"It hurts."

"It's supposed to hurt. Now you know to not do it again."

"But Shoto..."

"This is the pain you'll have if you want to be a Pro-Hero. This is the first step."

"But...it hurts."

"If you're going to complain, then I'm leaving."

"No! Please don't! I promise I won't complain again!"

Silence. The boy wrapped himself around his hip.

"Please don't go."

Sniffle. Then tears.

"Uh...I didn't mean go like give up on you."

"Y-you...didn't?"

"Why would you think that I'd leave?"

A pause. The boy's tears soon morphed into a scowl.

"I hate them. My brother. My parents. They haven't even called to see if I'm okay. Why haven't they called, Shoto?"

Silence.

"There's a pain, isn't there? In your chest? One that attacks you like a disease. It kills you and sucks you dry. And when you're in a tough situation, it comes back. When hope is dying, it will be back. When it looks like your about to lose to some villain, it's there like a ghost. The memories. The loneliness."

"How do I get rid of that?"

A shuddering breath.

"My dad used to hate me."

"Really? Your's too?

"You see, that regret and sadness...I don't think it ever leaves. But you meet people. You learn things. You assign meaning for every second of your life. What does this moment of your life mean to you? What does that moment mean? It's a continuous cycle that endures for the rest of your life. And being a Pro-Hero for me is the easiest way to have a meaning every moment."

Silence.

"Do you love your dad? Because I don't think I do anymore."

More silence. The man known as Shoto stared straight ahead away from the boy. He bit his lip until his teeth left an imprint. His eyes started to reddened from increased saline welling up.

"Of course I do."

He began to cry.

"Of course I do. And maybe I'm stupid for that."

"Why?"

He turned around.

"He made me who I am. Him and my mom and my sister. And my friends from school. And...you. And...and I can't hate anybody that has done that for me."

When the elevator opened, Anton did not expect much attention. He had failed, and his classmates probably thought he was creepy. When he thought about it, it made him squeeze his cut arm harder to eradicate the stress inside him. His eyebrows clenched together in concentration. He huffed faster as the stress bubbled up in his veins.

Of course they would think he was weird! He had green skin. He had to talk to "himself" every five minutes. He stabbed himself in front of the class just so he could use his quirk. What kind of Pro-Hero needed to do something like that?

"Shit. Fuck!" Anton grunted to himself. He took his uninjured hand and clenched it in a fist. He punched the metal siding of the elevator as it rumbled upward. The sting made him grunt out louder as a small fleck of blood streaked down his throbbing knuckle.

The image reminded him of how bloody his knuckle was when his brother first made him spar. He could hear his shouts as he pushed him to near exhaustion everyday. How he would scream about how weak he was and how he would never be a Pro-Hero.

Alej. He would be shouting about how disappointed he was right now. How he should not even be bothered making friends with these people. They were beneath them, and he should be stronger.

"Friends," Alej would say. "Why do you need friends? The people in this neighborhood are scum. You're really going to ruin your chances at being something other than a loser by caring about friends?"

He looked over at the stained bandage wrapped around the cut he made in his arm. The Healing Hero at the Hospital Ward was not at the school yet, so they had to slap on a bandage. The sting had been numbed to a dull pulse, but he still was annoyed at how long it took for his skin to heal from it. Pathogen helped him heal fully from cuts made for him, but it took him time.

"I fucked it all, didn't I?"

For once, his Pathogen said nothing. The elevator shook to a halt.

Anton took a quick breath. Just avoid the stares.

The door opened. He strode out and noticed all of the students turned to face him. He cringed. They were already looking at him like some strange science experiment gone wrong. A stinging silence draped itself around Anton as his shoulders tensed up in anxiety. He saw all of the strange students in a mob before him. Their eyes were scraping over his skin. Anton felt like shrinking into the size of his pathogen and skittering away to the recesses of the nearest underground cave.

"OMG," A voice cried out. "You're so cool!"

Some crazy kid named Blake popped up out of what seemed like thin air as he tugged at Anton's arm. He bounced on his tiptoes, his hyper voice flowing out of his mouth like wine into an alcoholic's kidney.

"That was incredible how you did that!" Blake shouted at light speed. "You made Ground Zero almost keep over. If he hadn't set himself on fire, you would have beat him easy! Do you think you could do that to this one kid I know. He was really annoying to me, so you could get your guy to invade his head or whatever and tell him not to mess with me. I bet it's so cool to have some weird thing inside you that could kill you but it actually doesn't! I bet you don't have to worry about nobody talking to you because you have a virus inside you that you can speak to! It's just like that guy; he also had something like that but he wasn't as cool looking, but my name is Blake by the way. You know, the way you walked towards him reminded me of when I snuck into this nightclub last su-."

Thankfully, Megan put her hand on Blake's head and slid him away behind her. "That was great what you did. I think he was actually worried for a second."

Anton's mouth nearly hit the floor. He looked around at the class, their faces lit up in respect at appreciation. "You think...that was cool."

"Not much else cooler," Austin said as he approached him. "I'm Austin, by the way. My quirk is a little like yours."

Rolling up his sleeve, Austin showed off three spikes that jutted out from his farmer-tanned forearm. "These spikes release a neurotoxin that shut down a person's nervous system. I can't tell them what to do, but they don't effect me as much. And I have to get right up to someone, so you still beat me with range."

Suddenly, the world stopped and turned into a panel from a comic book because of our good friend: The Announcer!

Austin Bourdette! His quirk: Neurotoxin! He can poison somebody with neurotoxins after cutting them with his injection spikes!

Thank you, announcer. But Austin already told us what his quirk was.

I was just re-iterating for people who don't understand your writing style!

Thank you, but you can take a break for a bi-. Wait, what do you mean by my "writing style?"

Your writing style could use work.

You know what? Screw you. I'm continuing with the story.

Anyway, Austin gave off a rare smile to match his usually stoic tone. "I think we can work well together."

Anton gaped at the quiet giant. Nobody had ever looked at him as more than a weirdo. Perhaps his sulking, sardonic attitude did not help.

"In fact," Lloyd said as he strode over and raised up a finger. "We could all work well together. Unity and teamwork is the only way we are going to beat the villains that await us in the real world. Working together is exactly how we are going to propel our future careers as Pro-Heroes, and it is how we are going to create successful bonds that are going to make this school the best in both the country and the entire world!"

Standing around the outer rim of students circled around Anton, Synaes tapped her walking stick onto the ground.

"This boy speaking is annoying as well," she said more to herself.

Megan, who happened to be standing next to her, nodded and looked at the girl. "Glad someone else noticed."

"Exactly! Who does he think he is?"

"Class president?" Megan said. She let out a low chuckle. Looking over at the blind girl, she gave her the smallest of smirks. At least one of the other students saw her point of view. A student that appeared very interesting to Megan, she thought to herself as he looked at the girl.

"That accent," Megan said. "It's Iceland, isn't it. I spent a summer vacation in Reykjavik."

"The only place to spend summer on that island," Synaes said.

"Your country is much more beautiful than my own. I swam in the glaciers at Jökulsárlón. The one at the edge of the Vatnajökull National Park."

Synaes raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That's interesting that you even know about that."

Megan and Synaes buried themselves in a conversation about Icelandic tourist spots. Exciting stuff, sure. However, we are going to focus on the other part of the room.

Still huddled in front of the elevator with the rest of the class, Anton spotted Robyn approaching. She looked down at the bandage around his arm. Then, she saw the fresh cut on his other hand by his knuckles. Blinking, she reached over and grabbed his forearm to lift the wound close to her face.

"They didn't heal you at all?"

Anton's heart jumped at the close contact. He stammered out before swallowing hard.

"Well...uh...I-I guess n-not."

Robyn looked up with a serious expression. "I guess the budget for recovery heroes got...cut."

Silence.

Cut? Like how he cut himself?

"Was that supposed to be a pun?" Anton asked.

Robyn laughed. "Took you long enough."

Synaes, overhearing the pun from her engrossing conversation with Megan, placed her palm over her face and nudged her sunglasses. "This is going to be the whole year, isn't it?"

"Don't worry," Megan said. "I'll stab her if she does it again."

She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She leaned close to Anton as he felt his heart rate increase. The crown of her head was almost touching his chest as it was craned downward. The girl was at ease, almost like she was falling asleep.

Suddenly, a dim white light began to rise in intensity around her. It expanded over the wooden floorboards of the press box. Anton looked down and nearly jumped as the white circle wiped itself underneath his feet. The circle encapsulated the two of them from underneath.

Anton felt a fuzz tickling the wounds on his arms. It was like a feather was rubbing itself at a fast rate on the damaged skin. Within seconds, the tickle eroded away and so did the light as it disappeared. What also disappeared was the throbbing and sting of his injuries.

The room was illuminated only by the lights above as Robyn stood back up to full height eye-to-eye with Anton. Gesturing at his wound, she tapped the bandage. Anton took the hint and unwrapped the gauze strap tied around him. Once he uncovered it, he saw his skin unblemished and back to the lime green tint it possessed.

Robyn Guang! Quirk: Eclipse. She can heal wounds and enhance people's quirks when they create a circle around her. She can also heal and enhance herself and anybody else in a smaller circle she surrounds herself with.

"No one has ever done that for me," Anton said as he rubbed the spot of the former wound.

"I guess you've never met people like us," she said.

Anton looked over her shoulder at the rest of her class. All of them seemed in awe or impressed at the helpful quirk. For once, the eyes placed on him weren't ones of morbid curiosity. Instead, they all seemed happy or at least tolerant to be in the same setting. It was far different than what he received at home.

"Hey, everyone. I think the next fight is starting. And honestly, my money's on Bakugo," a voice said from the window.

Anton peered over the crowd and noticed Hunter standing by the plexiglass. The class turned and crowded around the spectacle about to take place. Once Anton reached the glass, he looked down at the sight before him.

Katsu was walking out towards the starting circle. After seeing the previous performances, he knew that he had to act. Being one of the few recommended students this year, he had to keep up a reputation. Most importantly, he did not want to be a coward. He did not want Bakugo to think that Shoto had trained nobody but a coward. He was stronger than any of the other students, but not just because of his quirk. He had the training and the right person in his corner to be the Number One hero of all time.

"Heh," Bakugo said while the boy glared at him. "I figured you would give this a try. You know, there was a reason Shoto couldn't ever get close to number one. Why he had to settle for third. Why he decided to train a boy who can't go a day without blowing down a door by accident."

Katsu said nothing as he planted himself in the circle. He knew Bakugo would try to taunt him. Shoto trained him to not care about those words. Words can only kill when you let them.

"Let's see what that half-and-half is capable of!"

"Begin!"

Katsu charged ahead. He learned from Shoto what Bakugo's pattern of attack normally way in battle. He prepared to twist his leg on the outside edge as he sprinted forward.

Bakugo blasted a thick explosion directly ahead. Katsu's eyes widened as the fireball screamed towards him. He hoped his hair was not too singed after this exercise.

Crossing his legs, Katsu slid underneath the fireball. As it passed over him, he reached his hand up into the river of flames that shot past him. His hand glowed with a slight yellow tint as the flames trickled through his fingers like cool water flowing in a forest stream.

Clear of the attack, Katsu got up. Bakugo always started his attacks with his right arm. That means that he would rake a circle of fire with his left arm. Just as he thought it, Bakugo reared his left arm back and spurted out a blaze.

Katsu ran in front of the trail, the fire chasing him as Bakugo swiped across his mid-section to get the troublesome boy. The hiss licked Katsu's heels as he took another leap backwards. As he did so, he swiped his hand into the fire trail. His hand glowed brighter.

Once that attack stopped, Katsu jumped up and did a quick front flip over the remaining smolders. He had crossed halfway and was quickly approaching Bakugo in his circle.

Bakugo clapped both of his hands together and released a thick beam. This time, it was burrowed into the mats covering any possible exit points. Katsu leapt up into the air, his legs already beginning to tense from the quick chase.

He just cleared the blast, the laces on his shoes becoming burnt from the edges of the fire. As he descended from his jump. Katsu reached down and skittered his hand into the tunnel of orange again. The explosion crashed into the wall behind him. The entire gym shook with the metal rafters above swinging like a medieval pendulum.

Blinking from the sting of the heat slapping his eyes, Katsu landed on his feet and ran further. Just like his fight with Synaes, it was a game of cat-and-mouse for Bakugo.

A blast. Quick dodge. Blast. Quick dodge. His hand scooping into his flames.

Bakugo was growing frustrated with how quick the boy was. Not only had Shoto taught him agility, but he had also taught him his typical strategies. His every move was being predicted again. He also noticed how he seemed to touch a small piece of his flames every time he avoided a blast. That must have been where he was hiding his quirk, he thought. Somehow, he needed to touch a small bit of his fire.

His energy was gained from the attacks that were launched at him. He was being baited to attack so he could get energy.

So, Bakugo decided to shake it up.

He was only ten meters away at this point. He could see the deep red dots of Bakugo's eyes as the Pro-Hero began to smirk. The fight was almost over.

Bakugo was ready to teach this kid a lesson. As he approached him, he reached down towards the pin of his grenade gauntlet. It was not quite fully charged, but it would pack a big punch and shove him deep into the walls of the arena.

Up in the box, Austin tapped on the glass.

"He's going to blast him at full force."

"That moron," Megan said. "He's going into a trap."

Moxie nearly crashed herself onto the glass as Katsu raced towards his doom. She knew about Bakugo's reputation as a hothead. She could not believe that he would use his full force on somebody he had just met, let alone a student! She really had not gotten to know the Japanese boy, but she felt a bond with him from breaking down that door earlier in the day. She muttered out a few quick prayers, hoping that God himself would makes sure that Katsu was not hurt.

But then she looked over towards Bakugo's gauntlet. She knew that there would have been a red sensor that glowed whenever they were fully charged. Bakugo was only going to use a portion of this attack on Katsu, perhaps just enough to knock him back.

Moxie nodded to herself. Based of her knowledge of Katsu's quirk, he wanted to get hit by it. He would dig himself into the padded floor and absorb that energy. Once the blast passed, he would have enough energy to launch himself at Bakugo and shove him out of the circle. Yes, this Japanese boy was a little smart. The problem was that Bakugo had stopped attacking, which meant that he knew what Katsu's strategy was.

As Katsu neared Bakugo, the Pro-Hero simply stood there. He held the pin, but he refused to pull it. Katsu could not have gotten enough energy from those swipes of his explosions to do much damage. He would also have to punch him first, something that he knew could know happen.

Katsu grunted to himself as he approached the circle. Why wasn't he attacking? Maybe he waiting till the final second. He did not have enough energy to launch himself at a fast speed to push him out. If he propelled himself with his feet, he would probably just bounce of his mid-section.

Then, he realized Bakugo's plan. He was going to blast him right into his face!

He saw the whites of Bakugo's eyes.

There was only one more option. Hit him to knock him out!

Katsu jumped up like an eager cheetah. He reared his arm back. His hand glowed with the intensity of a bright flashlight. His shadow covered Bakugo's figure.

He descended downward towards him. Katsu aimed for his face, hoping his natural speed was enough. Katsu let out a yell as his fist torpedoed at Bakugo's smirk.

Bakugo dipped his head to the right. With a quick twitch of his arm, he grabbed Katsu's wrist with his right. As he sailed ahead, Bakugo took his other hand and twisted his arm back to push onto the small of his back, stopping him dead in his tracks mid-air.

With a heave, Bakugo flipped Katsu in mid-air like a loose piece of string. He whipped him downward, turning him upside down to land on his front. Katsu groaned out as his world spun upside-down. Once he was fully rotated, Bakugo squeezed his shoulder. His arm now in Bakugo's vice grip, Katsu grunted out as he saw the inverted face of Bakugo laughing at the sight.

With a roar, Bakugo pulled down on Katsu's arm and thrusted him downward. He slammed Katsu face down onto the padded floor, a sickening pop rupturing the silence of the arena. The boy bounced a few inches into the air from the kickback of the slam. Air punched itself out of his lungs with the impact of his head onto the floor. His nose smashed onto the floor and immediately gushed out blood. His head felt like it was going to detach itself from his spine as it lolled upward from the hit. He felt the whole world spinning, and he gripped the pads to stay steady.

His right leg was slightly bent, sprained from the force of the impact on the floor.

"That was for my door!" Bakugo shouted.

The rest of the class gasped. Just one heavy slam like that appeared to knock out Katsu cold. The boy betrayed no movement. Even Blake was silent as they all clambered around the plexiglass facade to get a look at the sight.

Bakugo stared down at the lifeless figure laying at his feet like an Angel of Death ready to take another soul.

Even the pro-hero himself was a little taken aback when he heard grunt.

Squeezing the padding, Katsu regained purchase and rose up to his knees. He pulled back his shoulders, blood covering his jaw as he gritted his scarlet-stained teeth. A few frayed holes dotted his gym uniform, but he did not care as he slid his left knee forward. Stretching his leg out, his foot planted itself in front of him. A few more huffs, and he looked upward at Bakugo, his face contorted in concentration and resolve.

Using his remaining strength, he raised himself up on that leg to full height.

"He won't quit," Abel in his chair said up in the box. "Just one punch took me out, and he's standing!"

"Probably says more about you," Austin said as he looked down, nodding his approval at the boy.

Moxie tried to hide the smile on her face, but she was ultimately the loser in that battle as she clasped her hands together. Grey eyes widened as her mouth widened to a teeth-flashing grin. Her admiration for this boy she just met growing by the second. "Guy's as tough as gator skin," she said as she thumbed the rosary hanging around her chest.

Once Katsu was standing in front of Bakugo, he raised up his arms in a fighting stance. His teeth flashing, he seethed like an angry wolf with his right eye twitching.

Bakugo was a little impressed that the boy was able to get up from such a hard hit. Most villains he encountered would be at least reeling from the pan of such a harsh attack. Perhaps it was the padding of the arena floor. If this happened on concrete, the boy could be dead. Yet, he was also annoyed at the boy continuing the fight.

The boy stepped forward and threw a sloppy punch at his shoulder. Bakugo ducked underneath it and mashed his fist into the boy's stomach.

Katsu shouted out in pain as he doubled over. He clutched his stomach and tried to keep vomit from exiting his throat. He shoved oxygen down to his lungs as he stared down at ankles.

"Look at you," Bakugo said in an even tone. "One hard slam, and you're practically dead! Just like those other students! If this was a real battle, you'd be dead in a heartbeat. The fight is over. Give up."

Katsu raised up his head and snapped his gaze at Bakugo. His teacher was now much more serious. The boy rose upward again and took another step forward.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. "I said to give up!" He shouted. "God, you're just as annoying as Icy-Hot. Maybe if you trained with a real teacher instead of that loser you could t-."

Just as he said that, Katsu threw another punch aimed at Bakugo's middle. This time, Bakugo could not avoid it as the speed caught him off guard. He mentally shrugged to himself. The hit probably wouldn't even hurt that badly. In fact, he still had his hands close enough to simply catch the fist.

Bakugo grabbed the fist just like catching the dodgeball earlier in the class. For a split second, Katsu was halted in his tracks, and it appeared he had subdued the boy.

The last thing he saw was the smallest of smirks under Katsu's gaze.

Katsu Muteki! His quirk: Energy Absorption and Redistribution! He can absorb the energy put upon his body and redistribute onto other objects or people.

With a loud blast, Bakugo's air whooshed out of his lungs as he felt his legs launch off the floor. His arms flailed up as he was ejected from the circle upward into the crisp cool air of the arena. The figure of Katsu shrunk to a small dot; Bakugo let out a yelp as he realized he was no longer on the ground and spiraling through the air.

Shot backwards like a cannonball, Bakugo crashed into the wall behind him. The padding did little to cushion him as he felt his head slap the slab of concrete hidden behind the plush barrier. A crack popped from the wall as the reinforced steel behind the concrete sunk from the pressure of the impact.

His body had caved the wall in.

Bakugo blinked. There he was, stuck in a small crevice in the side of the training arena due to the blast. His back ached, and the world fluttered in and out of focus as he tried to maintain his balance. He remembered being taught to focus on one spot to escape being disoriented. He looked down and spotted the smaller figure of Katsu.

The boy gazed up, his eyes glassy as he squinted at the small person now in a crater above him. He could not see Bakugo's facial expression, but seeing him hit and moved from the circle was enough to make him feel a bubble of pride inflate in his soul. His grin grew as he gasped for more air.

Then, he felt his legs buckle like a tower of toy blocks pushed over by a rambunctious child. He collapsed back onto the floor. The side of his face smushed into the ground as the light dimmed before him. He could not wait to tell Shoto. He would be so proud of him. Maybe even that Moxie girl he just met would be impressed.

This was going to be a good year.

"I...did it. First step, Shoto."

Katsu closed his eyes.

Five years later and the boy was almost at his height. Puberty had treated him well, and he was confidant and ready for the big move. A pack of suitcases towered behind them. The two were sitting on the back porch drinking steaming green tea. The sun rose over the city in front of them as the grass knoll in the backyard glistened with morning dew.

"You know, you're kind of a softie."

"Me? You cried all the time over training when you were little."

"Yeah, but you cry like all the time."

"No, I don't."

"You cried over that Christmas card from Uraraka!"

"Because I didn't expect it! And her baby is really cute."

"Geez, relax. I'm just kidding. For a guy with ice powers, you don't know how to chill."

A pause.

"I should return you to your parents just for that."

"I'm kidding! Geez, you're sensitive."

Another pause.

"You know I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't return you."

"I know, Shoto."

Silence. A sip from the mug. The hum of a motorcycle drizzled past.

"I still feel it, Shoto."

He looked over at the boy.

"That pain in my chest. That poison."

He set down his mug.

"It never really goes away. That feeling you had when your parents gave you up. When you felt they cared more about your brother than you."

"It still hurts, Shoto."

"Being abandoned. Being alone. Like I said, the pain never really goes away."

He turned to look at him, his multicolored eyes shimmering in the early sunrise.

"It's a war that will always rage within. A war you endure every day. It's a war you win every time you wake up and get out of bed. Every time you start training. Every time your heart feels that hope that tomorrow will be better."

He swallowed hard as he felt the stinging sensation in his eyes while looking at his mentee. His protege. His pride.

"It's a war you'll face everyday, but it's a war you can win everyday."

The boy set down his mug.

"Can you teach me? How to get rid of this poison? This pain?"

"That's going to be the hardest training of all. Training that never really ends."

"Well, the quirk doctor did say that I'm starting to grow really good pain tolerance."

Shoto smiled. He reached over and ruffled the boy's hair.

This time, but just this once, Katsu allowed it.

We're back! Even more things happening.

This is the end of the first lesson. Don't worry if you character wasn't featured yet. Plenty of battles with King Explosion Murder will come, but I figured class would be over and maybe it would be lunchtime soon! What a crazy first day!

What did you think of the characters? Anything good? Anything bad? Let me know your favorite or least favorite moments!

Also, adding to the voice list:

Blake Marseilles-voiced by Bryce Papenbrook

Katsu Muteki-voiced by Cameron Monaghan

Thank you all so much! Let me know if you have any suggestions, fan art, comments, or ideas about any future story arcs! Keep reviewing! And keep submitting!

By the way, don't be afraid to send in villains of any age as well. We may need villains in the near future.

Thank you. See you soon!