Hey hey hey fellas. This story is offically CLOSED as of ONE HOUR AGO. My DMs are closed so no one can submit after the deadline, and to those who didn't make it in time, my apologies. I was very impressed at how quickly some of you got OCs in with just a few days left, though!
Blog has been updated to show the cast on both the heroes and vigilante/villain side, but not buddies yet! We're gonna get to know our cast and the class dynamic before we go into buddy antics, okay?
[ETA - just edited Chihaya's section a bit, so if you're rereading this chapter after initial upload I hope it makes sense kdfndk]
IV.
Sumito's body on the ground.
Dead.
Jump.
Sumito's body standing upright.
Alive.
Hiromi's body on the ground.
Dead.
Jump.
Sumito's body standing upright.
Alive.
Hiromi's body standing upright.
Alive.
Rei's body on the ground.
Dead.
Jump
Sumito's body standing upright.
Alive.
Hiromi's body standing upright.
Alive.
Rei's body standing upright.
Alive.
Sora's body on the ground.
Dead.
Jump.
Sumito's body standing upright.
Hiromi's body standing upright.
Rei's body standing upright.
Sora's body standing upright.
Alive. Alive. Alive. Alive.
Hyoma's body on the ground.
Dead.
"Jijiwa-san."
Youdou blinked quickly. He sniffed and shook his head.
"Ah, yes, Eraser." He groaned to his feet and stretched his arms. "I was lost in thought."
"You've been lost in thought ever since Tsukauchi's call," Shouta deadpanned. He cringed, caught so quickly, and Youdou didn't bother to deny that that was the reason for his absentmindedness.
Of course he would be elsewhere, mentally. On the day he should be congratulating his children on their first experience of schooling, their first taste of a peaceful lifestyle, he was instead thinking of harsher days. Sadder days.
Youdou sucked in a deep breath and planted his hands on his hips.
"I shouldn't worry as much as I am," he mumbled. "You're all very capable people. And he's just a boy…"
Shouta grunted. "A boy dangerous enough to be placed in Tartarus. How he escaped isn't the issue at the moment—finding him is the priority."
"Yes…" Youdou sniffed again. Outside the window of the faculty office, he could see the gates to UA open and allow its new first-years to enter. The condition of his own children's education—a watchful eye from 1-A and 1-B.
"Purely out of professional inquiry," Shouta said, gruff but patient. "What 'crimes' did he commit that you deemed him fit to go into Tartarus over?"
Youdou stared at him. Stared through him. Thought back to the moment that finally gave him the option to let all of his kids survive.
Hyoma's body on the ground.
Dead.
Youdou's hands on the boy.
Jump.
The doors to the cell in Tartarus locked.
Jump.
Sumito's screams echoing through the night.
Hyoma's body on the ground.
Empty.
Eventually, alive.
His eyes burned as he felt them tear up. Youdou reached up and swiped at them quickly, trying to keep his composure.
"Murder," Youdou finally managed to say. "And not out of self defense."
Shouta just grunted. Youdou watched as he stood up from his own desk and left the room, heading for 1-A's homeroom to welcome his new students.
Alive, he thought once he was alone. Yes, alive… Just not the same as what they once knew.
TOYOMITSU
TAISHIRO
BMI HERO
FAT GUM
With his name and Pro Hero alias written in bold letters in chalk, Taishiro grinned to himself proudly. Yeah, there was no issue with how to read his name, he thought! His class would have plenty of things to call him, and more to the point—he had a class to teach! Him! Fat Gum!
Taishiro spun on his heel, his wide girth taking up a decent chunk of the front of the classroom, and he was able to grin at four rows of seats, each with three in their line, as he struck a pose.
"Nice to meetcha!" he announced. "I'm Fat Gum! But you guys can call me Toyomitsu-sensei!"
Twelve pairs of eyes stared at him, each with varying reactions. Taishiro hadn't had the chance to meet any of them like the others at U.A. had, given that he wasn't really staff until just last week, after all of these ones had been found, and up until that point, he'd been one of the ones tailing a girl that Youdou had described as having a fire-based Quirk. Not that she did much to begin with! Everything seemed to gross her out and she never left the small alleyway she'd made herself at home in!
Taishiro pulled out some candy from his pockets and scattered them on his desk, sorting them methodically as his class watched in silence.
"I haven't met any of you chickadees yet like the others Pros have," he went on, still cheerful. "And I don't think any of them told you about me. So I think we should play a game to get to know each other!"
A hand rose into the air. Taishiro was impressed, proud to see that his new kids knew how a classroom setting worked so soon into their learning process!
"Yes, you in seat four!" he said as he pointed to one of the blond boys.
Seat four's student wore an eyepatch, his long blond hair tied back in a half-ponytail, and he looked like one of the more physically-hardened members of the group by far. No way did that eye get lost in an accident!
The student cleared his throat and spoke with a somewhat deep voice, reminding Taishiro of Eraser Head almost. Wow, this kid was super serious!
"We all already know each other," he corrected Taishiro.
Taishiro nodded in agreement. "That's right! But you don't know each other as potential future heroes, right? As fellow classmates? The bonds you've created in the future are still holding you together at this very moment, but bonds in the present can't be overlooked, y'know!"
The boy's brows furrowed. He almost scrunched up his face, but composed himself with practiced speed.
"If that's what you feel is best," the student conceded, "then I'll play your game."
It seemed the others had felt the same sentiment, but with Taishiro's cheerful rebuttal, there wasn't much point in declining participation. And, he thought as he unwrapped one of his candies, they wouldn't be able to resist something sweet as a reward for participation, either!
So Fat Gum held one hand up in a peace sign, still grinning at his students.
"I'm Toyomitsu Taishiro, and people know me as the BMI Hero: Fat Gum!" he declared. "I like candy and all kinds of food, and my Quirk is Fat Absorption! It makes me all round and fun-loving!"
He plopped the candy into his mouth and pointed at the chalkboard, where his name was written. This was such a great idea, Taishiro thought. He was going to bring out the best in these kids in no time! Maybe they'd be able to help Tamaki come out of his shell a bit too! But that would have to wait for later, he thought. For now, his focus was on his class.
"Like a few of you in the room already have Pro Hero ancestors, I hear I'm the ancestor of one of you!" Taishiro went on. "So we'll start the introductions with that one! Let's see…" He moved aside some candy to look at the paper that displayed each seat number and name. "Ah! Seat six! You're up!"
Though not the smallest in the class, this girl was definitely on the shorter side. She stood up from her seat, proud and confident as she stomped one foot onto her desk, and she held her head high as she stared down Taishiro. His descendant had spunk. He liked spunk!
"Chikara Sen!" she boomed back at him. "I haven't found a lot of things I like yet, but the phone left behind at the school I camped out in gave me plenty of time to look things up. So I guess I like studying things I'm curious about! My Quirk was called Energetic Battery by Jiji and I'm basically a…" She faltered a little, looking for the right term. Taishiro's arms were waving up and down at his sides, eager to hear what her Quirk did. "A… I'm a nuclear sponge!"
Taishiro let out a loud gasp, almost choking on his candy as he did so. Good thing his windpipe was larger in his bulky form, at least.
"Not like an actual nuclear sponge," she amended, arms crossed over her chest. Her long red-tinted silver locks were tied up in a rather experimental hairstyle that reminded Taishiro of space buns, but they were somewhat unevenly done. "That's what everyone on the blue bird thing called me, though. And they showed these things of a giant dinosaur going kablam! And I think that's very neat!"
Oh! He got it now! She was an accumulation type like Taishiro, except rather than convert that energy into a raw punch to throw back at someone, it seemed Sen could expel the energy however she pleased. Wow, that video of her fighting Muscular wasn't an exaggeration!
And then Sen was faltering just for a moment, eyes wide as she stared at Taishiro. "Ancestor?" she echoed softly.
Taishiro let out a cheerful, "That's right! I'm your Dad Gum!" And he lobbed a candy towards her. She caught it with both hands, eyes wide, and he gave her a thumbs up. "You strike me as a peppermint blast kind of gal! Have a peppermint pinwheel cookie!"
She unwrapped the cookie and stuffed the whole thing in her mouth, and her eyes glistened with glee as she chirped back, "Thanks, Dad Gum!"
Sen was quick to roll with the jokes. He liked her a lot!
Everyone seemed a bit more interested when they saw the reward of a delicious treat in return for introducing themselves.
"Well, well, who do we pick next? Any volunteers? Don't be shy!" When Taishiro saw the hand belonging to the child who started it all rise, he singled them out and announced, "Give it up for seat seven!"
He recognised Takose Sumito from the reports police had done on them and Youdou's overall fondness for them, not unlike a father towards his own child, and Taishiro wasn't the only one to wonder if Youdou had found them before all the others. They were quite the timid child, though not everyone would come out of an apocalypse with a larger-than-life personality, Taishiro was certain.
Sumito stood up, wearing the boy's uniform, and their shirt was untucked with no blazer in sight. Their tentacles idly wriggled with anxious movements. Compared to the other students, Sumito was the only one wearing glasses—which, if Taishiro recalled correctly, the blue-tinted glasses were used to correct colour-blindness.
"I'm Takose Sumito, and I like Jiji and… Mm… I like All Might."
Oh! A future child who knew who All Might was! Taishiro nodded along with them, very eager to listen.
"I, um… also like to eat things covered in ink sometimes, and Cathy-san told me to try squid ink pasta one day, so I hope I can have some here." They sniffed and shifted on their feet. "My Quirk is Cephalopod, and I have traits of cephalopods. But I don't have a hard shell like a nautilus. I can change my skin and hair colour at will, though, and even though I'm colour blind, I can tell what colour something is by touch. Oh! And I can change gender at will. Although… Principal Nezu said cephalopods can't do that, so I wonder where that came from…"
"It's a common myth about them," Taishiro supplied helpfully. "The ocean's full of mysterious things. Did you know we never found out the kraken was real until just half a century ago?"
"The… kraken?"
Taishiro grinned. "First round of homework! Look up the kraken and tell me what you think of it! As for your introduction…" He sifted through his candies before finally settling on one in particular. "You look like the type who enjoys more subtle flavours. Have some konpeito!"
He threw a bright blue sugar star at Sumito, and they caught it with fumbling hands as they sat down.
Another hand rose. The giant blonde girl at the back of the class stood up, taking her turn without needing to be asked.
"Oh!" Taishiro said, intrigued. "Go ahead, seat three!"
This girl looked a lot like Star and Stripe, and Taishiro was pretty sure she was her descendant—though from how Cathleen had been dejected according to Youdou, it seemed that meeting hadn't gone well.
"Kinji Kaminaga," the blonde introduced herself. Like Sumito she didn't wear the jacket, but it seemed Kaminaga wore the uniform with pride and looked every bit the model U.A. student. "I'm fond of literature and puzzles. Generally things that keep the mind active and healthy. My Quirk, Tale-Teller, allows me to speak what I wish into reality as long as I weave the prose properly out loud. Obviously its limitations are the range of my voice and my senses."
She gave a curt bow, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear, but stopped when Taishiro threw a candy at her. She caught it quickly, surprised, and opened her hands to take a peek at what he'd thrown at her.
"You're Star's girl alright!" he praised. A look of disgust passed Kaminaga's stoic face. Ah, definitely didn't go well, then. "If you're the type to like to keep the mind busy, then I think you'll like gobstoppers! You don't chew it, but rather you suck on it until all the layers are gone!"
Kaminaga looked intrigued as she slipped the small ball of candy into her mouth. She nodded in approval, and mumbled her thanks to Taishiro as he moved on to the next student—who didn't waste time drawing his attention, ecstatic to receive her share of candy.
Now this was the shortest in the class. Taishiro was big, a whopping eight feet and then some, but this girl was tiny. She wasn't even five feet tall. She had to be around the four-eight to four-nine ballpark! And when she levitated out of her seat, excited and giddy and glowing with a purple energy around her body, it was obvious what her Quirk did in some aspects.
"Saiko next! Saiko next!" she cheered.
Taishiro pointed at her with finger guns. "Alright! Seat twelve, take the stage!"
Saiko, as the girl called herself, spread herself out like a star and let out a giggle.
"Omori Saiko! That's me!" she cheered. Her ghost-white skin and hair were contrasted by her black sclera and glowing blue eyes standing out alongside the pitch-black inside of her mouth. "I like Kaminee-chan's stories! And I like my family! And I like pain!"
Ah.
Every class had one, Taishiro supposed.
"My Quirk was called Psychokinesis by Jiji-san! Saiko can use psychic energy for all sorts of things! Normally I have to wear a mask so I don't hear everyone all the time, but Jiji-san said this school is special and I won't hear anything I don't want inside the rooms!"
Saiko was very pleased with herself following the introduction. She zoomed across the room, towards Taishiro, and her eyes were wide as her sharp teeth were visible through her toothy grin.
"What candy do I get? What? What?"
Taishiro patted her head and held up an orange gumdrop covered in sherbert. "If you like pain, you'll love sour candies! If this ain't enough, I have tons more in my office that are way stronger than this!"
Saiko took the candy from him and held it up in the air like a trophy. She zoomed back to her seat, giggling as she turned the lemon drop in her hand over and over, and her glowing aura faded away as her Quirk deactivated.
"I don't think row two has had any introductions yet. Hey, seat four, why don't you take the lead?" Taishiro pointed to the blond boy who'd objected to introducing themselves earlier. The boy blinked one, debating on what to say, before he stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. He was a tall one, just a little taller than Star's girl, but he was definitely giving off gentle giant vibes to Taishiro.
The boy looked at Taishiro for a second before finally introducing himself.
"Kumayuuki Kanji," he said. "I… like the mountains. I used to live there with everyone. And my father before Youdou-san brought the group over. Admittedly… I don't know everyone as well as they know each other, but I do remember teaching a few of them how to track and hunt. Not that there were any animals left to hunt… As for my Quirk…"
Kanji blinked as he looked to Taishiro again.
"I'd prefer not to disclose my Quirk's capabilities. For the time being, at least."
Taishiro stared for a moment, and then finally nodded.
"Gotcha, gotcha. Opening up to people is hard, and explaining your ace's ups and downs can mean life or death for you guys, right?" he asked. Kanji nodded. "Then we'll hold off on explaining your Quirk. Take all the time you need, kiddo! Till then, have a candy!"
He trotted over and placed a hard candy into Kanji's hand. Kanji stared at it, perplexed, and Taishiro explained, "It's a eucalyptus candy! Aside from being tasty and smelling like the leaf, they're good for sore throats!"
"Eucalyptus…" Kanji repeated, cautious as he sat back down.
The boy behind him jumped to his feet with a screech of his hair, frazzling Kanji as the others looked over at him. This boy wasn't among the taller ones, being average in height, but he was definitely a larger-than-life personality. His hands were on his hips, head held high, and violet eyes stared at Taishiro with enough confidence that he almost wanted to show Tamaki how to practice looking people in the eye right then and there.
"I'm Kagura! Kurogane Kagura! And it is not a girl's name!" the boy announced. His platinum blond hair was short and styled in a messy bedhead sort of look. "I think I like this hero school a lot! You guys get a lot of people watching you, right? You're celebrities! And I think I have the chops to be the best!"
Now here was a confident one! Taishiro nodded enthusiastically, excited again after the serious topic had passed.
"My Quirk is Monster!" Kagura took a pose when he said this. "I can turn my body parts into… Wait for it… Body parts of a monster! It's so cool, right? You're all stunned silent in my awesomeness!"
Saiko clapped excitedly in response. Kagura posed again, and Taishiro began to get an idea of just how far this confidence ran. He was definitely one of the more self-assured kids. Taishiro only hoped that a few losses under his belt wouldn't kill his confidence like other kids tended to suffer.
So Taishiro trotted back to his desk and threw the largest of his candies at Kagura. "Monster teefies for the monster boy!" he announced. Kagura caught the soft candy teeth and gums and stared at them, a clueless smile on his face. Taishiro picked up another one and sank his teeth into the gums of the candy, and when he smiled, the candy teeth had replaced his own. "Excellent for tricks and a fun time!"
Kagura copied Taishiro's actions, and when he smiled, a few of the others in the class giggled.
"He matches with Saiko-chan!" Sen cheered. "You two both got some chompers, now!"
Kagura let out a laugh of his own and blushed, before finally sinking down into his seat again to let someone else take the stage.
Tensions were easing a lot more, to Taishiro's glee. The boy behind Kagura's seat stood up, still trying to hold back his giggles as he spoke. Dark green hair with a black bolt running through his bangs, the dark-skinned boy was one Taishiro recalled aiding in relief efforts during an earthquake two weeks back. He was a good kid, from the first impression, and he didn't seem to be a troublemaker. In fact, Taishiro liked his style—wearing the jacket on his shoulders like a cape rather than as a proper jacket!
"I—I'm Satoukibi—" The boy coughed into his fist to stop himself from laughing. "Holy shit. The name's Satoukibi Shusa. I've got no clue what I do like, since I haven't really looked into much, but I know I don't like those car things you guys have. They're too loud for me."
Sumito waved in agreement, looking a little uneasy at the mention of cars.
"But I did like nice-smelling things the nurses brought to my hospital room," Shusa went on. "They lit these candles and the whole room smelled really nice. I never had such a good sleep before in my life." Shusa laughed nervously. "But, uh, my Quirk is Molecular DeConstruction. I can charge cells inside of both organic and non-organic stuff to multiply or disintegrate—whatever I'm feeling at the time. Keeps me on my toes."
Shusa gave Taishiro a confident smirk. "Think you can sway me with some candy, sir? You got my hopes up and everything."
"Challenge accepted!" Taishiro sifted through his candy. When he came across the cotton candy wrapped in plastic, he paused for a moment and smirked, almost as though he'd pulled the winning card in a game of poker. "I'll bet I can give you a candy that you can disintegrate without your Quirk!"
The boy was still smirking, but he was definitely excited. He learned forward, and when he did, Taishiro threw the cotton candy at him. The serving was no larger than his hand, but it was enough for a quick snack. With an almost cat-like expression, Shusa unwrapped the cotton candy and shoved the whole thing into his mouth—only to stop, expression becoming sickly, as he looked at Taishiro in alarm.
"Cotton candy! Falls apart as soon as it gets wet! A beloved carnival sweet for all ages!" Taishiro struck a pose not unlike Kagura's, and the others were very interested in Shusa's feedback.
All Shusa could do was mumble that it felt like biting into a cloud, and that it felt weird to have it fall apart in his mouth the way it did.
Seat nine jumped up, waving excitedly, and Taishiro pointed to him next.
"Hi, hi! I'm Tennouji Chihaya!" The boy with pale lavender hair was very cutesy-looking, and if not for his male uniform on, he would've been mistaken for a girl very easily. Taishiro couldn't remember the last Pro Hero outside of Eraser Head he'd met with long hair like that, too. "I like sweets! May I have one, Toyomitsu-sensei?"
Kaminaga leaned across the aisle to call out to Chihaya over Shusa, "Chihaya-chan, you need to list something other than candy."
"Candy's fine!" Taishiro said. "Nothing wrong with liking sweets, after all! Let's see… Any particular kind you like?"
Chihaya smiled sweetly at him. "I tried chocolate yesterday. I liked it a lot!"
Ah, there was a bon bon in the shape of a cat among the mix. Taishiro picked it up and threw it across the classroom to him. "One kitty bon bon for Tennouji-kun!"
"Thank you, sensei!" Chihaya didn't sit down yet, though. Ah, he must want to talk about his Quirk. Taishiro waited eagerly for him to explain it. But rather than an explanation, Chihaya posed a question for Taishiro. "Hey, sensei, is it okay if I use my Quirk on you?"
The room fell silent. Everyone was tense. A few anxious eyes looked over at Chihaya, and it was Shusa who spoke up, even if a little nervously.
"There's no need for it, right?" Shusa asked the other boy. "I mean, we know he's a good guy, right?"
"Hm?" Chihaya drawled out his hum lazily. "You guys were worried about him being good, weren't you? I think Toyo-sensei is friendly, but if there's doubts... Well, I can put them to rest for you! Kanji-kun just said he didn't trust him with his Quirk. But if Toyo-sensei doesn't hurt when I use my Quirk, that means he's good and you can trust him!"
Kanji clenched his hands on top of his desk and looked almost tense. "It is the best way to be sure," he agreed. Chihaya nodded, an almost sage-like expression on his face as he weighed the opinion of the boy he'd singled out.
"But… Jiji hurt a little bit when you used it on him," Sumito said. "It didn't kill him, but…"
"Youdou-san did have to do a couple of bad things, but he wasn't all bad, right? And if Toyo-sensei hasn't had to do what we've had to, he shouldn't hurt at all." Chihaya was cheerful as ever as he spoke. Taishiro watched, eyes wide and his grin falling. This one was… probably a little more unstable than Saiko was, or at least he wasn't as obviously unstable. Hound Dog was in for a ride when he gave these kids counselling.
"Well, he did bring us here without warning," Sen mumbled. Her arms were crossed over her chest, face scrunched up in distaste. "And he was really tense these past few weeks. And the whole thing with Amai…"
Saiko looked directly at Chihaya when she spoke, eyes wide and smile gone from her face entirely.
"Saiko is against it," she said, voice low and sharp. "Saiko likes Toyomitsu-sensei."
"Me too," Shusa piped up again. Chihaya nodded along again. It seemed he was trying to get as many opinions as possible, maybe in an attempt to reassure the ones who doubted Taishiro. His goose was cooked if Chihaya couldn't get the stamp of approval from everyone else.
Kanji turned around in his seat. "But if we're having doubts, Tennouji-san's Quirk will clear them."
"Yeah, sure," Kagura scoffed. "But, like, we're not stupid. We know a crook when we see one."
All eyes flew to one side of the room. A boy with a bowl cut shrank in on himself anxiously.
"Can you tell one apart from a genuinely good person without almost dying first?" Kanji fired back. Kagura flushed red and stammered.
"O—Obviously! What do you take me for?"
Kaminaga was frowning more than any of them combined. "Killing our homeroom teacher on the first day of school is not going to do us any favours."
"It won't kill him," Chihaya insisted, waving his arms about. "My Quirk only kills the baddest of the bad! He's so round and soft! And Toyo-sensei probably hates bad people too!"
"He's a Pro Hero," Sumito agreed. "They're the ones who catch the bad guys."
"They caught us," a dark-skinned girl in seat one said, her first words of the day. "That means they either think we're the bad ones, or they're the bad ones trying to hurt us."
"You too, Nita-chi? Wah, Toyo-sensei is so cute though! But if I can't convince you, I guess I'll just have to use my Quirk and prove he's a good person." Chihaya shuffled out from behind his desk and tried to walk over to the front. Taishiro was suddenly nervous. Hey, now, what was this about a lethal Quirk?
Just when Chihaya was about to cross the front row and reach for Taishiro, the boy in seat two jumped from his seat and stood rigidly straight, fists clenched by his sides as he shouted at the top of his lungs over everyone's arguing.
"IGARASHI DENJI!" he shouted. "I LIKE REALITY TV AND THE MUSIC PLAYED IN THE ELEVATOR! I DON'T LIKE MELODRAMA! MY QUIRK IS CALLED THUNDER ONI AND I ABSORB ELECTRICITY AND CAN REDISTRIBUTE IT WITH MY HORNS BEING A CONDUCTOR! I DON'T LIKE USING IT, THOUGH! AND AS A SURVIVOR OF ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION LIKE TENNOUJI-SAN, I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE TOYOMITSU-SENSEI A CHANCE!"
He was blue in the face by the time he was done speaking, and even then he didn't stop to take in a breath. Chihaya had stopped walking, though, smiling at Denji with a bright expression; almost like that loud exclamation had been the magic phrase to make everyone else relax, the kids who had been agreeing to do whatever Chihaya's Quirk did to Taishiro were drowned out by the others who objected—and the ones who'd been quiet prior.
"Well, if he has Iggy's approval, he's bound to be a good guy," Sen said casually. "I say no bueno to frying him."
The boy in seat ten's cat ears flicked once. "Fire bad," he said.
The boy in seat eleven, despite the stares on him from earlier, added, "Youdou-san said everyone gets a chance."
Chihaya let out a low breath and, without much fanfare, popped his kitten bon bon into his mouth and shrugged.
"There you have it," he drawled. "Iggy-Iggy trusts Toyo-sensei, and we all know what he went through. And I'll trust you, Toyo-sensei. But I'll use my Quirk if anyone is nervous about you, 'kay?"
"K—Kay…" Taishiro stammered. Chihaya skipped back to his seat and sat himself back down, and then he was leaning forward with his chin in his hands, smiling as though there weren't a single thought going on in his mind.
Taishiro rushed to Denji's side, who was now turning purple as he struggled to keep holding his breath. He dumped a whole load of candies from his pockets onto the desk, and Denji sucked in a breath after finally noticing the room had become calm again.
"You really saved this fatty's fanny, Igarashi-kun," Taishiro said tearfully. He took the boy's hands and shook them with his own. Up close, he could see the oni horns that he'd mentioned conducted electricity for his Quirk, and Taishiro wondered if Denji's hair being the same shade of blue was a way for him to hide the horns at first glance. "You get a big pile of candy as thanks."
Wobbling on his feet and a little delirious, Denji mumbled, "That wasn't so bad."
Denji dropped into his seat and went boneless as soon as he did so. That was one serious case of stage fright, Taishiro thought, but at least he was able to muster up the courage to object to Chihaya wanting to use his Quirk. Taishiro would just have to ask Youdou later what the specifics of it were, aside from making a turducken out of Taishiro.
Taishiro stepped back to the front of the class, but he stayed in front of seat one and smiled at the dark-skinned girl sitting in the front row.
"Why not you next, missy? I'm already here and have some candy to share, so we'll give you some spotlight."
The girl sucked in a short breath and stood up, languid and relaxed as she did so.
"Aizawa Bonita. Nita is fine." She was matter-of-fact with her introduction, not even giving much enthusiasm when talking about what she liked. "I'm finding myself enjoying each thing I learn about this period of time, but my ancestor told me one thing in particular I like to learn about it called true crime. His stories of his early days as a Pro Hero are very interesting."
Taishiro nodded in agreement. "Eraser Head is definitely one of the best there is when it comes to sneaky stuff," he said. "He went to this school, too, did'ya know?"
Nita let out a short hum.
"He did mention that," she said softly. "Anyway, you want to know my Quirk, right? It's nothing impressive like everyone else's. I can just modify my body as I see fit and control its functions. For example, if I need to stay awake, I can just prevent my brain from producing sleep chemicals. If I get an injury, I can determine what needs healing and speed up the cell production as needed. And no," she added, unimpressed as Taishiro opened his mouth, "it's not shapeshifting. Best you'll get out of me is adding fluid and fat to certain body parts to change my physical age and shape."
Aw… Well, it was still a cool Quirk!
Taishiro nodded and smiled. Nita would find excellent uses for her Quirk in the Pro Hero scene, he was certain.
"For a true crime connoisseur," he decided, one hand reaching into his jacket pocket. He searched around for something, until finally his grip found just what he was looking for. "Aha!"
Taishiro slapped a life-sized gummy skull onto the desk in front of Nita. It let out a loud slap as it bounced and flattened before schlorping back to its original anatomically correct shape.
Nita stared at it in horror. A few of the others stared with jealous, hungry gazes.
"Where were you keeping that?" Nita asked, stunned.
"Seat eleven! You're up next!"
The boy with the bowl cut looked at Taishiro with wide eyes and tried to pretend as though he hadn't heard him. Taishiro was having none of that. He picked up a baggie of mini marshmallows he picked up as he passed his desk.
The boy's face was a slight purplish colour when he blushed, clearly not wanting all of the attention on him. But this was just the beginning! If he could bring Tamaki out of his shell as much as he already had, then he could do the same for these kids!
Taishiro waved the bag of marshmallows in front of the boy in seat eleven and smiled.
"Chin up," he said softly. He hadn't missed the way the rest of the class had looked at the boy with the bowl cut when they mentioned bad people. But he hadn't missed the reply, either, and Taishiro felt that Youdou was on to something with that line of thinking. "Like Jijiwa-san says, everyone gets a chance. Right?"
The boy let out a soft breath and steeled himself. "Yes," the boy said. "That's right."
He took the marshmallows and sat them on his desk. As Taishiro walked back to the front of the class, the boy stood tall and introduced himself.
"I am Hai Suiyoubi, and I've come to find out I am a descendant of the homeroom teacher for Class 1-B, Kan Sekijiro," he announced. "I enjoy how the sound of birds chirping sounds like singing, and I have an appreciation for hygiene products in this era that we had no access to in our own. Shampoo especially. I want to learn more about how people take care of themselves with these products, and I'd like to keep my living space as clean as possible with these tips."
Everyone was silent. Some of them refused to even look at him.
"My Quirk is called Blood Bath," Suiyoubi went on. Taishiro nodded in approval. "My blood is essentially capable of self-replication outside of my body, and while a single drop can become a steady stream if I desire, I can only manage at best five gallons. I would also like to note that the more stress I am under, the faster my blood replicates—my heart is pumping faster, after all. Obviously I can control my blood as well, but… I won't go into detail about it."
Taishiro clapped and nodded in approval once more. "Thank you, Hai-kun! Enjoy those marshmallows! You earned 'em."
That left seat ten, lucky last. Taishiro figured the kid wouldn't appreciate a cat-shaped candy like Chihaya did, mostly being a cat himself, and so Taishiro readied a small handful of UFO candies instead.
"Seat ten, take it away!"
The dark-haired boy with the cat ears stood up quietly. This one was perhaps the most withdrawn. Taishiro had heard quite a bit—and seen firsthand—about how this kid was found. It wasn't often that one of the top ten got involved with things that weren't high-end threats, but the way Mirko had punted this poor kitten on his first day in the present was one for the headlines.
According to Mirko, he'd been clearly trying to hunt her like prey. And the kid hadn't denied it. He just begged the police to never let the feral rabbit near him again.
The boy's tail was curled around his own leg as he scratched at his arm with his clawed hands. He looked more like a pitiful puppy than a feral cat that had been caught off guard by its prey, and compared to most who were bested by those of a "weaker" animal species, he didn't seem to have any wounded pride. He just looked lost and nervous, unable to look anyone in the eye.
After a quick sniff, the boy began to lift his tail and held on to it with his hands, if only to keep his hands busy and his tail in one spot.
"I'm… Nekota Hyoma," he mumbled. "And I like fish. My Quirk is called Feline and it basically gives me the traits and capabilities of felines in general. According to Jiji-san I also have nine lives like a cat does in stories, but I don't know how many I have left. Or when I lost some lives. But, um…"
Hyoma looked helplessly at Taishiro. His hands wrung his tail tightly, his lips a thin line as he tried to keep calm.
"Toyomitsu-sensei," Hyoma whimpered. "I don't know who any of these people are."
Taishiro had never seen a classroom descend into chaos as quickly as this one had.
He really needed to talk to Youdou.
