Although it shouldn't have been a surprise to me, I had still been surprised anyways when Enji announced that I would be enrolling into Horisuma Elementary, a private elementary school which was essentially a feeder school for battle prep middle schools, which would then feed into actual hero school. Most of the attendees were either the children of Pro-Heroes or hero aspirants, and by no exception everyone was quite wealthy.

I was under the impression that I would be privately tutored, but apparently, Enji did not believe in the formative powers of homeschooling. More like he doesn't have the time, my mind supplied. He's got lots of free time for the next week to train me, but he has to get back to working full time after that. If even our training sessions have to be stretched thin, where would he find the time to homeschool me?

Enji was currently driving me to school, a fairly domestic task for a man as imposing as him. He'd switched out the hero costume for a polo and shorts, and even his signature flame mask / beard / eyebrows had been significantly dialed down until it was barely a mustache. I was riding shotgun with my arms crossed, struggling to stop the seatbelt from asphyxiating me due to my shorter height.

"Wear the seat belt under your arm," Enji said gruffly, focusing on the road. "If you keep it over your chest it'll dig into your neck. You're not tall enough for that."

I realized with some surprise that he was right. Why did I wear it over anyways?

It was probably a holdover from my first life… and maybe a little bit of my time testing flight equipment for the mad Dr. Schugel in my second. I'd grown so used to strapping buckles over instead of under that it had just become instinct to do so.

After adjusting the seatbelt under my arms, things improved noticeably.

"Make sure you make friends as well," Enji ordered as an after thought.

"Why?" I asked on reflex, not wanting to talk to the other kids. It was a waste of time, honestly, talking to kids who couldn't hold an intelligent conversation.

"Because everyone here is either wealthy or related to a Pro-Hero in some way or other, and most will become future heroes," he explained to me, as if I was dumb. That was kind of a dumb question in hindsight. I can't keep slipping up like this or I'll fall out of favor like Shoto.

Perhaps I was becoming dumber. Maybe life in the modern world really had started to dull my intelligence. Enji had literally explained not even that long ago that Horisuma was a feeder for battle prep middle schools, eventually hero school. I should have been able to instantly come to that conclusion on my own.

"No man is an island," Enji continued explaining. "Even the mightiest Pro-Hero cannot stand alone. This is another distinction between heroes and villains. While villains revile and are reviled in turn by society, heroes support, and are supported in turn by society. If you have many friends, then you have much power. There is power in numbers, and the more friends you make, the wider your reach and influence grows."

I could appreciate that logic. What Enji essentially wanted me to do was to cultivate a network of trusted friends who would benefit my career as a Pro-Hero. Although I was still reluctant, his reasoning made it less unbearable. No matter how annoying the kids were at Horisuma, I just needed to grit my teeth and become friends with them.

Enji hesitated a bit, as if he didn't want to say it, but the words spilled out from his mouth in the end. "This is also a lesson I wish I had learned earlier in my career. The hero rankings aren't just based on villain takedown numbers and rescues. It's also a popularity contest, and the more sociable you are, the bettter off you'll be. That damn All Might..."

He composed himself, gripping the steering wheel a little tigther before relaxing his grip. "It's no matter now. You will be the one to surpass All Might. You will carry my legacy on."

When we got to the gated entrance of Horisuma, the gates swung open of their own accord. Enji brought me to the principal's office to get registered and placed into a class. It was a little short notice so some accommodations had to be made, but Enji assured that that I would be able to catch up.

Of that, I had zero doubt. If I couldn't compete with elementary school kids in intelligence, I might as well have Being X strike me with lightning and reincarnate me into my fourth life. Does a person that dumb even deserve to live?

My ruminations on human intelligence would have to be halted though, because a thin girl with what looked like headphone jacks attached to her ears came barreling through the hallway just as I walked out of the principal's office and slammed into me, knocking me down.

"Sorry!" She shouted back at me as she got up and continuing running away. "I'll make it up to you later, I'm late to class bye!"

Enji didn't do anything to help me, merely watching with some amusement. I got up and snorted, brushing away the dust. Enji didn't stick around after seeing me get registered.

The principal led me to Classroom 8K, and I swung open the door… to see the same girl who had run me over. I scowled at her a little before putting a smile on again, and introducing myself to the teacher and class.

"My name is Todoroki Tanya," I said, bowing slightly as I did so. "Pleased to meet everyone. Please take care of me."

No one said anything for a bit, which was worrisome. Had I really forgotten Japanese courtesy already? Or maybe some of the customs had changed? This wasn't the 21st century anymore after all. Crap. Maybe things really have changed?

My doubts were dispelled the next second though when someone in the class started screaming. "Todoroki?! The Number 2 Pro Hero Endeavor is your dad?"

"Oh man," another girl said. "That's awesome! Do have any cool photos of your dad? Can you show us some fire?"

"Flashfire Fist!"

"I have all of Endeavor's comics! Can you get your dad to sign them?"

As it turned out, kids were simple creatures, and soon the ice was totally broken. I was practically barraged with an unending tide of requests and questions.

"Um, Endeavor is my dad," I replied, unsure of what to say due to the information overload. "Pleased to meet everyone?"

The teacher unfortunately sat me down next to the headphone jack girl, much to the jealousy of many other kids in the class who wanted to get to know Endeavor's kid. I honestly didn't mind the headphone jack girl that much - sure, she annoyed me by running into me, but it wasn't like that was some horrific offense or crime. From that way she was looking at me though, I suspected she thought otherwise. Is she afraid of me? I'm probably overthinking it.

I gave her my best smile to try put her at ease, but she just shrank back even more.

The teacher didn't waste any time and launched straight into talking about our assignment. We were going over nouns and verbs today, especially ones borrowed from foreign languages like "All-Might" and "Smash", so she was using katakana. Good thing Enji isn't here. If he saw that All Might was the noun used in our katakana example, he might pop a blood vessel.

Honestly, seeing the katakana on the blackboard made me feel intensely sentimental. Germanian had been such a different language, and while it wasn't necessarily worse, it felt good to use my native language again. Even if it was in a different Japan. Even after years of living in my third life, seeing all the Japanese words and signs still hit me with a wave of nostalgia unconsciously.

When breaktime rolled out, the teacher released us to go explore the playground outside.

I didn't bother going out and was going to sit inside to read, but the headphone jack girl awkwardly approached me and bowed a little. "Sorry to disturb you! I was wondering if you wanted to go play with me? I feel really bad about knocking you over, and you're kind of scary... We should be friends though! I'm Jiro Kyoka!"

"Not interested," I said directly. I regretted that instantly because the confidence the girl sort of had built up evaporated like mist, and the look of hurt on her face didn't suggest anything good . Oh crap. I didn't want to cause a scene. If she starts crying I don't wanna deal with that.

I got out of my seat reluctantly, and Jiro reacted with surprise as I walked toward her. "What? Didn't you invite me to go play with you?"

"You rejected me just now though?"

"Consider what I said null and void," I responded blandly. "Let's go play."

Jiro's idea of playing turned out to be frisbee, which was alright I supposed. It was a decent form of physical exercise which was also entertaining, which was already a good thing. Entertaining activities can hold interest longer, and exercise was a net positive towards society. It provided numerous health benefits and could reduce the medical expenditures of a person each year by a significant amount. I saw no issue with frisbee.

"So, what does your dad for a living?" I caught the frisbee Jiro sent my way barely, and threw it straight back, aiming it at an angle so it would sail and curve towards her. "Horisuma is supposed to be a feeder school right? It's only rich kids or Pro-Hero kids here."

Jiro missed the frisbee and had to go pick it back up before returning fire. "He's a rockstar!" She chirped enthusiastically. "I go to all his concerts, and they always hand out free merch and music discs. It's great!"

I didn't really know how to respond to that. What more was there to talk about? I wasn't really all that interested in what Jiro was saying, and I doubt she cared to hear me talk about the political economy and nuances of trade barriers, or whatever else it was that interested me. Music possibly? With a rockstar and a classical musician for parents, surely she'd know some Pre-Quirk era songs right?

As I caught and threw the frisbee back again, I said, "have you heard of DragonForce actually? They're a Pre-Quirk era-"

I didn't even get the chance to continue speaking when Jiro started shouting at the top of her lungs. "YOU KNOW ABOUT DRAGONFORCE? You're the coolest! Barely anyone I talk to knows about them!"

Somewhere, I sensed that I'd made a mistake. It was too late though.

Jiro stuck to me like a leech after that - no, perhaps leech was too light. Like a parasitic brain eating amoeba from a freshwater lake, or a protein collapsing prion. Upon hearing that I shared her interest in Pre-Quirk era music, Jiro refused to stop pestering me and kept bugging me to talk.

Whatever semblance of awkwardness I'd seen briefly from her was totally blasted away.

"Tell me about your quirk too Todoroki-san! Do you have a music related quirk too? No - your dad's Endeavor right? It has to be a fire quirk! Wait! Is it a rock music quirk? Maybe you can shoot out musical notes that light on fire?"

"Todoroki-san, do you wanna go see this concert with me? My dad can get us tickets!"

"Todoroki-san! Have you heard about the classical revival movement…"

Yep. I was so screwed. With a chatterbox like Jiro stuck to my side, living a quiet life would soon become a distant dream.

Even when break ended and the teacher asked for the class to be quiet, Jiro still kept chattering away, and when the teacher put her in time out for talking too much, she started passing notes to me asking me about music and everything she could think of. I ignored most of them and let them stack up on my desk, but that didn't deter Jiro in the slightest.

Surely there had to be more people who liked Pre-Quirk music right? It was preposterous. I couldn't be the only person which Jiro knew who liked it right? Other than her parents.

To pass the time in class and possibly to distract myself from Jiro's inane mumblings, I pulled out a tuna sandwich in a plastic wrapper which I'd bought from the cafeteria. Unraveling it quickly, I scarfed it down and savored the familiar taste which I'd come to miss during my years in Germania. Ah. Just as good as before.

Honestly speaking, food would never grow old to me. Even after eight-something years in the post-modern version of Quirk-Era Japan, my experience living on army rations still haunted my taste buds to this very day. Although my old taste buds didn't reincarnate with me, I unerringly remembered the taste of every single badly made MRE and ration I was forced to eat while serving in the army.

Kyoka started passing more notes to me again, and this time, I relented and started reading them instead of letting them pile up on my desk.

Very simply, it read: do you listen to The Offspring?

I passed back a paper note reading 'yes', torn from a page of my notebook back to Jiro, and from the wicked gleam in her eyes, I already had a sinking feeling that she would be inviting me listen to music with her during lunch break, or some other related activity.

Though, if I thought about it, was it really that bad?

Even considering Enji's earlier words to make connections, what did I really have to lose by hanging out with Jiro?

As a rational human, I needed to think things through and conduct a cost benefit analysis.

The opportunity cost of hanging out with Jiro… other than my sanity, not much was lost. As an eight year old girl, I didn't really have any financial obligations, nor any real homework in the way that would cost me significant time to write. Enji's training was rigorous, but that was all at home.

During school hours, I wasn't learning anything meaningful which would substantially change my outlook on life or inculcate important knowledge that would elevate my career. And Jiro would probably invite me to hangout during lunch break, a time which had zero academic obligations anyways.

If you really wanted to be nitpicky, then perhaps it could be argued that there was an opportunity cost in that I would eat less food as a result of talking to Jiro, but it was so inconsequential that it could be disregarded in the grand scheme of things.

Now, onto the benefits. Horisuma was a feeder for hero school, so Jiro was undoubtedly a hero aspirant, even if her parents weren't Pro-Heroes. Befriending her would net me a valuable human asset who could provide support in my career, and would extend the reach of my network.

Her dad was also a rockstar, an occupation with high social influence and celebrity fame. He was also exceedingly wealthy, and had industry connections with various entertainment heroes and firms. If I wanted, I could borrow the influence of Jiro's father by association with his daughter. Recommendation letters, opportunities to network with other heroes, these were all important aspects of moving up the societal ladder, and I would gain them just by sacrificing my lunch break everyday to talk with Jiro.

If we considered hero work, Jiro would also be more likely to come to my aid if I needed help of any kind - not that I would need help, because that would imply I was failing at my job. Of course, if we ever needed to partner or cooperate in a battle against a villain, Jiro would be a more trustworthy partner to fight alongside, as we knew each other well and could trust that we would have each other's backs.

Furthermore, our coordination would also be better, because we would know each other's habits and tics and weaknesses, and we could cover for one another.

It was still kind of a stretch, but I was starting to warm up to the idea more.

Having Jiro as a friend was also valuable because she could let me befriend her friends, expanding my network further… wait, what?

Before I could think about it any further, the teacher rapped my desk for attention and I blinked, realizing that class had ended.

"Come on Tanya!" Jiro called after me, standing by the door with her backpack in hand. "I've got a sweet cassette player in my backpack, and I've loaded some older Pre-Quirk era songs on it! Wanna check them out with me? We can listen to it over lunch break!"

Before I could even react, Jiro pulled out the recorder and tossed it at me. I snatched it out of the air instictively and turned it over. It's in great condition.

Cassette players were old even for me in my first life, but I supposed a few decades of difference didn't matter much when you considered that the current time period was several centuries ahead of my first life. Anything from my first life's time period was definitely considered retro and 'Pre Quirk' anyway.

I still hesitated though. Should I befriend Jiro?

Before I could mull it over again, Jiro smacked me on my head and started dragging me towards the cafeteria. "The foods gonna get cold Tanya!"

The smack left me so dicombobulated that I just sighed and let Jiro drag me away. Rudersdorf would be embarrassed if he could see me now. My reflexes are so dull that even an elementary schooler can catch me off guard. Those years of living in comfort have done a number on me.

Still… things weren't bad. I found myself suddenly not so against the idea of being friends with Jiro, even I let her haul me away in the direction of the cafeteria - toward the promise of food and rock music.