20.02.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back with another chapter of this story that has a title that's way too long to repeat each week! Let's answer the comment from the previous chapter and be on our merry way to enjoy today's chapter!:
SonicMax - It might be unexpected of me, but there are already plans for the USJ Nomu! And for the USJ as a whole actually! I even got the perfect title names for two key chapters, but I won't spoil them! Even though you've already read them a couple of times...
And now, the content!:
"Over the course of the weekend I've reviewed the footage from your Battle Trials and I must say that I'm genuinely impressed." Aizawa said, though a couple of his students felt a disturbance in the force, a sign of a sudden turnaround on the horizon. "I'm genuinely impressed that I actually saw potential in each and every one of you." There it was, that disappointment that they knew so well after only a week. "I witnessed everything from dumb strategies and collateral damage all the way to near friendly fire and no fighting style to speak off. Thankfully there were also a couple of diamonds in the rough, so not all is lost just yet I guess."
It is currently Monday and the students of class 1-A have returned for their second proper week of school after resting throughout the weekend. As usual they started their day with their homeroom teacher who decided to double down on them on account of their poor performance during All Might's Battle Trials. Aizawa did say something about seeing some diamonds in the rough, but he refused to elaborate on the point further before leaving.
Izuku wanted to believe that he'd done rather well despite technically losing his Trial. He did manage to capture Kirishima in a 1v1 fight though, so that could've earned him some points with their grumpy teacher. He doubted it was anywhere close to changing the man's attitude towards him or anyone else for that matter, but maybe if he kept trying he would eventually be able to sway Aizawa's opinion? Only time will tell in this case.
"Dream on kid. That's a seasoned professional and professionals have standards. Though maybe if you were to bash his head in a couple of times he'd have a change of heart?" The daemon didn't waste an opportunity to mess with Izuku every chance it got, but at least it didn't try to run from him so that was something.
Izuku can take having to listen to the never ending, annoyance inducing whispers and the occasional gory image or two. A teleporting case which imprisons a bloodthirsty daemon? That was a bit out of his league if he were to be honest.
Despite attending to one day become professional heroes, Izuku and his classmates couldn't afford to give up on their general education studies which meant that free time was sparse and mostly taken up by homework or other assignments.
Thankfully Izuku considered himself a rather hard-working and studious individual, though even if he had problems with certain subjects he could always turn to his trusty friend that was Shiozaki. They may have been placed in separate classes but they were both first years so they were basically learning the same stuff. As such they decided to study together to cover for each other's weaknesses with their strengths. It was Shiozaki helping Izuku most of the time - something that he felt a bit guilty about - but the vine-haired Christian was always quick to remind him that helping those in need was why she wanted to become a hero in the first place.
They also met up for casual hangouts from time to time of course, as taking breaks from studying was important to avoid burnout, boredom and mental exhaustion. Whenever they met up for a reason other than studying they'd end up going for a walk most of the time as the campus was really big and they still hadn't seen everything even though they've been here for a couple of weeks already.
They'd talk about nothing and everything, sometimes comparing their vastly different experiences with their homeroom teachers, sharing funny stories or complaining about their classmates.
That's how Izuku got to hear about some of the more rowdy members of class B.
The biggest instigator was for sure Monoma Neito - a scheming little gremlin that got just a tad bit too inspired by Kan's passionate speeches about 'showing those class A spotlight-hoggers what's good!', whatever that was meant to mean.
Thankfully class B also had their own resident peacekeeper in the form of Kendo Itsuka - a tomboyish martial artist that tried her best to keep in line not just her classmates but also her own homeroom teacher. There were limits to how much she could do about the latter but the former were all fair game. Shiozaki mentioned something about the brutish ways that Kendo liked to deploy frequently, but Izuku decided not to pry into that too much.
Another troublemaker was a girl by the name Tokage Setsuna - from what Izuku heard about her he couldn't stop himself from drawing the comparisons between her and their own Ashido Mina. Both liked teasing people and seemed to not pull any punches when they sniffed a gossip juicy enough to catch their interest.
Rounding off the most memorable members of class B was Shishida Jurota - an individual that Izuku immediately marked as a potential friend due to all the praises that Shiozaki had sung about the man. He was a most esteemed gentleman who treated everyone with respect and dignity. Well-mannered and polite would describe him perfectly and Izuku was glad that Shiozaki had someone like that in her class.
Listening to Shiozaki talk about her classmates made Izuku reflect on his own classmates and the friendships which he'd already formed with some of them.
Ashido and Kirishima were outwardly friendly towards most of the class except for a select few, but Izuku knew that he was one of their closer friends as Kirishima seemed pretty smitten with his sense of justice and physical strength.
Another person Izuku was on good terms with was Tokoyami who turned out to have quite the liking for things of the occult nature, whether it had anything to do with his quirk or not we may never know. Izuku had spent a good chunk of his childhood buried in books about various topics, one of which was precisely cults and rituals of the past and Tokoyami showed great interest in the stories that Izuku could still faintly recall which led to them forming a companionship based on similar interest.
The last person that Izuku considered being close to was Shoji, as though they didn't talk that much Izuku liked to think that he knew the giant man quite well. His mannerism as well as the unwillingness to remove his facemask even when it was just the two of them told Izuku everything he needed to know in order to deduce that - just like himself and Tokoyami - Shoji was fighting his own demons on the daily, and whilst they weren't literal daemons, Izuku could certainly sympathize with him.
There were a couple of people that Izuku talked to from time to time like Sero and Kaminari who were friends with Ashido and Kirishima. Kaminari was also talking with the purple pervert from time to time, but thankfully didn't show any signs of being corrupted by the midgets perverted psyche, so Izuku had no quarrels with him.
The only people that Izuku stayed away from were the purple pervert himself, the walking time bomb that was Bakugo and Todoroki who simply seemed like he wanted to be left alone, so Izuku was simply honoring his unspoken wish.
Izuku may not know all of his classmates that well just yet, but with time he was sure he'd be able to forge long-lasting bonds with most of them, ones that'd carry over into their future careers and ensure that the civilian population would be well protected.
The start of their third week seemed to be as ordinary as it could be. They did hear some news from the students that lived close enough to the campus to abstain from moving to the dorms that there was a huge crowd of reporters in front of the main gate. Apparently they've been tipped off that the rumors about All Might becoming a teacher at U.A. were actually true and they were demanding an interview to explain that situation to the public.
They were of course denied access onto the campus, first by the automated security that stood watch over the campus' perimeter and when that failed teachers were dispatched to handle the situation. Unfortunately Aizawa was not one of those heroes and was very much present during the homeroom.
This ordinary Monday however would be turned on its head starting right this very moment!
"Pay attention, class, because today you are going to do something of the utmost importance." Aizawa stated with his usual stoic look and monotone voice as his eyes glazed over the students.
Needless to say his words had put all of the students on edge in an instant as they still very vividly remembered that their homeroom teacher fancied using logical rouses on them and they didn't want to be caught off guard.
"Today you'll pick your class representative and their deputy." Aizawa explained which made the entire class relax and deflate at once.
"It's just a normal school activity!" The students thought in relief.
"I don't care how you do it, just get it done before the homeroom ends and don't wake me up." Aizawa added and then proceeded to crawl into a yellow sleeping bag like a caterpillar before laying down behind his desk and probably falling asleep.
The class remained silent for four whole seconds before the excitement set in and took over the most expressive students of the class. Various students stood up and declared their candidature in loud, boisterous voices, something that couldn't have ended well.
The class went silent once again as soon as they saw Aizawa's glowing eyes stare into their souls from behind his desk. Once he was satisfied with the silence he seemed to have returned to sleeping or at least pretending to sleep.
Despite the quick scare however, the excitement was still very much there. The situation was about to escalate once again when Iida stepped up and stated that they should simply hold an anonymous vote to elect their representative and their deputy. Izuku chose to ignore that Iida was one of the loudest voices in the room just a few moments ago.
In a plot twist that no one saw coming, Izuku ended up being elected as the representative. Apparently the guys saw many great qualities in him and he received nearly half their votes! Yaoyorozu - who was elected as his deputy - seemed to be in a similar position as the girls spoke quite highly of her and Izuku couldn't imagine a better right hand to be honest. Perhaps Iida could've been more helpful, but he was still prone to having his lawful outburst at even the smallest transgressions and Izuku would've prefered for his deputy to be level-headed, so Yaoyorozu was precisely who he needed.
"I look forward to working with you Lady Yaoyorozu." Izuku said as he bowed slightly in front of the rich girl.
"T-The pleasure is all mine." She responded with a stutter that Izuku wisely decided to ignore.
"I'd like to thank you all for the faith you've put in me. I promise to do everything I can to meet your expectations. From this day forward, if you've got any problems feel free to reach out to me and together we'll surely be able to figure something out." Izuku stated quickly, prompting Kirishima to whisper 'Manly isn't it?' to some of the guys sitting around him.
As soon as the election was over, Aizawa stood up from his spot on the ground - further cementing the idea that he was only pretending to sleep to mess with their heads - and cleared his throat before speaking.
"Now that you have elected a representative I have an announcement. This Friday we'll be having a field trip to the USJ to hold a special training exercise." Aizawa began, but was unfortunately interrupted by the outburst of his students.
"Universal Studios Japan?!" A couple of teens yelled out from the crowd.
"Sorry to burst your bubble - not really - but the USJ I mentioned stands for Unforeseen Simulation Joint. That's the name of one of the more remote facilities on the campus, so we'll take a bus to get there. I'll give you all the necessary information on Friday. That's all." And without even waiting to see if there were any questions, Aizawa laid back down on the floor before dozing off.
The remaining time in the homeroom was spent on weaving wild theories about what this whole trip to the USJ might entail. Izuku had an idea, but decided not to reveal it. Besides, he most likely wasn't the only one paying special attention to the 'Unforeseen' part of USJ.
Their trip to the USJ was slowly fading out into the background as more common topics replaced it in their conversation and by the time the lunch break rolled around no one was talking about it anymore.
Izuku and Shiozaki were supposed to meet up during lunch, so as soon as Izuku grabbed his food he headed out in search of his friend. Finding Shiozaki's vine-like hair was quite easy, mostly thanks to the fact that Izuku could easily look over people's heads because of his height. As soon as he spotted Shiozaki sitting in the far back of the cafeteria, a logical spot to choose if you wanted to have even a semblance of peace in this otherwise noisy and busy place.
Shiozaki greeted him as he sat down and the two began eating whilst taking turns talking about how their days were going so far. Apparently class B also had their class representative elections today and - to no one's surprise - Kendo Itsuka became their representative with Shishida filling the spot of her deputy. Izuku was glad to hear that if their classes ever had to cooperate, he would have responsible people to work with.
The green-headed pair was about halfway through their meals when suddenly an alarm went off, the sirens wailing and the speakers broadcasting an automated message about a 'code 3 breach'
"What does 'code 3' mean?" Shiozaki asked as they watched all the students gathered inside the cafeteria panic and run around like a bunch of headless chickens.
"I don't know but it sounds very bad. Go back to your friends, I need to find my classmates!"
They wished each other good luck as they separated and went in opposite directions, planning to regroup with the rest of their respective classes before heading towards the evacuation point that the students were meant to gather at during emergencies.
There were a couple of strugglers, but in the end Izuku managed to count all twenty heads, meaning that their class had successfully evacuated the school just like they were meant to. A quick look to the left and Izuku saw the amber-haired girl that must be Shiozaki's class rep do a headcount before nodding to herself with a small nod.
"That's good. The last thing we need is having to search for people." Izuku thought to himself with relief.
"Something ain't right kid. If the situation really is supposed to be serious enough to make an entire generation of peacekeepers shit their pants like a bunch of babies, how come there are no sounds of fighting? No distant yelling, shouting, explosions, no wailing in agony or fear of the unknown that is death?" The daemon spoke and Izuku found himself pondering its words.
"He's kind of right. The main gate isn't that far away from the school building itself, we would've probably heard some sort of a commotion even from here." Izuku dwelled on the subject for a few more moments before dropping it entirely. "The teacher's probably handled it already and everything will be back to normal in no time at all." He thought optimistically and instead of focusing on the cause he decided to make sure that his classmates were alright.
This chapter came out really short, but I couldn't think of anything else I could put in here without having to encroach onto the USJ already, so it was cut shorter than usual. Rest assured that once the actions picks up next week I'll make it up somehow!
For now have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!