If you didn't know yet, this chapter is beta-ed by RottedKarma! They're great, seriously.
10 April, 20XX – first official day of school
12:41 at U.A. High School – Lunch break
Katsuki had successfully managed to blow most of the numbskulls trying to sit with them off, stating that he had little use for extras who just wanted to get to them after seeing their strength.
Deku had fussed about him 'not even bothering to try socializing' and invited the guy with the stupid red hair and that invisible girl to their table. The former was something akin to a social landmine – he got you before you even noticed him, cracking stupid jokes and talking about manliness (his favorite word, whyever) and generally emitting an insufferable amount of friendliness. The latter was more like a conversation ninja – he knew she was there, sitting with them and making her idiotic exaggerated movements while talking in an obnoxious volume, and he still let his guard down while she somehow managed to be likeable.
He was … okay with them, he guessed.
Izuku was sort of relieved that Katsuki had accepted their classmates to some extent. The blonde had never pulled his punches when it came to their class in Aldera Middle School, and he'd been anxious that Katsuki's irascible nature would cause everyone to avoid them. Thank heaven for Kirishima. That guy was scarily easy to talk to.
"Which Hero is your favorite?" the aforementioned asked, demonstrating his value as a conversation-inductor. "Mine's definitely Crimson Riot! Some say he's outdated, but he became a hero with a plain hardening Quirk as mine, and he's the man I want to be like!"
"My idol is All Might!" Izuku answered brightly. "A selfless, intrepid hero who saves anyone with a smile! That's what I want to become, too!" He chose to let it go unmentioned that All Might was also a skeleton that occasionally coughed up blood like a defect fireplug.
"Yeah, All Might is pretty great too!" Kirishima agreed with a radiant smile. "I still have trouble to believe we'll have him as a teacher in less than an hour! So manly!"
"You know that you made twenty-three manly-allusions in the last twelve minutes?" Hagakure giggled. "But, hey, Bakugo-kun, hey!"
"What?" Katsuki's expression promised bloodlust.
"Who do you like best? I wonder!" As Hagakure seemed to be completely unfazed by Katsuki, Izuku pondered if it were just people with zero self-preservation instincts who became friends with him.
"How can you even fucking ask, Invisibit-"
"Kacchan!"
"Invisibinch."
"… Just so you know it, I'm currently pouting."
"He also admires All Might a great deal," Izuku explained and deftly avoided a slap to the back of his head. "We also both like Edgeshot, Snatch and Gen-"
Right then, he remembered again that Gentle a) was not a Pro Hero, but probably something like a vigilante or just a random person, and b) had asked them to withhold his role in the Lime incident.
Fortunately, Kirishima was too friendly to inquire further, and Hagakure was too energetic to ask about a blooper.
While the latter talked about a Heroine named Shroud, who, after a random encounter, had inspired her to become a heroine herself, Izuku thought about Gentle.
He'd never heard anything of the man ever again, even though he'd went through the internet several times hoping to find a bit of information. Maybe he'd just gone back to whatever he'd done before he saved them, maybe he had emigrated or … honestly, he didn't know. He did, however, still admire him; his childlike neurons had branded Gentle as the first Hero he'd ever seen in action with his own eyes, and that it'd been him he'd saved just fueled his enthusiasm.
Katsuki saw it similarly, though he'd blow up his tongue before admitting it.
"I'm sooo curious about All Might as a teacher! I mean, it totally blindsided me when he suddenly appeared on the projector, y'know?"
Hagakure seemed quite vibrant, gesticulating with her whole body (she could give Iida a run for his money) while theorizing about All Might in class.
Bakugo rolled his eyes before starting to pour ridiculous amounts of hot sauce over his rice.
"Dude!" Kirishima exclaimed. "Just what are your intestines made of? I heard it can dissolve your stomach lining to eat that much chili!"
"Don't worry about it," Izuku reassured him. "It's some sort of side effect of his Quirk; it makes him even more tolerant to spicy food than his mother. He'll be okay."
Kirishima looked at him incredulously. "Are you saying his own mother fed him that hellish… on second thought, I think I don't want to know. Anyways, Shroud … wait, are you still not done with the sauce? Look at your rice! It's nearly as red as my hair now! No way you'll be able to eat this and do All Might's training afterward!"
Katsuki looked up at him, and a feral grin sprouted over his face. "Did you just challenge me, Shitty Hair?"
"Kacchan!" Izuku moaned. "For the last time! Couldn't you at least give it a try and remember some of our classmates' names? We'll train with them for three years now, and probably work alongside them afterwards! There's no reason to make ourselves unpopular!"
"Don't worry! I'm used to being overlooked" Hagakure chuckled, though it contained a tiny dash of sadness.
"Plus, we've only known each other for one day by now," Kirishima added, blissfully oblivious. "I don't know all the names of our classmates either right now!"
"Now will you all shut the fuck up and eat your grub? You're a pain in the ass! Besides, I didn't even ask one of you to sit with me, so whatcha all doin' here anyway?"
Izuku sweatdropped. Obviously Katsuki had decided to just use his usual socializing strategy (if it could even be called one).
"Simple!" Kirishima laughed. "Same hairstyle!"
Katsuki looked at him with his 'are you fucking kidding me?' expression.
"I'm here because Izuku-kun said it would be funny."
The glare Katsuki gave Izuku was nothing short of menacing.
"He was right."
Izuku was only able to dodge Katsuki's fist because the boy had hesitated a split second to decide if he should hit him or Hagakure first.
Truth be told, Izuku had also asked those two in particular because they seemed like they wouldn't mind Katsuki's belligerent attitude all that much.
"Now that I think about it," Hagakure inquired, "your finger is already healed! How'd you manage that?"
So Izuku started to explain Recovery Girl's Quirk with enthusiasm, rushing over the three with his vast fanboy knowledge until Kirishima looked at his clock with a hint of worry.
"By the way, guys, we got twelve minutes left and not one of us has even started to eat yet."
13:19 at classroom 1A
"I am here… coming through the door like a normal person!"
Instantly, everyone ceased the chattering and bantering when Japan's Number One Hero, All Might, paraded through the door in the most not-normal way they'd ever seen.
"Oh my…"
"So cool!"
"He… All Might, the Symbol of Peace, is going to teach us! I shall do my very best!"
"He's drawn so different than the rest of us! Makes me kinda jealous …"
"And it's his Silver Age costume, too!"
"I've got three trading cards with that one! This is the very costume in which All Might defeated Crustfall! Its fabric consists of 36% co-"
"Shaddup, Deku!"
Katsuki rolled his eyes. Honestly, it wasn't like it was the first time they got to know that All Might would be a teacher here, so the critters could get a goddamn hold on themselves.
Kacchan!
All right, classma- wait, what?
He had developed some sort of Inner Deku?
Fuck.
Anyway, if this happened every time they had All Might as a teacher, Katsuki was bound to explode (Deku had already been grating on his nerves in Present Mic's class, and he'd had ten months to get used to having a Hero as a teacher).
"It is indeed me!" All Might exclaimed. That was the exact same thing he'd said to them at Dagobah Beach. Must be his standard answer for 'It's All Might!'.
"Basic hero training!" All Might exclaimed while striking a dramatic pose. "This class will put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes!" That was what the fucking name of the course said! The real deal (that'd preyed on Katsuki's mind right from the beginning) was what they'd do!
"No time to dally! Today's activity is going to be…" Dramatic pause. "This one! BATTLE TRAINING!"
Instantly, Katsuki's mood lifted considerably.
13:30 at Training Ground Beta
Of course they were excited. Hell, even he himself, the Number One Hero, All Might, had been excited when he'd put on his costume the very first time.
Good students they would be. A varied mix of personalities, backgrounds, interests, and, of course, Quirks. And most of the students were dressed appropriately to fit those.
While he was aware of the dangers of favoritism, he couldn't help but look out for the two boys he'd trained for the last ten months. The two of them had truly thrived, though he quickly noticed that they were both prone to over-exhausting themselves which had led to reprimands on his part more than once. He'd have to keep an eye on that.
Eventually, both of them emerged from the tunnel, young Bakugo trailing young Midoriya behind.
They were both commanding figures in their costumes, All Might had to admit. Young Bakugo sported a military-style one, with prominent gauntlets segmented into three shell-like objects on either hand, giving off a menacing vibe that fit his disposition rather well… unfortunately.
Young Midoriya's costume came as a surprise though. The boy sported a style similar to a fantasy novel character, clad in black-brown leather armor with golden rims and sparingly distributed green ornaments that formed entwined structures. It made him appear like an assassin from the Pre-Quirk era, especially when allowing for the classic hood and the mask that covered the lower half of his face, both together leaving blank nothing but his eyes. He even wore dark gloves and high boots – there was barely any skin exposed at all. The only thing thwarting the picture was the vibrant green pattern on the breastplate which resembled an atom, hinting at the true nature of his Quirk.
All Might was relieved when the two of them were congratulated for their costumes (despite the efforts young Bakugo made to deter everyone).
In any case, he was a teacher now! He had to make sure they all got the best education he could manage (and leave a good first impression, too), so he broke away from his musings and announced more boisterously than he felt like: "Shall we begin, my wards?"
Izuku shivered with excitement. His first Basic Hero Training lesson. His first time in his costume. The first time he'd experience the daily life of a Hero Course student, and All Might as a teacher. What would it be? A hostage situation? Intelligence gathering? Group fights? Deduction training?
"Sensei!" Iida's costume strongly reminded Izuku of another hero. Which one was it again? The engines, the futuristic style… "This appears to be the same field used in the Entrance Exam! Will we once again perform the cityscape maneuver?"
All Might shook his head. "An appealing idea, young Iida! But in these days, the truly intelligent, outrageous villains appear indoors. Black market dealings, schemes, conspiracies – events far more dangerous than mere robberies or theft. Therefore, today's training will focus on indoor, anti-personnel battles – in groups of two!"
"Wait – no basic training beforehand?"
"The best training is and will remain the praxis!"
Instantly, the class burst into chatter, while some people started getting together in pairs.
"What determines victory?"
"Can I just blow everyone away?" ("Kacchan!")
"Will we be expelled if our performance isn't good enough, like Aizawa-sensei threatened?"
"How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?"
"Isn't my cape just fabulous?"
All Might was taken aback at the sheer number of questions raining down on him. Would he have to do this before each lesson? It was like giving an interview… to five parties at once, that is. "I will explain the victory conditions in a second! Blowing anyone away is strictly prohibited! In my class no one will be expelled – I believe in the determination of everyone who made it this far! The team division is going to be determined by chance, and your cape is indeed highly fashionable!"
"Pardon my bluntness, sensei, but is 'by chance' really the best way to predefine the teams?"
"But if you're an actual hero, you won't always be able to work with the ones you can cooperate with best, right?" Izuku objected. "More often than not, Heroes have to join forces with random colleagues who happen to be nearby, so the purpose is probably to prepare ourselves for off-the-cuff decisions."
"I see! Forgive my ignorance!"
All Might laughed reassuringly and produced the boxes for the lots. "Alright then, shall we?"
Everyone tensed in anticipation.
"And our teams are the following," All Might proclaimed.
Team A: Kaminari Denki and Bakugo Katsuki!
Team B: Yaoyorozu Momo and Mineta Minoru!
Team C: Asui Tsuyu and Shoji Mezo!
Team D: Sato Rikido and Ashido Mina!
Team E: Midoriya Izuku and Tokoyami Fumikage!
Team F: Koda Koji and Ojiro Mashirao!
Team G: Jiro Kyoka and Kirishima Eijiro!
Team H: Sero Hanta and Uraraka Ochaco!
Team I: Aoyama Yuga and Iida Tenya!
Team J: Hagakure Tooru and Todoroki Shoto!
"Now for the matchups! For our first round, we have: Team E as the villains vs. Team J as the heroes!"
As All Might continued announcing the matchups, Midoriya gulped nervously as he met the clinical stare of the Half-Cold Half-Hot user.
A/N: And that's it! I know it's more like an intermission chapter today, but in chapter 9 we're starting with The Battle Trials.
Also, Midoriya seems to have made... different friends than in canon! *insert 3* Who would've thought it?
Oh, yes. Me.
Next time: Battle Trials start! A certain bird-headed student makes an appearance! Team Midoriya vs. Team Todoroki - Round 1! (Also, some foreshadowing will likely occur.)
Remember that your Reviews give me life and motivation (and may cause in me posting the next chapter sooner?).
And as always: Constructive criticism is welcome, flames aren't.
Remember to go beyond...
PLUS ULTRA!
Ramses, over and out