Chapter 5
"What's it like learning from All Might?"
Izuku and I were interrupted by one of the reporters standing near the UA campus entrance. I promptly ignored them; paparazzi was never in my good books, and given the condition in this world, would never be ever. Izuku was trying to excuse himself but was being entirely unsuccessful. He stood there stammering and stuttering into the mic held in front of him as cameras flashed behind.
Shaking my head, I grabbed his collar and pulled him along. The protests of indignance continued as most of the students gave only vague and generic replies, mostly due to not being used to being in front of camera. Iida was the sole exception to that fact. My man managed to bore the reporters through his unceasing rave of the number one hero. And now that I had seen the media in action, I was impressed. He was giving them their 'breaking news' and they weren't taking it because of his enthusiasm. Excessive enthusiasm.
I could only laugh.
Once the UA barrier was down, Aizawa-sensei hounded us towards our classes. I fell in pace beside him as we walked. "Hey Aizawa-sensei."
"What is it, Korai?"
"Will that barrier hold?"
Aizawa scoffed behind his scarf. "That barrier can take even All Might's punches. It won't have a problem against civilians."
"It can?" I asked, interested. How often did you even get to see a material that could withstand those weather-changing punches? Not often, I bet. "But it isn't infallible, right? All Might's quirk is physical. But what about flying quirks? They could still fly over the gate, couldn't they?"
"That barrier you saw is just the first level," Aizawa replied in his usual expressionless voice. "There are more levels with stronger barriers to take care of quirks like that."
"Oh, I see. But still, it isn't foolproof, right? There might be quirks that could bypass the entire thing altogether."
"Perhaps. But it will be handled quickly. We have a lot of pro heroes in this school to take care of any intruder."
I chuckled to myself as I nodded at him. He clearly didn't believe me. But hey, I tried to point it out, didn't I?
As we filed into our class, a terrifying thought struck me and I swore under my breath. I had, once again, completely forgotten about the traitor theory. And when the villains would attack, the teachers would be highly likely to suspect me of all people because of my little chat with Aizawa. How incredibly careless and stupid of me.
I would have to find a way to deal with this stupidity of mine.
For the time being though, I focused on the class. Aizawa was apprising Midoriya about his quirk's drawback. It took a moment for me to recall but I remembered this being the time the class president was chosen.
Everyone except me raised their hands, the class decorum devolving into the cacophony of a club night out. Everyone had their own reasons to want to be the president but the most obvious one was that it would give a chance to directly lead other heroes; that made it a coveted position for students that wanted to be the top hero.
The top hero.
Just like from the manga, Iida suggested voting, and everyone agreed.
Later, I raised an eyebrow in surprise when I saw 4 votes next to my name. I had not been expecting any. Izuku had 3, and Momo had 2. Most of the rest had one.
"I got 3 votes?!" Izuku exclaimed from his seat.
"I'm more surprised I got 4," I said aloud, amused. "Why me?"
"What do you mean by that?" Ojiro laughed as he slapped my back. "What were you expecting after your performance in the battle training?"
I scoffed. "And how does that correlate with my ability to lead someone?"
"I'm fairly sure you were the one leading me back then, Haru," Ojiro stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, in that case," I got up from my seat and cleared my throat, "I, Korai Haru, as the President of 1-A, resign from the post and recommend Iida Tenya as the new President."
It took a moment for the words to sink in but the class decorum promptly devolved with everyone stating their disagreements.
"What do you mean by that?!"
"How can you just resign from a post everyone was vying for?!"
"That's so unmanly!"
"Uncool, Haru! I expected more!"
I simply shrugged before sitting down. Why the hell would I want all the extra responsibility? I was perfectly fine being the soldier and letting someone else by my lieutenant.
I glanced meaningfully at Iida as I sat. Iida was still staring at me in disbelief as he stood up. "Are you sure?" He asked.
"Perfectly."
"In that case…"
And that was how Iida and Izuku became the President and the Vice-President of 1-A respectively.
I leaned towards Momo who was on my right. "Are you disappointed you weren't chosen?"
She started and glanced at me before sighing. "If this is what the class chooses, then I do not have a choice."
"Sure you don't," I said dryly. If only she knew…
A maddening lunch rush later, where Iida proved his mettle for presidency, I was surrounded by my friends. I had skipped out on going in to avoid the stampede so I was quite sure what I was going to be asked.
"Did you know this was going to happen?" Izuku asked as we glanced at the last of the reporters being hounded away by the police. "You seemed intent on not being in the room."
"Just a bad feeling," I replied with a shrug. "The desperation from the press this morning was disconcerting. It made me wary about being in a closed room with as many people as there are during lunch."
Izuku eyed me for a short moment. "Well, your intuition has always been pretty spot-on so I am not surprised."
"And," I said, grinning at Iida first before turning to the others, "I guess Exit-sign Iida proved himself fit for presidency, didn't he?"
We all laughed before Momo sobered up. She verbalized the thought in everyone's minds. "How do you think they got in? The barrier can withstand All Might's punches but some civilians damaged it so much that it disintegrated completely?"
"It disintegrated?" I asked, feigning surprise. "Did you see someone?"
"No, but I can see the decay on the metal from here."
I considered for a moment if I should 'speculate' some more but then I decided against it. I had already raised enough flags against me as it was. It'd raise a lot of suspicion if yet another of my speculations or feelings proved to be true. Instead, I shrugged. "Well, let's leave it to the pros. I believe Iida and Izuku will have to go check in with Aizawa-sensei first before class."
"That seems to be the case," Iida agreed with his choppy moves. "Now, Midoriya and I must leave. We will see you in the class."
And that was that.
Until the Rescue-training-class-villain-attack.
In the meantime, I finally decided that a costume was worth it. I would need to discuss it with the support company but after the initial simulated battle experience, I realized that if I ever faced a quirk like Bakugo's, I wouldn't be able to survive without a costume taking the brunt of the attack. It was necessary.
I was glad I realized it sooner; I wouldn't have enjoyed my know-it-all attitude biting me in the ass. To think I was already biting off more than I could chew!
I made my way to the support department and was soon redirected to Power Loader. I was surprised to know that he handled most of the support department and its connections. He was the unofficial boss there.
He invited me into his office and we sat down across his desk to discuss in detail about my costume.
"So, Korai-kun, what do you need in your costume?"
I leaned back in thought, trying to articulate what I exactly needed. "Considering my quirk, I won't need a lot of skin exposed. But I will need my fingertips open. They help me maintain and improve my accuracy, so fingerless gloves for sure."
Power Loader said nothing but nodded, noting down what I said. I continued humming in thought. "Also, the material to use for my costume has to be fireproof and dustproof. And waterproof. Durable too, in case I ever face an explosive quirk like Bakugo's. The costume should cover me fully except for my face and my fingertips." I paused for a moment. "How much will a suit like this weigh?"
"Do you need it to be light?" Power Loader asked, instead of answering. He definitely knew what I wanted.
"As light as possible," I replied with a nod. "I want to be able to fly despite wearing my costume. For reference, I can fly with this uniform of UA."
"That won't be an issue at all. Does that cover all the quirk-based functionality of the costume?"
I frowned at the question. "I think so… Is there a way to amplify my quirk within the costume? My quirk is Air Control. My range, when I really push myself, is the entire planet but that requires concentration that I won't have in active battle. I can create tornadoes too but again, the same issue. So, if there's a way to amplify my quirk without it affecting me, it'd be awesome."
He was gaping at me in disbelief.
I looked at him questioningly. "What happened?"
He snapped out of his shock and shook his head. "Nothing. Just surprised about the power of your quirk."
"Ah, yes. Don't worry though. That's the best of conditions. Which is never the case in real world."
There was a pregnant pause. Then Power Loader said, "I think that can be done. But I will need some full body scans of you to make sure I get your quirk function right." He rifled through his drawer and then held out a yellow card. "Take this to Principal Nezu and tell him I sent you. He will know what to do."
"Got it." I took the card from him and pocketed it. I was about to get up when I realized I forgot the most important thing of the costume. "Oh yes, and I would like the costume to be based on black colour."
The pro hero sent me an amused glance. "Black?"
"It's my favourite!" I exclaimed even as a smile pulled on my lips. "I am particularly fond of neon green and black combo, but I accept any as long as it contrasts well with the black and has a sick design. Abstract designs are fine too."
Power Loader laughed as he noted down that as well. "Don't worry. Your costume should be ready as soon as you get me your scans. Now get going to the principal."
Once I was done with the principal, I left the school. If the time table was anything to go by, tomorrow would be the villains' attack. I wanted to be well-rested to watch the fight of All Might vs Nomu in all its glory.
After all, how often could you say you got to watch an anime fight in real life?
