Written by Aduubo, Buckichamp, and PikachuSpartan.
I OWN NOTHING. KILL LA KILL IS OWNED BY STUDIO TRIGGER AND KAZUKI NAKASHIMA. MHA IS OWNED BY TOHO ANIMATION AND KOHEI HORIKOSHI.
—
Inside Principal Nezu's office, Ryuko flopped onto the leather sofa seats, trying to shake off her initial reaction to Nezu. His desk and the sofa were separated by a wooden table that was low to the ground, perhaps only two feet high. Behind the desk was a view of the blue sky with scattered white clouds drifting slowly past the floor-to-ceiling window.
"Would you like some tea, Ms. Ryuko?" Nezu asked, to which Ryuko nodded silently.
"I should warn you, when tea is around, I do become quite chatty. But we both know the unique situation that brought you here is the topic of conversation today," he says while pouring out two cups of tea, handing one to Ryuko.
"Uh, thanks," Ryuko replied as she took her first sip. It tasted sweet but with a little bitterness to it. She couldn't distinguish the full flavor, but it was enough to savor for now and have a croquette as well.
"Look, Umm.. Principal Nezu, I'm grateful that you went through all the trouble of getting me over here," Ryuko looks up from her cup as Nezu finishes his sip.
"But… I just..." She pauses, trying to look for the right words.
"I can understand how you're feeling Ryuko. Being uprooted after settling in somewhere so suddenly can be quite jarring," Nezu acknowledged how she was feeling, letting Ryuko loosen up a little more.
"When I heard from Hawks and the Public Safety commission that Life Fibers were still being experimented on and what we learned from Aikuro Mikisugi, you could say I was very concerned. But with you here, we stand a chance to not let Satsuki Kiryuin or her mother Ragyo fulfill their ambitions."
"Wait, Hawks was the hero Mikisugi was talking about?"
"Yes, a chance meeting after what appeared to be a battle involving you and Satsuki Kiryuin, correct? If not for the shockwaves, we wouldn't be having this wonderful cup of tea," Nezu smiled.
"Now where was I..? Ah, yes! With classes starting tomorrow I don't want you to feel obligated to stay longer than necessary here at UA. You do have that option to leave if you don't feel you can fulfill your desires here. Just know that if you choose to stay or go, we will support your decision fully."
"Really?" Ryuko leaned forward, not used to such support from higher ups.
"Yes, of course! Once a UA student, always a UA student. Right now we're still figuring out temporary accommodations for a living space and we'll hopefully have that settled shortly."
"Yeah, I kinda wondered about that," Ryuko laughed while messing with the back of her hair.
"For now, there's a few other quick matters to discuss. The first is that we've decided that if anyone needs to ask how you got into UA, it would be that you got in on recommendations. We actually ended up with an opening in our recommendations list, much to our surprise. But even if there wasn't one, the circumstances certainly warranted it," Nezu explained before taking another sip from his cup.
"I'm guessing I have to wear a uniform that isn't Senketsu around here, right?" Ryuko questioned with a raised eyebrow, putting a hand over her chest near his eye while trying to stay focused.
"Normally, that would be the case. However, we're making an exception for you both. Since you and Senketsu can communicate and he essentially is your main power source, I'll let you wear your Kamui every day. I just ask that you also wear the UA Blazer on top so that people know you're a student here. Oh, and make sure to wash him too. "
"Ask him for an iron. I'd appreciate it," Senketsu said.
"Oh, sure," Ryuko responded and cleared her throat. "Senketsu asked if you might be able to provide an iron for me to use on him."
"That won't be an issue. It seems you two communicating was true after all," Nezu noted.
"Wait, can you hear me?"
"You can hear him?"
"Unfortunately, I can't hear his request."
"Of course you can't," Senketsu sighed in defeat, while Ryuko chuckled lightly and patted him on the collar that functioned as his eyebrow.
Nezu sets down his tea cup, finished with the brew he made as he again addresses Ryuko.
"Ms. Matoi, please let us know if there's anything we can do to help you out in the meantime. You can stay here and have as much tea as you like until we've finished your living arrangements for the next few days. I do think we could temporarily convert a lounge space to a bedroom until we can find you a proper place to stay."
Ryuko didn't want to be sleeping in the school, but at least she might have some privacy for a little bit. Something still nagged at her in the back of her mind as the principal got to work on his computer.
"Principal Nezu, by any chance did you know my dad? You mentioned earlier knowing about the Life Fibers before," Ryuko inquired.
Nezu paused, not expecting that question to come up but fully prepared to answer.
"Yes, though not to the extent that others likely did. I've known about the Life Fibers for a long time and I used to receive encrypted letters from your father. However, they were often spaced years apart and I've no prior knowledge of Senketsu and many other things he did," he responded, with Ryuko's eyes widening slightly.
If even someone like UA High School's principal knew her dad, maybe she could get some answers here at the school. Nezu's phone rang and he answered it, holding only a brief conversation before placing it back down.
"It looks like your temporary living quarters are ready. You should be able to get a nice night's rest before tomorrow. Also, you've been placed into Class 1A with Mr. Aizawa as your homeroom teacher," Nezu hopped down from his chair and pointed toward the door. "You can follow me, Ryuko."
"Sure," Ryuko stood up and followed Nezu out the door.
As they made their way for the lounge room, Ryuko got to do more sightseeing with UA and its interior. The first thing she noticed was how it made her feel at ease. The hallways were bright and spacious, with big windows that let her see a real world outside.
She watched as the lush trees blew with the wind, cherry blossom petals sweeping by in the air. The space of UA felt so open and easy to breathe in, while Honnōji is enclosed and isolating.
Normally Ryuko didn't pay attention to these kinds of things during her visits to the other schools in the eastern Kanto region, or even the boarding school she attended. But UA radiated a different kind of feel to it.
"We're here," Nezu chipped in before opening the door to the lounge room.
"It's not much, but I would say that it's compact enough to replicate the feel of an apartment," Nezu let out a cheeky giggle as he held the door open for Ryuko to enter.
It seemed quite small, but nicely formatted and a lot cleaner than the ones Ryuko had seen whenever she was brought in for counseling after the fights she caused at boarding school.
She sat herself on the green sofa that fit itself in the center of the room. It was surprisingly comfy, a lot more so than sleeping on the floor with blankets and comforters. Ryuko wasn't thrilled about sleeping in a converted lounge room, but she certainly wouldn't complain about the accommodations.
"While you get settled, I'll be getting back to my work for the time being. I will be back to drop off any blankets and pillows, as well as your new blazer. Feel free to explore UA for the time being if you please as long as it's within school grounds. And if you ever need anything, just dial my line on the school phone," Nezu said, pointing to the school phone near the door.
"Sure thing. Thank you, Principal Nezu. I really appreciate that you're taking the time to do all of this," Ryuko bowed her head to express her gratitude for such hospitality.
"Oh, it isn't any trouble. It's the least I can do. I'll be checking up on you before nightfall," Nezu returned Ryuko's gesture before leaving the lounge room and returning to his office.
Since it was still early afternoon, Ryuko had a lot of time to kill before nightfall. It also couldn't have been better timing for her stomach to start rumbling than now. She hadn't eaten much from Mrs. Mankanshoku's snacks and a handful of Croquettes on the boat ride to Musutafu, so it was the perfect time for a late lunch.
For the rest of the day, Ryuko decided to explore UA a bit, with the chance to learn how to navigate around the hallways before tomorrow. She started with searching for class 1A, where Nezu said she would be attending. This stroll would have definitely been a more lonely one if it weren't for Senketsu being there and talking to her.
After an hour or two, Ryuko memorized the layout of the entire campus, granted that some rooms were currently locked. It felt cool to be the first one to know the ups and downs of UA before any other first-year student did. The little things in life definitely help, given her situation.
She made her way back to the lounge room to find folded blankets and pillows set on the sofa, as well as the blazer wrapped up in pristine plastic. A class schedule sheet laid on the table, freshly printed too. Ryuko had tidied herself up for bed before settling herself on the couch. She figured she'd turn in now since Homeroom began at 8:25 a.m.
"Tomorrow's already the start of your new classes. It's all happening so fast. Though, you don't actually seem that bothered by it," Senketsu pitched in as he hung on the nearby wall.
"Don't get me wrong, I do miss the folks back at Honnō. But... I think this is the first school I've been to without getting into a fight or nearly killed, at least so far. It feels nice to be at a normal school for once. But that doesn't change from what I have to do," Ryuko reassured her motives of getting answers.
"Mikisugi did say that he'll be keeping in touch. I'm certain we'll get results. For now, I do believe this transfer is for the best. You may have adjusted to truly wearing me, but it would benefit us both if you didn't have the danger of passing out from blood loss while fighting so much."
"I guess you're right. I'm still thinking on it for now."
"Best to put the thought to rest for now. Classes will be starting early. Plus we do have a week to think on this."
"Did you just make a pun?" Ryuko arched an eyebrow.
"Did I?" Senketsu asked with Ryuko chuckling.
"It's fine. Good night Senketsu," Ryuko settled into the blanket as her eyelids became heavy and her thoughts slowed down.
"Good night, Ryuko."
Just before drifting off, Ryuko rolled on the sofa to face the ceiling, some final thoughts running through her head before falling deeper into a nice slumber
'Hmm.. the staff is nice.. but I wonder what the students will be like,' Ryuko pondered before closing her eyes and finally dozing off.
…
Today was a bright day to begin a high school career at UA. Nobody ever took this to heart more than Izuku Midoriya, an aspiring hero in Musutafu.
'Today's the day I begin my high school career.'
As he jogged his way over to campus, Izuku carried a grin of determination on his face. His heart raced as he got closer to the front gate. He was actually going to the school that he had been dreaming of for years. He couldn't wait to get started!
"Class 1A... 1A... Come on, Where is it?" Izuku frantically looks for the sign, passing several doors that weren't 1A.
"There!" Izuku noticed the sign that read '1A' up on the wall before stopping abruptly in front of the large door that was well over 30 feet tall.
"Man, this thing is huge! Are there giants here?" Izuku exclaimed with a shocked expression, gawking at the door from top to bottom.
"The most promising students in the country are waiting behind this door," Izuku said to himself with determination before the images of Bakugou and the speedster from the entrance exam appeared in his thoughts, making his skin crawl.
"Maybe we're in different classes! Maybe everyone here is nice!" Izuku shook his head and gulped, bracing himself as he held onto the handle and began opening the door to his future.
…
-20 minutes earlier-
"Ryuko.."
"RYUKO!"
"GAHH!" Ryuko screamed as she threw herself upward, hair frizzled and everything.
"Ryuko get up! You're going to be late for class!" Senketsu urgently alerted Ryuko, who then checked the time.
8 A.M.
"Crap! What happened?! Didn't we set a- oh right. I didn't have an alarm set..." Ryuko sighed before she threw herself off the couch and went into her bag to find any supplies for a quick shower. Which she never actually packed.
"Okay, first things first after class, go buy some shower products," Ryuko said to herself as she put Senketsu on along with her new UA blazer. Once she finished up, she sprinted down to the nearest bathroom to brush her teeth and hopefully fix up her hair. She ran fast enough that ongoing students she passed didn't manage to get a good glance at her.
As Ryuko was brushing her teeth furiously, she and Senketsu were able to get a good look at the mix of him and the UA blazer.
"Not too shabby. It's too bad that the colors don't exactly fit together,"
"Well, I'm not really in a position to complain. We'll just have to make do," Ryuko replied in a somewhat understandable dialect as she still had toothpaste in her mouth before spitting it out into the sink.
After 10 minutes of pained shouts and screams from trying to straighten out her frizzled hair with a comb, Ryuko made her way down towards the 1A classroom, having 10 extra minutes to spare before homeroom started.
Ryuko takes a deep breath as she steps up to the door, "Alright. Here goes," Ryuko then opened the door, finding a handful of students seated already.
"So much for being the first to know the layout of the whole school," Ryuko expressed in disappointment before she walked to find a seat. She preferred to sit the furthest away from the entrance just so that she wouldn't get too much attention.
The seat in the furthest corner was out of the question, currently occupied by another girl sporting a ponytail and a large bang. Ryuko shrugged before just taking a seat in front of her.
As more students came in, Ryuko's expectations continued to be thrown for a loop. There were all sorts of strange looking students taking their seats.
'That pink one! Is... is she an alien?'
'What the?! What are those things on his head? Is that his hair?'
'Wait... are those multiple arms?!' Ryuko wondered to herself in disbelief as she did not expect to see such a variety of students. Everything in the classroom was definitely more diverse and colorful than Honnōji academy. She thought Honnōji itself was filled with batshit craziness, but this school definitely took the cake.
Still, at least they seemed to act normal and were searching for available desks to take a seat respectively. It seemed like things were going to proceed like an actual normal class. Which Ryuko may find a bit dull. That is, until a boy with glasses began shuffling aggressively towards the nearby blonde student.
…
"Take your feet off of that desk now!"
"Huuuh?"
"It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!" The black haired student shouted as he was scolding the explosive looking blonde.
"You're kidding me right? Your old school put a stick up your ass? Or were you born with it?" The blonde asked condescendingly with a smug grin on his face.
Ryuko watched as the events unfolded right in front of her, making her chuckle lightly. At least UA isn't going to be quite as dull as she thought. Izuku on the other hand was the complete opposite.
'Just my luck..,' The Green haired student lamented with dread written all over him, thanks to the worst possible scenario being slapped in his face by reality.
Something about the ash blonde male seemed very familiar to Ryuko. She remembered knowing a very hot-headed kid back in her childhood, but his name is still fuzzy to her. She couldn't quite piece it together.
The student with glasses stuttered, and then took a moment to recompose himself after receiving such an unorthodox response, "Let's start over. I'm Tenya Iida from the Somei Private Academy."
'Private Academy huh? Now it all makes sense why he's so uptight. Satsuki would love him,' Ryuko thought to herself as she eavesdropped on the conversation while waiting for the Homeroom teacher to arrive.
To Ryuko, UA has students that could act just like ones at any other school, which definitely gave her a sense of relief of not having to be a total stick in the mud. She's already considered a major delinquent at schools in the eastern Kanto region and Honnoji Academy, but it felt nice to not be singled out.
Suddenly, the two arguing students stopped abruptly once they caught a glimpse of Izuku at the entrance of the classroom. Ryuko soon followed suit.
"It's him," Iida remarked, which perked up the rest of the class to turn their gazes towards Izuku, making him gasp and freeze up.
"Um..! Hiii!" Izuku exclaimed sheepishly, directing his gaze up and away from the students out of shyness.
"Hold on, who is that? He looks familiar," Ryuko muttered to herself, her eyes widened a bit as she got a look at Izuku.
There were key features of him that she immediately recognized: His messy emerald green hair, big round eyes, and the diamond shape that his freckles formed. Something was quite familiar about him. She couldn't put it all together though.
"Good morning!" Iida exclaims as he struts his way over to Izuku to greet him. "My name is Tenya Iida from the-"
"Yeaaah! I-I know!" Izuku protested as he raised his hands in a defensive manner, making Iida stop in place.
"...I'm Izuku Midoriya.. It's super nice to meet you."
Ryuko gasped lightly once she heard that name. It all started to come back to her now. Izuku Midoriya was one of the friends she had before she was sent away to boarding school. She definitely didn't expect to find him here after so many years. But.. she felt a sense of joy coming back.
Due to her father being distant and negligent, Ryuko didn't have a role model to look up to. She became rather timid and frightened to talk to people, due to how Isshin would lash out and start a feud with her whenever she'd try to speak to him.
Izuku was the only person that lent his hand out and accepted her. She remembered tagging along with him in Bakugo's little adventures. But she was more attached to Izuku since during that time, she couldn't handle Bakugou's bombastic personality. Whenever the group would disband, the two would continue to hang out and play together since they didn't have much else to do.
It was some of the best times she had as a child, and it was all thanks to Izuku and his kindness. Now that she remembered, it wasn't all that surprising that Izuku would be attending this school.
"Wait, Izuku?"
Iida and Izuku's interaction was cut short once Ryuko had called out to him. The two and the rest of the class turned their eyes over to see that she had stood up from her chair completely before walking over.
'Oh my gosh! A girl is talking to me! She looks pretty and kind of scary.. W-wait, quick, stay cool, stay cool!' Izuku gasped and straightened his posture, trying to maintain his somewhat decent look as Ryuko approached. "Oh! H-Hello!" He managed to squeak out.
Ryuko stepped in front of him before halting, losing her words for a moment. "Hey Izuku! Uhh.. This is going to sound weird but do you remember me?"
"Uhh.. I don't think I recall?" Izuku answered with a raised brow.
"I'm Ryuko. Ryuko Matoi. We used to hang out when we were kids."
"Ryuko? Hmmm..." Izuku took a few seconds for the information to process before the lightbulb finally went off!
"RY-RYUKO!" Deku yelped, a pang of excitement and embarrassment coming through clear as day.
"I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you sooner. I feel so bad!" Izuku bowed his head profusely while Ryuko's smile softened.
"An old friend of yours? The way your blood tastes, you seem to be feeling quite nostalgic," Senketsu piped up.
"Yeah, an old friend," Ryuko muttered, with a sense of contentment that Senketsu recognized.
"There's a lot of things I've forgotten since we haven't seen each other in years! But still, I'm sorry for not remembering!" Izuku continued to apologize, which made Ryuko laugh lightly.
"Hey, don't sweat it. It has been a long time since when I got-"
"Hey I recognize that messed up hair! Falling boy!" A cheery voice piped in, which cued a gasp out of Izuku as his attention was drawn to her. Right behind him stood a brunette ball of excitement known as Ochako Uraraka.
'Huh.. looks like this school has its own version of Mako. I should write to her later. She'd definitely get along with this girl,' Ryuko's thoughts processed as she watched Izuku and Uraraka talk.
So far, UA seems pretty relaxed and chill all the way through with a few twists in between. She seemed to like things here so far. But she stayed on her toes for any more surprises.
"If you're just here to make friends, then you can just pack up your stuff now," A low and gruff voice spoke blankly, which caused a bunch of heads to turn in its direction followed by a variety of sounds.
"Huh?"
"Eeeehhh..?" Uraraka murmured out of caution.
Soon they saw a man slumped on the floor inside of a sleeping bag that covered him up from toe to neck, giving him the appearance of a full on homeless person.
"..Welcome to UA's hero course," In said bag was a scruffy and exhausted looking man, no older than thirty or so.
'What is that thing?!' Izuku, Iida, and Uraraka thought in unison.
'Great.. looks like they have their own version of Mikisugi...if Mikisugi was an insomniac and probably had crippling depression, huh,' Ryuko thought to herself as she did a quick look over the literal human bean bag. Suddenly, a realization came to mind as the male began to stand and undo the sleeping bag.
'Wait... if that's the case, does that mean?! Oh god.. no!' Ryuko began practically shuddering in fear the further the zipper of the bag went down.
What Ryuko ended up actually seeing was a shaggy looking man with shaggier looking clothes.
'Oh. Baggy shirt, pants, and an ugly plain scarf? He definitely nails the kind of disguise that Mikisugi would go for. Thank god he isn't anything like him.' Ryuko sighed to herself in Relief. The rugged man is definitely more dressed than Mikisugi is, but also somehow quite 'underdressed' for a teacher.
Izuku on the other hand seemed heavily focused on Aizawa, trying to analyze him. Ryuko noticed this and smiled. It's just like how she saw him watch TV when they were kids.
"It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that," The man said as he fully let himself loose of the sleeping bag and stepped into the classroom.
"Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa. Your teacher."
'Huh?! Our Teacher?!' Izuku thought to himself in surprise.
Aizawa reached into his bag before pulling out what appears to be a gym uniform for UA. "Put these on and head outside.
The students were quite confused about what exactly was going on. Ryuko however was used to the unexpected.
'I'll admit, this school definitely has my attention. Now then… let's see if they can keep it.' Ryuko pondered with a grin, as she and Class 1A were about to find out that Aizawa is not your typical teacher.
To be continued...