UA had cancelled classes for the next two days, giving all the students an impromptu early break. Initially it would've just been one day, but as the faculty and staff discussed, they realized that it would be for the best if they spend as much time upgrading the security system, as well as use part of the second day for an official press conference concerning not only the USJ Incident, but Hiroshi, Hero, and the existence of aliens. Hiroshi woke up early and had been sitting at the dinner table, sketching down ideas for his hero costume, though none of them had been particularly good in his opinion. Fuka came downstairs, rubbing her eyes and yawning when she saw her older brother.
"What're you doing up so early?" she asked, looking at his sketches. "Oh, you're finally working on hero costume designs?"
"Yea, but so far, nothing's come up for me," Hiroshi grumbled. "I tried coming up with suits based around Hero's look, but none of them look right... And it'd be weird if I just wore a costume entirely based on him too when we're not transformed, right?"
"I can see where you're coming from with that," Fuka replied, stretching her shoulders. "Well, maybe you can come up with something later. Remember, Ashido and the others want to meet up at the mall's arcade at around noon."
"Right, right, of course." Hiroshi didn't forget about that; when he and the others left the nurse's office, Mina, Toru, and Itsuka had gone up to them, and revealed that when Principal Nezu told them about classes being cancelled for three days, that they came up with a plan for 1A and 1B to mingle together and relax the first day. Only Katsuki, Shoto, Neito, and Togaru had declined to join, each one with varying excuses and varying amounts of hostility. Hiroshi himself was a little hesitant, as he figured that with the surprise break that he could use the time to work on his hero costume designs, but relented when Fuka and Setsuna agreed to.
"Are you two sure you should be going out doing anything?"
Hiroshi and Fuka turned and saw Kana walking towards them in her pajamas. When she and Hayate heard the news about the USJ, she went to go visit and stay with them to make sure that they were completely alright while Hayate kept on working at their hero agency. "They might come-"
"It's fine, Kana, really," Hiroshi said, shrugging as he closed his notebook. "I really doubt they'd try attacking again so soon after their plan failed, and it's not like the police and pro heroes aren't on high alert after what happened. Plus, I need to take a break from all this nonstop action we've been going through."
"Alright, but if you need anything, just send me a message, and I'll come to you 'in a flash of wind'!"
"Do you really need to say that around us?" Fuka said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, it's branding, get used to it," Kana said, playfully nudging her sister with her elbow.
"There you guys are!" Mina said cheerfully as Hiroshi, Fuka, and Setsuna approached her in front of the mall. Behind her was the combined party of 1A and 1B as they intermingled together. The hangout organizer was dressed in a black shirt with the word "ACID" across the chest, short shorts, and thigh-high stockings with high top shoes. "Are you ready to have some fun today!?"
"Sure," Hiroshi shrugged, with a messenger bag strap over his shoulder. He wore a black long-sleeved compression shirt underneath his white and gray shirt with baggy green capris with big pockets, compression socks, and blue shoes. "I'm probably gonna spend some of it working on designs for my hero costume, though."
"Don't worry, it's way more than the 'Four Skippers' are doing," Fuka said. She wore a purple tank top with a short-sleeved jacket and a maroon skirt, with white stockings and yellow shoes. "Plus, we might be able to help him out with some ideas."
"I'll just have to play for him, too! I got the dexterity for it," Setsuna said, popping off her hands with a wide grin. She wore a green halter top, skinny blue jeans, and red shoes. She had tied her curly green hair into a side ponytail on the right side of her head. Mina's smile tightened a bit at the sight of her detached hand, though she quickly got over it.
"Shall we get going, Ashido?" Hiroshi said, as the three joined the party.
"Yea, let go to the best arcade ever!" she answered, pointing to the big arcade center attached to the mall.
It was as Hiroshi and Hero expected, they were spending quite a bit of time sketching out and coloring ideas and designs for hero costumes and support equipment, though none of them were really landing for him. Setsuna and Fuka were playing a crane game nearby, while everyone else had dispersed into intermingled friend groups to play games.
"This is harder than I thought," Hiroshi muttered, as he tapped his pencil on the table he was sitting at. "None of these look really good when you take into account what we can do..."
"Never thought about what you wanted to look like?"
"Never had to."
"... Hi, Furinji?"
Hiroshi looked up, and saw Yui standing in front of him and his table. She was dressed in a simple red sweater, with a long pleated plaid skirt, and black leather shoes. Itsuka, Kinoko, Toru, and Manga were off to the side, watching from behind Hiroshi so that he wouldn't see them. "Oh hi, Kodai. Something on your mind?"
"Yes, um..." she mumbled, glancing ever so slightly up to her classmates. Itsuka and Kinoko were mouthing something to her, while Toru's sleeves waved frantically, while the words "Ask him what he's drawing" appeared on Manga's face. "Um, what're you drawing?"
"Oh, just some ideas for hero costumes," Hiroshi explained, handing her his notebook so she could look through it. "Figured that I shouldn't be just wearing old gym outfits all the time, and that Hero doesn't really count as a 'costume', since he's not just a suit I wear, you know."
"These are all... really well drawn..." she said, looking through them all; there were many details, diagrams, and angles of different ideas for costumes and tools. "You drew all of these?"
"Yea, but none of them... feel right, you know?" Hiroshi said, his hands behind his head. "Like I don't think any of them really fit me."
"I'm sure... you'll find something soon," she said, with a small smile, when Denki, Minoru, and Kosei came out of nowhere.
"What's goin' on here?" Denki asked, catching Hiroshi's attention. The four students hiding from Hiroshi's sight kept motioning them to go away, with the words "Don't jump in you fucking idiots" appearing on Manga's face.
"Just trying to come up with hero costumes," Hiroshi said.
"Dude, these are all cool!" Kosei said, looking over Yui's shoulder. "Did you seriously come up with these on your own?"
"Yea, but they're not something I think would work for me. I can probably give some of these ideas to our classmates or to the Support Course kids if they feel like trying to adapt them."
"You guys hangin' out?" Sen said, as he, Hanta, and Mashirao walked over, seeing the others around Hiroshi. Very soon, most of the classmates had gathered around them, with Itsuka, Kinoko, Toru, and Manga sneaking in, slightly glaring at the three idiots who started it. Yui herself clammed up upon being surrounded by so many people now. The corner of her lips slightly pointed down as she gave a sad "Mm...".
"Furinji, you gotta help me with designing and drawing new stuff for my hero costume!" Hanta said, as he took his turn to flip through the notebook.
"You definitely got an eye for art and design," Momo said, impressed by the work he had put into the notebook. "And you're sure that you don't like any of these?"
"Yea," Hiroshi admitted. "I keep getting ideas, but nothing that fits me personally."
"Maybe you can create some sort of super armor suit based on Hero!" Minoru said. "Like something that can fire lasers, and fly, double your strength and-"
"I don't think any support company has made any tech that advanced yet. Nor would it be affordable, even with UA paying for it," Hiroshi said flatly. "Plus, something like that would defeat the purpose of working with Hero, wouldn't it?"
"Maybe you can ask Hero if he's got any ideas!" Pony said. "I bet that he's got some super neat ideas from being an alien!"
"Actually, I'm more curious about what other Ultramen look like," Izuku said, his hand on his chin. "Do they all look like Hero? Or are they all different? I need to know for my Ultraman Hero and Aliens Journal, and something like knowing what other Ultramen look like would be a-"
"Oh, maybe he can draw them to show us!" Toru said, bouncing up and down to show excitement.
"I guess it won't hurt if I gave it a shot," Hero said in Hiroshi's head. "Mind if I take over for a bit?"
"Alright, go for it Hero,"Hiroshi said, closing his eyes and slicking back his hair. The brilliant green had returned to Hiroshi's eyes as Hanta returned the notebook to the two.
"Hm... I think I'll draw Mr. Ultraseven, Mr. Joneus, and Mr. Hikari," Hero/Hiroshi muttered, as he began dragging the pencil on the paper for a while. "There we go. I think I got their likenesses."
Hero/Hiroshi handed the notebook back to the others, who looked at his drawings. "Huh? Is something wrong?"
"Um, well, you have a very-" Momo said, trying to lay it softly on him.
"Hero you suck at drawing," Kyoka said, bluntly.
"What!? But I drew them exactly how they look!"
"So one of them has a head that looks like a potato?" Denki asked, pointing to a oddly lump appearing oval with eyes and a pointy stick pointing up from it.
"That's Mr. Ultraseven, and no, he doesn't!"
"What about this Ultraman? He looks like a starfish," Toru said, pressing an invisible finger onto an Ultraman with multiple points on his face.
"That's Mr. Hikari!"
"And this egg?" Kyoka said, pointing to an egg-shaped Ultraman with an asterisk on his forehead. She had a little smirk on her face, entertained by Hero's tragically abysmal artistic abilities.
"Mr. Joneus..." Hero/Hiroshi said, defeated by their criticisms.
"Hold on, Hero, I saw some of the images you were thinking of when you drawing them, maybe I can draw them," Hiroshi said, as Hero ceded control back to him. Hiroshi went to work on a new page.
"Wow, these are way better!" Kosei said, looking at the clearer and more detailed art that Hiroshi made. "I can actually tell what they're supposed to look like!"
"Mm..." Yui said, her eyes fixating on Ultraseven in particular.
"Now that I can tell what they're supposed to look like, they certainly do look like they're very powerful and experienced," Momo said.
"Yea, these guys looks cool!" Denki said. "Not as cool as you, though, Hero."
"Thank you, Kaminari."
Hiroshi crossed his arms and scratched his head, as he thought back to some of the images he saw while in the mental dimension. "... I think I found some inspiration!"
He took his notebook back, and started drawing again, this time of several jackets and uniforms that no one was familiar with.
"What are those?" Itsuka said, raising an eyebrow, as Hiroshi colored in one of the jackets, giving it gray shoulders, a red collar area, and an orange torso and sleeves. He colored in another one, this one being white, red, and gray with a flap of fabric that went over the zipper. The last one was all blue, though the sleeves were a different shade.
"I... don't know. Hero, can you tell me? I saw these while you were thinking about other Ultramen," Hiroshi said aloud.
"Oh, those are the uniforms of some of those human defense teams on other Earths," Hero explained. "You see, since giant aliens attacked those Earths much more often, they'd developed special defense forces to fight against them since they don't have powers like here. They're very valuable allies and friends to Ultramen, especially since a number of hosts worked with them. My seniors and teachers have shared images of them while training us so we can keep an eye out for groups like them. The orange one's GUYS, the white one's GUTS, and the blue one's WINR."
"So these are the uniforms of the people that protect other Earths..." Hiroshi said, letting the others understand what Hero had just told him.
"Whoa, wait, didn't Hero tell us that other Earths don't have Quirks like here?" Denki said, putting his hands up. "So these guys are just fighting aliens with no powers!?"
"Their technology is often pretty advanced, and some do develop some weapons that can take on aliens," Hero explained.
"They're armed with advanced technology that helps them fight on par with aliens..." Hiroshi muttered, as he went back to drawing in his notebook. He started on a new page, as he drew a new outfit, taking elements from the uniforms and Hero himself. "I think... I finally got what I'm looking for!"
As he put his pencil down, everyone looked over at what he had finished drawing. He had drawn a high-collared jacket that had a white neck and gray shoulders with black patches on them, with blue sleeves and torso. A black flap was over the zipper when it was closed. On the back, he had chose to draw a logo of "Ultraman HERO" with the stylized H of the Hero Hand. Underneath the jacket was bodysuit that had lines resembling Hero's H-markings, with gray occupying the center and red occupying the sides and arms. The design had boots that reached mid-calf, a belt with pouches and holsters, and a helmet that resembled Hero's head, though it had a smooth faceplate instead of a mouth, and the eyes were replaced with a single black line visor, with the indication that the face could be flipped up and down. The right sleeves of both the jacket and bodysuit cut off at the elbow to make room for the Hero Hand, while the left was left long so he could wear the matching bracer on it comfortably.
"That looks great, Furinji!" Izuku said, marveling at the costume inspired by other Earths.
"Yes, this does have a unique flair that fits you well," Momo agreed.
"Aw man, you should really give me some tips and ideas for upgrades to mine!" Denki said.
"Yea, I got the basic look down, but I'm gonna have to figure out how and what support equipment I want to use," Hiroshi said, as he closed his notebook. "I think I'll incorporate that canister gun that you gave me during our exercise, Yaoyoruzu. It was really useful."
"I'm honored that you'd take inspiration from me like that," Momo said, giving him a small respectful bow.
"Well, now that that's settled, it's time to play some games!" Hiroshi said, getting up while storing his notebook into his bag. "Since you know, what's the point of going to an arcade and not play games?"
"Dang Furinji, you suck at fighting games," Kyoka said, watching as Hiroshi lose against Pony for the eighth time at Street Fighter. Pony for the most part was celebrating her victories by continually flexing her arms.
"Nonstop victories!" she shouted, as Hiroshi sighed, shaking his head in defeat.
"I'll admit, way better at RPGs and strategy games than fighting games," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Hey Hiroshi! Look! Dance Dance Revolution!" Setsuna said, dragging the boy to the dancing cabinet. "Come on, we gotta play, we gotta play!"
"Yea, yea, let's play," Hiroshi said, grinning as he went and swiped his game card into the machine. Momo, Kyoka, Mina, and Fuka went to watch the two play. "Hm... Oh hey, they got 'Super Extreme' by Kyotoku+Mika! That's my favorite song from that duo!"
"Jiro, you alright?" Fuka said, noticing that Kyoka's face turned red when she heard Hiroshi say that.
"N-nothing. It's nothing," Kyoka said, as Hiroshi selected the song. As the song started, a music video started playing as Setsuna and Hiroshi stomped and stepped on the arrows, showing a man with long, shaggy blond hair singing and playing the guitar while a woman whose hair was tied in a tight bun played the piano. What Fuka noticed though was that the woman had similar earlobes to Kyoka's.
"Hey, Mika has the same sort of ears as you, is she-"
"I GOTTA GO!" Kyoka said, breaking into a brisk pace once she saw the man rip his shirt off and exposed his bare chest during the music video.
"Almost... almost... Got it!" Hiroshi shouted, as he successfully dropped a large tyrannosaur plush from a claw machine into the chute. He pulled it out, and handed it to Setsuna. "There you go, Setsuna."
"Yay! Thanks, Hiroshi!" Setsuna said, giving the dinosaur a tight hug. "This guy's gonna fit right in with Trikun, Stegosan, and Pterachan!"
"I can't believe you love dinosaurs, wouldn't think you'd be a dino fanatic," Kyoka said, watching Setsuna cuddle with the plush.
"Duh, why wouldn't I? My Quirk's Lizard Tail Splitter, it's like my thing!"
"How aren't you afraid of dinosaurs after Tyrannion?" Tenya asked, as he thought back to the day Tyrannion attacked the city.
"Tyrannion was an alien, not a dinosaur! He might've looked like one, but there's a difference!" Setsuna insisted, pouting a bit.
"Can't argue with that logic," Hiroshi said, shrugging. "Don't know many dinosaurs that can shoot lasers out of their mouths."
As Hiroshi and Setsuna chatted and laughed with the others, Yui was looking at the two with a neutral expression, while Itsuka, Kinoko, Toru, and Manga were seething for her, muttering to each other.
"I hate to say it, but Tokage's gonna be the biggest obstacle for Yui," Itsuka grumbled. "She's already got a head start on her by being Hiroshi's childhood friend."
"Not to mention Mina," Toru said, thinking about her fellow 1A classmate. "She keeps talking about how excited she is about Hero being our classmate, and the way she brought him into that daydream of hers at the USJ..."
"We've definitely got like, some sort of love triangle going on... though I guess it's more of a web?" Manga mumbled, as a complex diagram of intersecting lines and arrows appeared on his face.
"W-w-we'll figure out a plan, Kodai!" Kinoko said, puffing her cheeks out. "There's no way we won't get you the boy of your dreams!"
"... Mm," Yui said, as she sadly glanced over to Hiroshi.
"Aw man, that was just what I needed!" Mina said, stretching her arms as they all walked out of the arcade. "What else do you guys want to do?"
"Actually, I think I should get going," Yosetsu said, checking the time. "Promised my mom and dad I'd be home soon and watch a movie with them."
"Same," Sen replied. "I want to get in some personal training since we're free now."
Pretty sure, the Hero Course party dwindled down in size, leaving only Mina, Hiroshi, Fuka, Setsuna, Izuku, Pony, Ochako, Tenya, Momo, Kyoka, Toru, Yui, Itsuka, Kinoko, Manga, Kosei, Denki, and Minoru.
"Wow, this whole hangout just got a lot smaller, huh?" Hiroshi said, looking at the severely downsized group. "Anything you guys want to do?"
"I don't think I feel particularly in a shopping mood," Fuka said, shrugging.
"And there aren't any good movies, either," Mina said, sighing.
"Mm..." Yui pinched her chin in thought, when Itsuka said, "How about the museum? I heard that they've got a new exhibit with recently unearthed relics from ancient Greece."
"Oh, that's a neat idea. Would be nice to do something a little more quiet after the arcade," Hiroshi said. "And if they got stuff from ancient Greece, that must be real old."
"And they have that dinosaur exhibit!" Setsuna said, excitedly.
"We should rent a coin locker for our things," Kyoka said, pointing to Hiroshi's bag and Setsuna's tyrannosaur plush.
"Oooooh, I've heard about those! I've never used one, so that's exciting!" Momo said, eyes sparkling at the thought of using a coin locker. Fuka snickered, seeing her so enthused about using one.
"If we are going to the museum, we must make haste!" Tenya said, as he broke into a brisk pace with everyone following him. Yui turned to look at Itsuka, who gave her a thumbs up with Toru, Kinoko, and Manga (at least it seemed like Toru was giving a thumbs up, being invisible and all). The museum would be the perfect place for them to get the two together quietly and without interference from anyone. She gave them a curt smile, and a happy "Mm!"
"Come on, Hiroshi, let's go look at the dinosaurs!" Setsuna said, as the group of teens walked into the museum after getting their tickets.
"Slow down, Setsuna, this is a museum, so we gotta be quiet, remember?" Hiroshi snickered, as they walked to see the dinosaur exhibit. Everyone went off into different directions, but Yui, Itsuka, Toru, Kinoko, and Manga were following Hiroshi, Setsuna, and Fuka off from a distance, trying to find an opportunity to strike. Fuka took pictures of Setsuna as she posed in front the dinosaur skeletons, while Hiroshi wandered off a bit to look at different ones.
"Now's your chance! Go for it!" Itsuka whispered, nudging Yui forward a bit as her four cheerleaders gave her a thumbs up. "You got this, Yui!"
Yui walked over to Hiroshi, who was reading a plague about a stegosaur, and poked him.
"Hm? Oh hey Kodai, what's up?" Hiroshi said, looking at her.
"Um, uuuuuuh..." she mumbled, trying to figure out what to say. "Do you... do you want to see the new exhibit?"
"Oh yea, the one Kendo talked about," Hiroshi said. He turned to look for Setsuna and Fuka, but noticed that they weren't within sight. "Huh, I guess they went on to look at more dinosaur fossils. Oh well, guess it's just you and me, huh?"
"Y-yep," she said, slightly blushing, as the two started walking to the new exhibit, with Itsuka, Toru, Kinoko, and Manga far behind to watch them.
"Wow, these are some real neat relics," Hiroshi said, looking at some plates, statues, and old weapons. He read each of the plagues, impressed with how well preserved these ancient artifacts had been. Yui stood next to him, lips pursed as she struggled to find something to say.
"S-say, Furinji, um... I've been meaning to ask you something," she said, holding the bottom hem of her sweater tightly.
"Huh?" Hiroshi said, raising an eyebrow while he looked at her direction.
"W-well, um... uh..." she said, blushing heavily. "I-I-I uh... Furinji?"
Hiroshi spaced out a bit, walking past Yui to look at a museum case. It only had one relic in it, which caught his attention for some reason. It wasn't impressive at all, being a small stone that looked similar to an ax with letters engraved on it. But for some reason, it just seemed like... it was calling to him.
"There you are Hiroshi!"
Hiroshi snapped out of his trance when he heard Setsuna's voice. He turned around, and saw her, Fuka, Izuku, and the others approaching them. Yui was just standing there, giving a concerned "Mm" when she saw how he was spacing out completely, with her four cheerleaders behind her, they too were concerned about how he acted. "Figured you'd be here. What's that?"
"I... don't know," Hiroshi admitted, rubbing the back of his head. He looked at the plague. Apparently this stone ax was the only thing that was found in an ancient tomb, and that the letters engraved on it said something along the lines of 'Light in the Night'. This baffled the archeologists who found it, since nothing else was in the tomb, though they figured that whatever this stone ax was, it must've been some sort of important ritualistic item or something along the lines. But nothing matched what was known about ancient Roman traditions. "Something about this stone ax is... really strange. I don't know how to describe it."
"I... can't put my finger on it, either," Hero said in his head, equally confused by the stone ax.
"Strange stone ax or not, the museum is about to close," Tenya pointed out. "We should be heading to our homes soon."
"It's that late?" Hiroshi asked.
"Mm..." Yui said.
"Yea, Yui came to us and told us that you were staring at that stone ax for over two hours," Itsuka said, slightly lying about how they knew about him spacing out.
"I was!?"
"Hiroshi, are you really okay?" Setsuna asked, becoming concerned now too.
"I... think so. I guess I'm a bit more tired than I thought I was," Hiroshi said, shifting his eyes to his friends and then to the stone ax. "Yea, we should go back to our homes soon, especially me. I got that press conference to do with Principal Nezu about Hero and all tomorrow, too."
The teens all said goodbye to each other at the station, but Hiroshi and Hero kept thinking about the stone ax. Just what about it that got their attention?
The Next Day
"Are you ready for this, Hero?" Hiroshi said to himself, as he sat in the hallway, while Principal Nezu, Mustafu's police chief Kenji Tsuragamae, and the prime minister were addressing the reporters about the USJ.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Hero replied. "The message I got back from my seniors and teachers about what I'm doing isn't something they necessarily approve of, but because of the uniqueness of this Earth compared to other ones, they understand why at least."
"After this, we'll probably get barraged by press every day and night, not to mention other students getting upset about us, even ones from different schools," Hiroshi said, laughing a bit. "Hopefully those lawyers my parents are working with will actually make sure that we'll have at least some privacy."
"- and now onto a discussion that I'm sure that many of you want to have. I presume that you all have heard of the red giant being a student at UA, right?"
"Our cue's coming up soon," Hiroshi as he stood up, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this, Hero."
The news broke in a frenzy over what Nezu said. Of course every single news channel and site, be it corporate, independent, or clickbait had heard about the red giant being at UA.
"So it is true that UA is officially sponsoring a vigilante!? And that he's being given the authority to kill!?"
"What is the red giant exactly!? A secret experiment on Quirk boosting!?"
"What about that giant lizard and giant bird!? Were they animals that had Quirks!?"
"Settle down, settle down," Nezu said, motioning everyone to sit down. "I think it's best if we let him and his host talk to you all and explain things first."
The reporters muttered to themselves, wondering what he meant, when a boy with steel blue hair, gray eyes, and a strange silver gauntlet on his right arm. He was dressed in a UA uniform. "Hello, I am Hiroshi Furinji! Pleased to meet you all!" he said, giving the news a bow. "I'm the person that you all know as the red giant, but there's a lot more to it. But I think it's easier if I let him explain it all to you."
"Hold your hand and call out-!"
"HEROOOOO!"
A bright light surrounded a boy, shifting and changing before it scattered, revealing the red giant. Only this time he was just about two heads shorter than All Might.
"I am Hero. Ultraman Hero! And to start things off, how will you all react, if I said that I was an alien, and others exist as well?"
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- Just like "Building Up A Hero!", "Ultraman Hero Academia" is getting its own breather chapter. Had a lot of fun doing this one, too. It's pretty short, but I think it's for the best. Rather end the chapter at this point rather than trying to cram in more.
- I personally think that since there was a confirmed alien at the USJ, that UA would take some more serious precautions to upgrade security and to have a public press conference to reveal Hero and the existence of aliens, which would necessitate them taking a slightly longer break.
- I would've put in more of the press conference, but I feel like it'd be pointlessly restating information that the readers would've known already, but just to the news instead. Don't worry, we'll be seeing more of the effects of this later on, even in the immediate following chapter.
- Was about time that I addressed Setsuna's feelings about Tyrannion and dinosaurs, right? I had been meaning to do that, but it only felt natural to do something like that here 'cuz it's a more silly moment than a serious one, right?
- We finally got Hiroshi's future hero costume! If you need some help imagining it, the jacket itself looks similarly to the GUYS jacket from Mebius, but with blue instead of orange.