Smoke 9

UA, Hero Course, was intense. The study sessions Harry had, definitely helped him somewhat prepare for what lay ahead. But even with the intense cram sessions to make him even tolerable in Japanese, he'd nearly been caught off guard by the sheer intensity of a full high-school schedule.

However, Jiro had been by his side every step of the way. Meeting and interacting with his classmates had been illuminating. In the twenty members of his class, with him being the twenty-first it had offset the balance of things slightly. Unlike, Hogwarts where him being the odd-one out would have caused rumours and whisperings the Hero Classes 1-A and 1-B had taken them in stride. Although individual members were less so accepting of it, Monoma Neito decided to make an appearance.

Harry was sitting down for lunch, helping Denki…a mousy looking teen with electric yellow hair and an equally shocking quirk with his English homework. "Potter…"

"Harry, please, Denki. I'm trying to learn to react to being addressed by my peers by the family name."

Denki nodded "But it's not sticking. I get it. So…what are you doing if you're not getting the English Homework?"

"I'm working on what you should have learnt. Yeah, I'd consider myself a…better than average self-study student…if by self-study using a Japanese to English Primer and several thousand ennies worth of anime and manga."

"I must argue, that the use of child cartoons is not the best…" Iida began his arm chopping towards Harry. The smoke emitting teen, plucked the incoming appendage out of the air and positioned his chopstick on it.

"Iida, I've told you, please don't chop in my direction. This was your third warning and I've only just responded." The Engine-Teen nodded, he went to bow only to stop himself.

"As you wish. I'll endeavour to change my mannerisms around you and the rest of the class."

Harry nodded, Iida Tenya and Yaorozu Momo both of them reminded him of Hermione Granger: Iida for being a stickler for the rules and Yaoyorozu for being extremely booksmart and slightly naive.

As Harry took a bite of his chicken, his back involuntarily stiffened. Something cold and sticky went down his spine. "Dude! What the fuck!" Jiro shouted, Harry spun around as Iida rocketed to his feet.

"Rep, stand down, this has been a major misunderstanding." The boy who did it glared at him, ice-blue eyes alight with mania and his shortcut blonde hair made Harry think of Draco Malfoy.

"Potter….he…" Blustered Iida.

"I know what happened, I can feel it oozing down my spine. Now, please, explain why you decided to do this? Why not act your age and not like a pre-schooler or primary-schooler."

"Because you're a gaijin, you don't belong at the illustrious UA. Also, I managed to read your file, Smoke…it would a be pity if the school found out what you were really like."

Harry's eyes narrowed "Go ahead, boy, go ahead. Tell the school what you think you know about me based on what's in my file. I'll guarantee you this…it's either a wild exaggeration or a severe understatement of what I can do. In the second semester or during our camping trip, I'll give you an intimate understanding of what I can do."

This exchange of words had silenced the hall as they watched the hero students stare each other down. "There's four of us, against one of you. You don't know what we can do with our quirks whilst I know what you can do with yours."

The crowd sucked in nervous breaths as the declaration was thrown down. "I've faced worse odds. Four-on-One…more one-on-one as it seems three of your peers are backing away. Now let me explain myself so that an idiot, like yourself, can understand. Piss off, harass someone else and let me eat in peace."

At that moment the tannoy crackled to life "Potter-san, please, report to the Principal's Office."

Harry stood up, removed his cigarettes from his blazer and tucked them into his trousers. He left his blazer with Jiro who looked at him questioningly "I'll be back for Practical Heroics…I'll be fine. I won't be expelled, it's not like a punched the kid."

Kyoka nodded, but stood up and kissed him on the cheek "I know. I know. It's just Cousin Katie, introduced me to a few of your friends and they've said that…you've…got a temper."

Harry nodded "I know. You've been reading my Heartbeat, you know that I'll…"

"Never raised a hand to me, outside of Heroic practice. It's just…be careful or at least be respectful. Not all of us get the opportunity to be expelled and enrolled on another Hero Course after all."

Denki, Ashido, Yaoyorozu and Iida looked at Harry with looks of awe, surprise, confusion and horror on their faces. Bakugo was grumbling to himself as he ate, Izuku who'd been silent throughout the exchange merely nodded. "Honestly, I thought you were going to kick his head clean off. You were in a near enough decent position to be able to do it."

"Eh." Denki replied "Potter, could have kicked his head off? I thought he called you Smoke."

Harry snorted "I'm strong but not that strong. Anyway the Principle awaits."

Harry left the hall and his feet began to tread the familiar path to Nezu's office. The door opened as he arrived, inside he found two people in carefully pressed suits and Nezu himself. "You asked to see me, Headmaster?"

Next turned, there was a cigarette in his mouth "Ah. I wasn't expecting you so soon."

"I figured if we got to the conversation, I might be able to sneak a quick smoke-break."

Nezu chuckled "Please, help yourself." Harry did so as the representatives in black coughed.

"Could you not?"

Harry paused "Could I not what?"

"Smoke. It's…"

Harry rolled his eyes and lit the cigarette "Helps with my quirk. Pretty sure you allow any heroes with an elemental quirk a stimulus to build their reserves from. Mine happens to be smoking. Next problem?"

"We, the HPSC, didn't receive any details for your costume."

"You do Halloween Costumes?"

Nezu snorted "They mean Super Suit…the Spandex Tights with Underpants on top, if you follow."

Harry paused "Pardon…you want what? My suit…why?"

The men from the HPSC paused, they weren't accustomed to being questioned. "There are regulations…"

"Which do not apply as I am a transfer student. I read the rules about studying to be a hero…If you want my suit then you're going to need a warrant, a seizure squad along with some heroes and medical personnel on standby as I'm not handing a thing over unless all the paperwork is in order. Oh and my legal advisor, counsellor and all things lawyer and solicitor esque goes through the principle. Now, if you'll excuse me…I'm going to be late for class."

"Your suit designs?"

"Will be delivered when heavens fall, hell freezes over and the public is screaming into the dark days wondering where the Heroes have gone." Harry replied finishing his cigarette and exhaling the smoke directly into the officials face.

"Headmaster, was this the reason that you called or for some other reason?"

Nezu grinned "I overheard a disagreement between yourself and a member of Class 1-B. I don't mind the butting of heads between my students but bullying will not be tolerated."

"It's not bullying if it's a class exercise. I'll apologise to you, but, I'm not apologising to him."

"I wouldn't expect you to. Just be careful, Monoma-san has a particularly unique quirk."

Harry nodded "Doesn't matter what it is, if it's duplication, replication, storage…I'm confident that I can defeat him."

Nezu nodded "Normally I'd accuse you of arrogance. But, arrogance doesn't become you. From you it's tempered confidence. Very well, All Might is just about to begin his teaching."

Harry took off out of the door at a run. He bolted down the corridor, weaving in between on rushing around and bouncing over students as he rushed towards his classroom. He remembered that his classroom was on the outer-most side just left off the staircase.

He dived into the staircase at an obscure angle, misplaced his foot and was about to send himself careening down the stairs, only to summon his quirk and visualise being outside. There was the familiar smell of a woodstove burning and the sensation of dissolving into smoke and Harry found himself in free-fall. As he fell, he saw Kyoka resting against the window and at the last second chucked his arm out snagging it into the open window.

Mina yelped in shock as their exchange student slung himself into the classroom. The class watched as Harry rolled across a desk and land solidly on another.

"Of all the desks in the classroom, you have to land on mine." Jiro stated as Harry lay on the desk. "It just so happens that the sitter of this desk makes my heart skip a beat." Harry retorted.

"Jumping through…" Iida began.

"Unconventional Heroics 101 and 102, back doors, windows and basements make good entrances and exits. You're never going to make it through the front door all the time."

All Might snorted "Potter-Shonen is correct, Iida-Shonen. I AM HERE! TEACHING! LIKE A NORMAL PROFESSOR!"

Let it not be said that All Might couldn't capture the attention of the class.

Soon enough the boys found themselves in the locker rooms changing. "What do you think the scenarios going to be? I think we're going to be saving people!" Denki stated as he pulled on his leather jacket.

"I think we're fighting robots, that'd be super manly." Kirishima roared.

Bakugo remained quiet. His eyes narrowed as he began to process the events of the first week of term "Potter."

Harry looked at the explosive-teen, as he pulled on suit which resembled cargo pants, a black long-sleeved shirt that did nothing to hide his whip-chord wiry muscled frame. His utility belt was present but it was the randomly placed red and gold objects set into the suit that caught Bakugo's attention "Yeah, Bakugo?"

"What are the chances of us fighting each other?"

"Fighting each other as in combat exercises? Quite likely, it's what I would do. Probably in teams."

"But there's twenty-one of us. Someone's going to be left out." Mineta whined.

"Unlikely, its more likely one team will be at an advantage or disadvantage. Or they've got to attack or defend on their own. Besides, it'll be fun." Harry replied nonchalantly taking a drag on his vape, only to violently start to coughing.

"You alright, dude?" Shoji asked, two tentacles ready to apply backslaps.

"Yeah. Coil has just gone. Just because my quirk uses it doesn't mean the taste of burning coil gets any better and my coils are with Kyoka."

That caused the boys' heads to turn "You're dating her!" Exclaimed Sato.

Harry shrugged "Yup. Got set up by her cousin…who's like an older sister to me."

"Bullshit…I'm sorry, Potter, but you're tapping her cousin and Jiro! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!" Screeched Mineta as he dived towards Harry.

Harry moved out of the way, snatching Mineta by his cape "Not tapping both, as you say. As for telling you my secrets…if I told you, I'd have to kill you."

"Bro, guys, are meant to help each other out like this." Denki, tentatively suggested.

Harry placed his helmet on "I'll consider it. Come on."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, the girls were grilling Jiro whom was blushing. "How did you get him as your boyfriend! He's fit and hot as fuck." Mina babbled.

Jiro blushed, turning more and more into a tomato. "My cousin set us up. Besides Harry's…a…complex guy. I'm still surprised he even asked me out…he's an incredible cook. We just connected if that makes sense. He came over to mine to study, we were in the living room and we ended up falling asleep."

"You slept with him!" Yaoyorozu stated.

"Clothes were on. He was more my teddy bear. A teddy bear with a heavy smell of smoke and impulse issues. Do not take up his offer to visit his apartment, stay over and not be traumatised by what you see. He'll either be in his boxers or morning glory if you enter unannounced. Harry, I need to give him a coil or two." The punk rocket announced as she zipped her boots up.

Class 1-A assembled in the viewing room of one of the training grounds "MARVELLOUS! HEROES NEED HERO SUITS AND YOU ALL SCRUB UP WONDERFUL. NOW LET US HAVE SOME FUN. YOU SHALL BE FIGHTING…EACH OTHER! TEN TEAMS, FOUR PEOPLE IN A MATCH, HEROES VS VILLAINS! ALL OF WHICH WILL BE DECIDED RANDOMLY!" All Might boomed.

Harry held up his hand, or rather, two fingers "Quick question…there's twenty-one of us…how does this work?"

"AN EXCELLENT POINT POTTER-SHONEN. ONE MATCH WILL HAVE THREE VILLAINS AND ONE WILL HAVE THREE HEROES AND IF WE HAVE TIME, ONE VILLAIN AGAINST THREE HEROES OR ONE HERO AGAINST THREE VILLAINS."

Harry nodded "I take it I can join any match?"

"Not quite. You can join a villain match, but must draw your hero team."