Chapter 4: Warning Signs

It was two thirty in the afternoon and I had taken Nikolas to a fast-food restaurant. I thought about going to a diner or something, but decided to come here instead since I didn't have a lot of money on me and it was closer to our house.

Chomp, munch, munch, gulp "You know, Japan may be a little strange, but the KFC here is delicious. Don't you think, Nicolas?"

"Yea, it's too bad we can only have it once every two to three months."

"Well, that's because it's fast food, which is fattening. Not to mention how greasy it can be. Plus, we promised mom that it would be a once in a while kind of occasion."

"I know Alexander. I just wish we could get it a little more often. I mean, I love their mashed potatoes with gravy and biscuits."

"Hehe, believe me, I know. Kinda like how I can't get enough of this chicken sandwich. But hey, the fact that we can only have it a few times makes coming here special."

"Yea, I guess that's true."

The two of us let out a small laugh before returning to our meals. I could tell Nikolas was feeling a little better about things, which hopefully meant he'd tell me more about what happened.

"Um… big brother?"

"Yes, Nicolas?"

"Um… how was your day? I mean, I know you said it didn't go as planned but… was it as bad as it sounds?"

"Well, I guess it wasn't that bad. It started out ok and I even made some new friends, but then it got really… frustrating."

"How come?"

"My classmates are terrible, maybe even more so than yours."

"Were all of them really that bad?"

"Not all of them. There were a bunch of them that were pretty cool and really nice. Though, there were these two guys who just got on my nerves. It also doesn't help that my teacher acts like a total jerk and doesn't even like his job."

"Wow, I guess even hero schools have their own share of problems."

"You don't know the half of it. Here, let me start from the beginning."

"Hey Alex, you ready or what?" Kaminari asked.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Just putting my stuff away."

It was still first period and everyone was changing into their gym clothes. Aside from me, there were at least five other guys still getting ready, yet Kaminari kept yelling for me to hurry up. He went on and on about how Mr. Aizawa was waiting for us.

Honestly though, I didn't mind. A part of me wanted to stay there a little longer just so I could put off dealing with that rude man. Still, I knew that doing that would just get me in trouble and I didn't want to give Mr. Aizawa the pleasure of scolding me.

I begrudgingly left the locker room and met up with Kaminari, Tokoyami, and Seteth before we headed to the field together. I asked them for their opinion on Mr. Aizawa and both Tokoyami and Seteth felt the same way I did.

Kaminari on the other hand surprised us and said that he didn't think Mr. Aizawa was rude at all. When we asked him what he meant, he explained that Mr. Aizawa was just calling us problem children as a way to motivate us. He said that army drill sergeants call their soldiers sissies as a way to make them prove themselves. I understood where he was coming from, but I wasn't convinced.

Suddenly, Iida, the blue haired boy from the exam, yelled at us to halt as he ran towards us at full tilt. I was about to take my fighting stance when he abruptly stopped right in front of me in a similar way to how a car stops after slamming on the brakes. He then bowed his head to me and apologized for his behavior towards me.

Before I could tell him to just forget about it, Iida raised his head and explained that what he did was unbecoming of a hero. He realized that he had no right to yell at me like he did and that he should have known better than to raise his voice at a complete stranger.

I could tell Iida was really sorry for what he did and I was ready to put all of this behind us. That is, until he ruined the apology by saying that he should have been more patient with me specifically, because I was a foreigner who was still learning the rules of Japanese society.

At that point, I should have just walked away, but like an idiot, I let my anger get the better of me. I ended up yelling that me being a foreigner had nothing to do with it and that he could go get bent before storming off.

Seteth and Tokoyami ended up following me closely while Kaminari stayed behind with Iida. They managed to calm me down a bit and we were able to talk a little more before we made it to the training ground. There, we saw Mr. Aizawa staring at his watch before looking up at us. He then gave us a look of disdain for making him wait.

I swear, it was so infuriating that even my new friends were getting annoyed. Luckily, the rest of the class showed up and we were able to get on with the quirk assessment that would take up most of the day.

Mr. Aizawa started by having us line up side by side. He then asked for the student who came in first on the entrance exam to go into the circle he drew. I was about to step forward when Kachan, whose real name was apparently Bakugou, went in front of everyone.

"Hah, obviously that's me. There's no way a bunch extras like these would ever-"

"No Bakugou… You didn't get the top score," Aizawa said in a tired voice. "Now, get back in line."

Bakugou's eyes widened. He was about to ask who did better than him, but his question was answered before he could utter a word.

"Hey Fido, fetch," the raven-haired teacher called out as he threw the ball to me. "Now come up to the-"

Before he could finish, I shot a blast of water past his face. I don't take kindly to being called fido or dog. In fact, I absolutely hated it.

"Mr. Aizawa, since you didn't know, I'm gonna let it slide. However, if you ever call me a dog or treat me like one, I swear, next time I won't miss! I am a wolf, remember that!"

Mr. Aizawa tried to intimidate me with a glare, but that just made things worse. I glared back at him, feeling my fur bristle and my tail rise up. I started to involuntarily snarl and I even exposed my fangs.

From the way he took a step back, my teacher understood what I was doing. This was the body language of an enraged wolf that was out for blood. Of course, in trying to get him to back off, I ended up scaring my classmates again. I was a little worried that the smell of fear would agitate me even more, but I managed to control myself.

Upon realizing that I wouldn't stand down, the raven-haired man let out a sigh before saying that he'd keep it in mind. He coughed and explained that the first part of the assessment would be a long-distance ball throw and that we were to use our quirks to assist us in throwing the ball as far as we could.

We all nodded to show we understood, and I started to think about how I could make the ball go as far as possible. It took me a moment, but I came up with something that could work.

I opened my canteen and made a pulling motion with my fingers to draw the water out where it hovered over my hand. I then encased the ball in a palm-sized bubble of water before lining myself up.

Without any hesitation, I threw the bubble with enough strength to shatter the sound barrier. I watched as the ball went flying with enough force to part the clouds it punched through.

I wasn't done yet, however. I put his arms forward and closed my hands while imagining that I was gripping some rope. Once the ball reached the peak of its arc, I pulled on the imaginary rope, causing water to jet out from the bubble. This propelled the ball farther and faster as if it were a bottle rocket until all the water was gone.

"1,200 meters," Aizawa said after looking at the recorder in his hand. "Impressive."

Satisfied with my score, I decided to boast a bit by letting out a loud and prideful howl. I don't like to show off, but I was so happy that my idea worked that I couldn't help myself.

After my little celebration, I walked back to the line where I saw everyone cheering for me. Everyone except Bakugou, but I pretty much expected that. Though, I did like seeing how mad he was.

After that, everyone took their turns and by the end of it, I had come in second place. Uraraka took first thanks to her zero gravity quirk sending the ball into space. Seteth came in third thanks to him flying up really high and creating a strong gust of wind to carry the ball even further. Momo came in fourth by creating a canon and so on.

I was amazed by the creativity everyone showed in using their quirks. If I could be more creative with my abilities, maybe even learning how to combine them like Seteth did, I might just rival Almight in terms of raw power. That thought alone got my tail wagging like crazy.

Despite everyone feeling proud of their results, Bakugou started throwing a huge tantrum. He went on and on about how there was no way a bunch of extras beat him. He then accused both Seteth and I of cheating. Apparently, that was the only way a foreign mutt and flying rat could ever beat him.

"Are you serious right now?" I asked with a sigh while I shrugged my shoulders.

"You really are a child, aren't you?" Seteth said with a deadpan expression.

"SHUT UP! HOW DARE YOU ZOO ANIMALS TALK BACK TO ME!" Bakugou screamed, not even caring about the looks he was getting from the others.

"Is this guy an idiot?" I wondered.

I guess my indifference really set Bakugou off because the next thing I knew, that blond moron charged at me. In response, I slammed my tail on the ground which caused a geyser to erupt underneath Bakugou.

Bakugou tried to retaliate by using his explosions to send himself rocketing towards me, but that was when Seteth jumped in. Seteth flew into the air in order to dodge Bakugou's attack and was now in the perfect position to stop the rampaging student.

He came down on Bakugou with a powerful strike, sending him crashing to the ground. He did this by wrapping his body in his wings and spinning himself like a drill.

Bakugou, despite being shut down by both Seteth and I, stood up and tried to continue his assault. Before he could take another step, however, he was suddenly wrapped up in what looked like a scarf. We turned to see where it came from and to our surprise, it was Mr. Aizawa who had tied him up.

"That's enough Bakugou. If you continue to attack your classmates like this, then I'll expel you on the spot."

"Oh sure, now he steps in," I say sarcastically to Seteth.

"Better late than never," he answered back.

With the situation under control, we were ready to resume the rest of the assessment. One of our classmates cheered about how fun this was gonna be. Immediately, Mr. Aizawa gave us a sinister grin and told us that we should up the stakes if we really wanted it to be fun. He stated that whoever came in last would be expelled.

Obviously, everyone started to complain, but our bastard teacher shut us down by telling us we could leave if we had a problem. I already knew he was a dick, but I didn't expect Mr. Aizawa to be this much of an asshole.

Left with no other choice, we continued the tests, only now we did so while competing with each other. I came in first with the more strength and endurance-oriented tests like the grip strength, toe touch, pushups, and pull ups. Seteth meanwhile, came in first in the speed and agility-based tests like sprints, hurdle run, and standing long jump.

By the end of it, I had come in first place with the best overall score. Seteth took second, which wasn't surprising, followed by Shoto, then Bakugou and so on. I wasn't really worried for whoever came in last place, but I still felt bad about how devastated they felt. The reason? It's because Mr. Aizawa was lying about expelling anyone, which he revealed at the end. I understood that he was trying to motivate us, but I found his method inexcusable.

I was about to say my piece when my phone started ringing. Mr. Aizawa tried to chew me out for it, but stopped when I said it was from my kid brother's school.

After picking it up and hearing what had happened, I pretty much lost it. I ended up yelling while having a snarl in my voice because of how upset I was, which ended up scaring my classmates.

Once I learned everything, I took a second to calm down before explaining to Mr. Aizawa that Nikolas's quirk activated and that I needed to go pick him up. Surprisingly, he allowed me to go and said that I didn't need to worry about missing anything.

"And that's about it. I got the call from your school, and I rushed over," I said as I finished my story.

"Geez, I know you said that two of your classmates were bad, those two were awful," Nikolas said as he lowered his head. "And then there's Mr. Aizawa. I'm glad he was nice enough to let you come get me, but it sounds like he doesn't care about being a teacher. He's the exact opposite of Mr. Tadashi."

"Well, it's just something I'm gonna have to deal with. Just like you'll have to learn how to deal with any more bullies."

"Yea, I'm sorry."

"Nix you're fine. I'm not blaming you for anything. I'm just saying you should start learning how to control your illusion powers. Though, I'm not sure how much help I can be with that. We might have to try and find someone who can properly train you."

"Actually, we don't have to! Mr. Tadashi said he knew someone who could help and that he would get me their phone number tomorrow!"

"Really? That's great. Hopefully they can teach you how to activate your quirk at will. Just remember, even after you learn how to control your power, you'll still need to train with it every day. After all, controlling it is one thing, developing it is another."

"I know and I'll work hard and get strong cause I want to help my big bro too!"

"Haha, I don't doubt that in the least."

When we first got here, Nix was pretty depressed. But now, he's got such a big smile on his face that you would think he doesn't know what it means to have a bad day. The same smile he had when mom and dad held him for the first time.

Whenever I see that smile, I can't help but want to work hard. I'm so grateful that he became my little brother. This little raccoon is my biggest inspiration and I'll do whatever I can to make sure our family is happy.