Chapter 1

Suiiki ran past the blinking lights telling him to stop, paying no heed to the cars that honked as he bolted through the street. He cared not for the shouts of the people in their cars. He was in a hurry, for he'd overslept again, and the time you were officially counted late for class was 7:00 exactly, and his watch had alerted him that he had hit snooze at least three times. If he blew past everything, there'd still be time. The teachers had been quite upset the last few times he was late, and would most likely chew him out again, but he wasn't much too bothered by it.

Honestly, what's a few minutes? Or an hour? Or three? It's not like it's U.A, no need for such a strict time schedule.

He saw his destination up ahead and picked up the pace. People had already gathered outside, sleeping in tents, waiting for the doors to open. Some even had cameras waiting to film the chaos that would ensue when those glass doors finally opened to reveal-

"Hold it, buddy."

"Hglk!" He was grabbed by the collar by a pink-haired girl, who looked like she'd done this plenty of times before, her eyes rolling in her head. She released him as he was pulled back, dropping him to the ground before her.

"School would be that way."

"Pleasepleasepleaseplease PLEASE! Burning Red 5 comes out today! They added like, 7 new characters, and one is a water user! He could be just like me! I have to check, please! Please, Ranika! I bet you'll like someone in there too! But you won't know if you don't play it! C'mon, just a peek?"

Ranika chuckled as she shook her head. "You know, I might've considered it. I'd be completely down, if Teach didn't send this chatty asshole with me." She gestured towards the corner of the street, where a white-haired bespectacled boy nervously glanced at his watch. They both let out a pained sigh upon sight.

"Genso. Of course, she sent him too."

Hearing his name come up, he signaled the time to them while tapping on his watch. "If you two haven't noticed, we only have three minutes to spare, and I don't want to miss the opening lecture from homeroom. They said they have a big announcement for us today." Genso said as he propped his glasses up on his face.

"What a dedicated student you are. With all that brainpower, you would be a pro at these fighting games. It would take you, what, five minutes to memorize the move sets? Possibly less? I bet you'd be awesome if you tried out some people! Just once, please? You know you wanna!"

"To school, Suiiki."

Knowing it impossible to persuade Genso, Suiiki got to his feet and joined the other two en route to the school, making conversation with his apprehenders.

"Video games, don't make me laugh. Such trivial knowledge would simply take up space. There's far more important things to learn than pressing buttons on plastic. For one, my quirk doesn't seem to be able to make Francium? My creation of the alkali metals stops at Cesium, and even then, it is a very small amount. It's quite unfortunate, but perhaps for the best. Maybe the noble gases will render better results."

Ranika groaned as he started his spiel. "Here we go. Didn't get it outta your system this morning? Seriously, he went on forever earlier."

Her annoyance going under his radar, he smiled proudly. "I could discuss these things for hours; I can't help but find them so interesting."

"Believe me, I know."

"And don't even get me started on the synthetic elements. So far, those have come up empty no matter how much time I sink into them. I do believe it's possible, I just need to figure out-"

A metal screech interrupted his sentence as Ranika yanked the front gate open, needing to force the rusty metal aside as its hinges had become corroded and overgrown with vegetation. "Spare me. If he talks about his goddamn quirk one more time, I swear. Makes me want to tear my ears out. Or his mouth off."

A laugh came from Suiiki, though it was definitely not one of mirth. "That's a bit excessive, don't you think?"

"You try listening to him drone on and on about who cares for an hour. You'd be at your limit too."

Genso shot back at her with his own retort. "Well, I'm sorry you don't understand the molecules that make up our world enough to see how truly fascinating-"

She took on a mocking, stereotypical nerd voice. "Of course, an uneducated person like Ranika doesn't understand anything! It's only natural she not be able to comprehend the complexities of anything above what her tiny brain can handle!"

"I never said that…" Genso trailed off, feeling any more input from him would further exacerbate the matter.

"Oh, don't even try it. That's exactly what you were saying, you arrogant, self-righteous blowhard."

Suiiki was taken aback by this violent outburst. "Hey, chill out. You know how he is; sometimes he just gets passionate. We all have something we're interested in, it's normal for people to-"

"Well, forgive me for not being interested in the most boring topic in the world, narrated by the world's most boring human to ever live." She slammed the front door behind her, making a statement that they probably shouldn't follow too close behind.

A pause was taken by the two as the sting of her last comment hung in the air, neither one finding anything of value to say after that. Their friend – well, acquaintance really – Ranika, had always been a bit temperamental, so this wasn't unheard of. After a moment, the two wordlessly shuffled inside, each going to their respective classes.

Genso had been placed in the lower hero course, while Suiiki and Ranika were in the higher. Suiiki thought this was a crime that such a useful quirk would be relegated to such low standing.

Creating any of the elements isn't strong enough, I guess. How do they choose who's in what class?

As he entered his own homeroom, he saw much of the class had gone quiet, and it wasn't hard to deduce why. Ranika had aggressively sat in a seat near the back that didn't belong to her, and the student wasn't looking forward to asking her to move.

I've never seen her get like that before. He must've really pushed it today. Not that I don't understand why someone could get annoyed, but man.

"Hey, Suiiki. Tried to go to the arcade today?" A boy with a meek temperament greeted him into the class. "Mrs. Erina had a feeling since she heard the new release was out."

God damn that woman! How does she always know whenever-

"I knew because I keep up to date with the latest releases of Unami. And once I heard 5 was coming out, I knew you couldn't resist." The teacher said, preparing the day's lesson plans on her desk.

Telepathy. I keep forgetting that.

"You also probably forgot your homework, I assume?"

Suiiki gave a big grin in response, to which she simply sighed.

"Daisuke, could you pass these to Ranika after class? Something tells me she won't be in a learning state of mind today." After passing the papers to his friend, Suiiki heard her voice in his head.

"You're gonna like Mizucho. He's really good. Pretty basic, real fun when you learn him."

God bless that woman!

Daisuke turned back towards Suiiki, gesturing towards the angry girl in the back. "She just walked in, glared at all of us, then stomps over and almost throws him out the chair. Do you know what happened? She was supposed to fetch you with the smart kid. Did something go wrong?"

He looked at him with a knowing glance, an entire conversation reduced to a look. Daisuke sighed tiredly. "Genso. I feel bad for him. He tried his best, but…to me, they're about as opposite as you can get, and she clearly isn't interested in him. What would make him fall for her?"

He shrugged his shoulders, taking out his water bottle from his bag and messing with the liquid inside. "Some weird logic. He thinks she'll compliment his shortcomings, and he'll make up for hers. Opposites attract and all that. If you ask me, I think he's trying too hard to impress her.

"Surprised she hasn't shredded him into pieces."

"She probably wasn't far off."

The bell rang, signaling an end to pre-class banter. The teacher, Mrs. Erina, was liked and respected enough by the class that most paid attention during her time. That, plus she could easily read their minds and tell when they were goofing off instantly, which swayed troublemakers from trying anything funny. However, daydreaming was a constant that even Erina had come to ignore.

Not many students who went to this school cared to stay for very long, and for that reason, there weren't too many kids in Suiiki's class. They'd had a full room at the beginning of the year. Two months later, they had half the original number left. Most students who were here had their hopes of getting into a more accomplished hero academy dashed by the entrance exam, and were either forcefully signed up to this school by their parents, or just wanted to at least go to any hero school. You'd be pressed to find a more depressing setting to learn.

And it was because of this that Suiiki could barely care enough to attend the classes. They did a few simulations here and there, and sparring was always interesting, but even that had restrictions to how much you could do. For this reason, Suiiki found himself zoning out more often than not, time passing by quickly as he thought about other stuff, such as the arcade, his quirk, other people's quirks – anything really to distract him from class.

How did they end up here with me anyway? Genso should be in a way higher school than this. And Daisuke? Don't even get me started. Hands down the strongest guy here. If only he had more confidence!

As Suiiki became lost in his thoughts, his mind wandered to how they ended up here instead of those more prestigious schools. Or rather, how he had ended up here.

Had it not been for that stupid entrance exam…

The timer had just reached over the halfway point, and Suiiki still was sitting at an astounding 5 points, one of them being by pure chance as he ran across a robot that was already heavily damaged.

Those robots are tougher than I thought. Might need to pair up with someone. Ice isn't going to cut it.

"Watch out!" Suiiki instinctually switched to his water form, not even knowing if they were shouting to him. A second later, a force of pure, destructive energy ripped through the ground he was standing on, destroying a nearby robot in one go. It then went clean through the rest of the city, causing mayhem wherever it ended up.

"Sorry! Real sorry about that! Thank god you can do that! Wouldn't know what I would've done!" A girl with pink hair made herself known as the source of the powerful attack. "Water, huh? With that sort of power, you're a shoe-in for U.A. I thought this would be easy, but I never thought about using my power around other people. Makes it a bit harder to use."

He was still recovering from the mini heart attack that she had given him, and he thanked the heavens his whole outfit was now drenched after his water shift, otherwise his pants would've been soaked with a different liquid.

"It's fine, though I'll need some new clothes after this. I think you cut clean through everything! What type of power is that?"

"Can't talk, I'm on a roll right now, but we'll probably both be getting into the school anyway, so I'll tell you when I see you in class!" She ran off in the direction of a larger group of robot "villains", something Suiiki had to stay away from due to the poor offensive options of his quirk.

She'll probably be getting in, no doubt. That's a terrifying power she's got. Not many downsides to it, just use it and win. Unlike me. I've got no chance against armor-plating. Best I can hope for is some rust, fat chance of that happening.

Weighing his options, he decided on staying near other people – not her – to perhaps snag a few more points. And it worked, though only for a couple more points. Even when they were downed, his ice didn't help much. Notwithstanding the fact he needed some water to pull from, and there wasn't much around in the city arena.

Soon after, the ballistic zero-point villain came, flattening everything in its surroundings, leaving the water-user no choice but to wait it out. The robot was quickly disposed of by the same girl who'd came by earlier, who ripped it apart with her all-powerful shredding quirk. The buzzer rang, and Suiiki was left with less than half the points of most other students.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth. Knowing he couldn't do anything despite people saying he was gifted with such a great power.

Bunch of good it did me today. Perhaps I'll see that girl with pink hair on the news someday. No way she didn't get in, she killed at least 20 of those things.

It wasn't till much later when he learned several kids were sent to the emergency room because of her. She'd been disqualified and barred from returning to the school again.

"You there? Suiiki!"

"What? I'm paying attention!" He lied.

The teacher didn't buy it for a second. "What's the last thing I said?"

Suiiki pretended to think, trying to silently ask Daisuke what it was. Erina sighed. She wondered how the kids kept forgetting she could read minds. Not like she minded too much. Made for some funny interactions with her classes. Unless they were fantasizing about her, which she chose to never comment on.

"I have quite an important announcement for you all before lunch. This might interest you. The principal and I talked it over, and we're going to be having…" She paused for dramatic effect, writing two brackets on the wall. "Our very own sports festival!"

The entire class erupted in a series of whats and hows, before she completed the rest of her sentence.

"…minus an obstacle course and cavalry battle. So really, it's just the tournament part."

Not too many students lost their interest, thankfully. "Now hold on class, there is a stipulation. We'll have one IF you can prove it would be worth the event planner's time."

The students stayed cautiously optimistic. "What do you mean by that? Also, why are we suddenly getting one now? Aren't we just copying U.A?"

"That's exactly what we're doing. Some of you may have noticed our retention rate isn't high, not to mention our enrollment wasn't close to standards to begin with. If things go the way they are, in a couple more years, this school could shut down. To prevent that from happening, a festival in this city might boost the morale and enrollment rate and make this school a little more attractive to other students. Plus, you'd all have a reason to stay in school rather than play fighting games every other day."

Everyone turned towards a certain brown-haired boy. "That's a pretty high claim you're making."

"One I wish to live up to. By the way, I hope none of you have stage fright, because the stadium we'll be renting seats about 27,000 people, so they want to make sure we can put on a show. You'll be asked in two days to show off your quirks to the organizers so they can advertise properly who'll be participating. Try to have a move that shows off your best traits ready to go." She pulled a stack of papers from her desk. "Give these permission slips to your parents to sign. I've already spoken to some of your parents, so most of them have already given their approval, but the principal wants to make sure the school is not responsible for anyone getting hurt. Don't fret, there will be a healer from the police station, so don't worry about getting hurt. But that's not an excuse to go crazy."

"Hanako's gonna be there? How about my sister? Will the police be there?" Ranika asked, her sour mood lightened as she was clearly invested in the idea now.

A dirty-blond boy near her gave a snide remark. "You have a sister in the force? Is she a hottie?"

"Sure! And she's not just any officer. She's the chief. She'll probably be in charge if she comes."

The teacher signaled for the class to quiet down. "You'll have time to converse amongst yourselves at lunch. Runoso, they're especially looking at your electric type to bring some flashiness. Don't let them down."

The same boy smiled, loving to be praised by her. "That's damn near impossible. Lightning types are always powerful and flashy, it's in the name!"

Ranika punched his arm playfully. "Shut up, you can't do anything without a charge though!"

"True, but once I get one, you're out of luck!"

"Yeah right! Bring it, joy buzzer!"

The bell for lunch rang out, and for the first time the hallways started to sound like a regular school, filled with students talking as they discussed the news they were given. Suiiki and Daisuke were about to leave as well, when he heard Erina's voice in his head.

"Suiiki, could you stay behind? Don't be alarmed, you're not in trouble…this time."

Confused, he walked back inside the class, where Ranika was waiting as well. Erina had a apologetic look on her face.

"Thank you. Now, as we are aware, Ranika's abilities are, to put it bluntly, unstable. There's not many people who haven't heard about your quirk, whether it was firsthand or through gossip. Either way, there's some speculation on whether you have enough control over your power to be trusted to take part in such an event, especially in a populated area."

Suiiki saw where this was going and tried to give a rebuttal. "But that was two months ago! She's-"

"Suiiki, please. I'm not finished." He bit his tongue, despite all the complaints he had ready. "Point is, most of the parents would rather you stay on the sidelines and watch. Otherwise, they won't let their own children partake. And that's a perfectly reasonable sentiment."

Ranika laughed out of exasperation. "Should've seen something like that coming. You reap what you sow and all that." She prepared to walk out, probably straight home rather than to lunch, but she was held in place by Suiiki.

"Wait a second, there has to be something we can do, though. If you of all people can't participate, Erina wouldn't even try to throw the festival in the first place. You're her favorite, so I bet she's got something planned. I mean, she wouldn't call us in here if she didn't, right?"

Erina silently thanked him, though she rolled her eyes at the way he phrased it. "Well, you're all my favorites, but I have worked something out for you. They have agreed to a deal. When you show the organizers your quirk, you must prove to them that you have a level of control over your quirk that doesn't put anyone in danger. Accomplish this, and they'll allow you to compete. If for any reason it looks like you're starting to slip up, that's it. They're taking a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to possible danger concerning you. And keep in mind, you still need to show them enough power to make your inclusion worth everyone's time."

"Sounds like they're going to be impossible to please. Do they want to see my power or not? It's like a catch 30 or whatever."

"I know it sounds difficult, and unfortunately, I can't help you any more than that, but that's where Suiiki comes in. Since he has superb control over his own ability, I reason he might be able to help you find an alternative way to attack. I'd also recommend finding Genso as well. His intelligence would probably expedite the process immensely."

Ranika winced at the sound of his name, something Erina didn't bring up.

"And who knows? You could benefit as well, Suiiki."

Suiiki flinched when she called on him. "Huh? Me? What about me?"

"I know what you were thinking about during class, and it pains me every time you do. You were blessed with a magnificent quirk, with such wonderful control early on. But it's without question that your performance at the exam could only be remedied with a significant boost in your attack power. Who better to help you overcome this than our residential powerhouse herself? I'm sure Ranika wouldn't mind."

Suiiki and Ranika looked at each other, nodding in agreement. Ranika was obviously holding back a smile in an attempt to seem cool and brooding. "Sure, I'll see what I can do. Might as well try seeing as you went to all this trouble for it."

Erina took her attitude in stride, knowing full well how she really felt. "It is my duty as a teacher to provide as fair an environment as possible to each and every one of you. And please temper yourselves. There's not a lot of time, so there's still a possibility you won't be able to participate regardless, I'm just doing what I can to help you out. To give you more time, I'll even excuse a couple of tardies if need be."

God bless that woman! Now I have an excuse to-

"Ranika, keep him away from the arcade."

God damn that woman!