Their Hero Academia

by Zylly

Twenty-five years after Izuki Midoriya and the rest of Class 1-A first set foot in the halls of U.A., their children begin their own hero academia. What adventures and challenges await the newest generation of future heroes? Can they possibly live up to the standard their parents set? Will they put Aizawa into an early grave? Or will this be the most Plus Ultra class of them all?

14. Chapter 13: Takuma Sero Gets a Date

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 13: Takuma Sero Makes a Show of It

If there was one thing Takuma Sero liked about living in the dorms, it was the sense of privacy. Sure, there were fifteen other people living in the dorms, three others on his floor alone, but compared to his home, that was nothing. Between his parents, his three younger brothers, and his baby sister, there was always somebody trying to butt into whatever he was doing. At least on his floor, the only one even interested in what he was doing was his best bro, Kenta Sato. Daisuke Shoji simply kept his head down and Takiyo Aoyama had made it clear early on he had no interest in "whatever nonsense you two are getting up to."

As if trying to become the next internet sensations was nonsense.

Which reminded him… he really ought to check their hit counter. With Kirishima-Bakugo out of the cafeteria yesterday, he'd actually been free to host a new round of "Will Sato Eat It?" without fear of being exploded or having her tear his arms off. He was actually pretty certain she wouldn't do the last part. Their parents had been friends for decades and he was on reasonably good terms with her most of the time. But yesterday had been pretty impressive as far as the game went. Kenta had eaten a soup bowl, a baseball, a rock, and a tire that someone had somehow managed to get into the cafeteria.

Kenta's dad had broken it up after that, with a threat to report their antics to Aizawa if they kept doing it. And Kenta had gotten a talking to from his dad later on about irresponsible Quirk use and making a spectacle of himself. At least the elder Sato had learned the futility of trying to rat them out to Takuma's parents. His mom was one of the most Instagram-famous Pro-Heroes in the business. She actively encouraged his aspirations. His dad was just vaguely puzzled by the whole thing and just let his mom take the lead.

Checking the video upload, he found that the hit counter was already in the thousands. Wisely, he opted not to look at the comments. It was like his mom always said, "Never read the comments." Sure, you got a validation high from some of it, but there were way too many trolls and mudslingers to make it worth it.

Takuma broke into a grin. "Yeah, we're gonna be famous. Just you see. Heroes and entertainment sensations."

He checked the time and found he still had nearly an hour before class. Plenty of time to finish getting ready. There was also the matter of homework he hadn't quite completed, but he could probably copy the answers from somebody, at least enough to squeak by. Math was going to be the death of him. He understood numbers well enough, but once you started getting letters involved with numbers, his brain just refused to track any of it. It had nearly sunk his entrance exam score, but he'd managed to just barely pass that. A good practical exam score had done wonders for making up the difference.

Twenty minutes later, he was out of his room and ready to go. He did not have the world's most developed fashion sense (much to the regret of Kimiko Ojiro, his other best friend, who had declared him "the worst gay best friend ever" when he'd failed to provide her with what she deemed sufficient fashion advice), but he had an entertainer's sense for showmanship in his appearance. He spotted Kenta coming out of his room and gave him double finger guns.

"Sixty-five hundred hits in less than twenty-four hours, my man!"

"All right!" Kenta said, giving him a fist bump. "That's twice as many as the last video!" He let out a burp and clutched his stomach.

"You okay, man?" Takuma asked.

Kenta shook his head and burped again. "Heartburn and indigestion. Dad says just because I can eat anything doesn't mean I should." He grinned, thick lips pulling back to reveal his perfectly white teeth. "But I say it's a small price to pay for being famous."

"More famous in your case," Takuma told him. Kenta was already a good bit famous from all the times he appeared in pictures and his stories on his father's "Food and Family" blog. According to his mom, it was crazy popular with single moms.

Kenta waved it off. "That's really Dad's thing. This is ours!"

Takuma was about to begin discussions of the plans for their next video when he was distracted by the sight of Daisuke Shoji walking back to his rooms, clearly having come from the showers. The six-armed boy was only wearing a towel wrapped around his waist, his silver hair still damp, and a small about of moisture still visible on the muscles of his arms and abs. He nodded politely to Takuma and Kenta on his way back to his room. Takuma kept watching until Shoji's door closed.

His trace was broken by Kenta giving him a small shove. "You okay there, bud? Kind of went away for a little while?"

He sighed. "Why are the hot ones always straight?"

Kenta gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Hey, there's lots of other guys at U.A. You'll find somebody. Or you could always try online dating?"

Takuma made a face. "I'm not that desperate."

Anything further was interrupted by his and Kenta's phones buzzing. Both checked and saw they had identical texts from the school's emergency alert system.

Homeroom has been cancelled. All first-year students should report to the Gran Torino Memorial Auditorium at 0800.

Kenta gave him a curious look.

"Don't look at me, man," he said quickly. "I haven't broken any rules that would cause a grade level assembly."

"This school year," Kenta said. "I still can't believe the time you…"

"Don't remind me. I'm still barely out of being grounded for that."

"I think that was the first time I ever actually saw your parents punish you."

"Oh, would you look at the time, we should really be getting to the Auditorium!"

"Any idea what this is about, Takuma?" Kimiko asked. He assumed she was looking at him, but honestly, even after having known her all his life, it was hard to tell.

He shook his head. "Beats the heck out of me."

All around, the other seats in the Auditorium were filling up with the first year students. There were the three Heroics classes, three General Ed classes, three Support classes, and three Business and Management classes. Sixteen students each in the Heroics, twenty in each of the others, for two hundred twenty-eight students in total, which left the auditorium about half full.

Down on the stage, he could see the majority of the teaching staff. There were the three Heroics Homeroom teachers, Aizawa, Super Ball, and Battle Fist. There was Power Loader, the aging director of the Support courses. Word around campus was that he was considering retirement after experiencing the Iida Twins. And there was FireFox, their math teacher; Hawkeye, their English teacher; Figure Sk8, the dark-haired daughter of the Twins and Izumi's uncle and aunt, who taught their Science classes; Skyline, an American, the son of American ex-pat Captain Celebrity, who had been raised in Japan and was their Hero Art History teacher; and Hopper, Tokoyami's uncle and their Literature teacher. There was Hound Dog, the school counselor, Vice-Principal Midnight, and even Kenta's dad. He also spotted Doctor Izumi sitting with her husband, Kota, the Rescue Hero and Rescue Instructor called Water Spout (or, at his mom embarrassingly always referred to him, "the first man to see me naked") There was also All Might, and several teachers he didn't know, who he presumed taught some of the classes taken by the other courses. Whatever this was about, they were taking it very seriously.

And slowly approaching the podium, leaning heavily on his cane, was Principal Nezu. Takuma wasn't sure if he was a rat or a bear or possibly some kind of creature from Australia (or was it Austria? Whichever one had the kangaroos. Those were real, right?), but he understood that the old animal was crazy smart. He'd guided U.A. through some of its roughest years and managed to still come out on top.

"I am sorry to interrupt your usual class schedule," Nezu began. "I know your studies are of great importance to you all. But after the events of the last few days, both here at our school and elsewhere, we have been made aware of events which you all deserve to know. The Center for Quirk Research is expected to make a statement later this morning, but we thought it might be best if comes from us."

He took in a breath and continued. "The CQR has discovered, working in conjunction with several Pro-Heroes, the existence of a virus which causes the victim to lose control of their Quirk. It appears the virus is… man made."

Any side conversations that had been going on were immediately silenced.

Nezu went on. "After an as yet unknown incubation period, it causes a power-flare up during which time the user's Quirk will activate out of their control. This lack of control appears to last an indefinite amount of time, but appears to be a onetime flare up. Unfortunately, even though the number of cases are growing, information is scarce. There appear to be no obvious early symptoms and we are unsure how the virus is being transmitted. At this time, it appears that only Emitter and Transformation type Quirks are effected."

A ripple went through the crowd as the full impact of the Principal's statement took effect. Anything that could do that is dangerous indeed. From the time they were young, they'd always been taught about the importance of controlling their Quirks. And now something could just take that away…

"That's… that's not good," Takuma said. Absently, he rubbed the patches on his right hand where his Acid Tape came from. His Quirk was technically a Mutation type, since he had slightly different physical structures to allow for it. But his mom was an Emitter type, so were many of his friends. So were a lot of people out there in the world. And there were lots of people out there with really powerful Quirks. What if somebody like Ground Zero or Deku caught this thing?

"We're… we're okay," he heard Kimiko say. "Not… not like I can get more invisible."

"Hey," Kenta said, "it's gonna be okay. People're smart. They'll get this figured out." Kenta's dad was an Emitter type too, he recalled, even if Kenta's own Quirk was a very minor Mutant type.

Nezu continued, "We are able to run tests for the virus and will be doing screening following this assembly. However, as there are no tell-tale symptoms prior to manifestation, we urge you to talk to your teachers or Doctor Izumi should you have any concerns. We will be doing everything we can to protect you, which includes providing you as with much of your usual structure as possible. Classes, including Heroics courses, will continue as normal. Rest assured, everyone is doing everything they can to get to the bottom of this. But at this point, cases are isolated and sporadic. We advise caution, but there is no need to panic."

Takuma made it a point to never take life seriously. But for once, that didn't seem like such a good idea.

"You heard what the Principal said," Aizawa said, after they had returned to the classroom. "The moment you feel anything out of the ordinary or even suspect that something might be wrong, I expect you to tell me or another teacher. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mister Aizawa," the class said, nearly as one.

"Good," Aizawa said. "Now, we are going to proceed as normally as possible. Which means we have a little bit of business to settle. Choose a class representative. I don't care how." He zipped himself into his sleeping bag and disappeared behind his desk.

"Well," Midoriya said, "I think we should probably vote on it?"

"I vote Toshi!" Shota Shinso cried out.

"Toshi," Asuka Tokoyami agreed.

"I've got to go with Midoriya too," Isamu Haimawari said.

"Toshi has my vote as well," Izumi Todoroki added.

"Guys… Shouldn't this be a secret ballot?" Midoriya asked quickly.

"Too late now," Takuma said. "Besides, I think we all know you're gonna win it."

As much as he loved the spotlight, he loathed responsibility. Better Midoriya than him any day. Besides, it would take away from his own pursuits. And Midoriya really was good at taking charge and helping people who needed it. Guy wanted to help the whole world, even more than the average Hero-in-Training.

"Personally, I think moi would be best," Takiyo Aoyama said.

"Oh, give it up, Frenchie," Mika Mineta told him. "Midoriya's definitely the best shot at this."

"I fear I must agree with the rest," Akaya Koda told Aoyama. She really seemed to be one of the few people who could stand the arrogant blond for more than a few minutes. She must have had the patience of a saint.

"Going with Midoriya here too," Kenta said.

"Yep, me too," Chihiro Kaminari added. "And Tokoyami for vice-rep while we're at it."

"I like those ideas!" Kimiko said. "Both of them!"

"Makes sense to me," Shoji said.

"This is highly against protocol," Tensei Iida said. "But I cannot argue with the consensus either."

"My younger brother is correct," Sora Iida said. "I agree with the conclusions drawn."

"You really must stop using that qualifier! I am only younger by three minutes!"

"It is scientifically accurate! Do you dispute this?"

"It is needlessly semantic, and yet I cannot argue with the precision!"

"If I agree, will it shut them up?" Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo asked.

Motion was carried. Midoriya and Tokoyami were their class reps.

Takuma belatedly realized that probably gave them some kind of power of his and Kenta's antics, but that was their problem, not his. Besides, it was worth it to see Aoyama pout.

"Hua-whah!" Even though Takuma had practiced swinging from building to building by using his Acid Tape many times with his dad, doing it always made him feel like his stomach was going to flop out of his mouth. It didn't help that his Quirk was more complicated than his dad's. The elder Sero only had to think about shooting out his Tape until it hit something. Takuma's Acid Tape meant that he had to be continually concentrating both on dispensing more tape and on maintaining its properties. Since he could make it anything from slick to sticky to acidic, that meant he had to do a lot more concentrating. And doing that while ten stories up made it all the more problematic.

It was supposed to be a simple Heroics exercise in cityscape navigation. All they had to do was make it from one end of the faux-cityscape as quickly as they could. For quite a few, like Kimiko, Kenta, or Koda, there wasn't much more they could do than run as fast as they could. Others were doing a much more impressive job. Midoriya was bouncing with leaps that were easily carrying him, the Iida Twins were blasting through the air, and Haimawari was zipping through the streets. And somehow, Kirishima-Bakugo had gotten herself up on the rooftops and was parkour-ing herself through the course.

Takuma let himself go flying through the air for a moment, before shooting out another strand of Acid Tape. It stuck to the fire escape and as he began to swing, he could feel something go wrong. With a sickening sound of tearing metal, the piece of the fire escape he had snagged with his tape snapped and broke, sending him falling!

He shot out another strand of Acid Tape, trying to save himself, but instead of snagging a lower portion of the fire escape, it melted right through it. He'd made it too acidic! He was gonna die! He was never gonna reach a million followers! Involuntarily, he felt his eyes close.

And just as suddenly, powerful arms caught him and he was rising. So he was dead then, and the angels were carrying him away. Good-bye world, he only regretted that he not let more of you gaze upon his awesomeness…

"Are you all right, Sero?" a voice asked. "I was afraid I would not be able to match your falling speed without causing you injury, but I believe I was able to calculate something close enough…"

An angel who apparently sounded just like Tensei Iida. He chanced opening his eyes and the first thing he saw was himself, reflected in the chest plate of Iida's costume. Looking up, he saw a silver helmet. Definitely Iida. Which meant he wasn't dead? He was alive! He could still get that million followers!

"Sero?" Iida repeated. "Are you all right?" He slowly started reducing power in his jets, letting them drift downward.

Oh, right. He needed to answer his rescuing angel's questions. "Oh, ah, yeah, I'm fine," he said, finding himself stumbling over his words. "You really saved my ass, there, Iida. Thanks."

"Of course," Iida said. "As your friend and classmate, not to mention as an aspiring Hero, it is my duty."

"Well, right now, you're my hero, Iida."

Inwardly, he groaned. Was he really saying something that stupid? Apparently, he was. At least Kimiko and Kenta weren't there to hear it. They'd never let him hear the end of it.

The Iida Twins could be found in the Common Room, pouring over blueprints. Usually, the Twins spent whatever free time they had in the Support Workshop, but according to Sora, Power Loader had kicked them out under out under threat of unspecified punishment, all because they had "accidentally used too much power and caused a few small explosions and fires." So the two had returned to the dorms instead to work on what they could.

Takuma, Kenta, and Kimiko peered from around the corner at them.

"This is a really dumb idea," Takuma said. "And I know all about dumb ideas."

"If you were doing this for me," Kenta said, "you'd be making your "good idea" face. The one that always means it's something that's going to get us in trouble."

"Besides," Kimiko said, "this is for romance! We've got to! You're cute, he's hot, you're pink, he's got pink hair, I'm gonna call you Pinky-Squared!"

"We don't even know if he likes guys! He could be into girls! Or machines! I'm gonna make a fool of myself!"

Kimiko slapped him upside the head. "That's loser talk!"

"You want us to film it?" Kenta asked. "You're good in front of a camera."

Takuma went a paler shade of pink. "…No. Definitely not. I do not need this preserved for posterity if it all goes south."

"Look, this is the most romantic thing to happen since school started," Kimiko told him. "So you are not chickening out now! Kenta and I are going to get Sora out of the room and you are going to ask Tensei out! Do you understand!?"

How someone whose face he couldn't see could have such an intense glare, he didn't know, but her tone suggested that there was no arguing with her.

"Yes," he said. "Let's do this!"

I can't do this!

With Sora out of the room (he was so stressed he literally could not remember what excuse Kenta and Kimiko had used to get her out of there and he had seen it literally seconds ago), Takuma was free to make his move. His smooth move. His ever so smooth move. He was the king of smooth.

He was not smooth.

As casually as he could, he approached the table where Tensei was still working. "Oh, ah, hey, Iida," he said. "Ah, thanks again for saving me like that. Pretty sure I was on my way to being a pile of pink goo."

"The fall was not nearly enough to reduce you to goo," Iida said, looking up from his blueprints. "But it would have been very messy all the same. I am happy I was able to prevent that."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, well, either way, I appreciate it." He frowned, trying to think of how best to proceed. "So, uh, what are you working on?"

A very crazed (and very attractive) grin spread its way across Tensei's face. "Modifications to Sora's and my Hero costumes. After training yesterday, we came up with several potential ideas to improve performance and work with our Quirks, such as a more adjustable wing system and potential storage for emergency supplies of apple and grape juice."

"And that exploded?"

"Oh, no," Iida said. "That was the idea for a capture-weapon to add as an additional support item. We may have made the propulsion element a little too strong. Power Loader apparently believed that we would benefit from some time away. But I do not see how we can improve our designs to their fullest without practical, hands on work. And we cannot do that if we are banned from the workshop for a week."

"That sucks, man," Takuma agreed. It'd be like someone telling him he couldn't upload stuff to the 'net. A guy had to have a passion, after all. "But, ah, I guess that means you're gonna have some free time?"

Iida frowned. "Unfortunately, yes. There is only so much we can do without the space to put theory into practice."

Okay, it was now or never. He could be brave! He had this!

…He didn't have this!

He had this!

He didn't have this!

He had this!

"So, um…," he said, "if you're gonna have the free time… maybe you'dlikespendingsomeofitwithmesomewhere?"

Iida blinked. "I… don't think I caught that, Sero."

He took a deep breath. "I was thinking, if you were gonna have free time anyway… maybe you'd want to spend some of it with me? Somewhere? Like a date?"

Iida's eyes widened in surprise and for once, it looked like he was at a loss for words. "I… I would like that very much, Sero."

He had this!