A/N: Desperately trying find time to write before it all evaporates. Somehow, here's a second chapter for the week. Enjoy!
School desks, morning yawns, people sitting at their desks and chatting, Kacchan standing at the center of attention and bragging. Our first day returning to school after the USJ incident was just like any other day. But, there was an energy there that hadn't been present before. Everyone was on edge. That day, we had seen not just our own strengths and weaknesses, how far we had come and how hard we had yet to go, but also the consequences of allowing a Villain to operate unchecked.
Nomu. A weapon aimed at the life of All Might. A hideous lobotomized monster, incapable of doing anything but following its master's command. And trapped somewhere inside it, the mind of an ordinary student. The mind of someone close to Hikigaya Hachiman, our class president… and someone who I owed a debt of gratitude to.
No, maybe all of us did. Iida-kun and Uraraka-san told me after the incident how they had been trapped by the black mist villain, how they had been unable to force their way past him to escape. If Hikigaya-san hadn't risked his life to send Hayama-san through the dome, who knows how long help would have taken to arrive? And if Hikigaya-san hadn't been able to get Aizawa-sensei back on his feet, who knows what would have happened to All Might?
Hikigaya Hachiman was strong. I admired him. But as impressive as his quirk was, no matter how amazing the things he achieved on the battlefield were, it still wasn't half as impressive as the way that he talked to Kacchan.
"Yeah, me 'n Weird Hair n' Loudmouth all got warped to the same spot in the Ruin Zone or whatever the hell you call it. We all jumped at him first, so I'm pretty sure he sent us to where he had stashed the most of his goons - no, sorry. His burnable trash. Frankly, because of us, I'm pretty sure the rest of you extras got off light!"
"Yes, yes, we all know you're strong, Bakugo. Now sit down already, homeroom starts soon." If a dismissive comment like that had come from anyone else, Kacchan would have blown up swearing at them, but coming from Hikigaya Hachiman…
"Tch." A single click of irritation with his tongue, and actually following directions!? For Kacchan, that was practically the same as anybody else saying 'sorry, of course!' How!? Was it the fact that he beat Kacchan in the fitness test? The way that he complimented him first before telling him what to do? He knew what advice to give me to make sure I figured out One For All, so maybe I should ask him -
"Good morning, Deku-kun!" I looked up from my slightly burned and tattered notebook to see a pretty girl smiling at me.
"U-U-Uraraka-san, good morning!" I stammered in surprise, feeling blood flush to my face. Crap, had I been mumbling? Muttering? If Kacchan caught me talking about something that embarrassing, I was dead!
Uraraka leaned in slightly. "Everything okay, Deku-kun? You were looking pretty intense for a second, there!"
Phew, thank goodness! I put one hand behind my head in embarrassment. "Ah, uh, yeah Uraraka-san, everything's fine! I was just thinking about something." She's so nice!
"Oi, Hikigaya," Kirishima's voice called out, taking my attention away from Uraraka. "You doin' alright? After what you found out at the USJ…"
"Kirishima-san," Yukinoshita's frigid voice interrupted, "how likely do you think it is that anyone would be all right after something like that? Don't be insensitive." She stood up from her desk as she said it, glaring in Kirishima's direction.
Yuigahama stepped in between the two of them to mediate, a flustered expression on her face. "Mou, Yukinon, u-um, I'm sure Kirishima-kun was just trying to be supportive, there's no need to go that far…"
"I'm coping." It was funny. I don't even know what I would do if I suddenly found out that I lost someone important to me. I feel like I would probably be a crying mess, but Hikigaya-san… "Even if I were going to sit around feeling sorry for myself, the only ones who would benefit would be the Villains." With tightened fists and determined eyes, he just kept moving forward.
"So cool…" I couldn't help but breathe out. I wasn't the only one to say anything, either - more than a few people made noises of wholehearted approval, and even Kacchan chimed in with a "Now that's more like it!"
"Hikki, don't be afraid to let us know if you need anything, okay?" Yuigahama said, leaning in close to the taller boy. "Even if it sounds like you're fine for now, we're your friends, so don't forget about us if there's anything we could do to help."
Yukinoshita let out a light sigh of defeat. "I suppose we are, aren't we?"
"Oi, oi," Hikigaya grumbled. "If you're gonna say something like that, why do you make it sound like an inconvenience?"
Yukinoshita released another, heavier, sigh. "Because I think the word 'we' in this context probably includes Bakugo-san."
"Who the hell asked to be friends with you, Ice Queen?" Kacchan snarled.
"Hey, hey, isn't that what they call tsundere?" Ashido turned to the seat behind her, where Asui responded with a "I think so, kero."
Kacchan stood up from his seat, tiny explosions erupting from the palms of his hands. "All of you, shut the hell up before I kill you!"
Smiling patiently, Yaoyorozu stood up and leaned forward to get Hikigaya's attention from the seat behind him. "Hikigaya-taicho. Homeroom is starting."
"Mmm. Thanks." He said, before pitching his voice a little louder. "Alright everybody, in your seats." I couldn't help but notice that before they all went to sit down, Hikigaya had been surrounded by three beautiful girls, and was able to just talk to all of them normally, where I stammered my way through my conversations with just one.
Without a doubt, Hikigaya Hachiman was strong.
When Aizawa-sensei came through the door, one arm in a sling but otherwise looking relatively healthy, I was reminded of that fact yet again.
"Sensei, have your injuries recovered?" Iida shouted out, one hand rising into the air.
"Ah, well, I was treated promptly," just about everybody's gaze turned towards Hikigaya-san, who for his part turned away and stared very intently at the wall, "so I got off light. More importantly, my injuries don't matter. All of you have a very important battle to worry about." There was a long, dramatic pause. I could hear a few mutters from people wondering what sort of 'battle' we might be facing, but Aizawa-sensei ignored them. After raising the tension as high as it could go…. "You all have just two weeks until the U.A. Sports Festival."
"That's such a normal school event!"
As Aizawa-sensei launched into a long explanation of how the Sports Festival was an important chance for us all to get our names and faces into the public eye, and a way for us to draw the attention of the Pro Heroes, I couldn't help but consider the person sitting behind me.
Villains. Kacchan. The class president position. Dealing with personal loss. Girls. Even when it came to knowing how my own quirk worked, it seemed like Hikigaya Hachiman was somehow ahead of me. Maybe someone else would have been frustrated, but I had grown up with Kacchan. I was used to chasing after someone else's back.
At least, that was what I told myself. But later that day, when All Might called me away from a conversation with Uraraka and Iida to come eat lunch with him, I found myself outclassed once again. "Honestly, Midoriya-kun, I wanted to wait before I told you about this, but seeing as how one of your classmates already knows a little bit about it, I decided that you deserved to hear it from me first. It's time for me to tell you about the origins of One For All, and the villain known as All For One…."
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One explanation later, I was still a little bit overwhelmed. "There's a Villain like that out there?"
All Might looked at me grimly, the effect amplified by the skull-like countenance of his Toshinori Yagi form. "There is. And between our lineage's history with the man, and the fact that as far as I know, One For All is the only quirk in the world that can never be copied or stolen, I'm afraid it's more or less inevitable that you're going to run up against him some day." He paused for a second, staring at the floating stalk in his green tea. "Well, I still have a little time left. If we get lucky and can manage to track him down, there's still a chance that I might be able to do something about him. But even if we can manage that, it'll probably take everything I have left." All Might once again looked at me, but this time rather than seriousness his eyes were filled with a blue spark of burning will. "Midoriya-shonen! With All For One on the move, the world will need a new Symbol Of Peace sooner than ever! You're already starting to get a grip on the use of One For All. At the upcoming Sports Festival, with I want you to use it to tell the world that 'I Am Here!'"
"I Am Here…" I felt chills going up and down my spine. All Might's signature phrase. The words that had been my inspiration for as long as I could remember. This was my chance to start to live up to them. But... "It sounds really tough," I said honestly. "Even though I figured out how to control a piece of One For All, it's still only five percent. I beat Kacchan before in the Battle Training, but only by catching him by surprise. I don't know how it would go a second time. And there's so many other amazing people in our class; Todoroki-san, Yukinoshita-san, Yaoyorozu-san, Hikigaya-san -" I stopped for a second as a thought occurred to me. "All Might, you said that you knew All For One was back because of information that you got at the USJ incident, and earlier you said that a student in my class already knew about him. Was it Hikigaya-san?"
"It was." All Might said evenly.
"I knew it," I said, hanging my head slightly. Even when it came to a so-called 'destined enemy'? Suddenly, I just had to ask a question that had been nagging at me ever since the USJ. "All Might, do you - do you ever wish you had picked someone else to pass One For All down to? Someone like Hikigaya-san?"
"PFFFFFFFT! HA HA HA HA HA HA ACK-PTH" I had heard All Might laugh literally hundreds or possibly thousands of times in my life. That deep, confident, booming laugh of joy brought a smile to my face every time I rewatched a video of his exploits. I had even heard his smaller, more natural chuckle a few times since I got to know him. But I don't think I had ever heard him laughing uncontrolled like this, so shocked and amused that he couldn't stop laughing until he spat up blood from his injured lung. "Midoriya-shonen. I chose you to inherit the power of One For All because of your heart, because you believed and wished for the ideal of becoming the Symbol of Peace, of saving people with a smile. Hikigaya-shonen, well." He coughed again, bringing one hand up to his mouth to hold in the blood - or possibly to cover up a smile. "It's true that I've seen him perform well since the start of classes, but I don't think I've ever seen him smile once."
"Ah! Now that you mention it, neither have I…" That was a little sad, wasn't it? Though he wasn't exactly gloomy, just kind of serious...
"Maybe if I were the Symbol of Pessimism," All Might muttered, before changing topics. "Anyway, it's true that if I had chosen someone like young Bakugo or Todoroki or Hikigaya that my successor would have two powerful abilities, or three, or even a hundred and nine - but I got by just fine with only One For All, so I don't see any reason why you can't either!"
"Eh? All Might, you were quirkless?" I screamed in shock. "Why didn't you tell me!"
"You never asked!" All Might replied. "Seriously, I was sure you were going to, but you never did." As I gaped at him, he gave me a wide smile. "So be more confident, young man! Yes, you may be just now learning how to properly use your quirk, but compared to Pro Heroes, that's true of all of your classmates as well. You're right, you may be up against some tough competition - but the fact that something was hard hasn't stopped you before, has it?"
I felt a smile spread across my face to match All Might's. "No, it hasn't. All right, All Might. I'll give it my best shot!"
"Excellent! That's the attitude I like to see! You know, Midoriya-shonen, besides the instinctive drive to be a hero, there's another quality that sets the best of the Pro Heroes apart from the rest. The never-ending drive to be at the top, to be number one!"
At the time, I didn't really understand what All Might meant by that. I accepted it at face value, and I resolved to shoot for number one myself because All Might had told me it was important, but if someone had asked me at the time why it was so important I wouldn't have been able to answer them. It took until that afternoon for me to fully understand, when Hikigaya Hachiman showed that he was ahead of me, once again.
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By the time that classes ended for the day, a huge mob of students had formed outside of the door to our classroom. Iida-kun was the first to articulate the question that a lot of us were asking. "What are you all doing here? Do you have some business with Class 1-A?"
"They're here to scout out the enemy, Glasses." Kacchan replied, heading straight for the crowd of people. From the way he had his back up and the determined scowl on his face, I could tell that Kacchan was already pretty irritated. "We fought the villains at USJ, so now they're probably here to check us out before the Sports Festival. Too bad for them, it's pointless." He stopped right at the exit to the classroom, nose-to-nose with the closest student, and raised his voice. "Out of the way, you damn extras!" I couldn't help but wince. That was Kacchan, alright.
"Eh? So this is the famous Class A, huh? I'm a little disappointed." The speaker, a tall purple-haired boy with a pasty complexion, wormed his way through the crowd to face off with Kacchan directly. "Is everybody in the pro-hero classes this arrogant?" Despite the fact that multiple people behind Kacchan including myself were all shaking our heads vigorously in denial, he continued as if we had agreed with him. "Now I feel a little disillusioned. Did you know? There's a lot of people in the General Studies class who are only there because we didn't make it into the hero course."
"And we're coming for you jerks!" A second voice chimed in. I looked down to see a second purple-haired boy, this one much shorter, his hair somehow shaped into several spherical globules rather than existing as a group of separate follicles. "All we have to do to get in to the Hero Course is impress the teachers during the Sports Festival, and then we can replace you, so you all better watch your backs!" I couldn't help but gulp. I wasn't really that afraid of performing poorly at the Sports Festival, not if All Might thought I could win the whole thing, but the thought that I could be replaced was still a scary one.
The first purple-haired boy shrugged. "Yeah, that's more or less it. The admission test doesn't work well for all quirks, and some of us feel like we lost out through dumb luck. Scouting out the enemy? We're not really here for that. This is our declaration of war."
"Ah, is that so?" Hikigaya Hachiman replied in a dull disinterested manner that actually reminded me a little bit of Aizawa-sensei. "That's even more pointless, though." He walked up to stand next to Kacchan, staring the taller purple-haired boy right in the eye. "Students in the Hero Course are in class for fifty hours a week. Hero classes are half of that, and some of the classes are book work, so let's just be conservative and say that U.A. provides us about two hours a day to practice using our quirks and to exercise our bodies. Let's just say that you're right, you totally hero material and you got screwed over by the test. All you have to do is work out two hours a day on your own, and you can keep up with us and get in due to the more favorable circumstances, right?" Hikigaya paused, then turned around to look back at the classroom. "Class 1-A, hands in the air if you put in at least, let's say, an extra hour a day of exercise, quirk training, or other practice that you weren't assigned for school."
I put my hand up immediately. And looking around the room, so did everybody else. I saw one or two hands that were slow or tentative to come up, so maybe not everyone was being completely honest, but the end result was still a forest of upraised arms.
Hikigaya shrugged. "Whoops, guess you need to work out three hours a day. And that's just to keep up with the slackers in our class. On the other hand, if you want to impress the teachers, you might have to do better than that. Class 1-A, who does at least two hours a week extra?"
Quite a few hands went down, but about half the class still had their hands in the air, including me. I was sweating a little bit internally, though - an extra two hours a day of exercise was just about my limit, given how tough One For All was on my body and the intensity of my workouts. Was half the class really working as hard or harder than me?
Oblivious to my inner struggle, Hikigaya-taicho went on. "So if you want to match the average student in our class, you need to be putting in, oh, about four hours a day of extra work. And that's assuming that you aren't behind, that the U.A. faculty really did make a mistake, and don't need to work even harder than us to catch up. And if you wanted to be sure of getting in, of being able to keep up with the very best in the class…. 1-A, how many for an extra three hours a day?"
My heart sank, and I slowly lowered my hand. Kacchan turned and saw me, and his face contorted with irritation. "Deku, you useless shit," I heard him say, and my heart sank further. Unlike when Kacchan typically yelled at me, though, this time he continued. "Those fucking notebooks of yours count, you moron." At first I couldn't believe my ears. Then, with a beaming smile, I raised my hand back up, joining Yukinoshita, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Iida, Uraraka, and Kacchan. "Bastard," he growled at me. "If you make me look bad in front of nobodies like this again, you're dead."
I heard a gasp of happy shock from the crowd. Looking to see who it was, I saw a pretty brown haired girl with glasses staring at me with shining eyes that made me a little uncomfortable, though I couldn't figure out exactly why.
In the meantime, HIkigaya was talking again. "So there you have it. If you," he said, jabbing the purple-haired kid in the shoulder with one finger, "or you," he said, poking the much shorter student 'declaring war' in the forehead, "or anybody else here getting in our way are really serious about being heroes? Consider whether standing around like this is a good use of your time." As Hikigaya-taicho finished his speech, I realized two things. First, that the people in our class who were aiming to be the best were also the ones who worked the hardest every day. And secondly, that I was inferior to Hikigaya Hachiman in motivational speaking as well.
"Hey, hey!" A tall boy with gray hair and a metallic quirkmark around his eyes shouted from the back of the crowd. "I heard you guys fought villains, so I came here from Class B to ask you about it! But now you've got me all fired up for training! You can tell me about it after I crush you in the Sports Festival!" And with that, he headed off, moving away from the crowd. More than a few other people moved away as well, leaving us a clear path forward out of the classroom.
Already halfway to the door, Kacchan was one of the first to leave, but before he turned to walk down the corridor he turned his head to look at Hikigaya-taicho. "Oi. Hikigaya. How many hours a day do you put in?"
"I can use my quirk in the middle of class without getting caught," came Hikigaya's dull reply. "How many do you think?"
Apparently, that was enough to satisfy Kacchan, because he just huffed in reply and kept walking out of sight, leaving us with a slowly diminishing crowd of curious onlookers. One of them, a girl whose brown hair was so frizzy that it almost looked like a cloud of mist, stepped forward. "Man, who'd have thought that you'd be giving big speeches like that, Hikigaya! Ahahahaha, hilarious!" She gave him a big, bright smile. "You've really changed since middle school!"
If someone had said the same thing toward me, I probably would have stammered out a thanks or blushed at the compliment. Hikigaya just shouldered his backpack and walked past her. "You know, Orimoto-san?" He said as he passed her by. "I really haven't."
Kacchan and Hikigaya-kun, both so disdainful of wasting time that they were willing to challenge a giant crowd. Eraserhead-sensei, who came into class in a sleeping bag but could fight fifty to one against Villains with nothing but his physical strength and capture tape, and was always telling us that we didn't have enough time. Iida, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Yukinoshita, all people whose talents and I respected, all people who were quietly putting hours and hours of effort in behind the scenes to make their dreams come true. My fists tightened involuntarily. If I was going to catch up to Hikigaya Hachiman, I had a lot of work to do.