Ch. 2

UA Academy Dorms, Sunday morning, 8 AM

It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning, and students were sitting in the common area, enjoying the light and drinking their morning coffee. Even the new students were out and about, mingling in the common area.

"Hey Josuke, what did you want in your coffee again?" called out Koichi.

"Milk and sugar", Josuke responded, in a slightly groggy state.

Meanwhile, Midoriya was still in his room, getting changed from his pajamas to his day clothes. The walls were adorned with posters of the former top hero. He took a look at the form his "mentor" provided him yesterday.

Midoriya has serious potential to be a great hero. He just needs a bit more work and fine tuning. Our Agency will be able to help him out. We ask that he be required to attend the ceremony tomorrow at 10 AM, address is on the bottom.

The heroes we saw yesterday...I've never heard of them...it's not like UA to just take unknown heroes and have them train with us...but what do they want with Bakugo and me?

As he was running through his thoughts, a knock came on the door. The knock broke his concentration and he went into panic. "HANG ON A SECOND! I'LL BE READY! JUST HANG ON!"

As soon as he finished changing (and knocked over a few All Might figures), he rushed over to the door. As he opened, he took a peek as to who was standing at the door. There stood two people, the blue-haired, square-glasses Iida, and the pink-cheeked, brown-hair Uraraka.

"Hey Deku!", called out Uraraka. She had a light pink shirt on and black shorts, and wore a bright smile on her face. "Heard you had to go to the new hero Agency being built."

"We were wondering if we could come with you, to see it. I'm curious to see what new equipment and technology they have." Iida said, moving his hand squarely up and down.

"Oh," Midoriya stuttered, "yeah, sure!"

So close! He looked at how close Uraraka was to him and blushed furiously.

He finished putting his stuff back where it was, and went down to the Main Hall, where the students were out sitting and enjoying the day's cool breeze. He also noticed five more entities standing, ready to go to see the new Agency: Todorki, Bakugou, Kirishima, Giorno, and Josuke.

"I know Kacchan had to go, but the rest of you decided to come along too," Midoriya spoke.

"Yeah, what a treat!" Uraraka responded.

"I just wanted to see what all the fuss is about. If a new Agency is opening with a good amount of heroes, then it must be worth the trip." said Shoto.

"I heard it had a bunch of great facilities, and a good gym to train at too!" the red-haired Kirishma added on.

"It's a big deal, 'cause it's our family's agency!" Giorno spoke.

"Wow! Really?!" Uraraka commented, "that's so cool!"

Iida finished checking his phone and spoke to the group. "I just got a text from Mr. Aizawa. The bus is ready for us. So let's get into high gear and be on our way!"

The group exited the dorms and their way straight to Mr. Aizawa and the bus parked outside. Next to him, another figure stood. He was a tall man, wearing long, black boots, black pants, and a red belt. He donned a black leather jacket with light tan shoulder pads and black open gloves at his hands. Around his neck, he wore what seemed to be a speaker, and gave way to the collar of his jacket. He had a big smile with bright, white teeth and a small, yellow-haired mustache. He had bright shades over his eyes and stylish grey headphones over his ears. His most notable feature was how his yellow hair spiked up on the back of his head.

"So, these are some of the new students in our school! Well it's niiiiiiiiiiiice to see ya! You can call me Present Mic, I'll be your DJ on this trip!" he said.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Josuke!" Josuke responded, "By the way, love what you did with your hair!"

"Thanks man! Yours is looking stylish too!"

"Why thank you!"

"Hate to break up the introductions," Aizawa interrupted, "But we gotta get to our destination soon. The opening ceremony is about to start."

"Right!" The group responded, with exception to Bakugo.

As they boarded the bus, there seemed to be another person, towards the back of the bus, calling out, "Hey! Young Midoriya! And Young Bakugo!" The figure was tall, but extremely slim and pale. He wore a plain, white business shirt, and a blue and white-striped tie. He had a black belt holding bright, yellow pants. His neck stood out, and was longer than most other necks. His face had sharp edges, no sight of roundness. His sclera were half circles and pitch black, with the exception of blue irises, bright with virtue and determination. A shell of his former self, it was the former No. 1 Hero:

"Hey All Might!" Deku called out, seeing his role model on the bus. He, along with Bakugo, Josuke, and Giorno walked to greet him.

"So, you two must be Josuke and Giorno. It's nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. All Might." Giorno responded, after giving a light kiss near his hand, "It's common for us in Italy to kiss the hand of those we hold in high respect."

"I appreciate the gesture," All Might continued, "But you can just call me All Might. So, are you excited to see the new agency?"

"Oh you bet I am!" Josuke responded enthusiastically.

"I just don't understand why I'm forced to come," Bakugo yelled.

"Don't worry, Young Bakugo! All will be revealed soon enough. Now, how about you go take your seats and get to know each other a bit more." He gave a big grin towards everyone, a smile reminiscent of the past he was once a major part of.

"All right then, let's go!" Deku shouted, getting a boost of energy from All Might's presence alone.

What they have yet to know, All Might thought through all that dialogue, is that the fate of the entire universe will soon be placed in their hands.

On the bus…

As the group sat on the bus, Uraraka tried to make some small talk with the new students, "So Josuke, I heard you and Okuyasu talking about where you were living yesterday. Morioh, right?"

"Yep, that's about right!" Josuke responded.

"What was it like?"

"Hmm…"Josuke pondered, trying to come up with a good summary, "It's a very small town, a few hours north of here. It's very quiet and peaceful. Everyone was friendly to one another and got along well… with a few exceptions" He began to grind his teeth, thinking of a certain mangaka he detested.

"What about your school? What was it like?"

"It wasn't anything special. Just a normal school. They didn't even have a Hero Course like you do. Not even a single class for being a hero! Although...we had greater concerns than that for quite a while."

"What do you mean by that?" Shoto pondered.

Josuke's demeanor shifted from enthusiastic to stoic in the blink of an eye, before he resumed saying "The peace and quiet in my town allowed for evil to sneak around in its shadows…"

"In the summer, there had been a serial killer on the loose in town...who took the lives of over 50 people, including one of my own friends."

The entire bus was riddled with shock on their faces...but Bakugo's face changed from one of genuine displeasement and disinterest to what looked like a "I'm still displeased, but a little bit shocked and concerned about what was said" face. Meanwhile, Giorno's face seemed to have darkened over his eyes, and Todoroki's remained stagnant.

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Iida remarked.

"Yeah, but every cloud does have its silver lining," Josuke remarked with a casual smile as his happy demeanor returned, "Thanks to my friends and I, we were able to track him down, defeat him, and save our city from his wrath."

The shock on their faces turned to happiness and relief, while Bakugo just turned his eye to the window again. Midoriya was the first to speak and with such joy, "That's amazing Josuke! You're basically the town's hero!"

"But," Shoto interrupted the festivities, "What about your Licence? Did you not have yours yet? Wouldn't you be in big trouble if you didn't have one?"

"Well," Josuke sweated, "The truth is that it was a 'Pro Hero' who dealt most of the blows…And!" he added, "I got so bruised up that I didn't get into any trouble! But the odd thing was…"

"While we had no intention of killing him, an nearby ambulance had run him over, thus sealing his fate..."

"Well, that's bizarre," Iida commented, "But you were still able save the town from that menace." At that same time, Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya were thinking back to their fight against the Hero Killer Stain. A radical who wished for society to view heroes in a different light, he took matters into his own hands by smothering their lights out, removing any chance of a bright future. All for creating a sense of worthiness.

This specifically hit close to home. Stain had targeted his older brother, the Pro Hero Ingenium. A chance encounter in an alleyway, it would be the end of his career. Fueled by revenge, Iida took it upon himself to bring this menace down. That was easier said than done.

Driven by his thirst for revenge, he tracked down the Hero Killer and tried to fight him, but was nearly knocked out, near destined to follow the same path his brother would follow, if not worse. But Midoriya and later Todoroki stepped in and saved him.

But it wasn't a sweet victory just yet. Though they were responsible for bringing the Hero Killer to justice, they had done so without having a Hero's License. So their agencies were reprimanded and were forced to give credit to the Pro Heros in the streets that evening. They could not tell anyone, it was their secret. Of course, Josuke's incident was an eerie reminder of that time.

"Until now," Josuke muttered under his breath.

"Well, what about you Giorno?" Uraraka resumed her line of questioning, but with a different witness. "What was life in Italy like?"

"Well," Giorno spoke, "life in Italy was always full of twists and turns. You didn't know what would happen to you, so you had to prepare for everything, do anything to survive. I had to deal with a lot of shit growing up!" He said with a grin and a light chuckle. That chuckle got lighter as he sat back normally on his seat.

"When I was a young boy, I had parents who didn't care about me. My mother neglected to care for me, preferring to go enjoy the nightlife in the city and my step dad thought the only way to take care of me was to beat me until I was shaking, cowering in fear. I had bullies causing me trouble anytime I walked out my house, so I was left to fend on my own, figure out life by myself. I couldn't trust anyone."

Again, the bus was filled with shock in their faces, Bakugo with more concern on his face and Todoroki paying more attention than he was with Josuke's story.

"I can understand how you feel," Todorki spoke, "I took a few beatings from my father. He kept pushing me to be a strong Hero, the ultimate tool to be number one."

"I offer you my condolences, Todoroki," Giorno spoke, "I'm glad we can understand what we went through together."

"Fortunately, things did get better," he continued, "A man had been shot, hiding from some criminals. I was able to lead the criminals away from the injured man, saving his life. Since then, this man gave me a new lens on life, and allowed it to fully prosper. The beatings stopped, the bullies were nice guys overnight, and I finally felt I could trust people."

And again, smiles turned onto the bus riders' faces. Todoroki thought about how his father was also trying to earn his trust back, working hard to become a better hero and a father for his family. In that moment, he thought of his mother, her silky white hair flowing as she sat with her chair faced towards a window. Who knows, one day they may once again be in the same room together.

"Well, what about your actual father?" Bakugo questioned harshly, "Where was he in all of this?"

"Hey, that isn't nice of you to ask, Katsuki!" Kirishima spoke.

"No it's fine," Giorno spoke, "He never showed up, as if he were dead. I never knew who he was."

"Until now…" Giorno too muttered under his breath.

"Man, you guys have some interesting stories," Kirishima said. "But it seems these experiences have shaped you all into strong men, with plenty of chivalrous spirit to go around!"

"Did you think of that sappy speech just now?" Bakugo questioned. Kirishima's response was a slight chuckle.

The bus slowed down before coming to a stop.

"We're here," Aizawa announced, "Gather your belongings and let's go. The ceremony is about to start."

The students got up from their seats and walked towards the agency. The building they saw would lead them to numerous adversaries and adventures.