"Alarms are set… books stacked in order…"
"Would you stop pacing?" Katsuki seethed. He looked up from the packet of papers in his hand and over to Eijiro, who was walking back and forth throughout the dorm like a man possessed. Katsuki had instead chosen to lay atop his bed to try to relax a bit before turning in early. Unfortunately for him, his roommate showed no signs of slowing down. "Everything's been checked multiple times, by both of us. We're fine. Tomorrow's just like any other day."
"Just like any other day?" Eijiro asked, his voice cracking slightly as he stopped his marching and gave Katsuki a look of disbelief. "It's Day One, man! Our first real impression with Professor Aizawa and all the others! We can't screw this up. We can't be missing things. We can't g-"
"I can't focus if you keep running your mouth and wearing a trench into the floor," Katsuki snarled. "Just sit down. Watch TV. Scroll through some Reddit posts. Get a head start on one of the textbooks. Do something that isn't fucking obnoxious."
Eijiro made a face of discomfort before tilting his head slightly downward.
"…if the first day of classes is such a not big deal, why are you reading the welcome packet again? This is like the third time today. You're just as nervous about all this as me, aren't you? You just have a different way of showing it."
The glare that Katsuki gave Eijiro was so intense that the redhead took a step back and offered a nervous grin. Katsuki just breathed a sigh and set the packet down on the bed with more force than necessary before flopping backward into his pillow.
"…fuck you. And yeah."
"Yeah…?" Eijiro asked, his nerves and excitement at breaking some of the ice between them carrying through in his voice. "I mean, do you wanna talk about it? Maybe it would help both of us get it out of our systems?"
Katsuki just stared up at the ceiling for a while. He knew that Eijiro meant well. He knew that he hadn't really given the other boy a chance… regardless of whether or not it was deserved. He knew that no matter what, they'd be spending a lot of time together. There was really only one logical course of action for his own sanity and wellbeing.
"…I don't like talking to people in general," Katsuki explained. "And I really don't like talking about feelings and shit. I don't hate you, and it's not something personal. I don't want to hate you, either. You're just… annoying. I'd rather just try to go to bed early, but if you want to talk about something, then start talking. I'll try to get over it and be more social, alright?"
"Uh, alright," Eijiro said with a sheepish grin as he moved to sit on the side of his own bed. He spread his legs and clasped his hands between them, shifting nervously as he looked Katsuki over. The other boy kept his gaze on the ceiling, seemingly unbothered. "So, I guess… what's your worst subject? Maybe we can help each other out…?"
Katsuki let out a sigh, the answer coming to him immediately.
"…writing and lit. I can do it, I just… don't give a shit. Flowery language, styles of writing, analyzing texts… it's useless. I'm not gonna be making big PR statements, and if I have to, I probably won't be writing them anyway. Not my style to try to placate a crowd and agonize over carefully choosing language and walking on eggshells. I'll say what I want to say and what needs to be said. I don't care if the formatting or the style isn't what some fucking nerd thinks is appropriate for the situation. I also don't care if people can't handle the truth. They're getting it, and nothing else."
"Yeah, I get that," Eijiro said with a grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I kinda hope the powers that be never put me in front of a microphone either. I wasn't really the best in school, but I really suck at math. I just don't get it, man. I've really tried. Got a tutor and everything…"
"Well, you won't be using it much," Katsuki tried. "Your Quirk is pretty… straightforward."
Eijiro let out a chuckle and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! It's about as dumb as I am. Get hard, run into stuff. Yours, though… I guess you're pretty good at math? And… angles. And physics, and stuff? Probably gotta do a lot of calculations mid-fight, right?"
Katsuki finally turned his head to look over at Eijiro, his expression blank.
"…it's not like I've got A Beautiful Mind equations flying around in my field of vision. It's mostly based on reaction, instinct, and feel. I'm not doing math while blowing shit up…"
"…oh," Eijiro said simply, his expression giving away that he had thought the described scenario was more or less exactly how he thought it might work. "So… you like movies?"
"…not really," Katsuki answered as he looked back up at the ceiling. "Waste of time…"
"Right…"
A series of sudden rapid knocks came at the door followed by a muffled, feminine voice.
"Guys? It's urgent."
Eijiro was the first to stand up and rush to the door while Katsuki sat up in bed.
"The hell…?"
"I don't know," Eijiro said with a quick glance to his roommate as he pulled the door open. "What's up?"
Katsuki stood up out of bed and moved to stand behind Eijiro and off to the side. The second he saw who was on the other side of the door, he froze up and tensed. It was her.
Ochaco Uraraka stood in the hall, her face pale and her rosy cheeks somewhat dulled. She looked incredibly uncomfortable as she shifted, holding her hands behind herself… and unintentionally drawing more attention to her chest in the process. Katsuki's eyes were drawn to the girl's breasts almost immediately, and upon looking down to try to tear himself away, found that she was wearing only a long white t-shirt over some kind of hidden undergarments. The view of her thighs was almost more tantalizing, given the fact that the girl was a bit more rounded than most. In a desperate and obvious move, Katsuki looked away from her entirely as she began to speak and his face flushed scarlet.
"Professors Aizawa and Kan need to speak to all of us," Ochaco said warily, not catching Katsuki's odd behavior at all. "They said it's vitally important that we all attend. I think everyone else has already been rounded up, so… follow me?"
"Let's go," Katsuki said without looking up.
"Yeah!" Eijiro added with a full-body shiver. "No idea what it's about?"
"None," Ochaco answered as she turned around and began to walk. "We'll find out in a few seconds…"
"Seconds?" Katsuki asked as he finally looked up, doing everything he could to keep his eyes at or above Ochaco's shoulders. "…oh."
What appeared to be the entirety of Classes 1-A and 1-B were already assembled within the 1-A lobby, including their lead professors. None of them, adults included, looked particularly happy to be there… but Katsuki's attention was immediately drawn to Tsuyu. The girl was standing alone behind one of the couches and off to the side, holding one of her arms. Katsuki quickly broke away from Eijiro and moved toward her, keeping his voice low.
"What happened?"
Tsuyu snapped to attention, seemingly surprised by Katsuki's sudden presence. She merely shook her head quickly before returning her attention to the carpet as Professor Aizawa cleared this throat.
"…this is everyone, correct?"
"By my count, yes," Professor Kan reassured.
"Good," his colleague returned. "My apologies for summoning you all at this hour the night before classes begin, but something urgent has come up. While it only impacts Class 1-A directly, the two cohorts of first years will be working together often enough that you should all be present for this. I won't beat around the bush. Toru Hagakure has withdrawn from U.A. University, effective immediately."
"What?" Tenya said before he could manage to stop himself. The boy immediately sank into a formal bow before straightening up and adjusting his glasses. "I-I apologize for my outburst, but… what happened, if we may know?"
Professor Aizawa shook his head and closed his eyes, not looking particularly satisfied with his need to deny his pupils.
"Miss Hagakure made it very clear that she did not want to provide you with any details. All I can say is that the decision was driven by a very sudden family emergency, and she has chosen to put her hero career on hold to go home and help with the fallout. These things sometimes happen, and she did say to wish you all the best."
"Yeah, that means someone's fucking dead. Sucks."
All eyes snapped to Tokoyami and the slithering, sentient shadow that had emerged from his cloak to get a word in. The boy looked absolutely mortified and looked off to the side before sinking down to one knee and bowing his head.
"My sincerest apologies. I-I… cannot control him and his mouth…"
"No harm done," Professor Kan reassured. "The fault isn't yours."
"We were all thinking it anyway," Amaya added, earning a glare from her father. "What else would 'family emergency' mean if it's serious enough to pull her from U.A.? Can we have her address at least? Send her a card, some flowers, maybe call her? I mean, I know a lot of us didn't have a high opinion of her, but we also didn't know what was going on when she kept leaving us. I feel like we should try to do something to help as best we can, given that she used to be one of us…"
"She… specifically requested that her contact information not be shared with any of you," Professor Aizawa said, sounding displeased by the decision. "I will be in contact with her and notify you all if that decision changes, and I will be encouraging her to rethink refusal to speak to all of you."
Momo folded her arms across her chest, looking conflicted as she spoke up.
"And what about her decision to leave U.A.? Is there a chance she could come back and catch up later in the year?"
"Unfortunately… there will be no second chance this year," Professor Aizawa answered. "That was made clear in our private conversation, and it is the policy of the university at large. I know that something like this won't be easy to adjust to, nor is it the note I wanted to begin the year on… but all the same, we'll keep moving forward and I expect all of you to rally and be at your best tomorrow. You have my condolences for such an early loss of a classmate, but you do not have an excuse to rest on your laurels because of it."
"…what Professor Aizawa is trying to say," Professor Kan began as he shot the other man some side-eye, "is that in your careers as heroes, there will be many unexpected setbacks and surprises, and you will need to build a resistance to news like this. There is always work to be done, things that need taking care of, a-"
"And the welfare of people should be more important," Amaya cut in, refusing to let her father finish. "Especially people we work with. You can't expect us to just act like we're totally unaffected and shrug it off. The fact that she just cut and run bothers me a lot, for many reasons."
"Me too," Daisuke agreed, moving forward a bit to stand beside Amaya and put a hand on her shoulder as Professor Kan took an angry, audible inhale. "But that's something we can discuss within our classes at another time. I assume there's more to this, moving forward? Will 1-A just be down a student and representative? And what about Tsu?"
"Both valid questions," Professor Aizawa acknowledged. "Unfortunately… or, perhaps fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we will be unable to provide Miss Asui with a roommate moving forward. The numbers just don't work out."
"So… I just have a solo dorm?" Tsuyu asked, finally looking up.
"You do, yes," Professor Aizawa answered. "That being said, 1-A will not be down a student, and a replacement representative will be chosen at a later date. Given the nature of our courses and the competitions we'll be holding quite often, our numbers for Classes 1-A and 1-B need to be even. For that reason, the first runner-up for the Hero Course will be joining your ranks, despite temporarily living on a different floor. You'll all meet Hitoshi Shinso tomorrow, and I expect you to welcome him as one of your own."
Author's Note:
So ends Act One. How many acts are there? I'd guess 6 or 7…
-RD