Beneath the Hero's Mask

Chapter 3

"Ugh, I'm never gonna get used to this..." Ren thought as he adjusted his tie for the umpteenth time.

He dreaded having to wear a school uniform again. The blazer and slacks combination wasn't that bad, but he found the piece of cloth circumventing his neck to be suffocating. He briefly considered taking a gamble on the strictness of the U.A.'s dress code and take the darn thing off, but his desire to make a good first impression was stronger than his discomfort, thus his textile leash remained in place.

The dark-haired boy was waiting for his newest friend on the intersection that connected the streets of LeBlanc and Izuku's apartment. The clock struck 07:30 in the morning, their agreed upon meeting time. He looked around and saw a green shade approaching quickly from the side. Izuku ran up to Ren.

"Sorry for being late!. I got held up by my mom. She can be a bit overbearing at times…". He said between pants.

"Don't worry, you're just in time." Ren said to ease his concern. "Here, I got you something."

He handed him one of his two disposable cups of coffee.

"Thanks." Izuku gladly took the cup and sipped. "Yech! Tastes burnt. Guess Mr. Sakura must be having an off day."

"I actually made it myself. Boss has been teaching me how to make coffee, but I guess I still have a lot to learn."

Izuku started coughing into his cup. "Oh. I-I'm so sorry, Amamiya! What I meant to say was—"

Ren waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine. It is indeed burnt. I'm sorry, hopefully the next one will be better. And please, call me Ren. Shall we get going?"

"Right, Ren. The train station is this way, follow me!"

The two freshmen went on their way to their first day of high school. During their short walk and train ride to school, the boys took the chance to get to know each other a little better.

Once Izuku felt more comfortable in Ren's company, he let a bit of his inner Hero fanboy show. He shared with him his ambition of becoming a pro Hero, his fervent admiration for All-Might, and even his Hero Analysis for the Future. Izuku would normally be way too embarrassed to ever consider sharing all of this with anyone, but there was something about Ren that made him feel as if he could share anything with him. He was an exceptionally good auditor. He listened to his rambling with unironic interest and no judgement whatsoever. Ren actually found it quite endearing to see the burning passion in the boy's eyes when he talked about his interests.

When they eventually arrived at the school entrance, Izuku was still going on about the prestige and legacy of U.A. High School.

"…and the acceptance rate is 1 in 300. Can you believe we actually made it?! Only 40 students got in the Hero course this year, they're split into two classes of 20 each." He said. "What class are you in, by the way?"

"Umm… 1-A, I think." Ren replied.

"Really?! Me too! That's kind of a relief. I'm finally going to have a friend in class."

They kept on walking through the hallways. Ren took the time to admire the view from the towering floor-to-ceiling windows. It was hard for him not to feel out place there. This was a place for the ultimate talent all the country had to offer. The elite of the elite. The students inside these classrooms were supposed to be the paramount exemplars of the just values and ideals that make a Hero. How would they feel if they knew a convicted vigilante walked amongst them? Ren shook that thought away. His record was confidential; no one at school except for the teachers knew about his past. This was a fresh start. This was the first day of his new life. The death of Joker, the outlaw, and the birth of Joker, the Hero.

They stopped in front of their classroom. Ren turned to his companion who was getting fidgety.

"Nervous?" He asked.

"A bit. I'm just wondering what our classmates are gonna be like." The green-haired boy replied.

"Don't worry, how bad can it be?" Ren said as he opened the door.

"Get your feet off that desk!"

"Get the stick out of your ass!"

They were immediately greeted by the sight of a tall, studious-looking boy arguing with a rough-looking blond boy.

"Well, that's a nice start…" He thought.

The boys ceased their argument to look at the new arrivals by the door. The tall one strode towards Ren and Izuku.

"Good morning! My name is Tenya Ida from the Soumei Private Academy. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He greeted politely and effusively.

"Ren Amamiya."

"Hi, I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's nice to meet you."

"Midoriya…" He said with an indecipherable look. "You somehow realised there was more to the entrance exam than met the eye. Your perception skills must be incomparable. You greatly surpassed me and my expectations. I apologize for underestimating you!"

Izuku became flustered "Oh, W-well, I…"

Ren arched an eyebrow in confusion. Izuku never actually told him what went down in the entrance exam. He was going to have to ask him later.

"Hey, I remember that messed up hair! You're the falling boy." An unfamiliar voice called from behind them.

There stood a short, cheerful girl with shoulder-length auburn hair. Ren had never seen her before, but Izuku seemed to recognise her.

"Oh, H-hi! I guess I should thank you for everything…" The boy stumbled on his words.

While Izuku choked trying to talk to the girl, Ren noticed the blond boy from before glaring at the green-haired boy with a scowl.

"Hey, Izuku. Do you know that blonde boy over there?" Ren asked.

"Who? Oh, yeah. His name is Katsuki Bakugo. We went to middle school together." He replied.

"You two have some sort of history? He doesn't seem to like you very much."

"Umm… It's complicated. I've actually known him since we were both four. We used to be really good friends, but we kinda drifted apart with age."

The bubbly girl talked again. She seemed to be as enthusiastic as Izuku about the school.

"What do you think we're doing today besides orientation? Oh, I bet the cafeteria food is awesome! And I'm so curious about our teachers. I can't wait to meet everybody!"

"If you're only here to make friends, you might as well pack up and leave now." A new voice said.

Out of nowhere appeared a man tucked inside a sleeping bag. Ren recognised him as Eraserhead, but the other students were perturbed by the sudden apparition.

"It took 8 seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work; time is precious. Better students would understand that." The man said as he slid out of the sleeping bag. "Welcome to U.A.'s hero course. My name Is Shota Aizawa, I'll be your homeroom teacher."

Everyone in the class, with the exception of Ren, shook with bewilderment at the eccentric man who was to be their homeroom teacher for the year.

"All right, let's get to it. Change into your gym uniforms and meet me outside." Mr. Aizawa ordered.

"But what about orientation?" The brown-haired girl asked.

"There's no time for pointless ceremonies. We have different plans today…"

The Quirk assessment test was held on the field adjacent to the school. After all the students were done changing, Mr. Aizawa addressed the class to clarify the purpose of the test. Throughout their lives, the kids were prohibited from using their quirk in public. Now, they had to use their Quirk to complete a series of physical tasks to ascertain the full potential of their power.

Everyone was excited at the opportunity to show off their Quirks, but their anticipation was curbed when the homeroom teacher spoke the last of his introduction.

"…the point of these tests is to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will therefore be expelled, effective immediately."

The whole class gasped in unison. He couldn't be serious, could he? Expelled on their first day?! The jolly auburn-haired girl started protesting the perceived injustice when the teacher immediately shot her down.

"The world isn't fair. You think a villain will care about fairness? It is your job as Heroes to fight unfairness and go further beyond, no matter the stakes. Prove to me that you are Hero material. Prove that you deserve to be here."

Mr. Aizawa's words inspired determination in his students, eliminating any qualms about the test. They were now resolute to prove their worth.

The first test was a 50-meter dash. One by one, the Heroes in training approached the designated running track. Ida, who apparently had motorised legs, finished the sprint in merely 3.04 seconds. Bakugo boosted himself with explosions generated by his own hands, achieving a time of 4.13 seconds.

Ren looked at the display with astonishment. The competition was fierce from the get-go; no one appeared to be holding back. This threw a wrench in his plans. He originally intended to lay low and not stand out too much. The less attention he brought to himself, the smoother his probation would go. However, getting expelled would most definitely violate his probation. He couldn't risk it. It seemed like he had no other choice, he had to go all out.

With newfound resolve, he walked up to the starting line and assumed the crouching position typical of a track runner. He took a deep breath and loudly proclaimed.

"Zorro!"

From a cloud of blue flames appeared a barrel-chested swordsman, wearing a black mask and cape. His magnificent mustacho was of evocative of devil horns. Everyone stared in awe at the figure floating next to Ren.

"Whoa!"

"What the hell is that?"

"I that his Quirk?"

He ignored the reactions of his classmates and took off in a sprint. Then, the persona fluttered his rapier to invoke a blast of wind that propelled the boy forward at massive speed.

The timer stopped when he crossed the finish line. "4.40 seconds, not bad. Gotta keep it going." He thought.

He walked back to the group while the next participant headed to the starting line. She was a tall girl with long black hair, neatly tied in a ponytail except for a loose strand framing the right side of her face. She bore a serious expression and an aura of unassuming confidence. Ren felt oddly curious about how the alluring girl would fare in the test

Once she was in place, the girl unzipped the top of her gym uniform, exposing her bare midriff and sports bra. The move drew the eyes of all the boys in attendance, but she remained unphased. Suddenly, a colorful glow covered her stomach, she reached to it with both hands, and from within she slowly pulled out a fully operational moped. In a swift motion, she mounted the two-wheeled vehicle and speeded through the 50 meters in the blink of an eye.

Ren was surprised, that was definitely not what he expected. This class certainly had a lot of talented people with great potential. He could see couple of them ending up at the top of the pro Hero rankings in the future. Ida and Bakugo were doing especially well on the test. A quiet boy with white and red parted hair also seemed to be acing the physical tasks. Nevertheless, Ren was particularly eager to see what else the ponytailed girl could do.

The next task consisted in a test of grip-strength. The students were to grasp an electronic device that would measure the amount of force applied to it. The first participant, a well-built guy with a webbed sextuple set of arms, immediately raised the bar by scoring a stunning 540 kg of force.

Ren frowned. He was confident in his own strength in battle, but he was going to need something more if he was to excel in this test. He looked around him, trying to find a clue, an idea that could give him a little push.

His eyes came across the same dark-haired girl that upstaged the class during the 50-meter dash. She seemed to be conjuring another item from her skin. She conjured a C-clamp, and proceeded to fasten it over the measuring device. Then, she started tightening it until the lever couldn't turn anymore, maxing out the force gauge.

"She's certainly full of tricks, isn't she?" He thought.

Seeing the girl's out-of-the-box approach to the trials sparked some creativity of his own.

He turned to Mr. Aizawa to seek confirmation. "So… we don't actually have to do these tasks ourselves, right? We just need see they get done using our Quirks."

"This isn't called a Quirk assessment for nothing, kid." The teacher responded.

A grin appeared on his face.

"Hecatoncheires!"

Ren called upon the mythological giant. The summoning called the attention of everyone in the room again.

"He's got another one?"

"What the…?"

"This one's kinda gross."

He held up the device in his hand. The persona reached out his own to take it, and then firmly gripped it with inhuman strength.

"999 kg. That's as far as the display on the device goes." Mr. Aizawa noted as he registered the score. The boy pumped his fist triumphantly while soft murmurs of amazement floated in the air.

Ren completed the next couple of tests using his personas in any way that could give him an edge. However, he noticed that Izuku had yet to use his own Quirk and was falling behind everyone else. He hoped that the green-haired boy had some sort of ace up his sleeve or his first day at U.A. might be his last. He needed to find a way to help his friend, fast.

"Amamiya! You're up." The voice of the homeroom teacher called.

It was time for the next test, the ball throw. Unlike his peers in primary school, Ren was never too interested in baseball, so he decided to let one of his personas take care of it again. He held the ball firmly and yelled out the name.

"Captain Kidd!"

A massive skeleton materialized behind him, it rode a floating pirate ship and had a cannon where his right arm should be.

Ren bounced the in his hand a couple of times before throwing it high above him. The legendary privateer caught the ball in his cannon hand and straightened his arm ahead. Whit a thundering sound, the ball was expelled from the cannon's barrel at exorbitant speed, eventually getting lost in the horizon.

"1370 meters" His teacher read from the ball tracker.

Captain Kidd vanished in a blue-coloured blaze, and his wielder returned to the group of students.

"That was amazing, Ren!" Izuku welcomed him.

He smiled humbly. "Thanks, but what about you? You still haven't used your quirk."

"Uh, well I…" He trailed off.

"Don't wanna overshadow everyone else, huh?" Ren said playfully. "Don't overthink it, man. Just give it your best!"

Izuku nodded, he walked to the pitcher's mound and took a ball in his hand. He took a deep breath. If there was ever a moment to use his Quirk, this was it. Now or never.

He winded his arm and waited a moment before throwing the ball with all his might! … only for it to fall spectacularly right before his eyes.

Izuku couldn't believe what just had happened. "What?! I tried to use my Quirk but—"

"I erased your Quirk."

"You erased my…?" The boy asked in confusion. "Wait a second… I know you! You can cancel someone's Quirk just by looking at them. You're the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead."

The students muttered amongst themselves. Apparently, the pro Hero had quite the reputation.

The teacher scoffed at his student. "You're not ready. You don't have control over your power yet. What was your plan, throw a reckless punch again and hope someone would come save you? Is that how you intend to fight villains? Throw a single punch and knock yourself out? At this point, you are nothing but a liability. You are worthless if you can't do anything by yourself. I'm sorry, Midoriya. Someone like you could never become a hero."

Izuku said nothing, instead he simply dropped his head. His eyes began watering.

Eraserhead turned his back to him. "I returned your impractical Quirk. Take your final throw if you want, it won't make a difference."

A heavy silence filled the air with tension so palpable to the point of being smothering. The rest of the class was rendered speechless by the harsh words of their homeroom teacher. After a few seemingly eternal seconds, Ren's voice broke the silence.

"So what?"

Everyone's eyes darted towards him.

"Did you say something?" Mr. Aizawa asked.

"So what if he can't do something by himself?" He reiterated as he took a step forward. "We've all been in need of help at one point, haven't we? We're all here thanks to the people that supported us in one way or another. Isn't that right, Eraserhead?" He stressed the last part. "I'm sure you didn't make that scarf yourself. You don't strike me as the knitting type. It's ok to rely on people sometimes, what matters is that we learn and grow from our experiences. Isn't that why we're here, to learn? He might not have full control over his quirk yet, but he is the most driven, hard-working, and knowledgeable guy I know. He passed the entrance exam, he deserves to be here just as much as any of us. Give him a chance and he might surprise you." Ren's look softened as he look right into his teacher's eyes. "Sometimes people just need someone to believe in them."

Eraserhead looked intensely at Ren, but didn't react. Ren disregarded his teacher, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

"Come on, Izuku. You can do it!" He tried to encourage him. "I know you can!"

Izuku was stunned, still processing his friend's speech.

"Yeah! Give it your best!" The brown-haired girl joined in. "Throw that ball out of the park!"

Slowly, the rest of the class, save a few students, joined as well, shouting and chanting in support, cheering him on.

Izuku smiled and wiped a tear. His eyes were now burning with the motivation to not let down everyone that believed in him. He winded his arm once more and winged as hard as he could. At the last second, he channeled all of his power on the tip of his index finger to push the ball, hurling it in the air with great force.

Cheers of celebration congratulated Izuku's throw. Everyone was happy at the boy's success. Well… almost everyone.

Bakugo was angrier than usual. He dashed towards Izuku with his right arm cocked and fuming.

"Deku, you bastard! How did you do that?! Have you been lying to me this whole time?!"

Before he could reach Izuku, Ren bolted and put himself between the two of them.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Bakugo asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." The bespectacled boy responded calmly.

"Get out of my way! I need to—"

"You need to step down." Mr. Aizawa said menacingly. "I would appreciate it if you didn't make me use my Quirk. Stop wasting my time. Whoever's next can step up."

Izuku approached his defender. "Thank you Ren, I— Ouch!" He held his hand in pain. The sheer explosion of power had left his finger badly hurt.

Ren took his hand. "Let me take a look at it…"

The finger was bruised and swollen, a fracture was highly likely. He extended his hands and held them close to Izuku's finger.

"What the hell? He got hurt by his own Quirk?" He thought.

"Cybele!". Ren said to summon the deity of fertility and nature.

A persona stole the spotlight once more, though this time for a different reason. Some looked away in embarrassment, a boy with purple balls in his head whispered the word "Nice…" at the sight of the naked goddess.

Ren closed his eyes and focused, a green light engulfed his hands. Suddenly, the inflammation and lacerations on Izuku's finger faded away as if they were never there. His patient flexed his finger a couple times. He had regained full mobility, no track of any pain whatsoever.

"How did you do that?!" Izuku asked, mouth wide open.

"I'm a man of many talents." Ren said with a wink.

The commotion settled and the class carried on with the remaining tests. They went generally smoothly, but Ren's performance decreased noticeably. Using his Quirk to heal Izuku took a lot of energy out of him, but it was all worth it to help his friend. Although he was thankful that it was only his finger, he might not have had enough stamina left to heal a greater injury. Finally, Mr. Aizawa shared the ranking based on everyone's scores.

1st - Momo Yaoyorozu

2nd - Ren Amamiya

3rd - Shoto Todoroki

4th - Katsuki Bakugo

…

…

…

19th - Izuku Midoriya

20th - Minoru Mineta

Ren sighed with relief. It was close, but Izuku managed to narrowly avoid expulsion. He felt a little bad for thinking this, but being completely honest, if someone had to be expelled, he was glad it was that Mineta guy. Ren was getting some major creepy vibes from the purple pipsqueak.

"By the way, I was lying. No one's getting expelled. Just wanted to give you a little push to put all your effort into the test." Mr. Aizawa said.

"WHAT?!" All the students cried simultaneously.

Ren laughed. Apparently all the worrying was for nothing, but in the end he was simply relieved that the stressfull trial was finally over.

Mr. Aizawa turned away from the class. "We're done for today. As homework, read through the syllabus before tomorrow. Class dismissed."

The teacher walked up to Izuku and handed him a paper slip. "Midoriya, take this and go have the nurse check that finger. I don't doubt Amamiya's powers, but better safe than sorry." He continued walking away before briefly stopping by Ren. "Didn't know you could heal too. Guess you really are a 'wildcard'."

The enigmatic teacher disappeared through the exit. Behind him, class 1-A started filing out, finally heading home after an exhausting first day.

Before leaving, Ren walked up to the girl that took the first place in the test over him.

"Yaoyorozu, right? Just wanted to say well played. That was a close-run test, but you beat me fair and square in the end. I must say, your Quirk is very impressive." He said.

"Every Quirk can be impressive if you use it right." There was no fake modesty in her voice. She was merely stating a fact.

From up close he could appreciate just how tall she was. Ren was considerably taller than most boys his age, yet she was only a couple centimeters shorter than him.

"That was quite the speech, by the way." She said.

"Oh." Ren blushed lightly at the memory of his outburst. "It was nothing. I was just standing up for my friend."

She tilted her head slightly. "Friend, huh? You did call him by his first name. Did you and Midoriya go to middle school together?"

Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm… no. I actually just met him three days ago."

"Really? Interesting…"

He felt a bit silly. From an outsider's perspective, it definitely seemed ridiculous to get so close to someone in such a short time. Had he precipitated into their friendship? He hoped Izuku didn't feel the same.

"Yeah…" He laughed it off awkwardly. "Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you. I'm gonna go check how Izuku's doing. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"The pleasure is mine, Amamiya. See you tomorrow."

Ren decided to wait for Izuku by the school gate. When he arrived, he saw Ida standing by a pillar. He had a pensive look and a hand on his chin.

"Hey, Ida. Waiting for someone?"

"Ah, Amamiya. I was actually hoping I could talk to you for a bit." The blue-haired boy said.

"Me?" Ren asked.

"Yes, you. Your performance on the quirk assessment test was remarkable. I am quite curious about those bizarre creatures you summoned, that is a most unusual Quirk. If I may ask, how exactly does it work?"

Ren pondered his response for a second. "Well, I call them 'personas'. I'm not exactly sure where they come from, but If I call their name, they come to my aid in battle. Each one has their own unique abilities."

"Ah, I see. So you give them commands and they obey your bidding, is that it?" Ida asked.

"What? No, they're not Pokémon! It's more like they are a part of myself; an extension of my body. I can control them in the same way I can control my own arms or legs. I can only use one persona at the time, however." He explained.

"Fascinating, what an intriguing Quirk. It does seem to have incredibly versatile applications."

While they were talking, a familiar head of shaggy green hair exited through the school doors.

"Izuku, there you are! How are you doing?" Ren asked.

"I'm totally fine. Recovery Girl took an x-ray of my hand to make sure nothing was amiss. No fractures or bruises. Your Quirk is really amazing, Ren!"

"Please, you're gonna make me blush. " The black-haired boy said sarcastically.

"I concur with Midoriya. I don't think I've ever seen such a multifaceted Quirk. With the right training, you could certainly become a powerful Hero, Amamiya" Ida added.

Ren took the compliment in silence. He was not used to so much adulation. The trio started walking away from the school when they heard a voice behind them.

"Hey! Wait up, guys! Are you heading to the station? Let's walk together!"

The trio turned around to find their friendly, brown-haired classmate.

"Oh, you're the gravity girl, aren't you?" Ren asked.

"That's right! My name's Ochaco Uraraka. Nice to meet you!" She said with a wide smile. "Let me see if I get it right. You're Tenya Ida, Ren Amamiya, and… wait, is your name Deku or Izuku?"

Izuku was taken aback by the question. "What?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that Amamiya calls you Izuku, but I heard Bakugo call you Deku during the test." She said.

"Oh, that. Well you see, Izuku is my actual name, Deku is just a mean nickname Kacchan likes to use to make fun of me."

"Really? So sorry, I didn't realise. Well, I think 'Deku' is actually kinda cute."

"You can call me 'Deku' if you want!" Izuku replied almost too quickly. He tried to use his hands to cover his deeply red cheeks.

Ren tried to hold back his laughter at the boy's lack of game. The now quartet made their way towards the train station, eventually parting ways to head to their respective lines. Ren and Izuku stuck together until they arrived at the same intersection where they met that morning.

"Well, that was an intense first day, wasn't it?" Ren stated.

"Yeah, you can say that again…" Izuku replied with a sigh. "Hey, Ren. I want to thank you again. Not only for healing me, but for what you said during the ball throw test as well. It really meant a lot to me."

"There's no need to thank me. That was just my honest opinion. And I know you would do the same for me." He gave him a warm and comforting smile, that later became a cheeky grin.

"By the way, Izuku…" His voice adopted a suggestive tone. "So… Uraraka, huh?"

"W-what?! I-I mean, what about her? I mean, she's nice, isn't she?" He said nervously.

"Yeah, she is. Ida seems alright too. I'd say we got a very interesting set of characters in our class." Ren said. "This is going to be an interesting year…"