Author's Note 1: My Super Robot Academia is a non-profit fanfiction series.
My Hero Academia is a property of Bones, Funimation, and Kouhei Horikoshi.
Any original characters or concepts are owned by Navek and xpegasus.
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Chapter 20: Welcome to the Show!
One month and one week until the Sports Festival...
'What the fuck?' Katsuki thought.
It was another day at UA, but things had taken an unexpected turn that morning. When Katsuki had opened his locker to grab his school shoes, he'd been met with the sight of a white envelope with a red seal atop his shoes. The letter itself warranted a raised eyebrow, and its contents furthered this confusion.
Bakugou,
I know you've felt the bond we share. It's time we acknowledge it formally.
I request that you meet me behind Gym Gamma.
Katsuki looked at the fancy-looking handwriting and came to a few conclusions.
This was a letter from a secret admirer. Or a chunni. Or possibly both.
The explosive teen briefly tried to guess who could've written this letter….before realizing he didn't give a shit, crumbling up the letter and throwing it in a nearby trash can.
One month and six days until the Sports Festival.
Katsuki's right eye twitched when he opened his shoe locker, and he saw another letter with the exact same handwriting as the previous one. And just like the letter from yesterday, he crumbled it up and threw it in the trash.
One month and five days until the Sports Festival.
Okay, now Katsuki was starting to get incensed. The exact same letter was in his shoe locker…again! But he figured that if he just kept ignoring them, whoever was sending these stupid things would get fed up waiting for him and just give up. He crumbled the letter up and…
"You could at least read it before you throw it away!"
Katsuki flinched to see a very frustrated-looking Momo Yaoyorozu. "Ponytail?!"
"Honestly, I knew you were rude, but I didn't think you were this rude!" But the 1-A class president quickly composed herself. "I suppose I'll just have it say it here. Bakugou, I believe you and I share a connection. It took me a while to figure out what exactly that connection is, but I'm ready to come out and say it."
'What the fuck?!' Katsuki thought to himself. 'What fucking connection?! We've barely even spoken to each other! Is she one of those crazy chicks who think minimal eye contact means there's a connection?!'
Any other guy or girl would've been thrilled to be in Katsuki's shoes. He couldn't deny Yaoyorozu was quite the catch; she was beautiful, intelligent, refined, and freaking loaded. Most people would jump at the chance to date Momo Yaoyorozu.
However, Katsuki was already in a committed relationship!
'I don't need no harem bullshit!' Katsuki thought as he gritted his teeth. 'Better nip this out right now!'
"Katsuki Bakugou…"
"Listen up, Ponytail…"
"I formally declare you as my rival!/I ALREADY HAVE A GIRLFRIEND SO FUCK OFF!"
The two blinked, both equally confused.
"You have a girlfriend?" Yaoyorozu was genuinely surprised. "Good for you, I suppose, but I hardly see what that has to do with this situation."
"The fuck are you talking about?" He pointed to the crumpled-up letter in his other hand. "In your letter, you invited me behind the gym!"
"Of course it did. The back of Gym Gamma has a breeze that causes the trees to sway just right, and at this time, the sun begins to set at the perfect angle." Her eyes sparkled as she imagined it. "It's an ideal scene for two bitter rivals to declare themselves!"
"That or a cheesy love confession straight out of my mom's soap operas."
Yaoyorozu was confused for a second before her face turned red upon realization. She turned around and screamed into her hands, "Momo, you fool!"
Well, Katsuki learned something new about Yaoyorozu; she might've been the smartest student in Class 1-A based on academics, but it seems her social intelligence wasn't up to par.
Katsuki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do ya want a rival anyway, Ponytail?"
Yaoyorozu slowly looked up from her hand and took a calming breath to center herself. "I've lived a pretty sheltered life. My family is quite well off in terms of money, so there was never anything I wanted that couldn't be bought. My natural talents when it came to academics, my family's status, and my Quirk meant that no matter what school I went to, I was the top student, with no questions asked." Her hands clenched, and her expression hardened into one of frustration. "It wasn't until I came to U.A. that I realized just how pampered I was. True, I've learned as much as I could to take advantage of my Quirk…but after seeing everyone else in action, I've realized that I've spent my life as a big fish in a small pond. Asui, Shishida, Tokoyami, Ashido, Kodai, Komori…all of them are extremely skilled with their Quirks. Todoroki is in a league of his own."
She then turned to face Katsuki again. "And then there's you. I'll be honest; my first impression of you was that of a brute who got into this school through the raw power of his Quirk alone. But watching you in hero training and facing you in different classes destroyed that image. You don't flaunt it, but you're incredibly intelligent. It takes quick thinking and calculations to use explosions to move like you do. Your attacks, while on the outside seem like that of a mindless berserker, are actually purposeful and planned."
Her black eyes burned with determination. "They say that competition breeds excellence. If I want to truly become the best hero I can be, then what I need isn't praise based on my looks, my natural talent, or my family. I need someone to compete against. Someone who will make me push past my limits."
She then pointed at Katsuki. "And that person is you, Katsuki Bakugou!"
Katsuki stood there, staring at Yaoyorozu in shocked silence. Mainly because a lot of what Yaoyorozu said resonated with him. The first day of their hero training also made him realize that, while his Quirk was versatile, he had no competition against any of the shitty extras at Aldera. Like Yaoyorozu, he was also a big fish living in a small pond. He recalled how genuinely surprised he was when he brawled with Nirengeki and just how terrifying it was to see Todoroki freeze an entire building in a matter of seconds. He needed to amp his hero game up if he wanted to make an impact. A competitive smirk appeared on his face before he burst out laughing, shocking Yaoyorozu.
"Goddamn, Ponytail! I didn't expect ya to have this kind of edge. So, you want to be my rival?" He pointed his thumb at himself. "Well, let me warn ya: I'm aiming for the top! To be the one that becomes even bigger than All Might! If you want to be the rival to that, then you better be able to back up your words. Because I ain't being rivals with anyone who bites it early in the festival!"
A competitive smile of her own appeared on Yaoyorozu's face. "Oh, I have no intention to lose, Bakugou."
"Heh, that's the spirit."
The two turned their backs and departed from each other; their competitive spirits fully awakened, anticipation brewing for the day they would face each other.
One month until the Sports Festival...
'Come on, Fumiko. You've got this,' Fujita thought to herself, taking a breath to calm her nerves. She looked in the mirror. The woman she saw was dressed in a dark purple blazer and pencil skirt with a pair of black suede pumps. Her hair and makeup were immaculately done; she was the image of professionalism. Someone who took journalism seriously and was, in turn, taken seriously and respected by her peers.
But as Fujita stared and her reflection stared back, a knot began to twist in her stomach. Something about her reflection felt wrong, like she was looking at a fun house mirror.
"Fuji?"
"Fuck!" Fujita exclaimed. She whirled around to see Takenaka standing in the doorway of her dressing room. "What the hell, Take-Take, haven't you heard of knocking?"
"I mean, I did, but you didn't answer."
Fujita awkwardly stared at Takenaka for a moment. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you and Akira be in your seats?"
"He is. I just needed to talk to you," Takenaka said as he fully entered the dressing room and closed the door.
Fujita sighed. "Well, make it quick; they'll be calling me onstage any minute now."
"Well, uh, I guess the first thing I should say is "thank you" for getting me and Akira tickets. That was actually really sweet of you," Takenaka said. "So, thank you."
"Hey, it was the least I could do; I wouldn't even be on this show if it weren't for your help," she said. Fujita noticed Takenaka's gaze didn't quite meet her eyes. "Okay, what's the real reason you came back here? We don't have time for beating around the bush, Take-Take."
"All right, all right," Takenaka said. "It's just, well, are you sure doing this interview is a good idea?"
Fujita chuckled. "A little too late to back out now, isn't it?"
"I know, I know," Takenaka said. "But you've never done anything like this before; even professionals who live and breathe this stuff can slip up. Is it really a good idea to put yourself in front of millions of people and risk putting your foot in your mouth?"
"You worry too much, Take-Take," Fujita said with a grin, lightly stroking his arm. "Seriously, if you don't get your stress down, you might just give yourself a heart attack."
"Will you please just listen to me!" Takenaka's shout reverberated through the room. Fujita stumbled back, eyes wide. She stared at Takenaka for a moment, both taken aback by his sudden outburst.
"Oh, god! I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from," Takenaka sputtered, his voice shaking. "I mean, it's just...a couple of months ago, we would've been lucky if someone remembered our names if they asked us to do a coffee run. Now you're being interviewed on one of Japan's biggest talk shows. I'm just afraid we're in over our heads."
Fujita's expression softened as she watched Takenaka. "Look, I get it, this has been a lot really fucking fast." She grabbed Takenaka by his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "But we can't let this opportunity go to waste, Take-Take. People dream of moments like these that change their lives forever."
Suddenly, her mouth curled into a grin. "Besides, we've got Jinkai and Mrs. Kizuki in our corner. If we do end up biting off more than we can chew, I'm sure they'll be there to give us the Heimlich."
Takenaka looked at Fujita for a moment, opening his mouth to speak. But before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door.
"Miss Fujita, we're ready for you," came the voice of one of the many production assistants.
"R-Right, just a second," Fujita said. She gave herself a once over in the mirror and took a calming breath. "You should get back to your seat, Take-Take."
A pensive look crossed Takenaka's face before he sighed and nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing, Fuji." The pair exited the dressing room and quickly went their separate ways. Fujita pointedly ignored the production assistant's questions about Takenaka as they made their way to the stage.
"And we're back, folks. And we've got a special guest for you tonight!" Akito Ōboshi, the much-beloved host of the Watchtower, exclaimed with his usual flair. "She broke one of the biggest stories of the last decade! Give it up for Miss Fumiko Fujita."
The audience erupted in applause at her introduction, and Fujita waved to them as she approached the center of the stage. She took a seat on the big, comfy couch next to Mr. Ōboshi's circular desk. She caught Takenaka sitting down next to his boyfriend, Akira, out of the corner of her eye.
Akito Ōboshi had an appearance that was made for late-night television. He had slicked-back black hair, bright blue eyes, a strong, almost perfectly square chin, and a star-shaped birthmark under his left eye. The fact that he was also ten feet tall also added to the whole 'big star' thing.
"Welcome to the show, Ms. Fujita."
"Glad to be here, Mr. Ōboshi."
"Please, call me Akito," he said with his bright smile. "So, you broke the story on the Midoriya boy. I gotta say, I kind of thought it was a hoax when I first read it."
Fujita gave a practiced chuckle, easy as breathing. "There were a lot of people who had the same reaction to the article, but I'm not surprised. A bold claim like that should be viewed with a certain amount of skepticism, but thankfully, they were able to see I wasn't making it up."
"Enough people to form an impromptu protest right in front of UA," Ōboshi said with a chuckle. "And it really is a shame. United Allies had been the gold standard for hero schools. But I guess we were all so blinded by their shining reputation we didn't see the cracks until now." He shuffled the papers on his desk before asking another question. "So, how did you put the story together?"
Fujita was prepared for this. She'd spent hours going over her cover story with Takenaka. "So after trying to get any info on All Might's teaching methods, which proved harder than bleeding a stone, I decided to figure out if I could find any information about some of the first years. The most anyone really knows is Endeavour's kid, and the heir to the Yaoyorozu finance group was in the hero course, but that's about it. But would you believe me if I said that I got lucky while looking for takoyaki recipes?"
"Takoyaki?" Ōboshi asked, making some of the audience chuckle.
Fujita nodded. "Yeah, I was looking for new recipes on Facebook, and I found a really delicious one from a lovely lady called Honoka Kita. Wonderful recipe, BTW. So I checked out her timeline to see if she had any other recipes, but I noticed she had shared a post her husband, Hibiki, made about how proud he was of his former students making it into U.A."
In an apartment in Musutafu, a man with slicked blond hair and a tall, lanky woman with purple hair cheered at the mentions of their names on national television.
"So I hit Mr. Kita up for an interview. A lot of what we talked about is in the article," Fujita explained. "I asked him about his former students' Quirks, and I was shocked when he said one of those kids who got into UA was actually Quirkless. I'd heard rumors about a supposed Quirkless student in UA's hero course, but until then, I'd brushed it aside as nonsense. When Mr. Kita confirmed these rumors, I knew I had stumbled upon the story of a lifetime."
"I see. I was definitely shocked about U.A. letting a kid like Midoriya in," Ōboshi replied. "Either it's a publicity stunt, or the kid's more impressive than he looks."
"Guess we'll have to wait until the Sports Festival," Fujita said back.
"Now, there are some people who have been criticizing you for putting this story out. They say it's brought unnecessary heat to the Midoriya family, and that you've shined a spotlight on a kid who wasn't ready for it."
Fujita grimaced as she recalled that. A week after the article blew up in popularity, a few of the Midoriya family's friends found her on her socials and they had some...less-than-pleasant words to say to her. Mrs. Bakugou, in particular, unleashed a slew of curse words that would make even the saltiest of sailors blush like school girls.
But this was a dog-eat-dog world. You can't make it anywhere by being nice. Fujita tried working her way up by doing things the more ethical way. Fact-checking, through investigations, getting down to the pavement, etc. And where did that get her?
A shitty one-bedroom apartment above a laundromat. A gut from a diet of cheap takeout food. Her mother constantly on her ass about 'finding a husband to take care of her.' Being relegated to the margins of The National Jinkai, writing meaningless fluff pieces, gossip columns, and interviews with no-name politicians whose supporters you could count on one hand.
It was meaningless busywork meant to pad the empty spaces left in The National Jinkai when the real reporters were finished writing articles the public would actually care about. At some points, she had very nearly tempted to use generative AI to write some of her articles and hit a deadline.
No. Doing things the 'right way' was getting her nowhere. This story was her golden ticket to a better life. It made her name mean something! Who the hell had the right to deny her that?! So what if the Midoriya boy was harassed? He was just a kid. He had his whole life ahead of him. He'd probably forget about all this by the time he graduated.
But, of course, Fujita couldn't say all that out loud. No, instead, she had a speech at the ready for just such a question. One she had memorized.
"Me? That kid stepped into the spotlight the moment he decided to enroll at UA. These kids aren't 'just' kids. These are the people who will one day be responsible for protecting us, our children, and our grandchildren. The public has a right to know who's going to be in charge of our safety sooner rather than later."
Ōboshi looked impressed by that answer but decided to throw her a curve ball. "So, should we have every cop or firefighter in training known to the public?"
But Fujita adapted on the spot. "Look, I have nothing but respect for our rescue workers, but let's be honest: heroes are a bit more than that. These are the people who are on lunch boxes, backpacks, and game shows. These are the people we expect to keep us reassured that everything's gonna be okay. They have to be better. And that means if there's a flaw that they're hiding, it's up to reporters like me to point out and criticize them if they're falling behind."
The crowd seemed to like that, as the sounds of hands clapping and wooing soon began to echo throughout the studio. The sounds brought a smile to Fujita's face. It was incredible; she felt like she was on top of the world, and nothing could bring her down.
"So, Ms. Fujita, what are your plans for your next big article?"
...except that. That could bring her down.
"Well, aren't you forward?" Fujita said with practiced ease, even as she gripped the arm of her chair a little too hard. "As much as I'd love to tell you all about it, I can't risk letting my next subject in on my plans. They could be watching right now."
In truth, since Chitose Kizuki had first asked her to come on the show, Fujita had been wracking her brain for something just as exciting and captivating as her expose on Midoriya. But she had nothing. Zip, nada, zilch.
So far, she'd been able to stave off any questions about a follow-up to her Midoriya article by keeping busy with the work (as in real, actual journalistic work instead of mindless filler) Chief Usui had been assigning her and Takenaka. But she couldn't keep this up forever.
"Oh, come on, just one hint for lil ol' me," Ōboshi said in an oh-so-cutesy voice that made the audience chuckle. Fujita laughed along with them, even as unease grew in the pit of her stomach.
"I really wish I could," she said in the most apologetic voice she could muster. "But I'm dealing with some sensitive information here, and I can't take any chances."
Ōboshi whistled at her words. "Well, whatever you're writing about must be one hell of a bombshell if you're being this cagey about it. Are we talking about something on par with our favorite Quirkless UA student?"
Fujita felt sweet drip down the back of her neck; had they turned up the brightness on the stage lights? Prickling pain stabbed her facial muscles as she fought to maintain the small smile on her face. "Maybe. You'll have to wait and see like everyone else."
"Okay! Now you've got me excited!" Ōboshi exclaimed. "You've got my appetite wet, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into your next expose! I'm sure this one's going to be even bigger and better than the first!"
The audience erupted into cheers, but Fujita could barely hear it over her own internal screaming. 'Next time, why don't you try listening to Take-Take, you stupid bitch!' Fujita mentally berated herself even as she continued to smile and wave.
29 days until the Sports Festival...
Maijima breathed a tired sigh as he began to close up the support lab for the night. He had just finished locking up the 2nd year support lab. Now, it was onto the first year. But as he approached it, he heard the sounds of banging and clanging. And based on the rapid pace, it seemed like they were suffering a bit of the old inventor's frustration and taking it out on a piece of metal.
Indeed, when Maijima entered the lab, he saw Izuku, sleeves of his uniform rolled, and slamming a wrench against one of Striker's detached arms lying on a workbench.
"Izuku, what are you still doing here?" Maijima looked at his watch. It was almost 8 o'clock.
The boy nearly leaped out of his skin in surprise. "Mr. Maijima! I was just, uh," Izuku pondered what to say for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh.
"It's just...I was trying to figure out how to fit the drill attachment into the arm," the boy began, turning back the arm lying on the bench. "But if I put in a drill, then the hand is going to plop on the ground. Not to mention that in order to put the gears in place to even turn the drill, I gotta remove the anchor chains, which means I can't use the Anchor Knuckle..."
Maijima looked at the state of anxiety and barely contained frustration that his student was going through. Izuku had seemed off all day, and this just confirmed that. As his student just went on, Maijima sighed.
"Okay, you're done for the day."
"What?! But I-"
"You. Are. Done!" Maijima said in a very stern voice. Izuku grumbled a bit before putting his wrench down. Maijima placed a comforting hand on the greenette's shoulder. "Come on; let's grab a bite."
About twenty minutes later, the two were sitting in a convenience store parking lot, having some time to kill before the train to Izuku's neighborhood arrived. Izuku bit into a rice ball as Maijima ate some dango.
"Not as good as fresh dango, but it's good enough." The lanky man said, only to look at his protegee, seeing that far-off look in his eyes. It didn't take someone of his intellect to figure out what was bothering his student. "You saw that bit on The Watchtower, didn't you?"
"...I did."
"Figures."
Izuku gripped the rice ball in his hands, shaking with all the emotion he was feeling. "I just...so many people are talking about me. About my parents. I want to..."
"Clap back at them?"
"...I guess." Izuku let out an emotional, exhaustive sigh. "But I know going back on social media is just asking for trouble. So I wanted to make Striker the best he can be, but I keep running into problems an-"
"Izuku, I know you're doing your best." Maijima chimed in. "No one is denying that. But you skipped lunch today to work on Striker."
"I did?"
"Yes, you did...for the fourth time this week," Maijima pointed at him. "That's a bad habit you're developing."
"...okay, maybe. But...but I've got a lot riding on this, sensei!" Izuku scratched his hair. "It feels like any time I'm not working on Striker is just time wasted. That...those people that got riled up by Fujita...might be right about me."
Maijima put his food down. "I get it. Maybe not to your extent, but I get it." He looked up at the sky. "Back when I was a rookie, no one would give me the time of day. I was some no-name with a 'lame' digging Quirk. Didn't matter how efficient I was at savin' people. They keep making dumbass jabs and memes about...well, everything. My height. My posture. And especially my Quirk. But I kept at it. I built support gear to help compensate for what my Quirk couldn't do. Keep pushing myself harder and harder to be better."
The orange-haired man let out a chuckle. But there was no mirth within it. "Eventually, it worked. I got the recognition I wanted. A fancy moniker too...The Power Armor Hero." His expression saddened. "And all it cost me was my health takin' a nosedive, my friends rightfully callin' me self-absorbed...and my husband leaving me."
Izuku's eyes widened in shock. "You were married?"
"Yep," Maijima said with a sad smile. "We were childhood friends, always there to support each other. And took me a stupidly long time to realize he liked me as more than a friend and that I liked him back." Tears welled at the corners of his eyes. "I really thought we'd be together forever, but I took him for granted. I got so caught up in trying to be a great hero that I couldn't see the most important person in my life needed saving."
An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Izuku wanted to say something, but didn't know what.
After a moment, Maijima let out a sigh and turned to Izuku. "It's good to have drive as a hero. Hell, in general. But there's something that the public, or hell, even heroes themselves, tend to forget: underneath all the superpowers, the fancy gear, the eye-catching costumes, the titles, the hero rankings...we're all just human. With all the baggage that comes with it." Maijima looked Izuku in the eye, letting the boy see the years of overworking had done to his teacher. "Take it from a guy who's been in your place, Izuku. Neglecting yourself just to try and be a better hero, at the cost of everything else...that's only going to hurt you in the long run."
"...I see." Izuku suddenly felt a sense of shame until Maijima tapped him on the shoulder. The boy looked and saw a smile on his teacher's face.
"Look, just promise you won't skip meals and at least get 8 hours of sleep. Got it?"
Izuku gave a light smile back. "Got it."
Maijima took out two canned coffees and handed one to Izuku. They opened them with a pop and tapped them together before chugging the drinks, just sitting there. One inventor having long started his journey. One still near the beginning of his.
27 days until the Sports Festival.
"So what's this all about, Yosetsu?" Izuku asked as the gang waited to enter the school by the northeast gate rather than the front entrance that they usually took.
"If we're late to first period, I'm gonna toss your headbands into the gutter," Katsuki grumbled.
"Dude, don't say something so harsh! And anyway, I heard from Hagakure that a big fight breaks out every morning at this entrance." Yosetsu stated. "In fact, apparently this started happening so often last year that they constructed this side entrance just so the rest of the student body could make it to class on time."
"I find that hard to believe," Tenya retorted. "U.A. would never allow such wanton violence to occur on a daily basis!"
"I dunno. I mean, they got crazy robots, so I wouldn't put it past them," Ochako chimed in.
Tsuyu used her Quirk to climb up the walls and saw an entire crowd of second and third-year students from the Hero Course, General Course, and Business Course all gathered up and prepared for a battle. The crowd consisted mostly of guys, but there were some girls in there as well. "They definitely look like they're getting ready for a brawl, ribbit."
"Did Hagakure say why a fight constantly breaks out?" Izuku asked. Mei looked into the distance with her Quirk and saw three second-year students running towards the entrance.
Two of them looked to be siblings. Each had long hair tied back in a braided pigtail, but one was a boy with black hair and bluish-grey eyes, and the other was a girl with red hair and pink eyes. Running alongside them was a girl with short blue hair styled in a bob and amber eyes.
"Is it because of those three?" Mei asked. The rest of the gang looked and saw the three second-years as well.
"Well, one of them is," Yosetsu said. Soon enough, they heard the second and third years running out the gate, causing the ground to shake and the gang to evade as they rushed ahead.
"There she is!" One of the second years shouted. "There's Akane Tendo!"
"Today's the day she goes down!"
The blue-haired girl grit her teeth, her eyes blazing with anger. "Every single day with this!"
"I'll leave this to you," the boy said as he leaped and began to hop on the crowd's heads to get to the entrance. The red-haired girl began to do the same while shouting, "Good luck, Akane!"
"Ranma, Ranko!" Akane shouted as she spin-kicked a second-year student twice her size. The gang saw a red aura begin to cover her as she began to fight against the crowd. "Will you morons get a clue?! I DON'T WANT TO GO OUT WITH ANY OF YOU!"
Izuku and the others watched in amazement as this Akane girl began to single-handedly beat the crowd, showing a great display of martial arts prowess.
"Woah, she's like a one-woman hurricane!" Mei commented while Izuku pulled out his notebook and started taking notes.
"Does that aura have something to do with that?" He looked and saw a student with an elephant Quirk go flying. "Seems like it."
"This is absurd; why on earth are they attacking her?" Tenya asked, still trying to process the absurdity of what he was seeing.
"Apparently, a bunch of our upper-classmen think if they beat this Akane Tendo girl in a fight, she'll go out with them," Yosetsu explained.
"Seriously?" Katsuki said, quickly losing respect for their upperclassmen. "They can't just ask her out like a normal person? What smooth-brained jackass put that thought into their heads?"
"Ranko, my darling!" The gang peaked around the entrance corner and saw a tall third-year student in a kendou gi and holding a bouken. He had short brown hair and dark brown eyes, holding a stance like a samurai straight out of an old Kurosawa film. "Today is the day I prove myself a man worthy of your love!"
"Seriously, Kuno?!" The girl shouted.
"Good luck, sis." The boy sidestepped and began to run towards the building.
"Don't leave me with this creep, Ranma!"
"I have the utmost faith in you to kick his ass!" He said with a smirk before being forced to avoid a yellow and black bandanna that split a nearby rock in half. Another second-year boy with short hair and a tiger-themed bandanna began to attack him. "Dammit, Ryoga! I just want to go to class!"
"Then fight me like a man and prove you deserve to go to this school, Ranma Saotome!" As the two began to fight, Ranko ended up kicking Kuno in the chest, sending him flying into a nearby tree. But he refused to give up, pulling out a bouquet of roses from his gi.
"That third year is the reason why," Yosetsu explained. "Apparently, back when Ms. Tendo first enrolled at UA, Takewaki Kuno over there fell head over heels...and apparently so did half the student body. But he claimed he would prove himself as the only one worthy of Ms. Tendo by defeating her in a fight."
While this noise around them was going on, Tenya was shaking with proper fury. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU!?" The horde of students froze as Tenya stepped out from where the group was observing the all-out brawl. "This behavior is entirely unacceptable! We, as students of the prestigious hero school of UA, must hold ourselves to—"
"And just who is this presumptuous whelp that dares to intrude upon this hallowed battleground?" Tenya turned to see Tatewaki Kuno approaching him. The third year cut an intimidating, regal figure...if not for the black eye, torn gi, and a bouquet of flowers shoved over his head like a cone of shame on a dog. "Your blatant disregard for proper etiquette disquiets me. I demand you and your cohorts identify yourselves immediately!"
Tenya stared at his upperclassman for a moment, contemplating whether or not he was suffering from a concussion. "Are you feeling well? I think it would be best to take you to Recovery Girl for—"
"Your name, underclassman."
Tenya pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Very well, my name is—"
"Although," Kuno said, interrupting Tenya once more. "I suppose it is only proper that I introduce myself first before asking for your name."
"...am I having a stroke?" Tenya asked, glancing back to his friends.
"Very well!" Kuno exclaimed, striking a dramatic pose, his bouken raised high in the air. "I am the rising star of UA's hero course, third year of class 3-A. A warrior whose strength and skill are beyond measure. Evil trembles when it hears my title of Blue Thunder. I am Tatewaki Kuno! Age seventeen."
Izuku and the other first years stared at him with wide eyes. "Maybe we're all having simultaneous strokes?" Izuku said.
Once Tenya managed to get over the shock of the utterly bizarre situation before him, he recomposed himself and tried to finally get a word in. "I am Tenya Iida, hero course student and Class Representative of class 1-B. My friends and I heard of your...your daily ritual, and wished to see if the rumors were true."
Kuno nodded in understanding, and Tenya winced as he watched the roses' thorns dig into his skin. "So...YOU HAVE TO LAY CLAIM THE BEAUTIFUL AND RADIANT AKANE TENDO!" Kuno pointed his bouken at Tenya, who could only stare at his upperclassman, mouth agape. "You are all most certainly welcome to try—"
"NO WE FUCKING HAVEN'T!" Katsuki screamed, storming his way towards Kuno. "First off, I have a girlfriend. Second, even if I didn't, what the hell kind of moron tries to date a girl by beating her up? Did that scrambled brain of yours think 'hitting on' someone means you actually attack them?"
Kuno was taken aback. "How dare you! As your senpai, I demand—"
"And third," Katsuki continued, ignoring Kuno's protests. "If you're in love with this Tendo chick, then why the hell were giving flowers to the redhead?"
"Oh, how naive the youth of today are," Kuno said rather dramatically. "My heart burns in equal measure for both the demure, sweet Akane and the spirited, passionate Ranko. It would be cruel to deny either one of them my affections, so it is only fair—"
Kuno's speech came to a screeching halt when Ranko leaped through the air to deliver a spin kick that sent Kuno flying into the wall. "Basically, he's a creep who thinks he can play harem protag and date both of us," Ranko said rather nonchalantly, hands behind her head.
"...gross," Katsuki said.
"Yep."
"I can't believe it," Tenya said. "I never imagined such degenerates would be allowed into the hallowed halls of UA." He turned to face his upperclassmen, giving the horde of students a glare that made many of them shrink. "All of you should be ashamed of yourselves! Attacking your classmates for some sick and twisted form of sexual gratification! Your behavior isn't merely an affront to UA, but human decency in general!"
"Hey, don't lump me in with the rest of these perverts!" they turned to see the boy with the yellow and black bandanna, who currently had Ranma caught in a headlock. "I'm Ranma's eternal rival! I don't want to date him, I want to defeat him!"
"Just because you don't want to get in my pants, doesn't make your obsession with me any better, Ryoga," Ranma deadpanned. Ryoga growled in indignation, but before he could respond, Ranma slipped out of the headlock. He grabbed Ryoga's arm and threw the bandanna-wearing boy as hard as he could...directly into Kuno.
Izuku and the other first years winced as Ryoga slammed into Kuno with an ugly "crunch" sound. "Are they okay?"
"Physically, they'll be fine; we do this every day," Ranma said. "Mentally, I don't if those two have ever been okay."
"WILL YOU TWO STOP STANDING AROUND AND HELP ME?!" Akane had resumed her ferocious beat down of the horde of gathered students, a look of pure fury on her face. "We're going to be late again!"
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," Ranma said, grabbing his sister by the arm. "Let's get this over with."
What happened next could only be described as beautifully brutal. Working together, Akane, Ranma, and Ranko made quick work of the remaining students, who started falling like dominoes. While Akane was like a one-woman wrecking crew, Ranma and Ranko's movements were fluid, graceful, more precise, but no less devastating.
And as the first years watched in awe, something stirred in the back of Ochako's mind. A strange sense of familiarity with the twins' movements. As quickly as it started, it was over, Akane and the twins stood victorious amongst the sea of black and blue UA students. Although, none looked that satisfied.
Akane let out a sigh, dusting herself off. "Seriously, when are these guys going to learn?"
"That was so cool! You guys were like, WHAM! BAM! POW!'" Ochako said, punctuating her sound effects with punches and kicks to the air. "And you two, you were flying around all over the place! It's like you were building up energy in your arms and legs, then letting it go to rocket yourselves all over the place!"
Ranma and Ranko stared at Ochako for a moment with wide eyes. "That's...exactly right," Ranma said. "My sis and I have the same Quirk. Lets us build up kinetic energy in our limbs as we move, and we release it to do all sorts of stuff." Ranma's eyes narrowed as he stared at Ochako. "You're not another stalker, are you?"
Ranma yelped as Ranko grabbed his ear. "Oh, lighten up, will ya?" Ranko gave Ochako a small smile. "You're pretty clever to figure out Fa Jin just watching us in action." At the mention of their Quirk's name, that strange sense of familiarity stirred in the back of Ochako's mind.
"Fa Jin, that's such a cool name!" Izuku said as he wrote in his Hero Analysis journal. "So, is there a limit to how much energy you can store? Can you store the energy indefinitely, or is there a time limit? Does Fa Jin manifest differently in both of you? I know Tenya and his brother have the same Quirk, but they—"
"Sorry, but we don't have time for questions," Akane said, suddenly grabbing the twins' arms. "It was nice to meet you, but we'll have to talk later. Bye!" The first years watched Akane and the twins disappear into the building.
"Well, I suppose we get goin—OH GOOD LORD!" Tenya screamed as he saw the time on his phone. "It's almost time for class! We're going to be late!"
"Come in, we can make it in time if we hoof it," Yosetsu said.
"We most certainly will not! Running in the halls is—"
"Dude, we literally don't have time for this. We can either run in the halls and be on time or walk and be late; which do you prefer?"
Tenya stared at Yosetsu, mouth agape. In the end, the blue-haired boy's desire for punctuality won over, and they made it to close just as the bell was about to ring. Although, Tenya did end up writing each of them letters of reprimand, including one to himself.
25 days until the Sports Festival.
"I'm home!" Itsuka said as she entered her house. "Anyone home?"
"Living room!"
Itsuka took her shoes off and saw a ten-year-old girl with short, reddish brown hair and teal eyes, still wearing her elementary school uniform. She was sitting next to the living room table, drawing on a piece of paper with crayons while a cartoon played on the TV. Near her was a crib, where a two-year-old boy in a blue onesie was playing with a teddy bear until his blue eyes saw Itsuka.
"Its-Its!" The baby boy happily shouted, holding his arms up. Itsuka smiled at her cute baby brother.
"I missed you too, Judai." Itsuka lifted him up and lightly booped him on the nose, making him giggle. She then looked down at the younger girl. "Where's everyone else?"
"Mom and Desumi are still at the hospital to get Desumi's shots." She shivered at the thought of all those icky needles. "And Gojo's helping Dad get groceries for dinner."
"Gotcha." She then looked down at the drawing. It was some kind of person in a white costume with rainbow outlines. The frilled dress at the bottom made it look like a squiggly fusion of a Super Sentai Ranger and a Pretty Cure. "What're you drawing, Touka?"
The brunette girl smiled brightly and showed Kendo her drawing. "It's my hero costume!"
Itsuka felt her stomach drop.
When she was nine years old, Itsuka told her family she was going to be a hero when she grew up. Touka, the youngest at the time, was super-excited hearing that, saying she was going to be a hero too, so they could be an awesome hero sister duo!
But a few weeks later, their parents took Touka to the hospital for a check-up and came back with devastating news: Touka Kendo was Quirkless.
Itsuka still remembered the look of utter sadness in her little sister's eyes when she came home that day. She remembered her heart breaking as she saw Touka burst into tears.
It only got worse when word spread about Touka's lack of a power. Some of her crueler classmates began to make fun of her, calling her a waste of space, a defect, and all manner of harmful words. The pranks were worse, with Touka returning home one day with her backpack full of glue. Honestly, if their parents hadn't raised a stink with the principal of Touka's school, Itsuka would've tracked down and beaten the kids herself.
From then on out, while Itsuka prided herself on being a good big sister to all her siblings, she made sure to watch over Touka especially. Her life was going to be an uphill struggle, so Itsuka swore that whatever new dream her youngest sister had, she would support her.
"That's…interesting," Itsuka said as delicately as she could. "You haven't talked about being a hero in years. Why the sudden interest?"
"I heard that there's a boy like me at your school!" Touka said all excitedly. "His name's Midori, right? If someone like him could get into your big hero school, that means I can too. Right, Itsuka?"
Itsuka didn't know what to say. "I….uh…" The girls then heard the door open.
"Hope you're all ready for some kickin' stir-fry!" A boastful male voice said.
'Oh, thank god,' Itsuka put Judai back in his crib. "I better go help Dad and Gojo with the groceries."
"Okay." Touka went back to coloring her costume drawing. As she went to get the groceries, Itsuka felt torn. After witnessing the danger of hero work at the USJ, she had some comfort in knowing that she was the only one in her family being put in that danger. But hearing that Touka wanted to be a hero again made her chest clench.
If it was any of her other little siblings, she wouldn't be as worried. Gojo could turn his bones into rubber. His twin sister, Desumi, could stretch her limbs to incredible lengths. But Touka? Touka had nothing.
To think she was inspired by Midoriya of all people. Itsuka did feel a need to protect the Quirkless boy as she did with Touka. But he was too stubborn to accept her help. Then again, if Izuku got in over his head if he crashed and burned, maybe Touka would once again give up on being a hero.
Itsuka felt a pit in her stomach. It didn't sit right with her to wish that one of her classmates would fail. But if it meant her sister would be safe, then it was the best option she could hope for.
Author's Note 2: Another bit of a long break between chapters, but hey, you can't rush quality. Honestly, I'm proud of a lot of this chapter in particular for just having some interactions I've been wanting to write, and more insights into the casts that might change the readers' mind on them.
Next Time: Final Preparations!
Plus Ultra!