There were no empty tables in the cafeteria. At least each table had the majority of the seats taken by people. Maybe, Shota could eat in the classroom. Or he could find a stairwell to hide under. As he stepped out of line, his attention was drawn by a hand waving rapidly.
"Aizawa!" Kayama called. She was sitting at a table with enough room left on the edge for another person. Across from her sat Shirakumo and Yamada, and Yamada looked like he was sucking in a deep breath to yell. Shota stared at the ground as he made his way toward them.
Shota sat down in the empty seat and ignored their grinning faces. He quietly started to eat his food, and no one pushed him to talk as the other three started a conversation among themselves. They were all excited for their upcoming heroics class. It was their first day of actual classes, but Shota still didn't have the bitter taste out of his mouth from yesterday. He couldn't get excited to have their first class with the number one hero.
Shota wasn't going to admit that he could not care less about Deku coming to teach them. For one, he wasn't sure why the hero was even there when he had all these crimes to stop. Why waste time teaching kids? Or did Deku have further plans? Shota spent about five seconds thinking about it before he focused on eating his lunch.
The food was actually amazing. Even if he felt like talking to anyone else, he would have shut his mouth just to focus on devouring the food in front of him. An elbow nudged his arm. Yamada spoke up, "Yo! Slow down."
"It's good," Shota said through a mouthful of food. Kayama made a face.
"You eat like you're starving," Shirakumo said. Yamada smacked his arm. "Sorry! I didn't mean it like that."
Shota remained silent. They had only known each other for two days plus not even a hour during the entrance exam. How could these three act so close already? Why did Shota even sit at this table?
"I am sorry if I offended," Shirakumo said. "I just don't want you to choke."
"It's fine," Shota muttered, but he made sure to slow his eating.
"Yo, can you believe that we're going to be taught by Deku?" Yamada questioned. He was wearing headphones around his neck today, and that tie was still crooked. Yamada reminded Shota of those American neighbors he had a few years ago: loud and obnoxious. And they kept trying to get into his business when he came home with visible bruises or a limp.
"I just don't want to embarrass myself," Kayama said as she fanned her face. "He's so... hot."
Shota made a face. Shirakumo laughed, "Like you even have a chance with him!"
"That would also be super illegal," Yamada added.
"A girl can dream," Kayama sighed.
"Stop dreaming," Shota muttered. Yamada and Shirakumo barked out laughs a moment later. Shota felt a blush come to his face, and he ducked his head.
"And here I was thinking there would actually be a gentleman in our group," Kayama tutted dramatically. "It's fine, number nineteen. We're going to see your quirk today during heroics. I feel it!"
"Actually, we didn't see your quirk either," Shirakumo said. He shot his thumb to the side. "We all heard this guy, though."
"Get used to it," Yamada teased. He looked at Kayama. "Are you going to keep your quirk a secret?"
"Just until I have to go against you," Kayama said with a sneer, but there was a playful look in her eyes. Shota slowly looked up at them. "I'll put you to sleep, pretty boy."
"We'll see about that," Yamada said.
"She's obviously talking to me," Shirakumo said as he puffed his chest out. Shota rolled his eyes at their antics and focused back on his food. Mercifully, the two idiots started to eat their food a minute later.
As Yamada ate, he pulled on his headphones and was bobbing his head up and down, listening to some kind of music. Shirakumo was looking around the lunch room as he ate. Kayama focused on her phone, and Shota kept his gaze at the table. At some point, he looked at the people sitting around him.
None of them were shying away from him. They didn't move their gaze if he made eye contact with them, and no one had tried to dump his lunch on the floor yet. It was a fresh start. Especially because he didn't recognize anyone from his middle school.
When lunch was over, they all made their way back toward their classroom. Shota found himself waiting for the others, but that was only because he was still memorizing the layout of the school and didn't want to get lost. The four of them stepped into the classroom, and Shota made his way toward the back.
Their assigned seats were based upon the results from their quirk tests yesterday with Mr. Shinso. Shota sat down in his and turned his head to watch the last ranked member of their class, Nezu, climb onto the seat. The animal only came up to Shota's knees, and part of him wondered how someone so small could make it into the hero course.
Which was hypocritical coming from him.
Shota started to turn his gaze to the left, but the bell rang, and the door to the classroom opened. His attention moved to the front as he watched others dive into their seats. All sat at attention for the number one hero in Japan. Deku walked into the classroom and smiled as he looked at them.
"Hello, everyone," Deku greeted as he looked at them. "For those of you don't know me, I am the pro hero named Deku. I will be your Heroics teacher. This is my first time teaching, so I hope you can forgive any stumbles I have. Today, we're going to start simple.
"A training exercise," Deku continued. He clapped his hands together. "With your application to the school, you also submitted a hero costume design. Our great support company has been working tirelessly to make your costumes, and we're going to put them to use today."
Most of the students stared at Deku like he was an illusion. The hero just took it in stride as he walked toward a wall of the classroom and pressed a button. Something like briefcases appeared out of the wall. Deku looked at them, "Don't be shy now! Come on!'
They all lined up, and the briefcases were handed out to them. As Deku handed out each briefcase, he asked them their names. When it was Shota's turned, he stared at the briefcase being held out to him. Deku spoke, "What's your name?"
"Shota Aizawa," Shota answered as he slowly grabbed the briefcase. Because he was staring at the number nineteen on the briefcase, he missed the look of recognition on Deku's face. It had hardly clicked for Shota that he was on his way to becoming a hero. Now, it was like reality was crashing into him. He was about to put on his hero costume!
Not that it was a great design. He knew that he didn't want to be flashy or stand out, so he picked something simple. Hopefully, he could make changes if he needed to. Shota stepped out of line and watched Nezu receive his briefcase which was almost the size of him.
Deku clapped his hands together, "Alright, everyone! Let's get dressed and meet outside!"
Shota felt his heart racing as he carefully pulled on each part of his costume. It was nothing flashy at all. He had black cargo pants and a single pouch on his belt. He wasn't sure what to put in the pouch yet, but he put it on anyway. His shirt was a long-sleeved black one that was padded slightly and would help protect from minor blows. Hopefully.
His hands ran over the last piece of his ensemble. While he had been unable to figure out what he wanted for most of his costume, the goggles were the one thing he knew he wanted. Even if his father insisted he didn't need it. That it would only cause more problems. Shota didn't care.
His finger ran across the yellow goggles. There was a strap where they would wrap around his head. He tried the goggles on and adjusted them slightly. Then, he hung them from around his neck and studied them.
Shota was the first one to wait at the front of the locker room, and he heard Yamada struggling with a part of his costume. He looked like one of those American rockers with pants that were too tight and a leather jacket. His headphones were still on, and he also had sunglasses.
"These pants are too tight," Yamada complained. "Shirakumo, help!"
Shirakumo only laughed. He was wearing an aviator jacket and had a pair of goggles himself. Upon making eye contact with Shota, he pointed between their goggles, "Twinsies!"
"Not really," Shota began. His goggles had small slits that he could see through, but Shirakumo's just had glass covering the eyes like safety goggles more than anything. Shota walked toward Yamada. "Need help?"
"Just suck in your gut," Shirakumo said. Yamada rolled his eyes at them. Shota helped him get the pants on all the way and to zip up his pants. Despite the blush he felt building on his face. Which he wasn't sure why that was happening. Probably because he was so nervous.
"Thanks," Yamada said. Shota shrugged and made his way back to the front. He felt his mind buzzing as others finished, and they all made their way out of the locker rooms. Then, they made their way to the gym where they would be training at. Shota kept his hands tucked in his pockets to hide how badly they were shaking.
As they stepped into the gym, Shota's eyes widened. The gym was actually a makeshift city block. Deku was waiting for them. They all came to a stop in front of their teacher.
"You look great," Deku said as he clapped his hands together. "Now, as for your exercise...
"Two of you will be teamed together, and before you ask, your homeroom teachers picked the teams and your opponents," Deku began as he looked at all of them.
"The objective is simple. There will be a villain team and a hero team. The villain team will have a device that is to be considered a nuclear bomb, and they will pick which floor to hide it on. The hero team must find the device and 'disarm' it by placing two hands on it.
"This is an exercise to get a baseline in how your quirks work in and out of combat and your teamwork skills. I will have plenty of notes for you after each round. The rankings you received yesterday are going to make up your teams just for today. So, our number one and two will be the first villain team. Which means Todoroki and Usagiyama, come on up!"
Todoroki, the kid with the red hair, stepped forward. His hero costume was full spandex. Most of it was blue with designs of red in it, but the designs looked half finished. The number one in their tests yesterday had a cocky look on his face. Number two, Usagiyama, bounded forward.
Usagiyama wore a leotard that showed off all the muscles in her legs. Her boots went all the way up to her knees and seemed to be reinforced with some kind of plate. Shota had been staring at her rabbit ears enough during class to know they weren't part of the costume. The girl had a rabbit mutation.
There was a confident look on Todoroki's face. Usagiyama stepped up next to him, sharing that cocky grin. From look alone, Usagiyama looked like she was the stronger of the two, but they both looked extremely strong. She lacked the literal fire that he had. They would be a bad match for any of them.
"Against the hero team consisting of the two students ranked nineteen and twenty: Aizawa and Nezu!"
Shit.
Shota turned his gaze toward Nezu. The little creature tilted his head. His hero costume was a... business suit?
"And number three and four against eighteen and seventeen. I think you can all see how this is going," Deku continued, but he still read off the rest of the teams. "Group one, you have five minutes before we head to the building. Take the time to plan! Before that, take these."
Earpieces were handed out to the four of them, and Shota put his in. After testing it and making sure that they could only hear their teammates, they split off to talk. Shota looked at their opponents and then at his teammate. Nezu looked up at him. Shota spoke, "We're going to get destroyed."
"The odds are likely that we will lose, but we still have to try," Nezu replied. He motioned for Shota to get close, and Shota sighed as he crouched down. "We should discuss how our quirks can help us win. My quirk is called High-Specs. I am able to think faster than a regular human even if my body is limited in my actions."
"So you can outsmart anyone here," Shota assumed.
"Yes," Nezu grinned. "And you?"
"Erasure," Shota began. "I can erase the quirk of someone I look at it, but the effect ends when I blink. It also won't work on mutations, which is what I think Usagiyama has."
"How long can you keep your eyes open?" Nezu questioned.
"About twenty seconds give or take," Shota shrugged. "I have a few seconds in between before I can activate Erasure again, and getting hit is probably going to make me blink. If we make a move, it has to be quick."
"We must not be spotted as we make our way to the bomb," Nezu decided. "So, we must move quickly. Are you able to carry me?"
"I can," Shota answered. "When we find the bomb, what should we do?"
"Hmm. That will depend on the situation. They will not find me a threat," Nezu said. Shota nodded. "Will you be able to play distraction?"
Shota nodded again. He had to trust the animal that he just had his only conversation with. Shota studied Nezu, "You should walk until we're out of their sight. Just so they won't know you'll be on my back during the test."
"Good idea," Nezu said. Shota stood and stuck his hands in his pocket and hunched forward. "You should also continue to look like that. It makes it look like you've already given up."
"I just like standing like this," Shota muttered. He glanced to the side and saw that their opponents were staring them down. Shota sighed and glanced back at the building. Deku clapped his hands together.
"If you four are done planning, Usagiyama and Todoroki can take off toward the building to figure out what floor they want to be on. Aizawa and Nezu, you will wait here. The rest of you can follow me to the observation room," Deku said with a wave of his hand.
Shota watched the rest of their classmates walk away. He sighed and hung his head. This was going to be humiliating. Nezu was just tiny, so Shota was going to have to carry the brunt of the physical side. Not to mention their opponent's quirks were much stronger than his or Nezu's.
"No," Nezu muttered to himself. "Harm to the bomb will cause us to fail as well."
"Harm to the bomb?" Shota asked.
"I was wondering if we could cause them to fail by having Todoroki hit the bomb with his fire, but if we are supposed to disarm the bomb, blowing it up would cause us to fail," Nezu explained. Shota nodded his understanding. "How long do you think you could last in a fight against either of them?"
"Ten seconds," Shota shrugged. Nezu fell silent as they waited. After a few moments, a horn sounded.
"Begin!" Deku called.
Fifteen floors later, Shota was getting tired. They had been moving in a cautious but quickened pace as they searched the floors, trying to find the bomb and avoid anyone who might be patrolling. Nezu was hanging onto his back.
"I do not think they are patrolling," Nezu decided.
"What makes you think that?" Shota grumbled.
"Because we haven't run into them yet," Nezu said. Shota tried not to be annoyed. His teammate didn't pick up on his sarcasm, but it wasn't fair to take his frustration out on him.
"Do you think they would be on the top floor?" Shota asked as he jogged up another flight of stairs.
"Hmm. Yes. They will think my small legs would be a hindrance," Nezu answered.
"Hold on then," Shota said as he continued up the stairwell. It made a large square, and he climbed on the railing of the stairwell and launched himself at the next one. Shota heard Nezu make a noise of surprise, and claws dug into his clothes.
Shota pulled himself onto the railing and turned, grabbing onto the railing for the next floor. He continued the process until they were at the top of the stairs. Shota pulled them over the final railing and let out a few deep breaths. Then, he pushed the door open and listened.
Loud laughing echoed down the hallway. Shota moved against a wall and crouched, but he didn't hear anyone approaching. After a moment, he made his way down the hall, following the sounds of laughing. As he peeked around the corner, he realized that their opponents weren't even looking for them.
"They're waiting," Shota realized. "They're that cocky."
"They have good reason to be," Nezu said. Shota glared and stood. He carefully traced the laughing back to the source, which was a long hallway with a single door frame in the middle. A careful glance showed there was no actual door. Shota adjusted Nezu on his back, and a whisper was in his ear, "I have an idea."
Shota listened to the idea, and he tried to relax his muscles and release the tension he felt. After Nezu was done talking, Shota took a deep breath and screwed his eyes shut. Before he could doubt himself, he opened his eyes and turned into the doorway. Putting himself in the view of their two opponents.
There was a large room in front of him with multiple pillars. Todoroki and Usagiyama stood in front of the large bomb. Both were talking, but it fell silent as they looked at him. Shota could feel Nezu hiding against his back in a way that hopefully the two couldn't see him.
"Nezu!" Shota yelled as he took a step back. Todoroki stepped forward, shooting fire at Shota. He dove to the side almost too late, sliding behind a pillar. Nezu jumped off of his back, and Shota scrambled to his feet as he ran around the pillar, keeping himself to the wall.
Usagiyama threw herself at him a moment later, and Shota nearly had his head taken off by a kick, but he dove under it. He rolled on his back, sliding as he looked back at Usagiyama. She winced as her foot went through the wall.
Shota turned toward Todoroki, activating his quirk. The fire that had been shooting toward him died down. Todoroki froze and looked at his hands. He shook his hands, but nothing happened. Shota scrambled to his feet and cut back toward the middle of the room, angling for the bomb.
Todoroki rushed forward to cut him off, and a heavy weight, probably Usagiyama, slammed into Shota from behind. Shota was thrown forward, right into Todorok's waiting fist. A grunt left Shota as he was punched in the gut, and he doubled over. The breath was knocked out of him, and his eyes blinked.
Shota stumbled back and saw the fire reappear in Todoroki's hand. The boy sneered at him, "What did you do to my quirk?"
Shota activated Erasure again, and as he did, he slammed his elbow back toward Usagiyama. She caught his attack with ease and twisted his arm behind his back, "Where's your partner?"
Another fist slammed into Shota's stomach, and he doubled over from the hit. He felt Usagiyama kick the back of his leg, and he fell to his knees. She held his arm behind his back but wasn't twisting it as roughly as she could have been. She was just holding him in place.
"You did something to my quirk," Todoroki spat. He looked angry, but that anger turned to pure rage as he grabbed the goggles around Shota's neck. "Makes sense you would wear these with that villain quirk of yours."
A horn sounded, and Shota turned his head to see that Nezu had both hands on the bomb. There was a grin on his face. His arm was released a moment later as Usagiyama spoke, "Damn it! How didn't I see you?"
"You thought Aizawa was more of a threat," Nezu replied. Shota started to stand, but he felt Todoroki tear the goggles away from him.
"Hey!" Shota snapped. "Give those back!"
"The fight's over," Usagiyama began.
"We're supposed to be heroes," Todoroki said as he held the goggles up. "And you want to wear a villain's glasses?"
"There is no need to be a sore loser," Nezu stated as he walked toward them. Shota glared at Todoroki.
"You want these back? Fine," Todoroki said. He snapped the goggles in half and threw them at Shota's chest. Shota stepped forward, but he felt Usagiyama grab his arm and pull him back. Todoroki stormed past all three of them. "You got lucky this time, villain!"
Shota felt his blood boil, and he let out a few deep breaths as he grabbed the two broken halves of his goggles. He could feel his body shaking in rage. Shota pocketed his broken goggles and tried to calm himself, breathing in and out through his nose.
"Are you okay?" Nezu asked. Shota forced himself to nod. "We should get back to our class for our teacher's comments."
"Yeah," Shota muttered. Usagiyama nodded her agreement and started to walk, but she was limping and favoring the foot that had gone into the wall. Shota moved to her side. "Let me help."
"You better not carry me," Usagiyama warned. Shota gently grabbed her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, allowing her to lean on him. Nezu followed right behind them. "I didn't hurt you when I hit you, did I?"
"No," Shota said. His anger ebbed slightly as they made it outside the building and walked toward where the rest of the class had been watching. Todoroki was already there, and he was standing with crossed arms.
There was another newcomer to the party: the UA nurse Eri. Upon seeing Usagiyama, Eri smiled and walked toward them. She placed a hand to Usagiyama's shoulder, and her horn glowed slightly. Usagiyama straightened up a moment later.
"Thanks," Usagiyama said with a nod of her head.
"Of course," Eri said. Her eyes moved over to Shota. "Do you need any healing?"
"I'm fine," Shota declined. Eri studied before she nodded and stepped back, giving Deku the floor. Their teacher stepped forward.
"Great first match you four," Deku said as he looked at them. "Nezu and Aizawa, that was a great idea to pretend to be split up and have the more perceived threat be the distraction. Usagiyama and Todoroki, you two can't take your eyes off the goal like that. Especially if you're trying to protect something. One of you should have been patrolling as well."
"Yes sir," Usagiyama said as she bowed her head. Todoroki grunted.
"And Todoroki, you are all here to learn how to be heroes. While we may spar against each other, we are all on the same team, and teammates do not destroy each other's property," Deku said. He looked at Shota. "Can I see those goggles? I'll get them repaired for you."
Shota nodded and grabbed the broken goggles from his pockets. He handed them off to Deku and felt his body tense as the number one hero studied the goggles in interest. Deku put them in his pocket and turned toward the other students. "Number three and four, you're next!"