Hiroshi looked up and down the building as he and the rest of the team looked at the floor diagrams that All Might provided them with. He took in a deep breath, and sighed. "Feelin' nervous, new guy?" Kyoka asked, nudging him with her elbow. Her hero costume was simple, having a punk rock aesthetic with a black leather jacket, a large salmon-colored top with a few stylistic rips at the base, white gloves black pants, and black boots with stereo speakers built into them. She had painted small red teardrops underneath her eyes and wore a choker around her neck.
"Nah," Hiroshi said, adjusting his matching bracer. "Just psyching myself up for this, since I don't want to rely on Hero for this, since it'd be overkill, right? And it seems like that exploding guy's got something against me."
"You mean Bakugo?" Momo asked, looking up from her floor diagram. Her hero outfit was a high collared red leotard that exposed her skin from her neck all the way down to her navel and matching red boots. She wore a thin golden tan belt across the top of her chest, and two thicker ones with pouches on her waist. "He did seem rather... furious during your introduction earlier."
"Whoa, hold up," Setsuna said, holding her hands up. "Are you saying that there's already an angry guy that has a grudge against you? And he's got a Quirk that lets him make explosions?"
"Yea, and if I were to take a guess, he's gonna be coming after me," Hiroshi said nonchalantly. "Which is why I'm gonna try luring him away from the warhead while you four search the building for the warhead."
"I'll join you," Setsuna immediately answered. "It'd be better if we go in teams."
"Alright, but I think you should go search for the warhead instead," Hiroshi stated. "With your Quirk, it'll be far easier to secure it."
"What is your Quirk?" Kyoka asked. Setsuna grinned maniacally, and yanked her head off her body. Kyoka screamed as she jumped to clutch Momo's arm. Yui just stared, only giving a surprised "Mm!".
"I call it Lizard Tail Splitter!" Setsuna said, as the rest of her body started to fall apart and float. Kyoka only shrieked louder. "I can separate my body into smaller pieces and control them with my miiiiiind! If I separate a part of my head like this-" she popped off a section of her head with her left eye, "- I can see anywhere far from me and I can talk too!" she popped her lower face in half. "Any piece that gets damaged or destroyed, I can regenerate, but that takes up a lot of energy, so I usually recall any piece away from me," she said, her voice echoing with her split mouth.
"That is so weird, and we just got a classmate who's possessed by an alien!" Kyoka said, her hand over her rapidly beating heart.
"I'll admit, it's still strange to see you use your Quirk, even after I saw it during our recommendation test," Momo said, struggling to keep a neutral look as Setsuna reattached her body parts.
"And your Quirk's exactly why you shouldn't be coming with me," Hiroshi added. "He'll just explode a chunk of your pieces, and it'll take all day for you to get whole again. You'll be able to sneak around more easily than any of us."
"I'll go with him," Momo said, seeing Setsuna's lightly concerned frown. "If Bakugo really will go after him, we'll simply outmatch him in numbers and strategy."
"Alright... In that case, take Kodai with you, too," Setsuna said, pointing to her classmate. Yui was dressed in a red bodysuit with a white skirt, and wore pouches around her shoulders, wrists, and waist. On her head was a red baseball cap. "What's your Quirk do, Kodai?"
"Wait, you guys don't know each others' Quirks?" Hiroshi said, looking at her.
"We haven't had a chance to show ours off to each other like Class 1A did," Setsuna explained. "A lot of us had been waiting for an exercise like this to show them off. Only the people that became friends with each other know what the others' Quirks are, really. I personally didn't tell anyone so I could surprise them all."
"Good, we can use that," Hiroshi stated. He turned to face Momo, Kyoka, and Yui. "So what are your Quirks?"
"Team E! You may now enter the hideout! Secure the warhead or capture the villains!" All Might's voice said over their earpieces.
"Damn, I didn't realize that six minutes were up," Hiroshi said, as they opened the doors and went inside.
"Guess we'll just have to wing it, girls and guy," Setsuna said, as they all gave an affirmative "Right!", while Yui gave a curt but confident "Mm!".
"So this is the bomb, huh?" Tetsutetsu said, looking at it. The white spiky-haired boy's costume was a baggy bodysuit that ended underneath his chest, his arms bare. Metal straps went over and under his arms, his boots were made of metal, and a metal jaw guard was around the bottom half of his face, exposing his mouth alongside his chin and nose. The robots had finished moving the bomb up to the corner room on the fourth floor, where they had all gathered.
Eijiro tapped the bomb lightly with his fist. His costume was similar to Tetsutetsu's, in that it bared his arms, though he wore baggy pants with a large R-shaped buckle, his entire upper torso was exposed with a slightly jagged strap running across his chest, two red gear-like shoulder pads, dark red boots with rings around them, and a metal jaw guard much like Tetsutetsu's, though his went over his nose and chin. "Papier-mâché, makes sense. What're your Quirks, anyway?"
"None of your damn business," Togaru, a lanky boy with a green mohawk and a mantis-like face, said. His hero costume was a large black mask around his eyes, a dark green cloak, and black pants. "The only thing that matters is that you stay out of my way."
"Back at you," Katsuki snarled. He fixed his grenade-shaped gauntlets, and checked the grenades around his waist. "Just leave that cheater to me, he's the only one I want to fight."
"Oh?" the mantis-like student said, as he looked down on Katsuki. "Then I want to carve him up! Any rival of my rival is mine!"
"Who the fuck's your rival?" Katsuki grunted, not realizing that Togaru was talking about him.
"Whoa, hey, let's not argue guys, we're a team!" Eijiro said, trying to defuse the situation. "If neither of you want to talk about your Quirks, that's fine. I'll go ahead and tell you mine, though." He flexed his hand, turning it jagged and hard. "My Quirk's Hardening! It lets me turn my skin hard as rock, giving me an edge in offense and defense!"
"I guess I'll share mine, too!" Tetsutetsu said, as he flexed his hand, turning it metallic and hard. "My Quirk's Steel! It lets me turn my skin hard as metal, giving me an... edge... in offense... and defense." Tetsutetsu trailed off, as he and Eijiro stared at each other, and at their transformed hands.
"You're copying me! What!? I'm the original! Stop mimicking what I'm saying!" the two yelled at each other, pointing accusingly with their transformed hands.
"Team A! The heroes have entered the building! Protect the warhead or capture the heroes!" All Might's voice said over their earpieces.
"Aw man! We didn't come up with a plan!" Eijiro said, realizing that time had ran out. "What are we going to do, Baku- where'd he go?"
The two similar boys looked around, finding that Katsuki was nowhere to be found. "Shit, seems like Kamakiri went off on his own, too," Tetsutetsu noted, not seeing any his classmate there either.
"I guess we're stuck as the manly defense," Eijiro said, as he activated his Quirk all over his body, turning every inch of exposed flesh into jagged rocklike skin.
"I'll be the manliest defense there is!" Tetsutetsu roared, as he activated his Quirk all over his body, turning every inch of exposed flesh into smooth metal-like skin.
"No, I'll be the manliest defense there is!"
"No, I will!"
"That's it, we're having a man-off!"
"Bring it on, you 1A copycat!"
"Pay attention, everyone!" All Might said, as the CCTVs showed the combined class empty hallways and rooms, with one focused on the room with the warhead and Eijiro and Tetsutetsu (who both seemed to be occupied with... flexing their muscles and grunting while posing, a lot of machismo). Another showing Hiroshi by himself walking around in a hallway, his right hand in his pocket, as he looked to his left, his right, his front, and his back. Momo and Yui were in another room, seemingly preparing some sort of trap, while Kyoka had inserted her earphone jack-like earlobes into the wall, pointing up and saying something to Setsuna. Katsuki and Togaru were scouring the halls, bickering with one another for some reason. "You can learn something from their exercise and apply it to your own!"
"Why can't we hear them?" Mina asked, frowning as she watched everyone's mouths flap up and down, but no sound came out. Hiroshi in particular was odd, as he had his left hand pressing something against his ear. "And why is Furinji talking to himself?"
"The fixed cameras have no sound recording equipment, and they're all communicating via earpieces!" All Might explained. "Each of them have also been given a roll of capture tape! If this is wrapped around any part of your body, you're out of the exercise!"
"Furinji's found Bakugo and Kamakiri!" Toru shouted. Her hero costume was only a pair of gloves and shoes, which left her completely naked, though nothing could be seen thanks to her invisibility.
"More like they found him," Mashirao said, who was simply dressed in a karate gi and a belt with three pouches for his costume, as Katsuki and Togaru turned the corner and leapt towards him.
"Hehehe, Furinji stands no chance against Kamakiri and his Quirk!" Neito bragged.
"What's his Quirk?" Denki asked. His outfit, for whatever reason, matched Kyoka's in appearance, though instead of a salmon-colored top, he wore a white T-shirt with black diamonds on his chest, with white lines going down his black jacket's sleeves and black pants' legs, and a white headset covered his ears.
"Like we need to tell you-!" Neito said, before getting his neck chopped by Itsuka.
"We don't know each others' Quirks yet," Itsuka admitted. "We've never had a chance to use them in class before, and everyone only knows the Quirks of their friends here."
"So wait, does that mean that during this exercise, you're all gonna be surprising each other with your Quirks?" Mina asked.
"Pretty much," Itsuka answered, though they immediately returned their attention to the screens when Toru shouted.
"Furinji's found Bakugo and Kamakiri!" Toru cried, pointing to the TVs with a floating glove (the only thing that could be seen of her besides her shoes on account of her invisibility).
"More like they found him," Mashirao said, as Katsuki and Togaru turned the corner and leapt towards him. "They're making the first move!"
"Alright, I'm on the third floor," Hiroshi whispered over his earpiece. "Is everything set up on the second floor, Yaoyorozu?"
"Kodai and I have finished most of the preparations. We'll be done by the time you run back here," she replied.
"Good, 'cuz with all the running I've done, I'm sure that Bakugo's heard me and that he's gonna find me soon-"
"There you are, you Quirkless cheating bastard!" Right on cue, Katsuki flew out from the hallway in front of Hiroshi, explosions propelling him forward. Togaru was not too far behind, being surprisingly agile on his feet.
"Now tell me how you really got in, you cheat!"
Hiroshi pulled his right hand out of his pocket, revealing some sort of gun in it. He pointed it and fired it at Katsuki, who was in midflight and had began swinging his right arm towards him. A canister flew out of the barrel, striking Katsuki in the chest, covering him and his right arm in a liquid substance that extinguished his explosion.
"Gah! The hell's this shit!?" Katsuki screamed, shaking as much of it off as Hiroshi ran away from him.
"It's fire retardant gel! Good luck making explosions, you angry Pomeranian!" Hiroshi yelled, his voice growing distance.
"You-! YOU-! YOU FUCKING COWARDLY CHEATING JACKASS! I'LL KILL YOU!" Katsuki exploded, his eyes flaring in unadulterated fury. If he wasn't going to enjoy beating the Quirkless cheat before, he was certainly going to now.
"Get back here so I can carve you up!" Togaru shouted, as he grew large blades on both his arms.
"Wow you guys are really getting into the villain role!" Hiroshi's voice echoed, still very distant, though the two Team A members rushed to close in on him.
"Where he'd get that!?" Kosei asked. His hero costume was relatively simple, being a blue jacket over a black shirt, brown pants with gray kneepads, and large brown shoes. "I didn't think he had support equipment on him with just that gym outfit!"
"I think Yaoyorozu made it, look at her," Fuka said, pointing to the room with her and Yui. Indeed, Momo had turned around away from the camera with the top of of her hero costume down so that Yui could help pull out a blanket from her back. "That must be her Quirk, right? She can make anything from her body?"
"Yep! That's Yaoyorozu for you!" Ochako said. "Though it's definitely something else to just see her... disrobe like that to let it happen."
"Turn around, Yaoyorozu! Turn around!" Minoru cried. He was promptly silenced by Itsuka chopping on his head.
"Man, isn't that kinda cheating?" Denki asked, to Fuka's confusion. "Like, he didn't bring that with him like the others."
"Why would that be cheating?" she replied, as Denki's eyes widened as he realized what he said. "Momo's the one who made it, and she gave it to him. And it isn't any different from using support equipment."
"Um, er, that is, uuuuuh," Denki stumbled, his tongue twisting around. He shifted his eyes around, hoping to find an out.
"Do... do you think it's cheating because he doesn't have a Quirk?" She must have been right on the money, as Denki could only look away in shame. All Might glanced over his shoulder, his smile hiding his worry, as silence came over the students. "How on earth does that make sense!?"
"To be fair, he kinda cheated his way into the Hero Course, didn't he?" Fuka twisted around, glaring at Sen. "I mean, you told us he was possessed by an alien, which I'm assuming is how he got in. It's just a little unfair to all of us, you know?"
"Yes, that is correct!" Neito butted in. If Fuka's Quirk allowed her to stare daggers into her targets, Neito would've been turned into a pin cushion. "Why on earth does he get to have special treatment, when all of us have worked hard to get here, yet he gets to cruise on in without a care, and into 1A of all classes!?" Itsuka chopped him on the neck, but the damage was done.
"... He does have a point," Mashirao admitted guiltily. "He seems like a nice guy and all, but I don't know if he really deserves to be here."
"He seems likeable enough," Tsuyu added, softly. "But wouldn't someone like him get hurt often during villain fights and rescue work?"
"He'd need to get a hero to save him while he's saving people," Yosetsu shrugged. "Definitely a liability on the job, right?"
"Kick him out!" Minoru cried, shaking his fists. "And put me in his harem! Redo this exercise!"
Kosei kicked him in the butt, making the small yelp. "That's a little inappropriate right now!" he muttered, his brow furrowed.
"A man who faces the world with nothing but the grit of his teeth, will only find himself dragged down into the dark with no return," Fumikage Tokoyami, a boy with a raven-like head, muttered, as a shadow popped out of his chest and nodded in agreement.
"Those who struggle without power, struggle endlessly without hope," a boy with white hair and inky black skin, Shihai Kuroiro, responded.
"While I do not mean to slate Mr. Furinji," Jurota said, feeling a tinge of guilt when Fuka looked at him. "He would be at a greater risk than most of us here without a Quirk."
Soon enough, the students had started mumbling about their feelings with the circumstances of Hiroshi's enrollment; some were out of concern about Hiroshi's safety and liability as a hero, while others were more upset that he had gotten in on "unfair terms". Only 8 people (Ochako, Izuku, Itsuka, Mezo, Mina, Koji, Kosei, and Pony) seemed to be the only ones that didn't agree, as they looked at Fuka with concern, who was almost hyperventilating at the sight.
"Iida!" Fuka said, startling the boy she befriended at lunch. He wore full body armor that had engine exhausts on his torso, but the surprise was still there in his eyes. "You don't believe any of that, do you!?"
"I... um..." Tenya said, as his eyes shifted between his friends and the rest of their classmates. "I... I do like your brother, Miss Fuka, I genuinely do. His composure is completely befitting of an aspiring hero. But I can't lie to myself that I feel rather... disappointed that he came in on such easy terms."
"Iida!" Ochako said. Izuku stared at him, slack-jawed at Iida's answer.
"You... you giant JACKASSES!" Fuka screamed to the ground, her Gale Breath Quirk lifting her slightly into the air before she landed. Everyone was caught off guard by the outburst from their classmate, 1B more so, as she had been very composed during her introduction to them. "He deserves to be here! You haven't known him like Setsuna and me! He's the most heroic person out of all us! He's... he's worked so hard, for so long, even when I- when I- I-"
"Alright, that's enough," All Might stated, silencing them all as he walked over to Fuka, who began to sob into her hands. The giant man lowered himself to her level, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder as he brought her into a tight but comforting embrace. "I'm sorry that I hadn't stopped this sooner, Young Fuka. I assure you, I won't let this happen again-" the kids looked at each other with regret, "- so why don't you stand a little closer with me, so we can watch Young Hiroshi give this exercise his all."
Fuka nodded, and walked towards the front with All Might's hand on her shoulder. For someone with such giant and muscular hands, Fuka noted how gentle and kind they were. She looked up to the CCTVs, and zeroed in on her brother, who stood alone in a room now.
No one knew what to say after they saw that. Even Neito, for all of his smarm, looked exceptionally guilty for needling the situation. Izuku's fists tightened. Is that how everyone really felt about someone like Hiroshi? Even with all the confidence he exuded, with the promise of working just as, if not harder, than them all, that he didn't deserve to be there with them? What if they found out about One for All? What would they think of him? Izuku shivered at the thought, though no one else seemed to notice it. The only one who did was All Might.
"I'm sorry, Young Miss Furinji, Young Midoriya," All Might thought, as he continued to smile to brighten the darkened mood. "It must have been agony for the two of you to listen to your classmates' dismissal of Young Mr. Furinji because of his Quirklessness and unique enrollment. The guilt of your past weighs so heavy on you, his sister, and the fear that your classmates might think the same of you, my protégé. But have no fear, for even the Quirkless can be strong in their own ways!"
"Look! Monsieur Bakugo and Monsieur Kamakiri have cornered Monsieur Furinji!" Yuga stated, breaking the silence as Katsuki and Togaru appeared onscreen. "Those two are certainly looking worse for wear, though."
"And Tokage and Jiro are with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu!" Sen said, pointing out that the two girls have entered the same room as Eijiro and Tetsutetsu, who've stopped their machismo contest. Izuku and All Might snapped back to reality, and looked at the CCTVs, when Izuku noticed that the room Hiroshi was in looked familiar.
"Wait, that's the room that Yaoyorozu and Kodai were in, right? Where are they?"
Earlier...
"I gotta thank Yaoyorozu for this canister gun," Hiroshi said to himself, as he ran through the hallways.
"Indeed," Hero replied in Hiroshi's head, "A Quirk that lets her create anything she needs as long as it's nonliving, understands its chemical and atomic makeup, and has the appropriate amount of time? Yaoyorozu is a very smart young lady."
"It's super lucky that I'm on her team," Hiroshi added. "I don't want to imagine what it would've been like if I wasn't."
He made it to the stairs that he used to get to the third floor, and slid down Momo's Quirk-made rope he tied around the railing to get to the second floor faster. He could hear Katsuki's and Togaru's furious yells coming closer, so he booked it to the room he, Momo, and Yui agreed to meet at.
"Hopefully I had enough of a head start that I make it there before Bakugo tries to brutalize me."
"The boy does have quite the temper," Hero recalled, seeing the explosive temper firsthand earlier that day. "Are you sure that you don't want me to take over for you yet?"
"Yea, I'm sure," Hiroshi affirmed, pulling out another canister and loading it into the gun. "I need to show them all that Hiroshi Furinji deserves to be here, regardless of how it happened."
"There you are, cheater!" Katsuki roared, as he landed onto the ground and ran towards him. "You should've made sure that gel got all over me! I still have my left hand!"
"Let's test that theory!" Hiroshi shouted back, firing the gun. Katsuki sneered as he swung his left hand to smack the canister away.
"You think that'll a second time!?" he screamed, exploding the canister with the smack. It was a bad move, for when the canister exploded, instead of gel flying to a wall, gas exploded and enveloped him, stinging Katsuki's eyes and nose. He screamed as his eyes turned bloodshot and his nose runny. Togaru had the misfortune of running into the gas cloud when the canister blew up, suffering the same fate.
"Jokes on you two! It was pepper gas that time!" Hiroshi shouted, the distance between him and the two "villains" growing wider once more.
"YOU-! AAAAAAAAARGH!" Katsuki exploded, tears of anger and pain dripping down from his eyes.
"How's your end going, Setsuna?" Hiroshi called on his earpiece, ignoring the large amounts of swearing behind him.
"We're doing fine so far," Setsuna replied, her hand on her earpiece as she and Kyoka stepped lightly around on the fourth floor. "Your distraction's working out great, I can hear how angry Bakugo and Kamakiri are from up here."
"Good, I'm nearing the room where Yaoyorozu and Kodai are. Hopefully our plan works," Hiroshi said, as the loud swearing started to get louder. "Oops, gotta go, good luck you two."
"Man, you two really trust each other like that, huh?" Kyoka said, as she pierced the wall with her earlobes to determine where the room with the other two "villains" and the warhead are. "Gotta say, I'm impressed."
"Why is that impressive?" Setsuna asked, raising an eyebrow (literally, as a part of her head floated off to mess with Kyoka, who covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming). "Is it because he's Quirkless?"
"I didn't mean for it to come off like that," Kyoka said, eyes wide. "It's just that... I'm still comprehending that he's Quirkless, and, well... it feels a little unfair how he got in. I mean, he's smart and worked off both yours and Yaoyoruzu's ideas, but it's just..."
"I get it," Setsuna said, sighing. "Honestly all three of us knew this would happen. We told Hiroshi that he should pass Hero off as his Quirk, but they were insistent that everyone knew the truth. He wants to prove that while Hero's the reason he's enrolled in UA now, that he deserves to be here on his own merit."
"Aren't you and Fuka worried, though? About him getting hurt?"
"Of course I am," Setsuna muttered, shifting her gaze away, a small but sad smile forming on her face. "It's just that... it's time that I start letting him be a hero again."
Kyoka tilted her head, wondering what she meant by that. She would've asked for more, but then she heard noises through the walls. "I won't pry anymore, you can tell me later. I just checked to see if we're on the right floor, and we are. The most noise I'm hearing from is coming from the rightmost corner, so let's over there."
Setsuna nodded, as she and Kyoka rushed down the hallways to get to the corner room. Still, she couldn't help but think about how long it's been since she's trusted Hiroshi like that. It felt so long ago, too...
Years Ago...
"Hiro! Hiro!" a small girl with feathered wings cried, running towards a 8 year old Hiroshi Furinji. Hiroshi had just got a ball from Grannie Fumino to play with her, Fuka, and Setsuna at the nearby park. He noticed the girl's wings were slightly dirty and a few feathers stuck out of place.
"What's wrong, Tsubasa?"
"It's Kenji and his friends! They're picking on Fuka and Setsuna!" she sobbed, rubbing her teary eyes. "I tried to stop them, but they just pushed me away and I hurt my wing!"
"What!?" Hiroshi said, as he ran back to the park leaving Tsubasa behind. Sure enough, there was Kenji Takagi and his group of bullies picking on Setsuna and his sister. They had plucked Setsuna's head, left arm, and right foot off, and were tossing them to each other as her headless and slightly limbless body wobbled between them in a game of monkey-in-the-middle. Fuka meanwhile was being held up by Kenji himself by the scruff of her shirt, as Kenji's Quirk made his left and right arms disproportionately long and huge compared to his small body.
"Stop it! Please!" Setsuna's head cried, looking slightly nauseous from being thrown around. "I'm gonna throw up!"
"How can you throw up if your head's not on your body?" Kumataro, a bear-like child, asked, as he tossed her head to Ryunosuke, a boy with Chinese dragon-like horns, mane, and whiskers.
"Let her go!" Fuka shouted, struggling to get free from Kenji's grip. "This isn't funny, Kenji!"
"Come on, don't lose your heads over this!" Kenji mocked, as he and his friends laughed at their predicament.
"Hey! Leave them alone!" Hiroshi yelled, making the four bullies turn towards him.
"Hey, if it isn't the Worthless Quirkless!" a boy with long golden hair, Kin'ichi, said.
"Yea, what are you going to do about it, No-Quirk Hiro?" Kenji said, pointing at a fuming Hiroshi. "You got no powers, you can't do a thi-"
Hiroshi threw the ball in his hands as hard as he could at Kenji. It slammed against his nose and popped on his horns. Before Kenji could register anything, Hiroshi tackled him to the ground, and began wrestling the boy. Fuka flew out of his grasp, and scrambled towards Setsuna as the other bullies dropped her parts to go help their friend.
"Go get an adult!" Hiroshi shouted, as he rolled away from their punches and kicks. Kin'ichi used his Quirk to grab him with his long golden hair, and slammed him to the ground, letting Kenji and the others kick him while he was down.
"This'll teach you a lesson, you no-good Quirkless-"
"Hey! What's going on!?"
The four bullies turned and saw a hero dressed in a costume that mixed the clothes of a king with that of a wizard approaching them. Tsubasa was with him, pointing at the
"It's a hero! Let's book it!" Ryunosuke cried, as Kin'ichi released Hiroshi from his hair. Before the four could get anywhere, a hero-in-training flew down from the air, doing a hand seal. He was dressed in a green ninja-like costume with a large metal decoration of a shuriken with a wind trail on ninja mask and hood. He was soon joined in by another hero-in-training, who came in spinning in a small tornado. She was dressed like a pro wrestler with her blue shorts and midriff-baring top, her long blue hair tied into a ponytail resembling a tornado, with white gloves and white boots, and lightning bolts painted on her biceps and under her eyes.
"Green Wind Hayate! Has arrived!" the ninja said, posing.
"And Hurrikana jumps in!" the girl joined in. "You kids should know better than to use your Quirks to bully- Hiro!?"
Hiroshi looked up, slightly moaning from being lightly bruised by the kicks and hair-slam, and saw the two heroes-in-training, who had very crossed looks on their faces when they spotted their little brother. "Oh... Hey Hayate, hi Kana..."
"Unbelievable!"
Hiroshi flinched, as Hayate and Kana yelled at him. The hero the twins were interning with, Magic Majesty, was busy talking to the parents of Kenji and his friends. They gave him a stink eye, clearly blaming him for getting them into trouble like this. Kenji mimicked slicing his neck open with his thumb, though his dad saw it and smacked him with his rolled-up newspaper. "Hiro, you know you don't have a Quirk, so you shouldn't be looking for trouble! What would mom and dad say!?" Hayate berated, smacking him upside the head.
"I wasn't looking for trouble, they were picking on Setsuna and Fuka! And they hurt Tsubasa's wing! How could I not do anything!?" Hiroshi said, as Tsubasa, Setsuna, and Fuka sat to the side, still sobbing over what happened. "I was the closest person here, I had to do something!"
"Hiro, come on," Kana grumbled, pinching her forehead with her other hand on her waist. "You can't be playing hero like that! For goodness sakes, you were already getting pummeled by their Quirks!"
"It was only Kin'ichi's dumb hair Quirk, and I wasn't playing hero..." he muttered, knowing all too well that he could never be one. He just didn't want everyone to remind him.
"It's still a Quirk, Hiro. A Quirk that kicked your butt," Hayate sighed, lowering himself to Hiroshi's level. "Listen, sometimes, you just gotta let others do things that you can't do. There's no shame in running to get help when you're helpless."
"But I'm not helpless-"
"Hiro, you're Quirkless. You might as well be," Kana stated, making Hiroshi flinch at the word. "Just please stop starting into fights, for us at least?"
Hiroshi shifted his eyes to the side, as he gave a mumbled "Alright" to his siblings, even if he wasn't the one who started it.
"Good, just sit right here, we're gonna talk to the girls now about this," Hayate said, making Hiroshi plant his butt onto the ground. The twins walked over to the girls, who had wiped their tears away. "Are you all alright?"
"Yep," Fuka sniffed, rubbing her eye. "If it weren't for Hiro-"
"That's the thing," Kana said, squatting down to look at her baby sister. "Hiro could've gotten hurt real bad. You guys need to keep an eye on him to stop him from being reckless like today."
"But Hiro's so brave," Setsuna said, looking at her rescuer. "He's my hero-"
"But you need to be his," Hayate stated. "You know he's Quirkless. He can't protect himself like you guys can."
"He could get seriously hurt," Kana said, as the three girls looked at each other with horror. "We were lucky that we came here just in time before it could get bad, but next time, we might not be."
The girls bit their lips. It was true, Hiroshi was getting pretty beat up when he came in to stop Kenji and his friends. And they are the ones with Quirks, so they should be the ones that are protecting him instead.
"Do you three understand?"
"Yes," the three girls said, nodding as they decided to return the favor to Hiroshi.
Several days after the incident, Hiroshi was playing tag with Fuka, Setsuna, and Tsubasa at the park, when Kenji and his friends strutted in.
"Well, look at this, it's No-Quirk Hiro and his dumb girl gang!" Kenji sneered, as he and the other three bullies activated their Quirks. "We didn't see any adults when we were walking here, so there's no way anyone's gonna stop the beating you deserve!"
Hiroshi prepared himself to fight, even if Hayate and Kana wouldn't approve, when the three girls stepped in front of him. "Leave him alone!" Fuka cried, to Hiroshi's confusion.
"Oh? Is the Worthless Quirkless really getting someone to protect him like the loser he is?" Kenji said, as the four bullies laughed. Hiroshi gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, but the three girls took action immediately, as if they had been practicing using their Quirks. Setsuna launched her fingers into the four boys' eyes, temporarily blinding them, Tsubasa following up with throwing tiny bolts of static electricity towards them, though it was enough to hurt. Finally, Fuka took in a deep breath, and blew, sending them flying backwards against the chain fence. The four boys scrambled to get up, and seeing that the three girls were tougher than they initially thought, decided to book it. "You win this round, Worthless Quirkless! But we'll be back! I promise!"
"Wow, when did you guys get so good at using your Quirks like that?" Hiroshi asked, impressed by his friends taking Kenji down a peg.
"We've been practicing!" Setsuna grinned, as her fingers floated around. She popped her head and legs off to show him how better she got.
"Yea, so that we can protect you now!" Fuka added, her grin also wide. Hiroshi frowned at the words though.
"I don't need to be protected," he said, crossing his arms.
"But Hayate and Kana said that you did," Tsubasa said, worriedly.
"They're just overreacting! I'm capable of handling myself!" Hiroshi said, aghast. "I'm Quirkless, not helpless!"
"But they're right, Hiro! You don't have a Quirk, so you won't be able to protect as easily as you think!" Fuka said.
"Well then I'll just take classes that'll do that! Mom and dad will understand!"
"That won't be enough, Hiro! Haya and Kana just want you to be safe!"
"I can be safe, but I don't need to be treated like I'm fragile!"
"Come on Hiro, just think for a moment!"
"I am thinking! Don't treat me like I'll die in one hit!"
Hiroshi and Fuka began bickering with each other, as Setsuna and Tsubasa looked at the two worriedly, not sure how to stop them. This wouldn't be the last time they would fight, however, as the two would continue their fights will into high school.
Present Day...
Setsuna shook off that memory, as things were different now. She realized that he was never helpless to begin with, and that now, she should believe in the boy who used to rush in to help without a second thought. Because now, he'll be unstoppable.
"So this is the room you heard them in, right?" The two Team E members stopped at when they reached the rightmost corner room. The door was shut, so Setsuna and Kyoka opened it slowly and looked inside, preparing themselves for whatever they might see.
They certainly were not prepared to see Eijiro and Tetsutetsu flexing their muscles, striking various poses, and grunting.
"UH! You wish your muscles were as hard as mine!" Tetsutetsu shouted, tightening his biceps. "My arms are UNMATCHED!"
"That's what you think!" Eijiro retorted, as he flexed the muscles in his back. "My muscles are a work of MANLY ART!"
"The hell we watching?" Kyoka asked, as she stared at this match of manliness unfold.
"Oh, so your class has a Tetsutetsu, too," Setsuna observed.
"No, Class 1B has a Kirishima!" Eijiro shouted. The two flexing boys stopped flexing, and turned their heads to the now opened door to see the new arrivals. "ACK! THE HERO TEAM!"
Eijiro and Tetsutetsu activated their Quirks, turning rock hard and metal hard respectively. "You think you can stop us!? THE MANLIEST VILLAINS EVER!? WE WON'T HOLD BACK, EVEN AGAINST GIRLS!" Tetsutetsu screamed, slamming his fists together.
"By the way, which one of us was manlier?" Eijiro asked.
"Honestly I'd say it's a tie," Setsuna snickered, as Kyoka shrugged her shoulders with her head tilted.
"Dammit! I'm gonna ask All Might if we can fight each other later!" Tetsutetsu said.
"Not if I ask him first!" Eijiro replied, as the two glared at one other. Setsuna and Kyoka chuckled at the sight, before taking up their own fighting poses.
Meanwhile...
"We made it!" Hiroshi whispered to himself/Hero, as he opened the door and ran inside the room, which only had large boxes covered in blankets. He turned, and faced the opened doorway, bracing himself for Katsuki's and Togaru's arrival.
Not a second later, the two leaped in, their eyes red and snot running. Both of them narrowed their eyes at Hiroshi, who shrugged at them. "Wow, you guys look like crap."
Katsuki growled, as he attempted to light an explosion in his right hand. No dice, it was still not working, the stupid fire retardant gel was still covering him. But he did get one tiny spark off. He shook his left hand. Not ready yet. "I'm going to throttle you, Quirk or no Quirk!" he said, baring his teeth like an angry wolf (Hiroshi thought it looked more like an angry tiny dog, though, like a chihuahua, or a Pomeranian like he said earlier). "You've got nowhere to run now, you idiot!"
"Yes, it's time to slice and dice you up!" Togaru sniffled, trying to sound intimidating while popping out blades from his hands, though it was completely undermined by his runny eyes and nose.
"True, you got me. Only had those two canisters on me," Hiroshi shrugged, holding his hands up. He let go of the canister gun, letting it hit the floor hard. "Only thing I can do is THIS!"
Momo and Yui pulled the blankets off of themselves while popping out of the box, as the clank of the gun's landing and Hiroshi's yell was the signal. Yui touched the tips of her fingers together, and in an instance a cannon grew huge in front of Hiroshi, surprising the two Team A members. Hiroshi grabbed the rope attached to it, and yanked hard, firing the cannon's ammunition. Katsuki and Togaru barely dodged the cannonball in time, as it impacted the wall and turned into a sticky pink substance.
"Shit, there goes plan A, guess we're going with plan B," Hiroshi muttered, as Momo and Yui got out of the boxes, Momo handing Hiroshi a shield that he attached to his matching bracer while she armed herself and Yui with long rods. "Sorry, Yaoyorozu, it was a good plan though."
"Thank you, Furinji," Momo nodded, glancing over to Yui. "It was really Yui who's the star, her Quirk was what made the difference." Yui gave a thankful sounding "Mm!", as the three Team E members readied themselves.
"Nice try, you cheating bastard! But that's not gonna stop me!" Katsuki said, rushing Hiroshi and throwing a right hook at him. Hiroshi moved quickly, though, using his shield to brush Katsuki's hand away and slugging him in the cheek with his right fist like a boxer. He grunted as spittle flew out of his mouth.
"Don't act as if that's the only trick I had!" Hiroshi said, grabbing Katsuki's left arm before he could recover. With a loud grunt, he pulled the explosive boy over his shoulder, slamming him against the ground. "I might be Quirkless, but I've learned how to defend myself for a long time!"
"Whoa! Did you see that!?" Denki said, pointing to the screen with Hiroshi and the others. "He just punched Bakugo without hesitation!"
"Not to mention that sticky cannon plan," Tsuyu ribbited, noting the cannon's existence. "It could've worked if the two were a second slower."
"Yea, how did we not see that?" Yosetsu asked, watching Hiroshi and Katsuki throwing hands at each other, having recovered from being thrown onto the ground. He didn't give Hiroshi any moment to wrap the capture tape around him, though Hiroshi wasn't letting him get a clean hit with his explosions as he dodged each punch. Momo and Yui were busying fighting Togaru, as they used their rods to hit the mantis-like boy while dodging his blades.
"I guess it was while we were talking... about... Furinji..." Denki trailed off, as he began to remember what he had just said earlier to everyone. The room was silenced again, with Fuka still looking down at the ground, upset about it all.
"Hm?" All Might mumbled, hearing the conversation between Hiroshi and Katsuki. The young explosive boy had said something that caught his attention, and from the look of the CCTV, Hiroshi was prepared to answer back. "Hm... I wasn't planning on sharing what your classmates said during their turns for this exercise, but considering what happened, I suppose I could share what Young Mr. Furinji and Young Bakugo are saying, since this might concern you all."
He pulled his earpiece off his head, and inserted a phone jack to it, connecting it to a speaker, which immediately boomed to life.
"-AT NONE OF US THINK YOU BELONG HERE!" Katsuki screamed. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE AT UA!"
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!? I ALREADY SAW IT IN THEIR EYES!" Hiroshi screamed back, as most of the people's hearts in the room froze.
"You-! You fucking bastard!" Katsuki said, as he and Hiroshi kept trading punches. The sparks from his right hand were getting stronger and stronger, but it was still not enough yet. Not that it mattered while the Quirkless teen kept moving around and using his shield to protect himself. He listened carefully to his left hand's gauntlet. Almost. "Why won't you just quit, you cheat!?"
"It's 'cuz if a guy like you can get in, so can I!" Hiroshi replied, giving Katsuki another hard punch on the chest. This wasn't good. As much as he was trained in self-defense and martial arts, Katsuki could still make explosions with his left hand, which he couldn't dodge all of. His shirt and jacket were singed by the heat, holes burning in. Katsuki growled, and swung his left hand again, firing off another explosion. Hiroshi barely dodged this one, having to leap backwards. "Shit, looks like it's the end of this outfit," he noted, seeing the big holes made by that explosion. He breathed heavily, he was really getting worn down now. At least Momo and Yui were keeping Togaru busy with their attacks.
"Don't you fucking compare yourself to me!" Katsuki yelled, indignant that someone without a Quirk saw himself as an equal. But that didn't mean he wasn't feeling exhausted as well. This wasn't good, his arms were being to lock up now. This fucking asshole pushed him this far. But maybe he can use that monologuing habit he saw at the cafeteria to his advantage... "I got in fair and square by myself! What did you do!? Lie about being possessed by an alien!"
"I didn't lie!" Hiroshi snapped. He noticed that Katsuki was also exhausted, probably from having inhaled pepper gas earlier; that's good, he can use a break too. "Hero is my partner! We might've gotten in differently, but that doesn't mean we won't work for it!"
"Oh enough of that bullshit! Do you really think that just saying that you'll work hard!? You're nothing without a Quirk!" Katsuki said. "I asked one of those Class 1B losers about you and your sister! Your older siblings are those wind pro heroes Green Wind Hayate and Hurrikana! And guess what, I know they're UA alumni, too! Not to mention your parents! They own one of the support companies that UA works with!"
"Don't you bring them into this! They've got nothing to do with my enrollment!" It was true; when he, Setsuna, and Fuka told them and Tsubasa about what happened, Hayate and Kana were still against it. They kept insisting that Hero get out of him, and only relented when their parents gave Hiroshi their approval. "You don't know a thing about my family!"
"EVEN IF I DON'T, I KNOW THAT NONE OF US THINK YOU BELONG HERE!" Katsuki screamed. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE AT UA!"
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!? I ALREADY SAW IT IN THEIR EYES!" Hiroshi screamed back. Momo took slight pause at that, though she couldn't stop for long, as Togaru swung his arms down at her and she had to block with her rod. She still listened in, with Yui paying some attention as well.
"I knew that the moment I told everyone about my Quirkless and Hero, that no one would be happy! That everyone would've felt that I cheated my way in! No matter how outwardly nice they were, that deep down, no one was happy! Uraraka, Iida, Midoriya... even if they've accepted me, doesn't mean I don't think they're happy! But the reason why I told the truth, was so that I can prove to everyone who told me that I couldn't be a hero that I can! That this dream I thought I gave up on long ago, is something that I can grab with my hand! It's thanks to Hero that I'm here, who believed in me after so many didn't! I'm done letting people like you tell me what I can't do!"
Hiroshi slammed his right hand onto the left side of his chest. "Take a good long look at me, Bakugo! Even without a Quirk or using Hero's help, I'm still standing! You haven't knocked me down yet! You want to know why!? I'm Hiroshi Furinji, the No-Quirk Hero! Even if I have to work twenty, no, a HUNDRED times harder, I won't let you or anyone else stop me! I'll be a hero that everyone can look up to! A hero who'll work hard to get the respect of his classmates! A hero that Fuka, Setsuna, everyone can finally be proud of! That's the type of hero I'll be!"
"- A hero that Fuka, Setsuna, everyone can finally be proud of! That's the type of hero I'll be!"
Fuka covered her mouth, as tears fell from her face again. She already knew that Hiroshi felt like she and Setsuna looked at him like he was made of porcelain, but she hadn't realized that all this time, he wanted them to feel proud of him. That he wasn't helpless and that he could protect them like they would with him. It had been so long since she thought about how Hiroshi jumped in to help her, Setsuna, and Tsubasa when they were younger, that she forgot that, even without a Quirk, Hiroshi was one of the bravest people she knew.
"... Damn, what a speech," Sen said, an excited grin on his face. "He's getting my blood boiling!"
"Bravo! Bravo!" Tenya shouted, clapping his hands above his head. "Hiroshi certainly deserves to be here with us! I regret ever doubting him!"
"Man, and I was just going to be a hero 'cuz I wanted to be popular, how can I beat someone like that?" Denki said, scratching the back of his head.
"And you were the one that doubted him in the first place," Kosei said, as Denki looked down at the ground in shame. The atmosphere in the room changed immensely; what had once been feelings of jealousy and concern, now were feelings of respect and admiration, as everyone chattered about Hiroshi's words.
"... Are you alright, Furinji?" Tsuyu asked, seeing the girl's still falling tears.
"I am," she replied. She removed her hands from her face, revealing a trembling smile. "It's just that it's been so long, that I forgot what type of hero my brother is to me."
All Might grinned as he placed the earpiece back onto his head. He had a feeling that the young man's words would affect them all. It certainly affected him much like how Midoriya did when they first met.
Several Days Ago...
All Might came into Principal Nezu's office. He was frustrated, he wanted to go help out more with the rescue work and cleanup, but he told him that this was important and that he needed to meet someone. The heroes that he met up with did at least understood that meeting with UA's principal was just as important, so that was comforting. "You wanted to see me, Principal Nezu?" he asked, having entered his muscle form beforehand so that this 'someone' wouldn't see his true form.
"Ah good, excellent timing, All Might," the white creature said. He was sitting at his desk, and there were three teens with him. He recognized one of them as a recommended student in Class 1B, and another as a female recommended student who had passed both the written and recommendation tests but turned down her entry, but the third was a boy he's never seen before, though from the looks of him, he was related to the latter girl.
"Whoa, All Might!?" the boy said. "He's really teaching here!?"
"Sorta, we haven't had a class with him yet," the Class 1B student said. "We're supposed to have hero training soon, though."
"And that's the thing we'll be talking about!" Principal Nezu laughed. "All Might, meet Setsuna Tokage's friends, Hiroshi and Fuka Furinji, two new impending transfers to the hero course!"
"What? This early? The semester's only started!"
"Yes, yes, I'm aware, but Mr. Furinji's a special exception! You remember the red giant from earlier today?"
"It would more difficult not to, sir."
"Well, you see, Hiroshi is the current host of the red giant!"
"What?"
"Do you want to introduce yourself, Mr. Hero?"
Hiroshi closed his eyes in thought, and slightly slumped over, before swinging his arms up to slick back his hair. He opened his eyes, and All Might was surprised to see the teen's eyes turn from gray to a brilliant alien green. "Pleased to meet you, All Might," the boy said, his voice reverbing now. "I am Hero! Ultraman Hero!"
All Might raised an eyebrow. A split personality Quirk? Those were rare. "So why did you say he's the current host? Is this not just a Quirk?"
"Nope, Mr. Hero is a genuine, bonafide alien!" the principal said, cheerfully. "You see, we made sure to check the records to make sure that Hiroshi was telling the truth about his situation, and indeed it is!"
"Why check his records?"
"Because Hiroshi's Quirkless."
All Might paused when the boy said that. Is he being serious?
"It's true, I've known Hiroshi for all of my life, and he was diagnosed with Quirklessness as a kid," Setsuna said.
"And I'm his sister, so this is the complete truth," Fuka said. "Though this is still really hard to believe."
"Which is why we're making a special exception for Mr. Furinji! You see, Mr. Hero is a part of a group called the Inter Galactic Defense Force, who operate as the multiverse's police force, but seeing as his membership is not recognized by any government, he and Mr. Furinji will be joining UA to get proper hero education, while still being allowed to handle alien threats so long as he isn't going after human ones without permission! Miss Furinji will be joining us as well as one of Mr. Furinji's conditions!"
"Multiverse?" All Might said, catching that part of what Principal Nezu explained.
"Yep, there're countless dimensions, each with their own Earth. This one's pretty different, though, 'cuz it's the first one I've heard where humans have special powers like Quirks. I have a feeling that there are also aliens who've been living here, however, just passing themselves off as humans with mutation-type Quirks."
All Might stood there, his large smile hiding his confusion. "I... I'm sorry, but this is a lot of information to process."
"Which is why for the next few days, while we handle the paperwork, you will be observing Mr. Furinji and Mr. Hero for yourself, and assist him with holding back his power when dealing with humans!" Principal Nezu stated.
"But what about the hero training classes?"
"Eraserhead and Vlad King promised to give their students simple sparring exercises while you're busy teaching Mr. Furinji. Besides, we'll be needing to readjust our curriculum for the hero training classes, as another condition of Mr. Furinji's was that we combine Class 1A's and Class 1B's hero training classes together! I agreed to, as Mr. Hero's fight with Tyrannion, the giant lizard alien, proved to us that we need to foster a stronger sense of comradery between our future heroes!"
"With all due respect, Mr. All Might," the boy said, as he turned his attention to him. "I understand that the circumstances for Hiroshi's enrollment are strange, but he truly deserves to be in UA as a hero student. Hm? You want to talk to him yourself? Alright, go ahead."
Hiroshi closed his eyes as his bangs fell back into place, and when he opened them, they had returned to their natural gray color. "I know that I'll be outmatched by the other students in the hero course," Hiroshi said, clutching his right forearm with his left hand. It bore a strange silver gauntlet that was decorated with a stylized H and a dial. "But I promise you, I'm going to work five, no, ten times as hard to catch up to them! Even without a Quirk, I want to prove to everyone that I can be a hero! That I deserve my place with them, regardless of how I enrolled! They may have a head start, but I'm going to run after them, all so I can go and protect as many people as I can!"
All Might was impressed with the young boy's conviction. But he decided to give the boy a small test, which Principal Nezu noticed in his eyes.
"What if I said that someone without a Quirk couldn't be a hero?" he asked. Fuka and Setsuna stood up, aghast at what the Number One Hero had said. Hiroshi stopped them from intervening, however, as he gave a curt response.
"Then I'll just prove you and everyone that thinks that way wrong."
All Might's eyes widened in surprise, as without a hint of hesitation, determined to run after his dream of being a hero to save others, regardless of what others might think. This Quirkless boy reminded him so much of himself and of his own protégé. He had a feeling that once the two meet, that they would drive each other to become the best they could be.
"Hahaha!" All Might laughed, to the three teens' confusion. "An excellent response! I see that you've truly committed to this path, Young Hiroshi. And as a teacher, I'll help guide you on your way to becoming a spectacular hero! Welcome to UA, Young Hiroshi, Young Fuka!"
Hiroshi gave the hero a giant grin, as Fuka and Setsuna almost practically jumped with joy. The three celebrated this victory, as All Might realized something: how the hell he was going to teach a boy with a giant alien?
Present Day...
"- if the support company made these things to my specifications, than I should've saved up a lot of sweat in them!"
All Might snapped out of his thoughts, as he saw on screen Katsuki pointing his left hand at Hiroshi, with Momo and Yui directly behind him, while Togaru was stuck to the wall behind Katsuki in what appeared to be gum. "He can't be-!"
"YOUNG BAKUGO, STOP!" All Might shouted into the mic connected to the villain team's earpieces. "YOU'LL KILL THEM WITH THAT BLAST!"
The hero students in the room looked at him horrified and then at the screen, as Katsuki pulled a grenade pin out of his gauntlet.
"THEY'LL BE FINE IF THEY DODGE IT!"
"YAOYORUZU! KODAI! GET DOWN!"
Hiroshi threw himself on top of the two girls as blinding light and a large fiery explosion enveloped them from Katsuki's gauntlets. The students stood there horrified, though none more so than Fuka.
"HIROSHI!"
Back at the Training Building...
"You think that bullshit's gonna work with me!? You'll never beat me with something dumb like that!" Katsuki roared. He shook his left gauntlet slightly. It's ready. Perfect. "Heh, but it seems like your dumb monologuing worked out for me."
"What do you mean?" he asked, when Togaru leaped behind him, blades raised. Before he could swing them down, Yui had pulled out a blow dart pipe, and breathed into it, launching something from it. She touched the tips of her fingers again, and a large wad of gum grew in size. The speed and size of the giant gum wad knocked Togaru off his feet, and he landed against the wall behind Katsuki, stuck in it.
"Gah!? What the hell is this!? Gum!? Fucking gross!" Togaru said, struggling to slice his way out of the trap. Yui and Momo ran and stood behind Hiroshi, ready to join his fight against Katsuki.
"I take it that you know how my Quirk works, right?" Katsuki said, grinning maniacally.
"Most I know is that you can make explosions somehow," Hiroshi admitted, not knowing where he was getting at.
"My Quirk lets me make a nitroglycerin-like sweat from my glands, which I can cause to explode with my hands," he explained, raising his left arm and pointing it at Hiroshi while a grenade pin popped out. His grin widened maniacally. "And if the support company made these things to my specifications, than I should've saved up a lot of sweat in them!"
"You wouldn't-" Hiroshi said, realizing what that meant.
"THEY'LL BE FINE IF THEY DODGE IT!" Katsuki screamed, clearly yelling into his earpiece. Hiroshi looked around. The room wouldn't be big enough to step aside to avoid the large impending blast. And Momo and Yui were right behind him. There was only one thing he could do in a moment's notice like this.
"YAOYORUZU! KODAI! GET DOWN!" he yelled, turning around and leaping onto them, covering them with as much of his body as he could. Katsuki realized that he hadn't jumped out of the way, but it was too late; he had pulled the pin, and a giant fiery explosion flew out of his gauntlet, consuming most of the room in front of him.
"What was that!?" Kyoka shouted, as before they started their fight with Eijiro and Tetsutetsu, the building violently shook, small debris from the ceiling falling down onto them and the floor.
"It must've been Bakugo!" Setsuna said, turning around to run out of the room when Eijiro had jumped towards her.
"Why worry about them when you should worry about yourself!?" he said, punching her in the face with his Hardened fist. While it caught her off guard, Setsuna saw an opportunity, and let her head detach from her body with his fist, letting it roll onto the ground while sticking her tongue out and rolling her eyes back for dramatic effect. Her headless body fell to the ground, motionless, landing on top of her left arm.
Everyone in the room froze, before letting out the biggest screams of their lives.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"You killed her! You fucking killed my classmate, you jackass!" Tetsutetsu yelled, pointing at his now-beheaded classmate. "Neito was right! You guys are the worst!"
"I didn't know I was that strong!" Eijiro shouted, his hands on his head. "Oh man, this is the most unmanly thing I've done! I'm going to jail for sure!"
Kyoka already knew the nature of Setsuna's Quirk, and had a feeling of what her plan was, as she spotted Setsuna's left hand crawling sneakily towards the warhead. That didn't stop her from covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming. "MMMMM! MMMMMMMMMMM!"
"You 1A kids just killed two of our classmates!" Neito shouted, pointing at the stunned 1A students near him. "I knew you all weren't hero material, you murderers!"
"Are you kidding!? Bakugo just killed two of our classmates, too!" Mina shouted, rightfully pointing out how Hiroshi and Momo were also consumed by the explosion.
"Oh god, we can actually die in these exercises!?" Minoru cried, biting at the fingertips of his gloves. "I did not sign up for this! I just wanted to get girls!"
"Oh Heavenly Father, may you guide these poor souls to Heaven and let them be at rest," Ibara prayed, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Izuku stared at the screens. Did Katsuki really get something like that made!? What would've happened if he had been the one against him? Would he have been able to do anything against that!?
"YOUNG HIROSHI! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? YOUNG HIROSHI!" All Might said, his mouth close to the microphone connected to the hero team's earpieces. Fuka stood still. She knew that Setsuna was alright, that was just her Quirk and she's playing dead. But Hiroshi-
"I'm alright, All Might," Hiroshi's voice came out of All Might's earpiece. Fuka was close enough to hear him, and she sighed relief from hearing her brother's voice.
"But how? That blast was too large to-"
"Okay, you know how I promised you that Hero wouldn't be making an appearance this early?"
"What the hell was that for!?" Togaru screamed at Katsuki. "That's not a fight at all! You fucking killed them!"
"That fucking idiot." Katsuki gritted his teeth. He was supposed to dodge! Instead the Quirkless cheater jumped onto those girls and got killed for it. No matter, this was just an accident, it wasn't his-
"That was a dirty move, Bakugo."
Katsuki froze when a new voice spoke. He didn't recognize it at all. As the dust cleared, however, he couldn't believe his eyes. In place of that cheater, was a red figure, his arms spread out with a barrier of light reaching hand to hand, crouching down on one knee over the girls. It was the red giant from earlier that week, only he was not so giant now.
That liar wasn't lying at all.
"Are you two alright, Miss Yaoyoruzu, Miss Kodai?" Hero asked, looking down at Hiroshi's and his teammates. Momo opened her eyes, and stared up at the red alien.
"Y-yes I am," Momo said. "A-are you Ultraman Hero?"
"The one and the same," Hero nodded. "Are you fine, Miss Kodai?"
Yui stare at the red alien for a long time, a blush forming on her cheeks. "Y... yes," she stammered.
"Are you sure? Your face is turning red."
"I-i-it's fine!" Yui stuttered, covering her face. "I'm fine..."
"Alright. Just leave the rest to me," Hero said, standing up as his barrier disappeared. He turned around and faced Bakugo. "You're lucky I managed to switch places with Hiroshi right before the explosion touched us. I don't know what could've happened if I hadn't."
"Y-you-!" Katsuki shuddered, looking at the alien with shock, before his mouth turned into an excited sneer. "You weren't lying! Now this is more like it! A fight to show that I'm better than some giant asshole alien that came out of nowhere! This is turning out better than I thought it would!"
"I'm not going to fight you, Bakugo," Hero said, spreading his arms wide. "If I were to punch you, you could easily be sent throwing out of this building. In fact, I won't move from this spot, even if you rush me."
"Let's test that theory!" Katsuki said, rearing his hands backwards, when Togaru finally freed himself from the gum trap.
"Now it's a fight again!" Togaru said, grinning wildly as he grew more blades on his arms.
"Holy shit, he was telling the truth about an alien possessing him!?" Hanta said, his jaw dropped as everyone stared at the red giant, now simply taller than the average human.
"An alien! He really has an alien!" Mina said giddily, bouncing up and down with joy. "I just gotta talk to him!"
"Why is he so small!?" Minoru asked. "Can he change size, too!? That's broken as hell!"
"It was a good thing that his alien swapped places with him, too, he just saved him, Yaoyoruzu, and Kodai," Tsuyu pointed out, ending her sentence with a ribbit.
"Just where is Furinji, then?" Mezo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed, where are you right now, Young Hiroshi?" All Might asked, talking into the mic.
"Well I'm in Hero's mental dimension right now, so technically I'm right where I was, but as Hero now."
"Wait, so you're talking from Hero's head right now? How does that work?" All Might asked, tilting his head.
"Let's not think about that right now. Just don't call off this exercise, my team can still win this, we still have 5 minutes left."
"Ergh... alright, I won't. You two have been working on holding back, right?" All Might said, hoping that this won't end with Katsuki in the hospital.
"We have, this scale limiter addon Hero finished should be able to control how much power we use at once."
"Alright. Young Bakugo!" All Might said, picking up the other mic. "If you pull a move like that again, your team will be disqualified! Using a move like that is just going to get your stronghold destroyed! It's a bad move, whether villain or hero!"
"Not now, All Might! I have a fight against an alien to win!" Katsuki said over the earpiece, hanging up.
"Wait, you're not stopping this exercise!?" Fuka asked, turning to All Might. "He almost killed three students with that!"
"Your brother requested that we continue the exercise," All Might explained, to Fuka's astonishment. "He told me that the scale limiter Hero made will control their power output was finished, so we shouldn't worry too much about a repeat of Young Bakugo's... technique."
He couldn't help but feel worried, though, having seen Hero's power firsthand just recently...
Several Days Ago...
"Alright, let's see what you can do, Young Mr. Furinji," All Might said, as he and the three teens arrived at one of the practice cities used for training and testing at UA. He wanted to see how strong Hiroshi was with Hero lending his power to him, while Setsuna and Fuka joined them as moral support. Principal Nezu and other UA faculty, like Present Mic, Eraserhead, Midnight, and Vlad King were at the camera room to monitor from afar and to send in as many robots as necessary for Hero and Hiroshi to fight against.
"Yes sir," Hiroshi replied, as he stretched his shoulders. He was about to close his eyes when he started talking to Hero aloud. "What? Are you sure? You can do that!? Alright, then."
"What's the matter, Young Mr. Furinji? " All Might asked, when Hiroshi threw his right arm into the air, and yelled, "HEROOOOO!"
A bright light flashed around Hiroshi, forcing him and the girls to shut their eyes. When the light died down, they opened them to see Hero standing in front of them.
Only he was just about two heads or so shorter than All Might.
"What the-!? You can change size!?" Fuka said, her mouth agape.
"That's right, and unlike my ten minute time limit at full size, I can basically stay in this form for a couple hours," Hero explained. "But since Hiroshi is the one lending his body to me, I won't be forcing him to stay changed as me."
"Interesting!" All Might said, having been caught off by this ability of Hero's. "You'll definitely be able to handle more issues with that ability than you would if you could only remain as a giant!"
"Right, I want to test something out, however." Hero looked up at a nearby camera tower. "Send out as many of your biggest robots as you can."
"What?" All Might said.
"What?" Present Mic said over the intercom.
"What!?" Setsuna and Fuka said.
"I just need to confirm something, and I need as many of your biggest robots for that," Hero said again. The mic was left on, though everyone could hear the deliberations between Present Mic and the other faculty members there.
"We'll allow it," Present Mic said, as multiple alarms went off. Soon, dozens of giant robots came out, stomping towards Hero, who stood in the middle of the road, as All Might held Setsuna and Fuka back.
"Are you nuts!? Don't risk my brother's life fighting dozens of giant robots!" Fuka shouted, struggling against the muscular man's hands. Hero just cracked his knuckles, and reared his right arm back.
Before the robots had even made it within a half a mile of him, Hero threw a punch with a mighty "SHAAA!" into the air in front of him. In the direction of his thrown punch, wind threw towards the first giant robot. The front of its head collapsed in on itself, before flying backwards into the other robots. The power of the punch flew through all the robots, shattering them apart and leaving nothing but metal scrap and wires flying about.
"Hm, just as I thought. At this size, I still have my regular strength," Hero observed, as the now-scrapped robots fell to the ground, as Setsuna's and Fuka's mouths dropped in complete shock. Even All Might's eyes, which were hiding in shadow, were wide open seeing this. "This would definitely be overkill, wouldn't it?"
"Forget overkill!" Setsuna shouted, sweat dropping from her brow. "There wouldn't be even any dust left if you punch a human with that strength!"
"YOU MANIAC! DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THOSE ROBOTS ARE!?" Present Mic yelled over the intercom. "UA'S GOT MONEY, BUT THAT'S STILL A LOT!"
"Indeed, and this isn't even my strongest physical form," Hero said, putting his hand to his chin.
"Hm? Not your strongest physical form? You have more?" All Might asked. That was an intimidating thought, that he had more, and that this one wasn't even his strongest.
"Yea about three excluding this one, Original. But I'll need to focus on making a scale limiter for Hiroshi and I right now. If it works for this form, it'll work for the other forms as well," Hero replied offhandedly. "It should be done before Hiroshi's first day at UA."
While comforted by the idea that Hero will work on holding back his immense strength, he was worried what would happen to the other students if Hero were to fight against them.
"Alright, but until you're sure that it works, I don't want you two to change into Hero's true form for hero training. You can use Hero's possession ability, but not this. We can't risk the other students' safety if you were to change and your scale limiter fails you."
"I completely understand, Mr. All Might," Hero nodded. "I only use my possession ability on Hiroshi. I won't appear during any exercises in my true form unless immediately needed."
Present Day, Inside Hero's Mental Dimension...
"I guess we broke our promise with All Might, huh?" Hiroshi said, sighing as he hung up on All Might. He was glad that he at least was willing to let them finish the exercise. "I suppose it's as good a time as any to test the Tector Hand's scale limiter, huh?"
"Indeed," Hero's voice rang out. "Hopefully with all I've learned with Hikari, it'll hold back most of our power to a degree safe for humans."
"Right," Hiroshi said, as he pressed the cross on his right hand. "Tector Hand! Scale Limit- Human!"
"Power Scaling Confirmed. Now Operating at Human Strength," the Tector Hand responded. Its light shone, radiating through the mental dimension.
"Yea, I think its working, Hiroshi," Hero's voice said. "My power is definitely being restrained greatly right now."
"It's not uncomfortable, is it?"
"Nope, not at all."
"Alright! Then let's do this!" Hiroshi said, as his light construct copies of Hero's hands, feet, chest armor, and eyes formed on him.
"If you want to attack, go ahead. I will not move from this spot or throw a punch," Hero repeated, keeping his arms wide open. "Just give me your best shot, Bakugo!"
"It's your funeral!" Katsuki shouted, propelling himself towards Hero, that damn fire retardant gel finally dried up on his body.
"Let's see how my blades slice through you!" Togaru joined in, rushing in towards Hero.
Hero stood his ground as Katsuki and Togaru closed in. But before they could attack, he moved his arms, grabbing the two boys' heads, and slamming them together. Katsuki and Togaru grunted as the impact of their heads dazed them both greatly, collapsing to the ground. Katsuki struggled to get up, but kept falling over, dizzied.
"Never said I wouldn't use your own heads against you," Hero said, dusting off his hands. He looked to Momo and Yui. "Can you two wrap your capture tape around them, Hiroshi's is stuck in my mental dimension."
"Y-yes! Of course!" Momo said, pulling out her capture tape. She ran over to Katsuki while Yui went to Togaru, and the two binded the dazed boys' arms and legs.
"Bakugo and Kamakiri have been captured! 2 minutes remain!" All Might's voice called over the intercom. Momo and Yui did a quick congratulations with each other, with Hero giving the two a thumbs up.
"Let's go join Miss Jiro and Miss Tokage," Hero said, picking the two boys up. "Can't let these two out of our sights, right?"
"Bakugo and Kamakiri have been captured! 2 minutes remain!"
"What!? The exercise is still going on!?" Eijiro said, looking up to the intercom. "But I just killed another student! How can we keep going!?"
"Gah, it's that 1A favoritism that Neito went on about!" Tetsutetsu said, grabbing Eijiro by the shoulders and shaking him. "You get to kill one of our classmates without worry! That's unfair!"
"The warhead has been captured! The Hero Teams wins!"
"What!?" the two boys said, caught off guard by the announcement.
"But how-!?" Eijiro said, his eyebrows raised. "Jiro hasn't moved from her spot at all!"
It was true, Jiro was still close to Setsuna's unmoving body, holding back her scream with her mouth. Momo and Yui ran inside, followed by the red giant carrying Katsuki and Kamakiri.
"Holy shit, Furinji was telling the truth!? And the red giant can shrink!?" Eijiro said, as he placed the two boys down. A flash of light engulfed the red giant, with Hiroshi taking his place. He walked over to Setsuna's body, and nudged it with his foot.
"What are you doing!? Don't disrespect my classmate like that! Not after he murdered her-" Tetsutetsu said, planning to walk over to grab Hiroshi by the scruff of his ruined gym outfit.
"Come on, Setsuna, the joke's over, we won thanks to you," Hiroshi deadpanned. Setsuna's head rolled over to look at Tetsutetsu and Eijiro, startled by the unprompted movement. She flashed a wide shit-eating smile at the two. "Gotcha!"
The boys screamed as they grabbed each other in surprise. Jiro finally let herself scream again, no longer being able to hold it back. Setsuna laughed at them all as her body got up from the floor, revealing her missing left hand. The boys turned, and saw said-missing left hand on the warhead, waving at them. This only made them scream louder.
"Yep, you never killed me, it's my Quirk!" Setsuna said, as she made her body split more to the horror of the three, who kept screaming. "It's Lizard Tail Splitter! I can separate my body into a lot of little pieces and I can control them remotely! But you did give me one nasty punch, Kirishima, so nice job on that."
"D-d-did you know about this, Jiro!?" Eijiro demanded, shaking in his boots.
"Yea, but do you really think I'd get used to that within 15 minutes!?" she retorted.
"I'm just curious about how everyone else reacted back at the monitoring room," Hiroshi said, as robots came and picked up Katsuki and Togaru to help bring them down to the monitoring room, since they were still recovering from their head-on collision. "They probably thought you really died and are freaking out."
"I'm sure they're fine," Setsuna said, waving it off as her left hand floated back onto her arm. "So what happened earlier with that shaking?"
Everyone sans All Might, Fuka, Shoto, Mezo, and Juzo were busy screaming and freaking out when they saw Setsuna come back to life as her fallen parts floated around.
"Oh! Oh lord!" Denki said, clutching his chest that struggled to contain his rapidly beating heart. "She's alive!? Oh, fuck, my chest!"
"WhataninterestingQuirkI'veneverseenanythinglikeit,howdoessomethinglikethatworkcanshestill-" Izuku muttered rapidly, writing as much as he could into his Hero Journal, if only to calm his racing heart.
"I swear I thought she was a goner after that!" Mina wheezed, her voice scratchy from screaming.
Fumikage and Shihai were silent, though it was clear they were both struggling to keep their mouths shut from screaming with their classmates; Fumikage's Dark Shadow was, however, holding its cheeks together with its hands to mimic a scream. Ibara struggled to maintain her prayer to God to stay composed, though it was a losing battle. Tenya and Kinoko fell over backwards, having fainted at the sight immediately. Itsuka had crouched down to fan them with her enlarged hands, if only not to look at the CCTVs anymore. Neito's face was frozen in shock, his jaw threatening to fall onto the floor. Koji had turned away to scream, while Toru had somehow found a paper bag, breathing in and out of it so quickly to calm herself, with each breath threatening to pop the paper bag. The color in Mashirao's face had drained, as his mind shut down so he wouldn't freak out anymore, with Sen and Yosetsu joining him shortly after.
"Holy fucking goddamn shit GEEZ!" Pony swore in English, patting her chest to calm her heart. Manga wasn't screaming, but his speech bubble-head was repeating all of Pony's swears.
"... That's hot," Minoru mumbled after the initial shock wore off for him. Kosei nodded too, though he couldn't bear to say a word still.
"D-d-did you know, Fuka!?" Ochako asked, quivering. "Why didn't you tell us!? Is that why All Might didn't stop the exercise when she lost her head!?"
"Of course I did, she's a childhood friend, why wouldn't I know? And honestly, half of it was 'cuz I was sure Setsuna wanted to surprise everyone," Fuka shrugged. "The other half was because I wanted to see all of your reactions. And I think All Might was a little more concerned about Hiroshi and the others."
"I have to admit, that did caught me off guard," Mezo said through one of his arm mouths. "But it's certainly not that strange when you think about all the different Quirks in the world."
"It was supposed to be a secret?" Shoto said flatly, remembering her using her Quirk back at the recommendation test.
"I knew from the recommendation test, and thought that she had her reasons for not telling everyone," Juzo grumbled, facepalming his helmet. "I just didn't think it was for something like this."
"Take this as a lesson, young heroes!" All Might said, as the class began to calm down. "Sometimes it's good to discuss your Quirks in public and to each other, but that keeping them a secret can give you an edge in exercises and real life!"
"We're back," Hiroshi said, opening the door to the monitoring room to let in the others and the robots transporting Katsuki and Togaru in, who were just about finished recovering from their dizziness. He looked at everyone in the room, who were all in different states of breathing heavily, as if they had finished screaming or something. Tenya and Kinoko were still on the ground fainted with Itsuka still fanning them.
"... I told you they would freak out," Hiroshi whispered to Setsuna, who just chuckled at the sight as Eijiro and Tetsutetsu walked by them, their faces drained of all manly color.
"Excellent," she replied, nudging Hiroshi by detaching her right elbow. Most of the room struggled to stay calm when they saw that.
"Well, if everyone's calmed down now, it's time I announce the MVP of this exercise!" All Might said. He pointed at Setsuna. "Setsuna Tokage is the MVP! Can anyone explain why?"
"Besides the fact she horrified everyone and gave us all heart attacks?" Denki said, still feeling his heart bang against his ribcage.
"Setsuna took advantage of an attack made by Kirishima, who was not aware of her Quirk along with Tetsutetsu, to play dead by detaching her head from her body. Jiro's convincing act of pretending she died certainly sold the rouse, while Setsuna used her Quirk to sneak past them in order to grab the warhead," Fuka said, bluntly. "Yaoyoruzu's a close second, though, since she was the one who came up with the plan with the cannon, which almost worked if Bakugo and Togaru weren't a second faster. Hiroshi and Yui hadn't taken any initiative, which is why they're not the MVPs, though Hiroshi's distractions and quick thinking with that canister gun Yaoyoruzu gave him helped him out greatly, and Yui's Quirk certainly helped immobilize Kamakiri, even if for a brief moment."
"That wasn't completely an act," Kyoka admitted under her breath. "The screaming was definitely real."
"Wait, what about Hiroshi's alien, Hero?" Hanta asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why haven't you included him?"
"It's 'cuz I promised All Might I wouldn't use him in an exercise yet," Hiroshi admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "We only recently completed a tool that'll scale his power to sizes and such, and we hadn't tested it yet. Hero's power doesn't adjust on its own, so when he's human-sized, he's still got his giant strength."
"So wait, if that tool wasn't complete-" Izuku started to say.
"- Bakugo's and Kamakiri's heads would've been reduced to brain paste, if not dust," Hiroshi finished. Everyone stared, not sure if they should be more afraid of Setsuna or Hiroshi and Hero. "Luckily the scale limiter did work, though, so we won't have that happen now."
"Still, that was a dangerous gamble, Young Hiroshi," All Might said sternly, as Hiroshi gulped. "Understand that next time if you use Hero without permission and ensuring all of the UA faculty that your scale limiter works and you injure a classmate, you will be punished accordingly."
"Yes sir, I understand," Hiroshi nodded. He had to remember to go to Power Loader and the support course to really make sure the Tector Hand worked properly and without issue later. "Hero does, too," he added, confirming his partner's thoughts.
"So wait, what about the Villain Team, Fuka?" Ochako asked.
"Oh, like I really need to dissect their performance that deep," Fuka said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms before glaring at the explosive boy. Katsuki became infuriated, but a single look from All Might stopped him from reacting. "Bakugo and Kamakiri went off without consulting a plan with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, who were stuck guarding the warhead as a result, while they gallivanted around searching for Hiroshi in specific, whereas the Hero Team kept consistently communicating with one another. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, on the other hand, ended up getting into some sort of muscle contest, distracting themselves and forgetting about the exercise until Setsuna and Jiro reached their room, catching them off guard."
"Bakugo also kept falling for Hiroshi's provocations due to some 'unknown' grudge towards him, and let's not even get into that attack! Destroying your hideout is the dumbest thing you could do! Not to mention that this was an exercise! It should've been grounds to expel him from school if Hiroshi hadn't transformed into Hero in time, leading to Hiroshi breaking his promise with All Might, which could've also ended badly if Hero wasn't able to hold back properly."
"... Well when you put it that way, I guess our man-off wasn't really manly," Eijiro said, ashamed.
"I promise I'll never participate in an ill-timed man-off ever again!" Tetsutetsu swore, rivers of tears going down his face.
Bakugo's eyes shifted to the side, both in shame and in anger. That dumb airhead was right about the attack; he damaged his team's base! Sure, he certainly thought that alien-possessed jerk could've dodged the blast, but as he thought about it, he realized that the room they were in was too small to really dodge it at all. "Shit," he muttered to himself, realizing that he fucked up way before getting easily manhandled by the alien himself. Togaru could only give a furious scoff, though he did look ashamed of his performance.
"You have to admit though, Hiroshi did do a pretty brave thing by covering Yaoyoruzu and Kodai with his body like that to make sure the attack didn't hit them," Yosetsu said, as people began to murmur agreements. Tenya and Kinoko were finally getting up, having regained consciousness and hearing what Fuka had said.
"It certainly was the only thing he could do in a situation like that, with no room to dodge and his teammates behind him," Mashirao added. "Even without using Hero, he could've probably minimized their injuries by taking most of that blast."
While everyone talked about their exercise, Yui was busy staring at Hiroshi, a light blush on her cheeks. No one noticed her looking at him, except for Itsuka, her best friend. The orange-haired ponytailed girl smiled coyly, realizing what might be going through Yui's head.
"While this first exercise went off the rails a bit, I'll assure you, the next ones I'll be stricter with to ensure all of your safety! So run your costumes by me before you begin your turns to see if there are any features that'll need to be banned from this exercise! Because this will NOT happen again!" All Might said, as everyone gave him an affirmative "yes".
Hiroshi sighed, as he leaned back against the wall, finally letting the exhaustion that he built up out. "Damn, I'm way more tired than I thought. Is it alright if I just sit down for a while, All Might," he asked. All Might nodded yes, so he sat on the ground, letting himself finally rest. Setsuna walked up to him, and sat down next to him. "Room for one more?"
"Yea, no problem," he shrugged, smiling. "So this is the hero course, huh?"
"Is it everything you thought it'd be?" Setsuna asked, closing her eyes.
"Honestly yea. Well, except for the part where I almost got incinerated on my first day," Hiroshi joked. The two were laughing when Fuka came down to sit next to them, putting her face against his left shoulder. "You alright, Fuka? You hadn't taken your turn yet-"
"Idiot. I thought you died again," she mumbled, as Hiroshi felt some tears drip from her eyes onto him. "I know I promised that I'd support you here from now on, but I really thought Bakugo killed you with that attack."
Hiroshi stared at her for a bit, before putting on a small smile and ruffling her hair a bit. "Sorry about that, Fuka. Didn't mean to make you worried like that, even if I didn't see that coming from Bakugo."
Denki looked at the three, and started to walk up to them, though Kosei stopped him. "We should give them space, right?"
Denki's eyes fell onto the ground, but he obliged, going back to the group, as All Might pulled out the next groups for the exercise.
"Heroes! Team G! Villains! Team I! Get ready for your turns!"
Original AO3 Notes:
- And now we're at the action! I really enjoyed writing a lot of moments in this chapter.
- I'm sorry if the Hero students came off as mean about Hiroshi's enrollment, but I do imagine that some of them would take some issue with him getting in the way he did. This is definitely going to affect Izuku's self-esteem. By the way, remember how I said I had contemplated putting Izuku on Hiroshi's team but decided that it'd be better if the two were on different teams so they could both have their moments to shine? Yea, I'm really glad that I had him be presented for that scene instead.
- I thought it was fitting for Denki to be the one that slips up and reveals his mild frustrations with Hiroshi. He in canon let slip that Stain was a bit cool in front of Tenya, whose brother was literally crippled by him.
- Sorry if Hero's involvement in this technical two-part chapter had been minimal up to this point. I figured that Hiroshi would first want to do the exercise by himself before relying on Hero for help, and only if he needed to.
- If you're wondering what Kenji's lackeys were like, here you go. The kids in the flashbacks are the same ones in the pilot chapter. And if you're wondering what's happening with Tsubasa, don't worry, she's fine (unlike another Tsubasa probably, I kinda forgot he existed but oh well), she just chose to go to a different hero school since she wasn't confident she'd make it into UA. If you're wondering how old she is, she's Hiroshi's and Setsuna's age, but she's just really short. She got taller with age, but still significantly short. Will she appear later? Maybe, I just made her up on the spot for this story (like Kenji's friends), but I'm starting to come up with some ideas with her (unlike Kenji and his friends, who I have no plans for currently). So if she seems like she came out of nowhere, she kinda did. She just willed herself into existence.
- So I watched the reupload of Ultraman Z's 3rd episode, and I forgot that Beta Smash's mask was H-shaped too (for whatever reason I remembered it covering his head crest too). So if you want a good approximation of what Hero's face looks like, imagine Beta Smash, but with a head crest that's more like Orb's, and that he has head fins that look sorta like X's but longer to complete the H-look.
- I don't know if cannons can be fired by yanking a rope, but let's go ahead and pretend that this particular one can.
- This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought on account of the flashbacks, but I don't feel like separating this into more chapters again, so this is just a long ass one then. I mean, I like writing long chapters personally, but I understand if it feels like a chore to get through one.
- The Tector Hand's based on Zero's Tector Gear, which was used to restrain his power while training with Leo. I'm not going to try and do percentages 'cuz that will be a pain to figure out, so I'm just going to do it on "race" scales. There IS a scale level that's specifically mentions All Might, if you're wondering. Hopefully you all spotted it earlier on when I described the Hero Hand last chapter, since he didn't have a glove on in the first.
- We'll be seeing Hero's alternate forms soon enough. You thought that I was mentioning the dial and stylized O emblem for nothing?
- I also thought that with someone like Hero participating, that All Might would be much stricter with the following exercises to prevent more accidents from happening.
- If you're worried about this being too focused on Hiroshi and Hero, don't worry, next chapter will be Izuku's time to shine.
- My favorite part of writing this was everyone's reactions to Setsuna's Quirk. 'Cuz I personally feel like if you don't know what it does, it'll scare the shit out of you. It's why I made it so that Class 1B didn't know what it was. If you all are upset that I went and stretched the logic about making this joke, I get it. I still love it.
- Why is Kosei acting weird? Think about his Quirk. Now think about Fuka's. There you go, he's got a crush right now. Will Fuka reciprocate? Who knows. I know, but I ain't telling.
- After this, I'll be editing the pilot chapter slightly to reflect aspects made in these two chapters (like mentioning Tsubasa, changing 'Kamiya' to 'Furinji', adding in the "No-Quirk Hiro" nickname 'cuz I like it, etc..).
NEW NOTES:
- The full chapter title is "An Explosive Entrance! A Hiro's Origin", but it's too long for the chapter title on . So I just chose to use "A Hiro's Origin" as the title, since that's more accurate to the chapter, whereas "An Explosive Entrance!" only relates to the fact that Hero appears to everyone after Bakugo uses his gauntlet.