Author's note; I'm so glad so many people like chapter 9! I was worried about it! This chapter is also really long as it's the last bits of fluff we'll have before we go into the Sport Festival from hell. So much drama, action, potential bloodshed!
The class stood in front of the UA dorm building. The morning sun shone down upon them as equal parts daunting work and excitement buzzed the air.
The dorms stood tall and wide, with a welcomingly warm brown color. Five stories tall, with an open area at the front on the upper two. The 1-A Alliance logo stood in bold white, like a decorative breastplate outlined in gold. Its bottom floor was a stark white, with strong square topped pillars standing guard. A pair of double doors stood ready for their students.
Aizawa stood between the class and the dorms as his calloused fingers rubbed his nose ridge. 'It's far too early for this.' He grumbled to himself.
"Welcome to the UA dorms." He dully droned to his students. His fatigued tone did little to stall the excitement of the class. "All of you should have packed the moving vans by now. They'll be here soon to drop off your stuff."
"I'm sure that anyone here is willing to continue the hero training course despite the incident last week." Aizawa skipped past the prepared speech Nedzu had given the teachers. His class was the one that had been through hell. His pride in their collective competency to survive was grimly overshadowed by the event itself. 'Despite what they've survived, they continue to want to be heroes.' He hid his smirk. 'Not bad. Let's see if it holds.'
Mina bounced on her heels beside Tanya. A giddy smile on her face only bound by an anticipation wound tight and ready to burst. "I'm so excited! We're all getting a dorm experience together!"
Tanya smirked as she idly stood beside the pink girl, a wing propped to the side to keep her personal space from Mina. "I doubt it'll be as magical as your imagination is making it out to be."
"If you all will follow me in, we'll begin the initial tour." Aizawa groaned as he turned his back on the class and walked away. His scarf trailed behind him with all the lack of energy he brought into his day.
The inside of the dorms was well lit, spacious, and open. Light, hardwood floor greeted the wave of students that flowed around their teacher. Wall lights shone over the mirrored lounges on the right and left wings.
Splitting the building open was a courtyard surrounded by glass doors. The left side of the interior was dedicated to a dining hall, with a kitchen at the back. The right was reserved for a casual gym set up.
Uraraka spun around with her eyes nearly bulging out of her skull. "It's like a mansion!" She proclaimed as she nearly fell over.
Tsuyu caught her and said, "It's like a nice hotel. Feels very homely."
Sato walked around the kitchen setup. "Nice." He muttered under his breath as he knelt down and examined an oven.
"Keep up Diabetes." Bakugo growled as the teacher was showing where the baths and laundry areas were kept, at the very back of the building. Bakugo took a glance over the kitchen as well, his brain already began to catalog everything available.
Sato smiled as he opened the oven. 'I wonder how much food it would take to feed an entire class for a single night?'
Bakugo hovered behind him. "The fuck you smiling about?"
"Just thinking about cooking." Sato muttered and shrugged as he closed the oven and stood up. "Wondering how much would feed a class. You know, the scale of it all."
With a grunting huff, Bakugo turned around and was about to follow the class. "Don't want any of your shitty food. I'll do it myself."
"Do you think the class would like your cooking?" Sato asked genuinely. He rubbed at his cheek as his nerves kicked in. "I-I mean, you said you like your stuff spicy."
Bakugo stopped and glared over his shoulder. His red eyes dared Sato to continue. "What was that?" He growled.
"Oh- uh." Sato began to mutter as he waved his hands around. "You mentioned, uh, not wanting me to cook for you. B-but, I may like to try it, your food that is, sometime."
"Why are you acting all scared and shit?!" Bakugo demanded to know as he kept his hands in his pockets and was ready to storm off after the class. "If you want some, all you had to do was fucking ask. Instead you're muttering like Deku. Quit it!" He barked.
Sato stood wide eyed at Bakugo's shouting. 'He wants me to feel more comfortable around him despite his angered outbursts. He even offered his cooking.' A little piece of Sato grew happy at this little sign of trust while the rest of him was once again startled by Bakugo's aggressive nature.
Sato had always been a little bashful of his cooking skills. He wanted to make people feel happy, safe, and content, and good food was always a strong backbone of that. Lunch Rush wasn't a revered hero for nothing after all!
"Would you," Sato gathered a little courage granted to him by Bakugo's admission, "perhaps want to cook with me? It's a big kitchen and a lot of mouths to feed."
Bakugo turned his back on Sato and marched off. "I'll only be joining because I don't want your cooking ruining the class." He growled.
As the guys caught up with the rest of the class, they had begun to funnel up the stairs.
Izuku winced as his sore body felt possessed by the spirit of everyday life. A dull, faint burn ran along his thighs and lower back as he pushed himself up the stairs. 'Training with One For All hurts.' He mentally groaned. 'But I have to continue. I need the strength to end fights quickly, like Tanya said.'
Uraraka picked up the pace to get beside Izuku. "You feeling ok?" She asked as she tried to hide the light blush of their closeness.
"I'm doing fine." He lied through his teeth. He averted his eyes from her as he also blushed at the mere presence of a girl.
"You know, everyone's going to need to get their stuff up into their rooms." Uraraka pointed out. "I was actually going to use my Quirk."
As the teacher talked about how there would be boys on one side of the dorm rooms and girls on the other, Izuku offered his help. "I'd gladly help you. Making everyone's stuff weightless would make this so much faster."
Uraraka nodded happily with a hum of, "Hm, HM!"
Aizawa opened one of the doors and showed everyone an empty room. "All of the rooms are identical in space. If specific accommodations are required, please contact Power Loader." He droned.
There had been some people who needed specifically built in features. Like Present Mic needing extreme sound proofing in his room because even his snoring could accidentally be Quirk boosted loud enough to sound like a motorcycle. It was a rare occurrence, but it did happen once when he was a young man in UA. Aizawa had been dragged to a sleepover. There was no sleep. Never again.
As for the room itself, its base floor plan was a simple square with a section close to the door walled off to be a bathroom. Another section was walled off along it to create an L shape which was dedicated to be a closet. At the far end of the room was a sliding glass door with a tiny balcony.
"It's about the size of one of the closets from my home." Momo said softly as she worried if her bed would fit.
Tanya looked at her in a state of wonder and confusion. 'What kind of a place would you live in that a room like this would be considered small?'
Aizawa led the class back to the front of the dorms. "The vans should be arriving soon enough. I am sure a class of aspiring heroes can sort themselves out." He turned away from them all and stalked away. 'I need a nap. A lot of long patrols last week. That league of villains has got the Hero Public Safety Commision spooked.'
In the distance, the faint rumbling of moving vans began their orchestra of engines. There were too many to count as each class had a miniature caravan to carry their personal furniture, wardrobes, accessories, and assorted or unassorted nicknacks.
Class 1A's vans pulled up and the chaos of hard work began.
Iida tried to coordinate order within the class. A mountain of boxes of various sizes had to be unloaded and sorted and distributed.
Uraraka and Midoriya began effortlessly carrying bed frames and furniture. Maybe not effortlessly. Midoriya had pushed his workouts so hard that climbing the stairs burnt. Uraraka got a little sickly green after maneuvering whatever elephant sized box Momo had brought upon them.
Tanya focused on swiftly getting her stuff all the way to the uppermost floor. It wasn't a lot of stuff but it was rough. Again and again, she took off and flew up to the top floor, where her room's balcony served as a landing pad.
To many's surprise and delight, Shoji had only made one trip to get his singular box into his room. After that, he was open to start helping everyone else carry their stuff.
"Bro!" Kirishima grit his teeth with effort as he and Sato hoisted an oversized minifridge up the stairs. "Why is this so heavy!"
"I'll help you carry your weight set!" Sato promised as his face burnt red from the strain of the fridge.
"Thanks man!" Kirishima shouted back as the two guys shimmied around a stairwell corner.
Meanwhile outside, Sero and Kaminari were using his tape Quirk to pull their stuff up to the third floor.
Kaminari stepped back after affixing the tape around a box. "It's good to go!" He waved up.
Sero ginned and began to reel it up. His arms braced on the window for support.
Inside the building, Koda nearly dropped his bag of rabbit feed as a box zipped past him. "Eep!" He yelped.
"You good there?" Jiro asked cautiously as she helped prop up the end of his bag.
Koda clenched his jaw and frantically nodded before fixing his situation and scurrying away.
Tokoyami and Dark Shadow duo carried their stuff past everyone. An efficient duo with one of them being able to fly which allowed for much easier lifts. Tokoyami walked by while carrying a mattress which was being held up above everyone's heads by Dark Shadow.
Mineta blinked as he waddled up the stairs with a box of posters nearly the size of his entire body while Tokoyami and his sentient Quirk strided right past him. 'Stupid, helpful Quirk and normal size.' he began to grumble to himself.
Then Ojiro marched past him carrying his own stuff. Then Aoyama. Then Todoroki.
Mineta grumbled as everyone outpaced him.
"What do you need a filing cabinet for?!" Bakugo barked at Tanya as they marched up the stairs.
"Paperwork. Which in this case would mostly be homework, guides, handouts, and maybe hero agency applications." She answered straightforwardly. "What else would you use a filing cabinet for?" She shrugged her wings in effort as carrying was hard work.
Pftfph! Tanya's wing hit something. She glanced over her shoulder in minor confusion.
"Bleh! BeH!" Toru sputtered as she accidently got a faceful of feathers.
"Sorry about that." Tanya apologized with a tense smile. She had already flown her lighter stuff up to her room, her wings now were just getting in her way.
"Hey No Face!" Bakugo poked his head around the cabinet and shouted from up the stairs. "Watch where you're going!"
Toru put her sleeves up and waved them in fear. "Sorry! Sorry!" She squeaked before speed walking away.
'Those two are scary!' Toru cried to herself as she wished she could just disappear on the spot. 'Tanya looked ready to kill me and I think Bakugo wanted to blow me up!'
"Stupid extras!" Bakugo barked as the duo got back to carrying. "Always in the way!"
Tanya smiled and shrugged, this time she made sure her wings didn't smack anything on accident. "It's a crowded place. We only have two stairwells and some small elevators."
"That wasn't what I meant!" He shouted.
Ojiro walked down the hall to pause at Todoroki's door in confusion. "What?"
A near cartoon level of carpentry sounds were blasting out of Todoroki's room. Floorboards were propped up beside the door, and the faint smell of wood dust wafted out.
He reached for the doorknob before - CHURR! A nail gun went off and startled him.
Ojiro sweatdropped and muttered, "Maybe it's for the best to let him work…"
Sato groaned and rolled his shoulder. A faint soreness emanated from his back after having helped people carry their luggage nearly all day.
Students lounged around the common room in various stages of exhaustion or listlessness. A wave of fatigue had overtaken many of them, along with a faint dread of what fresh hell Aizawa would put them through the next day 'as a warmup'.
"Hey Bakugo." Sato walked over to him as he sat on the couch and stared moodily out the window into the afternoon light.
Bakugo looked over his shoulder at him and huffed. 'What does he want now?' He mentally grumbled.
"Care to hit the store with me?" Sato itched his cheek in nervousness. "You know, pick up stuff for dinner…"
"Heh." Bakugo grinned, half annoyed at the question, half interested by the prospect. "Still on that Diabetes?"
Sato looked away nervously and muttered. "Well… Lunch Rush's cafeteria's closed, he's handling an emergency, and I still think that-"
Bakugo cut him off. "Well fuck!" He groaned as he stood up. "Could have just told me that you didn't want the extras bitching tomorrow!"
He glared at Sato with a snarl and asked, "What the fuck are you smiling at?!"
While Bakugo and Sato were out on a food hunt, Tanya… tried to socialize. What she didn't know was that socialization was going to come to her first.
As Tanya made her way down to the common space, she was stopped by a croak.
"Kerro." Tsuyu croaked politely to get Tanya's attention. Her posture was more hunched than usual, a mixture of her tiredness and feeling comfortable enough around the class to stand how her Quirk decided was best for her.
"Yes Tsuyu?" Tanya was caught a little off guard. She reset her posture as she stood up and folded her wings behind her a bit more tightly in an attempt to come across more composed. She eyed the frog girl carefully as she was curious about her intentions, and she was a bit nervous to meet Nedzu's request for improved social skills. 'Tsuyu's a good place to start. Calm, friendly, and level headed.' Tanya put on a calm smile.
"I wanted to thank you. For what happened at the USJ. Kerro." Tsuyu tried her best to smile. A process made difficult by her Quirk and by the nature of their conversation. "Without you… Kerro, I might not have made it."
Tanya's smile became genuine. Her posture slowly relaxed as she felt more comfortable around Tsuyu. "It was the right thing to do." She said as she knew that killing that lead villain had put a dent in the enemy forces. 'No one operates that large of a scale operation without a chain of command.' She thought confidently as she had broken their chain.
"I'm really happy everyone's moving in together." Tsuyu croaked and tilted her head to the side to emphasize her weak smile. "It makes me feel safer."
Tanya nodded her head as she thought about it. Her eyes furrowed in thought before unfurrowing for her reply. "It makes sense. They attacked us with a large scale assault, what's to stop them from hunting down where we live and attacking us there? Probably for the best that we're at UA."
Tsuyu's mood dropped with her posture. "When you say things like that, it scares me, Kerro. What if our families are threatened?"
Tanya shrugged, her wings moved more than her shoulders, and smiled as now they were talking strategy. "I doubt it. If they wanted to go after our families then they'd have had all the time in the world already. Mr. Tenikari works in construction, he'd have been a prime target."
Uraraka perked up and turned around on the couch. "Wait, your parents work in construction too?!" She smiled for the suddenly found common ground.
"I only have one guardian, and yes. He specializes in foundation work, mostly the excavating parts." Tanya smirked as she walked over to the couch area with Tsuyu. 'This might be easier than I thought.'
Tanya took a seat at the couch lounge, her wings tucked over the edge behind her. Her eyes scanned the other students who were lounging around too, either on their phones or, in Sero's case, flipping through channels on the TV to see the heroes in action. 'Keeping up appearances like this might get Nedzu calmed down soon.'
"Wouldn't your Quirk have been better suited for construction work? Getting a working license wouldn't have been too difficult." Tanya asked as she folded her hands over her lap in a stiff and formal posture.
Uraraka chuckled nervously as she rubbed at the back of her head. Her pace got faster and faster. "Well, you see, my parents thought the same thing. But, I wanted more than that. I want to be a hero, so I can make a lot of money, so I can support my family, which would mean they wouldn't have to work so hard…"
Tanya's eyes lit up with interest. "So you decided to take a higher risk for a higher reward."
"You… can say that." Uraraka sighed as her tension left her. She was a bit saddened by her money focused endeavor.
"Kerro. I also have a family to support." Tsuyu waved as she entered the conversation. "I've got two little siblings and my parents. But I mostly wanted to be a hero so I can make people feel safe."
Tanya put in her thoughts. "I wanted to be a hero for a few reasons. Personal freedom being a big one. I guess you can add peace to the list as well."
"How so?" Uraraka asked.
"There are working licenses out there, heroes being the biggest case. What would my wings be useful for? I don't find the prospect of pizza delivery or camera carrying to be stimulating." She lightly scoffed at the idea. "So, as far as I'm concerned, being a hero is the only way to use my wings freely."
Tanya mentally continued her speech to herself. 'That and for the safety of being able to fight off Being X's threats. And being able to retire early would fall under personal freedom.'
"You're scary in combat." Sero bluntly threw out while not even looking at her.
Tanya's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him. 'No, I can't lose out so quickly!'
Uraraka grimaced at the memory of all the bruises and the minor concussion she had received from Tanya. "You do go all out."
"Is that not what we were supposed to do?" Tanya asked nervously. She became scared that her words would set off the others.
"I never thought I'd see people pop like that." Serro chuckled darkly. "Though I also never thought we'd be assaulted by the legion of villains."
Tanya froze up as she scrambled for words. Her breathing slowed and her muscles tensed ever the slightest bit. 'I can't alienate them now! Not on the first day after Nedzu gave me an ultimatum!'
She felt a hand gently placed onto her shoulder.
"It's… ok." Uraraka gave a weak smile. "No one here blames you."
"I certainly don't, kerro." Tsuyu croaked.
Tanya became confused as she didn't know how to respond. "I… Thank you. That means a lot."
She internally began to cheer back up. 'We're back on track to socializing! They haven't completely alienated me.''
Mina popped up from behind the couch and tucked her arms over it. Her smile instantly started to break the tension that was forming. "How's everyone doing!?"
"Good." Sero droned with a hand wave.
"I'm a bit nervous." Uraraka chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. "Aizawa is probably going to work us to death tomorrow because we missed a week."
"I'm ok, Kerro." Tsuyu tried to smile.
"I'm doing quite well. Thank you Mina." Tanya replied calmly. 'She appears to fit in wherever she goes. Impressive.'
Mina bobbed on her feet, apparently not tired after all the moving. "Agh! I hate this low energy atmosphere! How are you not all bored already?!" She swung her arms open in exasperation.
Everyone at the lounge looked at Mina in a state of weak awe. 'How can she still have more energy!?'
Mina stood up and slammed her fist into her palm as an idea crashed into her mind. "That's it! Room competition!"
Sero gave a big, goofy grin. "You're on!"
"What will the rules of the room competition be?" Tanya asked as she sat up and got intrigued.
Mina pointed at Tanya and declared, "Most votes win, you can't vote for your own room."
"I can agree to that, Kerro." Tsuyu croaked as she stood up.
Mina drew a breath and cupped her hands around her mouth. With a loud voice that rang smoothly, she cheered "Room competition! May the best room win!"
Everyone else in the class ose from their tired stupor and perked up. Their competitive spirits ignited like a dozen fuses.
"I WILL WIN THE MOST MANLY ROOM!" Kirishima shouted back as he jumped to his feet.
Kaminari shrugged and said, "Yeah but who's looking for manliness? They're looking for a cool room."
"THAT'S THE SAME THING!" Kirishima pointed and shouted again.
"Order everyone!" Iida stood up and held his hands high for attention. "The competition will begin shortly!"
"No wait!" Midoriya howled in fear as he waved his hands around in the air. "Wait! Wait! Please!"
Sato and Bakugo had been on a supermarket shopping spree. Both armed with baskets full of useful ingredients.
Sato squinted at the price of the eggs. "Do you thi-"
"If you ask me one more fucking time," Bakugo began to fume and growl, "go ahead, buy them! We'll get the others to pay up for a fair share!"
Sato meekly placed the eggs atop his basket and carefully made sure it wouldn't fall out.
They had fallen into a spiral of Sato being hesitant and Bakugo urging him along. Their baskets were laden with ingredients; chives, bell peppers, onions both white and green, noodles, rice, flour, cheap cuts of meat that could work in a dish, eggs, broccoli, mushrooms, the list went on and the pile grew taller.
Not that either regretted it. Ingredients were cheaper than cooked dishes unless they only wanted Lunch Rush's cooking which had a decent student discount. Bakugo wasn't willing to sink that low and rely on someone else's cooking, and Sato wanted to hone his skills and make the other students happy.
"Carrots?" Sato asked as he lifted a bundle of the vegetable.
Bakugo snatched them out of Sato's hand and shoved them into his basket before storming ahead. "Be decisive Diabetes!" He shouted over his shoulder as he continued their march through the supermarket.
Midoriya's room was wall to wall with All Might merch. Figurines of all ages, posters, his All Might signed notebook sat comfortably on his desk in a place of honor.
Tanya blinked, bewildered by the room of her competition for All Might's approval. "I… I'm at a loss for words right now."
'Is there more behind their relationship than teacher and student?' She thought with owlish eyes as she still struggled to wrap her head around the room. 'There has to be, right? There's no way All Might's most favored student would also just happen to have an All Might shrine for a bedroom?'
"Midoriya," She asked with dropped wings and a bewildered twitching eyebrow, "just why is your room All Might themed?"
"H-he's the greatest hero ever." Midoriya shivered as he squeaked. 'There are girls in my room!' His mind raced. "A-and he inspired me!"
"Wooooah!" Uraraka was amazed as she walked in. "It's all All Might! A real Otaku's room!"
Midoriya's soul immediately left his body. He stood there like a frozen corpse, eyes wide with his death. "I just really admired him is all." He whispered.
"No way!" Mina laughed as she covered her stomach. "We're off to a dramatic start!"
"This is foolish." Tokoyami warned as he leaned against his door, foot up behind him. Internally, he felt like a bomb was about to go off, 'I cannot allow my and Dark Shadow's inner darkness to be uncovered. Our lair must go unseen by mortal eyes.'
Mina blinked as she watched Tokoyami pose lean against his door. 'There has to be something cool in there.'
"Can we see?" Toru asked as she bounced in front of him.
"No." He declared. He didn't look up from his pose.
Mina began to lightly and playfully push him. "Scoot." She jested.
His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to stand his ground.
Toru pushed Mina's back and Tokoyami began to lose balance. "Move!" She groaned. "We have to see!"
"HEY!" Iida chopped high in the air. "If he doesn't want to reveal his room, he doesn't have to!"
Toru visibly sagged in despair. Her voice was half joking, half pleading, "But then we'll never get to see what dark and brooding secrets he holds!"
Tokoyami sighed. 'Sorry Dark Shadow, she got me. The darkness is open to any who desire to delve into it.' He reached back and opened his door before stepping away. He crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to look over his shoulder as the class began to inspect his room.
"Thank you." Toru whispered as she walked past and into the dark. She got a huff in response.
Tokoyami's room was nearly pitch black. Gothic curtains and skull banners hung from the wall. The skull of an ox hung by the door and stared at the lightbringers. Silver model swords were set throughout the room and glimmered in the purple gloom. The rug was a spiral, darkness with no light to balance it out. A pentagram poster was delicately taped up.
"This class is a goldmine of awesome rooms!" Mina cheered as she skipped in.
Tanya was impressed and nodded at the room. 'He calls his Quirk dark shadow, his costume is a massive cloak, and his room just feels like a natural extension of him. He's more dedicated to the gothic theme than the empire was to their own. His Quirk seems effective and well rounded but I'm not sure about his skillset.'
Tokoyami had peeked over and saw Tanya's nod. 'They say birds of a feather flock together, but while I may embody the dark, I yearn for light. She, however, embodies light yet I feel a great darkness within her.'
She examined his sword collection, all without touching them, and asked, "Do you know how to use a sword?"
"A dark hero like myself should study the blade." Tokoyami said coldly. "I get the feeling you know your way around weapons as well?" He asked genuinely.
Tanya's wings flinched at the cold toned accusation. She didn't look at him as she answered, "Bladed weapons are still fairly new to me, but yes I have used weapons before."
Kirishima squatted down as he examined a sword with a miniature sword keychain attached. "Huh. I stopped buying these kinds of things in middle school."
Tokoyami felt the hit to his pride and turned his head away once more.
Jiro's eyes widened and she smiled when she pointed at the skull banner. "Hey. I recognise that band!"
"I prefer their logo over their music." Tokoyami said as he brooded.
"Not a fan?" Jiro asked, a little stunned. "They're one of the best goth metal bands out right now!"
"Too wordy." He grunted with his arms firmly crossed. "It interrupts the aesthetic."
Deku kneeled and nearly reached for Tokoyami's prized sword. "So cool." His voice wobbled with excitement.
"GET OUT! No touching the swords!" Tokoyami shouted and began to push Midoriya out.
Aoyama placed his hand on the door and declared, "Behold! For it is my turn to dazzle you all." He pushed his door open for all to see.
As soon as the first crack appeared, dazzling light shot out.
Sero covered his eyes, "Ack! How bright is your room?!"
A disco ball hung above a room of mirrors and star covered curtains. Light bounced and reflected off of his racks of jewelry and his suit of armor that stood watch over his room. Every mirror had a custom gold frame.
"Non, non." Aoyama wagged his finger in disappointment. "Not bright," He began to go from flaunting pose to flaunting pose, "dazzling."
Tanya struggled to look into the room till she covered her face and front with a wing. 'Aoyama seems more absorbed in his looks than his dire lack of skills. Every time I've seen him use his Quirk, something had gone wrong. Glory Hounds really do exist in every era.'
"Why do you need such a bright room?!" Tanya asked sharply as she felt like she had been visually flashbanged.
Ayoma faked a faint as he held himself up off the corner of his bed. "Oh woe is me, your words cut deep, mi ange. I had figured you'd have understood."
"No." Tanya bit in annoyance as she marched out, her wing shielded her eyes from his blinding room.
"Certainly different from the last room." Mina tried to be joyful as she rubbed her eyes and backed out.
"It's exactly what I expected though." Toru stated as she walked out, kind of bored of Aoyoam's gimmick room.
"This is getting kind of fun!" Uraraka cheered as she skipped along.
"It's certainly impressive." Tanya smiled as she kept ahead of everyone. "Everyone's room so far has been an interesting display."
She felt a hand gently clasp her wing. Tanya turned around and saw Mina holding her back. 'If this was anyone else, I'd be upset.' She threatened in her mind before asking, "What is it?"
"The last person on the second floor is…" Mina grimaced like she smelt something truly awful.
Tanya felt a dark presence coming from the next door. She squinted as it creaked open to reveal Mineta gesturing for them to come in. 'Mineta. I haven't heard good things about him. In fact, I've only ever been warned about him. A shame really, his Quirk is amazing. Close to midrange restraint and utility, it's hard to pass up. If he didn't offput everyone so much, I'd want him on my team. I wonder why everyone dislikes him?'
"C-come in." He muttered. His eyes were bloodshot and his face red. "I'll show you something amazing."
Tanya stared at him. 'Huh, that is pretty creepy. A bit of discipline will do you good. It worked on the 203rd, it'd work on you.'
"Aand with that we're heading to the third floor!" Mina loudly cheered in an attempt to stomach the grossness. She began to march back to the stairwell.
"I think that'd be for the best." Tanya softly agreed as she turned around and followed the class.
"Dude." Kaminari chastised Mineta. He stood beside the door with his hands in his pockets. "If you don't stop pulling weird shit like this, you'll never get any attention."
"Like you're pulling any better." Mineta scowled as he slowly closed his door and retreated into the depths.
Kaminari rubbed a slow hand down his neck. "I'm just trying to help ya bro." He sighed and walked after the class.
Ojiro willingly opened his door to the class. He stood before his humble collection with content, tail raised high as he got to share this little piece of himself with the class.
His room was mostly barren. A simple bed. A calendar hung on the wall. A cheap pc sat on his desk. It wasn't much, but it was ok.
"Wow! It's so normal!" Uraraka cried as she peered around.
"It feels like a stock image of a room." Sero said as he held his chin and grinned.
"I like the simplicity." Tanya nodded in agreement with Ojiro's tastes. 'Ojiro is an interesting peer. According to Mina, back at the USJ he fought his way out of the fire zone by himself against villains who were in their element. It would take a quick mind to pull off something like that. Good mobility, unorthodox movement, and great melee skills. He doesn't bring anything flashy but he's nothing to scoff at.'
With each comment, Ojiro's tail dropped with sadness. Finally his shoulders sagged and he said, "It's ok if you guys don't have anything to say. I understand."
Iida proudly opened his room for the class. "Welcome everyone!" He said sharply with a hint of enthusiasm as he stood in his room.
Shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books and binders. The pages dominated the wall and left no room for anything else. On the other wall, above his desk, sat rows of prescription glasses. Each one folded and looking to the ceiling, as ready to go as Iida was.
"There is nothing strange here!" He said with his hand pointing to his collection.
Mina stood on her toes and checked out the row of glasses. "Why do you have so many?"
"There's nothing strange about that!" Iida cried as he gripped his own glasses and reset them. "UA training will be brutal and I need extras in case mine break!"
Tanya raised her hand for Iida to see. "You know, there are athletic wear glasses. I'm surprised you don't have any?"
Iida proudly put a chop to his chest. "My helmet is specially designed to hold my glasses in place!"
Tanya smiled at the diligence of Iida. She once again had to move her wings so her classmates could see the room. 'Good speed, not much else. I suspect he's faster than me in a straight line. Not much to say about him other than that he's alright.'
Kaminari's room was a hodgepodge of things. Hats, posters, electrical stuff, random bins full of useless items.
"It's like you grabbed everything you could get your hands on." Uraraka muttered as she checked out the hat collection. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear a hat?"
Kaminari put his hands up in shock as he backed into his room, hurt by the comments of his classmate. "What! Isn't it great?!"
"This room feels like a horde." Tanya stated as she carefully maneuvered her wings not to hit anything.
Tanya sighed at his waste of studying space. 'He's a liability. His Quirk is unpredictable and barely controllable. He has zero attention span in a fight before he uses his Quirk and afterwards he's too dumb to fight back. At least Sato gets more value with less repercussions.'
Koda froze up before he opened his door for the class. His nerves went off and he began to shake. 'It'll be ok. It'll be ok, it'll be ok, it'llbeok.' His mind began to spiral into anxiety. 'They're all looking at me!'
He felt a calloused hand placed on his bicep and nearly jumped out of his skin before he saw who touched him.
"Don't worry about a thing man." Kirishima gave a sharp toothed grin as he tried to calm down the rocky faced giant.
Koda looked back at the spiky redhead and exhaled as his nerves left him for the moment. 'He's… like a dog.'
Koda's room was very green. Green bed, green curtain, green bulletin board. A few plush animals sat on watch over his bed. Then there was a litter box and pet supplies, and an animal bed. The star of his room hopped over to see what was going on.
A white, stout rabbit twitched its nose at the new humans. It stared with beady black eyes full of curiosity.
"He has a rabbit!" Toru squealed.
"Must. Pet. Bunbun!" Mina cheered as she got onto her knees and reached out her hand for the rabbit.
Tanya had a small staring contest with the fluffy creature as she thought about Koda. 'I don't think I've ever heard Koda talk before, outside of using his Quirk that is. The ability to converse with, and control, animals is incredibly powerful for safe recon. No one would suspect a bird of being a spy. He's easily one of the most important Quirks in the class for large scale operations. Almost feel bad that the training here does his Quirk little good.'
Koda gulped as he watched Tanya glare at his bunny, who was happily receiving pets from Uraraka and Mina. 'She scares me. Most humans do, but she's different. I feel like prey when she's around.'
"It's not fair to have pets around." Kaminari chastised Koda with his arms crossed. "You gotta be doing this on purpose."
Koda wrung his hands together as his voice failed him, unable to even squeak. 'Uh-unfair?! How? I'm so sorry!' He mentally panicked.
"I don't think you girls will get it, but here's my room." Kirishima said as he opened his door.
'Congrats! Big Catch!' Read a poster of the turbulent ocean. Posters of martial artists and inspirational quotes were slapped up around the room. A clock flexed its muscular arms at the class. Sitting on his desk was a row of books, underneath was a weight set. A punching bag stood strong in the center of the room and demanded attention.
"This is manliness!" Kirishima cheered and flexed at his classmates.
"Uhuh." Mina said dully as she nodded her head.
"This has to rank second for the room you'd least want your boyfriend to have." Toru pointed at him, which amounted to a short sleeve aiming a hole at him.
"I love it!" Uraraka got pumped up.
Kirishima grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "See! She gets it!"
Koda smiled weakly at Kirishima's toothy grin. The rocky giant felt happiness in the happiness of others, it's what drove him to be a hero.
"Hey! Big man!" Kirishima pushed through the crowd of students to get to Koda. "Care to hit the bag?!" He asked with extreme enthusiasm.
As Kirishima tried to coax Koda into showing off his strength, Tanya had little to say. 'I can't see much value in his Quirk. Increased defense is alright but more armor doesn't stop some of the scarier touch based Quirks from instantly hurting him. His cavalier attitude can be helpful for increasing the morale of fellow troops though.'
Koda gingerly stepped up to the bag. His heart raced and he held his hands together in fear. 'Please let me go! Please, please, please!'
Kirishima gave him a heartfelt thumbs up. "Give it all you've got man!"
"Go Koda!" Toru cheered in encouragement.
Koda raised a fist and gently tapped at the bag. The chain support didn't even rattle.
Kirishima closed his eyes and nodded. "Not bad. Now, let's put that shoulder into it!" He clenched his fist and flexed. "HARDER!"
Koda squeezed his eyes shut and wound back a huge swing.
Thurrd! The bag shuddered and the chain rattled! The stand reeled back before settling back down. Even though Koda's form was awful, his strength and size more than made up for it.
"That's it!" Kirishima shouted as he hardened up. "That's what we were looking for!"
"Yaah!" Uraraka cheered as she fist pumped the air.
Koda paled as people cheered his feat before he scurried out of the room.
Uraraka took her turn at the bag. Her form was bad, her posture weak, but her energy was strong as she gave her all into punching it.
Tud tud tud tud!
Tanya rolled her shoulders. "Might as well." She smiled as a little bit of adrenaline worked into her system.
She stepped up to the bag and set her form. Her feet were evenly placed, arms raised up for combative defense, and her posture leaned forward a little for her wings.
TUR! Tur tur! Her hits were like a rapid and powerful drum. Quick, concise, and well trained. Tur tur tur tur!
"That's the spirit!" Kirishima cheered on as the class began to cycle through, some of them getting hyped up to use the punching bag. Not everyone used it, but that was ok in Kirishima's book.
Midoriya stepped up. His shoulders rolled back and a breath left his nose. His feet slid into place.
Tanya watched him carefully and eyed his every move. She had to see how well trained her competition was.
THurURr! He jabbed at the bag before leaning into his punch and causing more of a push than a true punch.
Tanya blinked in stupefied awe. 'His form is awful! And All Might likes him?! What does he spend all that time with All Might doing?!' Another drop in her dislike of Midoriya.
"There's nothing interesting here." Shoji said from a projected mouth before opening his room.
Empty. Just a kneeling pillow and a tiny desk, and a mattress with a pillow.
Uraraka was in shock. "It's empty!"
"What is there to even say?" Mina scratched at her hair. "There's nothing interesting."
"I didn't take you for a minimalist." Midoriya said in surprise.
Shoji shrugged. "I never really liked having a lot of things."
"So cheap." Tanya smiled as she flexed her wings out and enjoyed the openness of the room. "And all of this open space!"
"Yeah." Shoji smiled. "I never have to worry about any of my extra limbs hitting anything. And I don't spend much time here, so there's not really a reason to have much."
'Shoji is a swiss army knife of abilities.' Tanya thought as she walked out. 'Good recon, above average mobility, good strength and long reach. He has a lot going for him but can be outmatched by specialists.'
Next floor up, it was Sero's turn.
He grinned in anticipation as he prepared to open his door. 'They're going to love this.'
Brown, orange and deep red colored the room. Geometric yet organic feeling patterns decorated the rug, banner, and blanket. A dark reed curtain hung over the window. A hammock hung in the middle of the room while wooden carvings of long necked animals smiled on the dresser.
Mina put her hands together and cried, "Asian!"
Uraraka mirrored Mina's pose and enthusiasm. "I love it!"
"Not bad." Tanya said with her arms crossed and wings folded up. "I like the patterns."
Sero pointed up a finger. "Knew you guys would like it."
'His Quirk is perfect for average hero work.' Tanya thought. 'Fantastic mobility in urban environments, mid range restraint, and tape is as versatile as the imagination. He seems to get along well enough with everyone.'
"Next up is Todoroki's room." Iida announced as the class moved on.
'The most capable student in the class.' Momo thought in awe.
'He's handsome!' Toru tried to contain her excitement. 'We're seeing a personal part of the aloof Todoroki!'
'The son of the number two hero. Despite the training he's no doubt received, all he does is fire off large scale ice moves. During the battle training, he actively ignored his teammates.' Tanya grew bored already of Todorki's antics. She couldn't tell if he was actually any good in a fight or simply so strong that competency wasn't something he needed to consider.
"Let's get this over with. I'm tired." Todoroki muttered as he opened his door.
Todoroki's room had been entirely remade during the day. Fully japanese complete with sliding doors to the balcony and matted floors. A few potted plants had been moved in, and the furniture all fit the theme.
"How?!" Sero cried in shock. "It's so japanese!"
"So that's what the power tools were for." Ojiro sweat dropped.
"Dude, how did you do this?! We had a day to move in!" Kaminari shrieked in awe.
The class waited with baited breath till Todoroki muttered, "I worked hard."
"Sato and Bakugo aren't here." Mina pouted to the class. "So I guess that's all the guys' rooms for now."
"Now onto the girls' dorms!" Toru cheered as she bounced on the spot.
Jiro wrapped her cable around her finger in bashfulness as she revealed her room to her class.
Black and gray checkerboard floor mirrored the red and black checkerboard ceiling. A massive wallpaper sign for the band Deep Dope sat behind her red bed. The rest of the room was taken up by musical instruments. Electric guitars, a keyboard piano, amps, microphones, speakers as tall as people, her room could arm an entire rock band.
"Woah!" Kaminari grew excited as he checked out the guitar. "Can you actually play any of theeSSSS!" His voice strained as Jiro earjacked the side of his shoulder. "WWHhhhYYY?!"
Jiro blushed and looked away. She let the jack come out of him so she could pinch at it nervously. "I don't like sharing this part of myself, ok." She mumbled. "So, be quiet about it."
"It's ok to be a little shy." Mina tried to comfort her.
Jiro glared at the pinkette with dumbfoundment. "You don't know the word shy."
"If anyone else knows how to play music, we can start putting a band together!" Uraraka got sparkles in her eyes. "Class 1A's very own band!"
Tanya got elbow nudged by Toru and raised an eyebrow at the invisible girl. 'What does she want?'
"You strike me as someone who can play." Toru said as if goading Tanya to spill some secret.
Tanya sighed as her wings rolled. "Yeah. I can sing. Mostly alto but I can do a little soprano as well." It wasn't worth lying about as long as they didn't make her sing.
Kaminari got all cocky, snapped his fingers and said, "I wonder if your voice matches your looks. An angel through and throuGHHHOOOO!" Jiro jacked him again.
"I didn't know you could sing Kaminari." Sero put a hand over his forehead while he laughed.
While that got a chuckle out of most of the class, Tanya was just happy she didn't have to give a demonstration. 'Thank you Jiro.' She thought.
'Jiro's Quirk is fantastic at stealth and information gathering. To hear the enemy long before they hear you will grant you the element of surprise. Every time I see her Quirk in action, she gets a little more useful.' Tanya thought fondly.
"Next is me! Hagakure!" Toru cheered as she jumped for the class to see.
She flung open the door and spun around to ask happily "What do you think?"
Her entire room was pink. A fluffy pink rug, a short table with a heart adorned with a bow sat atop it. Her bed was white, pink, and adorned with rose top motifs. The bed was occupied by a massive blue teddy and multiple small pillows. The teddy was not alone as an arrangement of plushies watched over the room was a high shelf.
Tanya paled at the cuteness or it. She had flashbacks to the propaganda center, frills and cute dresses haunted her. "Disgusting." She said before trying to turn and walk out.
"What do you mean disgusting?!" Toru cried as she tried to run over into Tanya's view.
Tanya lowered her eyebrows and groaned "My opinion of this room. It's disgusting and overly pink."
Toru made soft mumbling noises as she backed away so Tanya could leave. 'Why is she so hard to get along with? I'm trying my best here…'
"I, uh," Ojiro scratched at his cheek, "I like it."
"Yay!" Toru cheered. She was once again happy to be invisible as neither her sadness nor her current blush could be seen.
Tanya marched out and thought to herself, 'Toru's Quirk is nothing short of incredible. Complete invisibility is far too good to pass up for infiltrations and swift take downs. Not sure how useful she'd be on a patrol though. And I swear, if I ever have to wear something cute again, someone will pay for it!'
Mina announced herself, "I'm next!"
Mina's room was chaotic and shared the energy of its inhabitant. A picture board and shelf displayed the places she'd been over the years and the trophies she'd won. A pair of ice skates were haphazardly tucked in the corner behind her desk which had already become a mess as she had yet to finish unpacking. Sci-fi posters, mostly horror movies like the old school Aliens, decorated the room. Hand made drawings of her own hero costume and identity were scattered about as well, evidence of her dreams. Her bed had already been unmade as a mess of watercolor blankets, all dark colored, had thrashed the space. Her rug was a deep blue with white stars and planets with rings.
"Isn't it awesome!?" She asked the class as she skipped backwards into her room.
"Mina, your room is a mess!" Iida shouted as he karate chopped towards the clusterfuck of a room. "Is this unbefitting of a UA student?!"
"Says the man with fifty sets of glasses." Mina stuck her tongue out. She smiled as he overreacted and began ranting, 'He's fun to mess with.'
"Wooah!" Uraraka's eyes widened at all the various awards Mina had gotten. "Your life is so active! Breakdancing, ice skating, swimming."
Mina bounced over, eager to share. "I tried a bit of everything. I rarely won first place, but the experience I received was worth it all the same!"
Tanya smiled despite her upsetness at the mess of a room. She knew it'd only get worse. 'I can work on her academic skills later but I am happy that I have made allies with one of the more proactive students in the class. She sharpened her skills to work with her fantastic, versatile, and dangerous Quirk even before she came to UA.'
"What do you think Tanya?" Mina got up in her personal space and asked loudly.
Tanya put her hands on Mina's shoulders and scooted her back, "I think it's an excellent room, full of personality. But Iida is right, you should keep it more orderly."
"Not you too!" She hammed up her groaning as she slouched.
"It's not a very interesting room." Uraraka sheepishly scrubbed at the back of her head.
Uraraka's room was fairly barebones yet still cluttered somehow. A little cactus sat on her desk. A small TV was placed on a metal rack. A fan overlooked her table and floor pillow. Up on the wall was an astronomy poster and explanation of the night sky and all its constellations.
Midoriya was a blushing fool who could barely take a step further. "G-good room." He stuttered.
"I can feel the familiarity." Tanya sighed. She too came from a humble background with a construction guardian.
'Uraraka's Quirk scares me.' Tanya thought as she watched Uraraka. 'It's hard to tell how her Quirk exactly works. She says it makes things weightless yet sometimes ignores air resistance or still maintains some properties of momentum but only when it suits her. Ugh,' Tanya mentally groaned, 'no consistency. Powerful yet unpredictable. My most hated dynamic.'
The class walked along in a murmur of excitement and chatter. Tsuyu kept her head down and remained silent. Her face was as stoic as ever.
A dash of nervousness and stomached shame swirled inside her. Would everyone still be home if she had reacted quicker and jumped away? Would blood not be on Tanya's hands? The very sight of watching a man be torn apart still haunted her. She had deemed it her own fault. 'Everyone looks so happy together. So, why does it weigh on me?'
As Mina led the class forward, she was about to announce Tsuyu's room being up next until she heard a whisper in her ear.
"I don't think she's feeling so good." Toru spoke under her breath. 'Being invisible means no one can read my lips, nor even visibly tell when I'm talking.'
Mina glanced across the crowd at Tsuyu who stood slouched at the back. Her eyes were clouded with thoughts, and something about the way her footsteps lacked energy told Mina they weren't good thoughts.
"The next room is Momo's!" Mina shouted to the class who happily followed along.
Tanya eyed Tsuyu's door as the class walked by as she thought to herself, 'That's odd. Isn't Tsuyu's room next?'
She had rather enjoyed Tsuyu's company and thought highly of the frog girl's promising talent.
"Well," Momo smiled awkwardly as she slowly opened her door, "I may have miscalculated. Unlike all of your rooms, full of personality, mine is… a bit cramped."
Bed. Momo's room mostly consisted of a white, lavish, curtained bed. There wasn't much room for Momo's bookshelf nor for her desk.
"Huuge!" Uraraka cried as she held herself back from jumping into the massive bed.
"It was the furniture I was using," Momo held her chin in embarrassment, "I didn't think the room would be so small."
"Wait, you didn't check the measurements?" Tanya asked in bafflement. "It's a college dorm, how big did you think it would be?!"
"I read they were normal sized bedrooms." Momo squeaked as she buried herself further behind her hands.
Tanya stared at her with dead, owl eyes. 'Every time she has opened her mouth, she has remained completely divorced from reality. Her Quirk is amazing, by far one of the most useful, no, the most useful Quirk I have ever seen. Of course it had to be wielded by the one girl who asks if their teacher will be judging us.'
Tanya stood at ease in front of her door. All the way up on the fifth floor. 'Surely playing along with everyone's game would appease Nedzu. Just have to let them look in and have a few little chats. Can't be that hard.'
'Prettiest girl in the class.' Kaminari thought. 'And we're going to see her room!'
'The class's darkest member.' Tokoyami silently gulped as he prepared himself.
Midoriya tried to keep his feelings in check. Still bashful over the idea of looking into girls' rooms but Tanya was something else. She scared him with her brutality, intrigued him with her intelligence, and inspired him with her tenacity. While she didn't align with what he believed heroes to be like, she had no less saved lives.
"Everyone. My room." She stated before opening the door and stepping aside.
Her room was incredibly utilitarian. She had her filing cabinet full of studies, everything from graded papers to handouts. It was also where she kept her extensive notes. She had a desk fit for an office, with plentiful yet mundane supplies and a functional laptop. Above it was a bookshelf of random assortment. In the middle of the room was a simple workout of her clothes were neatly folded up and tucked away in her closet. On the upper shelf, hidden from everyone, was a green peaked cap. Finally, her bed which only had the lower half of a bedsheet and a pillow.
Mina whispered to Tanya as she walked in. "Sad Bakugo isn't here to enjoy this?"
Tanya turned her head in confusion. "What? Why should I be sad?" Her wing flicked in annoyance as Mina had left her with a chuckle. "Mina!" She called out in light anger, "Explain yourself!"
"It's… plainer than I was expecting." Uraraka said sadly as she walked in.
"I'm utilitarian, I try to keep things down to a reasonable limit." Tanya answered with a shrug.
"Is that a comic book!" Midoriya pointed to the familiar thin spine amidst Tanya's collection. He was eager to find common ground. "What hero do you follow?!"
"I was doing research for my costume design. I ended up bringing one home." Tanya answered bluntly. "I don't get the appeal of a comic book when heroes are on the news at any hour."
"It's the joy of the written story!" Midoriya balled his fists as he got invested. "The news only shows the fight, but with a story you can get invested in the action!"
'So it really is like an informal report. Probably embellished a lot for marketability. I can respect the craftsmanship.' Tanya thought as she pulled at her upper lip. 'Wonder if I could have a comic one day? Make some extra money selling my combat reports to artists.' The possibilities began to unfold in her mind.
"What's in the cabinet?" Toru asked. "I'm sure you've got some good secrets!"
Tanya walked over and popped open a rack. She slid it out, tapped her fingers along, and pulled out an easily forgotten sheet that Midnight had given to the class about symmetrical and asymmetrical costume design. "Everything UA has given out. I keep thorough notes of all of our classes and have recorded each assignment, handout, and test."
"This!" Iida chopped at her in excitement, "This is the ideal UA students should strive for!"
"Thank you Iida." Tanya gave a little nod of appreciation.
Toru sighed and her shoulders slumped. "I thought it was going to be something cool, not more school stuff."
Bakugo and Sato arrived back at the dorms, burdened with grocery bags filled to their limits.
Sato blinked in confusion as the class was huddled around a white board with names and tally marks. "What are they doing?"
"Don't care." Bakugo huffed as he marched past. "We gotta cook if we want to eat before tomorrow."
"Ay! Did someone say food?!" Sero poked his head over the crowd and asked.
Half the class turned as their attention was diverted from the board. Murmurs and questions of food arose.
Sato began to walk after Bakugo towards the kitchen section. "We were actually planning on making a stir fry. As a housewarming dinner."
"You guys can cook?" Mineta asked as he jumped to try to see what they had in the bags.
"WHAT KIND OF PERSON CAN'T COOK!?" Bakugo shouted and scared off the runt. A good portion of the class winced as he called them out. "You should be ashamed of yours-!" He was cut off as his sleeve was grabbed and pulled towards the kitchen. "Hey! I'm not done yelling at these extras!"
Sato had been dealing with Bakugo's temper for over an hour and had started to get accustomed to it. "Sooner we can get cooking, the sooner you can show the class your talents." He said with a small smile.
Midoriya had his mouth covered as he had just watched someone divert Bakugo's rage with seeming ease. 'Am, am I dreaming?!'
"Hey six arms!" Bakugo barked to Shoji as he began to set up in the kitchen. "Can you use a knife?!"
Sato stepped in front of Bakugo and said, "What he means to say is, could we have some help?"
Shoji rolled his weight forward as he stood off the couch. 'Couldn't hurt to lend a few hands.' He thought.
Some of the class watched as the three men cooked up a storm.
Bakugo chopped through the meat like a machine with a purpose. His red eyes were transfixed on his work and his hands moved with confidence and precision. Light breathing could be heard from his nose as he went into a minor flow state.
Sato had a relaxed smile on his face. All of his anxiety melted away as he washed the rice in a strainer.
Shoji was on a different level. After being barked at by Bakugo and guided by Sato, he had taken over half the kitchen. Arms split like tree branches with eyes watching over each station. What would have taken three more students he could do on his own as branched out arms worked.
"Did your mother never tell you how to use a knife?!" Bakugo shouted as he watched Shoji cut a little slower than he'd like. Bakugo hadn't stopped his methodical and rapid chopping to yell.
The elbows to the station closest to Bakugo sprouted another arm with a mouth on it. "I'm wielding seven knives right now." He said bluntly.
"Seven knives yet you can't use any of them right!" Bakugo chopped harder as he began to snarl.
"He's getting a lot of work done." Sato said with a sweatdrop as he worked on filling pots with water for the rice.
Several of the class watched and stayed back to avoid Bakugo's wrath. A vicious cycle of anger and calming spun round and round.
"Wow." Midoriya thought aloud as he sat in a pulled up chair. "Look at them go."
Sato set aside the rice to wait for the water to heat. He moved on to putting the chopped goods into sorted bowls. A soft and thoughtless hum sang behind his lips as he moved from task to task.
"Are you really standing around watching guys cook?" Mineta asked before getting his hair ball slapped by Kaminari.
"Shut it before Bakugo hears you." Kaminari hissed in fear as he tried to correct Mineta's behavior. "Do you not want food?"
The runt grumbled as he stalked away.
"They truly are renaissance men. Masters of multiple skills." Tokoyami said as he had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall.
"Hm! Hm!" Toru nodded happily as she watched the men cook.
"Beef done!" Bakugo barked out as he cleared his space to move on to heating up the wok.
Shoji wiped his brow as he saw the cumulation of his work. Bowls upon bowls of assorted chopped vegetables and a few bowls of mushrooms.
Sato smiled as he lopped off a cut of butter for the cooking rice and stirred it in. ''Just like mom.' Once the butter had been thoroughly mixed in, he put the lid on and lowered the heat down to a very small simmer.
After nearly an hour, all of the rice was ready.
"Who here is vegetarian or vegan?" Sato softly raised his voice as he kept track of which pots had butter and which didn't.
Koda meekly raised his hand without a word. "V-vegatarian…" He squeaked.
Sato gave a soft nod as he and Bakugo got to work actually cooking the stir fry.
The dynamic between them was vastly different. Bakugo cooked like a machine from hell, unflinching from fire and hot oil, no mess was made despite his intensity. Sato's strong frame made handling the massive wok easy, and his motions were smooth and thorough.
Tanya smiled as she watched the duo cook. 'Reminds me of the desert. Seeing all the troops eagerly watch the chiefs cook…' She shooed the memory away, she had no time to be nostalgic.
Mina caught Tanya's faint smile and grinned lightly herself. 'She seems happy. Who knew she was a foodie?'
Bakugo had his arms crossed behind the kitchen counter that separated the cooking world from the rest of the dorms. A shadow overcast his face except for his red, glaring eyes. He growled with authority, "Anyone who wants to eat, pay up front."
"Awhhh!" Uraraka flopped her head onto the table. The thought of money hurt her.
Tanya fished into her pocket and began doing math in her head. 'They bought enough food for the entire class for several days. Assuming four meals for myself, that gives me a price portion of one over twenty one divided by four. That comes out too…'
She held out a stack of yen. "For my share, plus profits for cooking."
"No, allow me." Tanya was cut off from paying as Momo stepped forward. "May I see the receipt for everything?"
Bakugo glared at Momo while Sato fetched the long receipt and handed it over.
Momo read through everything. "I can pay for this. Allow me to get my purse." She took the receipt and walked away to her room.
Tanya stared, once more dumbfounded. 'W-why? Why would anyone pay for an entire class like this?' She couldn't wrap her head around the idea of such blatant philanthropy. 'You're not getting anything back from this?!'
"Are you ok Tanya?" Mina asked, a little nervous as to why Tanya was stunned by this. "Money problems at home?"
Tanya slowly put her yen away while muttering. "Why would she do that?"
'Trust issues?' Mina made a checklist to look into as she tried to answer her friend's doubts. "Because she has enough money to handle it."
"No. I get that," Tanya reassured her, "but why would anyone throw money away for nothing in return?"
Mina put her hand to her chin as she had to genuinely think about it. "Because… hmmm. Well, is that any different from being a hero? She did it because it's something within her power and she wanted to help everyone here."
Tanya paused as she looked down in thought. "Something to consider." She mumbled.
After everyone had settled in for dinner, the twilight hours bathed the dorms in gold light. For the first time, Class A felt safe, happy, and a little more together.
Bonded both by strife and merriment. They realized this was where they all belonged. No one had turned away from the horrors of the USJ. Everyone had decided to improve and support each other in their own ways.
Class A had decided to be heroes and had a taste of what was to come.
A week had passed and classes had indeed gotten back into swing immediately.
Aizawa had stated that 'Disasters happen, heroes must continue their work through anything. The same should go for hero students. You had your week off.' Not that it shut up the complaints from choice students.
Then one day, Aizawa entered the class with a more exasperated look than usual. His tired eyes drifted across the class as he held the silence hostage.
Everyone sat still and stared at him. They partially knew what he was going to say but they never wanted to place their bets. He walked up to the podium, each footstep beat as clearly as a slow drum. Aizawa took a sigh as he looked over the room.
"The sports festival is coming up." He announced with all the enthusiasm of a farmer saying it was a cloudy day.
"LET'S GOOOO!" Mina's voice rose above the class's cheering.
'This is it!' Tanya grinned and laughed to herself as the path to victory started to emerge. 'This is my chance to show myself to All Might! To beat out Midoriya!'
"A perfectly normal school event!" Kaminari held his hands out to the sky like it was a gift from the heavens. "At long last!"
There was a knock at the door which caused everyone to fall quiet.
"Go ahead and open it. You've already disturbed the class." Aizawa ordered dully as his eyebrows furrowed in focused annoyance.
The door was slid open to reveal a horde of students. At the lead and standing in the doorway was a woman with long, green vines for hair. A patient smile rested on her elegant face.
She gave a little bow. "I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience Aizawa Sensei." Her voice was gentle, kind, and maintained a rhythmic steadiness like a practiced physician. "We merely desired to meet our opposition."
"We'll crush you!" A deep guttural voice barked from the horde from a head of white hair. As he tried to push forward, the green lady used one of her hair vines to keep him back and out of sight.
Before anyone in Class A could fire back, the lead lady said calmly, "I'm sure you all look forward to the opportunity to combat one another."
Bakugo huffed as he blew them all off and leaned back in his chair. "Fat fucking chance any of you extras will beat me."
The classes bursted in chaos and shouting. A choir of young heroes making bold claims and declarations of threats.
"Mr. Bakugo!" Iida shouted as he chopped at the blonde. "You absolutely can not go making enemies this early!"
Bakugo raised a middle finger. "Last I checked, we're all enemies here."
"I side with Bakugo on this." Tanya nodded as she stood so she could see the classes.
She raised her voice for the class to hear. Her wings unfurled to their full, intimidating span. "Everyone here is your competition!" The classes began to quiet down as her voice raised above them. "First place can only be held by one person! There are no sides, only temporary allies."
"I am so glad you can see the truth of this." The green lady said with a hint of sadness behind her voice. "I know I look forward to facing you, dear angel."
Tanya grimaced as she was called an angel once again. She then slipped into a grinning smirk as she stared down her opponent. "And I look forward to winning."
In the quiet of the standoff, the green lady spoke and asked, "I apologize, I don't believe I have asked you for your name yet."
"Tanya." She said sternly. "Tanya Tenikari."
The green lady gave a little bow of her head. "And I am Ibara Shiozaki."
Tanya's heart froze like a bomb moments before exploding. Anger, fear, desperation, it all stood at attention before it went into a wild boil. Her lip rose in a silent snarl. 'Her.' She declared war in her head. 'She has to go. Being X's chosen champion.'
Shiozaki put her hands together, tilted her head and smiled, then walked away.
While the classes went back to bickering, Shiozaki thought to herself about the hint of sadness she felt of Tanya. 'It pains me so, dear angel, that you reject God's light. Can you not see that his mercy awaits you with open arms? Maybe not… A lot of people have lost their way.'
'And I shall light it.'
Author's note: I had been debating in my head for the last few months over whether or not to add more Youjo Senki characters. It's actually what has eaten so much of my time, a writer's block with their names on it.
I know a lot of people may have been hyped for their addition, but I felt that it would throw a wrench into the character arc of Tanya. To either have a rock to rely upon, or an arch enemy outside of the mha cast and Being X (who kind of exists just beyond the story) would disrupt everything as the Youjo Senki connections must be resolved first.
In light of this, I am retconning a detail way back in chapter 3. I am removing the mystery student from Class B. Yes, this makes the classes 21 to 20, but Mineta will sort himself out of the fic quickly enough which lowers it to 20 to 20.
I have been writing this fic for almost a year now and originally I was running with a "This is cool! There are no mistakes! I have no foreseeable consequences!" mentality but as I wrote, the story evolved and matured. The earlier faults began to manifest and I was presented with a problem. A problem with which the solution would be uncomfortable in any cut.
To those of you who were hyped to see other characters in mha, I present you an alternative. Leave a comment whatever the system may call it, and tell me that you'd like to see it. If there was an audience for it, I'll write an omake of them.
In other light! Who's hyped for the sports festival!
Shiozaki and Tanya have met, the drama has started. Midoriya has become a boss fight which needs to be handled. The classes have been buffed so all the events are going to play out in some very interesting ways!