Update as of December 2018: Changed some dialogues, character interactions, and introductions so there's not a hundred names being thrown in a chapter.
OCs Summary list (will be updated every-time a name and/or quirk is added)
Giro Awaseru: A retired professional hero recruiter, who is now the homeroom teacher of 1C. He has silver eyes and well kept black hair. Quirk is Inquiry.
Natsuaki Fumei: An obnoxious but friendly boy with dirty blonde hair and dark skin. Quirk has something to do with turning light solid.
Quirk Apprehension Test
Hitoshi sat as far away as he can from the rest during stretches.
Everyone pretty much already grouped themselves in pairs or threes before Hitoshi could ask someone to help spot him. Then again he wasn't surprised at being left out. It has always been that way since his quirk manifested after all. That bald-headed student also affirmed his worries that his classmates saw him as too intimidating to approach, and thus mostly left him alone unless they absolutely needed to talk to him. Hitoshi reached for his toes and reassured himself that he didn't need to be friendly with anyone.
He's survived thus far without any friends, he can do it again.
He could hear them laugh and chat amongst themselves, making light of the seriousness of this assessment. It irritated him somewhat. They were oblivious to the fact that this test weighed heavily on people like him that wanted to be more. The festival was their last chance to become something more than a student - to be a hero, and yet they were fooling around. He needed to ace this assessment if he wants that chance to move up. Majority of the class' care-free attitude reminded Hitoshi that not everyone had a deep seethed ambition like he did, and that irritated him even though it shouldn't.
"Look at that ball go," someone whistled on his left, and Hitoshi looked over to the person who sat beside him to stretch. Fumei and his pink haired friend reached down for their toes while they watched a blond haired girl from another class on the pitch guide a ball high up into the air with a pair of horns.
"That one's pretty creative," Fumei said, "I wonder what else the horns does?"
His pink haired friend shrugged, "Probably stabs people with it."
Fumei laughed and punched the formers arm. "That's way too brutal for someone in the hero course!"
Hitoshi's eyes flicked up at the pitch once he heard that the class was one of the hero courses. He caught a ginger haired girl with a high side-ponytail step up next while she juggled a weighted ball on her hands. Her hands suddenly grew in size and she chucked the ball as high as she could into the air, creating a powerful a vacuum of air behind her
Her class, as well as their onlooking class, gaped as the ball rocketed into the sky and dropped beyond the line expected from them. Hitoshi clicked his tongue. That was amazing. He looked at his hand, subconsciously comparing his strength to that of the hero student he just watched break records. Their skills were far too wide apart. There's no way I could've made it in there, he thought.
Despite Awaseru-sensei's assuring words, Hitoshi knew that with quirks involved, this test favored those with physical enhancement quirks even more so than just the athletic ones. Even if he decided to show off what he could offer it won't be enough to take over his peers. He's not well built, and he certainly isn't the most skilled, quirk wise either. He looked around his class again, quietly mulling to himself as to what their quirks were. A few of them clearly had mutant quirks, but the rest? He couldn't tell.
However thinking about hard on it now ruined his mood. Watching a smug looking blond haired boy approach the pitch and mimic the ginger haired girls quirk only soured it more.
"A mimic quirk," Fumei ogled in interest far closer than Hitoshi remembered him to be. "Oh?" he hummed again as the next student propelled the ball by creating a large bubble of text. "Word manipulation. I wonder if he can just make sound effects or create things with it too. What do you think?"
Hitoshi ignored him, assuming that the question was meant for Fumei's pink haired friend instead of him. When no one answered, he made the mistake of looking up and meeting eyes with Fumei's expectant ones.
"What?"
"I asked you a question."
"No you didn't," he argued. "Leave me alone."
Fumei smiled and dropped beside him, completely ignoring Hitoshi's plea to be left alone. "Aw, stop being jealous. Your quirk's just as powerful as theirs. If you stopped limiting yourself that is."
Hitoshi stared, once again skeptical of how the hell Fumei knew about his reservations about his own quirk.
Fumei smirked, keeping the answer to himself and returned to watching and commenting on the hero kids quirks, starting with one that wore a bandana, then a girl that mysteriously didn't show off her quirk. "Now that's interesting. What kind of emitter quirk is she hiding? Man," he sighed. "I was kinda hoping we'd see everyone's quirks."
"Don't you ever shut up?"
"Not really?" Fumei answered. "I like guessing people's quirks. It makes for a good conversation."
"Then talk to Fresh Prince over there."
"Kureito? Nah, he's not really into this stuff."
"I don't care. I told you to stop talking to me," Hitoshi reiterated.
"I also don't care about what you want, so we're going to have to compromise," Fumei grinned. "I want to know what your quirk is too."
"Fuck," Hitoshi groaned, "you're persistent."
"So I'm told!" he said, proudly. "If you want me gone, then how about you make me?"
Hitoshi held the others gaze, his narrowed, and skeptical, the latter warm and inviting. However the longer he looked, the more he felt as though there was something hidden behind Fumei's eyes.
"It's a mind control isn't yet?"
Hitoshi's eye twitched at the sudden question. Fumei couldn't possibly have figured out his quirk. Most people don't figure it after just being under it once. Hardly anyone ever guesses it until they are told or see it themselves. Fumei has only seen him use it once, unless...
"It's fine if you don't tell me. I'll find out soon. Now I just need to figure out how you're doing it..." He then pointed two fingers from his eyes to Hitoshi's before leaving to group with the others.
He wondered why Fumei would even be interested in someone like him. They barely knew each other, and Hitoshi certainly wasn't interested in reciprocating his interest. Hitoshi's only used his quirk on him once, and most people run the other direction the moment they realize what he could do. Fumei on the other hand ran towards him, quite eagerly too if he might add.
Hitoshi's had this song and dance before, so he knew to be wary of Fumei's type. They were after his quirk, and whether or not Fumei planned to use it for his amusement or otherwise, Hitoshi wasn't going to him have his way.
"The first test is going to be the fifty meter dash," Awaseru-sensei shouted. "First three students step up! State your name, quirk, and share a little bit about yourself."
A petite male with reddish-brown, mushroom like hair littered with lighter brown spots stepped forward. He had a quirk that allowed him to release effect spores from the spots on his hair. He wanted to be a hero but he was also afraid of getting hurt so he opted to do other things.
"I am Senko Tenmei!" the bald head student from earlier said. "My quirk is called Flashlight, and it means what it means." He took off his shades to show off his lenses for eyes which constantly emitted light. "I also would've liked to be a hero, but I my quirk isn't made for it. I still want to help people so I decided to be a police officer instead!"
The girl beside Tenmei patted his shoulder then shared her dream about wanting to be a florist. Hitoshi should've guessed it with the flowers on her hair. She had a healing quirk, just like the mushroom heard, perfectly good hero quirks.
Hitoshi glowered, frustrated to know that people gifted with these amazing quirks; quirks Hitoshi could only ever dream of having, would allow themselves to be this limited, this grounded in a school meant to breed heroes. Was he wrong to assume that they were all failures like him? Was he the only one in this class that hoped for something more than just this?
He found himself looking to Fumei and thought, why did he want to be a hero? Depending on the former's answer, Hitoshi may or may not consider his stubborn offer at being acquaintances.
At Sensei's mark, mushroom boy immediately released yellow dust into the air. Two bodies fell, paralyzed from the spores, and allowed mushroom boy to sprint to the end. Awaseru-sensei's eyes never left the field as he wrote down everything that was laid bare for him to see. It was like watching someone possessed write something nonstop.
The next group was led by a boy with orange hair that wore large headphones. His lips trembled apart, reluctant to say anything aloud, before resigning to talk in sign. When no one seemed to understand, the boy opened his mouth again but said nothing. Kureito, the pink haired boy Fumei was with earlier sighed and translated his gestures for the class. "His name's Den Shiosai. He has Enhanced Hearing that's like super bad he needs to wear these sound cancelling headphones. Talking is much worse so he prefers to talk in sign."
Shiosai looked at him with wide grateful eyes and signed something that made Kureito flush. "It's nothing. Guess I'll go next then. Name's Jin Kureito. My quirk's called Knife." He picked up his phone and transformed it into a blade with the screen still displayed on its sharpened end. "Anything I touch, can be turned into a knife. It retains the mass and properties so this is still pretty much a phone. It's just shaped like a knife. As for what I want..." He hummed next, unsure. "Nothing much. Just get through the year without failing marks I suppose."
The last to introduce themselves was a girl with shoulder length, dark purple hair and pink under highlights. She held herself with an air of formality as an heiress of a large trading company. It annoyed Hitoshi how her motivation to enter Yuuei was simply because she wanted to experience the normal life, and have friends before continuing on with her privileged life.
Despite this, privileged girl broke the class record at 4.8 seconds because of her natural athletic inclination towards track and field events.
"Chie Fukuro!" A short girl with silver-brown feather like hair chirped. "Owl allows me to do anything an owl can. No wings though and I have terrible eyesight-" she said while adjusting her circular, glasses. "BUT! I can also do this," she twisted her head backwards, and then snapped it back front. Their flame headed peer screamed at yet another horrifying quirk display.
The next one also had an animal features resembling a deer. She very briefly shared her love for hiking and animals before lowering her head. The last to come up was a girl with long silver hair tied neatly in two low pigtails. Her luminous yellow eyes sparked as she introduced herself with confidence yet unparalleled. "Since everyone's shy about it, I'll go ahead and howl it aloud. Kimi Okami's the name and I want to be a hero!"
"Excellent!" Sensei beamed while the class stared at her in awe. Hitoshi made sure to remember her face. She was competition. "For a moment there I thought Nezu finally decided to be smart and stopped handing me hero applicants this year. Alright ladies, on your markers-"
"You didn't tell us your quirk yet," Fukuro said.
Okami chuckled and stretched out her legs at the ready. "Don't have to. You'll just have to bite my dust."
"Hoh ho?"
Awaseru-sensei blew the whistle and Okami leapt ahead of both students on all fours. Her seemed to grow larger, morphing more into something canine like, with full grown fur, a tuft of ears, and a long fluffy tail. A large Grey Wolf ran through the track twice in terrifying 4.37 seconds.
"Now that's more like it!" Awaseru-sensei clapped, impresssed.
Okami ran circles, barking and wagging her tail at the praise. She sat on her hind legs and left her tongue out whilst panting for air. Her features slowly morphed back into familiar human characteristics until all that remained were her pointy ears. She didn't seem aware of the change and absentmindedly raised her left leg to scratch behind it. Deer girl immediately ran up to her and covered up anything between her legs.
"I'm aware not everyone wants to be a hero but take a note from Okami's book and give it your all," Sensei reminded them. "I'm here to evaluate you and your quirks. Can't do that if you show me nothing."
The next round of students were immediately spurred into action by Okami's boldness. Two other hero hero aspirants revealed themselves, and Hitoshi made sure to watch them closely. He couldn't remember their names, but he did remember the face and the quirk attached to each. The first one was a boy with glowing hands who could open portals. He trapped his opponents foots inside small circular windows before taking the win for himself.
He was resourceful; while the other one... was an overly energetic girl with magenta hair that bounced as she walked. She claimed to want to be a hero too but the way she said it made Hitoshi feel as though she only said it because it sounded fun and cool. She completely destroyed the competition by doing absolutely nothing. As she ran towards the end, her opponents were met with every imaginable bad luck.
She never mentioned her quirk, but everyone had a guess. Hitoshi didn't like this one. She was trouble.
"Only five left," Awaseru-sensei counted. "We can't exactly divide one of you into two, so let's get everyone in."
Hitoshi fell in line with the remaining students – a slender boy with swirly green hair, a jittery girl with short curly blue hair and sunken eyes, the black haired girl that can pop her eye out, and of course, Fumei himself. Hitoshi steered away from the fair skinned annoyance, and stood near the end with the trembling blue haired girl.
"You'll be alright, you'll be alright, just breathe," she said to reassure herself, but quickly stiffened when she noticed Hitoshi beside her. Their height difference probably intimidated her or something.
"Fumei, let's start with you."
"Alright," Fumei shrugged and waved his hand at the class. "I'm Natsuaki Fumei I can turn sunlight into solid objects," he flicked his hand to create a small plate of light on his hand then crushed it, returning it to invisible light before them. "I like studying quirks and challenging them to be better. I suppose... my motivation right now, is to stop anyone from ascending to the hero course."
Okami jumped and bared her fangs out, "THE FUCK YOU YAPPING ABOUT?!"
"Sharing, as Sensei told us to," Fumei smiled. "But if you want me to be clearer, I meant that I want to challenge every single hero candidate here. Sensei hasn't said it yet but i'm the strongest one in this class. If you can defeat me in a fight then it means you're strong enough to match the kids two sections above us."
"BULLSHIT!" Okami cried. "WHAT KINDA FUCKING MOTIVATION IS THAT! YOU JUST DON'T WANT US TO BE HEROES. FUKURO - LET ME GO, I'LL BITE HIS HEAD OFF!"
"That's not what I said though..." Fumei mumbled, causing Awaseru-sensei to sigh, disappointed.
"I believe I made myself clear when I said I will not tolerate any form of demeaning behavior in my class, Fumei."
"I'm not demeaning anyone! I just -" the blond fumbled to explain himself better. "I was - uh ... I meant to say that if they want to be heroes, they'll have to go through me first."
The green haired boy beside Fumei crossed his arms and scoffed. "That's gatekeeping, and still makes you look and sound like an asshole."
"Is... that what I'm doing?" Fumei said, oblivious. "Oh - well, sorry. I - how do I say this - I respect everything that you're trying to do and achieve! I just think that not everyone deserves to be a hero."
"Still gatekeeping."
"Will you-" Fumei groaned, "let me think for a moment, please." The green haired kid rolled his eyes, exasperated at Fumei's inability to form coherent thought. "As it is now, all hero applicants here failed, right? Why do you think that?"
The green haired fellow clicked his tongue. "Cause we're weak."
"Exactly! Well- still weak, if we're being optimistic. You weren't ready for that test, and the staff couldn't wait for you to be, so they chose those that were better equipped than you. Sensei's quirk gauges the potential of others right?" Fumei turned to Awaseru-sensei who seemed baffled at the former's rather blunt but sensible argument. "You've seen their quirks. You know that none of them stand a chance against the hero classes. Right, Sensei?"
The hairs at the back of Hitoshi's neck rose as his animosity for Fumei rose. Not only was he stubborn and annoying, his blatant disregard for atmosphere and people's feeling's when he talked was starting to grate on his nerves. Hitoshi had to admit, the way he maneuvered his quirk during the exam was impressive, but his attitude was not. He wouldn't be surprised if he failed the hero assessment test because of it.
"They will be ready with the training I promised," Sensei answered. "Whether or not that prepares them for future endeavors such as the hero course is entirely up to them. Not you."
"I know that," Fumei rolled his eyes. "I'm saying that they need to understand that just because they want it, doesn't mean they deserve it. You said it yourself, the industry is saturated. We don't need more of them. I'm like a filter for another filter."
"You don't get to decide that," Awaseru-sensei said. "Children your age are allowed aspire for many things. That includes dreaming to be a hero."
"So then... Would you still say that to someone whose repeatedly disappointed by the system that never gave them a chance in the first place? Would keep telling them to dream, and that maybe one day, you'll get there? Even with quirks that aren't made for heroics? That's pretty harsh, Sensei."
Hitoshi's hand trembled at Fumei's words. Even though he disliked him, his words rang true to his heart. He's been told multiple times, his whole life actually, that he wasn't meant for heroism. His personality didn't fit the mold and his quirk certainly didn't speak fair. Despite their criticisms, Hitoshi trudged on towards his dream, so much so that it bordered dangerously on obsession.
Maybe he didn't even want to be a hero anymore, he just wanted to show people that he could be something he's been told he couldn't.
"You work hard," Sensei assured Hitoshi's struggles. "That's the beauty of failure and passion; the heart. No matter how many times the world rejects it, you keep moving. You prove to the world and yourself that you have every right to be what you want to be, regardless of the opinions of others."
Fumei grinned, finally in the same bubble as Awaseru-sensei. "Exactly. What everyone needs is an enemy to work hard against, and before the hero course, I volunteer myself to be it. If they can defeat me, then they're strong enough to be at par with the hero course students."
"You talk big for someone in general class too," the green haired boy scoffed. "Don't act all high and mighty on us."
Fumei shrugged. "That's true. I am here in 1-C with you, but you and I are far from each other quirk skill wise. After all, I was accepted into the hero course."
"ACCEPTED!?"
Green hair grabbed Fumei by his collar and growled, "Then what the fuck are you doing here mingling with us huh? What kind of fucking batshit crazy person would give up hero course for general?!"
"Because I changed my mind about the hero course," he answered earnestly. "I realized a bit late that I didn't want it anymore during the exams, and well... I got carried away with the robots. Didn't even realize I ranked on the board till after."
Hitoshi clicked his tongue. Suddenly, Fumei's attitude during the exam made sense. He really was just having a blast with it without a care in the world.
"Bullshit! I had to work twice as hard just to get here!" the boy cried. "A lot of us failed, I FAILED! And it was just fun and games for you?! You're fucking insane."
"Maybe I am," Fumei chuckled, not the least bit offended. "After all, I chose to believe in people like you instead of those with the right weapons already."
The green haired boy's grip loosened on Fumei, shocked by the sentiment, allowing the latter pulled himself away. "I find people that never had to work a day in their life to better themselves or their quirks boring. Naturally powerful quirks get them pretty far in life the moment they appear, but you-" Fumei said, looking at the green haired boy then at Hitoshi. "You know what an inescapable wall looks like. All that anger and cry of inequality and self-loathing will push you to be better than the. And I for one, can't wait to see that."
"Just look at what we have here!" Fumei suddenly cheered. "Okami can transform into any kind of dog she wants, Portals has a quirk heroes can only dream off, Lucky over there is.. well lucky. Thinking on it, you're like, wow, those sound powerful don't they? It's because they are, you guys are just not utilizing it well. She's too weak, he's too limited, and she's too unpredictable. You see where I'm getting at?"
"We get it, we're amateurs and not like you," Hitoshi snarled. "We don't deserve to be heroes."
"Urgh," Fumei groaned. "You're not listening. I think you're the people that really deserve to be heroes. You know what it's like to be beaten, to pick yourself up from nothing and hope for a better future. You have more passion than the egotistical kids up there. You'll do whatever it takes to win, and prove them wrong."
Hitoshi's gaze faltered as Fumei's stare bore into him. Fumei looked at him with such intense belief and hope that Hitoshi only ever wished he could earn from someone. It honestly terrified him. Fumei didn't know a single thing about him, and yet here he was acknowledging his struggles and promising him and those like him a future where they'll finally see light. Hitoshi wanted to believe him, but something held it back.
Skepticism probably.
No one has genuinely offered a hand to him like that without anything in return.
"While your choice of words... is flawed," Awaseru-sensei said, "I can sense an honest heart in you to help your peers improve. I will allow you to aid me in their training. However, I will not tolerate this kind of behavior and attitude from you again, understand?" Fumei beamed, nodding at the price for his inclusion. "Come see me after class."
Fumei saluted, and the green haired boy clicked his tongue. "You love attention don't you? I'm Neji Tatsumaki. I've wanted to be a hero my entire life, so your little declaration isn't going to stop me from doing that. Just you see! I'll prove you wrong!"
Their group were also joined by Poppy Kuchisake, the girl with the detachable eye, and the bundle of nerves beside Hitoshi named Azuki Makito. Everyone's eyes then shifted to Hitoshi, their eyes studying him closely.
Hitoshi balled his hands into a fist and said with enough determination to shake the field, "Hitoshi Shinsou. I have a b-rainwashing and I'm going to be a hero."
Fumei's eyes shone at his confidence while hushed whispers erupted from the class. Hitoshi kept his eyes forward ignoring them all. He already had an idea what they were talking about anyway. A brainwashing quirk? For a hero? That's weird. He can't be a hero.
"You should all just give it up," he said to the others as Sensei counted down. "We all know I'm going to win."
"That's presumptuous of you to say –"
"I-I just want everyone to have fun –"
"Oh it's on, Shinsou!" Tatsumaki scoffed. "You and me, let's see who can kick Fumei's ass firs –"
Hitoshi grinned as he three minds melded into his. It was too easy. The whistle went off, and Hitoshi ran, leaving everyone behind in a daze.
"I called it!" Fumei shouted a few steps behind him. "You do have a mind control quirk!"
Hitoshi clicked his tongue, annoyed that Fumei avoided falling under his control a second time. He couldn't have figured out how it worked already could he? Hitoshi shook his head. A thought for another time.
Fumei thrust a hand forward, and Hitoshi crashed into a translucent wall of light directly on his path. Pain shot up his arm as he fell, and his control over the other the remaining students wavered. They woke up from their daze and looked around, baffled by the distance between them and the other two. Fumei jumped past Hitoshi, snickering under his breath as he glanced at Hitoshi on his knees.
All of a sudden a large gust of wind, threw everyone in the track out of it. Hitoshi pressed himself low on the ground to avoid being blown off while Fumei caught himself with a plate of light in mid air. A verdant cyclone powered through the run up, only to mysteriously disappear a second later. Tatsumaki, bathed in low green light spun around meters before the end line, disoriented, before falling unconscious on the floor.
Fumei leapt towards the finish line, finishing at 5.47 before he ran back to pick up Tatsumaki and get him some help. As he crossed the finish line, Hitoshi looked at his class, General 1-C, and was forced to re-evaluate his initial opinion. He wasn't stuck in a class filled with bitter, resentful hero wannabees, he's stuck with inexperienced babies who had no idea what they wanted in life and lumbered along.
Hitoshi was unsure if that frustrated him more than it disappointed him.
A/N: Real life decided to give me a short break and I decided to make use of it, so there we have a fairly short introduction focusing on characters you'll be reading about in 1C (with special cameos from 1-B).
Most of the characters are mine while Kimi Okami (TheReflectorMage) and Azuki Makito (author of the same name) are owned by their respective authors. I hope to hear from you readers about what you think of our ensemble cast. If you've already got a favorite comment 'em down below maybe I'll give them more screen time. Class 1C slots are now closed. If new readers are interested, I may open limited character slots for 1D and support 1F in the future. Don't forget to leave a follow/favorite if you want more general shenanigans. Leave a comment too to feed the crops! Sushi Out~