Five
The next morning saw Shina dropping off the teens at the front gate at their usual time. Only this time, they were greeted by the sight of a large group of reporters standing around, trying to shout over each other while also trying to get into the school.
"Wow, looks like everyone's figured out All Might is a teacher here." Shina stated.
"How do you know they're here for All Might?" Yuto asked as he leaned forward from the back seat to watch the large group of reporters harass his schoolmates who were walking in.
"I doubt they're here to check out the school grounds." Shina answered him like it was obvious. "All Might's involvement at the school was the only recent 'big news' lately. He's the top Hero in Japan and since it looks like he's semi-retired, I can imagine how newsworthy that would be. I'm sure they want to interview him or you guys to get some dirt on him or his teaching style. Anything to gossip about or blow out of proportion. Freaking vultures."
"I hate reporters." Kana muttered darkly as she opened the passenger side door to get out. "Bunch of nosey peeping Toms and amateur detectives."
"They can't all be bad." Yuto tried to calm his sister as she got out of the car.
"At least we didn't have to walk." James stated as he shoved Yuto aside so he could get out of the car. "Can you imagine how long they've been waiting for someone to talk with them?"
"I'm sure it'll all blow over in a few days if the UA board of teachers can manage to promise some type of interview about All Might." Shina assured as Yuto followed his siblings out of the car. "Just don't let them catch you or they'll grill you for info. Try not to let yourselves end up on national television, that's the last thing we need."
"Got it." James responded. Yuto waved goodbye before Shina drove off, leaving the three siblings to face the mob or reporters.
"Any ideas on how to get past them?" Yuto asked, clutching his bag nervously. He didn't like crowds, especially ones that contained shouting people. He would prefer to just slip into shadow but he wasn't going to leave his brother and sister behind to face them.
"I'm sure it'll be fine if I just do this." Kana waved her hand and a portal appeared that led to the other side of the wall. "Long as we're quick it shouldn't be an issue."
"Good job Kana." Yuto praised as he and his siblings stepped through, avoiding the reporters and their questions for now.
"How long you think they'll be here?" James asked as they started to walk inside.
"If it's All Might they're after? I give it a week maybe two." Yuto said.
"My money is a month." Kana stated. "You?" They looked at James who shrugged.
"Maybe two or three days? I don't imagine Principle Nezu would allow them to stay and harass the students and teachers for long without bringing in some legal actions."
"Hmm. Could be right." Kana stated. "In any case, we should avoid them as much as possible. Let's get to class." They took one last look at the reporters before continuing to their class.
As it turned out, the reporters were persistent. They were there outside the UA gate all day that first day as well as the following morning and the morning after that much to everyone's chagrin. Not only were the teachers annoyed at the reporters constantly calling for All Might but the students had taken to ignoring them unless they were caught off guard. It had gotten to the point where Shina had to drop the siblings off further down the road than normal due to how heavy the traffic was at UA High's entrance.
"I really don't like reporters." Kana growled as they walked closer to the entrance. Kana had been warned by Aizawa to not portal in or out of UA like she'd done the first few times they'd tried to avoid the reporters as it had caused the reporters to comment on the schools lack of security. Kana was angrier than normal about this. Yuto hazarded a guess that it was because she was probably on her 'Shark Week' but he didn't want to ask or assume anything as James hadn't warned him. Being a cat James had enhanced smell and could often warn Yuto about his female cousins cycles, if only to prepare for their own sanity to be tested. Yuto supposed he would need to let Chef Wolfe know to make Kana her salsa verde chips and also temper her with dark chocolate treats. It would certainly put Kana in a better mood even if she wasn't being besieged by her own body's betrayal.
"Oh crap, brace yourselves." James muttered bringing Yuto out of his thoughts. Yuto looked up in time to see a smartly dressed woman with brown hair in a ponytail coming at them. Her intensity had Yuto shrinking away before she spoke.
"Can you give us any comment on All Might teaching in UA High?" The woman practically yelled at the Nara siblings. Another reporter popped up.
"Are you students of his?"
"Have you had a chance to experience All Mights teaching methods?"
"Would you say All Might is a good teacher?" Yuto flinched as the reporters all thrust microphones or recording devices in his face.
"Back off!" James hissed at them. He pulled Yuto away from the reporters and placed his body between them and his siblings. Kana grabbed Yuto's hand and pulled him along quickly while James hissed at the reporters. Yuto saw his ears were lying flat on his head while his tail was puffed up defensively. Yuto looked around hoping a teacher was near as he didn't want Yuto to get in trouble for hurting a reporter.
"Aizawa!" Yuto called out in relief when he saw his constantly fatigued teacher at the entrance. "You on duty?"
"Yes it would seem so." Aizawa sighed looking like he missed his yellow cocoon.
"Well, you're just in time to see James bite someone." Kana stated irritably. Aizawa looked past Yuto and Kana, no doubt seeing James behind them.
"James, get inside." Aizawa ordered. Yuto pulled Kana to a stop to wait for James who quickly caught up to them. Yuto knew James was going to be in a bad mood judging from the dark cloud around him.
"I have some Pocky if you want some J?" Yuto offered. James sighed, straightening his uniform.
"No thanks Yuto. I'm good." Yuto and Kana exchanged a glance. James never refused Pocky. He was definitely irritated. Yuto glanced behind James and was in time to see the brown-haired woman shove a microphone at Aizawa and demand answers.
"Please sir can you get All Might for us?" She called, "Also, you look like a mess, what's your deal?" Yuto snickered while Kana snorted. James didn't bother to react as he was cursing the reporters under his breath.
"All Might's not on campus today. Now get out of here you've disturbed my students enough. Shoo." Aizawa shooed the reporters away with his hands like they were nothing but flies.
"I don't doubt Aizawa's abilities," Kana murmured. "But I don't think that would work on them."
"You never know." Yuto stated as he shook her off him. "Aizawa can be pretty scary."
"He's a lazy cat." Kana responded.
"Excuse me?" James asked, offended.
"You know it's true J." Yuto smiled. "I've seen you two napping, you're both cats." James grimaced. Yuto was going to say something that would probably have caused James to get mad at him but before he could a loud alarm went off making the three Nara siblings look around before they all watched as the front gates slammed shut with black metal.
"Whoa," Yuto gasped in shock. "Are those-?"
"UA High's security system must have been activated." James stated as he studied the front gate.
"Glad we've never triggered it." Yuto shuddered as he thought about getting caught in that.
"Yeah." Kana murmured. Yuto felt her stiffen and looked at her only to see her turning away. When Yuto looked around he saw a flash of blond hair. Denki looked like he was coming over to them, but he veered suddenly and went inside the school. "Yuto, you think you can get to class?" Kana asked. "I want to talk with James." Yuto looked at his siblings and shrugged.
"Sure. See you in class." Whatever was going on with them he didn't want to witness that death match. He took his time walking inside the school and up the stairs to class 1A. He was almost to class when someone called his name.
"Hey Yuto!" Yuto looked up as a familiar blond boy down the hall called his name. "Wait up!" Yuto waited for Denki to catch up to him patiently. He wasn't in any hurry to get to class since he was early. "Man, that was a run." Denki finally stated when he'd caught up.
"Can I help you with anything Denki?" Yuto asked. Denki grinned at him and threw an arm around his shoulders.
"Oh I think you can my shadowy pal." Yuto frowned. He didn't think he and Denki were this close but he didn't move the blond away as he was curious about what he wanted.
"Uh, you gonna tell me?" Yuto asked as Denki steered them to a private corner. Denki looked around dramatically before he pulled out a small keychain with a familiar object on the end. Yuto's eyes widened in recognition. "Denki why do you have that?" He looked up at Denki who smirked.
"It's for James." Yuto gave the snickering blond a shocked look. "So, will it work on him?" Yuto was so surprised he didn't think about lying when he answered.
"It'll work but I'm going to warn you, once you use that on him, you're on your own." Yuto knew how his brother would react once he realized what Denki was planning. He mentally flinched as he realized he'd be in just as much trouble as the blond if he let him go through with this idiotic and suicidal plan. "May I ask why you want to die young?" Denki's face dropped as he looked around nervously before he drew closer to Yuto.
"Yesterday he told me that Kana had a crush on me and when I asked her about it-" Yuto had a moment of clarity. The hurt look on Denki's face made him silently curse James and his immaturity. Guess Kana wasn't on Shark Week then.
"This is why you two haven't talked today?" Yuto asked remembering Kana's face from earlier as well as how she had seemed distant since yesterday afternoon. Denki's face fell. Yuto sighed. "Look Denki, it's not really any of my business but you should know it's only been a few days since school started. Kana doesn't fall in love with the first guy she meets. She's not that kind of girl." Yuto couldn't remember a time Kana had ever expressed an interest in romance, but he didn't bring that up to Denki.
"Yeah well my trust and faith has been shaken. I thought we were friends, and he pulled a mean joke on me." Yuto wondered how Denki could have ever thought he and James were friends. James glared at Denki and Kirishima whenever they tried to get close to his desk. "So, to get back at him, I'm going to use this laser and play with him a bit." Yuto sighed.
"I hate you both for dragging me into this mess." Yuto growled. "Alright look, I'm only going to say this because I feel bad for you. That'll work on him because he is a cat. But I'm telling you, once you have your fun and he finds out you made a fool out of him," Yuto saw Denki about to object to him being the culprit. "Trust me, he'll know it's you. I'm not dying for you." Denki deflated. "He's going to hunt you down like a cat to a mouse and he will get violent. He'll make Bakugou's fight against Midoriya look like toddlers playing together." Denki sweat-dropped. "This is on you though, leave me out of it." Yuto started walking towards the 1A classroom. Denki followed.
"But wait, what if we work together?" Yuto groaned.
"I already said, I'm not dying for you Pikachu."
"Come on man!" Denki pleaded.
"No." Yuto stated firmly as he walked to his desk, ignoring Denki's pleas and cries for help. Yuto ignored everyone's questioning gazes as he sat at his desk.
"Why is Kaminari begging on his hands and knees?" Tokoyami asked. Yuto rolled his eyes when he turned and he saw that Denki was indeed on his hands and knees.
"He wants me to help him prank James, but I've pranked James before and I'm not entering that war."
"Why does he want to prank James?" Tokoyami asked.
"He wants to die." Yuto stated flatly.
"Please Yuto!" Denki cried.
"Oi extra will you shut up!" Bakugou shouted from his desk.
"Don't be mean Bakugou." Denki called back. "I'm appealing to my enemies brother."
"I'm not apart of this." Yuto stated just as James came in with Kana at his side. "Oh hey J." Denki stopped his begging and stood up. James didn't say anything as he walked to his desk and sat down. Kana cleared her throat from behind Denki who turned to look at her.
"I don't mean to be rude Denki, but you're blocking my desk."
"Oh, sorry Kana." Denki moved aside. Yuto sighed and turned to Tokoyami, effectively leaving that drama behind.
"Did you finish your homework last night Tokoyami?"
"Yes, it took a while. Dark Shadow did not want to do it." Yuto smiled slightly.
"How are you Dark Shadow?" Tokoyami's shadow came out from under his desk.
"Good morning Yuto!" Dark Shadow chirped. "I'm doing great. Tokoyami promised I could stay out all day today as long as I didn't interrupt his learning."
"That's awesome. Are you sure you won't get bored though?" Yuto genuinely liked Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. They were dark sure, but they were also interesting to talk to. Not that he didn't like talking with Kana or James, but Tokoyami was different. Yuto enjoyed the way Tokoyami talked and his thought process made Yuto glad he had been able to befriend him. Sure his phrases were a bit archaic but Yuto thought most of what was said could have been poetry, in the sense that it could be massively moving as well as a bit funny when he caught Tokoyami messing with him. Dark Shadow was just as important and was a constant source of amusement for him, it didn't hurt that he thought Dark Shadow was cute as well as powerful.
Plus, Tokoyami listened when Yuto spoke to him. Not that his family didn't listen to him, but he knew they sometimes got annoyed with how vague and unclear he was. Tokoyami seemed to understand him better and he liked that about his new friend. Yuto wished more of his classmates were like Tokoyami but he hadn't had a chance to really talk with any others yet.
Before Yuto could continue the conversation with Dark Shadow he saw Denki bringing out the laser. His eyes widened as a sharp red line darted to James desk. Yuto turned in his seat to warn James but it was too late. The red dot zipped across his desk a millisecond before James' body crashed onto his desk making him cry out as he was shoved onto the floor.
"JAMES!" Kana shrieked as his brother then launched himself down the aisle after the red laser. Denki was laughing hysterically while he continued to make the red dot go around the room, carelessly making James chase after it and bump into everyone making shouts and yells sound as James darted to and fro trying to catch the elusive dot in his clawed hands.
"Denki will you stop that?" Yuto called at the blond. Denki's break in concentration caused him to look at Yuto, no doubt about to comment on ruining the fun but he was drowned out.
"HEY!" Bakugou shouted as James jumped on him, catapulting both boys to the floor as James scrambled to chase the red dot that had disappeared. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING FUZZBALL!" Yuto felt alarm go through him as Bakugou grabbed James tail making a loud screech emit from James mouth as he froze. Yuto glared at Denki and used his shadows to form a long black whip that he used to grab the laser pointer from the idiot's hand. He quickly pulled it as James turned enraged eyes on Bakugou.
"Let go of my tail you frizzy haired terrorist!" James hissed. Bakugou glared.
"Or what whiskers?" James fangs extended as he hissed. Bakugou's free hand started to pop and sparkle as he readied himself for a fight.
"Alright that's enough out of you two." Everyone quickly froze as Aizawa's voice sounded from the front of the room. He was in his familiar yellow sleeping bag, watching as James and Bakugou glared at each other. "Sit down and be quiet. Kaminari, that was reckless of you. You can stay here during lunch for detention." Yuto was glad the idiot had gotten in trouble but when Yuto met James' embarrassed and enraged eyes as he passed back to his desk he knew he'd be in trouble later.
"Traitor." James hissed at him.
"Sorry." He muttered back. He knew James had heard Denki begging him earlier. He'd probably hadn't put it together until now what Denki had been asking Yuto for. It's not like anyone in the class knew James had the cat tendencies and Kana had been with him outside. Yuto hoped he'd be able to hide behind Shina before James could go after him.
"Now that everyone's seated." Aizawa called once everyone was calmed down. "I wanted to let you all know I went over the training feed from the other day and took some notes. I'm not going to get into it all right now, but I did write everything down here." He held up a stack of papers. "I'm going to call your name and you can come up and get your assessments." Aizawa called everyone up one at a time. He verbally gave his opinions to a select few but otherwise to everyone he was pretty much encouraging.
"You have a good handle on your Quirk Yuto." Aizawa said to him when he was called up. Yuto took the paper, glanced at his name, and nodded.
"Thanks." That was the extent of their interaction before Yuto sat back down. When Aizawa was done he moved onto the next subject.
"Now I'm going to need you all to do something that is going to define your entire high school experience." Yuto perked up, intrigued. "You all need to pick a class rep." Yuto gave a disappointed whine. He wasn't really interested in picking a Class Rep. He didn't enjoy politics at all, a trait he had picked up from Shina. He didn't mind following orders but there were times he much preferred to do things his own way.
"Pick me guys! I want to be class rep!" Yuto couldn't help but snort as Kirishima volunteered as tribute. He doubted Kirishima, or anyone else in the class, knew what being a Class Rep really meant, especially in a Hero Course class such as theirs. He simply watched as basically everyone volunteered. At least until he noticed Tokoyami wasn't participating.
"You don't want to be Class Rep Tokoyami?" Yuto asked. Tokoyami had his arms crossed as he listened with Yuto as everyone tried to volunteer.
"I would rather not fall into the complexity of being a leader, especially when that position involves respect I have not earned." Tokoyami stated firmly. Yuto nodded.
"Fair enough." Yuto and Tokoyami watched as Iida calmed everyone down and gave a huge speech about 'democracy' and 'voting'.
"Why don't you guys give the position over to the most responsible person?" Yuto asked, tilting his head.
"What do you mean Yuto?" Kana asked. Yuto shrugged.
"No offense to some, but wouldn't a position like 'class leader' be something that goes to someone who won't abuse the position for their own sake?" He asked. "It shouldn't go to whoever's the strongest or fastest, it should be someone who would willingly step up for something they know is right and would do anything to make sure fairness persists."
"Someone morally unambiguous." Tokoyami offered. Yuto nodded.
"Yeah, someone like that."
"Who would that be?" Tsuyu asked. "We've only known each other a few days. How do we know who we can trust for this? Ribbit."
"Yuto's got a point though." James spoke up. "We may not know who we can trust but I think the most unambiguous person in this room would have to be Iida."
"R-really?" Iida asked sounding shocked that James would speak up during his 'cat nap'.
"I've only known you a few days dude, but I haven't seen anyone else try and yell at Bakugou." James yawned. "Or try and scold me about napping in the morning." Yuto smiled at his brother.
"Who asked you furball?" Bakugou growled. James growled under his breath at Bakugou.
"Will you two knock it off?" Kana berated. "James, go back to sleep." James glared at Kana but yawned and pillowed his head on his arms again.
"If you do end up voting," James spoke up. "Someone mark me down for Iida. I ain't trusting someone like Bakugou to lead us."
"WHAT'D YOU SAY YOU DANG MANGY CAT!?" Bakugou yelled. Yuto snorted as James returned to his 'nap' leaving Bakugou to stew in relative silence.
"We can still vote if you guys want?" Momo offered. As a class they did vote. Yuto thought about what James had said and marked his choice down.
In the end Iida won by four votes. Momo and Midoriya tied but he chose to abdicate to Momo who graciously accepted his withdrawal.
"That was a fine speech you gave." Tokoyami stated at lunch. "You even got James to side with you." Yuto shrugged.
"It was true, something like class rep shouldn't be taken lightly. Especially when they'll have to be the ones to make hard decisions for the class later. And James is many things, but he can be reasonable when the mood strikes him. I didn't know he would vote Iida though, I thought Momo would have been fine as President."
"I'm surprised you didn't want it." Tokoyami said. Yuto snorted.
"You're funny Tokoyami."
"You are smart, from the hero vs villains training we did. You held out against Todoroki." Yuto hummed.
"Holding out against an opponent is a testament to how strong your mind is if you plan it right, but that fight was mainly luck. Shadows and ice don't really go together." Tokoyami hummed in acknowledgement.
"They could be a dangerous combination." Yuto shrugged.
"In any case, I don't think I'm leader material. I'd much prefer to stick to the shadows." Their lunch was cut short by a loud alarm going off that startled both boys.
GM NASAI: Enjoy more random info!
Kana's personality and hobbies: Kana is an introvert at heart but will take charge and force herself to be an extrovert whenever she and her cousin brothers have to take solo missions. She is quiet, much preferring to watch people and judge based on what they say. She doesn't trust easily as she's over protective of her cousin brothers since they are younger than she is. She sometimes deals with outbursts of anger that Shina calls 'teen angst' but prefers to deal with these by wrapping herself in her favorite hoodie, listening to her music and either sketching or reading whatever book she's interested in that month.
Kana likes to draw and will often lose herself for hours when she gets in the mood. A fact that her siblings tease her about but they don't bother her when she does fall into her 'Creative roll'. Kana doesn't sing but she does randomly bop her head to music, sometimes she'll go so far as to give a few dance moves but won't do so in front of anyone she doesn't consider family. Kana is often teasing James as he's always picking on her. She enjoys arguing with him and doesn't mind knocking him down a peg. If Yuto argues with her she'll bop him on the head, often treating him as her baby brother rather than cousin as she's known him longer and helped raise him. Kana likes to test her limits with stealing by taking random things from her cousins until they notice it's missing. James will often start a fight with her about it while Yuto just steals it back. Shina doesn't notice so she doesn't steal from her anymore.
James' personality and hobbies: He's a hot head who likes to pick fights either physically or verbally with people he thinks are strong opponents. He knows he has a limit when he picks fights in public but when he's comfortable with someone, those limits tend to vanish. He acts without thinking in battle as he motto is 'If you're going to do something, do it'. Deep down though, he is considerate and won't push someone if he thinks they can't handle it. He doesn't like to hit females as he's learned from Kana and Shina that females are sneakier when it comes to revenge and will often leave those fights alone if he can help it.
James is very serious about getting his school work done so he can play video games with Yuto in their downtime. He likes to watch short YouTube videos in his spare time or simply eavesdrop on people who think he's asleep. While he may look like a regular teenage boy, most people don't know that he likes to make robots in his spare time with Yuto. Or he'll work on one of the cars in the garage that Shina doesn't mind him working on just to keep his hands busy as he doesn't like being idle for long periods of time. James, being half cat, also picks up stray cats he runs across. He claims he can speak their language and in one memorable instance, claimed he could also speak with turtles!
Yuto's personality and hobbies: Yuto doesn't judge anyone. He accepts people as he knows what they show to the world, isn't how they truly are most of the time. He's pretty laid back and just likes minding his own business. If the need arises he gently encourages the small group of friends he has by talking with them. He's endlessly curious about the world and will ask a million questions until he understands something. He knows it's annoying and will sometimes do it to his cousins just to mess with them.
Yuto likes to do his own thing, whether that means playing games with his cousins or by himself, he doesn't mind. He likes to build robots and after he met his first friend the tech genius Yoshi, he has endless access to robotic parts and A.I. systems that he loves to tinker with to try and create their own personalities. He likes to watch gamers play scary jump scare games and after he watched Five Nights at Freddy's for the tenth time, decided to create half the gang's bodies and their A.I. systems. They were all decommissioned after Shina found out what he'd been doing with James and Yoshi's help.