Considering he might as well have been another student, that's what he was.

The uniform felt stiff and uncomfortable, and the tie made him all tense, consciously being aware of it all the time, and if he focused too hard he'd imagine the feeling of being breathless, and golly, isn't it fun to have breath-related trauma (asphyxiation in particular. all that remained was being nearly choked to death and he'd have the package deal. great.) ? Therefore, he kind of forewent the tie, and considering he wasn't an actual student, his guardians didn't see a reason to make him (..hey, wait wouldn't that mean he could just be in his normal clothes–?) .

The big problem was that he never actually went to school (well, except that time he went to a military one, but he didn't think that counted ). Well, sure, the older kids at camp who learned about math and the like would teach the younger kids, but overall camp half-blood taught them how to survive.

They couldn't really relax and have a life at school, not unless they knew how to protect themselves, and not if they wanted to risk hurting others. (And especially not him. Considering the gods weren't here in Japan though, it wasn't likely that the monsters were here as well. You'd think that they'd flourish, but monsters craved demigod blood, which quickly became in limited supply. ..He didn't actually know if it worked the same here as it had been in the US, and especially not in the future.)

Percy was different like that, having a mortal family to return to, being able to protect them. Being accepted for who he was and being able to be truthful. Being strong enough to not have to worry about being taken off guard.

Man, he didn't even know he missed Percy. Well yeah, he was kind of crushing on him, but after it was all said and done, they were just kind of a little awkward at most.

And since he was needed to help maintain the Underworld with his father, preventing another catastrophe, (like, I don't know, Thanatos being captured, and the Doors of Death being opened?) Percy was needed among the campers to keep morale up and deal with the aftermath, not to mention he had a little sister to take care of now..

He'd never realized how busy they were in hindsight after the war, but it only made sense.

By the time he'd finished his inner monologue, he was given the signal to walk in, and he tried to act casual and nonchalant about it, standing at the front of the room as Aizawa (well they use.. Sensei here. He knew subconsciously he would be saying 'Aizawa-sensei' but it felt weird trying to think of him as that in his head instead of other honorifics like Mr.) introduced him.

Bakugo gave him a glance and their eyes locked. The teen sharply tilted his head downward, as if looking for a confirmation, and he gave a subtle nod back, to which the kid untensed. What was that?

A green-haired kid (introduced as Midoriya Izuku) who he realized in hindsight was the group of teenagers he saw back in Kamino Ward's eyes practically sparkled, leaning forward in his desk as he basically spat out word vomit of questions upon questions at him.

He blinked.

Dimly, he was reminded of his past self, an excitable kid with his Mythomagic cards, being curious about anything and everything, especially when he'd first found out that the 'fictional' creatures he saw on the cards were real , and that he was in that world.

That was, until Bianca had died, and he'd been too angry at Percy to really enjoy the half-blood life, not that he really could, now that he's grown up.

Nico softened. They were just kids. Traumatized, maybe, but they hadn't been as intimate with death as he'd been. He hoped that they never would either. Never be forced to fight in a war where it should've been adults. Maybe he was hypocritical. Despite most of them being strangers, he understood very clearly the topic of child soldiers and trauma.

At least for the camp it was a life or death thing, but these kids just wanted to help others. To use the strength they have to make the lives of others easier. BUt they were just kids. Heroes in training. It would only be worse from here, and he hated that. That this society relies on heroes so badly.

He didn't want to add to that. To their burden. Damn this witness protection thing, but it was likely he could turn it in his favor. Having access to competent adults would do wonders, especially considering they'd have connections to the government and so on.

..Maybe in the future he'd be deeply annoyed hanging around people who didn't understand him, who wasn't so traumatized, but with a solid bond that could only come from fighting back-to-back.

But it would be a good break from the dead, wouldn't it?

So nonetheless, he took it like a champ. ..Not mentioning the fact he'd had a few friends of his own who were easily excitable, and spoke practically a mile-a-second.

"As Aizawa-sensei stated, I'm Nico di Angelo, and I'll be residing with your class for the time being as a ward of the school. Please take care of me." Translating natural Japanese greetings to English in his head made it sound very weird, but he was reassured by the fact that no one even blinked oddly at that.

Hurray! He didn't make himself out to be the weird kid! Although he didn't think being under the actual guardianship of the school was usual.

And so, life moved on.

Well in actuality, he arrived just in time for exams , hurray! Well, the hero students were practicing for their provisional hero licensing exam. (which, taking it so early.. but he did acknowledge that they needed it as a precaution.) So while that was happening, he was taken off to the side to practice protecting himself.

It was good, as the teachers were willing to spar with him, and facing on-level opponents filled him with a thrill (he ignored the fact that he was technically one of the oldest at camp, and therefore couldn't really fight with people better than him, not to mention after many of them perished). Considering no one knew of him, and no monsters were arriving, he decided to use his abilities, not really answering if it was his quirk or not or anything like that, not wanting his words to be used against him if there was another lie detector somewhere out there.

Nico hadn't realized how much he missed just doing things for the fun of it. Even if technically he had to do it to 'learn' to protect himself.

Seems like he wouldn't stop missing his friends, huh?