All was going well so far if the reports Miller received were accurate. The vast majority of MSF operations in Japan were now in working order or would be ready soon. The airfield had been built on day one, with the rest of the expeditionary force being flown in. Once they arrived patrols across campus were set up with a squad of marines situated at the school's entrance. By day two the barracks had begun construction, along with a vehicle depot, medical center, armory, command center, and a series of missile and autocannon air defenses.
Would the air defenses ever be used? Kaz logically assumed no, but better to have them just in case. All of those would be finished on day five, which Miller could only thank for the gift that was quirks. That said it could have gone without the distrusting looks they got from Cementoss on the daily. Now they were on day six, with the campus opening back up tomorrow. Currently, though, Kaz sat at a desk in his new office in the command center, looking over the files that had been passed to him earlier.
Next to him was a large window looking out at the surrounding campus, and Snake looking out of it. Outside the window, and a bit farther out near the entrance to UA's grounds, was another large crowd of reporters. It was a common sight at this point, one both Snake and Miller were already getting tired of.
"You think the reporters will ever leave?" Snake asked, "They've been out there for seven hours after all. Some of them have got to go get food at some point."
"I doubt it. Some of the boys on gate duty said they spotted tents being set up. If they brought along tents, I'm sure they brought along food," Miller reasoned, with Snake slowly nodding along.
"Still surprised they last this long," Snake commented while turning away from the window. He then walked away from it and sat in a chair across from Miller. Fiddling through his pockets, one of his hands pulled out a cigar. Snake was about to light it, but it was quickly swiped by Kaz, who wordlessly pointed at the no-smoking sign on his wall. Snake grumbled in response but ultimately didn't complain.
"So, do we have anything?" Snake asked, watching as Miller flipped through papers.
"Maybe," Miller replied, putting the files away. Once that was done, he grabbed the Idroid from his pocket and set it on the table.
"Best we've got so far is rumors," Miller continued, the Idroid quickly lighting up.
"I'll take anything at this point," Snake muttered, looking through the Idroid's contents. Sure enough, there wasn't much. A couple of rare sightings of Night Owl doing some public events were present. But those didn't amount to anything useful. Not unless he was hiding weapons in the Musutafu Children's Hospital. On second thought, Snake dreaded the idea of that thought being true. Other than that was a single appearance at a military history museum. Seeing that Night Owl's public appearances gave them nothing, Snake moved on.
He found the more illicit actions, all backed up with fake names the Intel Team had scoured over for days. For example, they found a shipping company that was sending cargo that was only labeled as instruments, to an address in Musutafu. Snake wasn't sure of what the instruments were, but he assumed it was all the weapons Night Owl had accrued. The convenience of it though was the criminal group operating in the area.
"The Ninth Circle… that's the group Ocelot said Night Owl was working with, right?" Snake asked, checking through the Idroid just in case.
"I believe so… yep that's them," Miller answered as they both found the report from Ocelot.
"The Ninth Circle, the name sounds familiar…" Snake commented while still looking through the reports.
"That's because the Ninth Circle is supposed to be dead," Miller stated, a memory coming to mind, "Ocelot told us about them years ago. Their leader, his name was Death… no, no, Grim…"
"Reaper," Snake muttered, slowly remembering what Miller was talking about. The discussion had been years ago, back when they'd first learned Ocelot was brought to this dimension. But that was a startling thought.
"They're supposed to be dead," Snake again muttered finding something wrong with that info. Most of it was taken from police records Ocelot had gotten access to, and almost all had contradictor statements. One department had forty arrests, another had sixty, and a third had seventy. The problem was half the people in those arrests, were already listed as being arrested. They were counted two, three, or even four separate times.
It painted a picture of either overkill or incompetence.
"If not dead, then they'd be one of the weakest organizations in the country. Possibly on par with that League of Villains, the staff was on about." Snake commented while thinking it over. It was likely the HPSC propped up a weakened Ninth Circle years ago, possibly to act as another pawn if they were needed. But that still meant they were weakened horribly.
"That can't be right. Why would Night Owl work with one of the smallest criminal groups, if he's got something big planned?" Kaz commented flipping through the Idroid's contents again, back to the cargo. And he was right. Whatever Night Owl was up to, needed manpower. But that brought forth a new problem. Because there was only one reason all these arrest records and all their info would be wrong.
"Unless the HPSC didn't know how many members, the Ninth Circle has," Snake realized, before going over the documents a final time. That had to be the only reason, and going through all the info again, that's what he found. The official number of members the HPSC gave out for the Circle, was roughly five hundred people at their height. Their official lowest was around fifteen.
Over the past decade, the number stayed at fifteen. Never once did it change to fourteen, or sixteen. It didn't increase or decrease in ten years.
"Those idiots," Snake muttered, slamming his fist onto the desk, "They weren't keeping tabs on the Ninth Circle. They haven't been for years!"
Their own backyard and those overconfident idiots let this happen. If it was out of some misguided belief that the heroes could stop it, or that no one would support Ninth Circle rising back to power, Snake didn't know. And he didn't care. Added up with Ocelot's intel on the JSDF's bases selling weapons, and it made it all worse.
"Once everything's up and running, I'm investigating that address," Snake decided only for Miller to give him a hesitant look. His hesitancy was because if Snake was caught, that ran the risk of the HPSC charging him with vigilantism. However, the risk of Night Owl getting away with whatever he and the Ninth Circle were up to, was far worse.
"That's illogical," Aizawa stated glaring at Ocelot. It had been days since the USJ, yet Aizawa had been unconscious for almost all of it. He could hardly remember what had happened days prior, but it was illogical to worry about it now. In the infirmary Ocelot stood in the corner of the room, spinning one of his revolvers as always. Were it not for Aizawa being handcuffed to his bed, he would have grabbed in from, and preferably chucked it out a window. Recovery Girl, who stood next to Aizawa's bed, simply shook her head in disappointment.
"What's illogical is you thinking you can teach a class in this state!" Recovery Girl countered holding out an x-ray for Aizawa, "Both of your arms are broken, as well as a dozen ribs, your skull was nearly cracked open, and a lung was punctured and had collapsed."
Most of the injuries had been bandaged up, and healed to the best of their ability. But Aizawa was still wrapped head to toe in bandages, with Hizashi calling him Mummyman nonstop. Aizawa attempted to protest it, but then Hizashi brought Nemuri along.
"The alternative is letting him be in charge though," Aizawa retorted still glaring at Ocelot.
"Please, you didn't do much to begin with. Half the time I popped into your class I found you napping away," Ocelot countered before flipping his revolver into the air. Instead of catching it, he leaned forward and let the gun fall into its holster.
"It's to make them independent. If they have to rely on me to get anything done, then they'll never make it on the field," Aizawa reasoned annoyed.
"As if that's better. You're having them figure it out themselves, and that means turning to the internet for advice. The famously trustworthy internet," Ocelot replied sarcastically, walking up to Aizawa's bed.
"If that's where they turn to, then it just shows their lack of common sense," Aizawa countered, already tired of this conversation. Slowly he moved to try and free himself from his handcuffs. Ocelot meanwhile placed his hands on the edge of Aizawa's bed and leaned forward slightly. Forward enough that he placed his weight on the bed, but still appeared to be standing upright.
"Or your lack of credibility," Ocelot pointed out, with Aizawa scoffing in response.
"Why do you even care?" Aizawa asked. It had always bugged him over the years.
"I don't! And that's the problem!" Ocelot loudly exclaimed, "I don't care because I barely know these kids! I'm the HPSC rep that pops in randomly, and yet I've given better advice to them in their first week than you've given to a class in years."
"As if," Aizawa muttered, before hearing Recovery Girl tap the floor with her cane.
"Well…" she hesitantly began, "There was a drastic drop in wounded students whenever Ocelot took over your classes."
"You're seriously siding with him?" Aizawa asked incredulously, with Recovery Girl giving him an annoyed nod.
"Aizawa, half of the injuries that come here are from your class. Almost all of those are self-inflicted accidents," Recovery Girl told him, with Aizawa giving a disinterested work. All it meant was that they weren't working hard enough. If they wanted to be heroes then they couldn't just coast on through.
"All that means is that they need to do better-" Aizawa attempted to reason before Ocelot finally snapped at him.
"Damn it Aizawa, Fudaki died because of your teaching methods! Because you refused to set him straight on day one, he charged in thinking he could defeat them by himself. How the hell can you still say your methods work, after all that?" Ocelot demanded. The second he finished talking though, he found Aizawa with a confused look.
"W-What? No, Fudaki isn't dead… I would know if he was dead, I was there," Aizawa muttered in disbelief, with Ocelot now giving Aizawa a confused look.
"Aizawa, he died right in front of you. The police have the body to prove it," Ocelot told him, while Recovery Girl looked over Aizawa again. The cowboy's response, though, made Aizawa somewhat agitated.
"Ocelot if this is another one of your damn pranks, I'll strangle you with my scarf," Aizawa threatened.
"This isn't a prank, he's dead," Recovery Girl stated, interjecting before Aizawa could try anything. The bandages may have limited his movement, but they didn't stop him. One wrong move and his already broken bones would be made worse. Yet Aizawa barely registered that fact, instead staring at Recovery Girl in disbelief.
"N-no… he's… we were by the plaza, and…" Aziawa tried to argue, only to stop and take a deep breath, "Recovery Girl, I don't know why you're helping him in this, but this is illogical. Why you think it's funny to try and convince me a student has died, I'll never know."
"And this is why you're not fit to teach," Ocelot tiredly muttered, while carefully rubbing his brow. Why Aizawa was denying the truth, Ocelot didn't know. He stood up to move then and walked over to the door.
"I'm going to start a lesson plan for tomorrow," Ocelot stated, giving Recovery Girl a polite wave goodbye. At that second Aizawa had freed himself from his cuffs, and moved to stand up from his bed.
"The hell you are-" Aizawa attempted to argue, only to fall unconscious as Ocelot swiftly drew a revolver and shot him. It was to Recovery Girl's annoyance and pleasure, as the nurse carefully moved Aizawa back onto his bed.
"Hmph, you sure I can't buy that anesthetic off you?" Recovery Girl asked, watching as Ocelot holstered the revolver he had pulled out. It was a miracle concoction, an anesthetic that somehow didn't under or overdose patients, not to mention its almost immediate effects and transmission through the skin. Which made Ocelot's reply such a shame.
"Heh, afraid not," Ocelot answered before stepping out of the infirmary, leaving Recovery Girl to restrain Aizawa's unconscious form.
As Uraraka stared at the gates of UA, she could only feel fear. Now she reasoned that this fear was misplaced, her school would not hire villains. Yet that was all the media said yesterday, dozens of reporters and people all across the country said the same thing. The MSF were villains, why else would they bring in guns? Sure we might not have evidence, but their crimes will be brought to light. They're killers, willing to do anything for anyone for a buck.
It's detestable to think that our children will be surrounded by mercenaries. What was the Principal thinking? If one person waved a bit of money in the MSF's direction, then everyone was in danger. The money-grubbing mercs would do whatever they pleased behind UA's doors, and whatever they wanted to do to the students. On and on it went for a week. The only thing that allowed Uraraka to stand here now, and even consider going to class, was the trust she had in UA.
That trust, however, was quickly fading, and instead being replaced by desperation. Her parents had called once the news of UA's security force arrived, and they had said that if she chose to leave they would support her. But… then what? They needed money, and leaving for another school so soon would be expensive. Even then, what hero schools were still accepting students? Most of their classes were most likely full.
So, she would go. But that seemed difficult now, as her eyes traced over the gate. At the entrance stood a squad of mercenaries, standing at the ready as they looked over the street. An attack helicopter would occasionally fly by, patrolling the area with smaller helicopter drones accompanying it. Then there were the gun turrets she could see inside the campus. She didn't know a thing about them, but they could shoot down a helicopter by the looks of it. Maybe even a passenger jet.
Uraraka was quickly getting second thoughts, yet she did her best to squash them. Just as she was about to step forward, someone walked up next to her.
"Good morning, Uraraka," Yaoyarozu calmly greeted, while looking over UA.
"Oh, morning," Uraraka replied, bringing a small smile to her face. That smile became more nervous as the girl continued to look at the school.
"I never thought it was true… has anyone else walked in?" Yaoyorzu asked hesitantly while turning to face Uraraka. Uraraka thought the question over, thinking back to her time syncing arriving.
"Not that I remember," Uraraka answered. Honestly, no one had walked into the school in a while. Maybe one or two other students did, but they always did so quickly, trying to avoid the mercs out front as much as possible. Not one of those students had been from 1A though, which was a tad bit worrying-
"Oh, wait, I think that's Bakugo," Uraraka pointed out, spotting the spiky-haired blond walking up and through the gate. He did so as if everything was normal, not even batting the mercenaries an eye. Both girls looked on confused at how he could be so calm, and then they remembered who the person in question was. The arrogant teen probably thought he could fight all of them and win. They soon spotted Todoroki who followed suit, walking in uncaringly. Aside from them though, no one else arrived.
"Should… maybe they're already inside," Yaoyorozu tried to reason, with Uraraka nodding her head in agreement.
"Who's already inside?" Iida asked, surprising both girls briefly. More so Uraraka, who turned to face her friend quickly.
"Iida!? What- it's… Did you oversleep?" Uraraka asked, with good reason. Iida was the one student always on time, which was to be expected with how often and how strictly he followed rules. Her question brought an ashamed and embarrassed look onto his face though.
"No, my parents were a little overprotective this morning, as was my brother. It took an hour to convince them to let me go," Iida answered, "To think I could end up so late. But no matter, we mustn't delay any longer."
He moved to step forward, eyes dead set on UA's entrance, only to stop. Iida stood there a few seconds longer, fidgeting a little before he took a step back and groaned annoyed.
"Come on," Iida muttered, with Uraraka looking at him understandingly.
"...Should we wait for the others?" Uraraka asked, with both Yaoyorozu and Iida looking at her incredulously. That was until they looked back at the gate, their eyes falling on the guards' guns. You know what, it might be better to walk in as a group, they silently reasoned. And wait they did. Slowly but surely more of 1A arrived, grouping up with the rest assembled. Hesitantly the class looked over at the gate again, working up the courage to move.
"You know, if they try anything you guys could use me as a shield," Kirishima offered, hoping to convince not just his classmates, but also himself.
"It might not come to that," Jiro interjected, but she didn't sound like she believed it.
"He's not exactly wrong, I mean they are villains after all," Kaminari countered, with the group again giving the guards a nervous glance.
"There was never evidence of any crimes. They could just be a normal security company," Tokoyami said hesitantly, his eyes hovering over the guards' guns. Uraraka saw the motion and silently hoped he was right.
"They're probably not that bad, kero," Asui reasoned, "That one's just reading a book."
They all turned and sure enough, one of the guards was leaning against the gate, a book in hand. They couldn't tell what the book was, yet that didn't seem to matter entirely.
"It could be a trick!" Mineta countered before loudly gasping, "What if they've seized control of the campus!? None of us would know until we enter!"
"Not with All Might there. Sure they may have numbers, but nothing could take him down," Kirishima confidently countered. That realization helped a lot, once everyone thought about it. All Might was on UA, and there was no way these guys could take him down. How could they? Still, they had some hesitancy left. After all none of them were All Might. It left Uraraka to stare back at the gate again.
"Excuse me?" a voice called out followed by the barking of a dog. Very quickly the entire group turned to face the newcomer, a boy with brown hair and a husky on a leash. Very quickly Uraraka took note of the UA uniform the newcomer wore. It differed from hers, having five buttons on its shoulders rather than the usual two and a different sleeve design. It was odd, as it didn't resemble the Gen Ed, Support, or Business course uniforms.
At the moment the teen had a large bag in his free hand and a nervous but friendly smile on his face. At the same time, he was trying his best to wrangle the dog with him who was quickly trying to run up to the class.
"Do you mind stepping to the side? You're kinda blocking the way," the teen pointed out, while quickly pulling the dog back and saying something in English. Very quickly though the class realized he was right, with a large mutter of apologies taking place. They all stepped to the side allowing the teen to somewhat pass by, while still trying to wrangle the dog. Of course, then things got difficult. From what Uraraka could see, the dog stopped before Koda and started excitedly barking. The dog then started rubbing its head against Koda's leg and looked up at him almost as if he was happy. The teen meanwhile gave a mocked gasp.
"[DD you traitor! I thought we were friends,]" He jokingly said, before crouching down and petting the dog. However, the dog was not satisfied. Quite hesitant, Koda crouched down to pet the dog, while warily eyeing the teen. The teen said nothing and instead stepped to the side, letting Koda pet the dog. It was a wholesome sight as the dog licked the face of his new friend. Now the dog was satisfied and began to walk away.
"Sooo I'm going to assume you guys are UA students, you know classes start in five minutes, right?" the teen asked. And Uraraka slowly paled, realizing he was right. They had spent so long worrying about what might happen, that they forgot about what would happen if they were late. Mr. Aizawa was going to be… wait a minute, he had both his arms broken at the USJ. There was no way he was fit enough to teach. That realization brought a small semblance of relief, but not nearly enough.
"I'm just going to take the pale faces as a yes," the teen commented while walking off toward the main entrance. Uraraka almost wanted to warn him to be careful. That the guards were not to be trusted. But then something caught her eye. It wasn't visible before, but on the teen's shoulder was a patch. It was embroiled with the same skull logo as the helicopters she saw fly to UA. The same helicopters the mercenaries used.
The rest of the class seemed to catch it too, if the few gaping mouths were anything to go by. Suddenly their shock and curiosity won over their fear and worry, and the class moved forward as a group. The closer they got to the entrance the more they saw. The teen had walked up to the entrance's guards, and they all excitedly greeted him.
"[About time! Had me worried you got lost kid,]" one of them exclaimed, ruffling the teen's hair with a smile.
"[Ya got me that chocolate I wanted right?]" another asked, the teen tossing the bag he was carrying to him.
"[Yep! Also got Jackal's game, Hyena's food, and Wolf's magazine.]"
"[Hey thanks, you're a lifesaver kid,]" another said, yet no one in class understood what was said. Uraraka could only wish she'd been further along in English. But the entire interaction seemed casual. What Uraraka quickly noticed, however, was that the guards were all distracted. The rest of the class soon saw this as well, and while still confused about the whole event, began to walk away.
Very quickly Uraraka took her seat, taking a deep breath as she tried to recover. She and the rest of the class, once making it past the entrance, sprinted all the way. The second the last person, Mineta due to his height making him slower, entered the door the bell rang.
"Cutting it a bit close now, aren't we," Ocelot commented as Uraraka turned to find the HPSC rep leaning against the wall. There was no Mr. Aizawa in sight though, and Uraraka regrettably considered that a win. She did, however, shrink back a little when she saw the cowboy. How could she not? His actions at the USJ spoke for themselves, he and his men were killers. They might not be villains, but they weren't heroes.
Uraraka didn't know how to feel about having someone like that in class with her. Ocelot meanwhile walked up to the podium Mr. Aizawa normally stood at, and leaned against it while looking across the classroom. It wasn't very noticeable but Uraraka could have sworn his eyes lingered on Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima. She was quickly proven right.
"Well, best to get things started then. Aizawa's still in the infirmary, so I am your substitute today. First things first, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima," Ocelot began. When the three teens' names had been called, they all looked at Ocelot somewhat curiously. Kirishima did so nervously, but confident something important was going to be said. Bakugo looked somewhat expectantly with a proud smirk, expecting what Uraraka had a few guesses. And Todoroki looked uncaringly.
"What the hell you were idiotic dumbasses thinking?" Ocelot suddenly demanded, with Uraraka feeling the fury from his gaze. It caught all three teens by surprise, Bakugo the most.
"Who the hell are you calling a dumbass-"
"Did I say you could speak, because I sure as hell am not done talking," Ocelot very quickly interrupted, walking up to Bakugo's desk, "Were it not for All Might's request I would have the three of you barred from ever getting a license."
He then leaned over the explosive teen's desk, staring him directly in the eyes.
"But believe me, that option is still on the table," Ocelot threatened, causing Bakugo to surprisingly shrink back. Most likely from the realization that one wrong move would ruin his career. Kirishima didn't seem to get the memo though.
"W-what did we do?" Kirishima hesitantly asked, with Ocelot standing up and looking over at the red-haired teen.
"The fact you have to ask, tells you enough. Back at the USJ, you three jumped into the fight between All Might and the monster known as Nomu. We had the situation under complete control, and your interference ruined a working plan, putting all of your lives at risk," Ocelot explained, causing a few of the class to turn at the students. As well as one pink student exclaimed "Kirishima!" in both anger and shock.
"We were trying to help," Todoroki coldly stated, although that only made his case worse.
"It would have helped if you ran to the stairs!" Ocelot countered loudly, walking back to the podium, "You are not heroes, you are not licensed to deal with villains. You are civilians training to become heroes. Your interference Todoroki, allowed the monster to escape when we had it pinned down. So I'm going to make myself clear, you do something like that ever again, without a license, and I will ensure you never even see a license in your lifetime. Capice?"
Very slowly all three teens nodded. Now Uraraka couldn't tell, but she was sure Todoroki and Bakugo did so with silent anger. An anger that Ocelot could most definitely see. Kirishima meanwhile did so with fear, worried that Ocelot would follow through with his threats anyway. The answer seemed to be enough for the cowboy though.
"Good. That said you will all be punished for your actions. For the next three months you are to clean every square inch of this campus," Ocelot told them. And immediately Uraraka saw Kirishima hold a look that said, "That doesn't sound so bad,". She could already see where this was going.
"Now, I don't mean this building. I mean the entire campus. Every training center is to be made spotless, those new structures set up for Campus security are to be spotless, the surrounding campus walls are to be spotless," Ocelot told them, a sadistic smirk plastered on his face.
"What!?" Bakugo shouted in surprise, with Kirishima and Bakugo joining him.
"That-that's impossible to clean!" Kirishima tried to reason.
"This school goes out for miles, you expect us to clean all of that?" Todoroki demanded, his right side chilling the air a little before abruptly stopping.
"Would you rather I take away your chance for a license?" Ocelot mockingly asked, knowing what answer the teens would have. They all went quiet, realizing there would be no changing this. It caused Ocelot to chuckle as he drew one of his revolvers. The class eyed the action nervously, watching as the cowboy began to do his usual tricks.
"Now the next order of business, the Sports Festival," Ocelot continued. Much to his annoyance, this caused the students to break out into a flurry of loud murmurs.
"Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the attack?" Jiro hesitantly asked, worried about gaining Ocelot's fury.
"They could attack once we're all in the same place," Ojiro also commented hesitantly. His comment did bring another smirk to Ocelot's face.
"Campus security would agree with you," Ocelot told them, "But unfortunately this is required for your academic future. Through what I believe to be a very inefficient system, heroes accept internships based on your performance in the festival. Why we can't just send in a video application is beyond me."
That last part was more muttered under his breath, yet Uraraka lingered on every word. This was for her future as a hero, and the prospect was somewhat terrifying. All of it hinged on this one event broadcasted across the world. It was worrying how much power this one event had. How could she even win? Could she? She… no, she would win. She will do her best! She knew the festival was still a while away, but that was no excuse. Already Uraraka thought up some kind of plan. For she was not going to give up! She would make her parents proud! She was going to win!
Unknown to her, she caught Ocelot's eye. The cowboy looked somewhat surprised at the almost feral look the girl had. He decided to quickly write it off though, sticking to the topic at hand.
"Of course with security concerns, you already know what actions the school has taken, you've most likely seen them out front. That's the brief version of events, which brings me to our final topic. You can come in now!" Ocelot suddenly shouted as he turned to face the door. The entire class turned to follow, immediately confused by the sudden change. Barely anything about the sports festival had been covered. What was more important than that, Uraraka wondered. To her shock, her answer arrived.
The door opened, and the same brown-haired teen from earlier walked in with a wide friendly smile and a large rucksack on his back.
"This is Akatani Mikumo, UA's new Teacher's assistant," Ocelot introduced the teen giving the class a small wave, "He'll be assisting in classes from now. With that, I'm done."
The announcement caught everyone off guard, including the now-named Akatani. Yet no one could do a thing as the HPSC rep quickly holstered his revolver and walked out the door, leaving behind a stunned class. After that, everything remained quiet for a second, everyone being unsure of what to do. There were still a few minutes left of homeroom, but… there didn't seem to be anything else going on. Hesitantly Uraraka looked over at Akatani. He simply stood there awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do.
He… well he seemed friendly, from what Uraraka could tell. And… ok if no one else was going to, then she would. With a deep breath, she stood up and walked up to the front. Managing the friendliest smile she could muster she stopped when close enough.
"It's nice to meet you," she said deciding to start simple, "My name is Uraraka Ochako."
Akatani was a bit surprised at first but returned a friendly smile.
"Well, as Ocelot said, I'm Akatani, it's nice to be meeting you as well," Akatani replied. Once Uraraka had introduced herself, it was like a flood had been unleashed. Every other student soon got up, ignoring the skull patch on Akatani's shoulder. For that would be questions for later. What no one noticed, however, was the looks Akatani got from Bakugo the entire time. For whatever reason, something about him seemed… familiar. But what? He never said anything, Akatani was nothing but an extra after all. But still, something about the other boy irked him.
When the final class before lunch ended, Uraraka found a problem. Throughout her classes, she had begun to formulate a training plan for the sports festival. Most of it was just basic exercises, see how many push-ups she could do, how many squats, and how long could she hold a pen or a cup with her quirk. That sort of thing. The problem was, that she would need more food. Because not only would she be giving herself more training, but the school was as well. Ocelot had said something about a change in their heroics lesson.
What that change was, she wasn't sure. Akatani however, seemed very excited so Uraraka took note of that. Back to the point though, she needed more food, something her budget wouldn't allow. So now Uraraka looked around the classroom, debating on what to do. Her eyes at first fell on Iida. Call it rude if you will, but he just screamed wealthy. Uraraka never asked, not wanting to possibly alienate her friend, but it was something she noted.
That said, she did not want a handout, nor did she want to bother Iida with her problems. So she shifted her gaze to Kirishima. The red-haired teen seemed like the stereotypical gym bro. Leading Uraraka to assume that maybe he had something that could help her. Not necessarily food, but maybe tips on cheap goods she could get that would still meet the needed nutrition or less intensive exercise.
However, Uraraka again shifted her gaze knowing that Kirishima's info would only work with money. On and on it went as Uraraka looked between classmates, debating on what to do. Yaoyorozu? Same as Iida. Ashido? Same as Kirishima, though more dancing instead of gym bro-ness. Asui? Well, she had siblings to care for. Mineta? That one speaks for itself. Bakugo? He would probably just call her a dumbass.
Sato? Mostly sugar stuff. Ojiro? Refer to Kirishima but with more karate. Hagakure? Refer to Ashido. Todoroki? Cold shoulder. Sero, Tokoyami, Jiro, Koda, Kaminari, Aoyama, Shoji, and Uraraka passed all of them. This… no this would be fine. She would win the sports festival. Still, though, there had to be something she could… do. Uraraka's eyes hesitantly turned toward Akatani, thinking it over.
The MSF did bring a lot of supplies from wherever they came from. Not to mention all the people they brought needed food. Maybe they… No, she didn't want to risk asking. But the alternative was exhausting herself. Still, she didn't want a handout, to be forced to beg for a meal. And if she wasn't going to pester Iida about it, then pestering the maybe villain organization wouldn't be smart either. Uraraka slowly flip-flopped between the ideas, unsure of what to do.
"Uraraka, are you coming?" Iida asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. Looking up she spotted the class filing out all heading to lunch. Iida and Asui had both begun to do the same but waited when they saw Uraraka hadn't moved. Quickly Uraraka looked around and found Akatani still standing in the class. Still unsure, it was the grumbling of her stomach that decided for her.
"Umm… You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," Uraraka told them. Iida seemed hesitant at first but relented, quickly leaving with Asui. They were also the last ones out, leaving only her and Akatani. Taking a deep breath, Uraraka did her best to reassure herself. All she was doing, was asking about food. Not about being given, but working for it. I mean they had a lot of stuff being moved around, she thought over, it would help with quirk training.
Besides, she wasn't asking the mercs, she was asking Akatani… the kid who may also be a mercenary, yeah nope bad idea. Yet it was too late, she had already begun walking toward him. It would happen regardless it seems, so with a deep breath started to speak.
"Hey Akatani, do you mind if I ask you something?" Uraraka asked hesitantly, getting the attention of the other teen.
"What is it?" Akatani asked curiously, while at the same time grabbing something from his- oh that's a gun. That is a gun Uraraka realized, as she tried to remain in control of her breathing. It helped when Akatani only started to clean the gun.
"Well… UA security brought a lot of stuff with them, does that include food?" Uraraka asked. The question confused Akatani for a second, while he held up and examined the gun in his hand.
"Yeah… why?" he asked.
"I was hoping to uh…" Uraraka attempted to say something, but she couldn't think of it exactly.
"You need lunch?" Akatani asked, holstering his gun after ensuring it was clean.
"No, no I uh…" Uraraka again tried to explain. This was a mistake she determined, it best to just back out now and pretend it didn't happen. But she just couldn't think of what to say, leaving the two in a small awkward silence. That was until Akatani seemed to realize something.
"Oh, I get it," he commented, before turning to rummage in a nearby bag. The action left Uraraka confused before he pulled out a dull brown package, with the English words Meal Ready to Eat.
"You do?" Uraraka asked still confused by what he meant.
"Yeah, you want food, but you don't want to just be given it. You want to have earned it, rather than have someone taking pity on you," Akatani answered, holding out the package for her. She hesitantly picked it up, looking it over carefully. Uraraka then looked back at him confused, which Akatani realized.
"Most of the guys who join the MSF are poor," he told her, "So they don't like being given things out of pity."
"Then if you know, why are you giving me this,"
"Well, I want to make a deal. See I have two big- well actually three big interests. All Might, guns, and quirks. When it comes to quirks I just love to study all their intricacies. And this class has so many cool quirks, that I know nothing about," Akatani explained before rummaging through his bag again and pulling out another package. This one was for him however as he quickly opened it and sat down on the floor.
"So, if you can tell me about your class's quirks, then I'll give you these," Akatani finished. Slowly Uraraka thought it over, looking down at the package in her hand. Akatani seemed nice, but he worked with mercenaries, with villains! Who knows what would happen if she told him her classmate's quirks? But… wait a minute, they were campus security. Meaning they were already told what quirks the students have. They already knew. It was a scary realization, but also a helpful answer.
"...Sure," Uraraka answered, with Akatani giving her a wide smile. He rummaged around in his bag again and this time pulled out not another package, but an odd rectangular device. He placed it on the floor and it lit up creating a 3d view of something.
"Great. Now I've already got the gist on a few, but not all. I know that Shoji can do things with his limbs if the mouth on his hand is anything to go by. What else can he do? Could he make ears? What about noses? Eyes? Can he make custom arms, like having one shift into a mace or a spear?" Akatani asked, slowly getting more and more difficult to understand. Half the words ended up sounding like a garbled mess before Uraraka intervened.
"Woah, woah, slow down," she told him, snapping Akatani out of his mumble. To which he lightly chuckled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, heh, sorry. I get carried away sometimes," he told her, causing Uraraka to give a friendly smile.
"It's fine. But I'm not sure about everything Shoji can do. I know he could give his arms eyes and ears though." Uraraka replied, before looking down at the package she was given. Carefully she tore it open and found several smaller packages inside, as well as an instruction booklet. The instruction booklet was unfortunately in English, so she set it aside.
"So… how do you-" Uraraka stopped and gestured toward the packages, unsure of what to do. Akatani caught on quickly snapping his finger as he turned and grabbed something else from his bag. At this point Uraraka assumed it was bottomless, maybe that was Akatani's quirk. He turned back and held out a canteen.
"All we need is water," Akatani explained, before pointing at two of her packages, "Pass me those please."
She did and Akatani got to work. He opened one package and placed the second one inside. Then he opened his canteen and poured some water into it. Finally, he had Uraraka pass a small pouch thing that he put over the first package, and then set the package against the wall.
"Now we wait," Akatani stated, doing the same thing with his set of packages. Uraraka meanwhile was still confused as to what he was doing. Soon enough though Akatani grabbed picked the package back up and opened it. He then pulled out two trays from his bag and passed one to her. There he poured out the package contents onto the tray, allowing Uraraka to see the food.
It looked worse for wear, but hey, who was she to complain? Free food was free food. Slowly she took a bite and found it also tasted worse for wear. Having an odd crunch in between bites. But again, free food was free food. That and Akatani didn't seem perturbed by the meal either.
"What is this?" Uraraka asked, taking another bite of whatever it was.
"Beef ravioli. In my opinion, one of the better-tasting MREs," Akatani replied, now digging into his food. The comment did surprise Uraraka a little.
"This is one of the better ones?" she asked in disbelief. And Akatani nodded slowly in response.
"Pretty much. The priority when they made these things was put more on filling your stomach than it was on the flavor," Akatani answered, "Then again, after seven hours in scorching heat, you don't care about taste all that much."
Uraraka could agree with that. Whenever her parents got home from work late they practically devoured anything, even if it was cold week-old leftovers. Any kind of meal was satisfactory, especially with their financial situation. She could work with this though.
"Now, what about Todoroki?" Akatani asked, going over the strange device he had. Quietly Uraraka thought about it, taking another bite of her ravioli.
"How about this, one quirk for one… what is this again?" Uraraka asked, looking over the packaging again.
"MRE. Or a meal ready to eat," Akatani answered.
"Right, one quirk for one MRE," Uraraka told him. Now it was Akatani's turn to think it over. If he would accept, Uraraka was unsure. The MSF did bring a lot of stuff, but that didn't mean they would be handing them out all willy-nilly.
"Sure," Akatani replied, "I've got extra so it's no big deal."
With that decided, they both got back to work. On and on they went, Akatani asking about quirks and Uraraka trying her best to answer them. She talked about Iida's engines, Ashido's acid, and Bakugo's explosions. That last one caused Akatani to pause for a second, why she wasn't sure. But as quickly as it happened it went away. Slowly but surely they went through everyone's quirks, except for one.
"Great, what about your quirk?" Akatani asked. The second he finished talking, Uraraka froze. Very suddenly, Fudaki's words echoed around in her head. Nervously she looked down at her hands, debating on what to actually say. I mean what else would she say? She could lift stuff, big whoop. It was pathetic, weak, useless. She didn't even know what quirk Akatani had, but whatever it was had to be better than hers.
"It's uh… zero gravity," Uraraka nervously explained, "I can make things float if I touch them."
"Can you show me?" Akatani asked, catching Uraraka offguard. His eyes held a look of curiosity, one she found confusing. But she agreed, touching one of the MRE's packages and causing it to float into the air.
"It's not all that impressive," Uraraka muttered, having the package drop back down.
"What do you mean? It's very impressive," Akatani replied furiously scribbling down his notes into a journal he got from somewhere. His response though forced Uraraka to slowly look at him in disbelief. Again Fudaki's words echoed around in her mind. He's just lying, saying what you want to hear out of pity. All you can do is float something. In a fight, you're as good as dead. Your quirk is useless, and you'll make a useless hero. On and on it went, she didn't even remember if these were things he said, or just machinations now created by her own mind.
But Akatani looked entirely serious.
"But all I can do is float stuff," Uraraka countered, causing Akatani to now look at her in disbelief.
"And you can do a lot with that. I mean for heroics you could float rubble off of people, keep buildings from collapsing," Akatani told her. And she knew it, she always knew it. Her first day in the hero course and this was what she thought her quirk was the most versatile in. It was what she thought of as a child, lifting bits of buildings to save trapped people. But Rescue Heroes… no, when had she ever started thinking like that!? Rescue heroes were heroes!
So what? Your quirk is still useless in a fight, a memory of Fudaki mocked. Even when he was dead he made Uraraka want to punch the nearest wall. And then Akatani continued talking.
"You could float a car, throw it at someone, and then return its gravity. Or you could float an enemy, throw them, and then return their gravity. Or you could easily transport aid and supplies. Or carry the heaviest body armor and feel none of the weight. You could be a walking tank!" Akatani exclaimed. And again, all of it was stuff she had already thought about. All were ideas she already had. Well, except for the aid one, and the body armor one.
Hearing the ideas coming from someone else though, ideas she already had, slowly made her angrier. When had Fudaki gotten to her? A younger Uraraka had thought up all of these ideas before, and yet the present Uraraka had been shooting them all down. When had he gotten to her? Was she really useless enough, that words managed to affect her? Wait no, that was Fudaki getting to her again.
"Uh, Uraraka?" Akatani asked concerned, snapping Uraraka out of her thoughts. She didn't realize she had zoned out while he was talking and quickly looked over at him apologetically.
"Sorry," Uraraka replied, confused by the concern she was getting.
"Is everything alright?" Akatani asked, confusing Uraraka even more.
"Yep, all good," Uraraka answered before slowly noticing something.
"... Are you sure? You're crying," Akatani pointed out, with Uraraka bringing a hand to her face. It felt wet as she pulled it away, quickly wiping the tears away. Silently she lambasted herself. She was training to be a hero damn it! Heroes don't cry! This is all just Fudaki getting to you. Making it seem like you're useless, well he's wrong. Is he? Wha- Of course he's wrong! He's dead.
Uraraka stifled back tears as that thought struck. Fudaki was dead, and yet he was still getting to her. Slowly though she remembered Akatani was still next to her, looking even more concerned. She again wiped away tears.
"It's nothing."
"Somehow I don't believe that," Akatani countered. Uraraka debated on what to do. She could already see the small bit of worry Akatani held. Which was… surprising. They barely knew each other and he was already concerned.
"...The student who used to sit at that desk," Uraraka began pointing over at Fudaki's old desk, "I used to have those same ideas, but he would always belittle and mock them. He tried to make me think my quirk was useless. So… it's just nice to hear someone else think up the same ideas I had."
"Oh, he sounds like a dick," Akatani replied a sour look now on his face.
"He was," Uraraka agreed.
"He also sounds like an idiot," Akatani muttered, "I mean outside of heroics you could cheaply launch spaceships with your quirk. Or make construction ten times easier. Although…"
"Although?" Uraraka asked confused, silently begging he wasn't changing his mind.
"Ah, sorry. Made that sound worse than it seems. I was going to say you could add on equipment to make it better. Like… oh! Some kind of grappling hook!" Akatani exclaimed, with the realization quickly hitting Uraraka.
"Oh! I could use it to grab floating objects! Or even move around better in zero gs!" she added excitedly as she thought over the idea.
"You could even use it as a weapon! Maybe some kind of whip?" Akatani pointed out.
"That could work!" Uraraka agreed, as the two slowly looked over the journal Akatani had been writing in. Quickly new ideas were being added to the page, as the two got lost in the moment. Right as classes were about to start up again, a certain pink-skinned girl peeked through the door. Witnessing what was happening before her, a mischievous smile began to form, watching as her new target- ahem, classmate and TA chatted away.