect, besides a slight accent. But we you greeted me, you went to shake my hands. Japanese people would bow, especially when meeting the first time."
"Well done", Shinomaru said, looking at the shorter teen, a grin on his face. "My great-grandfather immigrated to the United States during the later years of the Vigilante era with his wife and kids. I'm actually the first of my family to step a foot in Japan in like seventy-five years.
I thought myself japanese, I was certain I had it down perfectly, but you saw right through me", he added, the grin never leaving his face.
"Oh well, it's really really good, I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking for it."
"Out of the way, fleece-head!" Katsuki Bakugou slightly shoved Shinomaru to the side, and got in Midoriya's face, the later doing his darned best not to cower in fear.
"He-hey Kacchan, so cool to see you again!"
"What the fuck was that, Deku?!" the blond asked angrily, "How the fuck did you make it in here?!
"I passed the test, Kacchan, you saw me on the list, didn't you? the shorter teen answered, his voice shaky.
Bakugou grabbed him by the collar, roughly pullinh him towards him. "I don't know how the fuck you did it, but don't think it makes you any less of a shitty nobody. That's all the fuck you'll ever be."
"Uh, Katsuki Bakugou, right? Shinomaru asked, tapping the angry student on the shoulder.
"The fuck do you want, you stupid extra?" Katsuki exploded, whirling towards the offending weirdo.
"You shoved me", Shinomaru said,"You have to apologize, correct?" he said to Bakugou, even glancing at Midoriya, as if to confirm the veracity of his statement.
"You wanna die fleece-head? the blond asked, almost growling, his spat with Izuku all but forgotten.
"No, I want an apology."
"All you'll get is my fist down you throat, fuckhead."
" Is all this violence really necessary? You just have to apologize."
"Are you deaf, you fuck? I'll blow you two bits if you keep fucking around."
"Really?" the white haired teen stepped towards the shorted blond. "You speak tall tales, Bakugou Katsuki. Can you stand behind your words?
"You two, enough of this! We are U.A. students, start acting like it!! Tenya Iida barked in his usual stiff tone.
"Whatever..." Katsuki huffed walking away from the white haired teen, grumbling under his breath.
Shinomaru watched the child go, a cold look in his eyes, his grin gone for the first time since he landed in Japan.
Ignoring the still prattling Iida, he sat down at an unassigned desk, looking at his new classmates trickling in.
His brain was in overdrive as always, data and information flowing non stop into his consciousness.
Smells, shapes, textures, colors, temperature, all smashing against his defenses. Only his decade and a half long of honing his quirk kept him from breaking down right then and there.
He was never good with new places and faces, or new experiences in general, for that matter. But, in his fifteen years of existence, he had seen and absorbed enough of the world to survive the onslaught.
Even with his eyes closed, he could "see" the bizarre man in a sleeping bag crawling towards the door- Shouta Aizawa, his mind told him- , just like he could percieve Midoriya fumbling his interaction with one Uraraka Ochako- Parents own a construction company, struggling with finances due to poor management and marketing...
He shut that thought before it went on forever. Apparently, knowing too much about strangers isn't a good thing. It made people uncomfortable, and uncomfortable people will do whatever it takes to stop being uncomfortable . It wouldn't do to alienate himself from his potential friends.
"If you're going to be hunting for bodies, do it somewhere else", the sleeping bag man, said between gulps of his protein drink, "This is the Heroics department."
The class was obviously perplexed at the man's appearance. He was a tall, slender man, wearing all black with a long thin scarf wrapped around his neck.
What made him peculiar was his unkempt hair and apperance, with is equally good facial features. The man looked like he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in ages, if his flat and tired looking eyes were any indication.
Shinomaru soon lost interest in the man or what he was saying, though his mind was always aware of what was happening around him, as his mind took in everything as always, that he couldn't stop.
He thought again at his goal for coming to Japan. From the second he was aware of himself, he had been trained for one purpose and one purpose only: "To be a weapon of justice, the sword that would cut evil at its root."
But who decide what evil was? And what is a weapon to do when the hand that weilds it is stained with the same evil it sought to destroy?
Can a weapon made to bring destruction become more than it was created to be?
He had been asking himself those questions. Which is why he came to Japan. Why he came to U.A. . If they could make great heroed like All Might, maybe the answer was to be found somewhere between those walls
Mechanically, his body followed the rest of the student body as they went to collect their gym uniform before making their way to a large trackfield.
A quirk apprehension test, Aizawa had called it. "Makes sense, in some ways" Shinomaru thought, "Though a physical test will strongly favor physical quirks or quirks with physical applications" Thinking particularly of Bakugou as the boy threw a ball at the demand of his teacher.
"705.242 meters" he calculated in his head, as Aizawa repeated the result to his students.
"Is that what heroes do" he thought, perplexed. "I already know how to throw a ball." He mused to himself as went through the exercises alongside the other students.
Goal: head of the pack, but not too far ahead.
He had already ran the numbers in his head.
He got a 3.15 in the 50 yard dash.
For the grip strength, he scored a respectable 250kgw. Following the example of one Aoyama and Bakugou, he decided to also clear the sand pit .
Shinomaru continued that way, scoring high scores in all tests but never anything that would raised an eyebrow when compared to all the other students.
Then came the ball throwing test, and all the students went on to give their best.
Yaoyorozu created a hand-held cannon from her body-interesting, Shinomaru thought- before rocketing the ball to magnificent 400 meters.
Uraraka Ochako, through a surprising application of her quirk sent the ball floating into orbit, earning her an infinity count from the machine.
As others went and took their turn , Aizawa motioned to him with a tilt of his head.
"Sir", the white-haired teen came to stop in front of his teacher almost standing at parade rest before relaxing his stance, seemingly realizing he didn't need, Aizawa noted.
"What are you doing Shinomaru?" Aizawa asked, an annoyed look etched on his face.
"Participating in the apprehension quirk test, sir" the teen answered, puzzled by the question.
"Exactly, kid. You're participating, whilst everybody else is giving it their all. Do you think this is not worth your effort?"
"My scores should place me well ahead of most students, sir. I don't see what the problem is."
"The problem is you are taking it easy whilst everybody is trying their best."
"Why do I need to?" Shinomaru asked, fixing his pitch black eyes on the underground hero.
"Excuse me?" Aizawa asked, not being used to having his authority questioned by teenagers.
"Why do I need to? He repeated calmly. I already know how to throw a ball, or jump high. How will that make me a hero?"
"I'll tell you why you need to." Aizawa began, his left eye twitching in barely contained annoyance, "You need to because if you don't yoy can go be insolent somewhere else, and don't think the principal will be there to give you any more favors."
"Fair enough" Shinomaru answered, a grin on his face for some reason, as if he found the answer satisfying.
"Good, now go and throw to stupid ball, before I kick you out right now."
"Yes sir", the teen said almost saluting again, before catching himself and turning to join the rest of the students.
"Ugh, I need a cigarette" Aizawa thought to himself. He could feel this was going to be a long year.
His turn came after Midoriya who had some issues with his quirk. Shinomaru could sympathize with his fellow classmate, as he knew how scary an uncontrollable and self destructive quirk could be to his wielder
When it was finally his turn, Shinomaru Ken picked up the ball-57g, nylon felt, rubber from petroleum by-products- and summarly yonked it away, causing a loud explosion, as the ball broke the sound barrier, the blast sending the students to a the ground, disorientated by the conflagration.
The throw was akin to tying a tennis ball to an RPG.
An small explosion could be seen about a mile away where the ball supposedly landed, smoke and sand going up in the air, the ball having traveled the distance in exactly two seconds.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way out of the circle, trying to ignore the looks in the face of the other students. It was the same look he seen on the face of his mother, and anyone who got to know him beyond the societal niceties.
Fear, he could see it, and could their outside tempetature dropped due to nervous perspiration, how their core temperature went up due to a sudden surge of adrenaline and cortisol.
"18,130 joules worth of kinetic energy", he said, forcing himself to focus on his teacher who was looking at him, flabbergasted.
Nemu sipped his cup of tea. Chamomille always helped him stay calm. Especially when his teachers seemed intent on ripping him a new one.
This has been going for the better part of ten minutes now.
"Letting that child in the hero course was dangerous, Memu."
Surprisingly, it wasn't Aizawa who was raising his voice, but Toshinori Yagi, also known as All Might, the number one hero in Japan.
A far cry from his buff and brash media personality, however, the man who was sitting across the principal was a gaunt and emaciated man, who would once in a while cough up a good pint of blood.
"I know what he did at the apprehension test. Any mishap and that ball could've wounded somebody... or worse."
"All Might, I assure you, Mr Shinomura has his quirk under control. People I trust have vouched for him."
" And I really don't think the kid meant any harm anyway" Aizawa chimed in. "I was the one that goaded him into using his full strength. He was content to being just above average until then."
"Even so, what matters most is the safety of our students. His quirk is too dangerous"
Toshinori said, in rebuttal. "If he made any mistake he could brimg destruction to the whole school."
"I understand you worries, old friend." Nemu said, as he set his cup back on the table.
"Samsara is a fearsome power, I agree. Such Quirk would be a terrible weapon if it fell in the hand of a bad person. But young Shinomaru here has been training his whole life to contain and control his abilities. And has been an exemplary student according to his precious teachers.
"Toshinori, you have to trust me. Shinomaru will not be am issue, even if he wanted to be. He is under strict orders not to cause issues, unless it is to save his life."
Aizawa perked up at that.
"Orders from whom exactly?" the tired looking man asked.
"Sorry Eraserhead, I'm afraid this is above your paygrade." the mouse-bear- thing said.
"But let me make it clear to you that Kenneth Shinomaru will not be an issue. In fact, I believe his being here will be a blessimg in disguise." he finished, a diabolical smirk etched on his face.
Hello again!!
Back with another story.
This time in MHA. I am a big fan of the manga and anime, but the lack of heavu hitters on the heroes side always irked me.
And I feel like the aithor missed a chance in actually exploring being a hero( beyond Deku being suicidal).
So this is my attempt at a more cerebral kind of story, maybe.
As for what his quirk is, Samsara is the buddhist concept of life an rebirth(destruction and creation, often said to be the perview of Lord Shiva)
Basically, imagine Tatsuya Shiba with emotions and with elemental sight always on. Imagine what that kind of information would do to a person, that's a good flaw, I think
He will ne a bit clueless and detached due to past trauma, but deadset on discovering what it means to be a hero and how his search for ideal clashes with the flawed view of heroism in the MHA universe.