Kamen Rider Decade the Neo: Chapters for the World of Heroes
仮面ライダーディケイド the Neo: 英雄の世界の章
A Kamen Rider - My Hero Academia Crossover Fanfiction, written by Chris Chronos. For more info, see the author's notes after the chapter.
For some reason, FanFiction Net reformatted all my text after uploading! That's WHY GRR! I had to reformat everything on my own.
"Human life is more important than even peace and justice."
— Takeshi Hongo (Kamen Rider 1)
Introduction. Izuku Midoriya (緑谷 出久) is a hard-working boy.
That day he was completely worn out by the time the moon was up in the cloudless dark blue sky. It almost seemed like hot steam was coming out of his body after an intense workout. His clothes clung to his damp skin, and every breath he took seemed to shiver with the lingering heat of his workout. Even for someone as determined as him, he had pushed himself past the point of reason today. However, he didn't want to worry his mentor so waited and endured until he completed the tasks for the day.
"This is enough for now, Midoriya-shounen," came the calm voice of his mentor, Toshinori Yagi (八木 俊典).
Yagi is a middle-aged man with a tall, skinny build and two strands of wavy blond hair framing his angular face. A shadow is cast over his features due to his sharply defined forehead, but his bright blue eyes remain strikingly prominent.
"Huff… thanks, sir… All Might," Midoriya managed, catching his breath as he let a broken microwave clatter onto a pile of discarded electronics. "I'll be going home after a quick break."
This green-haired boy, namely Midoriya, was only 15 years old. The training he had just gone through would've normally been "intense" and unsuitable for anyone his age.
Toshinori "All Might" Yagi slightly raised his brow and suggested, "Hey, uh, how about we go have some drinks or something? After a hard day of work!"
"Sorry, sir, today, I… I have to record the new episode of "All Might's Interview Collection"!"
No, why are you recording his interviews? He's literally right in front of you!
All Might wanted to reason with Midoriya, but he knew what kind of person the kid was. So he quickly swallowed the retort and nodded with a warm smile.
"Alright, then, good night, shounen. Take care."
"Good night, All Might. Then…"
Yagi could only wonder whether he was doing it the right way as he saw the boy off.
Quirk (個性) — a unique superpower a human can possess. In the world of this reality, about 80 percent of humanity has developed quirks, varying in form, power, and utility. Also means that there exists those who lack it. Midoriya Izuku was such an unfortunate case — born a Quirkless.
Quirkless is what they call those who lack power. Well, it's not like every quirk makes you super powerful or so, and there are, honestly speaking, tons of lame quirks out there. Yet, Midoriya was picked on for being powerless since he was a child. This kid could've turned to something worse if not for his resilience.
"This is a path we can't turn back from, Midoriya-shounen," Yagi muttered under his breath. "Please hang in there."
Lost in thought and nearly spent, Midoriya stumbled, his exhausted legs barely able to keep up as he was staggering all over the place. He'd been holding up quite well, but the ache and slight dizziness in his head didn't make it better. And of course…
… one time he stumbled on something, quickly lost balance, and toppled face-first onto the concrete.
"Ouch," he groaned, getting up. His body was already aching all over the place to begin with.
As he picked himself up, dusting off his scraped palms, Midoriya's eyes fell upon the object he'd tripped over—a small, rectangular box that somewhat resembled a notebook, with a "magenta" face-like logo on a black stripe running diagonally across its silvery-white surface.
"What is this?"
Midoriya knelt and extended his hand to the device. The moment his fingertips brushed against it, a jolt shot through his body like a live wire, sending him sprawling back onto the pavement.
"It… shocked me?"
Just before he attempted to grab it again, a smooth masculine voice cut through the silence, interrupting him.
"Oh, there it is," a young man walked into Midoriya's view, almost stylishly so. "You don't want to touch it."
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to!" Midoriya stammered, instinctively apologizing, his tone earnest and loud. But the stranger didn't seem to mind or even acknowledge the apology.
"I've been looking for you, buddy," the young man said, reaching down and effortlessly picking up the box, without feeling anything Midoriya had just experienced.
He was tall and lean, dressed in a pristine black Japanese middle school uniform with brass buttons gleaming down the front. Dark, jagged layers of hair fell over sharp, intense eyes—eyes that seemed to pierce through whatever they fixed on. One hand tucked casually in his pocket, he looked both relaxed and watchful, like a shadow brought to life under the streetlights.
Only after inspecting the box, he turned his gaze at Midoriya who was still on the ground.
"Dude, do you need help? You look… bruised." Like, all over your body.
"Ah, it's okay! I just returned from… training, yes, endurance training! I will take my leave!"
Without waiting for a response, Midoriya scrambled to his feet and dashed off, disappearing down the street with almost comical speed. The young man watched him go, faintly bemused.
"What's up with him? Ah, whatever." He shrugged and pocketed the box with a casual flip of his hand, muttering to himself, "At least I got my Ride Booker back."
With a click, the box, "Ride Booker", opened up in his hand, revealing a deck of cards kept neatly inside. The card design, however, was unique, with a faint black-and-white picture of some masked individual on it and a barcode-like pattern on the visible end. He abruptly slid out a few cards and saw that all of them lacked the color and essence that they should have.
"... It's all back to the beginning."
Disappointed, he closed the box safely and unbuttoned his jacket to slide the Ride Booker into an inner pocket, where it seemed to vanish almost magically. Then, from the jacket, he pulled out a folded document to inspect it with mild interest.
"…Your application to U.A. High School, Department of Heroics, has been received…" he murmured, brow lifting slightly. "U.A. High? Department of Heroics… Hmm…"
Curious, he pulled out a smartphone and typed in the school's name, grinning as he navigated through the search results. Sweet, man, how much he loved technology.
" I see, I see," he mused. "So the U.A. is… Not bad, not bad at all."
Returning to the letter, he read further…
"... We are glad to invite you to the entrance exam that will be conducted on XX, XX month, 2XXX…
"... To Kadoya Tsukasa (M, 15), ID: XXXXXX. Guardian: Aruto Hiden."
Aruto Hiden… Wait, he knew that name, but who? His memory was fuzzy. Certainly, it wasn't that of his stepfather. Does he have parents to begin with? Suddenly, he was hit with a severe headache as he tried to recall the person relevant to the name.
It's not working.
"Anyway, I get the gist of it," he said, rubbing his temples with a wry grin. "This must be my mission in this world."
Tsukasa Kadoya (門矢 士). This young man here is the reincarnation of Kamen Rider Decade. He possessed the unique ability to use the powers of various "Kamen Riders", making him feared as the Destroyer of the Worlds, as his mere existence could shake the dimensions.
"But how the heck am I supposed to do that?" He followed up, deadpanned.
He hadn't retrieved his Decadriver, and the Ride Booker and Rider cards inside were all he had. That's right; Tsukasa right now was just a mere teenager who had just been reincarnated, without any of his dormant ability whatsoever. He was powerless and vulnerable… and quirkless! He had no idea how that happened, but what had happened had happened.
For the time being, before the exam thingy he had about two months to figure out his next moves. He couldn't go against what he was supposed to do after all.
Feeling uneasy, he opened another paper mailbag he'd received with the letter, which was seemingly filled with a thick stack of paper. But immediately, inside, rather than a mundane stack of paper, he found a thick wad of ten-thousand yen notes.
Yeah, who was he kidding? There was text on the bag.
"Spend wisely. —from Hiden Aruto 飛電 或人."
- [ Transition ] -
Episode 1: What If the Kamen Rider Joins the U.A. High…
第1話
「もし仮面ライダーが雄英高校に入学したら…」
First death, second death, third death…
To be honest, Tsukasa Kadoya had stopped counting how many times he had died. Every time he died, his grand destiny had brought him back to life. It had always been the case. Immortality, was it a curse or a blessing?
Tsukasa had stopped thinking about it.
But things were different when he died at the hands of Ohma Zi-O. Usually, he would come back in one way or another without any sacrifice or change, but this time, everything was… off. He was reincarnated in a younger body of himself, in a totally unfamiliar (and bizarre) universe, without any of his superpowers.
He couldn't be more clueless. But he decided to put the matter aside for the time being.
"What the hell am I doing… silly me."
Tsukasa Kadoya muttered under his breath, standing before the towering gates of U.A. High, where he would take the entrance exam today. He stood there, well-dressed in a nice suit but unsuitable for a student. The campus buzzed with an unusually large crowd, waves of students milling around with nervous anticipation and excited chatter. Each of them hoped to make the cut into the prestigious academy. But what is so special about it?
In a world where superheroing is a professional career and heroes are celebrated, hero training schools are also a big thing here. U.A. High was one of such schools, heck one of the best at that.
Though Tsukasa himself had no real interest in going big or becoming a famous pro hero or whatever, he decided to give it a shot—thanks to a certain someone. Maybe, just maybe, the hints about what he needed to accomplish in this world would be in this school… or not? Heck, how old was he even? Like a hundred? Or even one thousand, two hundred and sixty-nine years? Maybe older… As if getting respawned as a teenager wasn't awkward already, he would now have to go to high school as well!
"Ah…"
Suddenly, he was jolted out of his thoughts by someone bumping into him from behind. He stumbled forward, quickly catching his balance, and turned to see a girl staring up at him, wide-eyed.
"S-sorry about that! I didn't see you standing… um, in the middle of the path and all…"
This voice, too… Tsukasa almost choked with a mix of emotions tangled and jumbled in his throat.
Not strikingly attractive or outstandingly gorgeous, but the way her long, straight black hair framed her face and the humble, hesitant look in her eyes, surprised Kadoya Tsukasa.
"Natsumi?" His hand reached out as he murmured, but the girl cringed away in response.
"Wha, how do you know my name?" Natsumi questioned impatiently. "Do I know you?"
Why… you ask? What's going on? The same question, Tsukasa could ask her and himself. Why would she ask him that?
No, she didn't remember him. Why didn't she? Tsukasa's brain operated at high speeds, processing to work out a sensible answer.
"... It's just we met a long time ago," he replied with a strained smile, retracting his hand to the side, "if you don't remember, that's fine."
Natsumi Hikari...
He knew deep from his heart. Maybe this is all the best. Natsumi was just an unfortunate civilian who got caught up in all that mess. It was better—no—far better for her to avoid associating with him and just move on.
Kadoya Tsukasa was troubled, but he didn't want to make it a problem for everyone. In fact, his ego and pride didn't allow him to.
"Um, sorry about that," Natsumi tilted her head and glanced at the school anxiously. "I'm almost late for the exam so… maybe talk to you later?"
"Yes, of course…" He nodded, his voice barely above a whisper.
He watched her turn and disappear into the crowd, her figure growing smaller as she ran toward the gates, leaving him feeling alone in a way he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Heh…" he couldn't help but chuckle, "Natsumi-chan is a high school girl. Natsumi-chan is… heh. Ahaha. Crap, I'm going to be late myself…"
The U.A. entrance exam was split into two main components: a written test and a practical exam. The first test was nothing to write home about; Tsukasa had tons of experience and memories he could tirelessly write down in essays. But the practicals… He hadn't given it a proper thought as to how he was going to partake in it, now that he didn't have his powers.
"For all you examinee listeners tuning in, WELCOME TO MY SHOW TODAY!"
As Tsukasa settled into his seat for orientation, an energetic blond guy with sunglasses took over the stage, his voice booming through the auditorium. He looked like a rock musician, a radio show host, and many other things that could be obnoxiously loud, Tsukasa noted to himself.
"EVERYBODY SAY "HEY"!"
— roared the host, his enthusiasm reverberating off the walls, but the response was completely ungrateful silence. It was a rather boring orientation onward, but the presenter was too loud and energetic for Tsukasa to doze off.
"As stated in the application requirements," the presenter at least explained it properly, "you listeners will be conducting ten-minute mock urban battles after this! You can bring whatever you want with you. After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, okay?"
Tsukasa glanced down at his examinee ID card.
「Kadoya Tsukasa」
Examinee ID: 0010
Battle Center: 「D」
The host's excited rambling about the practical test buzzed in the background as Tsukasa idly toyed with his examinee ID card. He hadn't really listened to the details; he got the basics: knock out the faux villains, earn points based on their types, and ignore the "zero-pointer" villain that existed purely as a decoy. Simple enough.
Soon, Tsukasa found himself standing at the battle center's massive, closed gates, along with a group of other examinees, overseen by some older people whom he assumed were proctors.
"Oi, what's with his getup?" "A suit? Seriously, man?"
"He thinks this is some office job?"
"Seriously, man, you lost on the way to a business meeting or something?"
The two delinquents snickered behind him, jabbing at his attire, which admittedly seemed out of place for a "fighting" event. Tsukasa didn't bother to react; honestly, he'd even agree with them—
—if one of them wasn't sporting a tragic mohawk and a red jacket two sizes too big, and the other wasn't strutting around in an unbuttoned, 19th-century-style sleeveless coat decked out with spikes and enough silver accessories to put a metal detector on high alert.
One look and he knew it all. Tsukasa Kadoya is… a bastard through and through.
"Hmph," he cast them a sidelong glance, the faintest trace of a smirk on his lips. He lifted a hand and adjusted his collar, brushing off imaginary dust with the casual elegance of someone entirely unbothered.
"Just figured I should dress for the occasion," he replied, voice calm and smooth, his gaze shifting from the mockers to the colossal gate ahead. "Wouldn't want to disrespect a 'heroic' event, right? How about investing in a mirror?"
"Huhhhuh? What do you think—"
"Silence!" A proctor intervened before the situation escalated. "You guys are bothering other examinees!"
"Yeah, yell that to them, proctor-san," Tsukasa said, swiping his bangs to the side.
"Huuhhh?!" The delinquents raised their fists. "You little—"
Before anyone could retort, a loudspeaker crackled to life.
"Prepare yourselves, examinees," another proctor's voice announced. "The practical test begins now. Gates opening in three… two… one!"
And it happened fast.
With a mechanical groan, the gates parted, revealing a sprawling urban landscape ahead. Tsukasa adjusted his cuffs, and as the other examinees charged forward in a frenzy, he strolled casually through the gate, the suit drawing whispers and glances from others who dashed past him.
"You… I'll remember it!"
The mohawk and 19th-century people also left him behind as they rushed onto the battlefield to earn some scores themselves. In the distance, he could see some participants already using their quirks on the robotic villains…
"Oi, what are you waiting for?" The proctor asked, seeing him stay behind. "The exam has already started."
Tsukasa didn't answer. He pulled out his Ride Booker and opened it up. The cards looked different today; before, all cards were colorless and deactivated. But now one card in the front had colors.
KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE
KAMEN RIDE
The card depicted a portrait shot of a "Kamen Rider" with glowing red eyes, a black bodysuit, and green armor. It also had a symbol similar to the rider's face on the back of the card.
"All according to the plan," he smirked, leaving the proctors confused.
Actually, there was no plan. I mean, he didn't even have the Decadriver. What's he going to do with those cards?
But what then happened was almost like the moment Tendou Souji pulled the Hyper Zecter out of nowhere.
Tsukasa slid out the card, which disappeared in a shining light once it got in his hand. Once the light disappeared, a busy-looking futuristic artifact materialized on his waist alongside a strap, forming a belt.
"Zero-One Driver."
— Driver activation announcement.
The Driver's audio was a crisp, robotic male voice.
In his hand now was a green-and-black, cassette-like device—its compact form adorned with a sharp, minimalist illustration of a grasshopper. He wasn't completely clueless; he recognized it as Zero-One's primary Progrisekey and pressed a button on the top of it for a nice sound. Twice.
"Jump! Grasshopper's Ability."
— Progrisekey activation announcement.
"A support item?" The two proctors exchanged confused glances between them, but Tsukasa had more surprises in tow for them.
"Hmph, how curious," he muttered, holding the Progrise Key against the driver's right side, allowing it to scan the key with a brisk, electric hum.
"Authorize!"
— Progrisekey authorization.
It began the epic standby music of the Driver. But what now? It was a good few otherwise quiet seconds as Tsukasa waited patiently for the holographic screens to appear in front of him…
With a thunderous crash, a massive, green robotic grasshopper dropped down from the sky into the battle center, destroying a faux villain upon impact. The other examinees and proctors gawked at the unexpected spectacle.
"That one's mine," Tsukasa whispered to the two bewildered grown men next to him. "Now then…"
Watching the grasshopper hop around destroying two more villains, he flicked the Progrisekey open and inserted it into the Zero-One Driver, calling out… "Henshin."
"Progrise! To-bia ga rise!"
As a black battle suit materialized on Tsukasa's body, the grasshopper robot immediately jumped back to him and broke down into multiple green mechanical parts, reassembling into vibrant green armor that latched onto the suit piece by piece. The Ride Booker, for whatever reason, was found attached on the right side of the belt.
"RISING HOPPER! A jump to the sky turns to a Rider Kick."
— Transformation announcement.
With that, Tsukasa transformed into Kamen Rider Zero-One, in a rather unconventional way for "Decade". But if it worked, it worked.
(A/N: Nothing less expected of a Reiwa rider! Just the transformation sequence took up an entire page! But I'm not going to add a detailed description of Zero-One's appearance as it's easier for readers to look up the pictures online.)
Without wasting another second, Tsukasa-turned Zero-One powered up his legs and took a powerful leap forward into the urban area. His jump was a bit higher than he had expected, but he was able to easily maneuver his movements mid-air and then land on the road to fight some villains.
Not bad. Not bad at all!
"Oi, what's that?" The mohawk guy from before said to the 19th-century guy who was struggling with a faux villain. "It's really fast—"
Before the other guy could react, Zero-One dropped down beside them and delivered a punch so hard it almost destroyed the one-pointer villain in one hit!
One hit isn't enough… Zero-One readjusted his position and launched another fist, this time obliterating the robot and sending it crashing into a wall.
"Saw you guys struggling there," he told the delinquents, half-mockingly, "No need to thank me!"
Without even so much as a pause, he immediately sprang back up and vaulted onto a nearby building, disappearing from view. The delinquent duo stared after him, dumbfounded.
For the next several minutes, Tsukasa as Zero-One enjoyed every bit of being a savage bastard and a jerk. He hopped around with Rising Hopper's ability and stole all the one-pointer villain kills in the area!
- [ Transition ] -
So now, I think it's a good time to introduce the characters of the World of Heroes,
"Ha-ahaha, ha, that's pretty unheroic! That kid!"
The laughter and comments belonged to the blonde loud host back from the orientation. He is, in fact, Present Mic; civilian name - Hizashi Yamada (山田ひざし), a renowned "professional" hero and a teacher at the U.A. High. But Tsukasa was unfamiliar with this world, so he didn't really know about Mic.
Currently, Present Mic, alongside others of the staff of the U.A. was overseeing the battles in the various centers. So of course, naturally Tsukasa showing off his fancy prowess was really eye-catching. Otherwise, he didn't look outstandingly or dangerously strong…
"His movements and Quirk control are undoubtedly top-tier," another faculty member commented on Zero-One's movements. "Precision of each punch is commendable. Each of his punches is strong enough to take down the drones, meaning he would've needed much control to not accidentally hurt other bystanders."
This guy was also weirdly dressed, typical of this world's pro heroes. His overall outfit screamed stereotypical Western cowboy, save for an old-school tan gas mask that covered his face. He also wore silver "ear-defenders." This gentleman is Pro Hero: Snipe, who also worked at U.A. High as a teacher.
"He has already secured the most points," said the Pro Hero: Cementoss, who looked like a rectangular block of concrete. "I wonder what his final score would be."
"That transformation and jump are so fking cool, though!" Present Mic remarked excitedly. "Wouldn't you agree so, Aizawa!"
Aizawa was a gloomy middle-aged man in an all-black outfit, complete with a bandage-like scarf around his neck. His messy long hair and stubble beard reflected his anti-social tendencies. Shouta Aizawa (相澤消太), Pro Hero: Eraserhead, is to an extent, the polar opposite of Present Mic. Yet somehow they were best friends with a long history between them!
"Too flashy," Aizawa noted harshly, "dressing up like a grasshopper is irrational, especially with those bright colors—"
"But it's cool though," Mic interjected, "oh, I think he's transforming!"
All the faculty members watching Zero-One were taken aback, speechless in awe and surprise as a robotic shark entered their view.
"Hmm… Interesting," a short humanoid white mouse-like man spoke. "Seems like a Quirk that relies on technology."
"You think?" A buff muscled blond man with hair shaped like a rabbit's ears spoke. "I feel there's more to it. From his fighting style, he must be thoroughly used to this fighting style…"
"... But it changed once he took on the blue form," the mouse man pointed out. "He must have experience with the first one but not the second…"
The rabbit-ear man nodded. "I don't disagree! You are right, Principal!"
- [ Resume ] -
"That makes it 20, huff…" Tsukasa counted, panting, taking a break on a rooftop. "Why am I… this tired?"
It was true that he went overboard with stealing kills and all, but he got tired suspiciously fast! It was only like three minutes in. Back in his Decade days, Tsukasa could throw hands against 20 other Kamen Riders all day long and still would do fine!
I should slow down.
Zero-One unclipped the Ride Booker from his belt and snapped it open again, only to find a few more cards with colors. Out of his old habit, he drew a random card without looking.
ZERO-ONE BITING SHARK
FORM RIDE
"How does this even—"
With the same flash of crystalline light, the card turned into a light blue Progrisekey with a shark-like symbol. Zero-One gave the button a press and then scanned it with the Driver.
"Fang!"
— Activation announcement.
"Authorize!"
— Progrisekey authorization.
Okay, here we go again. Zero-One however foresaw the metallic-blue shark coming from the sky. Thus, before it could hit anything on the ground, he swiftly replaced the first key in the Driver with the Biting Shark, switching forms.
"Progrise! Kirikiribai! Kirikiribai! BITING SHARK! Fangs that can chomp through concrete."
— Transformation announcement.
The green armor of his first form reconfigured, replaced by light-blue armor plating that settled into place, while forming green fin-like blades on his forearms and fang-like attachments curved from either side of his helmet's chin. This is Kamen Rider Zero-One Biting Shark form…
Let's resume the work.
Having rested well, Zero-One jumped down the building, landing in a crouch that left a small crater in the pavement beneath him. The mock urban battle center had now been filled with the debris of the demolished robots here and there. But what greeted him was a gang of three 3-pointers.
"I've never used this form before," Tsukasa, as Zero-One, muttered to himself. "I have targets to test it on right now, anyway."
As the Kamen Rider Decade, Tsukasa's memories used to be filled with accumulated knowledge about Kamen Riders—their shapes and sizes and combat data. So once he had assumed a form, he would have immediately found out everything he needed to know about the form.
But he had no idea about the Zero-One Biting Shark at all.
Forget it, he decided he'd just figure it out or brute-force through it. Back to the scene.
Zero-One ducked low as the first robot lunged, slicing one of its legs cleanly with his forearm blade. Well, it was unfortunate that it had more than two pairs of it. As the bot staggered, Zero-One propelled himself upward, carving a deep gash through its metal torso. Yet, even with the damage, the drone wasn't going down easily.
Oh… now I get the gist of it.
As the drone regained its footing to counterattack, Zero-One adjusted his stance, keeping low and balanced. With both arms swung forward, the fin blades carved through its legs like butter, shearing off the first pair. As it lost its balance and toppled forward, Zero-One swiftly pulled back before its weight crashed down.
"Perfect."
The 3-point villains were certainly more sturdy than the small fry, but they weren't particularly strong. At any rate, the first 3-pointer in the row had practically been beaten but not deactivated yet. As he had planned on the go, the damaged 3-pointer struggled on the road, hindering the other two.
Zero-One pressed the ProgriseKey, activating the finisher. From his forearm blades erupted a series of transparent, fin-like projections that together formed as if large blades were sticking out of his form arms.
"BITING IMPACT!"
— Finisher announcement.
He then lunged forward, the projected fin blades cutting through the air and meeting the drones, tearing through metal bodies in one shot. The metal remains dropped to the ground, sparking and smoking, as Zero-One straightened, the blade projections from his forearms vanishing into thin air.
It's not too bad… Tsuaksa took a mental note. But I need to get used to it.
But his peace and quiet was interrupted as another batch of faux villains moved into his view. Tsukasa smiled behind the mask and drew another random card from the Ride Booker.
"Burst!"
— Activation announcement.
The new progrisekey that materialized in his hand was almost magenta-colored; the same color as Decade's, but with blue accents. The symbol on it resembled a side view of a lion.
"Authorize."
— Authorization announcement.
One of the robots charging at Zero-One was crushed by the newly arrived red robotic lion. Continuously, the lion hopped back at Zero-One and broke down into pieces, forming armor on his body.
"Progrise! Fierce bombing animal! DYNAMITING LION! A beautiful explosive force like fireworks."
— Transformation announcement.
Meanwhile in the monitor room…
"Oh, he transformed again! He's… Pink now!" Present Mic yelled pointing at the monitor excitedly.
"It's magenta," Aizawa retorted uncharacteristically.
"Shouldn't we be overseeing other people as well?" Cementoss spoke up, his eyes moving over other monitors. "Like that kid who's been exploding our 3-point bots into smithereens."
Aizawa and Snipe also shifted their attention to that particular monitor displaying a young man with spiky blond hair who was angrily bombing every faux villain that appeared before him.
"Hmm, there are a lot of other passionate individuals taking the exam…" Snipe remarked, scanning across the screens.
"Of course!" Cementoss said in response.
"Look!" Mic raised his voice again, pointing at the same display that had been showing Zero-One.
Cementoss jawdropped, seeing the magenta form of Zero-One exploding the drones through punches and kicks.
"He also has an explosive ability!"
Dynamiting Lion. Zero-One's lion-themed form that has explosive powers, as its transformation announcement suggested. With the mask shaped like a lion's face, the armor on the torso also resembled a mane, curving up to almost meet the cheeks of the helmet.
Is it just a support gear or something? Aizawa thought, noticing how Zero-One inserted different cards into his belt's buckle before transforming into another form. Different forms have different designated weapons and abilities… This is curious.
Without a doubt, Tsukasa as Zero-One had surprised and astonished everyone in the faculty room. Well, except for the mouse-man who watched him in silence, with a grin on his face. Seeing the mouse's reaction, the rabbit-ear man also observed it quietly.
No one could really know what the Principal was thinking.
"HEY, PARTICIPANTS!"
Present Mic's voice boomed throughout the battle center, causing everyone to flinch.
"Eight minutes have passed! And two more to go! Well, just letting you all know, folks!"
Tsukasa switched back to Zero-One Rising Hopper form to maneuver through the battle center faster and easier since he hadn't come across any more faux villains. After hopping from roof to roof, he stopped on a building as he noticed a group of other examinees running in the streets, getting away from something…
Zero-One took a few leaps to investigate, only to see a large robot about five or six stories tall coming into view. He recalled some of the details from the orientation, albeit faintly.
That must be a faux villain that gives zero points. He recalled. What's even the point of including a dangerous robot only to give no points…
At its core, it was none of his business. Yet Zero-One went closer, still on the rooftop, just so he could intervene in case anyone was going to be hurt.
"Oh, no! That girl tripped!"
Hearing someone exclaim, Zero-One immediately scanned the ground, only to see a certain individual he didn't expect to see. The view made him choke… As if someone grasped him in place.
"Natsumi?"
What is she doing here? Oh, she was also taking the exam… In the same area as me?!
A train of thoughts quickly hit him in the chest, but even the most nerve-wracking of situations wasn't new to Tsukasa the Decade. It would normally be nothing he could not handle…
… As the "Decade".
Tsukasa right now was at his weakest. But it wasn't a fight he could run from. Well, if he had stayed rational, he would've known the teachers and proctors would jump in to help them. Or the mecha would have stopped before hurting Natsumi.
But Tsukasa was too worked up to think about it.
Something useful, something useful.
He abruptly pulled out a card from the Ride Booker, which immediately turned into a Progrisekey. But no matter what, he didn't give it a second thought.
"Authorise! Progrise! The Rider Kick increases the power by adding to brightness! SHINING HOPPER!"
"BOOOMMM!"
Without a loud boom, not a second after the transition, Zero-One took a fall down to the ground and subsequently disappeared in a green blur at terrifying speeds, leaving behind a smoking trail.
"When I SHINE, darkness fades."
— Transformation announcement.
(A/N: This transformation goes hard.)
Zero-One Shining Hopper. Though this form somewhat resembled Rising Hopper, this looked far more armored and tougher, with a green insect-leg-like extension on either shoulder and another on either side of his torso, both pairs bending and meeting with his back. And as the henshin announcement declared, it was shiny.
With the gigantic robot ready to attack Natsumi, Zero-One intercepted the attack by kicking away its metal hand. Then he picked up the confused Natsumi and dashed to the other participants. He didn't say so much as a word.
"What… just happened?!" Natsumi exclaimed out of confusion.
As expected, my body isn't ready to use forms of this level. Tsuksasa took a mental note. After all, however old he was mentally, and however much experience he had, his physical body was that of a teenager.
"Bit Rise!"
Due to the size difference, Zero-One chose to play defense on the ground against all the punches and stomps the zero-pointer had to throw. He moved around, shifting his body constantly so he wouldn't sink into the concrete, as he bounced the attacks back consecutively. But at the same time, he was preparing for a larger-scale move.
The advantage of Shining Hopper was that he could predict each and every move of his opponent!
"Byte Rise! Kilo Rise! Mega Rise! Giga Rise! Tera Rise!"
— Progrisekey empowerment announcement.
It's time huh… It's not really cool wasting this attack on a zero-pointer of all things.
The core of the Driver gave off a bright glow as the power-up process was completed; Zero-One pressed it once more to deliver the final attack. The gigantic fist of the robot headed toward Zero-One, which he dodged with a hop into the air, landing on the robot's hand. He charged onward along the metal arm before the AI could process what was going on.
THIS IS THE END, YOU BASTARD!
The robot attempted to shake Zero-One off his body, which the latter reacted with a jump. A really high one at that. It was almost like the thunderous green sparks coming out of Zero-One Shining Hopper were decorating the sky in the background.
"SHINING Tera IMPACT!"
— Finisher (Empowered) announcement.
Zero-One plummeted from above, feet-first, at great speeds, crashing the giant robot with a Rider Kick, before the impact explosively obliterating it.
"BOOOMMMM!"
The explosion thundered across the entire battleground, echoing even into the distant monitor room. Faculty members gaped at the sight, caught in a silence heavy with awe and disbelief.
That said, Tsukasa wasn't the only one who fought back the zero-pointer…
Everyone in the monitor room couldn't catch a break, as they shifted their attention to another screen that displayed a certain green-haired boy destroying the zero-pointer with a single punch.
"Oh-ho-ho, the freshers this year are so heckin' awesome!" Present Mic's eyes lit up with pure excitement.
"Yamada, announce it," Aizawa reminded him, pressing a button to deactivate the villain robots. "Time's up."
"Yeah, on it…" Mic pulled the microphone closer to him.
Aizawa and the others quickly plugged their ears, bracing themselves.
"WITH THAT, FOLKS!" Mic boomed, using his Quirk to magnify his voice, "THE PRACTICAL EXAM HAS COME TO THE END! THE RESULTS WILL BE—"
Meanwhile, in Battle Center D, Zero-One looked back at the smoking debris and pulled out the Progrisekey from the Driver, canceling the transformation. When he removed the belt from his waist, it also faded away, scattering into gleaming motes of light.
"Huff…" He swayed slightly, catching himself as the adrenaline ebbed. The rest of the examinees in the center-D around him stared at him, still speechless; stunned by what had just happened.
Tsukasa kept his cool, dusting his clothes, and walked away from the mess like he had nothing to do with it. In the corner of his vision, he caught a glimpse of Natsumi, but well…
He just took his leave briefly after doing what he needed to do with the staff. Not much. He was just forced to check with an old lady if he sustained any injuries from the exam.
"Excuse me, are you Kadoya Tsukasa?"
The speaker was a man with dark, wavy hair, impeccably dressed in a sharp navy-blue suit that rivaled Tsukasa's own attire. Tsusaka glanced at the black high-class sedan behind the man before returning the question.
"Depends on who's asking."
The man's mouth twitched, as though suppressing a grin. Yes, he swallowed it before introducing himself.
"The name is Fuwa. I'm… you could say, the head bodyguard of a certain CEO…"
It was enough information. Tsukasa could even draw some conclusions about who the CEO was.
"Hiden Aruto's pawn, huh…"
"I'm not a pawn!" Fuwa shot back, flustered. He quickly regained his composure. "Anyway, I have a few important things to talk about with you. Would you mind stepping into the car?"
Tsukasa took a quick scan of his surroundings, then shrugged. He nodded.
"Okay, hope you're not kidnapping me."
"Of course not!" Fuwa snapped, before realizing Tsukasa's smirk. "Wait—that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"
Tsukasa slipped into the backseat without another word, leaving Fuwa to sigh in exasperation before joining him. He looked through his notes as the car started moving. To Tsukasa, the man looked both super serious and goofy at the same time, but he decided to keep that thought to himself.
"So where are you taking me?" Tsukasa asked, leaning back with a casual air.
"To your house," Fuwa answered, reaching over to hand him a small box. "Consider it an upgrade—President Hiden thought you could use a proper home."
"I have mixed feelings about it," Tsukasa lifted the lid, revealing a set of keys glinting inside. "Why so discreet?"
"Just my style." Fuwa shrugged. "Besides, for reasons I can't explain, President Hiden has taken a…particular interest in your situation. He's offering you access to one of his old apartments. Be grateful and use it as you see fit."
Tsukasa had a brief flashback of how he had to sleep in a train station on his first night in this world. He looked like he was going to cry.
"Make sure to pass on my thanks—and my best regards to your president," he said, closing the box gently.
Fuwa gave a small nod. "He might even come to meet you himself one of these days."
Hiden Aruto…
"Before I forget," Fuwa continued, "I have something I'd like you to be wary of."
"What's it?"
Tsukasa could feel how the atmosphere suddenly changed as Fuwa seemed even more serious. It didn't sound like good news.
"You ever heard of Humagears?"
Tsukasa flinched. How does he know that word?
This world had little connection to the Kamen Rider worlds, as per his investigations.
"I think I know what it is," he said.
"Good, the President has warned us about it," Fuwa said. "I don't know what it actually is, but he said you would understand…"
Wait, then Hiden Aruto is… Shouldn't I go meet him immediately?
"What exactly did he warn you about?"
Fuwa looked out of the window.
"We are a company that makes support gears and quirk-related devices, you see. That's how we could vouch for your Ride Booker as an order-made gear."
"..."
"Our intelligence in the underworld told us someone had been building an army of Humagears… That's all the info we have about it. But President Hiden seems to know what a Humagear is."
Tsukasa lost deeply in thoughts. Apparently, this must be the quest of this world, but he only got the first hints two months after his arrival. He couldn't guess how long he would spend solving this case.
"We're here," Fuwa's voice snapped him out of it.
With little detail given, Tsukasa Kadoya found himself dropped off in front of a modest four-story building on the outskirts of Musutafu. Distance-wise, it wasn't that far away from the U.A. High, in case he got accepted, and better yet, the location even came with a straightforward bus route—no hassle required.
"Hmm?"
And… it had a cafe (?) on the first floor (refers to the street-level, the ground floor). It didn't look much, but it was a neat little shop with a classy vibe to it.
"N… Nashita…" Tsukasa read the letters on the signboard as he approached. Through the darkened windows, Tsukasa noticed the café was empty, its lights dimmed.
Perhaps it wasn't the business hours—
Said too soon!
"Hey, young man!"
A booming, cheerful voice yanked him from his thoughts. He turned, finding himself face-to-face with a middle-aged man sporting a stylish hat, round aviator sunglasses with amber lenses, and an armful of fresh, golden baguettes poking out of a paper bag.
With all that fashion and vibes, his face was also beaming with a pretty warm smile, albeit a bit too intrusive.
"You must be the new part-timer Misora was talking about. Hmm, looks younger than I expected, but no problem!" he said, before opening the lock to the cafe's door without waiting for an answer. "Come on in, I'll show you what you need to do."
"Uh, no, you've got it wrong," Tsukasa denied, following the man inside regardless. "I'm the new tenant for the flat upstairs. Name's Tsukasa Kadoya. Who even are you?"
The middle-aged man put the bread down on the counter and patted the boy on his shoulders, seemingly ignoring all that he said.
"What a nice suit you've got there! Perfect. Sorry for the late intro: I'm Isurugi Soichi (石動 惣一), the owner of this little shop. You must've met Misora, too."
"I don't—" Tsukasa kept trying to deny whatever scam he was falling for. But he didn't build up enough charisma points. It was no use.
"But there's no one else applying for the position so you got lucky, haha," Soichi waved a hand at the coffee bar behind the counter. "Let's not waste any more time. Let me show you how to brew a good cup—"
Okay, what's going on?
Tsukasa sweatdropped. Did I just get roped into something? Why can't I get away from this? Am I getting a job now? Is this what the Tsukasa of this world is supposed to be?!
He had too many questions, but hey, at the very least, he already knew how to brew coffee!
Two hours later…
"A-amazing! Your coffee… tastes like it makes me drink it like I drink tea!"
Soichi passionately praised his brew, but Tsukasa could only wonder if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult. Though, naturally, he was good at brewing drinks as much as doing anything else… He was a natural at it, call it talent or not; well, aside from what people had needed to say about his photography.
"Glad you liked it."
"Can you… Could you teach me how to make this good coffee?!"
Oi, who's the cafe owner here? Tsukasa would roll his eyes in annoyance if he could.
"Like I said, I'm not—"
The welcoming bell at the door rang, drawing the attention of both. There hadn't been any customers for the last two hours after all.
"Irasshaimase!" Soichi called, greeting the new arrival.
The guest was a young man in his early 20s or so, with straight dark brown medium-length hair with a slight tousle. The choice of outfit was somewhat eye-catching, but nothing to write home about. What stood out was the extra underwear peeking out of his pocket,
Both Soichi and Tsukasa really hoped it was just the extra underwear. But who are they to judge…
"My name is Hino Eiji (火野 映司)," the young man introduced himself with a polite bow. "My apologies for showing up late. I know I'd have to start today and all…"
Soichi looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I'll be working part-time here!" Eiji's smile was warm yet a little uneasy. "I discussed some…concerns with Misora, but I hope it's not a problem."
Soichi turned to Tsukasa, eyes wide, as if asking for help, but the boy back there was already taking off his apron and preparing to slip away, as the real part-timer had arrived.
"So you are?" Soichi managed.
"Not a part-timer," Tsukasa replied, already heading for the stairs. "I'm just a passing-through tenant."
Soichi stood frozen, realizing his mistake a little too late. Meanwhile, Eiji eagerly chimed in, completely unaware:
"So what can I start with? What do I need to do? How can I—"
- [ Pause ] -
- [ Play ] -
Days turned into a week—the week had passed in a blur.
"... That's right, Kadoya Tsukasa-kun! You did a record-breaking excellent job in the entrance exam! In the fighting agenda of the practicals, you earned…"
It was an excited Present Mic speaking, in a holographic recording sent by the U.A. There were a lot of over-the-top presentation details in Mic's way of words, but the idea was that Tsukasa passed.
I mean, with all he'd done in the exam? He'd have cried himself to sleep if he hadn't passed.
"... a whopping total of 91 points! Your playstyle might be a little nasty but you did it all with one-shots, so it's still commendable. Actually, you see, boy, our practical exam has a secret agenda! That is, we award rescue points to those who go above and beyond in the most dangerous of scenarios without hesitating! Because of course, that quality is the most important aspect we look for in a hero!"
So that zero-pointer faux villain wasn't very zero-point-y, huh…
"That's why your final score in the practicals is a whopping, record-breaking one hundred and fifty-one points! Adding that to your written test scores, I'm here to say that YOU PASS! We're thrilled to welcome you into the hero program, Kadoya Tsukasa! More details about class placements are in the attached documents. Welcome to U.A. High!"
Don't ask what Tsukasa did for the written test.
The hologram finally blacked out and the voice turned to silence, leaving Tsukasa alone with his thoughts.
Wait, does he do it for every participant? That seems exhausting and unnecessarily long!
He shook off the thought. The important thing was that he'd passed. He'd just have to prepare for school now—another item checked off his list. Typically, it only took him a few days, a month at most, to complete a world's "quest" and move on. But this time, he'd been here for almost three months.
He couldn't help but feel worried.
Upon opening the box that came with the mail, he found the school uniform inside, neatly folded and tailored to fit him.
"Heck, I really am going back to school…"
Tsukasa couldn't shake the sense that he'd have to see this world through and proceed with this journey if he was going to find any real answers.
Tsukasa had hoped the first day of his high school (again) might pass quietly, but it seemed fate had other plans.
"C'mon, take this bento!" called Soichi, the cafe owner, handing Tsukasa a lunchbox wrapped in a magenta cloth with bold black patterns. "Misora made it just for you!"
At least, money wasn't jumping out of his pocket.
"Nice, I'm grateful," Tsukasa answered with an awkward smile as he took the box. He hadn't really met this "Misora" in person.
Just one event down, and on the road, yet another character awaited him: Hiden Aruto's so-called "bodyguard," Fuwa, leaning against his sleek black car.
"Get in. I'm giving you a ride," Fuwa commanded curtly.
"..."
At least Fuwa wasn't nagging at him today.
Tsukasa felt a little bit, yes, a tiny little bit of guilt when he stepped into the school grounds, now as one of their students. He couldn't even remember how many years it had been since he had graduated from middle school. He tried his best to not look at anyone—rather he acted like he didn't care out of habit.
Of course, though he didn't notice, a few girls passing by couldn't help but glance his way, charmed by his striking looks and mysterious aura. The rest of his trip to the classroom was uninterrupted.
At any rate, aren't these doors huge? For size-shifting or giant quirks?
The ceilings even in the hallways were quite high compared to the common infrastructure he had seen here and there. He felt like he was visiting some architecturally important landmarks in foreign countries, but that was just how grand the U.A. looked. The doors were also easily 3 or 4 meters high, probably built to accommodate giant quirk users. And that was just a guess.
When Tsukasa arrived at the classroom, a few students had already taken their seats.
CLASS 1-A
His gaze traveled over the room, checking out the people he'd be stuck with for the foreseeable future—in the worst-case scenario, three years.
Let's see… Wait, is that a floating uniform? No, it must be an invisible person. That guy has a tail… Is that a crow? And the other guy has six limbs and… A mouth on one of his hands?! Hmm, interesting.
His gaze shifted around, settling on a certain individual.
A pink woman with horns? Scary. A normal girl. A normal girl. And a guy that looks like Kamen Rider Double, but with white and red colors. Fang and Heat, then. An angry blonde, and a green-haired kid— Hmm, did I meet him somewhere else before?
As the story has introduced the green-haired kid before at the beginning, yes, it is Izuku Midoriya.
Hold on, why is that guy coming to me?! He looks so serious.
Tsukasa steeled himself, acting all cool as he locked eyes with a tall, bespectacled student marching right up to him.
"Nice to meet you!" The guy greeted him passionately with hand gestures outward, "I'm Iida Tenya (飯田天哉), graduated from Soumei Junior—"
"Kadoya Tsukasa," Tsukasa grabbed Iida's hand and shook it instead to calm him down. "Just a passing-through Kamen Rider."
通りすがりの仮面ライダーだ。覚えておけ！
"Ka…"
Everyone in the classroom fell silent immediately at the mention of his name. But Tsukasa was equally shocked.
Wait, is there anything wrong with Kamen Riders in this world?
"So you are…" Iida bowed so fiercely it looked like it could summon the winds, "the one who scored the highest in the exam! Pardon my prior rudeness!"
Oh, so that's what happened.
Tsukasa, unbothered, just gave a nod and passed by Iida without another word. The rest of the class watched his every move until he took the solo seat in the very last row— right behind a tall girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail.
Not a second later, the angry blond guy from earlier stormed up to Tsukasa with an angry face.
"Grr! So you're the guy who earned the most, huh!"
"I guess. What do you think?"
Tsukasa's voice was so calm it made him seem like a monk. But a sharp-tongued one at that.
"I bet you cheated—"
"Hmph, you're being a sore loser."
Tsukasa didn't even stand up from his seat, but the other party looked like he was going to explode the school.
"What did you just say? I'll unalive you—!"
"Ahem."
A sharp cough cut through the tension, redirecting all eyes to the door—someone in a yellow banana-like sleeping bag, standing at the entrance.
"Is this supposed to be a Hero Classroom? Or did I accidentally walk into the Delinquent Course?"
The guy in the sleeping bag was just Aizawa Shouta, already introduced. He pulled down the zip and then took his place behind the teacher's table in front of the class.
"Go back to your seat and settle down."
"Geee…" the blond kid grunted and swallowed his rage as he went to his seat. The entire classroom went silent, but they could make a guess that this middle-aged man must be their homeroom teacher.
But what kind of teacher comes to class in a sleeping bag?!
"This is U.A. High's Hero Course," Aizawa began, "You kids aren't rational enough. Wasting time like that… If you don't have the necessary resolve to become a hero… Or if you'd rather prioritize your social drama unbecoming of a hero, I suggest you reconsider your place here."
There goes my laid-back high school dreams… Tsukasa imagined how hellish his "hero journey" was going to be with this all-business, no-nonsense teacher.
"And I'm your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa," Aizawa finally introduced himself. "Change into your gym uniform right away and go out to the training grounds in front of the gym."
Things moved fast after that. Tsukasa changed into a school-issued short-sleeve gym outfit, with the Ride Booker tucked in the pocket inside, just in case.
Gotta thank the designers of this world for making the pockets big enough…
Tsukasa continued memorizing the faces of his classmates and took a mental note of those he wanted to avoid. For starters, the guy whom the green-haired kid called by the name "Bakugou". No one he couldn't handle, but he just wouldn't put up with another short-tempered weirdo.
"So now, we're gonna have a Quirk Apprehension Test," announced Aizawa as soon as the class arrived on the field.
"A Quirk apprehension test?!" The class, most of it anyway, exclaimed in unison.
"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?!"
"If you're going to become a hero," Aizawa replied, deadpan, "You don't have time for such leisurely events. U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run the classes."
Made sense. I came prepared for military training, aha. Tsukasa thought sarcastically though it was no laughing matter.
The unfunniest thing was how he saw himself in Aizawa… with how the teacher acted and spoke, with a rather sharp tongue.
"You guys have been doing these since Junior High, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your quirks. There, Kadoya…"
"Yes?" Tsukasa stepped forward.
"Since you ranked first in the practicals," asked the teacher, "what was your best result for the softball throw in your Junior High?"
HUH, DON'T ASK ME!
"Sorry, sir, I forgot," Tsukasa replied, with an uncharacteristically polite tone. "Maybe 60, 70 meters? Haha…"
Aizawa, for a second, thought the boy had a very punchable face.
"Never mind then," he just handed a softball to Tsukasa and pointed with his thumb at the pre-drawn circle on the field. "Go over there and try throwing it with your quirk."
"... okay, sir, understood."
Everyone started chattering as Tsukasa took his position and got ready. Naturally, his classmates were curious about his quirk that made him earn first place.
But the most interested out of the crowd, secretly, was Shouta Aizawa.
「Student Quirk Registration」
Legal Document
Name: 「Kadoya Tsukasa」
Hero Course Student No.: 0021
Quirk: 「Kamen Rider」
Tsukasa would rather have any other number than 21 but he didn't really have any say in it. 「Insert Kamen Rider Decade Complete 21 Flashbacks」
Anyway, back to the scene. He brought out the Ride Booker and drew a card out of it, without much thought given.
"Zero-One Driver."
— Driver activation.
Of course, it made everyone jump back like grasshoppers as the belt materialized on his waist. As a gray-colored Progrisekey appeared in his hand, he didn't waste a second.
"Authorize. Progrise! Gouwan gogo! PUNCHING KONG! Enough power to annihilate a mountain."
— Transformation announcement.
"Whoa, wow, what's going on?!" "He's shining— or not?!"
Aizawa and the students saw a glimpse of what looked like a gray robotic gorilla for a brief second, but it immediately vanished in a split second. They could only wonder if it was some kinda hallucination…
With a flash of light, Tsukasa had been replaced by some guy in gray buff armor that made him look like a big guy. With his forearms in large gauntlets that covered up to his knuckles and huge shoulder pads—not as huge as most of Zi-O's forms anyway—this is one of Zero-One's theoretical forms, the Punching Kong!
"Is that Kadoya-kun?" Iida said in a worried tone. "He transformed…?"
"I'm Kadoya, yes," Zero-One clarified. "Basically, my quirk requires me to transform to use a set of powers."
"Oh… I see."
"Hmph," Bakugou jumped in for his 2-cent comment, "changing forms isn't going to make you—"
"This form is a little too manly for a high schooler!" cut in an athletic boy with hair dyed red and shaped into a spiky, rocky style.
"Thanks." Tsukasa, in his Zero-One form, dismissed Bakugou's irritation.
"That voice was also so sick, man…" another boy with lightning-shape streaks of black in his blond hair chimed in. "Did it come standard with your belt?"
"Huh… suppose it does."
Aha, you got me. But granted, Kamen Rider henshin jingles are a bit weird for them… Tsukasa mentally noted how to tone it down in the future.
"And your design is just godly. Look at you…" another murmured in awe.
Unfazed, Aizawa watched Zero-One in silence as the latter pressed the key for a power-up.
"Bit rise! Byte rise! Kilo rise! Mega rise! Giga rise! Tera rise!"
— Progrisekey enhancement.
Apparently, Tsukasa had no intention of holding back.
"PUNCHING Tera IMPACT!"
— Empowered finisher announcement.
"BOOOOMMMMM!"
Kamen Rider Quirk Description: by using specifically engineered cards and a science buckle, Tsukasa Kadoya can use the armors that can amplify the attributes of his body: speed, strength, etc.
No one knew what he actually had done.
But it sure broke the sound barrier. Probably it had. They weren't sure but that was undoubtedly a powerful shot. Just the gust of wind born from the shot was enough to give Aizawa a new hairstyle.
"Hmm…" Aizawa checked his tablet, watching the readings scroll across the screen, "Not a bad shot."
Everyone, including Zero-One himself—minus Aizawa, the tall ponytail girl, and the Kamen Rider W-knock-off half-and-half stoic bastard—had their jaws on the ground when the teacher showed the readings.
「Distance: 1001 Meters」
How… Tsukasa monologued inside. "10" from Decade and "01" for Zero-One…
Don't mind him. That was some Kamen Rider in-joke.
"Not a bad shot?" The lightning boy shook his head. "That's like a godly shot."
"The god of ball throw?" chimed in a short student with purple hair shaped like a bunch of grapes.
"Yeah," the red-haired boy commented, "definitely too manly for high school. 1001 meters? Seriously?"
"Wouldn't expect less from the top scorer," Iida remarked approvingly.
The "henshin", the style, the armor, and the power… Tsukasa Kadoya had already established his impression on others' minds.
But there were a few people observing him more carefully than others. Of course, Tsukasa noticed them, but ever since he decided to apply for the hero school, he was mentally prepared to face all the backlashes—one of which being his identity as a Kamen Rider.
The students were buzzing with excitement. "What is this? It looks so fun!" "Finally, we can use our quirks as much as we want! Just what you'd expect from the hero course!"
Given how society works, no matter how amazing your quirk is, the laws restrict people from using quirks without a license in public. Otherwise, with all these "super" powers, the world could've gotten even more chaotic.
"It looks fun, huh?" Aizawa-sensei interjected, his voice flat and somewhat ominous. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?"
A slow, unsettling grin crept onto Aizawa's face. "Alright. Now whoever comes in the last place in the overall of eight tests will be deemed to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."
"Huh?!" Everyone exclaimed in nearly unison—save for a select few who managed to remain stoic.
Tsukasa, a bastard as always.
"Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains," Aizawa-sensei went on and explained. "Calamities whose time or place can't be predicted. Japan is covered with unfairness. Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations. For the next three years, the U.A. will do all it can to give you one hardship after another. Go beyond, Plus Ultra. Overcome it with all you've got."
The surprising thing was how Aizawa's words didn't gloom the class. In fact, he even motivated them for the better!
Having finished his demonstration, Tsukasa pulled out the Progrisekey from the Driver, detransforming, after which the key and the Driver also disappeared.
"For the time being, we will move on to other tests before coming back to this," said the teacher.
Next up was a short-distance dash, the runway being 50 meters long. Tsukasa's classmates used their quirks creatively to boost their speed and lessen their time…
For example, this student, who was blonde and apparently a foreigner, wore a belt, albeit not a Kamen Rider henshin belt. He fired a beam from his stomach through the belt and propelled himself backward. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to use his quirk consecutively so he got a stomach ache and had to stop mid-way…
Okay, we won't talk about it.
Another kid—the Kamen Rider W-knock-off half-and-half stoic bastard, with a scar around his right eye and hair split into white and red halves— formed ice underneath his feet and moved it instead of running! What a cruel world.
Finally, it was Tsukasa's turn, matched up against Iida, who seemed to possess some kind of speed-boosting quirk.
"You have… Exhausts in your calves?"
Tsukasa couldn't help but remark on how Iida had engine exhaust-like pipes with openings on his exposed calves. Pretty amazing what quirks can do to your body.
"Correct," Iida replied with a proud "try-me" grin. "You'll see."
Iida Tenya, 15, Quirk: Engine. — grants him car-like engines in each of his calves, giving him incredible running speed and extreme kicking power.
"Uh, okay…"
"Zero-One Driver."
— Driver activation.
"There he goes, there he goes again!" Exclaimed the short grape-haired student.
"Dash!"
— Progrisekey activation announcement.
"Henshin," he called out, inserting an orange cartilage into the buckle.
"Authorize. Progrise! Speedy nanda! RUSHING CHEETAH! Try to outrun this demon to get left in the dust."
— Transformation announcement.
Is it a cheetah… A giant cheetah? Aizawa squinted his eyes. I'm not hallucinating, right? Wait, it disappeared…
Tsukasa was intentionally activating quick transformations so no one would catch the animalistic mecha that the Driver summoned before turning into armor.
"Oi, the voice for sure talks big," the lightning boy commented.
Rushing Cheetah was another theoretical form that Zero-One himself had never used. The new armor parts were accented with vibrant orange, with two pointy appendages at the top of the mask that resembled a cheetah's ears and holes in some parts of the armor to resemble the spots on a cheetah's body, much like in Kamen Rider Valkyrie's Rushing Cheetah.
"I'm not going to hold back, Iida," Zero-One said.
"It'll be my honor, Kadoya-kun."
Being dramatic now… Aizawa internally sighed as he set up the timer.
"Ready! 3, 2, 1— Start!"
With the signal, both students vanished in blurs, although Zero-One's blur was more distinct, being orange and all, and in fact a bit shiny as well. But after one blink or two, it became obvious who was taking the first.
"1.01 sec," declared the robot that was counting the timing.
Zero-One Rushing Cheetah arrived at the finish line almost immediately after the signal, followed by Iida who finished the race about two or three seconds later.
Aizawa stayed silent as he stared at his tablet. The rest of the class were also either silently amazed or excitedly chattering about Tsukasa. And then there was Midoriya who was furiously taking down the notes, and Bakugou who looked super upset but seemed to have understood he couldn't do anything anyway.
"3.04 sec."
"3.04 seconds is still impressive," said the red-haired student, nodding, "though Kadoya was monstrous."
Tsukasa saw it as a compliment.
The next few tests were pretty uneventful with Tsukasa dominating each and every one of them—except the ball throw where a certain short-haired girl with a gravity quirk broke all records and got an infinity for a score.
Standing long jump … Rising Hopper.
Grip strength test … Punching Kong.
Long distance run … Rising Hopper.
After all the other mini tests ended, they got back to the first test— the ball throw.
"Bakugou, 705.2 meters," the teacher declared.
One by one, the students took their turns, but none came close to Tsukasa's record—except for Bakugou. This was the kid who ranked second in the practicals; if it were just the villain scores, their difference was only about a dozen points.
Soon they'd gotten to the last participant of the ball throw, Midoriya Izuku. He didn't particularly stand out, but Tsukasa had already noticed that Midoriya hadn't been doing well in the test. He didn't use his quirk at all and retained mediocre results throughout the phases.
I'm sure I've seen him elsewhere before. Tsukasa tried to recall his image among his memories. Where could that be?
His thoughts were cut off as Midoriya's softball softly landed on the ground just a few dozen meters away from the boy.
"46 meters…" announced the robot.
That settled it—Midoriya was certain to be expelled. Tsukasa felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for the boy, though he kept it to himself.
"I…" The boy himself seemed even more anxious, looking down at his hands. "I was definitely trying to use my quirk right now…"
This is…
"I erased your quirk," Aizawa-sensei's voice cut in, his long hair and the scarf around his neck billowing dramatically in the air.
Is… Is that a thing?! Tsukasa noted to himself he needed further research into the quirks, but he could only imagine the feeling of someone having their power taken away…
That description fitted Tsukasa the most.
"The entrance exam was definitely not rational enough," Aizawa began his rant. "Even a kid like you was accepted."
"You erased my quirk?!" Midoriya said excitedly, paying no attention to the rant. "Those goggles! I see—You must be Eraserhead!"
That's who Shouta Aizawa is—the Pro Hero: Eraserhead, whose quirk is Erasure: the ability to nullify another person's Quirk by looking at the user.
"From what I can tell, you can't control your quirk, right?" Aizawa said, his eyes still glowing red. "Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?"
"Th-that's not my intention—"
Before he could finish, Aizawa's scarf-like binding shot out, wrapping around Midoriya and lifting him off his feet, silencing him.
"Whatever your intention, I'm saying that's what those around you will be forced to do. In the past, there was an oppressively passionate hero who saved over a thousand people just by himself and became a legend. Even if you have the same reckless valor, you'll just be decked and turned into a ragdoll after saving one person."
That… Tsukasa couldn't agree more.
"Izuku Midoriya," the teacher continued. "With your power, you can't become a hero."
But then, at any rate, he let go of Midoriya. "I've returned your quirk. You have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with."
So he still wants to give him a chance…
"This isn't looking good for Midoriya at this rate," Iida pointed out the elephant in the room.
Earning a yell from Bakugou…
"Of course not! He's a quirkless small fry, you know!"
"Quirkless?" Iida countered, turning sharply to Bakugou. "Are you not aware of what he did in the entrance exams?"
That's right! Remember how Tsukasa (as Zero-One Shining Hopper) wasn't the only one who destroyed the zero-point faux villain. The other participant who did the same, albeit in a single badass punch, was no other than Izuku Midoriya!
Hence, Midoriya shouldn't be quirkless.
"Huh?!" Bakugou growled in response, being out of the loop since he did the exam in a different battle center.
So whatever Midoriya had in tow was to absolutely surprise Bakugou's soul…
"SMASH!" The green-haired boy screamed at the top of his lungs as he launched the throw. The ball flew at impressive speeds, filled with an incredible force that pushed it forward.
"Sensei…" he gritted his teeth as he turned around to face Aizawa. "I can still move."
"Midoriya Izuku… 705.3 meters," the teacher announced, his lips curling into a sly grin.
"But his finger is…" Iida pointed out.
"... All beat up," Tsukasa agreed, sounding worried.
I remember now… He had a quick memory callback, seeing the injured Midoriya. I met this kid around the time I arrived in this world. Back then, he was also bruised and exhausted…
"Grr…"
Tsukasa's attention shifted toward an upset Bakugou who looked like he was going to explode himself or someone else.
"WHAT IS THIS, DEKU?!" Bakugou growled, storming toward the green-haired kid. "EXPLAIN NOW!"
Immediately, he found himself trapped in binding scarf bandages controlled by Aizawa-sensei, who seemed to be using his quirk as well. But that's not all; in a blink, Tsukasa somehow was already standing right before him, a finger on Bakugou's forehead, as if he was going to stop the explosive kid with some kind of taijutsu.
"Unfortunately, we can't allow that to happen," Tsukasa said, "right, sensei?"
"These are capture weapons made of carbon fiber woven together with metal wire made of special alloy," Aizawa said. "Jeez, you problem kids, don't make me use my quirk over and over. I have Dry Eye!"
A shocking reveal! What an anti-climatic reveal!
Bakugou had no choice but to end the dispute with everyone against him. Aizawa had also earned the respect of his students on the first day despite his attitude.
Soon after all students finished with the ball throw, the teacher turned on a holographic monitor displaying the assessment results. 21 students — naturally, Tsukasa first, and a girl named Yaoyorozu Momo (八百万百) second, with Midoriya at the bottom.
Well, that wasn't completely unexpected, though Midoriya did great in the last test.
The kid's getting expelled—
"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion," Aizawa nonchalantly revealed, before putting on his devilish smile again. "It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your quirk."
"What?!"
Midoriya looked like his soul just left his body from the shock.
"Of course, that was a lie," Yaoyorozu—the tall girl with long, black hair tied in a ponytail—pointed out.
Tsukasa couldn't care less either way because he knew he was going to pass. That said, Aizawa hadn't seemed like he had been bluffing to them…
Kadoya Tsukasa wasn't the best judge of character but he could bet Aizawa had been serious about it. Maybe, just maybe, the teacher changed his mind after seeing Midoriya's performance…
But it was none of his business, was it? Tsukasa decided to keep the thought to himself.
- [ Transition ] -
"… and thus, this concludes my report."
In the quiet of the Principal's office, Shouta Aizawa finished delivering his daily update. Sitting across from him was Nezu, the Principal of U.A. High School, who resembled a large, white, humanoid mouse—or perhaps a bear, depending on who you asked.
Principal liked to keep an eye out on kids with great potential, sometimes even if they were in a non-hero studies course, as he had great ambitions and expectations on the foundation of a future hero society.
"Oh… okay," Nezu nodded, looking up at the taller man with a smile. "Why don't you… just write a report and submit it to me instead of talking?"
"I find face-to-face communication more rational in cases like this," Aizawa said, his tone polite but unwavering.
Nezu chuckled, a light, almost mischievous sound. "Fair enough. I do enjoy hearing about the students firsthand. And speaking of students, isn't he fascinating?"
"Kadoya Tsukasa?"
"I think those announcement sounds are pretty cool," Nezu's eyes lit up with honest excitement. "But more importantly, his quirk—it's remarkable. According to his file, it's not the transformations themselves that grant him power, but rather how they enhance his physical capabilities—speed, strength, reflexes. It's like a toolbox with a solution for every problem!"
"It does make sense," Aizawa agreed though he didn't quite go along with the Principal's enthusiasm.
"What a versatile quirk… Still, I'm eager to learn more. Imagine the possibilities! I can't wait to perform research on each of his forms and find out what they can do. It's simply amazing!"
There he goes again.
Aizawa, as one of the teachers, well understood how the Principal turned into a mad scientist when something intriguing and complicated like this happened.
"Regardless," Nezu continued, his voice shifting back to its usual calm tone, "I'll be relying on you, Aizawa-sensei. Please look after these budding heroes of ours."
"We'll see," Aizawa replied, turning toward the door, "whether they will actually become heroes, that is."
"Aren't you a scary one?"
"There's twenty-one students in my class, so maybe it is one student too many—"
"You can't do that, Aizawa-sensei!"
Aizawa didn't respond, merely raising a hand in a lazy wave as he left the office.
Meanwhile in an abandoned bar in a secluded part of the city gathered the shadiest of characters, starting with a tall guy who looked like nothing but a humanoid purple cloud of dust dressed in a fancy, ironically formal suit. His face lacked definition—no mouth, no nose — only two glowing, sinister eyes.
He was carefully wiping some wet glasses with a piece of cloth.
"I wonder what kind of idiot lends an army to villains, huh, Kurogiri…"
The one who spoke was a gray-haired man sitting on a dilapidated cradle, covered in pale hand-shaped accessories all over his body, one of which was on his face like a mask. Even from a glance, one could tell this guy was an absolute sicko.
"The kind that has ulterior motives," replied a third figure—a young man dressed in an ornate, princely coat, looking like a prince outfit from cartoons. "Or the kind that's a villain."
"Who asked you, NPC?" the gray-haired man snapped, scratching his neck in distress. "Kurogiri, are the preparations done yet?"
The princely cosplayer shook his head gently with a mysterious smirk. The purple cloud man —"Kurogiri"— put down the cloth and carried the glasses to where they were supposed to be stored.
"Preparations are 95.73% complete," he said. "It's time for infiltration, Shigaraki Tomura."
A low chuckle escaped Shigaraki — the gray-haired man on the cradle — as he leaned back, his fingers twitching with a mix of anticipation and agitation.
"Cool, now we will move on to the last stage of leveling before the final game. Hey, NPC, call that weird old man to round up his robots."
"Well, as you wish, Mister Shigaraki," the princely man said and left the room with an amused expression.
"... We'll kill All Might," Shigaraki murmured, his eyes glowing red for the sake of tension in the scene. Kurogiri remained silent, the faint swirl of his mist the only sign of movement.
The game was about to begin.
「To be continued…」
Author's Notes: Chris Chronos here. I'm a bit too tired to write even a few more paragraphs of this. But I'll try…
Decade the Neo series is to serve as the sequel to Kamen Rider Decade, albeit specifically set after Tsukasa's death in the Rider Time Zi-O spin-off. I plan to release another Kamen Rider series set in parallel soon. But that's a story for another time.
As always, I don't… I won't give explanations for most of the easter eggs and happenings for the time being, but if you see something out of place, then it might be there for a reason. Speculate! I prefer to leave it up to you to interpret the hints, dear readers.
Vocab note: In Japanese/ original, the U.A. High is 雄英 (Yūei), the inverted kanji for "hero" (英雄 eiyū.) Hence, the name "U.A." isn't an abbreviation. Even then I will still use the word U.A. as it's a more known term among the fans and even non-fans. write character names in two formats: given name first (e.g., Tsukasa Kadoya) in narration, and family name first in dialogue. Furthermore, MHA characters tend to call each other by their family names so people often mistake the two. As such, I use such a roundabout way to avoid confusion and mislabeling.
If you enjoyed the story, I welcome any kind of critique or advice, alongside any words of praise that will get me on cloud nine. I really encourage writing reviews and sharing this story as it will really help me out here. If you want to go further, you can join my Discord server—nothing much, but just DM me on Discord.
Thank you all, and this is not the end. See you next chapter.
Chris Chronos.
(Discord: christopherchronos09)