"Alright, kiddos! Listen up!" Pixie-Bob shouted as most of the class arrived, sweating and panting from the force of their workout and training round. "Most of you didn't make it here in three hours, but we'll cut you some slack for a little bit! First, I'll get you all situated where you need to be for today, so it'll be smooth sailing for some of you. But!" Her smile turned into a devilish grin, eyeing the students of 1-A and 1-B (who had arrived differently) with something akin to predatorial instinct.
"If you sit down, I add on more training time!"
The classes collectively groaned, rubbing their sore muscles as they got up off of the ground. A few of the unlucky students were carted off to a small room for "study time", training their minds and not their quirks. Zero thinking this was his area, followed, only to be stopped by Tiger. The burly man shook his head, pointing to a group of four students, all standing around like they were bored out of their minds. A small sign said "quirk work" and nothing more. Izuku Zero tensed, ready to explain to the man that he didn't have a quirk, but Tiger handed him a slip of paper, written and signed by Nedzu. Ah, he was there to work on quirk study under extreme circumstances. Alright, cool, he could do that.
Walking over to the other boys, he nodded at Icey Boy and Bakugou, the other blonde boy scoffing at him. Zero paid him no mind, settling in the open (and tense) space between Icey Boy and Bomb Boy. Zero should treat himself to a pie after this, he was so good at naming things.
"Zero," Bakugou said, facing him, his eyes having a stern look Zero hadn't seen before. Bakugou wasn't quite, on the contrary, the blonde was quite loud in class, but standing just the four- oh no there were five of them now- five of them he seemed more settled, like a dog finally having been fed. "That was an asshole move, leaving us there, but smart."
"Uh, thanks!" Zero wasn't used to praise from kids his own age, but it sprinkled a mesmerizing feeling in his back, and he sought to return it "That trick you did with your explosions was cool too, I hadn't thought of going through the beasts." Bakugou nodded, eyes widening just a fraction before he turned back to face the lessening circle of students. Complement accepted, maybe? Zero looked at Todoroki, as cold and stone-faced as ever. Good people.
"What kind of name is 'Zero'?" The other blonde- Moana, if Zero remembered correctly, was glaring at him, arms crossed in a demeaning, I'm-so-much-better-than-you way.
"I don't know, ask Nedzu." The phrase fell from his lips easily, having forced himself to memorize the lie if anyone asked about his past. It had worked, not many people wanted to question his "father" after all.
Moana looked puzzled, rearing back slightly. Good. He should fear the all-mighty rat god, just like the rest of them.
"Why would he know?"
"I mean, he's my dad, so…"
"How does a rat have a human kid?" A girl asked, popping from behind Moana to add her input. "If I can ask that! I'm Yui Kodai, by the way." He knew that already, he did her evaluation
"Well, Kodai, when a rat loves himself so much, he begins to feel things…"
Thus, the rumour that Zero was the asexual offspring of Nedzu started. "Why was Zero human then?" some would ask, but not even Nedzu could predict everything. So, after Nedzu had grown the ostrich egg-sized tumour from his body, a baby Zero was born. And how Zero got his name? Zero effort went into the boys making.
Somewhere in UA, a rat sneezed.
"So, what are they having you do, Zero?" Kodai asked, trailing behind him as they followed Tiger deeper into the forest. A few more students had joined, moving their group up to a whole nine people, but most people had belonged in other training groups, such as hand-to-hand, or weaponry. Zero patted his suit, making sure his gun was tucked securely in its holster, as well as his two extra magazines. It was a simple gun, a Smith and Wesson imported from America, coming with a matching dark teal holster to shove it in. It had a simple button clasp, but it was silent and made it easier for Zero to sneak around using it. He hadn't had much practice with it, but Snipe had alluded to his guardian that Zero was a natural. Of course he was, he had been using an illegally modified Glock for years! This was much smoother. He could only use rubber bullets during training, but Nedzu had sent him with a single magazine with real bullets. In case of emergencies. Although none of the staff knew it, Nedzu had confided in him about his worry for the trip. They still hadn't found out who was letting all of the information out. Even with both his and Nedzu's hacking skills, they couldn't figure out where the leak had come from. Unless it hadn't come from a technological leak, and there was an actual SPY in the damn school, but if there was an inside man, Zero should have known this already-
"Yoohoo, earth to Zero?" Kodai said, waving her hand in front of his face. He flinched back, momentarily lost, grabbing at it with a tight squeeze.
"Shit, sorry Kodai." He said, watching the girl rub at her wrist with a pout. "What did you say?"
"What are you doing here? Like, what are they having you do?"
"Oh, just observation I suppose, nothing more. Likely coming up with more ways to enhance all of your quirks."
"Seems boring, especially since you've done this before."
"To a simpleton, I suppose it is." He hid a laugh at her squawk, walking over to Tiger while the man got everyone in the right area. Todoroki in a thing of water, Bakugou with twin sheets of military-grade quirk-proof metal (wow, Nedzu had spent a lot on that!) Kodai in a… chalk square? Suddenly she expanded, trying to fit that exact shape. She didn't, but deflated, ready to try again. Iida was working on speed, running between two stretches of trees, exhausting himself, only to keep going. Sen Kiabara was also in a square, instead, he was trying to get his body parts to spin at the same time. He couldn't use both arms at the same time, or switch them fast enough to do double damage in combat. At least Nedzu was taking his suggestions seriously. Similarly, Togaru Kamakiri was trying to sharpen his whole body at once, and not just a single part of his body. Tokoyami, was inside a pitch-dark tent, occasionally screaming. Ah, he must be working on control with his little shadow demon then.
Zero liked the shadow demon, he was funny.
Tiger finished explaining to everyone, taking Zero to the side for a minute. He didn't say much, or anything for that matter, and instead lowered himself into a fighting pose, hands coming to his face- ready to both attack and defend. Zero, confused but ready for anything, began slipping on his mask, only for Tiger to land a fast punch right in his abdomen. The breath left his body, spit flying out of his mouth and into the ground (and his mask) he stared, shocked, as did most of the students. Tiger, moved his hands, gesturing Zero forward. Before he could even get into a stance, Tiger struck again, hitting both Zero and his nerve of annoyance. This wasn't training, this was a Shigaraki beating, and he was not a fan.
"Zero, again."
Fine, if Tiger wanted a fight, he would fight.
Zero lept first, not at the man, but into the trees. Height was good, being taller was an advantage, and he got the fun point of being able to see more. Ducking into a tree, he slipped his mask on with a sigh. He climbed, slowly, letting his suit and body blend into the tree leaves. He'd stick out a bit if he got closer to the sun, but for now, he was fine. Tiger kicked his tree, hard enough to make Zero stumble, and the little hero jumped out of it, landing in another tree nearby. His mask pinged, alerting Zero to Tiger's quick-moving motions, giving him just enough time to tumble out of the way (and onto the ground) just as Tiger landed a punch. Zero grunted, rolling to soften his pain, coming up with a hard pant. Tiger was fast, faster than Izuku was used to dealing with. As another foot came towards his face, Izuku's mind filled with images of Shigaraki, of the beatings he had grown used to receiving, and he screamed, rolling out of the way. Just enough, if he could just-
"Izuku~" He heard Shigaraki call, and his body ran cold He looked around, looking for the off-white hair his dear 'brother' held. Another kick to his stomach and his eyes saw white, pain shooting through his body as he landed on his tailbone. He took off his mask, flinging it to the side. He couldn't breathe-
-memories flashed in his head of a particularly nasty punishment, the muzzle. For the special moments when Izuku talked too much, and he needed to shut the fuck up for once in his life-
"..O!" he heard, but he could barely hear, the sounds floating around his ears rather than through it. If Shigaraki was here, no one was safe, and they'd drag Izuku back, back into the dog cage he used to call a playpen, back into-
"Zero!"
"Fuck!" Zero slammed his head forward, hitting Tiger right in the forehead with his own. It stung, but it was grounding in a way Zero had never felt before, the world rushing past him to bring him back into the present time. He looked around, eyes scanning for Shigaraki, even as he blinked wearily. Good, he was just imagining things then.
So maybe Zero was a bit crazy, but that was fine! Nobody who wanted to be a hero was sane anyway.
"Are you alright?" Tiger's voice was much more gruff than he originally expected, especially knowing that he was in a group of all girls. Zero nodded, letting the man help him up with a sigh, Zero reached for his mask.
Right, he threw it somewhere. Thankfully, a girl with two horns handed it to him, Zero thanked her as he slipped it on.
"What happened?"
"I thought I was supposed to be watching quirks, not fighting." He responded, pulling out his little notebook and pen, brand new (except for the little section he left for Pixie-Bob). "That's what I'm good at, that's what I'm here to do."
"You need to work on hand-to-hand contact, how will you go against bigger opponents-"
"Simple, I won't. It's what you big stars are for, right?" Zero walked away, heading to Kodai first. A smiling face would do him good.
"Wow, you got your ass kicked!"
Great, fucking great.
"Well, show me how you're doing," He said, trying to ignore the feeling of resentment in his chest. It had been a while since he lost a fight like that, and he lost against such a low-level hero? He almost couldn't believe it. Except- he touched his chest- the pain and tenderness was all there. How embarrassing.
Kodai expanded, filling up the square and most of the surrounding area, and with a moan, deflated. She kicked at the dirt, scuffing up her hero outfit.
"I'm working on trying to do supr cool shapes, and I managed to make myself into a straight pole when I was scared, but I haven't managed it sense." She explained, digging her toe into the ground. "It's just so frustrating, how am I supposed to become a hero when I can't even control my quirk?"
"It'll be alright, let's try to just make a cube first, alright? Instead of trying to make yourself as big and as square as possible, just try to- square."
"Just square?" She asked, closing her eyes to concentrate. He nodded, stepping back. With a deep breath, Kodai expanded, The front of her body slowly changing shapes. It wasn't completely square, still round at the corners, but it was a start. He walked around to the other side of the gril and sighed. Still a sphere. Well, it was a start. She deflated once more, sighing as Zero patted her on the back.
"Will I ever figure it out?" She asked, rubbing her hand through her hair.
"Yeah, I think so. Just got to keep trying, I guess." He walked off when it was clear she needed to concentrate, making his way to Iida as he jotted down notes in his little book. Kodai was one of two students in their hero costumes in class 1-B, what was the reason? Was it because of her quirk? Likely, Zero thought.
"Iida, can I ask what you are working on?"
"Mobility and speed," He huffed, blue hair askew as he ran between the trees, weaving and spinning around them. "Since my injury, I haven't been able to go as fast."
Zero quirked an eyebrow, climbing up the nearest tree as he sat down to take notes on his friend. Iida had good form, looking like one of those old American posters, from before the Olympics had become about quirk enhancements and genetics. Good, it would keep him going. Zeroing in on his calves, he noticed the steel-grey pipes sticking out of his calves, puffing out fire and smoke with every turn.
"I can't really talk about it," Iida stretched, chugging some water as he ran, sentences cutting in and out depending on how far he got. Easy to follow with Zero's mask, but a bit annoying. "But, I was injured in the Hosu incident. You may have heard of it."
Heard of it? It was how Zero got caught in the first place! His skin felt hot in his hero suit, and he wished to change into another outfit, any outfit, if he could get out of those constricting clothes. He didn't like to think of Hosu at all, after planning every detail out, Zero had forgot to factor in the esteemed "Hero Killer" and things had gone haywire, fast. Many requests, including himself, had made the long track back to base, no Nomu's left to take them back to the hideout. It's how he had been caught.
"I have, I'm sorry to hear that. How is the injury now?" Iida shrugged, looking down at his calves. If Zero wasn't so used to seeing his own scars, or scars in general, he would have been extremely grossed out. Under Iida's shining sweat and the setting sun, Zero was able to see the deep, purple-to-white scars covering both of his legs. Knife marks, much like the ones on his neck, covered his friend's lower legs, spiralling around like some sort of horror-themed hypnosis. Zero hid his grimace behind his mask.
"I am fine for hero work, but I had actually just been allowed back onto the field when you arrived, Zero. Quite fortunate myself."
"I'm glad you made it out of there." Zero wanted to say other things but held his tongue. No use reminding him of his dead class mate. Minotaur Minnie, or whatever his name was, had been decayed by Shigaraki at USJ, his 'brother' coming home pulling off sticky purple balls and their residue.
Finding the air awkward, Zero told his friend goodbye and started making his rounds with the other students.
"And you are?" Zero asked the blonde boy, slicked-back hair becoming loose as he shot ice out of his hand. "Another ice quirk."
"Well, actually," The blonde smirked, grabbing Zero's hand. His smirk quickly fell, and he dropped Zero's hand like a hot rod. "You actually don't have a quirk!"
"Why would the fucker lie about that?" Another voice popped up. "Idiot fuck." And Bakugou blasted backwards, explosion ringing loudly around them.
"What he said. Anyways, your name?"
"Neito Monoma, you should be grateful you aren't in Class 1-B, we would have destroyed you in hand to hand, seeing as how you can't even beat Tiger. A disgrace to class 1-A, but most of you are-"
"Yeah, okay anyways, you have the copy quirk, right? Have you tried copying multiple quirks at the same time?"
"Obviously, my, the name Zero really fits-" A hand came out of nowhere, slapping him on his head. A girl with orange hair, Kendo if he recalled correctly, ran up to them. Monoma rubbed at his head, muttering curses.
"I am so sorry for him, he gets like this all the time." She bowed. "I hope he hasn't offended you!"
"Of course not," Zero said, voice cheerful, a fake smile lining his lips. "If he was good enough for 1-A, he would have made it."
The air, once fresh, turned stale and sour. Students from every side of their training area stared. Oops, did he say that to loud. Kendo's once light, easygoing presence suddenly shifted. She was on guard, eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean by that?" She questioned. Zero forced a sigh, insinuating it was obvious.
When they go low, Zero goes lower.
"If he complains about being in 1-B all of the time, he should have made 1-A like the rest of us."
"Not all of us have dads to put us in whatever classes we want." Kendo spat, looking him up and down. Monoma stared, silent for once.
"You're right, I'm so glad mine didn't. Oh, uh, I think Pixie-Bob is calling you over." He gave her a cheery smile, before turning his back and walking away
The name Zero really fits-
Maybe Nedzu was right? And had he just referred to the rat as his dad? And liked it?!
"Ah, Zero! Can you help us with this fire? We can't seem to get it started."
"You think- why would I know something like that?" He questioned, walking over to Mina, Tsuyu, and Momo.
"I mean, your dad's all-knowing," Why was everyone referring to Nedzu as his dad today?! "So, aren't you all knowing too?"
"Ah yes, I always forget I came from his asexual reproduction." He deadpanned.
"Wait really?!" Another voice popped in, looking up from their stove. "That's so cool! What's it like being the copy of your dad?"
Zero just had to stare. Momo had a similar look on her face.
"Wet. Anyways, pass me the fire starter." Mina did, and after a few strikes, Zero got the fire going. The girls cheered, thanking Zero as he went over to his own stove.
"Bakugou." He said, nodding his head. The blonde acknowledged him back. Suddenly his skin prickled, and his head jolted around. Zero scanned the trees, a familiar sensation settling over him. He was being watched, they were being watched. And was it something innocuous, or something sinister? Zero couldn't tell.
"Oh come on, Kota! Come say high!" Mandalay called out, waving her hand over. The boy walked forward, shuffling his feet. Mandalay sighed, and they watched him slowly make his way over to them from the trees.
Zero's eyes widened, and he moved before he could think.
He shot out, reaching the esteemed 'Kota' before the boy hit the ground, his foot hitting a random tree root. Dust flew softly around them.
"Uh, sorry." Zero said, setting him up straight. "You okay?"
White. Hot. Pain.
"Stupid hero." The kid spat.
Zero held his nuts. This was it, not a villain or a hero, but a nut shot from a damn kid.
Was that his soul leaving his body?
"Zero! Ugh, I'm so sorry! He's like that sometimes."
"Yeah?" Was all he managed to say. Every boy, from both classes, cringed. "Good to know."
In pain, Zero went back to his group of silent people, Bakugou shooting dirty looks at Icey boy, and the latter not responding to his goading. What a weird group of people.
Still, Zero felt on edge. Yet no matter how much he scanned, both with his mask and without, he couldn't find anything. People were starting to give him weird looks too. Fuck.
"Zero." He heard, the teen turning around. Shoji!
"Hey shoji. Need something?" He asked the speaking hand.
"I would like to spar with you." Zero blinked. With him?
"I mean, uhm, yeah I'm okay, but why me? You must have seen my fight with Tiger. I lost."
"Zero, are you attempting to joke right now?" Zero must have looked confused, as Shoji quickly continued. "You were the only one of us to last longer than a minute."
"Oh."
"So would you like to?" Shoji asked again, mouth-hand moving closer. Zero shrugged, slipping on his mask.
"Sure, where too?"