28/05/2024

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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 23 - A Testing Assembly

It was rather odd, Inasa reflected, to be sitting in UA's Assembly Hall in his Shiketsu uniform. The Hall was almost full, which was giving him a real understanding of how many hero schools were in Japan. From what he'd been told, UA's principal, Nezu has requested all Hero Schools to nominate three people to attend a special training program. Some schools had gracefully declined but many had sent their students, and one teacher.

He had no idea what they were going to be taught or trained in but Kenshin Naruhado, Shiketsu's principal had indicated that they would be taught by all the Hero teachers present, including All Might and that it was an opportunity that couldn't be overlooked. Shiketsu's principal wasn't here, instead he'd sent Koi Sasume to accompany them. Shiketsu had sent him, Taiki Okazaki and Aimi Mizumo to be their representatives.

"Welcome to UA," Nezu was saying. It appeared as if the rat was smiling but Inasa wasn't sure. He definitely looked intent. "I know many of you are wondering about our actions. We have brought students together from around the country to teach you how to work together."

Inasa heard that, but didn't believe it. He doubted anyone really believed it, but they'd all act like they did.

"Villains are changing the way they work," Principal Nezu continued, "and heroes need to adapt. Every school teaches the importance of teamwork, but there is still competition and sometimes miscommunication between heroes. We've brought you together to learn to work together, to ignore the artificial boundaries of educational institutions.

"For this, the first time, we've encouraged each school to send who they want. As this program continues, we will ensure that all year levels have the opportunity to participate."

Inasa nodded slightly at the explanation. It sounded good but were villains really changing the way they worked that much? Or was it more that a particular set of villains were now active? He didn't say anything but he would be alert for the answer.

The last few weeks… Anyone looking at the history of heroes would be able to spend months just looking at the events that had happened and the implications they had for society. It was bad enough that All Might had been revealed, but the Number One Hero was still there but so was the knowledge that a villain who could fight him existed.

If it had just been that, All Might revealed defeating that villain, then the world would have gone back to the way it was. The incident would be important but not the keystone event that it was. It was what came after that was causing the most distress.

And Inasa still wasn't sure what he thought that it was Izuku at the centre of it all. His quirk… His real quirk, the ability to take and use other people's quirks was mind blowing. When Daiki Yaoyozoru had appeared on national television, begging Izuku to give his daughter's quirk back, the world had known and had reacted.

Most wanted Izuku to give the quirks he'd taken back but then they wanted him executed and his body incinerated. They didn't want any trace of him to exist. They didn't want him to have children. They didn't want any knowledge of him to exist. There was a fair proportion of the world who wanted to pretend he never existed.

Others were more reasonable. They wanted Izuku to give the quirks back and then to be punished but… Inasa didn't know. Daiki Yaoyozoru was correct in some ways. All Izuku had done was use his quirk. That wasn't that unusual. It was just that his quirk was far more dangerous than others and…

Inasa didn't know what to think and so he'd been avoiding thinking about it.

"Tomorrow, we will begin testing to determine your level of skill and to assign the most appropriate teachers," Nezu was saying, "but for today, we want you to get to know each other. In the future, you will all be colleagues, so use this opportunity to get to know each other in an informal setting."

The rat nodded in an encouraging way and stepped down from the lectern. No one else got up and Inasa realised that they truly did expect the students here to mingle. He looked around and noticed Koi nodding at them encouragingly.

Inasa was wondering who he should talk to. He didn't know anyone here and… Thankfully no one else seemed sure either when a shout caught their attention.

"What the fuck is that traitor doing here?" Outrage laced the tone and Inasa wasn't the only one who turned to stare.

The shout had come from a blond teen in a UA uniform. He was snarling at another teen, who was also in a UA uniform. Inasa recognised them both. He didn't need Principal Naruhado going over notable people who would be participating in the program to recognise one of them. Shouto Todoroki. Endeavor's youngest son. The blond was Katsuki Bakugou, a UA first year, who had come first in the regular entrance exam and first at the Sport's Festival and who had then been kidnapped by the League of Villains and had his quirk stolen by Izuku.

The confusion Inasa felt about that was quickly forgotten as he watched the drama.

Katsuki was pointing at Shouto but it was obvious he wanted to do something more. From what Inasa had seen, the blond's quirk allowed him to produce explosions from his hands. That would explain why his fingers were curled into claws and… There was something in his posture which screamed his aggression.

"Oh come on!" someone said. Inasa wasn't sure who. "At least he's not one of them," they continued and while Inasa couldn't see what the speaker was pointing at, there was definitely the sense that they were.

"Shusa!" someone objected and a path cleared so that Inasa could see.

Shusa turned out to be… actually Inasa wasn't sure if they were male or female since they were fairly androgynous. They had brown hair, cut… you couldn't use hair cut to tell gender and it really didn't matter. He didn't recognise the school's uniform and what Inasa could tell immediately was that they had the classic human body and were pointing at someone with a mutant type quirk. It took him a moment for Inasa to realise what Shusa was saying.

"What?" he whispered in shock. He wasn't the only one who couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"You want to go for it?" the person Shusa was pointing at growled.

From the corner of his eye, Inasa saw several people write something on clipboards they were holding. He remembered Nezu's words. Tomorrow, we will begin testing to determine your level of skill and to assign the most appropriate teachers, and Inasa had no doubt that is what they would be doing tomorrow. However, that didn't say they wouldn't be tested today as they mingled. He had a feeling that Shusa had just failed.

"Who cares about that?" Bakugou yelled, rolling his eyes at Shusa. Inasa got the impression that no matter what other faults Bakugou had, and it seemed he had many, mutant discrimination was not one of them. "I want to know why the fuck that traitor is here!" He yelled again.

That brought everyone's attention back to Shouto. Even those with the clipboards.

The teen looked at Bakugou and Inasa realised he didn't know what to say. It was an odd situation. Shouto, like Bakugou, had had his quirk stolen but unlike Bakugou, Shouto had gotten his back. "I was invited," Shouto told him.

"You traitor!" Bakugou yelled and lunged forward. Another UA student with bright red hair grabbed him and actually pulled him back.

"You can't man!" the red haired student said.

Inasa recognised him as Kirishima. Shiketsu had gone over the names and quirks of all the students who had had theirs stolen. Kirishima's was hardening. It was a physical but useful quirk. It appeared as if Kirishima was still strong, even without his quirk. He managed to pull Bakugou back. "You know that's not the case," Kirishima said.

They all knew it wasn't the case.

It was one of the reasons the last few weeks had been such a rollercoaster. The media had been all over the fact that quirks could be stolen, and then, when Shouto had his back, they'd gone insane again. There had been accusations that he'd sold them out to the villain but Endeavor had made sure that there was more than one person with truth detection quirks involved in interrogating his son. Endeavor didn't have a good relationship with the media, but he'd also made sure that there were multiple reporters present at the interrogations. They'd reported what the people with lie detectors had sensed.

Shouto had been contacted by someone, and he didn't know who, about getting his quirk back. He had thought it was a scam and had gone along with it and then he had met Izuku and gotten his quirk back. The interviews had admitted there was a payment involved but they were also clear that Shouto hadn't paid it, and neither had Endeavor. They were clear, insofar as they could, that the payment had been made by someone unknown. No one had ever said what the payment was though but Inasa figured the authorities knew.

Inasa looked at Shouto. He hadn't changed much since the recommendation entrance exam. He hadn't changed much either. Not physically at least. But… He'd like to think he had changed as a person. Watching Shouto now, was like watching Shouto at the Recommendation Exam. It was…

Shouto's physical reactions were much the same but… Inasa realised he felt different. If there was one thing learning that Izuku was the son of a villain, and was a villain himself had taught him was that things were not always what they seemed. With that knowledge now influencing him, he could look at Endeavor's son's reactions and responses differently.

The other teen was cold. That was true. He was aloof. That was also true. Shouto was awkward and didn't have many friends. That was probably true. Inasa couldn't be certain but from what he'd seen today and what he'd seen earlier he thought it was true.

And it was… He didn't know what to feel about that. Heroes were meant to be hot blooded but implied in that was that they were approachable and good. If Inasa put Shouto and Izuku together then it was Izuku who was approachable, and warm and friendly and Shouto who was-

Inasa mentally shook his head firmly. There was a lot going on with the situation in general that he didn't understand and that he probably wouldn't understand. There were things that could not be said. He knew that. Every hero student knew that and the point for now was that it seemed as if Shouto was a naturally cold individual and his reaction at the Recommendation Exam wasn't necessarily unfriendly but was how he'd been trained. Everyone knew Endeavor wasn't All Might. They knew he was more focused on clearing missions and he came across as far more cold and brisk. It had been highlighted by Shiketsu in a lesson on heroic style.

So, for now, he'd give Shouto another chance. And maybe… Inasa didn't know. As much as he might want to believe Shouto had betrayed them, there'd been too much evidence to the contrary. He kind of hoped they could try again but that was a question for a different time.

"He shouldn't be here," Bakugou spat but he appeared to be calming down.

Inasa wasn't sure what to say and he got the impression that most of the people here didn't know what to say either. He was kind of curious to know why Bakugou and Kirishima were here. This was hero training and they didn't have their quirks… were they continuing because they thought they could get them back?

He shook his head and then he realised he'd actually been just as bad as Shusa in his own way. The two boys were obviously fit, and capable. They could be heroes if they got the right support. Afterall, the actions of a hero should be something from the heart, not just something you could do. If they had the right mindset, and the right support, then they could be heroes. Maybe they'd never be Number One but… they could be heroes.

He looked over to Koi. Her eyes were narrowed but that was all he could read of her expression. She then saw him watching and gave him a smile. "Go on," she encouraged.

"Ma'am?"

"Go on. Mingle," she encouraged. "This is a good opportunity to meet some of your future co-workers," she added, looking at Taiki and Aimi too.

"Yes Ma'am!" They all agreed, though Inasa could tell that like him, they didn't really know what to do.

He heaved an internal sigh and deliberately stepped away from Koi, and made his way towards a group who were looking around. There were actually two groups together, and he recognised the uniforms of Seiai and Ketsubutsu. Seiai was an all girls Hero training school and Ketsubutsu Academy was one of the schools Shiketsu unofficially allied with during the Provisional Hero Licensing Exam every year against UA.

Most people thought Shiketsu's uniform was overdone, especially with their insistence that they wear their hats but Inasa thought that Seiai and Ketsubutsu showed the real extremes. Seiai's uniform was formal while Ketsubutsu's was the definition of informal, being little more than a gray polo shirt and brown trousers. Sure, they wore a blazer and tie at times but Ketsubutsu's uniform was very casual. By contrast, Seiai's was complex, consisting of a black undershirt, over which the students wore a double breasted, high necked jacket with a large bow. They wore boots over very tight fitting trousers and topped it off with a beret.

Shiketsu's uniform lay somewhere between the two schools in terms of formality, but was closer to Seiai's. He wore a blue shirt with two rows of buttons, trimmed in orange, and of course Shiketsu's hat.

"Shiketsu," one of the student's greeted him as the teacher wandered away.

All the teachers were probably going to grade their performance mingling, or do their own mingling, Inasa thought as he saw Ketsubutsu's teacher look around and make a beeline towards one of UA's teachers. It was Eraserhead if he wasn't mistaken. The underground hero had shot to fame with the events happening to his class, and while none of the Shiketsu teachers had said anything about it directly, Koi had been amused, muttering about how much Aizawa hated media attention.

"Seiai and Ketsubutsu," Inasa returned the greeting, nodding to both groups.

There was silence for a few moments before the tall girl from Seiai chuckled. She had light blue, almost white hair, cut short around her face but left long at the back. "This is quite the gathering," she said, gesturing around.

"It is," one of the Ketsubutsu student's agreed. "I wonder if it will be the event that topples UA?" they murmured, loud enough to be heard, but quietly enough that they could always pretend they didn't mean anyone to hear it.

The Seiai student looked thoughtful for a moment. "Or the event that lets them remain ascendant," she replied. "I'm Saiko Intelli," she said, holding out one gloved hand.

"Inasa Yoarashi," he took her hand. She was obviously the leader of the Seiai group.

"Taritsusa Hanna," one of the other Seiai students said, followed by, "Shomi Henshi."

Inasa shook each of their hands briefly before turning to the Ketsubutsu students. Their lead appeared to be a female student with bright green eyes and red hair. She grinned at them and Inasa saw that all three of the Ketsubutsu student shirts had third year markings on them. "Ishina Fushigi," she introduced herself, before gesturing at the others.

"Itejiro Toteki," a guy with pale skin and jet black hair said.

"Shikkui Makabe," the other guy said. He was blue all over with no nose and when Inasa shook his hand, he realised it wasn't just blue skin, it was some sort of armor. It was tough and he could see the joins in Shikkui's neck which allowed him to move. He wondered what Shikkui had thought of Shusa's display earlier.

It appeared as if Shikkui picked up on that and he rolled his eyes. "Some students are stupid," he announced, glancing to where Shusa was attempting to make themselves known to the UA students. They were ignoring the attempt for the most part.

In any other situation Inasa would have been offended. That's almost what Shouto had done to him but now, he gave an understanding grin to Shikkui and while the other student's face couldn't move to show his agreement, Inasa got that impression.

"So what do you think of this?" Taritsusa asked into the slightly awkward silence that settled after the introductions.

Inasa was impressed that she hadn't asked about quirks. That was what almost everyone did, especially to a hero student.

"You don't want to know about our quirks?" Itejiro asked.

Taritsusa shook her head. "We'll find out about them in due course," she explained. Saiko seemed a little disappointed but held her tongue and to Inasa's amusement, Itejiro didn't seem to quite know how to handle that.

"There's a lot that's not being said," Ishina told Taritsusa and got a nod at that statement.

"Even so…" Shomi shook her head. "It's hard-" she didn't finish.

"It's hard to believe someone has a quirk that can take quirks," Saiko finished, gesturing vaguely towards the UA students.

"They have been medically diagnosed as quirkless now," Ishina told them. "I saw the reports."

"How did you get them?" Saiko demanded gently.

"Internship," Ishina explained.

Saiko nodded.

"There's no chance they'll come back?"

Ishina shook her head. "They don't have the toe joint, it's not like that grew in but they now have only a dormant quirk factor and without that, they can't manifest their quirk. They could get them back, I suppose, if Izuku gave them back and that's what happened with Shouto," she said. "His quirk factor is active again."

"Where do you intern to know that?" Saiko asked before he could.

"One of the very few HPSC approved Quirk Research facilities," Ishina told them with a smile, as if she'd heard, and answered that question before.

"Are you sure you should be telling us this?" Shomi prompted.

Ishina shrugged. "Endeavor wanted everything suppressed, except for how Shouto got his quirk back but Shouto said all the knowledge should be shared, so I know it and-" She shrugged to indicate there was no restriction.

Inasa nodded. With everything else that was hidden with Shouto's case, releasing what information he could made sense and for someone who was as cold as Shouto seemed, it was a difficult decision. Reluctantly Inasa felt his esteem for Endeavor's son rise.

He'd still been a dick at the Recommendation Exam but… Maybe there was a reason and- Inasa looked around, watching as students from many schools spoke to each other…

Nothing was ever as it seemed. He had to remember that, so for now, he'd give Shouto another chance.

-ted-

人種差別主義者 - Hito shusabetsu shugi-sha - Racist - Shusa Betsu

Well, the inter-school event has started and people are making their opinions known. Of course, some people should shut up in about their opinions.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.

-ted-

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