A/N:
okay nvm the good part will be next chapter ig
Sorry for lying last time ._.
Chapter 3: in which sleep-deprived nedzu scares aizawa
Steven sat in the kitchen, nursing a bowl of cereal. He'd taken what Aizawa said to heart, and woke up at five in the morning, which his body really didn't appreciate.
Still, he didn't want to be late and keep the man waiting. He'd probably just go to bed earlier that evening to make up for it.
He had just washed the bowl when he heard the door opening. Wiping his hands off on a towel, he ran over to see Aizawa waiting with a bored expression.
"Are you ready?" he asked, without even looking in his direction. Steven replied affirmatively, and Aizawa nodded in approval.
"Good. Nedzu wants to see you."
"Oh!" Steven perked up. "Neat."
Nedzu was probably his best bet for getting back home. He'd explained yesterday that he had a quirk that gave him superhuman intelligence, which sounded pretty useful. He promised to scour museum databases and other sites on the internet for an amulet similar to the one that sent Steven here, and he would also keep an eye on quirk databases and police reports for a person who could send him back as well.
Steven was thankful beyond relief that he wasn't completely without aid. He could just imagine dropping into a strange new world, in the middle of the wilderness. There wasn't any guarantee that the artifact couldn't have sent him to a world without any intelligent life. If that had happened, he'd have been stuck.
So, on a scale of one to ten for how he was doing, he thought he was at a solid… six? Things could be worse, but that didn't mean he didn't miss Connie and the Gems. Had Lion already taken Connie to the place he'd disappeared from? Did she discover the artifact? He hoped that she wasn't a victim of it as well— though, she was so smart, she probably would have realized that something was wrong and not touched it.
Steven followed Aizawa out, stretching his back and arms as he went along. The sun was just rising, creating a really beautiful image as he looked out at the horizon. He spotted a few students running across the grounds. He recognized the boy with engines in his calves, and waved at him. He received a polite nod back from him as he passed, and Steven whistled to himself as he entered the main building.
A thought popped into his mind, and he shared it with Aizawa. "Do you think I'll be able to go shopping? If I'm going to be here any longer, I want to grab some more clothes. And it would be cool to see the world almost two hundred years in the future…"
"Maybe," he responded. "It'll depend on what Nedzu says."
Steven didn't see why he wouldn't be able to. Sure, he was from the past, but he didn't stick out too much. Even his gem powers could pass as some sort of quirk, if necessary. He probably should have attempted that yesterday, when introducing himself to Aizawa's students. At least then they would actually talk to him.
Right. Deep breaths. There was no reason to work himself up over it— either they would get over their fears or misgivings or whatever, or they wouldn't. It wasn't a big deal, especially not if he wasn't here for long.
"Welcome, Steven!" The door to the office opened as Nedzu greeted them, and Steven smiled back at the furry creature. "Thank you, Aizawa-san. You may return to your class."
"Class doesn't start for another two hours," Aizawa pointed out.
"Huh." Nedzu paused and stared blankly at a wall, and was only shaken out of his stupor when Aizawa closed the door. He smiled at Steven, though it seemed a little strained.
"My apologies. It seems that the night has slipped past me. Perhaps a nap will be in order at some point today." He shuffled through the stacks of paper on his desk, finally settling on a specific packet. "Yes, here it is. I spent a bit of time going through anything matching your descriptions of… 'Gem stuff'."
Steven took the papers, and whistled in appreciation. There was a lot of content here. Not all of it made sense, and most of what he was seeing didn't look to be the product of Gem involvement, but it was an impressive effort.
"I'm sure that, with your cooperation, we will be able to narrow down the list to a more reasonable size."
He nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. I do remember the locations of almost all of the warps, at least in my world. Some probably don't exist here, at least not in the same locations. The old Galaxy Warp is in the Tunguska Sea, and your map just doesn't have that."
"Tunguska Sea…" Nedzu muttered to himself. "Any relation to the Tunguska Event?"
"Possibly. You'd have to ask Pearl. She knows all about that kind of stuff."
"Later, then," Nedzu refocused. "What, exactly, is this Galaxy Warp?"
"Oh!" Steven perked up. "So, Gems made these warp pads that allow them to instantly travel between each other. The Galaxy Warp is the hub for all of the warps connected to other planets, along with the main warp to Homeworld."
Nedzu's eyes widened, ever so slightly. "Instantaneous travel? Do you mean to say that these Gems you tell me about invented faster-than-light travel?"
"Yep!" He nodded enthusiastically. "They're pretty useful. I can… oh, do you have a map? I could mark all of the warps I remember."
A pen and a rolled up map were pushed into his hands. "Please," Nedzu implored.
It was a grueling ninety minutes later that the two finally finished narrowing down the potential Gem sites. Steven recognized none of them, but there were some that looked promising. Much of the warp pad locations were in areas of the world that were completely uncharted still, and many of them were difficult to get to without an instantaneous method of travel— like warping.
Steven looked over the final list. "This is good, real good. I'll be able to check out a lot of these soon, or at least the warp pad in Korea."
"We can make further plans at a later date. I would hesitate to rush in so quickly, as you are still acclimating to a new environment," Nedzu explained. "Assuming you will be staying here for much longer, I'd like to formally register you with the government and the quirk databases, in order to prevent difficulties in the future."
"And my Gem powers can look a lot like a quirk," Steven finished that thought.
"Exactly. If I am to do this, however, I'd like a more complete description of your abilities."
"Sure! First off, I can summon my weapon, which is the shield you've already seen," he started. "Most of my powers are tied to my emotions, so this and my bubbles are a manifestation of me wanting to protect someone or something."
"Can they break?"
"The bubbles do, but they can definitely take a beating before that. I've never had a shield break on me, I don't think. Um… there's also floating. I can control how fast I fall, or at all. That's based on me feeling happy and free, like that floaty feeling you get."
Steven leaned and rested his head on his hands, as Nedzu notated what he was saying. "I can also do shapeshifting. I don't use it for much, but I can do stuff like lengthening my limbs or changing my age. I also have super-strength, which is another thing all Gems have."
Nedzu raised an eyebrow. "When you say 'super-strength', what do you mean? What are your upper limits? Be a little more specific."
"Mm…" Steven thought about it. He'd never tried to figure out the upper limits of his Gem-enhanced strength, though he could think of one occasion where he lifted something incredibly massive. "At my best? A few tons, though I never really checked. I'd say somewhere around a few hundred to a thousand pounds is my 'normal' range."
"Interesting," Nedzu commented. "Continue, please."
"I mean, that's mostly it? I have healing saliva, which is pretty useful. Oh, and one more thing," he realized. "If I'm really stressed, I can go into my 'pink state'. It just powers up all of my other abilities, to an insane degree."
Nedzu looked interested. "Could you demonstrate?"
"Not really, no," Steven sighed. "I have to be really stressed to do that, and I'd rather not destroy any buildings here. It doesn't make me… the most stable. I've been practicing inducing it in small increments, but it's slow-going."
"Well, that's fine," Nedzu waved it away. "This should be more than enough to register you and prevent any problems in the future. I would like to see how your healing works at a later date, however. Was there anything else you wished to address?"
"I was wondering if I could go shopping? I need some clothes if I stay here much longer, and the wardrobe my room came with isn't very large."
"You'll need a chaperone, for protection and to guide you," Nedzu answered, "but that would be doable. Tomorrow morning, perhaps?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Excellent. I'll be able to cover the costs as well. I'll have one of the teachers at the dorms tomorrow at nine. Now, considering I don't believe you have any plans for the day, I have a proposal…"
Steven ambled down the hall, making sure he was going in the right direction with the instructions given to him by Nedzu. Assuming he wasn't lost, the classroom would be right around the corner.
Turning, he spotted a sign next to an enormous door reading '1-A', showing he'd made it to the right place. However, he didn't expect the trio of students camped outside the classroom.
"Hello," he said to grab their attention, accompanied by a friendly smile and wave. The tallest one, a blond teen around his age, jumped to his feet. A shorter girl with long blue hair followed, though the third member of their group stayed on the ground and didn't look up.
"Hey there!" said the blond teen, an easy smile on his face. "Are you here to see Aizawa-sensei?" he asked when Steven stopped near them rather than moving on.
"Yep!" answered Steven.
The blond looked him up and down, scrutinizing him. "Sorry, I don't think I recognize you. What class are you from?"
"Oh, I'm not from any class," Steven laughed. "There's been a mix-up, so I'm basically a guest of the school right now. Principal Nedzu wanted me to help out with Class 1-A while I'm here, though."
"Ooh, that sounds cool!" squealed the blue-haired girl. "I'm Nejire Hado! Our friend on the ground is Tamaki Amajiki."
"And I'm Mirio Togata," he introduced himself.
"My name is Steven Universe, but you can just call me Steven, I'm more used to that," Steven said. "Wait, did you say Togata? Principal Nedzu mentioned you…"
"Did he?"
Steven passed along one of two explanatory notes he'd been given by the principal. The other was to go to Aizawa. They explained what his role in class 1-A would be, at least for the near future. According to Nedzu, he'd be spending some time with Togata, since his mentor would be helpful in finding a way back, so he got a note as well, which fully explained his unique circumstances and the fact that he had a Gem rather than a quirk.
"Huh," Togata read the note with a mixture of incredulity, surprise, and then acceptance, pocketing it after a minute. "Well, it's nice to meet you! And if I'm going to call you Steven, just use Mirio."
"You can call me Nejire!" the blue-haired girl piped up. "If you're going to be helping Aizawa-sensei, you've gotta have a useful quirk! What is it? What does Principal Nedzu want you to help with? Why—"
"Whoa, don't overwhelm the guy," Mirio held her back, and she blinked in realization.
"Oh, yeah! Sorry about that!"
"Don't worry, apology accepted," Steven chuckled. "Mirio can tell you more later, but I don't actually have a quirk. Instead, I have this gem." He lifted his shirt just enough to show if off, then put it back.
"What? What does that mean—"
"Come on in."
"Oh, that's Aizawa-sensei! Let's go!" Mirio broke off from the group and entered the room. The rest followed him, and Steven watched as Aizawa died off in the middle of his explanation when he saw him. Similarly, most of his students glanced at Steven first, though they refocused on the other teens soon after.
"Universe. I assume…" he trailed off when Steven gave him the note, and he didn't even bother reading it. "Great."
"Everyone else, meet U.A.'s 'Big Three'," Aizawa said, turning back to his class. "These are the most powerful students U.A. has to offer, the closest to becoming part of the top ten even among established pros."
"That's right!" Mirio stepped forward and grinned. "We'll be explaining how your work studies will work, and what they can do for you! I'm Mirio Togata…"
"I'm Nejire Hado!" she bounced up and down on her feet.
Amajiki said, in the smallest of voices, "Tamaki Amajiki."
From that moment on, the room was in chaos. Nejire popped from one student to another, asking sometimes-inane, sometimes-insightful questions about anything and everything; Amajiki stood in the corner, facing the wall and generally looking like he was doing his best to fall through the ground; and Mirio stood in the middle of it all, going through an obviously-prepared spiel that no one was paying attention to.
It was a mess, and Steven had to appreciate it for a moment, at least until Mirio stopped trying his speech and went for a different tactic. With an ear-piercing whistle, he silenced everyone in the room.
"Okay, maybe telling you wasn't the best option," he laughed. "Instead, I'll show you. Aizawa-sensei, could we move into one of the gyms?"
The teacher sighed, getting up as he did so. "Sure."
It was a much calmer trip to the nearest gym, the class actually paying attention to what Mirio had to say this time. Steven found it interesting as well, though he had a lot of questions, such as: What was a hero agency? Heroes were ranked? What did sports and festivals have to do with saving people?
However, he recognized that it probably wasn't the best time to ask a bunch of questions that literally anyone else could answer, so he put off his curiosity for the moment. Besides, they had already reached their intended destination.
Steven made to follow Mirio to the center, but Nejire grabbed his arm and pointed to the bleachers. "Don't worry, Mirio's got this."
"What," he began, "is Mirio even planning on doing?"
"He's going to beat up all of the kids to teach them a lesson," sighed Amajiki. "You c-can call me Tamaki, by the way."
"Beat them up?" Steven asked, bewildered. "Why would he do that?"
Nejire snickered as they sat down. "To show how much the work studies helped him, and how much stronger he is than all of them."
"Wait, how old are you?"
"We're both seventeen, though Mirio is eighteen. We're all third years," she answered.
"That's only, like, two years older than them!" Steven exclaimed. "I mean, I'm sure he's a lot stronger than any of them, but I don't think he'll beat a class of twenty by himself."
Nejire snorted. "Watch and be amazed, new boy. And don't think I've forgotten what you said about not having a quirk. I have so many questions!"
Steven rolled his eyes, but acquiesced to her inquiries with a barely-concealed smile. At least she had interesting questions. As he told her about his Gem parentage, they watched Mirio dispatch the first-years with ease. His jaw dropped more than once, especially when he watched the hero-in-training sink through the ground for the first time and reappear in a completely different place.
"What the heck?" Steven muttered. "Is he just sinking through the ground and teleporting?"
"Maaaybe," said Nejire, with a knowing grin.
He hummed and focused on the beat down happening in front of him. The students were being taken down one by one, Mirio appearing behind each one and knocking them out with a single punch. Some of them looked pretty unpleasant, and Steven decided to heal them once all was said and done.
It didn't really click until he noticed something. He wasn't dodging every attack— every attack was just going through him.
"He can make himself intangible?" Steven asked, and Nejire confirmed it with a cheer.
"Mm-hmm! It's called Permeation, and it's really hard for him to use since you can't breathe or see if everything is going through your face, ya'know?"
"Oh, wow," he murmured. That was even more impressive. He was completely cutting himself off from the outside world whenever he sank into the ground. Steven's powers could be difficult to control, but this felt like a whole new extreme.
"Mirio worked really hard to get where he is today," said Tamaki. "His quirk is really pretty weak, but he worked his entire life to get to where he is today. It's… inspiring."
Steven nodded in agreement. Finally, the last first year was taken out (green hair and green lightning crackling along his skin) and Steven got up to join the group. He crouched down near the closest victim, the girl with headphone jacks for earlobes, and said, "I'm just going to heal you real quick, if that's okay."
"You… what? Sure?" she stumbled, clearly not understanding what he was getting at.
He licked his finger and touched it to her arm, and though she appeared repulsed at first, her expression quickly turned to amazement as her bruises faded.
"Thanks, I guess." She accepted his offered hand as he pulled her up. "Didn't know you could heal."
He shrugged. "Didn't come up yet."
"It's a lot like our nurse, except she has to kiss you and it makes you really tired," she commented.
They had a nurse with a healing ability like his? He had to meet her, then.
Steven moved on, hopping from one groaning student to another, though Steven quickly healed up their injuries. It was nice to see them looking at him with awe and curiosity rather than fear and uncertainty, though it felt a bit… manipulative? That they liked him because he healed them?
He could process that later, once he was alone. Mirio was finishing up his speech, which everyone was thoroughly paying attention to now that they realized how strong he was. Focusing on him, Steven heard the last thing Mirio had to say.
"Hmm. We still have a bit of time. Steven! Want to spar?"
He blinked. That… was an offer from out of the blue. Maybe Nedzu's note revealed more than he knew. Regardless, he was sorely tempted. It had been a while since he'd been able to get some real combat practice in…
"Sure!" Steven accepted.
Aizawa huffed, but didn't deny them their moment. All he said was, "You have five minutes left until next period. Don't take too long."
Steven cracked his neck from side to side, shifting into a combat stance as everyone else backed away to spectate.
"Alright!" called Mirio. "On the count of three."
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
End Notes:
woo Steven and mirio do be about to do some fancy fighting
uhhh idk that's it that's the chapter thanks for reading
ALSO
If you think Steven isn't written well you're right he isn't and I've no idea what I'm doing, but hopefully it gets better over time? It's hard for me to write Steven and Katsuki and one of them is the main character of this fic sooooooo