A/N This is one of those stories where UA is a college instead of a high school. It mostly follows an OC of mine. It starts off with some slice of life stuff, and there will probably be more of that down the road.
Also, for anyone wondering, Mustafu Private Middle is the school that Mina Ashido and Eijiro Kirishima attend in the series. In this story, they go to Mustafu Private High, while my OC goes to Mustafu Public High. Also, quick reminder, in japan, there are 3 years to high school, not 4.
Four Armed Titan
A My Hero Academia fan fic
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Chapter 1
Homeless with a Dream.
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Mustafu Prefecture
04:15 local time.
Abandoned warehouse
*beep*Beep*beep*.
*beep*Beep*beep*.
*beep*Beep*beep*. An old battery-operated digital alarm clock that had been set to work off a discarded solar panel from a lawn-lamp rang out in the large open area of the second floor of a run-down and dilapidated warehouse. Sunlight had not even started to peek over the horizon, and it was time to get up. The second note was a bit sharper than the others in each repetition as the makeshift clock tried to do its job.
*beep*Beep*beep*.
*beep*Beep*beep*.
With a deep sigh, one hand moved as a giant form rolled over in the pile of dirty blankets and discarded sheets. Grumbling as his hand patted the floor near the window, blindly seeking the small device.
*beep*Beep*beep*.
*beep*Be-click*
The searching hand found and switched the small toggle on the back that turned the alarm off.
One more deep sigh, and the mound of cloth moved as Takahashi Kaleb sat up from the floor and pushed the covers off him. Three beaten and weathered blankets had been layered on the aged hardwood floor as a makeshift sleeping pad. Puling his feet under him, the teen stood and stretched, letting pops from his back ring out with a grunt. He rolled all four of his shoulders, feeling the knots from so many rough nights pull at his muscles. Moving to one side, he picked up some of his clothes from a shelf where they were folded and sat on the desk to begin dressing sleepily.
This old warehouse had once been a medium sized factory that made quirk gear for support heroes. It had 3 stories, but the ceiling on the top floor had been severely damaged 3 years ago by a storm, and no one had ever replaced it. The same storm had knocked out a large window on the second floor that had given Kaleb Access to this place. Standing at just under 8 feet tall, and with long arms, it was easy for him to bypass all of the locked and boarded up windows and door of the first floor to get in to the second floor. In one of the back offices, where the windows faced an alley instead of the street, Kaleb had made his home for 2 years now. At the age of 16, he had been on his own for 3 years since his mother had finally gotten arrested for possession and use of the illegal drug known as Trigger.
They had been homeless for a long while before that, but Kaleb tried not to dwell on those thoughts.
Finally dressed, Kaleb moved to the broken window, and looked out into the pre-dawn grey ness carefully. He had almost been caught coming and going from this building a few times and had learned to be stealthy. The local police checked the bars and locks on the doors of the first floor every so often, and there were a few times when someone had been arrested that Kaleb had been nervous that he would be found out.
Grabbing the bars that blocked the window next to his entry point, Kaleb extended himself down, and let himself drop the few feet to the ground behind the warehouse.
What had once been a small area for employee parking was not an overgrown weed-lot. Bushes, shrubs, and even a tree grew through the pavement here and there.
As tall and noticeable as he was, Kaleb couldn't hide well behind any of them. Kaleb wasn't dangerously thin, but he was on the skinny side, as much as his increased skeleton would allow. His hair was a Deep rusty red color, and fell down his back to his shoulders in a loose ponytail. Green eyes and the standard Japanese complexion were not unusual, but his hair and size made him stand out in most crowds.
Reaching up, he grabbed his bag with his school clothes and supplies in it and left for his first job.
...
Mustafu Prefecture
05:00 Local time.
Tokyo Times News Depot
Kaleb ducked under the door frame that was just a few inches too low for him, and nodded to his boss.
"Takahashi….." The supervisor greeted with a sigh. "Sato and Shima can't make it today. Think you can get their parts done?" The man was quirkless, but had worked hard to get to where he was in the newspaper. At just 25, he supervised the newspaper delivery crews for the lower half of the Mustafu prefecture. It wasn't glorious work at all, but it had put a roof over his head, and provided for him. He and his wife were expecting their first kid soon.
Kaleb closed his eyes for a moment and tried to figure out a good way to get all of the route done in time. "I should be able to do it boss." He said, his voice a gentle tenor that surprised most people when they first heard it. Everyone expected the a man as big as Takahashi Kaleb would have a deep voice that rumbled like a bass drum. He could deepen his voice to a passable bass if he really tried, but Kaleb's voice seemed to have settled in a middle tenor.
The supervisor smiled at that. "Glad to hear it." He said, "I have to get back home to the wife." Kaleb's supervisor then motioned with his thumb to the box of donuts that was out for the newspaper delivery crew. "You're doing their jobs, so take their breakfast too. A growing boy need a good solid breakfast." After a moment, he laughingly added, "Not that 3 donuts make a solid breakfast though."
Kaleb touched the stack of papers that was his to take out that day, and the laid a hand on the stacks that were for the other two deliverers. The stacks all seemed to become weightless, and Kaleb nodded to his Supervisor as he set out to unlock his bike.
Kaleb had learned that taking his bike to the warehouse led to police looking for the owner of the bike. Since he could walk 20 minutes and get to the depot where he picked up his papers, Kaleb just left the bike there after school under the pretense of people stealing bikes in his neighborhood.
The old bike had seen better days. It was a single speed simple brake bike that he had gotten at a yard sale for 10 yen. He had found a discarded bike with hand brakes on it that he had moved over, and then had managed to put a larger seat and handlebars on it so he could ride it.
It looked a bit silly, especially when he was on it, but it worked to get him around. Being abnormally tall meant he had a lot of trouble finding things that fit his size. Being homeless and practically an orphan didn't make thing any easier.
Kaleb had two quirks. The first was a mutant type. It was a combination of his absent Father's size, and his Uncle's arms. He had never met his father, and had only been told about him once when his mother was too out of her mind with Trigger to know better. His father had been named Kaleb as well. He was an American his mother had met and had a one night stand with.
Kaleb had only a few memories of his uncle, from before his mother had been kicked out of the family for using trigger. A big man with 4 arms and a loud voice that Kaleb had somehow felt safe around.
Kaleb's second quirk was a mutation of his mother's telekinetic quirk: Mind-Move. Kaleb's quirk was called "Touch-Manipulation." If he touched any part of an object that weighed under 100KG(220 lbs), then he could lit, manipulate, and even spin the things he touched. The effect was passed on through anything that object touched. As long as he was below his weight limit, Kaleb could manipulate several objects and once.
Kaleb's Depot supervisor had helped him apply for and get a basic quirk license that let Kaleb use his quick for work-based duties, provided he didn't try to hurt anyone. The license system let people who had useful quirks use them on a zero-tolerance system. If you used your quirk to fight without approval from a hero, or if you used it to commit any crimes, your license would be revoked, and you could not apply for a new one.
Eating his breakfast after a quick blessing, Kaleb set off, pedaling his bike while steering with one hand and using his other 3 along with Touch-Manipulation to carry the papers for his deliveries that day.
...
Mustafu Prefecture
07:00 local time
Mustafu Public High School.
After delivering the extra papers, and just barely making to school in time to change, Kaleb found his way to his desk, and sat moments before the warning bell. Using his lower left arm to dig through his bag, he pulled out and handed off to other arms, his pens, notebook, and class text. Home room would be first, as always, followed by English and then Japanese literature. Due to his size, his desk was at the back of the classroom, and took up more than the average size of a desk. Not quite twice as large as the other desks, Kaleb's desk sat behind two rows all the same, which meant that I the 3 rows of seats in his class, there was only one seat next to him.
Kaleb, in addition to having an obviously American name, had been outed a few years ago for having a mom who was in prison. Because of his size and mutant quirk, people didn't pick fights with him. They just stayed away and gave him space instead.
"Yo! Takahashi!" Well. Most people did.
Turning slightly in his seat, Kaleb looked at the desk next to his.
"Good morning to you, Taede-san." He said in greeting to the energetic boy that had been his friend for 3 years now. Taede Kentaro was, in almost every sense of the word, ordinary. Medium brown hair, average height, no abnormal features, and quirk that was not flashy or impressive. Kentaro could regrow any teeth that got damaged. That was it. He never had to worry about cavities or getting a tooth knocked out in a fight, because he would be fine about 30 seconds later. Useful, and something many people would want after having a root canal, but not flashy.
"Yes, yes, Good Morning, pleasantries and such." Kentaro waved a hand dismissing the virtues of proper manners early in the morning. "Did you hear about the big news?" Kaleb turned back in his seat and began to organize his things. Kentaro would tell him no matter what he said, so he tended to let the smaller boy run conversations. "The class president of 3-B broke up with her boyfriend."
Kaleb raised an eyebrow. "Didn't they break up last week?"
"No no no!" Kentaro waved his hand back and forth again. "That was a different boyfriend, old news." The class president of 3-B, their sister class as both Kentaro and Kaleb were in 3-A, had been dating boys from the freshman classes, 1-A, 1-B, and 1-C. It seemed she broke up with them after only 1 date and moved to the next.
"How many is that for this year?" Kaleb asked.
"That's number 27." A new voice said, as Kentaro's girlfriend, a student from 3-B came in to with the pair a good morning. If Taede Kentaro was an average Highschool boy, the Hikari Motoko was and average Highschool girl. Black hair to her waist, elegant Japanese features, and a quick that let her throw her voice easily. She had been against Kaleb and Kentaro being friends at first, being intimidated by the taller boy, but had eventually come around to accepting the overly tall Kaleb as an acquaintance, if not fully as a friend. "Good morning boys."
"Ah, my princess approaches, and my day is complete." Kentaro said, with a grandiose gesture of his hands. Motoko giggled behind her hand and kissed him on the cheek.
"I just wanted to say hi before class started, see you at lunch?"
Kaleb nodded, knowing that the pair would find him if he didn't join them. As Kentaro made her giggle again with a statement of "I would not miss it for all the stars in the sky."
Motoko left as their homeroom teacher came in. The teacher began to set up for the morning as the class came in and got ready themselves.
A few moments later the bell to start the day rang.
"Good morning Class."
"Good morning Teacher."
The teacher went over morning announcements and began to hand out papers that were passed back through the rows. "This week and next week, we will be starting the process for application to the colleges you choose to go to. Remember to be openminded and pick more than one."
...
Mustafu Prefecture
11:00 local time
Mustafu Public High School.
The bell to end Japanese Literature rang, and the students got ready to go to Lunch.
Kaleb took an apple, a Tangerine, and two packs of peanut butter crackers from his bag as he stood and waited for everyone else to go ahead of him. Kentaro waited with him, and from experience, they knew Motoko would be waiting in the hall.
Kaleb had learned long ago, that if he tried to leave, he got crowded in with other students who would sometimes not pay attention and run into him or get their heels stepped on. Kale got in trouble for this more often that not, so he just learned to wait.
As the trio made their way to the Roof of the school, to sit and enjoy the weather, they each busied themselves with talking about where they wanted to go.
"Ketsubutsu has a great Legal studies Department." Kentaro was saying around a mouthful of riceball.
"It doesn't hurt your parents went there, either." Motoko commented with her ever sunny disposition as she used her chopsticks to eat a piece of fish.
Having finished peeling his Tangerine, Kaleb broke off some slices, and placing a few in each of his lower hands, offered them to his meal compatriots.
"Thanks!" Motoko said, cheerily, as she put the fruit slices on the top tray of her bento box. "I wouldn't mind going there. It's a bit of a ride from here though."
"How about you?" Kentaro asked after swallowing his rice. Kaleb tended to be quiet, even around friends, so Kentaro pulled him into any discussion he could. "Feel like joining us at Ketsubutsu?"
Kaleb finished chewing on the slice of Tangerine he had popped into his mouth, swallowed and nodded. "I'll put it down as my third."
Kentaro, ever the goofball, put his hands to his chest as if shot. "Third? Why ever would it not be first?" He asked as Motoko giggled at the exchange
Kaleb shrugged before commenting "No Support program. I'm applying for U.A. and Shiketsu for their Support programs. If I don't get one of them, I'll join the General studies program at Ketsubutsu."
After a moment, Kaleb realized the not only had their conversation stopped, but all the other conversations on the roof had, as everyone looked at him in surprise. "What?"
Immediately, Kentaro began trying to shake the larger teen. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to apply to the super prestigious U.A." He screamed as he shook himself back and forth more than he shook Kaleb.
Kaleb looked down at his smaller friend and sighed. "Stop." With a gentle shove of one lower arm, Kaleb pushed Kentaro back into his previous spot. "I didn't say anything because it never came up. I think I remember my Uncle wearing a U.A. uniform, so I want to try there first. Also, the Support program offers a full ride scholarship in exchange for working on Hero Course student gear."
Holding his chin Kentaro nodded with a series of hums. "Well, buddy, I wish you luck. Let me know when you get rich and famous."
Kaleb rolled his eyes. "It's not a sure thing, I might be going with you after all."
As was his style, Kentaro waved a hand back and forth. "No no no, U.A. would be idiots to not take you. I'll be looking forward to helping you patent lots of gear for heroes to use!"
Kaleb smirked at that and Motoko giggled, looking at the taller boy with laughter in her eyes as she nodded her agreement with her boyfriend's words.
A short while later, the trio finished eating, and went back to class.
...
Mustafu Prefecture
15:30 local time
Mustafu Public Highschool
Kaleb changed out of his school uniform and put it in his locker, slipping on his shoes for after school, and leaving his school slippers in the box. He nodded and waved over his shoulder with one hand at Kentaro and Motoko who were going the opposite way as he headed to his second job.
A short 20-minute bike ride got him to the maid café where he worked busing tables, washing dishes and cleaning up. A 4 hour shift of dodging around smaller people, and cleaning meant that he got to have a small meal before he left. Technically, it was an appetizer, but he always ordered the Barbeque beef onigiri. A side of pickles came for free, and he would clock out, eat, and leave.
Today, however, there was some drama about someone stealing tips from another maid's table. Kaleb didn't pay it much mind. He got paid to bus tables, not to break up fights.
After his shift, he rode his bike back to the Newspaper Depot, and chained it up. He then walked to a small grocery that had a fruit stand attached, and bought his lunch for the next day.
Across from the grocery, there was a gym that he had a paid membership to. It was a smaller gym, but it had a lot of big customers, so they had showers tall enough that Kaleb didn't need to bend down to wash his hair. He did a brief workout, mostly stretches and free weights, then showered. The large showers with hot water were the main reason he kept a membership to this gym. Is wasn't the nicest place, but being out of the way, and having lots of hot water for him to bathe in made it worth the membership fees he had to pay.
A short walk after his work out, and he was back at his warehouse.
Kaleb looked around to make sure there was no one who would see him, and then lifter his bag into the broken window. When he had first started coming here, he needed to have a good running jump to reach the windowsill. Now, he could just stand on his toes, and he reached it fine. Pulling himself up with the strength in his arms, he climbed over the low sill, and picked up his bag.
Sitting behind one of the abandoned desks that had been in the office next to the one he used as a bedroom, he did his homework by the fading sunset, and then once the sun was down, by the light of a lamp post outside the window.
Moving to his office-turned bedroom, Kaleb opened one of the manuals for the machinery that had been on the first floor. It was filled with different types of Hero-based textiles that had been used to make the gear in this factory. How to make the fabric, how to test it, what colors each could take, and the up and down sides to the various textiles were listed in the book.
During the day, his alarm clock had charged it's solar panel and was ready for him when he turned in for the night. As he started to lay down, he stopped, and went to the desk he used to homework. His sheet for college application was still blank, and so he filled it out. U.A. was still first, but with a smile to himself in the empty place, he put Ketsubetsu second, instead of third.
...
I hope you enjoyed it. Update to both this and Familia Plus One coming soon.