25 May 2179

The bell rang.

Katsuki slouched deeper in his chair, defiantly refusing to turn around and give the nerd's desk the same sad glances everyone else was.

Eraserhead stepped into the classroom, his sleeping bag over one arm.

And then he was followed by six extras.

For once Eraserhead didn't have to chide them about quieting down when the bell rang, no-one felt like chatting.

"Good." Eraserhead sighed. "Now, the first order of business is the announcement of Principal Nedzu's initiative to increase the number of students graduating from the U.A. Hero Course."

Katsuki snorted silently, the scarf bastard was just reading from a script.

"As such, six new students will be joining Class 1-A."

The range of muted reactions rippled through the room, they'd all seen the six new desks in a line at the back of the class so it wasn't a massive surprise.

"However, their placement is only provisionary, only four permanent slots are available, to be determined at a later date in the year." Aizawa continued. "So, until then, please welcome your new classmates."

The six transfer students gave a range of greetings, from shy to arrogant.

Katsuki recognised the nerd's brother amongst them, the black-haired teen nodding as a greeting.

That was when Katsuki noticed one of the extras was glaring at him.

"Tch." Katsuki grumbled, leaning back.

"Please introduce yourself in student number order, just your name and prior class." Aizawa instructed.

The nerd's brother stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Mikumo Akatani, Class 1-H. Glad to learn alongside all of you again."

A mumbled greeting came in response, the loudest amongst them from Hagakure, Iida and Kaminari.

The purple-haired boy who'd declared war on hero students before the Sports Festival was next.

"Hitoshi Shinso, 1-C." The teen paused. "I won't slow down 'cause I made it to the starting line, I'll surpass you all to earn my place here."

To what looked like the teen's surprise, he got applause, Kirishima hollering something about manliness.

Shinso nodded in reply, stepping back into line.

Next was a curly-haired blonde girl, of almost the same height as Yaoyorozu.

"Hiya, I'm Kaze Tsunzaku, Class 1-D!" The girl greeted cheerfully, somewhat misreading the room, the applause for Shinso's statement confusing her.

No-one responded.

She continued. "Since we're all doing a little speech-"

Katsuki saw Eraserhead's eyes roll, practically into the back of his head.

"-my quirk is Air Eruption, it's pretty weak, but that's just another hurdle to overcome." Tsunzaku continued, the hint of an accent shining through.

New Zealander.

The country with the lowest percentage of quirked people, more didn't have one than did. During the early days of the advent of quirks, the country, like many others, had shut its borders as more and more people suddenly displayed quirks.

As a result of that decision, and it's isolated nature as an island, New Zealand had been largely untouched by the chaos when society broke down.

Back then no-one had known what had caused quirks, some thought an act of god, others said disease, and few got it right with genetic mutation.

Not that made much sense, Katsuki mused.

If it was a genetic mutation originating in the Glowing Child then there was no way as many people should have quirk as they did in only a handful of generations.

Katsuki personally thought the Glowing Child had something to with it. After all, the first wave of spontaneous quirk mutations had happened within a hundred mile radius of the hospital in China where the brat had been born.

"-thank you all for listening." Tsunzaku finished, Katsuki having tuned her out long ago.

The next extra spoke. "Hineru Hagane, also from Class 1-D."

" Bonjour once more." Aoyama greeted with a smirk.

Hagane nodded formally in Aoyama's direction, his cheeks noticeably flushed.

And then the extra who'd been glaring at him stepped forwards, jostling past Hagane as he did.

He was dressed in a black gakuran, two white bands around each sleeve, his dark hair cut into a flat-top, again Katsuki felt a spark of familiarity, but nothing else came.

"Tenso Fukai." The dark-haired teen announced smugly. "Transferred from Seijin High."

Katsuki frowned, the name sounded familiar, but he still couldn't place it.

Fukai returned to his place in the line, bumping Reimitsu as she nervously shuffled her way to the podium.

Flustered, Reimitsu took a few calming breaths, her hands regaining a solid outline as she did.

"I'm from Class 1-D as well." The white-haired girl hesitated. "My name's I-Isshoni Reimitsu. I'm really looking forward to learning alongside you all."

"Good, you're all done, please take your seats." Eraserhead spoke from his desk.

The new extras started filing towards the desks at the back, with the exception of Fukai.

Instead he made a beeline for the desk behind Katsuki.

Midoriya's desk.

Katsuki's hand clamped down on Fukai's wrist before he could touch it.

"The teach said your chair was at the back, you fucking extra?" Katsuki growled. "Are you deaf or just stupid?"

Fukai tugged at his arm, trying and failing to free it from Katsuki's grip.

"So what, Bakugo, the freak got killed by Stain." Fukai snapped. "At least he realises a quirkless can't be a hero."

There was audible gasp, Katsuki heard a snarl slip from his lips.

"Midoriya wasn't quirkless." Katsuki hissed. "And it wouldn't matter if he was, he was going to be a hero either way."

"C'mon, Bakugo, you don't have to defend the useless Deku just 'cause he got what he deserved." Fukai replied. "I mean, what kind of idiot lets a quirkless into a hero course, at least this'll make sure he's the last."

"What the fuck's your problem, you dick!" Kaminari yelled, jumping out of his seat.

"What, you quirkless as well?"

"So what if I was?" Kaminari retorted hotly.

"Then the world would be better off if you killed yourself." Fukai grinned.

An array of shouts and expletives were hurled across the classroom, almost all of them drowned out by a surprising colourful insult from Koda.

At the front of the class Hagakure leaned forwards. "Er, sensei, shouldn't you be stopping this?"

Eraserhead lowered his juice pouch, phone in his other hand, speaking quietly. "I will, once he's finished digging his own grave."

Katsuki smirked, so the teach wanted this dumb extra gone, then he'd happily help.

"Did you even watch the U.A. Sports Festival, or were you too busy admiring yourself in the mirror?" Katsuki snarled. "Or is it just that your quirk's so shit you have to attack quirkless people to make yourself feel powerful."

"I'll show you my fucking quirk! I'll crush you!"

Katsuki grinned.

Hook, line and sinker.

Fukai's torso suddenly swelled, ripping his shirt and jacket clean off.

It finally clicked.

"I remember you now, Aldera Middle School, you do have a shitty quirk."

Fukai yelled angrily, rearing his fist back to punch Katsuki.

And then a lot of things happened at once.

Katsuki sidestepped the oncoming fist easily, sticking his foot out to trip.

Kirishima and Akatani charged towards them, both ready to join the fray.

Out of the corner of his eye, Katsuki saw Eraserhead activate his quirk and in an instant Fukai deflated, before the teen slipped and face planted into Katsuki's desk.

Eraserhead's capture scarf wrapped around a dazed Fukai, lifting him into the air.

"Needless to say, you've been expelled from the hero course expansion program with immediate effect." Eraserhead drawled. "And probably Seijin High when we inform them of your conduct here today."

But Eraserhead might as well have been talking to the wall, Fukai was clearly not capable of understanding any of it.

The door to the classroom opened, revealing Recovery Girl and Midnight, two of the medical robots behind them, holding a stretcher.

"Ah, as you expected." Recovery Girl spoke, the robots loading Fukai onto the stretcher. "Should I send him to Principal Nedzu's office once I'm finished with him?"

Eraserhead nodded, his scarf settling back into place around his neck.

And with that, Tenso Fukai's brief tenure in UA's Class 1-A had started and ended. He had earned the rather dubious honor of being expelled by Shota Aizawa faster than anyone else.

"Now, settle down." Eraserhead warned, getting an instant response. "Kaminari, Kirishima, Akatani, Bakugo, return to your seats. Reimitsu, move along one to fill the gap."

They did as they were told, Katsuki throwing in an eye roll for good measure.

"Performance reviews, Bakugo, you need to lean back more when you trip someone that large, you're lucky I erased his quirk." Eraserhead spoke. "Akatani, next time, no jumping on my desks, but good idea to attack a larger opponent from the higher ground. Kirishima, when you're a hero you don't have time to apologise to everyone you bump into."

Katsuki shrugged, while the other two blushed in embarrassment.

"Koda, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Koda blushed, ducking his head down.

"Moving on to something decidedly less intense, UA has made the decision to delay first-year internships until later in the year." Eraserhead announced, earning a few sighs and groans. "Instead, you will be focusing on aspects we usually cover then, improving your Hero Costumes and developing Super Moves."

The disappointment gave way to murmurs of interest.

"Power Loader will be conducting Hero Studies this afternoon." Eraserhead continued. "But first, Midnight will be leading Period 1 for a session on Hero Informatics."

With that, Eraserhead trudged back to his desk, taking his seat and starting to grade papers.

"Good morning, 1-A." Midnight greeting, moving to the podium. "Hero Informatics, he makes it sound so boring, I bet you don't even know what that means."

The class shrugged and shook their heads, the incident with Fukai making them even more subdued than they already were.

"I thought so!" Midnight explained. "It means you'll be choosing your hero names."

Now, the class broke into less than quiet whispering.

Eraserhead banged his mug down, silencing them immediately.

"Right, you should find whiteboards and pens in your desks, whenever you're ready, come up here and present it for review." Midnight paused. "Think carefully, while these names are tentative they have a habit of sticking. Provisionary students, you're welcome to join in if you want, but you aren't required to produce a hero name yet."

Desks opened and closed, a cacophony of banging and squeaky pens sounded as they furiously workshopped hero names.

Katsuki glared at his board, a few weeks he'd have known what to write, something like 'Lord King Murder Explosion'.

But now, it felt wrong, like that wasn't him anymore.

Maybe it wasn't.

" C'est moi! " Aoyama announced from the podium, flipping his board over.

Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!

"That's a whole sentence!" Sero exclaimed.

"He's right, that's simply too long." Midnight took the board from Aoyama. "Lose the I and contract to can't, and then, here!"

Shining Hero: (Can't Stop) Twinkling

"The 'can't stop' is in brackets so in high stress situations allies only need one word to call to you."

"It's parfait! "

"Next!"

Ashido bounded up to the podium.

Melty Hero: Alien Queen

"Huh." Midnight uttered. "The first part's kind of cute, but the rest is all wrong, sounds like a villain name, give it a rethink."

Next was Asui, her hands gripping the board tightly.

"I've had this in mind ever since I wanted to become a hero."

Her voice was subdued, like everyone else she was missing not only Midoriya, but Mineta as well.

From what Katsuki had heard Mineta had quit UA just after the nerd was kidnapped, but his absence had been vastly overshadowed.

"I'll be a hero that saves everyone." Asui stated firmly, echoing All Might's famous speech, a resolve filling her.

Liberating Hero: Froppy

"How cute, nice work!"

Asui nodded, returning to her seat, but Katsuki saw something else in her expression.

Hatred.

It took Katsuki by surprise, Asui wasn't a person to hold a grudge, she even put up with Mineta.

No-one else must have seen it, as the atmosphere in the classroom began to brighten.

Then, the names came flying in thick and fast. Katsuki tuned it out, focusing on his whiteboard.

Still nothing came to him.

"Right, who's left?" Midnight checked her list. "Ashido, Iida, Kaminari, Kirishima, Todoroki, Hagakure, Bakugo and Yaoyorozu."

"I'll go!" Kaminari announced, rushing up the podium.

Jammingway Hero: Chargebolt

"It's weird, but I like it!" Midnight cracked her crop.

Ashido returned for a second attempt.

Pinky Hero: Meltdown

"Much better, I love it!"

The pink-haired girl skipped back to her seat, high fiving Kirishima on his way up.

Kirishima stopped at the podium, taking a deep breath. "I know he's kind of old fashioned now, but he's my favourite hero."

Sturdy Hero: Red Riot

Midnight frowned. "Like Crimson Riot then? Hm, you have to make sure you're happy with this, a name like this sets a standard you have to meet."

Kirishima nodded.

Then came Todoroki, calmly revealing his hero name.

Icyhot Hero: Eclipse

"Ooh, very mysterious!" Midnight cracked her riding crop again. "That's a yes from me."

Katsuki wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what Half 'n' Half's name meant. He would eclipse his father.

Eclipse wouldn't be Endeavor's son. Endeavor would be Eclipse's father.

That's ballsy. And the bastard even stole Icyhot.

"Akatani, you want to go?" Midnight questioned. "Okay!"

Quirkless Hero: Shatterproof

"Are you sure about that?" Midnight questioned, no doubt voicing the thoughts of everyone else in the class.

Akatani nodded. "I am, quirklessness isn't a handicap, I'll show the world that, from now on, I'll say I'm quirkless with pride. I won't be ashamed again!"

"That passion, it's perfect!" Midnight decreed. "You really are shatterproof!"

Hagakure followed Akatani with a decidedly more low-key choice.

Invisible Hero: Adamant

"It's pretty good, simple and catchy." Midnight affirmed. "Iida, Yaoyorozu, Bakugo, you're our last three."

Yaoyorozu made her way up the front of the class, calm and composed as ever.

"My father was a hero." Yaoyorozu stated. "He retired last year, but I've decided to continue his legacy."

Everything Hero: Genisys

"A bonafide classic!" Midnight mused. "Ah, Genisys, such a dreamboat."

Yaoyorozu coughed at the description of her father, making a mental note to tell him later, he'd probably find it hilarious.

Then, it was Iida, the navy-haired teen waking to the podium as if he had the weight of the world on his back.

In a way it was true.

One For All was an amazing power, and a heavy burden.

Iida stood ramrod straight, his face set.

Engine Hero: Decalium

"Decalium, catchy." Midnight hummed. "Decal, like a car, right?"

Iida nodded.

"And the -ium at the end, like your brother."

Again, Iida nodded. "It is."

"Very good, it checks out."

Katsuki saw what she had missed.

Deca.

As in ten.

The tenth holder of One For All.

"Bakugo, your turn!"

The blond-haired teen growled, his mind desperately searching for what to write.

Katsuki turned the sheet of paper over. It was a child's drawing, of Izuku and Katsuki, dressed in bright colours, fighting a villain, next to each of them was a hero name.

He made his decision, his pen moving smoothly across the board.

Standing, Katsuki stalked towards the podium, board gripped in one hand.

Deku, you're gone, for fuck knows how long.

Katsuki stared out at his classmates, hesitating.

The truth is, I never hated you, I was jealous, even without a quirk you had the heart of a hero, and I didn't. All Might saw that in you.

He flipped his board, revealing his chosen name.

Kacchan Hero: Dynamight

"Er, surprisingly cutesy." Midnight tilted her head. "But it's not bad."

Izuku, I'll be a hero that always wins and saves everyone.

Even you.