Of course, I don't own MHA and all credits to the creator.
Chapter 18: Building connections
It was the first day of the new school year. Yuichi walked down the quiet hall of UA, looking for his class. He had gone to school early to avoid the masses later on. In front of him stood the massive door of class 1-A, a bit too massive in his opinion.
"My god, no need to extend a door to the ceiling. Are there giant here or something?"
He pushed the door open and saw a nearly empty classroom. It seemed some blue haired kid had beaten him to it and was already sitting down at a desk. Yuichi looked at him and walked towards the opposite side of the class, until his new classmate stood up and walked towards him.
"Greetings! My name is Ida Tenya from Somei Private Academy, your fellow 1-A classmate!" He stuck out his hand.
"Uh, good to meet you Ida Tenya." He shook Ida's hand and continued walking.
Ida stood still for a moment, until he once more walked to Yuichi. "It is customary to reply with your own name when someone tells you theirs."
Yuichi put his tag on his table and sat down. He put his arms on the table and rested his head on it. "With all due respect, it's very early in the morning. I'm no morning person and I never will be. I don't know the source of your energetic mindset, but I need some rest."
"Nonsense! We are here to learn and to eventually become great heroes! It is important to remain functional during school hours." Ida's hands were waving as fast as a ranting Italian's.
"Kaneko Yuichi, now please leave me rest in peace." He said as he made a hand signal to go away.
Slowly, more students appeared in class. A pink girl, a guy with red pointy hair and a girl resembling a frog were talking near the front as a black haired girl entered the class, followed by some human Pikachu. For some reason, that human Pikachu seemed familiar. It wasn't until an old acquaintance made an appearance that Yuichi raised his head.
Ojiro looked around the classroom and spotted the face of his sensei from all those years ago. He dropped his bag near his table and walked over to Yuichi. "Good to see you again, sensei." He made a respectful gesture with a large smile.
Some others looked over, but they were met by an irritated face. "Mind your own business!" Yuichi snapped at them before facing Ojiro. "So, long time no see."
"Haha, yeah. Good to see you again." He scratched the back of his head. "I've continued training as promised."
"And it seems your dream of being a hero is coming closer. Still got the staff?"
"Yeah, I'm still using it as my main weapon. If you don't mind, can I ask you something? While you always had the skills for it, you never showed interest in becoming a hero. It was kind of unexpected to see you here of all places."
"I have not much better to do with my life, so I thought I'd come here and see what this school is all about. Maybe I'll actually learn a thing or two."
Yuichi turned his attention to the blonde that just walked into class. When eye contact was established between him and Bakugou, Yuichi taunted him with a grin. Bakugou walked with an angry yet silent expression to the seat in front of him.
"Ojiro-kun, why don't we continue our reunion at a more suitable time. I think class is about to start and I don't want to keep you from making new connections."
"Yeah, you're right. We have enough time to talk during breaktime." Ojiro excused himself and went to his seat, where he introduced himself to his neighbours.
Meanwhile, another conflict was about to start. The passive-aggressiveness Bakugou was releasing had attracted the attention of Ida, who couldn't stand the absence of order in the class.
"You there, with the blond hair!" Ida stormed like a soldier through the class towards Bakugou. "It is against school policy to put your feet on your desk!"
"HUH!? Are you in love with the desks or something!?" Bakugou mockingly told Ida.
"Do you not find it disrespectful to your fellow students?! These desks were created by hardworking labourers for our sake and were used by our respectful seniors!"
"As a matter of fact, I don't give a damn. What school did some NPC like you even come from, huh?"
"I'm from Somei Private Academy. My name is Ida Tenya." He robotically replied.
"If it isn't some damn elite, huh. Do you think you're better than me because you attended some 'rich' middle school, cause I'll destroy you."
"What heinous words! Are you truly here to become a hero?!" Ida paused for a moment when Bakugou diverted his attention to the door. Ida turned around and saw the boy from the entrance exams and rushed over. "Hello, I am Ida Tenya from Soumei-"
Midoriya waved his hand for Ida to calm down. "Yeah, I overheard you saying it. I'm Midoriya, nice to meet you."
Two were talking, and another girl shortly appeared behind them, Yuichi simple observed Midoriya. "How the fuck did he get in?" He said, with Bakugou noticing.
"This isn't a kindergarten, so go makes friends elsewhere. This is the department of Heroics of the prestigious UA." A human caterpillar on the ground announced, shocking the class. "It took you eight seconds to quiet down. Time is limited and you kids are not rational enough."
"Wait, is that our teacher? He looks like a homeless person." Someone in the class whispered.
"I'm Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher. Good to meet you." He grabbed some sports attire from his sleeping bag. "Put these on and meet me on the field."
The class walked confused to the locker rooms, where they were met with standard UA training suits labelled with names. Everyone looked for theirs and started changing. Yuichi himself also wore a compression shirt under his normal clothes, as he didn't see a positive site to showing off his grand collection of scars. It would only cause unnecessary questions.
"Hey, isn't there supposed to be some entrance ceremony at these schools, or some basic explanation?" the person next to him asked.
"No idea. I wonder why we suddenly need to go out on the field. It's our first day here." The redhead replied.
Yuichi sat down on the bench. "Hey, at least they're getting straight to the point of this course."
"I guess that's right. By the way, what are your names? I'm Kirishima, nice to meet you!"
"I'm Kaminari!"
"Kaneko Yuichi, a pleasure to be here."
"Well guys, let's head to the field."
Aizawa already awaited them on the field. "Well, you're all finally here. We're going to be holding a quirk assessment test." While announcing this, he looked over at Yuichi.
"But aren't there other events that we're supposed to attend?!" The class was in an uproar.
"You are all here to become heroes and heroes don't have time to attend such leisurely events. Here at UA, teachers receive the complete freedom to decide these matters."
Noises of protest died down. Only some of the girls had a disappointed face.
"We will be having a series of tests that will be familiar from Middle school. During these tests, you all were prohibited from using your quirks. Japan is still using averages from students without any quirk use, but this is UA. Their negligence is their own problem."
Bakugou was called up to pitch a soft ball. Instead of a normal throw, this time he had to use his quirk. There was an immense shockwave combined with the words "DIE" being heard loud and clearly.
Aizawa looked at his phone and presented the results. The ball had reached just over 705 meters, far surpassing his results without quirk use. "Before we do anything else, you all should be aware of what you're capable of. This will be the rational metric that forms the basis of your hero foundation."
People were exited to try it as well, but the word 'fun' rubbed Aizawa in the wrong way.
"Do you think this is… fun? Did you believe that your three years here was going to be a fun and good time, cause then you misunderstand heroism. You are here for a shared purpose, and I can assure you that it won't all be a 'fun' time being a hero. But have it your way, I will simply need to add a rule. The last student will be expelled for being a hopeless case."
The class was in shock. "You can't do that! We all passed the entrance exam! You can't simply expel someone like that!" Was said from the back, but Aizawa could only grin."
"With the freedom UA grants me, I can do whatever I want. Welcome to the hero class, students."
Yuichi had been silently observing from the back. This teacher seemed hellbent on preserving law and order. The realistic and logical mindset was respectful in his eyes. At least someone in the heroic education system understood the importance to be truthful to your students.
The tests proceeded as expected. In all categories, a few students used their quirks to excel in specific areas. The most fascinating was how a simple ball became a danger to satellites due to the use of a zero gravity quirk. The potential of that quirk could be unbelievable, had the weight limit not been an issue.
It was Midoriya's turn to pitch the ball. Till now, Midoriya had been amateurish in most fields and was probably one of the last. If he wasn't going to change his current pace, Yuichi doubted Aizawa would let him stay.
"Till now, it hasn't been looking good for Midoriya." Ida said.
"Of course not. That Quirkless loser can't do shit." Bakugou replied
"Quirkless?" Ida reacted surprised. "Do you not know what Midoriya has done in the entrance exam?"
"How am I supposed to know!? He probably cheated or something!"
"It seems we were in different areas." Yuichi popped up behind them. "But Ida, please enlighten us what we are missing here."
"He one punched the Zero-Pointer with his quirk and rescued Uraraka. His heroic actions were truly incredible." Ida answered passionately.
Both Bakugou and Yuichi looked confused at each other. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he was quite badly injured afterwards, so I do not think he uses it often."
Meanwhile, a new dramatic scene appeared in front of them how Midoriya was confronted by Aizawa. There seemed to be some tense conversation between the two until Aizawa backed away and Midoriya went back to throwing the ball. Everything seemed normal till some energy formed around his finger and the ball was blown away.
Bakugou's mouth dropped. "But… How… Shitty Deku is Quirkless." Even Yuichi was wide-eyed surprised at this development. As expected, Bakugou rushed towards Deku, but before he could reach him, Aizawa stopped Bakugou.
The class continued with the last tests, but the tension around Bakugou remained tense. Kirishima made a comment about how the two probably share a troubled past, but still went over to Bakugou to cheer him up. It was firmly rejected. Meanwhile, Midoriya had to continue the last tests with a broken finger.
After all was completed, the class gathered for the results. Yuichi had a respectable 16th place, while as expected, Midoriya was last. How he had lost against the invisible girl remained a mystery. At the end of the day, it didn't matter, because Aizawa proclaimed his previous new rule to be a lie.
Yuichi was just about to leave, but Kirishima approached him. "Hey Kaneko, Sero, Mina, Kaminari and I were planning on getting some food and get to know each other. Want to join us?"
"Uh, sure man. I have some time."
"Awesome! They're waiting near the exit." Kirishima said excitedly
"Actually, is it all right if I invite someone else?"
"Of course, the more, the merrier! Who were you thinking of?"
"Ojiro, the tailed kid. Have you seen him?" Yuichi asked.
"He was still changing when I left. He should be coming out soon." Kirishima said.
As if god himself heard it, Ojiro exited the main door of UA at that exact moment. Yuichi waved at him and signalled him to come over.
"Hey, you're Ojiro right?" Kirishima told him. "Want to go eat with us?"
"I got to train later in the day, but I've got time." He replied.
They walked to the exit, where the rest were waiting in their student uniforms. It seemed they were bickering about something.
Kirishima waved at them. "Hey guys, I brought him! You figured out where we're going yet?"
Kaminari crossed his arms. "I suggested a burger place nearby, but Mina here doesn't understand the exquisite taste of burgers and wants natto."
"Not true! I don't hate burgers, I just prefer natto!"
"I'm actually not that hungry, what about a juice bar?" Sero suggested, but he was met with a unison "no" from Mina and Kaminari.
Kirishima sighed. "Well, the idea was to go together to a place."
"I know a small food hall not too far away." Yuichi mentioned. "Everyone can just get their own food and then we'll sit together."
The redhead gave him a hard, but friendly, pat on the back. "Good idea! Everyone agrees with the idea?" There were no objections.
The group made its way to the food hall. Once there, everyone spread out and got their own food. Mina returned with some natto, Kaminari with a burger, Sero with fresh orange juice, Yuichi with mitarashi dango, Ojiro with ramen and Kirishima with a large array of different meats. They were all munching their food until Kaminari spoke up.
"Maybe we should first introduce ourselves to the rest. Who you are and something about you."
"Oh, I'll go first!" Mina replied excitedly. " Ashido Mina, at your service! I went to the same middle school as Kirishima and I love dancing! My quirk is acid that I produce from my body."
"Kirishima Ejiro, and you just heard Mina. I like manly things and all kinds of meat. My quirk allows me to harden my body like a rock."
"I'm Sero Hanta. I live in Tokyo and I like old American comics. I can shoot tape from my elbows and use it in various ways like swinging around."
"Kaminari Denki! I'm a gamer and I love all kinds of music. My quirk is a wide range electric type and I'm trying to achieve more control over it."
My name is Ojiro Mashirao, also from Tokyo. I love all kinds of martial arts and want to utilise them in combination with my tail." Kaminari, who was sitting next to Ojiro, was already in trance because of the tail and couldn't stop playing with it. "I also know Yuichi from my past and we used to be training partners."
"Kaneko Yuichi, but you can also just use Yuichi. I used to live in Tokyo, where I met Ojiro and taught him some stuff. I'm currently living in Musutafu, not far from UA. Hobby wise, history is an old passion and I'm also a slight gamer." He got a thumbs up from Kaminari. "As for quirk, that is something absent for me."
Most looked quite surprised, with only Ojiro awkwardly looking away.
"Wait, you're quirkless?" Mina asked.
"Yeah. It's a situation I have to deal with. It's not as bad as you might think."
"I was wondering why you weren't using any kind of quirk during the test today. I guess that's why." Kirishima mentioned.
"Hard to use one if you don't have one. The test of today was more a portrayal of potential of skill and mindset. I just had to score above average at every test, which was easily doable, to get a pass."
"But how did you deal with the robots in the entrance exam?" Kaminari questioned.
"There are more ways to deal with robots than brute force of a quirk, and more sides to win points in a hero exam."
Instead of the expected answer Yuichi expected, the group sounded exited. "That's so manly! Without having a quirk, you've beaten hundreds of candidates and entered UA!"
"That's indeed quite respectable" Kaminari said.
"Hell yeah!" Mina shouted, getting a bit too excited.
The six students continued their socialising for the next two hours, until Kirishima, Ojiro and Yuichi had to leave. Kirishima and Ojiro waved Yuichi off and went to the train station. Yuichi however, walked towards his home as he had some 'business' to attend to.
"Let's take a look at what we got here."
Yuichi grabbed the papers from his back, which consisted of a class register and some basic information. He also had copies of some lose files he discovered while snooping around UA. He still had his duty as Kuon to assist the All For One and Shigaraki, so he grabbed the papers and scanned through the information.
Once in his house, he grabbed his laptop and made some notes. "What an interesting class. I'm sure All For One can give me all of their medical record. Shouldn't be a big issue with all his connections."
When scanning through the list of classmates, he spotted something familiar. Something that gave him some distasteful flashbacks of a bygone era.
"Yaoyorozu, how interesting to see that again. It must be some strange coincidence, I didn't have any children." Despite knowing it wasn't his family, he still made a small note for further investigation. Just out of simple interest, he made himself believe.
Yuichi also noted down some information about the teachers and upcoming event dates and locations for Shigaraki. He could do with it what he wants, but at least he'd fulfilled his job of assisting the League.
After printing them out, he put them in his schoolbag, ready to be delivered to the League. After all, there was no need to risk leaving some digital trace. You never know what digital quirks in the hand of the government may stumble upon...
Name: Kaneko Yuichi
Gender: Male.
Age: 15.
Birthday: 29th of May
Height: 168 cm
Eye colour: Golden
Likes: Mediterranean food, history, philosophy, general goofing around
Dislikes: inefficiency, irrationality, having his time wasted and mishandling of food
Appearance: Kaneko Yuichi is Japanese and has slightly spiky, but messy brown hair with golden eyes. Originally, his eyes weren't golden until his first reincarnation, which since it has been the only physical trademark he keeps in every life. The gold represents the continual reincarnation and being stuck between good and evil. He has an athletic build and can often be seen wearing hoodies, of which he has a great collection.
Personality: On the outside, he can be seen as outgoing and comedic, often coming off as an either completely serious or not serious individual. He highly values loyalty in whatever situation he might be in. This stems from underlying trust issues in his past. Yuichi shows a disregard for most authority, wishing to be the leader in most cases, unless it becomes too much of a drag. He can also come over as provocative, being direct in his opinions and finding fights 'amusing'.
On the inside, he's become a cold, manipulative individual that prefers to stay alone as others can be considered extra risk factors. This side is one that only All For One truly knows and it is one of the reasons for their special bond.
Quirk: Reincarnation
The quirk allows the user to reincarnate his soul into a new body when he dies and retains former memories. The quirk has fused with the soul and will also move with it. So far known, quirks from previous lives are not kept. It is unknown if there is a limit to reincarnation or how to stop this potential endless cycle. The current holder of this quirk is in his sixth life.
I've provided a basic information sheet for Yuichi at the end, containing some details on appearance, personality and quirk. If you might have any question or mention/suggestion, I'd love to hear your opinion.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Please comment it.
Till the next time!
-Shinobi-Hamster