All kids have some sort of dream, right? Whether it's to become an astronaut, a firefighter, or a police officer, they're all dreams. Not all dreams come to fruition. Some dreams die while growing up and that's just a part of life. In this society that we live in, it's getting harder and harder to achieve your dreams. Only the strongest reach the top, while the weak stay at the bottom and suffer. That's what we've been taught ever since we were little. But, sometimes, on very rare occasions, people decide to break these norms. Even though they're weak, they're also strong in so many ways. They reach their dreams, without giving into society's norms. And someone like that inspired me. Inspired me to become a person just like that, or even better. My name is Tucker Evans, and I'm gonna tell you a little story...

『No. 1 - Blackwood Academy』

The society that we live in all started many years ago in Qingqing City, China. There were reports of a baby that gave off light, but this was only the beginning. Ever since that day, superpowers have popped up in various places, seemingly out of nowhere. Time passed and no real cause was ever found. In an instant, the weird and mysterious became completely normal, and dreams became real. Now, after many many years, about 80% of the world's population has some sort of unique power called a Quirk. And so, the profession that everyone once hoped could be a reality appeared right in front of their eyes. That profession is... being a Hero. The thing that could only be dreamed about from reading comic books or seeing movies became real, and countless people rose to the occasion.

One of those heroes was named Ironheart, or Colvin Blackwood. Ironheart was one of the most popular heroes in the United States of America. At his peak, he founded a school to train upcoming heroes, Blackwood Academy placed in San Francisco. However, not too long after creating the academy, he passed away during a fight with a villain and was remembered as a great hero. It's been decades since his death, but his influence reached all over the country. And one of the people that it reached... was me.

My parents and I lived in New York City when I was growing up. When I was only five-years-old, I had already decided that I wanted to attend Blackwood Academy when the time came. It was around that time when I found out about Ironheart, too. For a school that was founded by such an amazing hero, surprisingly, it was on the decline. Not as many students were choosing to attend Blackwood and the graduation rate was decreasing. But, it wasn't decreasing because the education was bad, no, it was decreasing because people would drop out before graduating and choose to attend other, possibly better, schools. And to make things even worse, the school didn't have an entrance exam like many other big hero schools. It only had a written exam to get into the Hero Division and that was it. My parents knew about these things and always tried to talk me out of it. They would mention how there are better schools out there for a Quirk as impressive as mine. But, I was a stubborn kid and Ironheart had influenced me past the point of return.

Oh, right! My Quirk, duh. It's called Material Replication. The basic summary is that if I touch a material, like concrete, wood, brick, etc., I'm able to transform my skin into that material for about 30 seconds. There are some limitations and cool things that I can do with it, but let's save the nitty-gritty details for after the introduction. Okay, let's get back into the story.

Years passed by and I still never changed my mind. My parents still attempted to sway me to choose a different school, but eventually, they stopped trying. And once I finished 8th Grade I completed the written exam and turned it into the Academy. Then, a few months later, I received my acceptance letter to Blackwood Academy and I was beyond excited. Obviously, my parents were very unsure about sending me across the country to go to High School, but they wanted to support my choices even if they weren't always thought through. Then, the day that I had to leave home to go to Blackwood Academy came...

I stood near the airport gate with my parents, waiting to be called to board.

"Make sure to call every day, okay?" Lillie, my mother, demanded, trying to hold back tears. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone.

"I'll never go anywhere without it," I responded. She smiled and a few tears streamed down her face. I took a few steps towards her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon, mom... I'll be fine..!" I reassured. She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I know... I know..." she stammered. I slowly took my hand off of her shoulder and then my dad, Tony, walked up and hugged me tightly.

"We're gonna miss you, Tucker..." he muttered, "Just know that you can come home at any time, okay..?" I nodded and continued to hug him.

"Yeah, I know," I whispered.

"Flight 149 to San Francisco now boarding," announced the flight attendant over the intercom. My dad pulled me away from the hug, smiling.

"You'll do great," he stated. I smiled back and grabbed my luggage.

"Well, I should get going now," I said. My dad nodded while my mom was still wiping tears off of her face. Then, I turned around and walked towards the gate. This moment was my first step that would change my life, for better or for worse.

After a six-hour plane ride, I landed in The Golden City, San Francisco. After all of those years of dreaming of coming to Blackwood Academy, it was finally my time. The plane landed around noon, so I had plenty of time to get off the plane and find the academy. Like an idiot, I didn't prepare, so I had no idea how to get to the academy from the airport. So, I pulled out my phone and opened up my Maps app. Inserting my current location, I searched around for Blackwood Academy and found that it was a four-hour walk.

"Sheesh... I guess I'll get a cab," I whispered to myself. Reluctantly, I hailed a taxi outside of the airport and told the driver where I was headed. Then, he started driving towards the academy. "Luckily, this isn't too different from New York..." I whispered again. 30 minutes of traffic and below average driving passed and I got dropped off at one of the entrance gates to Blackwood Academy's campus.

"I can't believe I'm finally here!" I shouted, "After all of these years of dreaming... I'm ready to make my dream come true!" Obviously, when I shouted this, people were staring at me, which I noticed. But, I was too in the moment to even let it phase me.

Oh, wait, I don't think I ever explained where I was staying, did I? Well, the academy had two dorm buildings that were both three stories tall. The boy's building and the girl's building. I was stationed on the third floor, but it can't be dorms without roommates, right? With around 40 rooms on each floor, the academy had to shove two or more students into one room to save space. Luckily, I had only been stationed one roommate, so I didn't need to stress about the 'or more' part. At the time, the faculty never told anyone who they were rooming with, all they said was that we had the roommates and that was that. So, I had no idea what kind of person they would be, and that kind of excited me.

'I wonder who my roommate will be?' I thought, 'Maybe they'll be uplifting and inspirational! Or maybe they'll be a good leader who will help me become a better person! I'm getting excited just thinking about it!' I made a mistake of hyping myself up for my roommate. I mean, yeah I'd be living with this person for the next year or maybe even four years, but still. I didn't realize that I had too much hope for this school back then...

Once I got through the entrance gate, I noticed a map that was posted on an event board outside. I scanned it over and deduced on how to reach the boy's dorms, so I quickly jogged over while still holding all of my luggage. While jogging, there were many people walking around the campus and hanging out. A huge excited smile grew on my face as a sped up towards the dorms.

'I can't wait to meet so many new people!' I thought.

I ran for about 3 minutes and finally reached the boy's dorms. Full of excitement, I got to the 3rd floor as fast as I could and reached my room, Room 305. My future roommate was most likely right behind this door. So many thoughts were going through my head, but I had to muster up the courage to open the door. I shook my head around so I could regain my focus and put my hand on the doorknob. With a deep breath, I swung open the door.

"Hi! I'm-!" I shouted as a opened the door. But, no one was there, well, someone was there, but they weren't there right at that moment. I sighed and reluctantly walked in. Quickly, I unpacked my things and set up everything I needed. As I was putting my clothes in my dresser, a distorted and mysterious noise came from the other side of the room. I slowly turned around, underwear in hand, and a small purple portal that was emitting blue particles had opened up in my room. "What the-?!" I blurted out as I jumped back a bit. After a few seconds of slight panic, I inched closer, slowly. I got close enough to where I could put my head in if I wanted to, but I was too cautious at the time. I stared at the portal intensely, trying to deduce some answer for why it appeared in my room. Then, out of nowhere, a face popped out of the portal, centimeters from mine.

"Oh, so you're my roommate," said the face with no emotion. I let out a short blood-curdling scream in response and jumped back straight into my dresser. Everyone in the building must have heard that scream... It wasn't one of my best moments. The impact of me and my dresser was short, but it sent a shock of pain through my back.

"Oww... Dammit..." I muttered while rubbing my back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the face apologized. A hand then came out of the portal and grabbed the side. Slowly, a short boy started to crawl out, and once he was all the way out the portal had closed. He had short and messy light brown hair and eyes that told you 'I'm not interested'.

"Uh, wha-... Um, who-?" I stuttered, still rubbing my back. I had no idea how to process this. A boy just crawled out of a portal that appeared out of thin air..? If you told anyone that story they'd probably think you're crazy or something. Then, the boy outstretched his right hand, signaling me to shake it.

"I'm Chris. Chris Sanders," Chris introduced. I smiled slightly and promptly shook his hand.

"I'm Tucker Evans, your roommate!" I announced. Chris smirked.

"Nice to meet you, Tucker," he said, "Well, I'm gonna take a walk. Don't touch any of my stuff, alright?" Then, he suddenly started walking towards the door.

"Wait, what's your Quirk?" I asked. Chris stopped right in front of the door and turned his head back slightly to look at me.

"Oh, you'll learn more eventually," he said with a satisfied smile on his face. Lazily, he opened the door and walked out of the dorm room. I stood there staring at the door, confused.

"Uh... Okay..?" I whispered as I turned around and continued to unpack. 10 minutes passed and I finished unpacking, so I also decided to take a walk around the campus to get accustomed to it. From what I remember, it was pretty hot on that day. It was a Sunday afternoon in August, so of course it would be hot. I walked out of the boy's dorm building and followed along the sidewalk. Passing the gymnasium, I tried to open the door to check it out, but sadly, it was locked. I sighed and continued walking. The walk between the dorm buildings and the main school building was about three minutes, so it was tolerable even in the heat. But, the entire time I was walking I was looking around like I was a tourist. Now that I think about it... it's really embarrassing. Nevermind, let me get back on topic.

Eventually, I made it to the main building where all of the classes would be held. It was four stories tall and took up almost 1/4 of the entire campus. I was so excited to go in and look around the school that I would be attending for the next four years. But, to my surprise, it was locked, too.

"Seriously..?" I questioned. I drooped my head down and spun around, beginning to walk back towards the boy's dorms. "I guess I can just organize my things before school tomorrow," I whispered to myself.

"Hey, you!" a high pitched shouted out. Like any person, I turned my head in the direction of the voice, thinking it was directed at me. I saw a girl who was about my height with ash blonde hair running towards me, waving her hand. At this point in my life, I wasn't the best at talking to girls. Yeah, I could have a conversation with them, but sometimes I could be awkward depending on the topic. With a confused look, I pointed to myself and mouthed the word, 'Me?'. She nodded in response. It didn't take her long to reach me and get all up in my face. "Hey! Do you know where the library is?" she asked, "I'm kinda lost..." I shook my head.

"No, sorry... I'm new here," I responded. Her face beamed with excitement after I said that.

"Oh, you're a freshman, too?!" she shouted. I nodded slowly. "Cool! I'm Elizabeth Meadows, I'm in the Hero Division!" she exclaimed. My eyes lit up and I smiled widely.

"You're in the Hero Division, too?!" I questioned loudly. She nodded rapidly. "I'm so glad I met someone who's also in it! Oh, I'm Tucker Evans, by the way," I introduced. She leaned in closer and stuck her hands back.

"Nice to meet you, Tucker!" she beamed. She got so close that I had to back up and turn my head so she wouldn't see how red my face was.

"Y-yeah, you too Elizabeth," I stuttered. She backed up and smiled.

"Well, I'll see you at class tomorrow!" she said as she spun around and walked down the path. I took a deep breath and continued walking towards the boy's dorms.

'I felt like my face was gonna heat up after her being that close,' I thought, 'I'm not used to girls being that open with me...' I shook my head back and forth. 'Jeez, I need to stop overthinking things. She was just being nice, nothing more, nothing less.' I continued to think.

After the disappointment of the doors being locked, I arrived back at my dorm room. Chris still wasn't back yet, so I decided to organize some of my supplies for school the next day. Time passed, the sun went down, and people were starting to lock up for the night. But, Chris still wasn't home. I sat in the middle of the room, spaced out on the floor.

"Dammit, we should've exchanged phone numbers or something..." I whispered. Then, I bolted up because of a sudden realization. "Don't tell me... Is he some sort of late-night partier or something..?!" I questioned loudly. "I don't know if I feel comfortable about rooming with someone like that. But, he could teach me the inner workings of that kind of stuff..." I muttered, "No! I don't want to associate myself with that! I want to become a respectable hero, a hero who only does good!"

"What are you even talking about?" asked Chris, who was suddenly in the room. I spun around and jumped back.

"Wh-where did you come from?! How long have you been there?!" I questioned. He stared at me and walked over to his bed. I quickly stood up and turned to him. "Hey, I know you said that I'll learn more eventually, but..." I murmured. Chris looked at me, waiting for me to finish my statement. "I'd really like to know more about your Quirk! Please tell me!" I shouted. He chuckled and nodded.

"Alright, fine, I'll tell you," he replied with a smirk, "Just don't tell anyone in class. I'm trying to give off that mysterious vibe, y'know?"

"What class?" I questioned, "We don't even know if we have any classes together... Wait, are you in the Hero Division? Wait, wait, wait... How do you know that I'm in it, though?"

"I heard you and that Elizabeth girl talking about it earlier," he mentioned. I stared at him with a face of utter confusion. I put my hand on my chin and started thinking intensely.

"Wait, you were... spying on me..? But... I feel like I would've noticed you... How did you-" I muttered.

"Pocket Dimension," he stated.

"Huh?" I questioned as I lifted my head up.

"Yeah, Pocket Dimension. It's my Quirk," he stated again. I took a step closer to him and smiled.

"Woah! That sounds so cool!" I shouted. He put his finger on his lips, signaling me to quiet down.

"You probably shouldn't shout in here. It's like 9:30 P.M., people are heading to bed," he suggested.

"O-oh, right! Sorry..." I stuttered while scratching the back of my head. "So, what does your Quirk-"

"Time for bed...!" Chris cut me off by shutting all the lights off. Then, he flipped his covers over himself and passed out instantly.

"But..." I muttered. Chris started snoring at that point. I sighed and walked over to my dresser to grab my pajamas. "I guess I'll find out some other time," I whispered, unsatisfied. Quickly, I put my pajamas on and went to sleep for the night, excited for my first day of High School.

I had a good nights sleep and woke up at 6:00 A.M. sharp. Class started at 7:20 A.M., so I gave myself plenty of time to prepare for the day. I jumped out of bed and looked over at Chris, who was still asleep.

'He probably has his own sleep schedule,' I thought as I put on my uniform. Then, I ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, grabbed my backpack, and left the dorm building... at 6:30 A.M.

"I got ready that fast?!" I shouted as a glanced at the time on my phone. I slowly scratched the top of my head, thinking. "What am I gonna do until class starts..?" I whispered. I looked around and the courtyard outside the dorm buildings was a barren wasteland. Everyone was either still asleep, or currently getting ready. I sighed. "I guess I'll just wait near the main building..." I muttered reluctantly.

I made my way towards the main building and found a bench placed closeby. Oh, also, the campus of Blackwood Academy isn't similar to any American High Schools that I know of. It mostly resembles an American College. Past the main building, it features a different building that has a library, pool, workout areas, etc. That different building also includes the Support Division classrooms. I just feel like I needed to explain that. Now, back to me sitting on a bench.

I must've spaced out in the time between me sitting down and the bell ringing, because I don't remember a single thing about what happened in that time. So, once the bell rang, I jumped up in the bench and saw a large group of various students walking inside the main building.

"Oh! It's time!' I thought with a huge smile on my face. I happily stood up and jogged towards the front entrance. Now, I'm gonna be completely honest here... I got lost after a few seconds of walking around the school. I was so excited that I just wasn't paying attention to any of my surroundings and I somehow forgot about finding my class. Luckily, I eventually found my first class and went on with my day.

If you're wondering, my schedule went like this: Algebra 1, Biology, American Literature, Graphic Design, Sociology, and Hero Training. I went through all of my classes and arrived at the one I was looking forward to the most, Hero Training.

By the time I got there, the classroom was filled with students. I couldn't make out the exact number, but it wasn't as many as I was expecting. The first people who caught my eye were Chris, Elizabeth, and some guy who was crouched over because he was over 10 feet tall. I stared at the extremely tall boy in shock, but I as I was standing still, Elizabeth noticed me in the doorway.

"Oh, Tucker!" she shouted while waving. I replied with a small wave and walked over to the desks. "I was wondering where you were!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to get used to this place..." I muttered. She giggled and got ready to say something. But, the bell rang, cutting her off. As soon as the bell rang, a teacher entered the room.

"Students, take your seats!" he demanded with a smile. Everyone simultaneously sat down and waited patiently. The teacher pulled out his clipboard and looked over it. "So, only 17 of you this year, huh?" he muttered, "It gets smaller every year..." Then, a boy with light gray hair stood up raised his hand.

"Sir, I have a question," the boy announced.

"Go ahead!" exclaimed the teacher. The boy cleared his throat.

"Are there any other Hero Training classes that aren't our class?" asked the boy. The teacher shook his head.

"Nope! You guys are the only one!" the teacher shouted proudly for some reason. Everyone's face went to shock instantly.

"Wait, so there's only 17 of us in the Hero Division?!" questioned a boy with black hair.

"...Is this even a hero school..?" questioned a quiet white-haired girl.

"Wow, so we're the only people aiming to be heroes in this school? So cool!" I shouted. The teacher then shushed everyone.

"Now, now, quiet down. You see, every year the Hero Division gets smaller and smaller. Honestly, the entire school is attempting to drop the Hero Division completely to become a regular school with no hero focus. There are over 1000 students here and you guys are the only students in the Hero Division... it's crazy! I'm the only reason they keep this class running at this point!" the teacher announced.

'So, we don't even make up 1% of the school?!' Everyone thought simultaneously, staring at him.

"Oh, right! I haven't introduced myself... I'm Mr. Tanner, your Hero Training teacher!" Mr. Tanner introduced. Everyone continued to stare at him with dead eyes, except for me and a few others. I was so excited to finally be in a Hero class that I didn't care what we did. All I cared about was the fact that I was there. Mr. Tanner then placed his hand on his chin and started thinking.

"Hmm... I have an idea!" he exclaimed, "Let's make this first class interesting, alright?" Then, everyone's eyes lit up simultaneously. "How about... A mini-tournament in the gymnasium?" Mr. Tanner suggested.

'We're already doing something this intense on the first day?!' I thought, starting to become nervous.

『No. 1 - END』